The Saga Continues...Greg Brady Part 3

My husband read my 2 previous posts and pointed out my failure to mention H. who has moved out of her room and in to the boy's "previous" bedroom. She sleeps on J.'s bed and somehow wakes up in the morning on M's bed. But she hasn't fallen out of bed once in the last week and she still maintains her "other" room for keeping clothes, books, and toys. See how confusing my life is? It is especially bad if I get up in the middle of the night to check on the kids and I can't remember where anyone is! Curse you Greg Brady!

Greg Brady...Part 2

I've had several people question how children wanting to go to bed at 7:30 p.m. and declaring their independence by wanting their own room is a bad thing. Well...let me clarify a few things.

For those of you that know any Oscarson, you know we all suffer from our own little versions of OCD. Some need to organize, others don't like miscellaneous hairs, and some need their houses to be free of super hero underwear in the living room. I manifest my OCD with an extreme need to have things filed away in plastic drawers and containers all over the house marked on the front in bold Sharpie marker with its contents. This move inspired by Greg Brady has thrown my world in to chaos. Matthew is sleeping on a foam pad in the living room where he has now moved his entire rolling cart of clothes AND added a laundry basket for his dirty clothes. While I applaud his resourcefulness and talent for putting dirty clothes in the right place, it is a little odd to have to usher guests, visiting teachers, home teachers, etc. pass the soiled underwear sitting in the living room.

Jake has moved his rolling plastic cart downstairs, added a laundry basket and continues to add an assortment of items to his "groovy new room". All their "hanging" clothes are upstairs in the "old" closet. Apparently there exists a fine line between rolling plastic cart clothes and hanging closet clothes and I didn't get the memo. Books are spread over 2 floors of the house (including library books from 2 different libraries) and I'm having trouble adjusting to not having things properly categorized. So...Greg Brady is disrupting my balance and stirring up my OCD. I'd love him if he were merely motivating my children to go to bed early...but he has wedged his irritating grooviness in to so much more.

And heaven help me when Matthew and Jacob see the whole Brady family riding donkeys down into the Grand Canyon and going to Hawaii and playing with poisonous insects! My life may never be the same.

Here's A Story...How Greg Brady is Ruining My Life

So...every day at 5:30 p.m., my two little boys put their lives on hold to watch "The Brady Bunch" on PBS. They each get a pillow for the couch, lay down in their special spots on the floor, and are comatose until the final "laugh" when they slowly return to consciousness and I can get them to talk to me again. Isn't it strange? I watched the Brady Bunch with a certain cult-like worship when I was young and now my children have found their way to the Brady house all on their own. What exactly is the appeal?

Anyway...today's episode was the one where Greg decides that because he is now a high school freshman, he deserves his own bedroom. He buys the vest with the fringe, the hip hugging striped bell bottoms, and big, dark sunglasses and turns his dad's "den" into his groovy bedroom. Are you with me? Do you remember this episode? Well, ole' Greg Brady lit a real bonfire under my boys because midway through the show they both jumped up and announced that they wanted their own rooms. They didn't even finish watching the episode before they had moved themselves out of the bedroom they share and in to their own "groovy" bedrooms (Jake has used that word more than a dozen times tonight and I'm starting to worry). Matthew moved himself in to the living room. He unrolled a huge foam camping pad, moved all his blankets, pillows, and stuffed animals, and brought 5 pairs of super hero underwear that he draped all over the big, blue armchair. He brought a pair of pajamas, some play clothes, and an extra pair of warm socks.

Jacob moved in to the guest room downstairs. He set up 5 library books against the night stand for some "night time reading", brought down all his bed stuff, his school uniform, his play clothes, some extra underwear, and decorated the night stand with plastic trees and dinosaurs. Both boys are sound asleep in their new digs. They couldn't WAIT to go to bed tonight. They were in jammies at 7:00 p.m. and begging for bed at 7:30 p.m. I hate Greg Brady. If my sons show up tomorrow morning with fringe and tight pants, I'm suing PBS.

Tonight at dinner Matthew asked us if he could get a car. Earlier today he told me he wanted a "motor scooter" so he could "get around easier". Just where on earth is my 4-year old having a hard time getting around to? And why are my kids growing up so fast?

They are now banned from PBS and the Brady Bunch.

"Hoppy" Easter Moments

Easter delights! Cute children in spiffy Easter outfits!















































We had a splendid Easter day! The kids woke up this morning eager to look for the easter baskets that the bunny had taken off the couch and hidden. C. had prepared a fun "treasure hunt" for them to follow which eventually led to the upstairs coat closet where the easter baskets were not only found, but loaded with goodies. I have to add a side-note...the $1.00 section at Target. We had bubbles to blow out of easter egg shaped bottles, pads of easter stickers, easter egg handle jump ropes, easter egg sidewalk chalk...it was an incredible stash for not much cash! (Hey, that rhymes!) Anyway, after devouring candy, blowing some bubbles, and letting breakfast get soggy, we put on our snazzy new Easter outfits and went to church. I don't mean to be shallow but the boys were wearing darling seersucker blue "suits" and they kept saying the funniest things. J. said he felt like he was a "21 year old man" and M. kept saying he felt like the "president of the United States". On our way to Carrie & Todd's house a little later in the day, J. strapped himself in his car seat and said, "Won't Carrie be surprised to see 3 Carr MEN instead of just boys today?" The suits had a powerful effect on their young psyches!

After a fabulous block of church meetings and an attempt at a nap, we headed for Carrie and Todd's house for more festivities. We had a delicious dinner with ham & lamb, scalloped potatoes & Mo's potato salad (Chris made the potato dishes and they were so, so yummy!), a delicious cole slaw salad, sugar peas, and other very tasty dishes. Papa, Chip & ML with kids, and our family all attended the feast and despite the fact that the kids were giving all the adults heartburn by jumping off furniture, stabbing each other with forks, and running around the room with food, it was wonderful.

After dinner, the men went outside to hide all the easter eggs (because it is obvious from the description above that what our kids needed was a little more sugar!). It was sweet to see Papa hiding eggs out in the yard. I stood and watched him from the window as I remembered watching my own Grandpa Oscarson hiding dozens and dozens of Easter eggs in his yard on 1 Devondale Lane in St. Louis. That tradition of hunting for eggs at Grandpa & Grandma Oscarson's home every spring was now being played out for MY children by their grandfather. I saw the same joy and delight on my father's face as he hid the eggs and then ran around the yard with his grandchildren helping the little ones find the specially hidden eggs. I felt so grateful for the amazing gospel plan and for the grand circle of our lives. Truly what we put out in the world comes back to us in strange, wonderful ways! I love seeing the traditions and memories that have nourished and sustained me being passed on in sweet ways to MY children. I missed my Grandpa & Grandma and the image of them sitting on their porch watching the grandkids and seeing my Grandpa trying to keep a tally of how many eggs had been found and how many were still out there. It was always a treat to find the missing easter eggs later in the year, still hiding in unexpected places all over the yard.









































The kids were not daunted by the black clouds hovering over the mountains or the cold breeze whipping in from over the lake...I'm not sure they even noticed.

After all the loot had been found and accounted for, the kids headed back in to examine the goodies and devour whatever they could before the adults noticed.



















While the children devoured their candy, the adults ate some decadent, multi-layered chocolate cake decorated with jelly beans and purple bunny Peeps with some of Todd's amazing homemade ice-cream...available in a regular or a custard. Both were divine. It was a splendid day.

During sharing time today, our music person talked about different members of her family that had passed away and after telling us a little bit about the person and why she loved them, we sang a primary song that the person had loved or that reminded our choirister of them. Then she talked about the resurrection and how she looked forward with a joyful heart to the reunion she would have with each and every person who was beyond her mortal vision now but deeply buried in her eternal vision and perspective. Today really was a day to celebrate. It was a day to celebrate my family...grandparents and aunts and uncles and cousins. It was a day to celebrate Alice Rose and her new place in our family. It was a day to celebrate Grandma and Grandpa Oscarson, Aunt Boo, Aunt Ruthy and all the other amazing members of our family who are not with us but are never lost to us. It was a day to celebrate the Savior and the amazing gifts he has given us. I am so grateful for eternal nature of our lives and for the ways we are all connected to each other. It was truly a day to celebrate!

Click on the picture of Matthew and see a complete slideshow of the Easter festivities.
"Hoppy" Easter