Family Movie Night (Day at the Pool, cont.)
Updated: April 18th, 2018 Corrected grammar/spelling mistakes, etc. Also changed JJ's speech pattern.
Extra kids are Emily's extended family. Names with an asterisk (*) are adopted kids.
Joseph and Terry Clarence-Prentiss. James' brother and sister-in-law. They have 1 child.
Damien Robert: 6 years old.
Jon and Eloise Keller. Elizabeth's sister and brother-in-law. They have 3 kids; 1 bio, 2 adopted.
Ashtyn: 6 years old.
*Lyndsey: 6 years old. -twin.
*Hannah: 6 years old. -twin.
Bold, italic, underlined are words in sign language and being spoken.
Bold and italic are words in sign language.
Notes: Bonus points if you can tell me what episode of Scooby-Doo I am describing below! ;)
*Later that afternoon. Around 4:30 p.m.*
That afternoon, James sets up the grill for dinner that. Jenny, Emily, and the others are currently in the den, watching a movie. The movie won't be too long, just a VCR tape of Scooby-Doo with about four episodes on it. By the time James gets the hamburgers made, the hot dogs laid out and all the condiments, buns, plates, etc. put out, then the video will be over with.
The kids will then spend the time James is cooking outside catching fireflies.
"Emmy, look!" He hears Jenny squeal from the living room. "Shaggy is silly!" He imagines the little girl is using sign language since he didn't hear what she said after she squealed "Emmy!"
James has noticed that JJ has a lot of trouble with her speech. He wonders if he should bring up the subject with Michael and Sandy at JJ's next doctor's appointment or, since that is a while away, if he should bring it up more as "James Prentiss" than as "Dr. Prentiss". He knows JJ picks up very quickly on sign language, so he knows that she will be able to communicate with that when she can't with words.
He decides not to worry about it and instead will wait to see if Michael, Sandy, or even Emily, says anything about it.
"Yeah!" Elizabeth agrees. "He's alllwaays scared of stuff and Scooby is always jumpin' in his arms!"
"He's just a big fraidy cat," Emily tells them, grinning. The kids watch as Shaggy is on a little boat making a sandwich. Freddie is driving and Daphne and Velma are talking to each. Scooby steals Shaggy's sandwich and the kids all giggle.
"Scooby is so silly!" Margaret says. "He's always stealin' Shaggy's sandwiches and pizzas." They watch for a couple more minutes, and then,
"Oh, no! Look! A storm!" Maddie points to the TV, playing it up for the younger kids. "And look! They crashed onto an island. I wonder what's going to happen?"
"Oh! I know!" Elizabeth says. "There's probably gonna be a ghost or a monster, and Scooby is gonna get scared and jump into Shaggy's arms!"
They all watch as Scooby finds something, a piece of a map maybe and runs back to the gang. He skids to a stop, covering everyone with sand.
"Silly, Scooby!" Jenny giggles. Freddie takes the paper and reads it. The gang decides to go check out the castle.
"Oh! Scooby and Shaggy are going to be scared!" Rosaline says, also playing it up for the younger kids.
"Scooby and Shaggy are silly!" Margo says.
The gang goes into the castle. After a while, they find a key. And Freddie makes a plan to catch the "ghost".
"Oh, I hope this plan works," Elijah says. "I would hate for the ghost to keep scaring people away from that big 'ole castle, wouldn't you, Jenny?" He tickles his baby sister's stomach, making her giggle.
"Yeah! Dab ghost!" Jenny wages her finger at the screen with her 'mad' face on.
The kids watch the rest of the episodes, and the others, laughing and giggling at Scooby and Shaggy, and how silly they are.
*Around 5:30 p.m.*
Halfway through the movie, James realizes he not only needs more hamburger meat, as a couple of his brothers, sister-in-laws, and nieces and nephews are coming over, but it also too light out for the fireflies.
He heads to the living room where he finds the kids all gathered around the coffee table. Emily has her binder out, the one with her sign language cards in it, and open on the table.
"Hey, honey, I am going to run down to the supermarket before it closes and grab some more food. Uncle Joey and Aunt Terry, and Uncle Jon and Aunt Eloise are bringing the kids by for dinner."
Emily nods. "Okay."
"Will you and Ben go upstairs and make sure the bedrooms are ready? You need to make sure the guest rooms' beds are made and that the bathrooms have towels and soap in them, and then you can make sure the room with bunk beds down in the basement is ready."
"Okay, Dad. Come on, Ben; let's go get the rooms ready. TJ, will you watch the kids?"
"Sure, Em. I bet I can teach them some sign language while you and Benson are getting ready for your company."
"Okay, thanks." Emily stands up, going to Benson and flicking his ear.
"Hey! What was that for?" He grumbles.
"I told you to come on. You know how Uncle Jon is if we don't have everything ready." Benson jumps up and follows Emily.
"We can do girls vs. boys, you know, minimize how many rooms are used," Benson suggests as they leave the living and wind through the kitchen and dining room to the staircase.
"Yeah, we can probably do that. But, we'll need to do older girls vs. younger girls, and older boys vs. younger boys, so the teenagers don't have to stay with the little kids." The two come across a room and they begin getting situated.
After about 10 minutes of getting the rooms situated and making sure the beds and bathrooms have fresh linen, Emily and Ben head back downstairs.
"Emmy!" Jenny squeals. Emily sits down beside her and pulls the preschooler into her lap.
"Let's see how many signs I can teach you before our guests get here," Emily says. She looks around at the group of kids. Jenny in her lap, the twins on either side of her, Rosaline and Maddie are sharing the Lay-Z-Boy recliner, and TJ, Eli, and Ben are on the couch.
"Ben, you can teach Maddie and Rosa if they want to learn. I'll teach the twins, Eva and Jenny." The girls gather around Emily and she decides to start with the easiest: baby sign language.
After the groups split up, Emily begins with the basic signs: family.
"Okay, guys. Listen closely. I am going to do a sign, then I will tell you what it is, then I will do it again." Emily holds up a hand, with all five fingers out, and taps her chin with her thumb. She does this twice before saying, "Mommy. This is the sign for Mommy."
"Now, I want everyone to try. Hold up a hand, then tap your chin with your thumb." Emily demonstrates again, this time with Jenny joining in. The preschooler eagerly shows that she knows it, adding in an enthusiastic,
"Muh-me!"
"Good job, Love. Now, I want to see everyone try this sign." Emily watches as the twins and Eva copy her. "Good job, guys. That's correct. Now, let's move on to Daddy." Emily once again holds her hand up and then taps her forehead. "This is the sign for Daddy." Emily does it a couple times before she has the others do it.
"Next is Sister." Emily shows the sign and the twins and Eva do it. Then she moves on to brother.
"Now, are the signs for Aunt and Uncle."
"I want everyone to make a fist, just like this." Emily starts out. She makes a fist, with her thumb laying flat on top.
"Now, make a small circle close to your cheek. But, do not touch your cheek; just bring th fist close to it…Aunt. This is the sign for Aunt." Emily repeats the process, only doing Uncle instead of Aunt.
"Now, for the last of the signs, we are going to learn tonight. Grandmother. This is almost exactly like mommy. You make a hand, put your thumb to your chin and…Jen, do you want to show them?"
Jenny does the sign, thumb to chin, then she moves her thumb and hand away in one motion. "Grandma!"
"Great job! Can everyone do that?" When they copy her, Emily praises them, only having to correct Eliza once. "Next is Grandpa. Eva, I've shown you how to do it already. How about you sign and show the Eliza and Maggie how to say, Grandpa?"
"Okay! First, you make a hand. Like this!" The eight-year-old eagerly shows her new friends. "Then, you take your thumb and put it on your forehead. Then, you make an 'M' in the air. Like this," She brings her hand away from her forehead, in the shape of an 'M'. "Grandpa…Grandpa…Grandpa."
"Oh, that's easy!" Maggie says, copying the sign. Grandpa.
"Great job, everybody," Emily says. "Now you know the signs for mommy, daddy, sister, brother, aunt, uncle, grandma, and grandpa."
Everyone cheers. Emily decides to fill the remaining time with little quizzes and sentences, substituting the pronouns of family members with their signs.
*Later that night. Outside*
James calls them outside and tells them it is dark enough for the fireflies, and they have about half an hour before all the hot dogs and hamburgers are cooked, and the salads, dessert, etc. are made.
"Come on, Love. You wanna go catch some fireflies?" Emily asks the little preschooler.
"Yeah, yeah! Fireflies! Woo-hoo!" Emily smiles at the little's girl's enthusiasm and follows her outside.
The bigger kids all take a couple of the little kids. Emily with Jenny, Rosaline with Eliza, and Elijah with Margo. Maddie goes with Rosaline and Eliza.
"Come on, Maggie!" Elijah calls to his cousin. "Let's see who can catch the fireflies first."
"Okay, Eli! I'm gonna catch them before you do!" Margaret takes off through the Prentiss' large backyard. She jumps up in the air and cups her hands around something. Then she squeals in delight when she sees she actually caught a firefly.
"Eli, look! I caught one!" Maggie runs over to her big cousin, showing him her prize.
"Good job, Mar-Mar! Let's put it in the jar, okay?"
Emily cousins arrive during their hunt for lightning bugs. And after putting their bags away, the kids all race out to the giant backyard.
The kids that showed up are 6-year-old Damien Clarence-Prentiss with his parents, Emily and Benson's Uncle Joseph "Joey" and Aunt Teri.
6-year-old Ashtyn and her adopted, twin 6-year-old sisters, Hannah and Lyndsey Benson-Keller, (Benson often finds it funny one of his family member's last name is his first name) come with their parents, Emily and Benson's Uncle Jon and Aunt Eloise.
Emily immediately notices her Uncle Jon among the adults. She goes over to her dad, where he is standing with her Uncle Joey.
"Dad, can I talk you?" She asks, coming over to the two brothers.
"Hey! There's my favorite girl. How are ya, Em?" Joey asks and she smiles. This is why Emily is teaching JJ sign language; because her family often uses it to communicate also.
"I'm good, Uncle Joey," She turns to her dad. "Dad, I need to know something, and it's very important."
James turns from the grill, taking in Emily's serious look. "O.K.," He says, giving her his full attention. "What is it?"
Emily sighs as she looks behind her. Jenny is surrounded by her cousins. People who love and care deeply for each other. Benson has Jenny on his shoulders and Emily knows, as far as her trust issues and everything goes, that for the little preschooler to allow him to do this, Ben had to show Jenny that he is very respectful of her personal space.
"I need to know what will be done with Uncle Jon if something happens, either with Jenny or one of the little kids. I don't know what's been going on lately, but she's gotten to where she hates to be surprised. She hates for someone to sneak up behind her and pick her up, she needs to be one step ahead, and she's not comfortable with strangers…like, at all."
She sighs, "Look, my point is, I need to know that something will be done if, just in case, Jenny does something. Like, spills her drink, or drops a couple of pieces of her food, and he decides to treat her like he did Alex that one time."
It's silent for a moment and then Joey cuts in before James has a chance too.
"I don't want you to worry one bit, Emily," Joey tells her, putting a hand on her shoulder and looking into her eyes, so he knows she is listening. "I made it clear to Jon that there are going to be plenty of accidents that happen this evening, due to there being a lot of the kids who are under ten, and also with those older than ten." Emily nods.
"And that's all they are going to be: accidents. So I made it clear that he can just leave and go on home if he doesn't want to take a breath and calm himself down before losing his temper and wanting to punish the kids if something happens."
"If Jenny or any of the other kids, young or old, have an accident such as spilling a drink, or messing at the dinner table, he will not be the one that handles it. If it's an accident, then that's all it is. If not, then the appropriate consequences will be handed out." James nods in agreement, putting an arm around Emily.
Emily breathes a sigh a relief at that. She had at least two adults on her side and, more than likely, she'll have all of her older cousins, if not her younger ones as well, on her side.
She nods. "Okay. Thank you…seriously, I want this night to be one Jenny remembers. With school starting and mom dragging me to lunches on the weekends, I'm not sure how many "off" Saturdays and Sundays I'll have." She looks back just in time to see Ben coming over with Jenny on his shoulders and Damien skipping along beside him.
"Hey, Em." He gives a wave.
"Hi, Emmy!" Jenny waves enthusiastically from atop his shoulders.
"Hey, Love. You havin' fun up there?"
"Yeah!"
Damien smiles then turns to Emily. "Emmy, my daddy says there's still time before the sun goes down. Can you and Benny please, please, please take us to the field so we can catch fireflies?"
Emily smiles down at her younger cousin and nods yes to him. "Sure, let's go. Dad, do we need to take the walkies so you can tell us when dinner will be ready?"
"Well, with all the food I'm making, it will most likely be a while. However, you should take them just in case you lose track of time." Emily nods turns back to Ben. The two go over to where Eloise, Teri, and Jon are. Ben tells them the plan and they call for the kids.
"Listen up, everyone. Your cousins Emily and Benson are going out to the field. If you want to go with them, come line up over here." Damien, Lyndsey, Hannah, and Ashtyn run over, and TJ comes over with Margaret on his shoulders.
"All right, that's good," Joseph says. "Now, I am making these kids the adults: Emily, Benson, and TJ. Little kids, you are to listen to your big cousins or Mr. TJ while you are with them. When they say it's time to come back, then that means it will be time to come back. If they say not to do something, – Damien and Ashtyn, I am talking to you two – then you do not continue to do it. Does everyone understand?"
A chorus of 'yes, sir', and 'okay, daddy' are heard. "Great! Then I want a few of you to take some flashlights and lanterns with you. Cousin Benny has a backpack with jars for your fireflies. Now, get to it, and have fun!" He dismisses the group and the kids all run over to the 'adults'.
They start walking down the middle of the grassy path. The path is made by the fruit trees lining the sides. When each child was born, James made sure to set aside a spot where he would plant trees for them. Each child got some kind of flower tree; rose, tulips, lilies, etc. to represent their birth. They each have a tree the same age as them.
Then, when the kids are between 2 and 3 years of age, James lets them pick out their favorite fruit; apples, oranges, pears, etc. and then he plants that tree and it keeps on that way until each member of the family has their very own tree that they can pick the fruit from in the mornings after their sleepovers.
In the field they arrive at, it is lined with trees and bushes, with a pond in one corner and the rest being a huge, open field for the kids to run around in. Benson and TJ give out instructions for the kids not to go too far out before letting them loose. Then they turn back to Emily and Elijah who are sitting with Jason on the rocks.
"I say we give them ten minutes, and on the way back, we can pick some of the fruits off the trees," Benson suggests and the other teens nod in agreement.
On the way back, Jenny helps Emily picks some oranges from her tree and the other teens do the same with the little kids with their own trees. Then they head back to the house. Once there, the kids are all herded inside to wash their hands and leave the glass jars with the fireflies on the counter.
Once dinner is over with, the bedrooms are handed out and pjs are put on.
Here it is! Movie night with the family plus some sign language. Please review and let me know what you thought. :)
Up next: When the Hands Hit Three – JJ's first day of preschool.
