That Boy of Mine is Turning Nine!!!

Funny Andrew:

Nine! I know I must sound like a broken record when I say every year: How has this happened? Where did the year go?

What a year this was! Full of angst and hard work and progress. You're reading! Like a maniac, you're reading. It seemed to click overnight, although I know the truth--you were working hard. You still are, eager to burst into newer, longer, and better books. Meanwhile you read everything: street signs, captions on TV, my emails (well, you try). I have discovered in the last week that I can't even leave birthday gift receipts around, because . . . well, you read them! (Oops!) I'm eager to see you continue to progress and learn to love reading to yourself as much as the rest of us do. Just don't expect me to quit reading aloud to you! I love it too much.

You're so independent now. You do almost everything on your own . . . and some days I hate it. Right now you bug me like crazy to teach you to cook. You can make scrambled eggs and grilled cheese. So now we just have to cover a dinner and a dessert and you won't need me anymore! You love telling and retelling stories. Guess that's in your blood too (both your brothers and I are story-tellers!) You write all kinds of stories, from your own episode of Stargate to narration about the Revolutionary War. Obviously writing assignments are hardly necessary for you. You do it on your own!

At times I wish you would slow down a little. I wish you'd slow down so I could enjoy you. You run at mach 5, and I'm so old and tired I can hardly keep up with you. You are also competing all the time to keep up with brothers three and six years older than you, and it breaks my heart that you are rushing through all the little boy stuff that I enjoyed with them. It frustrates you to no end when I set limits like not letting you watch a show or movie that your brothers do, or not letting you take off in a store like they do. That's OK though. You'll be gone from me soon enough.

It's been a whole new experience to approach this birthday with you. First of all, you've had it marked on your calendar and have been counting the days for weeks! You've pretty much planned everything, from how you will spend your day tomorrow, to what you want to do over the weekend to celebrate, to what you want to eat. I think you already know what presents you are getting (probably because of the whole receipt thing, although I think you sneaked into my closet to peek too). All I've heard all day today is "I'm so excited! XX more hours!" Guess that's what I get for teaching you to tell time and use a calendar.

AJ, I love the boy you are becoming. Yes you drive me nuts. But I love your thoughtfulness, your willingness to apologize when you do something wrong, your willingness to still snuggle with your mommy. It's fun watching you grow into someone new, but I like it that you are still the same old Andrew in many ways too. I hope you have a wonderful day!

Happy Birthday sweet boy! I love you!
Mom

Fun Fall Stuff

Ahh . . . fall in Florida! This year we are getting exactly what I love: cool weather! So here is our fall celebration so far:

Although we don't celebrate Halloween, we do love to cut up a pun'kin.
Even Josh wanted to do it this year, which was kind of funny-
watching him carve a pumpkin without ever putting his hands into it!

The gooey-er, grosser, or more disgusting, the more Stephen likes it.
He actually tasted the raw pumpkin this year!

Yes, lookout, folks! AJ got to carve his own pumpkin face this year.
And we all know what that means . . . . he's loose with a knife!!!
He sure was proud of his creation though!

Our actually "Halloween Eve" was spent at a great celebration at our church
(the Reformation is very important to us!).

Josh was in a skit.

Stephen and AJ spent the evening pal'ing around with their friends!

Summer (Not So) Fun

OK. So here's what our summer has entailed so far:

To start off June we had a week off, then Andrew went back and forth to Cub Scout Day camp while the boys and I bounced between loafing and working around the house (although you can hardly tell now!). Then we had a wild and crazy week of Vacation Bible School, followed by a partial week of recovery (read: sleeping late and laying around). Then Andrew was off to visit with his Mimi and Pawpaw in St. Augustine, and the older boys headed off to Jr. High camp. Now we're recovering again, and next week will head off on vacation with the grandparents in metro-Atlanta. Then it's home for about two weeks before we start school again.

What is the purpose of summer again?

So Exhausted I Can't Sleep

OK. I was in bed. Early for me! It's now 2 am, and I was sort of asleep. The boys were winding down from a whirlwind day watching a movie beside me, but I couldn't make it, and was dozing a half hour into it. But I just woke up feeling a bit queasy and achy. I'm having some anxiety issues again, and I think I've tracked it down to way too much coke and chocolate, fast food (even the at-home kind), and a lack of quiet time with God. I got up to have some saltines and move a bit (usually that helps), and now I'm not sleepy any longer, but I'm dead tired.

This week has been crazy! We're heading into that time of year anyway, but this week Josh is in a play, so we've had final rehearsals on top of our normal activities, cleaning, school, and everything else. The director had an unexpected curve-ball thrown at her today when the main mom helping her with details had a family emergency, so the school called me and asked if I could help. Being the no-inhibited woman I am, I said yes, and we headed out the door at 11 am, not to return until 11 pm. I discovered today that I'm getting too old for long days like this. I don't think we'll go anywhere next week (except maybe to bed).

I'm tired. And I can't sleep.

Camping Photos

From our recent trip:

No PS2. No WII. No TV. No bike or inline skates. What's a boy to do?

...Plenty!!! (I never heard "I'm bored!" the entire weekend!)

The boys made boats for a rain-gutter regata.

AJ didn't quite get the whole "don't use your hands" thing.

I was feelin' a might skeered when I saw this.

(For you Yankees, that's quite frightened!)

Getting ready to shoot arrows.

What else is there in life?

National Lampoon's Cub Scout Adventure

I spent Friday night and a very LONG Saturday at Cuboree, an annual Cub Scout camping event. It was fun. Yeah. I can't wait to go next year. And I'm SO relieved that next year is still a year away.

As usual, all my plans for getting out of the house early went to pot. Somehow I always feel like my life operates according to Murphy's Law. I awoke Friday morning feeling a little under the weather--like I was coming down with a bug. A very dear friend had agreed to take my boys along with her on a co-op field trip, so I had most of the day to get stuff done, but instead I started the morning taking a needed nap. I wouldn't have, except I knew the boys would be very disappointed if I couldn't take them camping. When I got up, I had an extended quiet time with the Lord, then I had to get my five hours of chores done in about one. Not a great start.

I managed to pull together most of our camping stuff, but even after I picked the boys up and got them home, I kept thinking of so many things I needed to do before I left, that we left much later than planned. We finally arrived at the camp ground at about 7 pm. It was hot and very muggy, and I was already sweaty, tired and crabby from the hectic packing and leaving. With very generous help from the dads on the trip, I managed to get set up pretty quickly, and the evening was pretty laid back--mostly just playing around the campsite and toasting white fuel. (I've decided that I need to just reset my thinking and call marshmallows what they are--fuel.) Of course, it was laid back after I made the trip home to get some important things I forgot (like the pump to blow up the air mattress).

Getting ready for bed was a little tricky. While the scout camp ground was equipped with enough Port-O-Potties, there wasn't much in the way of other facilities. I suppose other people had had a rough evening too, but there wasn't much excuse for the guy who kept heckling us while we (three of us!) used the bathroom to do our end-of-the-evening business (the kind even boys can't do in the woods!) and clean up. I finally told the guy in no uncertain terms that there was a line INSIDE the bathroom just like there was one outside!

Then we headed back to our tent and the boys headed inside while I washed my filthy feet (bright idea wearing my imitation Crock sandals in Florida dirt). As I was trying to clean myself up, the boys found a guest in our tent--the kind with wings and a large brown body, and a cute Mexican song named for him. They kept panicking over him, while I kept telling them to just pick him up and throw him out--after all, it is better to catch him than to have him crawl over you in the middle of the night! (Ugghh! Gives me the heebie jeebies all over again!) But he got away. So I searched all over (didn't want him crawling on ME in the night) and finally freed him from the constraints of our tent.

At last we laid our sweaty bodies down in the stuffy tent. (Sadly, I had to sleep on the real hard ground. The pump made it but the nozel to fit into the mattress didn't.) The boys complained that they'd never be able to fall asleep, and I had just enough time to threaten their lives if they touched me before I heard them snoring. It only took me another two hours to start dozing. But dozing was all I did for a long while. First the heat kept me awake. Then one of my boys started talking in his sleep. Then I heard another boy in another tent crying for mommy. Night noises. Woodsy noises. My other boy sitting up and talking. Finally I dozed off, almost asleep. It was probably about 2:30 am. At about 3:30 I was jarred awake by the sound of wheezing--an all-too-familiar sound of someone (a dad, not a kid) having an asthma attack. My heart raced as I wondered what to do. Finally I got up and stepped out of the tent. By that time, he had evidently found an inhaler and the gasping had turned to just coughing, and was settling down. But of course my heart was racing and my adrenaline pumping. I was wide awake now. And hey! It was cool outside! But I got back into my tent and decided to read and pray for a while. Then I went back to sleep for a few more hours.

Morning came too soon, but I got up, got the boys fed and we headed to the flag ceremony. The day was filled with activities for the boys, as I ran back and forth to camp to pack things up, break down the tent and lug stuff to the car (we weren't allowed to take the parked cars back into the camp sites on Saturday). After lunch, I left for a while to head home (just a couple miles away) and check on the dogs and at that time I did the smartest thing of the day--I unloaded most of our stuff. I spent the rest of the day walking and either looking for our pack or watching the boys.

While I know this sounds like a terrible trip, and it WAS hot and exhausting, I actually found many things for which to be thankful. Last year every single camping trip we had planned was cancelled by inclement weather or something else. All year I never felt the group blended well. But this weekend I was able to get to know and really enjoy the other dads and boys. It was really fun to be around guys talking about air conditioning units and football teams--I don't get to do that much. It was also fun to see the boys really enjoying other boys, and running around without hinderance. The activities were fun for them, and the men there really pitched in and watched my boys or helped me with things so I could juggle everything.

I was also thankful that Saturday we had overcast weather and a little rain, but it never poured. It was nice weather for outdoors activities. We also came home to a fairly clean house, and although I still have all the stuff to go through, I always feel good when I do something so out of my element like camping. One of the experienced dads teased me as a couple of newer dads helped me set up that I was actually more experienced than anyone there. It was fun going and kind of knowing what I was doing. And even though it was hot, and I clearly saw again how out of shape I am physically, I survived, got much needed exercise, and slept VERY well last night. I also really appreciate all the little luxuries God has given us that I usually take for granted (like air conditioning and hot showers).

So the next camping trip? Well, I think we could go.

Josh's Theater Debut

Josh was in the play "The Magician's Nephew" tonight. He played a talking bear, and I was so very proud of him. We discovered he has a love for acting last year when he was in a Middle School drama/musical. This play was produced by the private school that our church has, and Josh got in on it when we inquired whether he could be involved in their drama elective program. Here are some photos of the evening:

They perform again tomorrow night, so I'll try to take more photos.

What I Didn't Take Pictures Of

This weekend was a busy one, but I didn't take any pictures. Surprising, I know, since with the cool digital camera, I usually take about a hundred pictures of the boys watching TV, or the dogs playing, or some other routine thing like that.

But Friday I didn't take a picture of Josh going to his first dance. I figured it would be an uncool mommy thing to do, and I don't want to put any more strain on the mom/teenager relationship, so I didn't make a big deal of it, and I didn't take pictures. Plus he pretty much told me he didn't want me to. So I didn't. But now? I'm really wishing I had a pic or two. Even if he would have been scowling at me. He had a blast at the dance. I didn't get much out of him about who he danced with, but he liked the line dances and being with his friends. It is so funny . . . and weird . . . watching him begin to really act like a teenage boy. Why oh why do they have to grow up?

Saturday was our week-long awaited event. The boys counted their money all week and counted down the days until the annual Mission's Auction at our church. The auction pays for much of the summer short-term missions trips for the year, so it is an important event for our church. Everybody really gets into it, donating goods and services for others to bid on, and shopping at the silent auction and then again at the live one. The thrill of my heart this year was when my two little ones began looking around for things to donate to the auction. They they took their own money and bid and bought things. I'm sure AJ will eventually regret buying four necklaces (for himself, nonetheless!), and three pairs of earrings (two for me, one for a little girl he's friends with), but I let him spend his own money. He also bid on and won a soft Christmas throw pillow. Stephen bought one of Mrs. Vera Mae's coconut cream pies, and got in a bidding war with one of the older ladies over a cherry cheese cake. He won the bid on the pie, and the lady finally admitted to him that she really just wanted the plate the cheesecake was on, so she would give him the cheesecake if he would let her have the plate, and she'd pay for it. It was too good a deal for Stevie to pass up, and I think she got a good deal too since he revealed to her that he had over $40 with him (and I think he'd have gone all the way to that!).

So what did I do? Well I had way too much fun! I helped out a little with the sweet treats, and I bought a couch with a fold-out bed (hopefully to replace a well-worn loveseat in my living room). Hooray! No more arguing over who will have to sleep on the floor when the boys sleep downstairs! I sat with my small group at the live auction and we had agreed together to bid on some things (a hot dog dinner with the pastor--really fun when we did it last year, and an ice cream social put on by one of our church leader's groups) My best friend and I bought a quilt and pillow for our very generous friend who is expecting her fourth baby and second boy. I think just being together was a lot of fun. We giggled and laughed and bid on things, and I'm not so sure they will let us sit together next year. (Except the chairman of the missions board is in our small group, so we're probably safe!) And I didn't take pictures of all that fun . . . because sometimes . . . well, it's just more fun to be cameraless.

Of course the last thing I thought of doing was taking pictures of me at two, and three, and four o'clock in the morning working on a project and on my Sunday school lesson. Yes, I did way-over-committ myself this week. I was tired, so no. No pictures of that.

So you see, it was a very fun, eventful weekend. But I didn't take any pictures. So I guess you'll have to "see" with your imagination. Please imagine me 60 pounds lighter. Thanks.