Our Little Movie Star

This was a fun week for Max...he spent Tuesday filming the movie The Bicyclist. It is a 2 year series on the web and a 90 minute film for the big screen has just "wrapped". I learned that lingo on Tuesday! In fact we are invited to a "wrap party" tonight but it is Cory Zaugg's birthday and he is having a party and BBQ at the track that I wouldn't miss for anything!

Ok...back to Max...He spent 9+ hours on Tuesday shooting 8 scenes for the movie and he was amazing! It started out bad. He had to ride a very old school bike with funky handlebars and a banana seat. While he was practicing on the bike he wiped out. I didn't think anything of it until I saw that he was crying. If it was any of my other kids I still wouldn't think anything, but Max doesn't cry!

He was really hurt. He had blood dripping off his elbow and a scrape at least 8 inches long and 3 inches wide, which is pretty much his whole arm. His chest was scraped up and the handlebar stabbed into his thigh leaving one of those really deep bruises. He still hurts and it has been a couple of days.

So after he was cleaned up and his nerves settled, they figured he wouldn't be able to work. But his Dad's genes started to kick in because he worked hard the rest of the day. He shot each scene like a champ. Some of the scenes he had to do over 50 times. One of them was done with bare feet on a gravel driveway. He had a cuts between his toes from the kickstand and the soles of his feet were cut up. I told him next time he should request a stunt double!

Natalie, his 8 year old co-star was really cute and a bit fiesty. In order to act out the movie he said he just pretended she was Kimberly Jordan. She had learned how to ride a bike last week. When he was shooting the scene where he saves his bike from being run over by her furious dad, I asked him how he was able to look so scared. He told me he wasn't acting he really was scared. Jayme told him that Howard had learned to drive last week while Natalie was learning to ride. The makeup lady was irritated that I didn't explain to him that they were kidding about Howard, but I figured the motivation was working for him and I would clear it up later.

By the end of the day Natalie had fallen in love with Max (who wouldn't, he is such a charmer) and she kept writing "I love Max" in the gravel. I told him it was so awesome that at only 8 years old he was already an action star with a love story! He just smiled.

A night to remember

If you want to read a good story, then check out Stacey Wolfe's blog. I have it posted on the right of the screen it is the oregon wolfe pack blog.
I didn't want to steal her thunder and write about it before her, but we had a very exciting night out on the river with her family. Let's just say my "date night" with Josh has not been quite so exciting as it was this night. You know when you have to call the babysitter and warn her that you will be picking up kids, but you don't have any pants on....well, it's going to be a good story! Have a fun read! Thank you Stacey for posting it!

Fun Website

I was playing on a cool website it is http://wordle.net/
I think I love it...or it could be that I love not cleaning the floor of our house right now and this is a fun distraction. Anyhow, you type in words or names and it arranges them into a cool work or art! Well maybe not a work of art but it does arrange them pretty cool. I did one with our family names and nicknames (it is on the right). How fun would it be to do a class list or primary kids or family reunion names....hey even a fun homework aid for spelling words!
So if anyone wants to avoid housework and play on a fun website, check this one out!

Where Did This Name Come From

When we talked about buying property in 2002 I told Josh I didn't want to be out in the middle of nowhere. I liked North Plains and maybe a little bit west of there would be good, but I was not that excited to drive kids all over and I really liked how centrally located to everything we were in Hillsboro.

Well, Josh was super excited when he saw a sign with property out in Buxton....Where? I had never heard of it. We proceeded to look into buying it, sold our house, and found out we were buying property from a crazy woman. Not just a little crazy, but a complete loon who is hopefully in a special hospital getting the help she so desperately needs.

So fastforward to two years ago after Josh and Dan created their track...it needed a name. We had talked about a cute name for our property for years...maybe "Merritt Meadows" or something with our initials. We had a couple of ideas but nothing ever stuck and none of them seemed right. Then we remembered the crazy lady that wanted to live in the "Bunk house" down on the other side of the creek for a year for free...yes, she tried to live with squirels and mice in a shack that had a microwave two feet from a toilet, I told you she was crazy! So we decided to go with Crazy Acres because that part of the property was coveted by a crazy lady.

Dan thought it was Crazy Lady Acres for a day or so and I am pretty sure he might think I am the crazy lady and not the freak we bought the house from. I immediately set him straight, but who knows what Josh says behind my back.

Anyhow, in my mind the crazy is for the previous owner and not me.

Anyhow, that was how the name came to be and it cracks me up that we went to dinner a few weeks back and guy asked Josh if he was the owner of "Crazy Acres". It just seems so silly! And then there are days that just seem so crazy around our house. That I am convinced that the name totally fits, not just for a moto cross track but for a family mission statement or something. I don't know how we could thrive in this environment if we were not all a little crazy in the head!

This is a pic from Aug. it was a fundraiser for a young man who was paralyzed from a crash. It was a fun day.It was called "a ride for Paul" and they earned about $5,000 for his medical needs so it was a success. My boys loved the big Monster truck that was there. Max won a case of Monster drinks and about had a heart attack trying to down them before I could take them away.

I Didn't Cry...

I was feeling a bit like a bad mom last week. I got my boys to school on Tuesday and my girls went on Wednesday. I left the school with dry eyes. Mary was content...no happy to see me leave. She was so ready for kindergarten. I felt a little bit annoyed that she could just wave goodbye and send me off without a so much as "I'll miss you mom".

So with my dry eyes I went to the gym, Costco, Target, and a few other places. I came home and got things put away and did some laundry and dishes and still now tears. The kids came home with reports on friends and teachers and I was happy for them. Then I started to hear about other moms and what a hard day it was to see kids off. Then I remembered seeing parents tearing up as I bolted from the school to run my errands...I must be a horrible mom. I thought about it all weekend...and felt really bad for not missing my kids.

Then I thought about the last two weeks of vacation... they all quit listening to me and would not pick up anything! I was relieved that for 6 hours the floor I have to clean could have a break from their stuff. The sink would not be filled with 5 cups each and two straws for each glass of choc. milk! I was thrilled to be able to drive past McDonald's and not hear crying from the back seat for happy meals or ice cream cones. So I decided it was normal that I didn't cry or feel sad, and if they had been more helpful then maybe I would be a better (more tearful) mom.

Then today came and I didn't get kids up on time so I had to drive the younger 3 to school. Mary cried because she didn't want to go...and then started to feel bad. Why didn't she want to go? Was someone mean to her? Was she being ignored? I started asking her a million questions and started telling her all the boring stuff I was going to do today. School would be way more fun that boring ole' mom. Then she told me she just didn't want to leave me. She wanted me to be there with her today. She asked if I could stay and then I did start to tear up and cry. I think when I saw how confident she had been the last week it was easier to wave goodbye and leave, but seeing her so unsure and hearing her worry about not finding her classroom, and knowing that she did still need me...made me just break down as I drove off.

So now I don't know if that makes me a good mom or not. Was it better to leave with dry eyes and fake assurance that I wasn't needed? I don't know but at least now when people ask if I cried when Mary went off to kindergarten at least I can honestly say I did!

School is in!!!

So for the first time I am home all day without kids...they are all in school!

Mary started kindergarten today and goes all day for 3 days a week. She woke up and was worried she had missed the bus. Then after going to the bathroom 3 times...as soon as the bus rounded the corner she had to go again. She was more than a little nervous. I drove to the school to meet the bus and then ate breakfast with her, Mitch, and Max. Mitch is in 5th grade this year and Max is in 3rd grade.

Megan is a Junior!!! How crazy is that! She is starting to think about colleges and what she wants to do. She was anxious to get to school and get some classes changed around. Her and Mitch are my basketball players so we have a few months before that starts but Max is doing football this fall and Mary is signed up for soccer....but we don't know if it is going to work out. She claims that the coach was very rude to her and she might not be able to play. I was there and unfortunately the coach didn't get the memo that Mary rules most things she does and when Mary tried to change up the coaches plans it didn't work. So now she doesn't know if she can play. I almost laughed out loud when the coach sweetly told her she didn't have to do the drill she could sit with me until she was ready to play. Mary's jaw dropped and then her little fists balled up and she was off the field and ready to go home. So I guess we will work on being a team player. She had the same reaction on Monday. She came running to me with tears and said the kids were beng rude to her (her favorite phrase if she doesn't get her way). I asked her how and she said they wouldn't let her have 5 turns on the rope swing! Imagine that! I am afraid to find out who was rude to her at school...

Lucky for us the other kids are not as dramatic.....ok never mind they are all that dramatic who am I kidding!