Friday, June 10, 2011

Flashback Friday - Scary Then, Funny Now

Today’s memory involves car explosions, a super-hero brother and a rescued damsel in distress!    Well, just a rescued me, but damsel-in-distress sounded more dramatic!
Yes, when I was around 8, our station wagon caught on fire! While. We. Were. Driving!  

Talk about S-C-A-R-Y!!!! 

It started smoking and my mom pulled over, made us rush out of the car and run as far away as possible. “It’s gonna blow up!” we screamed.  In the adrenaline rush, I lost my shoe, but I kept running. It was only when we finally stopped that I realized I was missing my shoe!

My baby brother was 5, ya’ll. YES, 5. However, being the man of the house, he bravely declared that HE would go back and get my shoe!
“NO!” Screamed my mom.
Then I started I crying.
 I was about to kill my baby brother because I couldn’t keep my shoe on.

However, my fearless five-year-old brother ran fast as his little legs could carry him back to the smoking station wagon and back to me, with shoe in hand. I was rescued by my baby brother. I smothered him with hugs and kisses. My mom did the same. It was a scene right out of the movies.
Well, in my mind at least ;)  LOL.

Then, the other day, my mom tells me we used to make fun of her driving that station wagon. THIS I did NOT remember. Apparently, when she bought it, she could only afford a manual, but she had never driven one. So as she pulled it off the lot it went “start-stop-start-stop” all jerky like, and my brother and I laughed and laughed, she says. Then she tells me that we said “Mom, I thought you knew how drive!”

HAHAHA! Obviously did not understand the difference between an automatic and a manual car. But this provided some laughs then and now. It was fun (NOW) talking about our burning station wagon. I wonder if my brother remembers this?

Be sure to link up your Flashback for today! Tell us about a memory that was scary then, but funny now! Can’t wait to read them!

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Friday, June 3, 2011

Flashback Friday - Beginnings

Do you ever have flashbacks? Like when an old song comes on the radio and suddenly you remember where you were the first time you heard it?  Or maybe a smell drifts across your nose and magically you are transported back to your childhood? I have those all the time. When I hear almost any song my Bryan Adams I remember laying on the floor of my bedroom, pining away about all my tweenage worries. When I smell an old diesel car’s fumes, I feel like I am back in Colombia during one of the many summers I spent there as a child. These flashbacks are fun to recall.

Other memories are more powerful, though. Like lessons I learned as a kid or teenager that I wish I could pass on to my kids, as well as experiences I went through that I want to share with my sister, who is experiencing them now.  Recently, I have had a couple family members tell me that my sister believes we have little in common. I want so desperately to have this close, amazing “like sisters” friendship with her. But she is 10 years younger than me and so if she thinks we have little in common, I guess that creates a divide between us. But I feel like memories and flashbacks can connect us, not only to our past, but also to others in the present.

Therefore… I think it would be fun to start a weekly series where we share our flashback moments. No matter what age you are, you always have a past, a “when I was younger” memory. Ex:  My 3 year old told me today “remember when I was a baby and I used to say “wahh! I want my mook!” (aka milk)” See? (And I doubt anyone reading this is 3 years old, so you know you’ve got at least a few more years on her that you could draw memories from to share with us all, LOL) So let’s share our flashbacks to connect and encourage each other, young and old. Maybe some wisdom will be gleaned from them, or even just some laughs. Either way, it will be fun!

To start, I am beginning with my obsession over remembering memories. Since I was a kid I was obsessed with making sure I would remember something. Since I learned to write, I have kept a diary. I know most girls did, so this is nothing revolutionary. However, my reason for keeping it might have been different than most: I wanted to make sure I remembered my childhood and teenage years because I felt like grown-ups forgot all about theirs. I didn’t want to be that grown-up. As a teenager especially, I felt like adults always bunched us all into one group (“TEENAGERS!”)  left it at that. They assumed we were all disrespectful, lazy and careless. I wanted PROOF that I wasn’t, not just for me or my kids when I had them, but for “the rest of the world”, LOL, whatever that meant! No, seriously… I felt it was my duty to show the world all teens weren’t bad. In fact, I believed then (and I still do) that teens are actually pretty powerful young men and women. They have insatiable appetites for creativity and this easily leads to problem solving. What would happen if we challenged teens to do something good with this creative energy, instead of assuming that they want to do the worst with it? I think there would be no stopping them.

Guess what? I still have all those diaries! The other day I was reading the one I started when I was 6. It cracks me up! I will have to try and scan some of those pages and post them. But the funny thing is, I remember writing those entries! I remember how I felt & what I was thinking when I wrote those entries!  So I think we should all keep a diary! We should encourage our kids to do it, and if we don’t already, we should do it! I can’t wait for my kids to read my thoughts I wrote when I was their age. I can’t wait to talk to them about the similarities they see between our thoughts and feelings, and the connection we will form by discovering those bonds. I will be sure to share about this experience when it occurs.  ; )

SOOOO…. Share with me yours! Tell us what you remember thinking about "grown-ups" when you were a kid or teen. Comment below, or link up to your post about your flashback.

It will be fun to read all about our childhood memories and see what similar experiences (or drastically different ones?) we have!

Look forward to reading them!!

Thursday, June 2, 2011

Sew Not So Much

Yeah... this is one of those "I am so embarrased to admit this" posts... BUT... here I go anyway. Why? I have no idea!

I got a sewing machine for Christmas. It was on my Amazon wish list, and I was VERY excited to get it. I must admit however, that I had forgotten I put it on my wish list. When I tried to rememeber when I added it, the thought comes to me that it must have been waaaay before I had 4 kids, 2 jobs, and a house to keep up with! You know, because how on earth would I think I have time to sew (or even learn how to sew?) now?!  However, I was still excited to get it and very determined to put it to use soon after the Christmas rush was over.

AND... here we are in June. Almost 6 months later. Where do you think that awesome sewing machine is now? Yep... still in the box. COMPLETELY UNOPENED!

My 6 year old thinks I'm nuts. I probably am. But he cannot comprehend why I have a sewing machine if I never use it, let alone never even learned how. You see, he is begging me to sew him a list of things. Here's his (current!) list:

  1. A lego man costume
  2. An Angry Birds costume
  3. Angry Birds plush toys
  4. A ninja costume
See a pattern here? He wants a costume for everything! In his mind, the solution is easy... Mom + sewing machine = presto! New Costumes!! It makes sense, really, IF I KNEW HOW TO SEW!!!

OK, so at the top of my "to-do-real-soon list" is LEARN TO USE MY NEW SEWING MACHINE!

Wednesday, June 1, 2011

Summer "Treasure Hunts"

Summer is here!  

I love everything about summer:
  • the heat (because heat = water play and I LOOOVE playing with water!)
  • lazy days (ie. no hectic schedules w/ school, activities, homework, projects, etc.)
  • endless time together (see above)
  • free summer deals (see my previous posts about free movies and free zoo visits!)
However, despite my best efforts, I still hear those dreaded words "I'm BORED!"  OK, maybe I don't so much love this part of Summer. But I found something I DO love to help bust that B word! This Massive list of Summer Boredom Busting Ideas!!!



She does a weekly series called Works For Me Wednesday where she shares a tip about something she's found that worked for her to make life easier/better/more fun, and invites her readers to link up their own as well. They have been fun and enlightening to read! I'm not sure I can keep up with posting my own each week, but I sure do enjoy reading hers, so I thought I'd share her link. And maybe I'll post a few of my own when time allows ; ) 

Since today's WFMW is about Summer ideas, I figured this list is a universal necessity for parents in the Summer time, so I wanted to do my part to spread the word about it and share an idea of my own:

I like free. I really like free and educational.And I especially like free, educational and creative! This idea I cam across in  a magazine years ago has become one of our favorite boredom busters for the Summer Time. We call it our Summer Treasure Hunt. And its so simple, fun and time consuming!

  1. Grab a bucket
  2. Go OUTSIDE!
  3. Fill said bucket with all sorts of natural treasures (cool leaves, funny shaped sticks, even BUGS of all shapes and sizes)
  4. sit on driveway sorting through all the "goodies" you found, picking out out favorites, then put them all back
  5. go inside (to cool off!) and write/draw/use play dough to recreate (and recall!) favorite finds
Somewhere (don't remember where) I recently read about a summer idea that expanded on this even further, but since my kids are young (oldest is 6) it doesn't work for us, yet. However, for those with older kids, they would love it: go online together researching those favorite finds to learn more about them. Write these facts on a paper under a photo or drawn picture of the find. Put all these sheets together to create a Summer Nature Journal. What a fun keepsake to have at the end of the summer! Silly as it sounds, I never thought to create a keepsake from this collection of Summer Treasure Hunt Finds. But starting now, I totally will!

Let me know if you have any fun Summer Boredom Busting Ideas! Let's keep this list going and growing!!