Inflatable Fun

A couple of years ago I'd happened upon some of these inflatable bumper balls (see post here)... I picked up two, and they got a lot of use that summer. They only lasted that one summer though. This year, when I saw some at Sam's Club, I decided I'd pick them up again (with a couple extras, even though the price wasn't quite the steal of a deal from two years ago). Once again, the boys enjoyed bopping and bumping within the inflated ball.

The little "Batman" on the final image? It's the shadow of my phone case (it's a kitty, not Batman), taking a picture of a suspicious tear in one of the balls. I'd noticed it after one of the balls kept deflating. Not really surprising ... the boys aren't gentle. But that hole had clean lines, almost as if it had been stuck with a knife or box cutter. Hubs didn't care for the inflated ball in his garage I guess ... and FYI, the patches don't really work, at least not with intentional, large slashes. A little expensive for one day of play, but I did buy an extra! 

Dino Days - Inflatable Fun

I'd seen these dino costumes floating around ... funny videos abound! I saw one on Amazon for about $50 so I decided to buy one for the family, just to see what would happen. T-Rex time!

Blackham Boy Ball Bopping

This will be backdated to September 2017

I bought the inflatable dinosaur this year ... but that wasn't the only inflatable the boys had fun with. These bop balls weren't anything I went looking for, I just happened upon them at Smiths (the regular grocery store no less, not even the bigger store). They were $10 each. I got two. I didn't know if the boys would be interested, or if they'd last. The boys were interested, and they lasted long enough for that price. I don't know if they would have made it through a winter storage anyway. Summer fun!

The Blackham brothers bopped each other, and Cooper and his friend McKay had a fun inflatable day (enjoying both the balls and the dinosaur). Here's a little video ...

Blogger Foreshadowing ... a second round of balls appear in 2019!

Celebrating America - Colton's 5th Grade Program

Ah ... elementary school. The end-of-year program is a tradition at Terra Linda. For the 5th graders, the theme is AMERICA. Songs about the constitution, patriotic ballads and even one I remember singing when I was Colton's age (Are You for Independence).

I mentioned to Colton as part of a singing group I was in (Carousel Kids) we'd sung that ... and I still remember most of it today! We'd also sung the "There was a Man" and "The Inventor's Song" and while they weren't included in this year's program, Colton said they were familiar to him too. I'm not sure how, but I had managed to find the tracks and add them to my Itunes library. Fun little songs!

I didn't record the entire program, just snippets of each song. 

Colton is always SO serious, 

but his friend sitting next to him managed to make him smile a time or two.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkR9nKm-CrA

Many of the songs were also familiar,
as several were the same ones from Cooper's 5th grade program just a couple of years ago. 

https://youtu.be/M7Ijg0Fw9wQ

Now - Completely unrelated to school programs, but paralleling the patriotism angle and the flashing back to bigger Blackham boys when they were little, for Mother's Day, the boys re-created this classic flag photo from years ago. Isn't it the cutest?

Go BIG at the Blackhams!

At the Blackham home, we go BIG ... especially when it comes to sugar (or so it seems by the picture above)! Can you say sugar coma? While on his trip to New York, Gray brought home a couple of the huge Reeses (the peanut butter cups were a 1/2 pound EACH) and a FIVE pound chocolate bar.  And while he was gone, a box came from Vat19 and we've ordered from them before ... it it was a FIVE pound gummy bear and a three pound gummy worm! (You can also tell that the first couple pictures were taken BEFORE the haircut post, as the boys are still shaggy in them). 

Whenever we get a box delivered, the boys are always anxious to open it up ... especially if it is from Vat19! I didn't take any pictures of the eating of the big gummies, but I did in a previous post (here). That post also spotlights some of the other fun treasures from this unique online store. 

Callahan and Landon both ate their Reeses Cup ... I think Callahan managed it in one sitting (although I can't say he enjoyed it by the end.)  Keaton and I are still hanging on to ours. The gummy worm got attacked after that, followed by the gummy bear. The last to be opened was the chocolate bar. Callahan looks pretty content, doesn't he? That first night, we just made a dent in the side. The kids hacked off chunks to add to their school lunches over the next several days, and friends would help eat after school. It's actually not quite gone yet ... but almost.

If you are what you eat ... then MY boys are sweet!

Other Off Track Activities

I've already posted about a couple of our off-track activities. Our trip to All Star Lanes and to Planet Play. The last week of off track ... (and it is the LAST, Keaton will be going into middle school, so no more "offtrack" time for him, and I've been looking in the possibility of transferring the two youngest to a school on a traditional schedule) we continued to go out and make memories and have tons of fun.

We started the week (Monday) at Chuck-e-Cheese.

Wednesday we went to Classic Fun Center. Keaton and Colton enjoyed the Blast Zone (Cooper didn't want to try it), then they all roamed around the jungle. Then they bounced for a bit, and finished off at the arcade. They turned in their tickets for a variety of treat treasures.

Thursday we met Grandma and Grandpa at Golden Corral for lunch. 

The kids LOVE the dessert bar. 

 Then we headed to NickelMania. There used to be one at Jordan Landing, but it has closed down. The boys did have a lot of fun there though. They pointed out the Qbert game (featured in Wreck-It-Ralph) and Keaton really liked this Star Wars game. He played it over and over until be beat the whole game.

The little boys seem to like just getting tickets (rather than the enjoyment of the game itself). They ran through their nickels twice as fast as Keaton (who was actually playing to PLAY) ... he had a ton of nickels left over and let the little boys split them up and use them up.

They turned in their tickets, I had to laugh when I saw that both little boys had almost the exact same amount (just off by one). They turned in their tickets for treats, a hacky sack and other little toys.

Ready to go back on track and finish up the school year!

The Incredible Kid Eating Couch

Many years ago, we had a sectional couch with removable cushions and pillows. They were always taken off to build forts and have pillow fights. When Gray and I decided to get a NEW couch, the one thing we both insisted upon, was that NOTHING was removable. When we found this brown leather sectional, we both really liked it. But just because the pieces don't come off (or at least they don't come apart easily, they DO come off, as you can see in the Misc Memories post here), doesn't mean that the kids leave things well enough alone. They are always sticking arms, heads, feet, into the deep pockets and folds of the couch (which is actually a REALLY scary prospect, because they also stick a lot of other things in there too ... candy wrappers, dirty socks, remotes, homework). As I anticipated writing this post, I kept my camera handy to capture the kids as they lost parts of themselves in the kid-eating couch (none of these pictures were posed, although in the one above I did call out to Colton to get his cute face in the photo too). 

I didn't catch Keaton being eaten ... I'll have to keep watching ...

Nerf Mania

I guess it's my fault really ... a few months ago, I was shopping and I found some Nerf Dart Tag sets on clearance. I picked up a couple of boxes, thinking they would be good to have on hand for birthday gifts. They stayed in the gift closet for most of the summer ... then Landon stumbled on them. He bought them from me, opened them up and ... Nerf mania began ...

That first day, Landon's playmates were Colton and his buddies. Then when Callahan and Keaton returned home, I think it was probably just a day later before the boys talked me into taking them to the store so they could spend their money on more Nerf guns ... and it happened to be birthday time for Cooper, Keaton and Landon too ...

The hallway downstairs has become a battlezone ... the boys set up barricades (a card table, Callahan's old science fair tri-fold, etc) ... it makes it quite hard to get to J&G's gym, even if there isn't a game going on (it's almost impossible when they are in the middle of a battle, and they often aren't good at not shooting the mommy!). And several boys sweating in such a small space? It get's pretty stinky!

Sometimes the Nerf Wars move outdoors ...

Friends and neighbors join in

Can you say crazy?!

The boys have been watching several funny Nerf videos on YouTube as well ... here's one of their favorites ...

Return of the Rangers

Colton, Cooper and their buddy Jacob ...

Can you name WHICH types of Power Rangers they are?

Can you sing their theme songs?

I can ...

It seems like Power Rangers have been around forever ... I remember first finding them when Landon was just a little guy. Through the years, we picked up a few costumes here and there. We've had a lot of the action figures around for quite a while. Usually they are away in a box, but every so often they would reappear.

And they're back ... the cause of their return? Netflix. We had a few movies on DVD (and VHS!) but recently, Netflix added ALL (I think all, there are SO many) the series to their instant stream. We've been watching a LOT of Power Rangers this past week! Many of the older ones I remember from years ago, other more recent ones that are completely new to me. We had to dig out the costumes ...

If you haven't seen Power Rangers ... some (ok, all) of them are pretty cheesy. Often we just laugh out loud at some of the lines and fight scenes. Every "type" of ranger (series) has it's own theme song. Yes ... we know most of them and have several on the Ipod. How many Power Rangers are there?

• Mighty Morphin
• Alien
• Zeo
• Turbo
• Space
• Lost Galaxy
• LightSpeed (the red ranger's last name is "Grayson" so I've got to like him ...)
• Time Force
• Wildforce (this series has the famous "Forever Red" episode, with ALL the red rangers to date making an appearance)
• Ninja Storm
• Dino Thunder
• SPD
• Mystic Force
• Operation Overdrive
• Jungle Fury
• RPM
• Samuai (this is new, as of 2011 ... not streamable, so I haven't seen this)

Rainbow Connections

It was the late afternoon when it suddenly started to rain. The sun was still shining, so I went out side and examined the sky, looking for a rainbow. But no rainbow (yet...). Then the drizzle turned into a downpour! All five boys ran out into the rain and came back in just moments later, looking like they'd stepped into the shower! Grayson came home just moments after the boys had come back in and commented on the huge rainbow. We all went out, and the boys were even cooperative about posing for a picture! Now if that's not a treasure, I don't know what is!

Elmo Attire

Hey everybody ... it's Elmo's World! I'm really not sure where my kids learned to love Elmo. In this world with Disney Channel and Nickleodeon (we actually don't have these channels now, but we did a few years ago), I don't know that they've really watched much, if any Sesame Street. But they still LOVE Elmo. The hats, the shirts ...

Colton even has elmo socks!

and while I'm NOT including a photo here on the blog...

Landon has some Elmo underwear too!

Food Feats and Family Fun

The young men had an activity at our home ... I'm not sure of all the details ... but it was basically a pizza eating competition.
They started off great, you can see how they would layer the slices and eat two or three at a time! But ultimately ... I think the pizza won. Landon says he won't eat pizza again for a while! This next activity (picture below) is a transition for the blog ... both a "food feat" and "family fun" ... an ice cream tasting event.
Grayson bought several different kinds of vanilla ice cream. From an inexpensive store brand, to a high priced gourmet. He placed the ice cream into identical containers (but labeled with a number) and then also blindfolded (or used a ski cap pulled over the eyes) so that we wouldn't be swayed by brand names or ice cream appearance. It was fun to try different kinds side-by-side and then everyone got to finish with their favorite.

Saturdays are usually full of sports, this last Saturday was no exception. Callahan had his last basketball game early (8:00!) and there were soccer and baseball games scheduled for later in the day. But the weather was rainy and cold, so both games were canceled, leaving us with an open afternoon. We packed up the kids and went to see a movie (How to Train Your Dragon). While it did still cost a bit with popcorn and drinks, we actually had free passes (there had been some sound issues when we'd taken the older boys to see Iron Man 2 a couple weeks ago, and the theater gave out free passes to say sorry). We don't go see movies as a family very often ... and the little ones had a bit of a hard time sitting though it ("is it time to go home yet?").

Back at home, Callahan and Keaton got Daddy to play Monopoly with them. Can YOU tell who is winning? Notice Grayson's Iphone there on the playing board ... no, he wasn't checking his email during the game, we had misplaced the dice, and the Iphone had a "dice" application! That's my gadget guy!

Sick Day

Cooper started it ... on Monday, he started looking a little green around the gills. I gave him "the bucket" and settled him in the "sick spot" on the couch. Sure enough, he threw up. I wasn't sure if it was too much Easter candy the days before, or if it was the flu bug.

Everything was fine on Tuesday ... Wednesday was the sick day. I had run Landon to school and was about to run the elementary kids, when Keaton complained of a stomach ache. I decided to let him rest for a couple hours (I could always take him at 11:30 when I picked up kindergarten) and ran the other boys to school. When I got back ... he had thrown up.

Then I got a call from Landon ... back to the school to pick him up. Now ... I have two dedicated "barf buckets" ... so one is always available while the other is being emptied. Usually they aren't both in use at once. As Keaton was already in the "sick spot", Landon had to make due with the other side of the couch.

Then, another call from the school ... Callahan. Luckily, his call coincided with kindergarten pickup, so I was able to grab him when I was going to the school anyway to pick up Cooper. And of course Colton decided to join in on the "fun", rolling on the ground saying HIS tummy hurt.

It was pretty miserable. I've never seen Landon so sick, but he really took it like a man. Callahan is a moaner ... now I actually can't even remember when any of the other kids have been sick, but this is old hat for Callahan. I have tons of Callahan puke stories. Keaton wasn't too bad ... he threw up a few times, but it was the other end that gave him problems (sorry, gross!). Baby ended up barfing a couple times too. He even managed to understand the use of "the bucket" (btw, I had to pull out my cleaning buckets to have enough to go around ... Colton ended up using a small sand pail I had gotten him for Easter). Poor baby fell asleep holding it - being sick is exhausting!

Cooper was ok, but he seemed lost ... he just kept wandering around, wanting his brothers to interact with him in some way, but they were all too sick. Daddy would call or email from work for updates ... he wasn't sure if he dared come home into this smelly germ nest.

It's amazing what a difference a day makes. Thursday ... although there were a few lingering aches from yesterday (headache, backache, sore throat) the kids all went to school and sports. Time for loads of laundry (towels and blankets) and a last wash and disinfect of the buckets.

I've wondered if there was ever a category on Family Feud ... other terms for "vomiting" ... there are a lot (barf, puke, throw up, ralph ... just to name a few). And do other families use Sprite or 7-Up as a rehydrating beverage? It seems it was almost medication to soothe an upset stomach as I grew up. Cooper calls it "tickle juice" because the carbonation bubbles get into his nose. We went through an entire 2-liter bottle.

It makes you grateful for your health!

Carpool Chaos

Being the designated chauffeur for the family, it's very nice when we're able to create a carpool to help eliminate some of the running around. Getting the kids to and from school is one of the main tasks. There isn't a bus, but it really is too far and unsafe to have them walk, so ... carpool. Sometimes it's easier said then done, especially if you have a large family. We have a suburban, but, we pretty much fill it up. If I don't have hubby or #1 son, I can fit in ONE extra ... two if one of the kids sit in the front seat. But anyone I carpool with needs to have room for THREE of mine. Luckily, I can usually find someone to work with. This year, I get my mornings off and I'm on pickup duty. Last year, my extra seats were filled by a couple of the girls next door. They had a very orderly rotation of who got to sit where (nobody wants to sit in the back). This year, with a couple of neighbor boys ... it's anything goes! It's a mad rush to the car, a race and push to open the door and plop into the prized seats. I've suggested taking turns, but to no avail. I have had to tell them to wait until I at least stop the car!

Unlike the school carpool, the preschool boys actually prefer the back seat! As I pick up a couple extra little boys on the way to and from preschool, they all move to the back ... the center seat, squished between the two carseats is the favorite spot. Go figure! The conflict comes when it is time to get out of the car and ring the doorbell. I try to keep track of who's turn it is, but with three kids and preschool just twice a week, it's hard.

Then there's the SCOUT carpool ... FIVE eight and nine year old boys! Even though it's a very short trip ... it is CRAZY!

And finally, basketball carpool. Callahan was asked to join a Taylorsville Superleage team. It's been a great experience, made better when his basketball buddy also made the team. I was happy too, I'd have someone to carpool with! And I even lucked out on my leg (the drive home), as the practice let out about the same time Daddy heads home from work, and it's right on his way... so I seldom even had to head out for these particular practices. The carpool also came in handy for a couple of games (benefiting both sides). I don't know if it's because the boys are tired after practice, or because there are only two of them ... but THIS particular carpool ride ... is very quiet, especially compared to any of those listed above!

I'm very grateful to have people to carpool with. Let's save a little time and gas where we can.

Resuming the Routine

When the elementary school is year round, "Back to School" isn't just in August, it happens several times throughout the year. I really don't mind having the kids around when they are off track, they are good boys. I certainly don't mind not having to drive to the school a couple times each day, and getting after the kids about homework ... but it's just hard transitioning back into a normal routine each time school starts again. I was definitely worried about getting up on time ... not just the kids, but myself as well. My oldest, who is in Jr. High, had still been getting up early and off to school, but he's so responsible, doing it all himself, that I would often still be in bed until after he left. I was especially worried about my #3, Keaton. He REALLY seemed to enjoy lounging in bed. Well, we all managed to get up and off fine. Even Colton resumed preschool ... preschool doesn't go off track, but his teacher has just had a baby and that break lined up with the older kids off track time perfectly. Preschool is a good thing for Colton, as he really misses his brothers when they are at school. With them going back on track, he's had to adjust again to some mornings with just Mom. He can't wait until kindergarten is done and it's time to pick up Cooper ... and then both boys look forward to their older brothers coming home later in the day (although at least they have each other until then).

Without the schedule of school, it's also hard for me to remember other things, like basketball practice or scouts. Being the third week, it was actually Pack Meeting today. It was the annual Blue and Gold Banquet. Callahan, who will turn 11 next Sunday received his Arrow of Light award. Congratulations Callahan.