Another marble in the jar...if we had a marble jar

My in-laws have a neat thing that they do, to remind them of all the good days they have. They have a jar that they fill with marbles. For every good day they have, they drop a marble in the jar. The end result is a jar full of marbles, representing some great memories. Yesterday would have warranted a marble in the jar. Since we don't have a jar - I'll do my best to preserve the good day by blogging instead. Not as colorful, but it'll do. :)

The boys have been really great lately. They've really shown a lot of maturity and responsibility around the house. They both have chores that need to be done each day, and for a long time now, they've completed the chores with great attitudes and helpful hearts. Michael and I were talking about how we needed to give them a bonus (they get a monthly allowance) to reward them for such great behavior. After chatting about it for a bit, we decided that it'd be fun to take them to the skating rink with their friends. Both boys have been talking for some time that they'd like to go, so we thought it'd be a great reward for such great behavior.

A couple weeks ago, we told the boys of our plans to take them to Super Skate. We figured we could fit about 8 extra kids in both of our cars, so we told them that they could each invite 4 friends to come along. After talking to their friends, it looked like most of them couldn't make it (we didn't have much notice for them to make plans for it), so it looked like it was going to be a small turnout. That Thursday, Jake sprained his ankle, so we had to postpone our skating session for a few weeks.

Postponing the outing actually worked in the boys favor. We were able to make plans a bit earlier, and send out "invites" to their friends. At first, we didn't get much of a response, and to tell you the truth, I was a bit worried that the boys would be disappointed in their reward. What fun is it to go roller skating with just your mom and dad? Finally, on Friday we got several calls from parents letting us know that their child would be joining us. All in all, we had 2 of Jake's friends come, and 4 of Chris' friends come.

We got to Super Skate right at the 10:00 starting time. At first, we were the only group there. It was great! Eventually, another small group joined us, but it was far from crowded. The boys had a blast - and both skated really well! (It was Chris' first time roller skating). The skate session lasted from 10:00 to noon, and in that time there was lots and lots of goofiness going on! We got to hear all kinds of kids music too (I'm not sure if the DJ noticed that all the kids were under the age of 10 or not, but he played a lot of "Disney" songs...Crazy Frog and Chipmunks led the pack.) I didn't skate at all, and manned our video camera, but Michael did end up getting a pair of skates and cruised the rink with the boys. It worked out really well to have him out there, to help some of the kids who didn't know how to skate so well.

At the end of the session, the boys were all sweaty and disappointed that the session was coming to an end. Some of the parents came to pick up their boys, and some of the kids were to ride home with us. We loaded up our Durango to the fullest, and headed over to Wendy's to grab some lunch with the boys riding with us. We took up 3 tables at Wendy's (could have fit into 2 - but who wants their parents sitting with them when they're out with their friends?), and thanked God for the dollar menu! We all ate, and the boys giggled all their way through lunch. After lunch, we again loaded the Durango with boys, and started the bus route to take everyone home. During the ride, we heard lots of jokes about body functions, and lots of silly noises to go along with the jokes. I was personally relieved to hear that other people's boys joke like this too. :) I do have to say, however, that the boys have done an extremely good job picking out friends. All of their friends are very nice boys, and it was enjoyable to spend time with them all.

After dropping off the last boy, we headed over to a cell phone store to change over our cell phone plans. We've been talking about it for some time, and decided that now was a good a time as any. After spending a few hours at the cell phone store - picking out phones, setting up a new plan, and asking tons of questions, we all walked out with new phones. Michael's phone is by far the most fun - he got an iPhone. :)

That evening, Michael and the boys ended up going over to our neighbor's house for a game night. They had lots of fun playing Rock Band for the first time. I enjoyed my quiet evening to myself, setting up my contacts in my new phone, and watching my cheesy VH1 shows. :)

We all went to bed last night extremely tired, but extremely happy. It was a truly wonderful day spending time together as a family, and watching the boys with their friends. If we did have that marble jar, I'd have to pick out the most colorful marble to describe the day. A marble that made you smile to look at it, because that's how I felt at the end of the day. It was a great day!