My Sweet Boy

I know as a mom you are never to say that you have a favorite child, but every once in a while one moves up a notch in your heart for a particular reason. Course, the very next day that particular child moves down and another rushes in to take his spot!! A joke around my house is...when one of the boys asks me "why" usually regarding why won't I let them do something or have something to eat before dinner, I respond with "because you're not my favorite today."
--Well Sunday, number three son was my favorite for a window in time. On the way to church he innocently pipes up from the back seat "mom, is it okay that I told another boy about God?" As my heart swells and I tune out the brothers talking, I respond with Of course..tell me about it. He then proceeds to tell me in his 7 year old innocence, how when the teacher was out in the hall with another teacher, a child sitting next to him said something about going to church. My son said to this child, well then you know about God? The child said, "yes, God is a ghost." Well, my little man was appalled and said "no God is not a ghost. God lives in Heaven and he cares about you and me." I asked what the child said then and my son said that the boy responded with a thank you for telling me that, and my son said you are welcome.
Talk about warming your heart!! Now I know the child may have heard something about the Holy Ghost in church and with Halloween coming and all was just confused, but still. My little man was unafraid to speak up and sure about what he said. What more could I ask for? So for the Sunday morning drive...he was my favorite!!

Tackling the Ocean

We made a trip to the beach over spring break. It had been a L-O-N-G time since we had walked in the sand and played in the waves. The youngest of the boys had never been there and the second to the youngest didn't remember ever going ...so a packed car and a DVD player, movies and (thank goodness) headphones and we were off!

The Hotel looked good on line....in actuality the pictures were much better than the actual place.But hey the kids are not picky, a couple of pools and beachfront and they were happy. Luckily kids do not have incredibly high standards.

so despite less than perfect weather....they tackled the ocean.....hand in hand

A tail of 2 dogs

We have a dog. Good 'ole Sadie, a mix of Rottweiler, Chow and Shepherd. She's a good dog, never gave us a problem, fierce sounding protective bark, easy going and very tolerant of the kids and all the torment they have put her through over the years. Loyal and dependable, just a good ole dog.

It must also be stated that Sadie , at the ripe ole age of 14, has earned a retirement of sorts. So what do we do to help ease her into old age gracefully.....

That's right..... a puppy.

But it's not entirely my fault or even my son's fault, (who saw him first)..I mean really..look at that face

I mean really it's entirely futile to resist. Of course, that was last spring.... and now we have this face.........
And this face is Crazy! This dog, Domino, or the Devil (affectionately,of course) makes my ADHD child look calm!. He has destroyed food bowls, water dishes, rubber toys, patio furniture, and even the siding on the house! He has escaped from collars, tie-out stakes, and fences. He will chase anything that is crazy enough to cross his path or that the wind blows and likewise will bark at it ( and the wind blowing). He thinks that Sadie's tail is there to entertain him. And no matter how many times she reminds him ,sometimes quite painfully, that her tail is not a chew toy, still he persists. He is crazy! But this dog, crazy as he is and I , we have a bond. You see, when he was still new to the world , and to us, he contracted Parvo and I, a squeamish person, learned to give a dog an IV. So here we are....me, the boys, the coach (who feels the need to point out that this dog was not his idea) Sadie and Domino..Wish us luck!

My sister in law had several old school maps that were going to be tossed. And they ended up at my house, still not sure how that happened. One cold afternoon the boys were driving me crazy and I threw the maps out on the floor with several permanent markers. Heaven!! We are allowed to mark on these? They questioned me, after reassuring them that they would not get into any trouble.. hours of bliss followed. They drew and scribbled all afternoon. It was great!! Who needs toys?

After the Holidays

After the holidays you suddenly have new stuff, which you must have find a home for..and while you are looking for a "home" ...really.....

it tends to park, wait and accumulate on any available surface...which explains this picture...

This is my youngest...who apparently could find no place to play with his trains and so took over the kitchen. This remarkable engineering feat occured while I was in the shower. Never leave that kid alone for too long...

It does lead to the question..why did not the sweet one use his expensive train table for this adventure....

or perhaps another available surface, such as the kitchen table......

oh well that explains that...the new stuff's temporary home. Moral of the story.....just move things and PLAY ON!! BOYS! PLAY ON!!

When can I play?

Small town life

Living in a small town means that you better always be prepared to run into someone you know, or someone who knows someone that you know. Every part of your life is open for discussion and commment.
This came to my attention, as if I needed a reminder, went I trudged to the local super Wal-mart in town. Now we have always had a Wal-mart, but now my county has become one of the many with a SUPER store. Everything you could ever need under one convenient roof. Basically torture for a mother with small children.
As this particular store is on the other side of the county from me, this was only my second trip since its opening in October. I entered with the youngest of my two sons and met my mother and step-dad there, who drove over an hour to shop at this wonder palace, as their county does not have one, or teh two they had to drive through to get to this one!
Anyway, I swear within walking in the door way and getting a cart, I saw a woman and her daughter from church, spoke to them, turned my head and low and behold, the substitute that I had secured for Monday morning was standing in line not 10 feet from me. Of course I had to speak to him. Now granted I am barely in the door. My mother being an impatient woman, had scuttled dad and the two grandkids forward, so that I then had to scramble to catch up, before they were lost in the abyss of the store. Did I mention I do not particulary like huge stores, too many choices and I get overwhelmed. When I shop for groceries, I do not want to wonder if there is anything else I need, (while I am here) like socks, nuts and bolts or picture frames, from the other side of the store. And I do not like my children knowing that if mom turns her head or speaks to someone for longer than I like, my child can find toy heaven a few aisles over.
So in catching up with my crew, I run across a co-teacher and some mom I know from some sport team, ( recgonize the face, couldn't tell you the name at all). Parents and offspring are in the TOY department. Knowing this could take hours of debate, as Papaw agrees that just one little item would be okay for the boys to have, my mom graciously decides to let me go on and grocery shop and they would herd the boys through the rest of the store.
By the time, they caught up with me in the food aisle, thinking I would be done, I was no where near finished, as I had ran into three other people and a student and his family! Shopping is a community event and once I have stopped to chat and inquire on everyone's health (that's what we do in the south) I have forgotten precisely why I am on that aisle and what I need. Ahhh!
As we dined this afternoon after church, I run into my son's teacher, a fellow teacher, a friend of one son and her family, and my sister-in-law!
The good thing is, is that my children know that wherever they are and whoever they are with and whatever they may be doing, will eventually get reported and make its way back to me. With two teenagers, that is on okay thing.