A Boy & His Friend....

We have lived in the same house since Chucky was a baby and have gone through a lot of neighbors. When the neighbor right across the street moved in she was a little older and doesn't have any children. We quickly befriended her. Soon after she moved in, she moved her aging parents in with her and that's where it all began....

During the summer her father was outside inside his garage all of the time. One day I saw Chucky walking across the street with an Otter Pop. I watched as he walked inside of the garage and handed the neighbor the Popsicle. I was touched that my son was a thoughtful lil' boy; worried he was in the way of this man doing whatever it was he was doing in his garage. I walked across the street to see a cute old man talking to my son, not being bothered that his work in his garage was being interrupted by a boy. I apologized for my son bothering him and taking up his time and he replied, 'He is not bothering me, he made my day.' I chuckled to myself and thought, 'He made your day?' I then asked Chucky to introduce himself, my son turned around shook his hand and said, 'It's really nice to meet you, my name is Chucky.' The elderly man replied, 'Nice to meet you Chucky, my name is Richard King.' My son then said, 'It's nice to meet you Mr. King!' He replied, 'Mr. King was my fathers name call me Richard.' Chucky turned around and said, 'okay it's nice to meet you Mr. Richard!'

Day after day my son would go over there to hang out with Mr. Richard. I felt horrible that my son kept bothering this man while he was out there trying to enjoy his life-in peace no less. I walked across the street and his daughter met me at the beginning of the driveway and right away I started to apologize for Chucky being over there everyday and bothering them especially her dad. She said that he wasn't bothering them at all and as a matter of fact her dad enjoyed having him come over. I was a little shocked to hear that come out of her mouth and yet wondering what they were doing out there. I walked into the garage and got my answer. My son loved going over to hang out with Mr. Richard because there were amazing paintings, furniture, toys and other inventions throughout the garage. Mr. Richard was a prolific artist, he took up water coloring in his 70's(self-taught). He invented hundreds of products and games and built many pieces of furniture. This is where it gets a little interesting even though he was in his late 80's I realized he wasn't an 'old man.' He was a kid at heart! He started kayaking when he was 60, bought his first computer at 78 and 89 when he decided it was time to get a cell phone. He enjoyed reading books and ultimately bought a Kindle.

Chucky would be outside selling snow cones. Wouldn't get a single customer until Mr. Richard came out to check the mail. He bought one even though he had diabetes and sat and talked out in the blazing heat until he finished his conversation and his snow cone. He came out when Chucky learned to ride his bike and was just as proud of him as I was, clapping and cheering him on. He would come out and watch him do his fireworks on the Fourth of July and laugh hysterically at him laughing at the way the lights looked on the houses across the street. You can say that they were friends, they looked out for each other and when one of them didn't see each other for a while one would go over to the others' house to see if everything was alright. They exchanged gifts, letters, smiles and waves.

Ann(his daughter) came over right before Christmas with an annual ham and chocolate chip cookies to thank Chucky for shoveling the snow and bringing up the garbage can on Thursday's. She informed me that her mom still has her good days and bad days but that Mr. Richard wasn't doing very good. I let Chucky know that Mr. Richard wasn't feeling so well; he headed straight over to see for himself what was going on. In Mr. Richard fashion he got up and 'entertained' my son with his stories of his trip to Hawaii for his 90th birthday, his latest paintings and plans for his next invention. Chucky came home and said that Mr. Richard is doing great, he was making plans for his next invention, he did a new painting and that they made plans to hang out in a few days.

Tuesday morning there was a knock at the front door, it was Ann. She came to inform us that Mr. Richard had died in his sleep on Friday from congestive heart failure. It was extremely hard for me to keep my composure in her time of need as she explained that she was the one that found him, that her mom is having a hard time with it and isn't making any sense with her Alzheimer's. My heart was in the pit of my stomach and the only thing I kept thinking about was, 'How am I going to tell Chucky that his friend has died?' Chucky has dealt with a lot of death in his short life(Great Grandma Shirley died and my friend from middle school lost two of her boys in a flash flood, one's body still hasn't been found and a few others) I didn't want to have to tell him again that another one of his friends has died.

As I waited for Chucky to come home from school, I tried to plan how I was going to tell him and when the time came for me to tell him word for word what I had planned to say, I couldn't. He asked me if Mr. Richard came out to check his mail yet and as he waited for my reply he said in a panic, 'What's wrong with Mr. Richard mom?" I had tears in my eyes by this time and Chucky just started to sob. 'Why do people have to die mom?' 'Why does God have to take them when they aren't ready to go yet?' I grabbed him and hugged him, he held me so tight and just cried.

Chucky asked me to take him to the store so he could pick out a card for the King Family and he picked out a great card and wrote this on the inside of the card:

Dear King Family,
I am sorry to hear about the passing of Mr. Richard. Even though there was an age difference he was my friend, we understood each other. I remember bringing him Otter Pops when he was working in the garage and running home from school to see what he was working on or waving from across the street. He was an amazing man and I am grateful and thankful that I got to know him.
Kindly,
Chucky

Mr. Richard didn't want a memorial service, he donated his body to the University of Utah so they could further their advances in medical technology, he painted one last portrait and read his last book on his Kindle.
He is going to be missed dearly by not only his family but by ours as well.


                                  In Memory of Mr. Richard
                               June 2, 1920-January 14, 2011

What a weekend!

I have a lot tons of homework during the week and on the weekends so I didn't think it would be possible to get anything other then homework done, but I did! I got to do some crafting! I made this frame for a friend of a friend who had a baby girl named Summer hence the S.
I hope my instructions aren't to confusing!

Items used:
picture frame
paint- colors of your choosing
scrapbook paper, paper
mod podge
buttons, flowers, ribbon etc.
E-9000
distresser inkpad
old newspaper
Step 1:
Paint frame, I used Folk Art in Antique White & Coffee Bean
Step 2:
Cut your paper to fit your cardboard that came with your frame.
Step 3:
Mod Podge your paper to your cardboard *make sure you smooth your bubbles out before it dries*
Step 4:
Dry brush your accent color onto your frame
Step 5:
Cut out the initial or name- just make sure it fits in your frame!
Step 6:
Put your ribbon right in the center of the two pieces of paper that don't line up. You could also make one more prominent then the other one if you would like.
Step 7:
Add your flower or other accent. I took the stem off, but left the plastic piece on the bottom of the flower on, I just flipped it upside down, I also removed the other parts of the flower, applied E-9000 to the bottom plastic piece and then the other flowers.{a little goes a loooong way} I then added my button and placed a couple of heavy books ontop to weigh it down.
Step 8: Optional
Distress your paper.
Step 9:
Place it back into your frame.
Step 10:
Enjoy your work!

I didn't stop there- I made some Mod Podged clothes pins!

Items used:
clothes pins
scrapbook paper, old newspaper, etc.
mod podge
exacto knife
distressed inkpad
sand paper
sponge brush
E-9000-to apply magnets
magnets{optional}
old news paper-to work on.

Step 1:
I traced the outline of the clothes pin onto the scrap paper.{this is helpful when you have a pattern.}
Step 2:
Cut out the pattern of the clothes line with your exacto knife.
Step 3:
Put a little mod podge onto your clothes pin{a little goes a long way & you want them to dry sometime today!}
Step 4:
Add your paper to the clothes pin right on top of the mod podge and make sure you smooth it out and align it.{make it straight}
Step 5:
When they are dry- use your nail file or sand paper to make the edges so they aren't so "thick" when you look at them from the side.
Step 6:
Distress them with your ink pad
Step 7:
Add another layer of Mod Podge
Step 8:
Allow to dry & if you would like now is the time to add your magnets.
Step 9:
Admire your work!


Now onto what Chucky has been up to this weekend:

He got a new bike about 2 weeks ago and has been riding non stop;}
The first day he got it, he rode into a garbage can and was freaking out that he wrecked his bike!

Well needless to say, that was not the wreck he should have been worried about. He had an awful wreck when the friend he was riding with suddenly stopped. Chucky had no time to stop and hit right into the back of him and flew off of his bike skidding accross the black top! The whole right side of his body has road-rash!

My Little Man...

So for my photography class I had to take a portrait style picture from different angles. I took so many and couldn't decide on just one, so I sent my professor two and these are the two that I sent. What do you think?

Science Fair...

So lastnight was the anticipated science fair. Chucky was nervous{which he should have been} because I told him to review all of the papers so he would know what to say if the juges asked him a question about "his" project. He read them all in less than 10 minutes and it took me more than 4-5 hours to write all of that stuff!
This science fair was a little different than some that I had been to, there were no judges walking around judging projects, only parents thinking that their childs project was better than all of them combined. Let me tell you, there were some amazing projects. {I honestly don't think that I was the only parent who did the science fair.} So here are some photos of Chucky{sorry that some of them are so close, I had to crop out his partner and another child because I did not get their parents consent to post pictures of their children on my blog and I also had to crop out Chucky's name on my the sceince fair award.

I guess there were more exciting things happening then looking at the camera!

When we were on our way home he told me:

Chucky: I am so glad that's over mom, I was so nervous and thought I was going to throw up.

Me: Well, I am so glad that you didn't throw up.

Chucky: Mom?

Me: Yeah?

Chucky: I love you!

Me: I love you too!

At least we both agree on one thing- We are both glad that's over!!!

Science Fair Drama....

Okay, so my the science fair project turned out great, I finished it up lastnight with little to no help from Chucky. Strike that he helped me make molds of fossils in the plaster of paris. The person that I feel bad for is his partner, he called everyday and even came over to work on the science fair project but Chucky wasn't feeling it.
This was the conversation betweeen me and Chucky for the month of March.

Me: Chucky, when are you going to get started on your project?

Chucky: Well not right now.

Me: Okay then about when do you think you can fit your science fair project into your busy schedule?

Chucky: In a few minutes, as soon as I am done on the COMP{computer} MOM!!

Me: What are you doing on the COMP, looking up science fair stuff?

Chucky: Um, Yeah science fair stuff.

Me: Okay well like I told you, I am not going to do your project for you, so don't come to me on Sunday night expecting me to do this for you.

Chucky: I know, I will do it myself, like I need your help!

A couple of days later...

Me: Hey bud, how's your science fair project going?

Chucky: Good!

Me: Okay so what do you have for your project so far?

Chucky: Well, um, huh?

Me: What do you have for your science fair project so far, what is your question, hypothesis?

Chucky: Um, hmmm fossils?

Me: Oh good, so what is your question?

Chucky: How are fossils formed.

Me: Do you know how fossils are formed?

Chucky: DUH! from dead plants and animals that have lived millions and millions of years ago and turned into rocks which are petrified fossils.

Me: Well your right, but there is a lot more to it than just them dying and turning into a "rock" so you need to get on the COMP and look it up to see how they are formed.

Chucky: I know mom, you don't have to tell me all of the time. You are treating me like a baby! I am in the 4th grade now, I am a big boy, I don't need you to keep reminding me!

Me: Alright then, I won't keep reminding you if you show me that you are actually working on your science fair project. Okay?

Chucky: Okay!

A couple of days later....

Me: Chucky, how is your science fair project coming along?

Chucky: Good, why?

Me: Because March 29th is right around the corner.

Chucky: I know, I know!

NOTE: All of the backround work was already done all he had to do was read some of it and make a science fair project.

Me: Why don't you just get it done and out of the way so you don't have to keep hearing me tell you to do your project?

Chucky: I am going to get it done mom, I just want to do it on my own without you bothering me all of the time.

The next day...

Me: Hey bud, how was school?

Chucky: Good!

Me; What did you learn today?

Chucky: Nothing.

ring ring ring

Chucky: I got it!

Chucky: Hey mom?

Me: What?

Chucky: Can my best friend come over?

Me: No!

Chucky: Why?

Me: Because you have to work on your science fair project.

Chucky: That's what we are going to do, we are partners.

Me: Really, since when?

Chucky: Since the beginning, when we first found out that we had to do a science fair project.

Me: Well why didn't you tell me?

Chucky: I did tell you, but you probably forgot because your old.

Me: Yeah he can come over but there are going to be a few rules that you have to follow.

Chucky: She said yeah you can come over, but bring your papers so she thinks that we are working on our science fair project.

Me: Chucky, come here please.

Chucky: What do you want now mom. We are going to work on our science fair project don't worry about it mom, I got it all under control!

Me: Here's the rules, you have to work on your project, no computer, no video games, and no playing, got it?

Chucky: Yeah, but we have to get on the computer because we have to look up stuff on the computer!

Me: No you don't, because all of the information that you need is already printed out for you, you just need to go through all of those papers and figure out which stuff goes with your question, figure out if you and your partner have the same hypothesis, who is going to do what- split up the work, you do some and he'll do some, and then answer your question, on a different day we will get the molds done and write up the conclusion, and put everything on your board. Okay?

Chucky: Okay, but what if we get it done, can we play?

Me: That's a lot of work, I don't think that you will have enough time to play.

Chucky: But if we get done can we play, huh mom?

Me: We'll see.

His friend comes over and they start to work on their project for about 5 minutes. When they both come upstairs and ask if they are done and if they can go play now.
I gave them list of things to do, I told them to break up all of the work, what work each of them was going to do and to figure out what work they were going to do together. 5 minutes later, we are done now can we go play now? Um no, what do you have done, have you decided who was going to do what, and how you were going to form your experiment and how it was going to go onto the board? Well, uh, no but we will. Okay, well do that, and then get on your project, what do you want in it? Then we can play? 3 minutes later, we are done! I ask them again, did you get this, this, this, and this done? Yeah! Bring me what you have gotten done so I can take a look at it to make sure that you are on the right track. Okay.
They brought me the few sentences on a piece of paper and the stack of info that I printed off of the computer and took off.

The next day....

Me: Hey bud, how was school?

Chucky: Fine.

Me: Just fine, did you learn anything fun today?

Chucky: Yeah, we learned about volcanos, rocks, soil, fossils and other elements.

Me: WOW! Really did you like it, was it interesting?

Chucky: Yes, it was really cool, I learned that mountains are formed from volcanos.

Me: Not just from volcanos, but from wind and rain and other elements to.

Chucky: Like what?

Me: Well the earth shifts and moves and with the rain and wind it will form a mountain.

Chucky: How do you know mom?

Me: I learned it in school.

Chucky: Cool!

Me: I need you to come up her so that we can work on your science fair project.

Chucky: I already told you, that I am going to work on it by myself with my partner.

Me: Well that would be fine if you were actually working on it, but your not. Please get your stuff and bring it here.

Chucky: Why, I don't want to right now, later!

Me: I am not going to sit here any longer and listen to that, because I have given you every chance to do this project on your own and you haven't even started it.

Chucky: Yes I have, just because you can't see it, doesn't mean that I am not working on my project.

Me: Okay, but we are still going to get some of this done, because I am not going to be starting and finishing this project on Sunday night!

Chucky: GOSH MOM, WHY ARE YOU SO MEAN!!

Me: I am not mean, I am your mom. I want you to succeed, and in order for you to succeed, you have got to do your science air project.

Chucky: I don't want to do it! I am not going to do it!

Me: It's a little to late, you already told your teacher that you are going to do the science fair and your not going to quit because you don't want to do a little work to get the "reward." Plus you have a partner, you can't let your partner down. You know what, you just need to call your partner right now and tell him that he needs to do his own project, because your not responsible and you don't want to do the work.
His eyes went crazy, he was looking all over the place and he started to cry.

Me: What's wrong, why are you crying?

Chucky: I'm not crying, I have something in my eye.

Me: Okay, well when you get whatever is in your eye out, you need to call your partner and tell him that your not doing the science fai because your lazy and don't want to do the work.

Chucky: NO! I am not going to calll him and tell him that, because I am going to do the project, I just don't want to do it right now.

Me: Well you don't get to pick and choose when you get to do it because then it won't get done.

Me: DO you thik that you can do a little everyday?

Chucky: Yes.

Me: Okay then, as soon as we are done with this, you can do your other homework and then we will work on a little more tomorrow.

As the deadline got closer and closer he got a little scared, but not scared enough to do the board himself!

Will it Ever End?

So my son is ten years old now; I have never heard someone back talk their mother as much as he does me. I have tried so many things, grounding him, taking away things, and talking to him about it, and still NoThInG, no change. So if anyone has any information on how to stop this or get through it please let me know ASAP!!
I am so tired of it that I am ready to give him away until this passes:) LOL

My 10 Year Old

Has it really been 10 years?????

 Yesterday was my sons tenth birthday, wow just thinking that ten years ago today I had my son, and if you read my other post you will know why this is a great day not only for me but for my son also. He decided not to have a party this summer he wanted to go to Boondocks  instead, which was fine with me all the money spent on a party was spent on the two of us hanging out and having some fun. All day long he asked me if I got him a present and I kept telling him yeah we went to Boondocks remeber, knowing that he already knew that and just asked for one present, an xbox game. I acted like I didn't get him anything, and he looked really sad,( I will post pictures later this week). When I brought down the present for him to open he again looked really sad, maybe because I wrapped it in a shirt box with plastic bags on top and all around the sides so that it sounded like a shirt wrapped inside of tissue paper. When he finally got the wrapping paper off nad took out alll of the plastic sacks, his eyes lit up and he got one of the biggest smiles on his face. I just know that I have counted them all down, one minute, one hour, one day,one year, two years, five years, and ten years I won't stop counting because we were not counting on these moments, these years, these birthdays and we've got em so who am I to complain!!!!

SOS.... HoMeWoRk for my fourth grader....

I just don't ever remember hating homework, and school for that matter as much as my son does. I have tried many things with him to get him interested, charts and prizes, grounding him.  He is smart but he just acts like this has nothing to do with him. I have tried to telling him that he cannot be a cop when hegets older because they have to know math and reading, yet he still doesn't care.I am hoping that someone in blog land might be able to help me with my never ending torment... Homework!!!
Please send help soon!!!

Am I getting ancient??

Today I tried to help my son set up his own blog, well he actually said " never mind mom." So I was like ok, and couldn't understand why, well he didn't want to wait for me to set it up, so he went down stairs on the other computer and set it up himself. It took me a while to figure out how to do mine, but just like my last post said, he set up his own you tube account and posted his own videos. Yep that's right, he can do all of it with his eyes closed and me it takes a lot of trial and error. I am really proud of him for being up to date with all of technical stuff yet I am upset that I am not!!

My son the computer genius

Today my son got out his video camera that he got a couple of years ago from santa and started to make his own movie. Let me tell you that this camera is nothing special really, well I guess it is to maybe a two year old who really wanted it, the picture is actually pretty good, the sound is pretty good and did I also mention it takes pictures. Anyway he and my mother tried to put it on you tube and couldn't get it on there, well after a little while and some poking around he figured it out on his own, he is so proud of himself as am I and my mother, because we couldn't figure it out. It turned out quiet well, even though he set the camera on top of the alarm clock, on top of two other boxes and was filming the t.v. with the sound on while he was giving his own comentary..... it turned out great for a first time filmmaker!!! Watch my blog because I might have some of his movies on here, so keep checking back!!!! To see his video check out you tube and look for mydogtre videos.

Lost Tooth

This morning I went to wake up Tyse to get ready to go to summer day camp. This morning like most mornings he doesn't want to get up. His excuse for this morning was that he had a loose tooth and didn't want to loose it at camp (he didn't even mention the obvious sore throat).
So I dropped him off at the movie theater with the other campers and his $2.00 for a kids pack, which consists of a small popcorn, small soda and a candy of their choosing. I go to pick him up at noon and he comes over to me with a small popcorn box and an empty cup, I ask him if he had fun and if he spent all of his money, he tells me no that another boys father paid for his kids pack as long as he would sit by his son at the movie. So I told him that he needs to give his money to the father who paid for his kids pack and he tells me that he doesn't have it anymore, that he spent it on another small popcorn and told me he only has 2 quarters left and that he wouldn't have been able to afford the kids pack anyway because they raised the price to .50. I said oh ok well I will give him the money when we see him again on Monday. I told Tyse to throw away the cup and the half empty box of popcorn, he didn't seem to hear me so I walked over and threw it away in the garbage can, and we headed out the door. We see the father of the boy who Tyse sat by at the show and he asked where his son was and Tyse said that he was in a different van and would be here in a second, so we start to walk out into the pouring rain and Tyse asks me where the cup is and I tell him that I threw it away, he started to cry and I asked him what was wrong and he told me that he lost his tooth and that it was in the cup.

Favorite Food

So everything was going as normal as it could until about dinner, I took my son to one of his favorite places to eat; we order and head home, we pulled into the driveway and he offers to help bring the food in while I grab the groceries out of the back (I try to take the help when it is given). So we come in the house and I put the groceries on the counter and he is in a hurry to put his shoes away, wash his hands and get his food to eat and puts the bag on the edge of the counter and the bag drops, spilling out fries all over the floor. He starts screaming " I am an idiot, I can't even put a bag of food on the counter, I am such an idiot. I am kinda chuckling because it wasn't a big deal to me, but was obviously one to him. So we got all of the fries cleaned up off of the floor, I told him to get his t.v. tray and all of the sudden over the vacuum I hear him hitting hisself in the head with this t.v. tray and I tell him you better stop or your going to be a bruised idiot, to just try and lighten the mood, well it worked for a little bit until he sat down to start eating and he realized that he had a loose front tooth and that it was hard to take a bite of his favorite food.