Giving Thanks

WHEW! It's been a whirlwind of events since Wednesday night!!! I should probably be in bed....BUT, I decided to post here first.

Wednesday night we met with some friends of mine from high school.

We didn't really become good of friends until our senior year....we all had gym class together. These girls truly were a God send for me my senior year. There was a time when I felt so separated and lost from many of my other friends. But the friendship that the three of us had built got me through that season. After graduation and when many of my other friends went away to college and my high school boyfriend broke up with me, AGAIN I was again consumed with loneliness. These girls were there for me offering their friendship and love and rides to school!!! Somewhere between second semester of my freshman year and the beginning of my sophomore year we just all lost touch. We were at one another's weddings, exchanged Christmas cards and shared an occasional phone card. Neither of them have ever been far from my heart.

We recently reconnected and made plans to get together for a visit with our sweet hubbies and adorable kids.
It was so awesome seeing them. There wasn't any awkwardness and sitting there on the bench watching our kids play it felt like we'd never been apart. It felt comfortable and easy and just like it did all of those years ago.

Thanksgiving day was nice. I had made my food the day before and enjoyed a morning in jammies on the couch watching the parade with my precious, sweet family. Little Dude LOVED all of the musical acts and would clap and dance around. We all got ready for lunch and headed to My Sweetie's Aunt's house for our Thanksgiving feast! The kids got to see their Great Grandparents which is such a special treat because of how special Great Grands are.

And they got to spend some time with their cousins
After our bellies were full and we played some games, had some pie and visited we headed home.

Friday morning I got to have breakfast with friend of mine who I use to work with and her son. They live in Virgina now and don't get back home very often, but it's always nice to visit with her when she is home. I am thankful that her and I have stayed friends even all these years since we worked together.

Friday afternoon we packed up our three kids and our niece and headed to an indoor water park to meet up with our playgroup friends. We swam, went out to dinner, bowled,
raced go carts, played lazer tag and lots of video games. It's such a fun place!!! The kids had fun with their friends and cousin and we had fun being with our friends too!

Despite all the fun we had, there was the one time where Little Dude puked all over me while we were bowling. By all over, I mean I just sat there while my dear, sweet friends and husband cleaned up both Little Dude and me! I went back to my room (almost forgetting to take off my bowling shoes) and cleaned him up, took a shower put on my pajamas just in time for him to throw up on me again. Not as bad but I once again needed clean clothes! All that pukin' made him sleepy!!

He was fine the next day.

After Little Dude fell asleep my friend brought BuhBuh and our niece and said The Boy and My Sweetie were in first aide....

The Boy was getting ready to race the go carts....he was very excited!

But shortly after they begun, he crashed into a wall, bounced back, crashed into another car, crashed back into the wall and hurt his arm. Off to the ER The Boy and My Sweetie went while I stayed at the hotel with the other three. When he braced himself for the crash it put pressure on his arm causing a Torus fracture.

Needless to say, The Boy was very limited in what he could do the following day. No swimming, no lazer tag, no go karts.

Saturday after we got home we mostly relaxed at home. The Boy and My Sweetie made a run into town to check out some sales. Today after Church we went and bought most of our gifts for our Angle Family....to find out both of us forgot our wallets!!! Back home we went to get them....and returned to the store an hour later.

I attempted to get a jump start on some Mommy Work this evening because I know we'll most likely be heading to the orthopedic doctor tomorrow.

All in all, the long weekend was great....I have much to be thankful for....my husband, my children, a loving family and good friends.

The cutest smile in the world!

It was about 2:45 p.m. last Thursday afternoon and the phone rang. It was the transportation director for the schools. He said that he wasn't sure what exactly happened but that BuhBuh had his tooth punched out by another boy. You could tell the poor man was a little stressed about this. I assured him that if it was the tooth I thought it was it was hanging on by a thread and that it wouldn't have taken a whole lot for the tooth to come out. He told me the other kid had received a conduct slip.

I debated whether or not I should go to the bus stop or not. Little Dude was sleeping so I decided to let the other two walk home like they usually do.

BuhBuh walked in all smiles and in a good mood. He told me he had lost his tooth. I asked him how it happened.

Lucas: "I got hit and it came out. He had stinky breathe so I was holding my book bag up in front of my face like 'dis (demonstrating how he was holding his bag) and he hit me"

I figured out who the other kiddo was...he's the son of my sister-in-laws neighbor. Occasionally he brings his boys to church. They did come to church this Sunday....the first time in a long time and sat behind us. BuhBuh saw his bus friend with stinky breath and peeked up over the pew and gave him a cute toothless grin. The dad kind of chuckled and looked over at his son. My Sweetie did make a point to go up to the dad and let him know that we felt bad that his kiddo got a conduct slip because the tooth really was ready to come out.

I get the joy now of seeing this smile....


One of the cutest smiles of childhood!!!

Making Appointments

I called to make a much needed appointment with my midwife, Rita, today. The lady that answered the phone was someone different than who usually answers when I call.

Me: Hi, yes, I need to make an appointment with Rita.
Lady on Phone: Are you a current patient?
Me: Yes.
Lady on Phone: Are you having a problem of some sort?
Me: Yes, I haven't had a period since I quite nursing back in May and haven't had one at all since October of 2007. At my annual exam, Rita told me not to go too long, and I've let it go too long so I need to see her.
Lady on Phone: Have you taken a pregnancy test?
Me: No.
Lady on Phone: Are you using any kind of precautions?
Me: No
Lady on Phone: (with an annoyed laugh in her voice) Then what makes you think you aren't pregnant?
Me: (Baffled by this response) Because I am unable to get pregnant because I don't have periods.

Even though I know just enough about the female reproductive system, and especially my body, to be dangerous I gave her the short, uncomplicated response. I was nice. I understand the questions. It's part of her job. I get it. I know that it's not part of her job to know what I've gone through to have my children. The part that made me mad was that she LAUGHED like I was stupid for not thinking I was pregnant.

Regardless of what she knows or doesn't know about the person on the other side of the phone and regardless of what questions she is suppose to ask, she should never assume that they are stupid and she should never laugh.

Grrrrrr......

Stepping off my soapbox and continuing on with my day. :)

12

We celebrated The Boy's 12th birthday yesterday. This is my chance now to honor and reflect all that he's done and accomplished over this past year.

Last December we took care of his recurrent strep throat with a little visit to the hospital for a tonsil removal. His throat was pretty sore, especially in the morning, but he trooped through it!! I know it was a good move because we have had a strep free home ever since!!!

It has been awesome watching The Boy grow and learn over the past year. I think he is learning more and more who he is and where he belongs in our family, among his peers and in the eyes of God.

In our family, I expect a lot from him. He is the oldest and I really expect him to be a role model to his younger brothers.


He attended a babysitting class this summer and became Red Cross certified. This gives me peace of mind in so many ways. We haven't left him for hours with his brothers yet and we haven't ever left him home alone with Little Dude. But, I have the flexibility to run and do something real quick without packing up all 3 of them; if I am running a little behind I know The Boy and BuhBuh will be OK after bus time for a few minutes until I do get home. When he is home, it allows me to take a shower and know that for 20 minutes Little Dude is going to be OK in his brother's care.
I expect him to contribute to the way our home functions and have given him more and more responsibilities around the house. With that we have been more consistent with his allowance

And although there is some serious tension between The Boy and BuhBuh, they really do all love each other and look up to him as their big brother. He doesn't always like that role in this family, but he does a pretty good job at it.





The Boy doesn't have a lot of friends. This worries The Daddy because he had a lot of friends when he was growing up. It occurred to me that the reason he doesn't have a lot of friends is because he expects A LOT out of the few he does call friend. This is not a bad thing.

He does not tolerate disrespect, he does not tolerate people who are rude, crude or mean. He does not feel pressure to "fit in" or conform to what the "cool" kids are doing. He has a moral standard that is far beyond his years and he isn't afraid to pick and choose friends who posses characteristics that may not be popular, but are pure and good.

Instead of worrying about the few friends he has, we as his parents should be applauding his good choices in friends. This hasn't come without any struggles, it's come out of experience. Not too long ago I knew the struggles he was having with some of his peers who he use to consider to be friends. So I prayed that God bring into his life, not a lot of friends but some really good ones. My prayers were answered and I've tried to nurture those friendships so that they can continue to grow stronger.

The transition from elementary school to middle school has gone well. My mommy heart worried about such a huge change and how with that change would come more pressure from peers, more challenging school work and an emphasis with keeping organized with several different classes, teachers, different expectations and not just one locker but two!!!

But, he has done GREAT! His grades are wonderful.

He is involved in soccer, band and choir. He has found his strong spot on the soccer field and I can hear him from the sidelines occasionally being a leader on the field. (I wish I had pictures.) He decided to give choir a try this year. I thought that was really great! I'm glad to see that he's not afraid to try new things. He continued with band this year and I am glad. There are more opportunities for him to perform and play.

I hope he at least sticks it out through middle school and I would be thrilled if he continued to play through high school as well, but it is his choice.

Despite a few bumps along the middle school path, he seems happy and very well adjusted to this new school. It comforts me to know that he can do it and do it well!

The Boy continues to amaze me with his strong faith. This past summer he attended 2 different Church camps each for a week long.


He chose to do a self-defense camp and it was so awesome to watch him confidently break a board with his foot when I went to pick him up at the end of the week. He has seen the instructor at several other camp functions before and since and he seems to have built a bond with him. I was told how much The Boy is enjoyed and what a joy it is to see him so hungry for God.

Also this past summer, The Boy and I had the opportunity to serve together on a Mission Trip.

We worked on two homes that had been damaged by floods.



It was awesome seeing him work and work hard!!! He was the youngest on the trip kept up with the older kids.

At the end of the trip we went to Six Flags and had a fun day of riding roller coasters. I didn't have the "I'll sit here with the baby" excuse this time and what fun it was to ride the coasters with him. We ended the day with a Newsboys concert which again, was fun to do with him and watch him sing and dance and praise God.

Next year at this time My Boy will officially be a teenager. I often spend more time worrying and complaining over things that don't matter rather than appreciating the awesomeness that he has grown up to be so far.

I always have told him that he is special because he made me a mommy. I remember how scared I was when I found out I was pregnant with him. But God is so awesome and good that he can take any situation and turn it into good.

I realized how special and significant The Boy was in our lives when I was sitting in the doctor's office one day when we were trying to get pregnant with Little Dude and she said, "You are lucky that you had kids when you did, otherwise it might not have ever happened"

That one statement made all the guilt and fear of being a young mom to him disappear. He is worth everything that we've struggled with and dealt with because we did start so young. We are where we are because of him coming into our lives. I wouldn't want my life any other way.


I know he's 12 now and he gets frustrated with me when I tell him the I Love Yous before school, but regardless of how old or how tall he becomes, he'll always be the sweet and special little boy that gave me the greatest name anyone has ever called me.....mom.


We'll celebrate with a family lunch of all of The Boy's favorite foods on Saturday. But we always like to make their actual birthday special with streamer art, gifts and a birthday breakfast and their choice of dinner. Here are some pictures.



I look forward to all the sweetness the next year will bring but know we can get through any sour (or ketchupy) moments that may come our way as well.