Life Moves On . . . and Runs Me Over a Little

It's funny how life works.  We have had such an intensely busy few months that I have not been able to even think about writing a blog post.  Well, I have had thoughts like 'This would be great for my blog, I could say something like . . . What do you mean you're running a fever?  We cannot be sick in this house again!'  That's it - the past few months have been saturated in sickness and crazy spring school schedules peppered with performances and lately awards ceremonies.  I haven't been able to slow down for five minutes to tell you what's happening in our lives because I've been too overwhelmed with the living of them.  Funny though, sometimes life has a way of slamming on the brakes for you.  The brakes for me:  two sewer line leaks under our house.

To be fair, I've known this was coming for three months.  It's taken three long months to go through the process of finding out we didn't have as much of a foundation problem as we thought, but more of a moisture problem; contemplating the merits of french drains and their installation processes; having a sewer line test just to be safe and discovering that we had big problems beneath our slab; filing with insurance and meeting with adjusters; paying out the nose for a leak isolation test; getting lots of bids on work and debating price versus timeline; submitting a lot of paperwork; waiting for insurance to give us some money; worrying about the extra unseen costs that insurance wouldn't pay for until we had already dealt with it and had to pay for it; pulling precious funds out of savings to cover the feared extras; waiting for a time that could be scheduled as soon as possible but preferably after preschool was done for the year.  And all the while, watching our showers backup faster and higher each and every day so that they could take hours to drain and knowing this was so not a joke or a fluke and it had to be dealt with as soon as we possibly could.

Best case scenario we would have no TV or internet (one big leak is in the living room and electronics and jackhammers don't mix) for 2 days, alternating and minimal water use for 1-2 days and holes in my house and/or setting concrete for at least one night.  We had to move to Grandma's house.  Technically a hotel would have done the trick, but what fun is that?  We packed everything up on Sunday and moved to Rowlett so that we could spend the last week of school getting up an entire hour earlier for morning drop offs and according to my two little ones have a pajama party every night.

Best case scenario is never what happens in this house.  The smallest issue turns into the largest mess when it comes to home repair or update.  So yesterday I never really relaxed as I escaped to a back room and the jackhammer began tearing a huge hole in my kitchen tile and the slab of concrete beneath it.  And then I heard one guy say to the other guy "Whoa, look at that!  Charley, come here, you won't believe this!" and my stomach did a huge flip.  That was when I found out that instead of packed dirt underneath our house we had huge voids (read holes), I mean HUGE.  Big spaces that you could literally crawl into, that could be causing my living room to sink.  Yes, you read that right.  I don't know that we could have been one of those poor sink hole people any time soon, but had we kept on for a few years with no repairs and no knowledge . . .urgh.

I spent most of the day online (plugged the modem back in when I found out they wouldn't touch the second spot until the next day at the earliest) researching mud jacking.  Somehow and someday I will have to have something called slurry, which could be anything from a foam or mud/sand/clay mixture to straight concrete, piped under our house to level it back out.  There's a huge void along the side of our house where our kitchen lies too and that one might be worse.  Once the light changed in the afternoon I found out that the living room spots were not as massive as first believed.  In fact, since they have to bring in some extra dirt before they fill the holes with concrete that one might be okay for quite a while.  I submitted photos to insurance since they won't be able to see anything after the holes are filled.  I called agents and adjusters.  And as I was doing all this, the plumbers moved on in their work and discovered the next problem of the day.

Sewer lines come in basically two types in a house like mine, big and small.  The big pipe is for the main line, it runs from the bathrooms, through the main part of the house and out to the city line.  The small pipe runs from all the other drains and joins into the main line.  My kitchen has the small pipe and I had heard that these old cast iron pipes can rot through on the bottom after 30 years.  Our pipes are over 50 years old and the smaller kitchen line didn't rot through, but it had a big hole and then a crack that led away from it and all the way to the end of the line underneath my dishwasher.  I came within a hairs breadth of losing half my kitchen cabinets (and sink, countertop, sanity . . .) but the guys decided they could get away with a second hole in front of the dishwasher and then tunnel back towards the end of the counter.  The $$$ started piling up and I started feeling more and more sick.

That's most of the pipe they pulled out.  Lovely, hey?


By the time I picked the kids up and Scott met me at home, they had finished the daunting task of crouching in one big hole and then trying to tunnel out underneath a few feet of cabinets in front of them and decided to call it a day.  I was left with two enormous holes in my house covered with plywood and a feeling kind of like shell shock.

Wouldn't you?

Today they are putting in the new smaller pipe and filling the holes - that's the easy part and pretty fast.  I am sitting on my computer waiting for the next hole to be opened in my living room so we can discover what kind of fun awaits us with another leak.  Supposedly the big pipes don't rot out as much so I'm just hoping for one big crack or hole and nothing else!  But all this house drama did afford me time to think about my blog again since I'm sitting here alone while people work and I obviously can't do laundry or clean or anything else.

So I'm gonna give you a run down - the fast version with lots of pictures - of our spring before I have to go unplug my modem again.

We had a huge rash of flu, flu-like sickness, stomach bugs and fevers between mid January and mid March.  Two of these were remarkable for different reasons. Tyler had the full blown flu which we found out after I had made him take his scheduled SAT with major symptoms.  That makes me sound horrible, but it is not uncommon for Tyler to get 'cold feet' before he does something he has committed to so when he complained of tiredness, headache and sore throat that morning I told him I had paid for the test, it was scheduled, he was going.  He suffered through taking the test that most high school juniors agonize over and within 18 hours he was running a 103 temperature.  I told him not to worry about the results, the experience was what mattered.

The second crazy sickness was later in the spring when Riley ran really high temperatures for a few days with no other symptoms and when I took him in we discovered he had an alarmingly low white blood cell count for no known reason.  We kept him home for the week since he had such low immunity and breathed a sigh of relief when his numbers came back up.  I'm still concerned about this since I don't know which came first, a nameless virus or the low blood count, what caused what?  Keeping a pretty close eye on him.

The SAT test was an opportunity provided by Duke University through their Talent Identification program to exceptional youth.  We thought it was a great opportunity to see the test and get anxieties about it out of the way as well as show Tyler why learning SAT vocabulary from now until he graduates is so important.  We were in no way prepared for how well he would do on the test.  I love bragging so I'll tell you that he scored high enough as a 7th grader (with the flu, mind you!) to be accepted today at most state Universities.  This was due mostly to his math scores, but his reading and writing were not far behind and he did extremely well on the essay portion.  As thrilled about this as I was, the past months have shown me even more what an amazing accomplishment this is.  He was honored by the school Board of Trustees, by his school and teachers and also by Duke University at a cool ceremony at UNT.  A couple of Tyler's friends also achieved this level that only 5,000 7th graders in Texas hit so I'd say he chooses his friends very, very well.  They are all very smart and all in different ways so they challenge each other a whole lot.  I'm so proud of him, but also I'm excited about the prospects of scholarships in the future if he keeps all this up!

Tyler also received awards for violin solo and ensemble, orchestra student of the year, violinist of the year and was inducted into the National Junior Honor Society this spring.  He worked his little tushy off this year and it really paid off.  He also made a great group of friends, attended his first couple dances, and started spreading his wings more socially.  He's playing baseball this summer and just spent his own money he had saved up to buy an electric violin to play on.  What an exceptional young man!  It kind of blows me away, since a lot of what I've said to him over the years seems to have sunk in.  Right?  And then he turned 13 in April and overnight he didn't want me around anymore, developed a huge attitude and hides some serious moodiness that likes to show up at the most unusual and inconvenient times.  I can't believe I have a teenager - and I'm not always sure what to do with the teenager I've got!  Lord have mercy, he's gonna be lucky if he makes it to 14!

 (Bottom one was first dance!)

I think looking at these that Tyler really needs another nice dress shirt, lol.  However, Riley loved it so much that one day he made me take him out to buy him his very own 'tie shirt' like Tyler has.

Scooter turned 7 and after not wanting a party at all last year, decided he should have one here at home with all his family and a bounce house.  We had a great time with lots of friends and family and Scooter did really well.   When he got overwhelmed he'd go hide in his bedroom for a while with Riley and his favorite cousin, Cori.  We had lots of babies here (and baby wearing!), plus some rambunctious 2 and 3 year olds.  It was an awesome party!

It had poured the night before so there were puddles all over my yard.  We made due and then I went outside one time and discovered that the toddler mamas were letting their little ones do this:

Auntie Heather's house is so much fun!  Then Auntie Heather got to have some fun when she wrangled those little mud-fiends into the bathtub and got them all clean while their mommies took lots of pictures.  Those faces are all so priceless and precious to me.  It wasn't the way I expected the party to go, but I was grateful for the fun of it and the moments I got to love on them.

I got to spend some serious time with my niece, Jocelyn, this spring including having her over for Easter Egg decorating with the boys:

Easter this year was with my family and we had a nice day at our friend Claudia's house eating lunch and hunting Eggs.  It was the first one for my nephew, Augie, and my kids were happy to hunt and munch, even my camera shy Scooter.

Asheley and Perry brought Augie to Dallas for the first time before he was 8 weeks old to visit. And then we had Augie here another time this spring as well, unexpectedly, after my dad took a huge fall off a ladder and spent a long day and night at the hospital.  Dad's fine and I'll spare you the story - just remember all the wonderful projects we did together without injury, mmmmmkay?

Lets just look at the sweet baby pictures - that's more fun.

We also had a short trip this spring to Clovis, NM for Christening of our nephew, Ben.  This is him at Scooter's party - I had no battery in my camera for our whole weekend in Clovis, bummer.  He's an October 5th birthday buddy with Dad and I so we had to make sure we got a picture of the three of us together!

The trip was so much fun and we had a blast, but my camera died just as we were leaving Lubbock where Scott got to share his Alma Mater with the boys.  Tech, Tech, Tech - we'll just see about that (Gig 'Em Aggies!).  Scooter wouldn't take a picture that required posing, but I did document him for the visit anyway:

Hmmmm - what else did we do?   There was some dental work at the hospital in there and a huge diet for Scott and I that did more for him than me, but helped us learn to eat better. What else? I cannot remember.  I am toast.  I am done.

We did have to say goodbye to one of our beloved dogs, Bella.  Her multiple health problems were brought to a head when she was additionally diagnosed with Diabetes.  I started her on insulin so that we could buy some time and make some decisions, but she immediately stopped eating.  That first week was very long, but Scotty finally got her to eat real chicken (which she is allergic to) and chicken broth on her dog food.  We eventually decided as she wasted away more that we would not continue the insulin after the first month and by the end of that time we were resorting to mixing cream soups and yogurt into her food to help her appetite.  The whole experience was tough because she was still acting like a happy puppy even though she was 8 years old and really ailing, but we did not want to drag it out, watch her suffer and break the kids hearts any further.  She was Scott and my first baby together though and it was so very, very hard to say goodbye.

It's strange getting used to being a one dog family, but we've enjoyed taking care of my parents dog for a couple days and now taking Brewer over there as well.  It's helping us ease into something different.

I just read this great blog post the other day by one of my favorite author's, Jen Hatmaker, about the end of school nastiness and never-ending-madness.  If you haven't read it yet, you should.  If you are a mom or a teacher or you know any of either you will be rolling on the floor, trying not to pee in your pants and laughing so hard you can't breathe.  My kids and hubby were so worried about me and the sounds I was making when I read it.  It's so true - which is what makes it so awesome.  And Jen didn't have to deal with some of the crazy we've been adding to the mix either.  I had ARD meetings and therapy screenings and lots and lots of preparation for my kids going to a new school next year since Scooter doesn't do change or transition well at all.  It'll all be worth it though!

Riley finished last week, thankfully.  They had this really cute graduation ceremony for Pre-K and my kid strolled in, looked for where we were sitting at the Christmas program and didn't find us.  We were sitting right on the center aisle since he was front row center, but he didn't know that.  So he pouted.  Yep, this is my munchkin:

Lovely to see that right in the center of the group.  He got over it and sang and did all his sign language and cuteness.  When he walked right by us on his little procession in for the graduation part and saw us he nodded and smiled so big!  I guess he had thought we would dare miss!  Silly boy.  I didn't get a great shot with his cute grad hat on, but I did get him saying goodbye to his beloved Ms. Lori and in the silly glasses she gave the kids.

This school has been so awesome.  I can't believe I'm done with having any preschoolers or babies or anything close to that!  We are all going to be in school this fall.  Wow!

Speaking of school - I'm rethinking mine.  I did not stick with A&P since I missed so much class at the beginning of the semester thanks to sick kids and sick hubby and sick me.  Then I hated Statistics and didn't do well in it.  I did love my Psych class though and the research and writing I did for it made me remember what I so loved about History and English to begin with.  So I'm on hold for a minute, rethinking my options and the ramifications of switching gears so drastically.  And for the summer I'm just finding a new level of acceptance of Scooter's 'labels' so that I can help him in a more proactive way.  I'm finally getting what some of this stuff really means in a detailed way and how I can maybe help him more.  So I'm reading and researching and trying a bunch of different stuff for him for now.

Our summer is looking almost as busy as this spring was, the only difference being that I won't be taxi mom every day for three different school drop offs and then pick ups.  Tyler is playing baseball and Riley is trying out T-Ball (oh my goodness that's got to be the cutest thing ever - pictures to come at a later date!).  Tyler had auditioned for Advanced Orchestra for next year and made it so he'll have some Advancement classes for that followed by an Orchestra camp that gets everyone back in gear before school starts.

We are all doing VBS again this summer with Tyler as youth volunteer, Scooter part of Groovy Green crew and Riley and I will do the Hello Yellow preschool gig for the last time.  I will be Riley's class teacher which will be fun.  We're breaking from swim lessons while everyone else gets moving on them, but we've gone for 2 years straight throughout the year.  Scooter will be doing some Occupational Therapy this summer to work on his fine motor skills and he's doing a 'Handwriting Camp' there that will help him double his printing speed and get him writing neatly on real notebook paper so he's ready for 2nd grade.

Tyler is registered for Junior High camp again this summer.  And don't fall off of your chairs while reading, folks, but I am going to camp too as a JH counselor.  I love this age of kids and always have.  I am so grateful that Tyler isn't having as rough of a time as I did back then, but I have a very soft spot in my heart for the kids that do.  This will be new for all of us, but I kinda can't wait.  And I'm kinda terrified.

We don't have any big trips planned this summer, but I'm keeping an eye out for a way to go visit my Aunt Kaye in Wisconsin.  And we have family coming in town from Clovis that will keep us busy as well.  We also have free bowling, discount kids movies and season passes to Six Flags to keep us moving and grooving.

The kids have just 2 more days of school after today and tomorrow morning will find Scooter and I getting a private tour and meet & greet at his new school for next fall.  {This is actually the same Magnet school that Tyler attended and we turned down two years ago, but we are very ready for the move now and I know he's going to do great there.}  Two more days of alarm clocks and packing lunches and checking folders and everything else.  I'm ready for a break, even though I know I'll be very ready for them to all go back next fall.

I'll try to stay more on top of updates and also fill you in on more of what is going on with Scooter and his journey. I think it's worse the longer I go because catching up takes me hours instead of minutes.

The last two hours of writing this has been bliss in a way.  Despite the fact that I'm listening to a jack hammer tear away another huge hole in my house and that the floors I have only enjoyed for the last year and a half are going to be replaced, I am at peace.  Never mind that I'm paying way too much money for this repair than I will ever see in equity, I am enjoying the quieting of my mind.  I can feel summer coming, I can feel the slow down emerging.  The crazy of life has forced me to stop today, stop working and thinking and managing and driving and cleaning.  Life has been running me over lately and it was time to put on the brakes for just a minute.

Okay - that was awesome, now I gotta get moving people!!!  Come on!

God Bless

Goodbye 2012 . . .Hello 2013 . . .

Happy New Year friends!  I hope the first days of 2013 find you healthy, happy and hopeful for all the new year has to offer.  We are excited around here - about some changes we are making and some cool events on the horizon.  And I'll be honest - I'm pretty excited there isn't a major national election this year myself, even though my more political friends are still busy hashing everything out and making the rest of us crazy with their debates.  Oh well - to each their own!

The last couple of months have been pretty busy around here.  We got through our annual cookie party and then I got through the end of my semester.  I did manage to pull a 4.0 despite a more than slightly neurotic biology professor who had me rethinking any and all plans for my future for a minute there.  It's all good though - I am registered for the sometimes anticipated/often dreaded Anatomy & Physiology this semester and I assume that in a few short months I will have a very clear idea of what my future path should or should not be.  {A side note here - I managed all the material easily last semester, but the worry came in for the subjective part of my grade.  After giving it some thought I have concluded that my anxiety came from being a liberal arts major for so long, where 80% of all my grades were 'subjective'.  It didn't always matter what the content of my paper held, if the professor didn't like how I wrote or what I said in class, my whole grade was reflective of that.  Maybe scientists are different than history and literature professors?  We'll see . . .}

Just after I last posted, Scooter had a very big appointment with a Neuro Psychologist and her staff.  He spent half a day being tested for both Autism Spectrum and other anxiety issues.  This was a big step for us, deciding to evaluate outside of the school district.  We felt like it was time to have something 'official' done and since our insurance was changing drastically at the new year - time was pressing.  He did great that day after having had a 'walk through' of the office a couple weeks before.  Although he was quiet and shy, we didn't have any tears or tantrums.

I stressed about results being more severe than we thought or less severe and having labeled him when we didn't need to.  I panicked about labeling him at all and what that might mean for his future.  I worried about his IQ results and the fact that he had wet his pants a little during the testing.  I was anxious about everything and yet glad we had gone through with everything.  I was praying every day for peace and trying to hand it over to God and then ripping it back out of His capable hands so I could worry over it some more.

And then I turned on my TV one Friday and saw the unthinkable.  The unimaginable.  A mothers worst fear and a lost nations heartbreak.  Those children.  All those children.  Those first graders.  They were first graders!  Like my baby.  Like my Scooter.

There was confusion at first, of course.  When I first sat crying in agony at the horror of it, I thought they were Kindergarteners, I remember.  That was awful.  Right between my munchkins.  Those poor parents, with Christmases forever changed.  Even now, I can't think of it without crying for them.  I truly believe that those babies, and their amazing protectors and teachers, were immediately in the arms of Jesus or I could not move on, could not breathe.

In the aftermath, as I saw face after 6 year old face on the days of funerals, I forgot I was waiting for some measly meaningless data about my kid.  I was just so grateful I had my kid in my arms to kiss and snuggle every day.  This stays with me.  This weighs on my heart.  Come, Lord Jesus . . .

But the feedback appointment did come.  And when it did, I was at peace.  The Lord holds my children and their futures in His hands and whatever was going to happen, it was going to happen.  Scott was with me, which was a first.  Usually I handle all the appointments and fill him in later, but we were both able to be there.  What we heard was that Scooter was still on spectrum, but that he is mildly on spectrum and this was our third diagnosis of Aspergers.  I had embraced this diagnosis last year, but I know there are those in our lives who hadn't.  I think with the 3rd diagnosis, it is time to embrace and accept if you haven't before.  It is mild though which is great news, and he had improved over 2 years. They also reiterated what I heard last year, that Scooter is highly receptive to interventions and therapies.

The surprise for us was an additional and separate diagnosis for Separation Anxiety Disorder (A specific type of Social Anxiety Disorder).  The only separation anxiety I had heard of before was with babies or toddlers.  A disorder?  What?    However, as I google incessantly to feed my information junky hunger, it is making a lot of sense.  In fact, it explains why there are moments that we think Scooter might not be on spectrum since the emotional component of his anxiety is totally out of proportion for what an average Autistic child would express.  It is something that can be helped with more social therapy and also some behavioral therapies to give him tools in social situations where he has to separate from us or others that he is attached to or comfortable with.

And of course there are still some serious Sensory Integration Disorder issues to deal with too.  So bring on the therapists!  (Except maybe just one at time since you are all so expensive!). I really like this doctor - maybe it was because she told me what a great job I had been doing for Scooter, giving him everything he needed to function and thrive and helping him improve.  That made me cry.  And hearing about how our home and family was such a safe, secure and happy place for Scooter based on his very revealing answers to questions was pretty awesome.  But I also liked that she really 'got' Scooter and said something that rang a very familiar bell with us.  She said that it was obvious Scooter had a lot of anxiety and was lacking in some social skills but that once he got comfortable somewhere or with someone then he 'warmed up' and you could see the awesome kid he really is.  I am going to add her to my Christmas Card list I think.  Anyway - the written reports are coming to us and this will help us move forward.  His IQ scores were great and the meeting gave me confidence to talk to his teacher about the Gifted program at school.  Despite social anxiety, he totally qualifies so we are going to move forward with testing.

Scott and I left that appointment, grabbed a quick lunch and then drove to Riley's school for the highly anticipated Christmas program.  Riley was front and center and so cute, probably the cutest. 

Right?  I'm not biased at all.  Overall, it was great - I won't bore you with everything, but I got one half way decent little video of the song 'Jesus Was The Present'.  My personal favorite was 'Take Me Out to the Stable' sung to the tune of 'Take Me Out to the Ballgame', but my video isn't as good.

The whole thing was adorable and it made me very happy that we had chosen this school for Riley this year.  He's in just the right place at just the right level.  He is one of the oldest kids in his class, having turned 5 on November 1st, but he's still one of the smallest kids, hence the front row.  I guess he'll be following in his Mom and Uncle Matthew's footsteps - small ones, for a long, long time.

That afternoon, my little sister started laboring with her first baby.  My parents were down in Austin with her and my brother lives there as well.  I stayed up all night waiting for word of whether I had a niece or a nephew and then finally . . . it's a boy!  Don't worry - a picture's coming, but you are stuck reading a little more first.  Anyway - Augustus Casel Casarez was born on the 19th at 6 lbs 10 oz.  A little cutie pie.  Asheley took to nursing right away and 'Augie' is thriving.  The new family is still getting used to the whole experience, but they are doing awesome! 

At some point, I finally got around to frosting cookies for our own family.  We had a few after the party, but not enough to make it through the holidays.

And once that mess was out of the way . . . I finally decided it was okay to mop my floors again so the cleaning ensued!  Poor kids spent their first day of Christmas break helping me clean the house.  They were so not happy with me.  But we were getting something for Christmas we hadn't had in a while - guests!  Overnight guests.  Guests who weren't my sister or brother and would require an actual bed and a clean bathroom!

On Sunday, December 23rd, Scott and Tyler got up early and headed out with my brother in law and a friend to meet Scott's cousin Amy (from New Orleans) and head to "Jerry's World" for the Cowboys vs Saints game.  It was Tyler's first NFL game and in preparation he had been softening towards the Cowboys during the whole fall season.  I mean, the kids room is still decked out in Packers stuff and he is still due to inherit at least one share of Packers stock at some point, but we've been telling him for years he could cheer for both and he finally decided he believed us.

I don't think Scotty's ever been so proud!  I am told that Tyler cheered like a die hard - right in the middle of a section overpowered by loud, smack-talking Saints fans.  Scott's cousin came back to the house after the game and we had a Barrow family dinner and she and her friend stayed overnight.  We had so much fun.  I'm sure I consumed too much wine, but hey - that doesn't happen very often anymore!  Regardless, Amy and Toni are welcome to visit any time!  It was great and Amy was full of fun stories about the Barrow clan that we hadn't heard - including their tenuous ties to the infamous Clyde Barrow.  Oh yes, we are related.

We had done our Christmas Eve services on Saturday night since the Cowboy game took care of Sunday and because we were helping host the big Hensel Christmas Eve party.  After Amy left on Christmas Eve it was a whirlwind getting everything made, assembled and loaded to head to cousin Doug & Becki's.  This was the first time they had hosted in their home, but it went very smoothly.  It's always fun to play Dirty Santa, have Great Grandma hand out stockings to the little ones filled with goodies from all their relatives and of course, to eat, drink and be merry!

After the party, we headed home and crashed for the night while we waited for Santa to come down our chimney.  As promised, mom and dad bought some more fun stuff and Santa brought less.  Actually, all the kids stuff comes in much smaller packages these days so I was worried they would be underwhelmed compared to other years, but that was ridiculous.  They were pretty excited on Christmas morning!

The boys got lots of 'hands on' toys, but the biggest hits were the Angry Birds slippers and Tyler's new faux leather jacket.  When we took him to meet his dad later that day, Brian said it reminded him of his old 'Members Only' jacket.  Could be.   We spent some time playing with stuff and getting ready and then we noticed that the weather forecast had changed drastically by a full day.  We had heard Christmas would be nice and then we'd possibly see a flurry or two if we were far enough north the next day, but no. 

Anyway - with the change we tried to get moving faster and tried to accelerate our plans since they involved driving.  Texans are not so good with driving and cold/white stuff.  Lucky for me, I am married to a Texan who also lived in Milwaukee through 2 winters, as did I.  It's just every one else we have to watch out for!  We took Tyler to meet his dad and sent him off to drive even further north where the snow was already falling while we headed further east and tried to outrun the storm.

By the time we got to Scott's moms house though - the snow had found us once again and Riley had his wish granted for a white Christmas.

The kids opened a few more presents and played in the snow while the turkey finished cooking.  It was a nice, laid back afternoon which is my favorite way to spend Christmas Day.

Lots of family togetherness, not a lot of pressure or craziness.  We started the day by finishing our Jesse Tree and the boys spontaneously singing 'Happy Birthday' to Jesus before we opened gifts and we ended it with a wonderfully prepared meal with our family and then a drive home to see how our Christmas lights looked in the snow.  Scott got a call from work with a delayed start the next day so he could sleep in a little bit.  It was darned near perfect, especially when my kids slept until almost 10 the next morning.

I was preparing that morning for my next guest, my sweet friend Lara, who was going to stay with us for a couple days while her kids were gone to their dads as well, and then my phone rang.  My nieces mother, Tara, called asking to drop Jocelyn off while she went to the hospital with her grandmother who had fallen on the ice.  So the day after Christmas we found ourselves with an unexpected 2 year old.  We thought hours maybe, but the hip was broken and there were hospital issues and transfers.  So we had her all week - 4 whole days!  I was thrilled to have the time to bond with her.  And I was exhausted when it was over.  Wow!  We just don't live in 2 year old world anymore!  My house isn't tricked out in toddler mode any longer and I forgot what it was like to have to watch someone every minute like that.  (Big Kids are AWESOME!)  Still - I do love those little ones and we did have a load of fun.  They can visit any time, but I think I am more resolved than ever to not go back down this road myself.  It was cute and very sweet though:

She fell asleep on my friend Lara the first night - the second night she passed out watching Bubble Guppies way before her bed time.  She wouldn't nap for me with all the boys around so I guess she was exhausted.  I love the cheese ball picture.  Especially because that same week Riley did this:

Classic.  Fall asleep with cheese balls.  That's how we roll at Aunt Heather's house.  LOL!

After Jocelyn left us, we went to our friends baby's 1st birthday party for a while.  That was perfectly timed since she had a bunch of Babe's Chicken and sides (OMG - BEST Mashed Potatoes ever!) so we didn't have to make dinner and could just chill out and do puzzles with the kids for the night. That was something we couldn't do with a 2 year old in the house.

Tyler came back to us on Sunday and the next day we were back at the same friends house for our very family friendly New Years party.  I have no pictures, but it was a ton of fun.  Mandy made Sausage Balls which in my opinion is the best New Years Eve party food ever created and Keith played a bunch of 'best of' or 'worst of' or 'I am not sure where this falls' you tube videos on the tv.  So I got to see a bunch of stuff that I missed last year.  I kept hearing 'Where have you been?' (especially when I had no idea what 'Gangem Style' was and my 12 year old had to explain it to me) to which I kept answering 'In a Cave!' because obviously I don't spend enough time following what's 'trending'.  Heck it took me the better part of 2012 just to accept a Pinterist invitation and after finally pinning some stuff I am just now starting to actually search for stuff out there!  Oh - and I discovered Etsy in 2012 too.  Oh. My. Goodness. The beautiful insanity.

But I digress . . . All 3 kids made it to midnight and that was a first for the 2 little ones.  So I started 2013 with kisses from all 4 of my great guys.  It's bound to be a fabulous year.

Dentist appointments for Tyler and Scooter on the 2nd made me question the fabulousness of the new year.  I don't even want to talk about it actually.  Let's just say there is another trip to Children's on the horizon so we don't have to relive the dental horror of 2011. Tyler needs a bit of work too to make room for some adult teeth that are coming in before the baby teeth are vacating the premesis.  And our friggin insurance changed so it's all going to cost me a fortune.  (Thanks for nothing Obamacare).

And then . . . finally . . . I got to go to Austin to meet my nephew.  Actually, it was supposed to be the following day, but the schedule moved and things fell into place so I loaded the 3 boys up and headed down 35.  En route we crossed paths with my parents who were finally leaving Austin after almost a month so we pulled over at a McDonalds in Belton and got some overdue hugs before moving on.  My sister looks fabulous.  In fact I think most new moms would envy her glow.

She and Perry had some Christmas presents for the boys which included these 2 cute personalized ornament puzzles for Scooter and Riley.  I think Asheley really enjoyed working on them with the boys since she had spent most of the Christmas season figuring out this whole 'mothering a newborn' thing which most of us know is awesome and tough all rolled up into one!

The payoff, of course, is the baby.  Whom I held a lot.  And if you are friends with my on facebook you saw a picture of that.  But I never thought to hand Asheley or Perry my camera to capture the moment for me.  Augie is very sweet - and very tiny!  Scooter came close to me while I held the baby and watched him from afar, but that was it - which is pretty good for him, actually.  He likes them a little bigger (he lets Jocelyn push and pull him all over the place).  Riley spent some time curled up next to Augie and I the 2nd day while he checked him out and patted his back.  They both say they totally approve of baby and think we should keep him. 

Tyler, though, is in love.  Granted, he's had some practice with little ones - holding his brothers and his cousins.  Last year he didn't hesitate to hold Caitlyn (Casey) when we offered and she was only 3 days old.  But this was Tyler's Aunt Asheley's baby.  They are pretty tight.  Tight in a way I don't always get, and then I have to remind myself of my own bond with my Aunt Kaye.  Don't get me wrong - he loves Jocelyn and Jaxon and held both of them when they were little, and he loves all of them with his big sensitive heart.  But he's 2 years older, almost a teenager, and this baby is a living part of his closest Aunt that he can hold and touch and love.  And so he did.  And he didn't give the baby up.  And I had to fight for time holding the baby with my son!  LOL!  Oh well - check it out:

And then, just when I thought I was going to get him back - the baby woke up and Tyler kind of refused to hand him over for a bit:

I know this face - I know this feeling.  My Aunt Kaye had my cousin Brittany when I was 10 and this was me almost 30 years ago with that little angel.  This right here is a bond that never ends.  This one is special, I think, but Tyler is so loving to all his cousins it won't seem too different for a while.  We'll have to watch and see.  We spent the night with Matthew, Tara and Jocelyn, had another visit and lunch with the Casarez family and then hit the road so Tyler could work on his one project for over the holidays.

After our whirlwind adventure it was time to get ready to go back to school.  The last day was spent getting hair cuts and playing with Grandpa and finding backpacks and lunchboxes.  We are still not used to the alarm clock again.  That's what happens when your kids sleep past 9:30 almost every day they are on vacation.  I won't say this week has been pretty.

I have one more week of freedom before I delve back into school as well and I'm hoping I will find time to freeze some pre-prepared meals and get some more organizing done before my schedule takes off again.  I sent Tyler off to school today with a bag full of dress clothes so that he can attend the Dallas Symphony tonight with his Orchestra.  They are having dinner at Spaghetti Warehouse first.  I kind of want to giggle about his first 'Band trip'/'Orchestra trip' since I have so many wonderful memories like that.  He's groaning about before-school sectionals beginning next week, but he'll be fine.

It's bound to be another roller coaster year for us, certainly fast paced and crazy.  I am trying to figure out a better way to track all the different schedules and to-do lists and crazy stuff so I don't miss anything.  Having my own assignment schedule makes everything a bit more chaotic.

I hope you all had a blessed and happy holiday season and I hope you are taking some time to set some new goals for the new year like we are.  Changes are in the air, some of them already trampling our schedule but we are trying to embrace them all.

Love and God Bless . . .

The problem with Santa Claus . . .

Thanksgiving is over. Again.  Here we go again.  Again.  Even before we paused to give thanks with our family, Riley was running around the house practicing the songs he will sing in the Pre-K Christmas performance next month.  The invites for our annual Christmas cookie party were in email boxes before we had fully outlined who was bringing what to whose house last Thursday for our November feast. I barely paused long enough to inhale a second helping of green bean casserole and cornbread stuffing while I hashed through my black friday shopping plan with my relatives.  I've told you before how I am not a huge Thanksgiving fan since I try to be grateful every day, and how much I love Christmas.  Not a surprise.  I am ready to go people.  It's my favorite time of the year.

And yet . . . here we go again.  The kids watched Elf and Home Alone this weekend which was great fun.  We all had a bunch of great laughs.  I do have a 5 and 6 year old though - so now the questions are coming at me full blast.  You know 'How does Santa . . .?'  and 'Why does Santa . . .?' 

It is truly amazing to me how if I was standing in front of you today and trying to tell you a bold faced lie I could not do it.  I mean, I totally suck at lying.  It's not my thing.  I'm really bad at it, I have terrible tells like stuttering and rapid eye blinking and shaking hands.  Not to mention the fact that I just don't like it.  However, when it comes to Santa and my kids the lies just pour out of my mouth in waves.  I don't even stop to think about it - the crap I come up with in order to keep the dream alive is truly remarkable!

I am almost (in)famous for some of the tales I have woven in order to keep my kids believing as long as possible.  In all fairness, I might not have gone to such lengths if my kids were closer in age.  But part of me wanted Tyler to hold on to his belief in magic long enough to share it with his younger brothers who were 6 and 7 years his junior.  I also grew up in a house where Christmas was a big deal, Santa was super duper magical and if you ask my dad today, his only reply will be a gruff 'We believe in Santa!' grumble and that's that, people. I have passed it all right down the line, even down to telling Tyler when he was let in on the secret 'As long as your brothers believe, Santa will still come' just like my parents did.  Tyler is even more zealous about protecting his brothers Santa-vision than I am.

I've done my best over the years to intertwine my favorite parts of the secular portions of Christmas with our spiritual beliefs.  It's not too hard to explain that we give gifts to each other because God gave us the most precious of all gifts, Jesus.  Why we have stockings? - that's a little tougher. I'm great at covering the secret-revealing scenes in movies that my kids are watching or coming up with stories about Santa's helpers in malls and elves spying on children to see if they are behaving.  Seriously, people, I could write a book on how to keep the magic alive.

But . . . oh the tangled web we weave . . . right?  This morning as I drove little Riley to school he started asking more questions about what Santa could see or hear him doing.  I know I said something like 'Well, he's not God, he can't see everything all the time, he just checks in once in a while'.  A short time later he asked me why Santa didn't want to give kids on the naughty list presents.  I started explaining about rewards for good behavior and treating each other with respect and listening to mommy and daddy, etc.  And then, Lord help me, this is what actually came out of my mouth: 'Santa just wants to give presents to children who deserve them.'

There are so many things wrong with that statement that I immediately started throwing up a little bit in my mouth.  And yet, that is what we are singing when we say 'you better watch out', what we are teaching when we buy and read 'the elf on the shelf' and all the other stuff that goes with it.  Never mind that there are deserving children all over the world who would be grateful for a meal on Christmas Day, much less a doll or a truck. For all the good we do during the season, giving to others and sharing our love; For all the work I put into making sure my kids understand the real reason for the season; For all the joy that comes from giving and praising and knowing - it can all be undone with one careless comment spewing forth from my poisonous tongue (James 2:8) without thought.

Of course, I backtracked.  I started telling Riley that his dad and I give him gifts at Christmas regardless of his behavior because we love him and because there is nothing he can do to earn our love just like there is nothing he can do to lose it.  Just like God.  Just like Jesus.  He is the gift to the world that none of us ever deserved or could ever have earned.  That is why we give gifts on Christmas.

I often think that if I was starting this parenting journey over now, I would do some things differently.  Like no sugar anywhere in my house ever and maybe no tv's, right?  One thing I would do differently is Christmas.  I sometimes think I would have done three gifts for each child because the wise men brought three gifts.  Or less gifts, anyway, than the crazy that happens around here.  I wonder if I could do Christmas without Santa like some of my friends do and I am honestly not sure that I could. 

I do think I would change things up though.  Santa would play a much smaller role, maybe fill the stockings and bring one gift while Scott and I did the rest.  I certainly wouldn't try so hard to keep the magic alive of Santa and put more effort into the glorious generosity of the true gift, our Savior.  And I often think that I can't go back now.  Not with a 5 year old - it would ruin everything!!!!  It's like a deep dark hole we dug for ourselves.  But maybe we can backtrack a little and ease our way out by the time they figure everything out on their own. 

We do our best around here, most of the time.  Tonight we begin our 2nd year of the Jesse Tree Advent and I am so excited about it, especially since even I understand it better this year than I did before, having gone all the way through it once.  "But a shoot shall sprout from the stump of Jesse, and from his roots a bud shall blossom" Isaiah 11:1.  It's the story of how God had a plan, from the very beginning.  It's a tale of understanding that no man is big enough to mess up God's plan and that He can use anyone in any way to see it through.  From creation to Christ's birth, the Victory is God's.

I love Santa.  I'm not abandoning Santa.  I'm not one of those people that think the whole thing is lying to your children or tricking them. Children believe in magic without our help, it's okay to use Santa as a tool to teach them about generosity and love.  Santa surely doesn't get anything back for flying all over the world and delivering presents to children he has never met.  Tyler hasn't been hurt by his belief and neither was I.  Through maturity we learn what is real and what is make believe and through God's word we learn what is Truth.  Believing in Santa didn't damage Tyler's belief in God anymore than believing the 'Force' in Star Wars was real for a while did.

It's just that the problem with Santa Claus is that he turns me into a blubbering idiot of a mom who doesn't think before I speak.  If I let myself get too caught up in the Santa-crazy, I might say something that sticks with my children that I don't want them to remember.  I will be praying every day through this season that God guides and guards my tongue so that I do not cause my children to stumble in their belief of the eternal and everlasting, even while we enjoy the fun of the season.  And I think that Santa will be bringing my children less stuff this year while their dad and I gift them with more than just 'books and clothes and stuff' as Scooter told Riley just yesterday when he told me what toy he wanted me to get him for Christmas.

Oh my!  Parenting these boys is slowly making me a better person, it's just taking a while!!!!!

God Bless!

October Madness . . .

I know it's been a while, and I apologize.  I've been busy.  Yeah, school has added to my schedule and things aren't as clean or orderly around here. This time of year gets pretty hectic too with events and birthdays (I had one too, but I'm just pretending it didn't happen since I am now less than 350 days from the big 4-0) plus we threw a baby shower for my sister and held a big multi-family garage sale last weekend.  Whew!  Crazy.  AAAANNNDDDDD . . . The absolute best part of the birthday that I'm trying to ignore is that Scotty's sister gave birth that morning to our newest nephew: Benjamin Wayne.  I absolutely LOVE that I get to have him as a birthday buddy.  (In fact it occurs to me that next year we can focus on his 1st birthday and forget about my 40th altogether!!)

But the thing is - I've been mostly busy just being a mom and for some reason lately, that's been busier than usual.

Where to start - Riley got put under general anesthesia for the second time this year in order to have 8 cavities (yes, you read that right my friends - molars very tight together does not a happy mom make) filled and crowned.  He's also very busy learning one memory verse a week for school, one memory verse per month for Church, keeping track of his weekly library book and also picking up Spanish from Miss Dawn at an almost alarmingly fast rate (I might have to invest in Rosetta stone for this kid!).  I took him on Friday for his 5 year check up a couple weeks early and found out that since his surgery last spring he has gained 4 pounds.  I can't remember the last time he gained that much in one stretch.  He also grew an inch.  Both of these accomplishments have officially moved him into the 'able to sit in a car booster seat with a tall back' bracket (he always wants to be in Scooter's seat when Scooter isn't in the car so I feel way better about this now), but he still dropped 2 percentage points for height to the 17th percentile. His weight gain made him jump from the 10th to the 18th percentile so that was a plus.  He's just a peanut still, but he sure is tough.  He's still running around scoring goals like crazy at soccer and keeping up with kids much bigger than he is and he's the fastest swimmer in his class of four kids (including Scooter) and everyone in there is at least 5 inches taller than he is.  Overall Riley is doing just awesome, keeping me hopping.  Right now we are planning his pirate themed birthday for which he wants all the kids to have an eye patch and everyone to say 'ARRRGH!'

Scooter - We had a rough adjustment to school starting this year.  I just got his school pictures back and they crack me up because he was so determined to NOT smile you can see it on his face.  Someone else might not think it is a great picture, but it is sooooo my kid, I'll take it.  He's still having a little trouble getting in the door in the morning, but it's a lot better than last year and we have made it through the first full round of teachers so everyone is familiar to him now.  His first report card was spectacular and I heard at our first parent-teacher conference that he's talking in class and responding to the teacher and classmates, but he got very quiet for the 2 weeks that they had a student teacher in the classroom.  Pretty par for the course, I guess.  We are pursuing an official medical diagnosis for Scooter now, but the wait to get into a neuropsychologist for an assessment is kind of ridiculous (at least for one tied to a therapy center so we only have to do it once).  That might take a while, but I am okay with that too - one step at a time.  Doing homework has been an adjustment and there are days he doesn't want anyone else besides me to hear him do his 'reading', but we're making it work and he is doing so well.

Tyler - I feel like Tyler has aged 3 or 4 years in the last month.  We have definitely entered the 'adult in training' part of the program here and he's not even officially a teenager yet.  His first report card this year was stellar.  He's taking the SAT (or ACT we haven't decided yet) in January for the Duke Talent Identification Program.  He is improving on the violin by leaps and bounds since he started private lessons.  He's first chair and got elected to orchestra council.  And he talks politics and world events like a little scholar.  And then it all becomes too much and he has tear filled moments because he is still just 12 and not really ready to be grown up yet.  Poor guy. 

Tyler's been kind of interested in the election and although he doesn't watch non-stop, he likes to listen to speeches and watch some of the debates.  Last night I heard him say several times 'He didn't answer the question!  Why isn't he answering the question?' about both candidates and he also said more than once 'I don't understand why they can't just say what they mean instead of complaining about what the other person does'.  He also had a few comments about interruptions and the fighting over the rules.  Tyler's been trying to figure out what each guy stands for just by watching these highly 'staged' presentations of the conventions and debates and he can't puzzle enough together to make sense of either candidate.  Pearls of Wisdom people.

I am so proud to be his mom. 

And I am totally overwhelmed.  I took him to half-price books to pick a novel for his next Language Arts project (he just finished The Hobbit so he was looking for something a little lighter) and I was really startled at just how many series of books and individual books were romantic vampire sagas, or witch/wizard or something with obviously strong sexual content.  I am all for imagination and fantasy and science fiction, but some of the pictures on the covers of these books made me blush and we were in the teen section.  Why is there a picture of two teenagers in a shower with no clothes on a book in the junior section?  Really?  We don't have enough to worry about these days?  He asked me about the 'Shades of Grey' books a few weeks ago because he sees them everywhere and I have to explain to him that they are adult content and not-in-a-good-way adult content.  I go to the grocery store and see magazine covers about these 'teen moms' all the time.  I don't know who these people are and I don't understand how they are famous because they got pregnant and had kids while they were still kids!  Why are we glorifying this kind of behavior?  What is wrong with us as a culture? I am so grateful that for right now Tyler isn't interested and he still cares what I think about situations and morals.  I am grateful that I still have influence, and I worry about the days that I won't anymore.  I am starting to see that with a teenager in the house there will be no room for 'grey' areas.  Our views, beliefs, morals and rules have to be as clear as possible and vocalized often so that we can outshout the media and all the 'crap' he is being bombarded with.  Wow - this is going to be harder than I ever thought it would be.  Prayer.  Lots and lots of prayer.

So that sums us up for the first few weeks of school.  Halloween is looming and I refuse to buy a costume until just beforehand since my kids can't make it an hour without changing their minds about who they want to be.  Any and all 'Avengers' top the list.  Riley is about to be 5!!!! which is insane since he's my baby.  I am trucking along at school.  I've done well so far, but now I am kind of in a mid-semester funk and wondering what the heck I am doing this for! I will keep on though.

Much love & God Bless!

Be who you are . . .

Hi friends!  I am very excited today because I am not blogging at home, or my home site, or whatever you would call it.  I have been selected as a guest writer at one of my very favorite websites 'The MOB Society' today so come visit me over at The MOB Society and let me know what you think!

God Bless!

Back to School 2012 . .

And so it begins, again . . .

We are beginning our 3rd week of school around here so I thought I'd give you a quick update on how the kids are faring with our new routines.

TYLER -

Oh boy - we have started junior high.  JUNIOR. HIGH. PEOPLE.  I am pretty sure that I was more nervous about this than Tyler was.  He did kind of break down the night before school started so we spent some serious time praying about his anxieties and placing both of our fears in God's hands.  As you can see, he was totally fine the next morning.  How awesome that his faith is so strong, that once he gave his fears to Jesus, he left them there and did not pull them back!  I admit, I am not so strong so I spent the day praying he wouldn't be one of those random kids chosen to be cyber bullied for no reason.  So far, so good.

Tyler would tell you it's just school so he doesn't really like it.  I remember middle school being pretty traumatic though since I had to do things like change clothes in front of other girls in a locker room so from what I can tell his start has been pretty smooth so far.  Some highlights:

1 - His Latin teacher didn't speak a word of English for the first 4 days and barely any since then.  This teacher sounds so fun - Tyler has enjoyed figuring out the 'puzzle' of what his teacher is saying and he comes home singing songs in Latin that help him memorize what he needs to remember.  He knew more Latin words after two days than I knew Spanish in 3 weeks of beginning high school.  He is totally ENGAGED! 

2 - He has his very first 'coach' for a teacher, predictably in Texas History.  Tyler does not understand why he will get in trouble for calling him 'Mr. whatever' instead of 'Coach whatever' as he can't relate the earning of this title to something like 'Dr.'  I'm with Tyler on this one, but I'm encouraging respect even while I crack up over the stories he's bringing home about mixed-metaphor lessons. This is a teacher Tyler likes, but doesn't get.  I can't wait to meet him.

3 - Tyler was most worried about pre-AP science, but it is taught by his absolute favorite teacher.  This guy showed so much respect and care for his students from the very first day, treating them as mature beings that Tyler noticed a difference right away.  His desire to not disappoint this instructor is outweighing any doubts about his ability to perform.

4 - It looks like Tyler got lumped with the higher group of players for Orchestra class so he'll have to step up his practice schedule on the Violin, but he's ready.  I have him signed up to start private lessons soon and then I about cried when I saw the Orchestra schedule for the year.  Yikes!  That's a lot of dates.  We are going to be busy!

So, other than a little broo-ha-ha that has led to Tyler being in every lunch slot at least once so far and now settled into one that includes no close friends, he's doing great.  It's going to be different and hectic around here with the changes, but I think we're ready.  He has more homework than we are used to and already had to complete a project over 2 novels that we weren't quite prepared for, but nothing traumatic or horrific. 

SCOOTER

Oh my little man.  Every change is so challenging for this guy and I just ache for him.  No pictures, sorry.  He's not ready for me to take one yet.  The first day of school was more like what I expected last year, tears and clinging.  I knew it was going to be rough when we went to meet the teacher night and he wouldn't talk to anyone, even his speech/socialization therapist.  He tucked his chin down and wouldn't look anyone in the eye.  Finally by the time we made it through the school and reacquainted him with every room and teacher, he let his Gym teacher hug him and make a fuss and nodded in response to her, still not looking directly at her.

So the first week met with tears and clinging and our familiar tug of war to get him to stay in class.  Once in the door though, Scooter likes his new teacher and there are some familiar kids in his class with him.  He's doing great once inside.  Since the 2nd grade teachers had the first rotation of door duty (and they don't know him), I was pretty worried by that Thursday that the next few weeks were going to be really hard and I expressed my concerns to Ms. Stella, the school therapist.  She called me later with a plan to introduce Scooter to all the teachers and give them a heads up that I was going to need their assistance in the coming weeks and talked to me about doing a social narrative at his first session about this particular issue.  Ok.

The next morning Ms. Stella happened by the door just as we were coming in so she decided to take Scooter to his class.  Normally she sees him within the structure of his day so she was totally not prepared for the screaming that followed.  I turned my back, clenched my fists and walked away like I am supposed to do.  Strangers were asking me if I was okay.  It sounds horrible but it was probably the best thing that could have happened.  I have never seen such quick reaction at a school before.  I got phone calls and emails filled with action plans and comfort.  The counselor spent time with him that day and read him a special book that came home with him as well.  When we went back the next week everyone was ready for him and it has been a lot smoother.  No more tears, but we're still doing the tug of war to get him inside.  And he's resumed his 'I don't want to go to school' chant at night and in the morning, so I say 'I know, but we have to go' every single time.

We had our first tears after school on Thursday and again, this is more of what I expected last year, and that never happened.  He was over tired and stressed by all the newness and held it all together during the day, but once he saw me he fell apart.  We relaxed and talked it through and had no major issues the next day.  His teacher said he's doing great though and a model student in class.  It's just another example of Scooter's issues with transitions.  He can do A and he can do B, but getting from A to B is the hard part.

Your continued prayers and support are so appreciated.  Scooter is so special and sweet and smart.  When he is 'on' he is soooo 'on' and he amazes me.  My biggest prayer for him is always that he can show the world who he is, not just us.  One step at a time, one day at a time, we're gonna get there.

RILEY

Riley had to wait an extra week to start school so he was very, very ready.  Decked out with a new backpack and lunchbox he could not wait to have his turn for a picture under our big pecan tree out front on his first day of Pre-K.

Riley told us the night before he was 'a little bit happy about school and a little bit not happy', but those were just nervous jitters.  I have given the 'first days make everyone nervous, even me' spiel so many times now with these boys and I know I am nowhere near done.  We prayed and I reminded Riley that unlike last year, he wasn't the 'new' kid and it was everyone's first day in this class.

I always wondered how parents got their kids to do stuff without being shy or too quiet.  Now I know it has little to do with parenting and more to do with who the kid is - Riley's a pro.  He loves his new school and his new class.  He's getting a little worn out, but he'll be used to everything soon.  I try not to compare the kids too much since I know firsthand how different they all are, but I do admit that I was pretty relieved to have this easy start for at least one of my little men.

And school wasn't the only thing Riley started this week.  He really wanted to play soccer and when our indoor league didn't reform this year, he told us he didn't care if he played inside or outside, he just wanted to play.  Back to the YMCA we go.  Since we coached him last year, I wasn't sure how much I'd have to coax him into listening and joining in, but again I should not have worried.  Riley just went on the field and got right in the mix at the first practice and for his first game.

He is the oldest kid on the team, and the smallest boy.  There's one girl shorter than he is by maybe half an inch.  He just plowed through though and during his first game the coach's son and Riley fought each other for the ball more than the other team, but they are working that out.  Ha!  He scored three goals and assisted his team on several others.  I am so grateful that Riley has this little something that is just for him this fall and for once the other boys are coming to wait around for him instead of the other way around.  He's waited a long time for all of this.


We are still getting used to our new schedules and the new car routes and everything else, but the year is looking good so far - just very busy.  I've been reading this book lately that is messing with every idea I ever had about poverty vs. wealth, luxury vs. necessity and want vs. need.  It's messing with me so much that I've been feeling more like I fit the role of Scrooge than I ever thought possible.  However, that being said, I can verify with utmost certainty that having a functioning air conditioner in your vehicle in Texas is not a luxury, it is a necessity.  Especially when you have three school pick ups and the temp outside before heat index is factored in is over 105.  The kids air worked fine in the back and they were aided with tinted windows, but I was not so lucky.  Last week was very long and very hot.  I am repaired now, sort of, and can run my air on high or nothing.  The van doesn't know it yet, but it's on it's last legs wheels.

Hope your school year started off well and that you are enjoying the break in weather we've had.  You know, right after I got the air in my car fixed.  Sigh.

God Bless!