home movies

How many of us actually take the time to watch old home movies? We video hours of precious memories and then they sit on a shelf for years and years. Well, thanks to our oldest son Shawn, we have been watching those old home movies. I am telling you, they are hysterical! I swear I don't remember experiencing half of what we're watching! Probably because most of the time I was tired, overwhelmed or completely unaware the camera was even rolling! But here's the blessing... my kids think I was the most fun Mom ever. Well, of course I was, we were filming birthday's, Christmas, talent shows, vacations, church events. Little do they remember what happened when the cameras were turned off! Ha! But hey, I will take what they remember and thank God these videos show my better side.

But here's what I know for sure as I watch these home movies...
Shawn & Miranda had crazy, vivid imaginations...pretending to be Batman & Cat Woman, Vanilla Ice and MC Hammer dancers, and the Roxettes singing "Joyride", to name just a few. (can we all agree that "Joyride" is the best song ever!)
They sang constantly, all day long. Miranda, by age 3, knew every Disney song ever written!
They used strange materials to express their artist flare. Tyler would put Playtex gloves on his feet and pretend to be a dinosaur.
They embodied whomever they pretended to be. Miranda believed she was Briar Rose and would sing "I know you, I walked with you once upon a dream..." while picking berries in our backyard and she was only 2 years old.
I tried real hard not to impose my insecurities onto my kids. Picture this, Tyler insistent on wearing a three-piece bonded knit suit on picture day when he was in the first grade. He was James Bond all summer and would wear that suit riding bike in 112 degree temps! Well, he wore the suit that day, even though we told him that kids may tease him. He didn't care in the least, but Randy & I worried all day till he got home and said "ya, kids laughed but that's ok".
And just how authentic did they get? Well, one day our neighbor called asking if we knew that we had a "sniper" on our roof. Umm yes, that would be our Tyler.
Oooh, gotta share a story... several years ago we spent a week with two other families at the beach in San Diego. Tyler literally packed every Army Ranger/ Sniper costume and every single gun he owned. One day we heard helicopters over our condo... yes, Tyler was out on the Bell Tower dressed as a sniper, all in black, with enough arsenal to scare anyone witless! Randy had to climb out on the roof and wave the the helicopters off. True story!
Oh and who can forget the commercials they recited over and over... my favorite "come on in, take a seat, I'm gonna tell ya what the big boys eat. Name is Wheaties, crunchy wheat, and now you know what the big boys eat. Hello milk, come on in, jump in berries, have a swim. Wheaties, Wheaties, crunchy wheat, now go tell your Mama, what the big boys eat!" Bring back any memories?
And last but not least... Tyler (age 3) telling us on camera that he wants to be "a corn, a dinosaur and a Cool Whip Man" when he grows up. Let me explain... we were sooo excited when we picked the sweet corn we had grown, that I think he must have thought, "then I want to be one!" He lived and breathed dinosaurs... enough said. And the Cool Whip Man, well, he would see this big, white, fluffy monster-looking character at the grocery store and... well, go figure.
Isn't it true though? Kids say and do the darnedest things.