Back to School!

I didn’t mean to take the entire summer off from blogging, but life was simply too full to fit anything else in. This morning it is cloudy and even rained a little, which prompted me to brew a cup of tea and pretend that it is fall.

Summer has a way of feeling so short and so long. “Has it already been three months?” I think, but then, “It’s really only been three months?” So much time has passed and so many things have happened in three months, but it is still only the beginning.

Our new addition, Matthew, came home on May 27th. We have shared many trials and triumphs since that day. Thankfully, the successes are far greater than the setbacks. Matthew is loving life, and we are loving him!

Now that the kids are back in school, I am amazed at how quickly I can do things. I had forgotten that the laundry could be folded, fresh from the dryer, before it even cools off. And that every room can be vacuumed without having to wait for messes to be cleaned up along the way. And that I can make my lunch and eat it, before the apples turn brown and the sandwich bread dries out. Ah, the joys of the first week of school. I’m sure as the year goes on I will forget my glee. I will miss my kids, who are gone all day. But right now? This is bliss.

I am happy to be back in more of a routine, though the routine itself has changed quite a bit. With Jackson in middle school and another kiddo in the house, we’ve made some adjustments. As a whole, I think the family machine is running well!

Has It Been Two Months Already?

Today my neck is sore, so I have skipped my morning at the gym. I should probably clean, but I can’t do much of anything without hurting, so I am seizing the opportunity to blog. Since it has been over two months, there is quite a bit to cover.

I present to you… Bullet Points.

• OYWB officially ended February 1st. Hooray! I expected, as did my children, that there would be a ceremonious trip to the store to make a long awaited purchase. Instead we had snow!

• I love snow days, and I love that my children have experienced so many of them! It definitely didn’t snow this much during MY Texas childhood. That’s okay. I’m sure that I appreciate it more now than I would have then.

• Our church held our annual C3 Conference. It was AMAZING, as always. Andy and I were blessed to host Pastor Shannon O’Dell and his family during the conference and the following weekend. They are beautiful, humble, genuine people, passionately chasing down God’s plan for their lives and their church. I am teary eyed just thinking about them! Truly. I am deeply grateful for the people I have the opportunity to meet through Fellowship!

• Maybe some of these bullet points are going to be long.

• Get over it. You can skim if you don’t want to read.

• I went to a one-day conference for parents of gifted and talented children. WOW. As a gifted person, it was validating. As a parent, it was encouraging.

• My mom and younger siblings came to town for a visit. Much food was eaten.

• We had several opportunities to spend time with people in our lives who we don’t know well. I love the community that I live in and the people of my church en mass, but I feel like I don’t know many of the individuals. Do you know your neighbors? Do you know the people you serve with at church?

• Parker took his pet, Alvin The Biting Hamster, to show-and-tell. Good news! Alvin didn’t bite any of Parker’s classmates… only Parker. Poor baby.

• We were blessed with beautiful weather for Spring Break, and spent nearly all day every day out in the glorious sun. We then spent nearly every evening inside sniffling and sneezing. Allergies.

• We checked out Dinosaur Valley State Park, which was cool. Lots of easy hiking and climbing. And then we ate at Dairy Queen, which is an event in itself.

• Andy spent a night of the Break camping alone at Mineral Wells State Park. The boys were a little bummed that they weren’t going along, so I set up our newest tent in the living room. It required moving all of the furniture, but we could still see the tv from in the tent. And THAT is what is important when you’re 10 and 8 and your allergies have trapped you in your house.

• Jackson’s Fifth Grade Choir participated in our district’s annual Elementary Choir Festival last Tuesday, which consisted of every elementary school in our district plus one high school performance choir. Throw in equipment failure, a rogue bird, a power outage, and some jazz hands... Did I mention that we have twenty one elementary schools? It was much longer than it sounds.

• This year, Andy and I celebrate our tenth anniversary. Hooray! As a part of our celebration, I am having some bling added to my ring. I’ll post an update when it comes back from the jeweler. I’m so excited!

• Speaking of excitement, we have some possibility on the adoption front! We have been included in the selection process for adopting a little boy, and also for a pair of brothers. The truly exciting thing about this news is that soon, these boys will have their forever families. It may not be ours, but I know that God will provide them with the families that they need.

 

So, rejoice and pray with me through the ups and downs of our story, and over these updates about others:

Our friends, the Ballast family of Seattle, have adopted little Z all the way from Ethiopia. He is finally home!

Joanne Heim, who suffered a stroke in January, is recovering quite well. She is a walking miracle!

 

Where does the time go?

Time is fascinating to me. A single day can feel like an eternity, but the youth of my children is vanishing in the blink of an eye. How can this be?

I can only imagine how my dad feels… Yesterday I celebrated my thirtieth birthday. He was here for my party this weekend, and kept shaking his head in disbelief saying, “I can’t believe my baby is thirty.” I thought I was supposed to be the one who struggled with this birthday. Go figure.

On the eve of my big birthday, Parker was reluctant to go to bed. It was lonely in his room, he said. His bed was uncomfortable, he said. He sat on turned down sheets, looking to me for rescue.

“Will you sing to me? Will you sing Rock-a-Bye Baby?”

So I stood by his bedside and cradled his lanky seven-year-old body like a baby in my arms, and sang. He made silly faces, breaking my song in spurts of laughter. I tucked him in again, but soon after I returned to the living room, there he was at the end of the hallway. Room still lonely, bed still uncomfortable. So I invited him to rock in the chair.

It didn’t take long for my mind to wander back to the days when I rocked him every night. When he and I were the only ones stirring in our dark and sleepy home, with moonlight filtering through the blinds. And back further to the days when I rocked Jackson. And one sweet memory after another, I recalled the time I shared with my children when they were really small.

I rocked my baby with tears streaming down my cheeks, just like they are right now. You see, thirty is nothing, but seven and ten seem really old to me these days.

Growing Up

I started growing up ten years ago today. My grandmother pointed that out to me recently. We were talking about what a terrible child I was growing up. She said, “You didn’t really settle down until you had children,” as though it were a surprise… After all, how many nineteen year olds just up and decide to become settled? Not many, I imagine. None that I have ever known, anyway.

God has taught me so much during these ten years. I’ve learned that love for a child is a ferocious thing. I’ve learned what real commitment is, what relationship is all about, what it’s like to slowly, purposefully, faithfully lose control. Not that I have mastered these things. I just now know what they are.

I think of all those strong Biblical mothers who released their young sons to the will of God. Sarah, Hannah, Mary... What were their boys like at the fine age of ten? Were they sharp and testing like mine? Were they careful and skeptical? Were they imaginative? Clever? Witty? Were they dear? And loving? My Jackson is all of these things, and more.

Looking back I can hardly believe that God entrusted me, a clueless kid, with a precious baby.





I cherish the time that I have had with you, Jackson, and I look forward to the years ahead!

As you get older and seek more freedom in your days, I hope that you will lean on all that we have taught you. Don’t try to grow up too fast. Let the whole world see WHO you are and WHOSE you are.

I love you, Bubble!

Our Year Without Buying: April Update

So far, so good! I’ve never been a big shopper, so I must say that it’s been extremely easy for me to simply not shop. I’ll pass by a store that I like, thinking, “There’s no reason to stop… I have nothing to buy!” Before, I could’ve wasted an hour in Target or lost an entire afternoon browsing any of my favorite thrift stores. Not that I am swimming in extra minutes, but I am definitely enjoying more time.

And I’m really enjoying less stuff! We had a garage sale a couple of weeks ago. In preparation, I spent loads of time pilfering the cabinets and closets for anything we could do without. I was shocked at how much excess we had, stashed away. Useless. At the end of our one-day sale, we loaded what was left and hauled it away to Goodwill.

With the earnings from our sale, we bought supplies for a little garden box in the yard. There are several more things that I want to plant in it, but I haven’t made it back to the nursery. I could take all the time I’m saving by not going to Target and spend every minute (and then some!) walking the aisles of every nursery and garden center in town.



The other day I watched The Story of Stuff, by Annie Leonard, which talks about, well, stuff. Where it comes from, and where it goes. Eye opening. And I say this as a person whose eyes were already open. I cringe when I throw things away, knowing that my stuff is rotting away in a landfill. Bleh. But that’s how it is. Some things just have to be thrown away. Things beyond their usefulness, beyond salvage. Things like this:



These were J's shoes. It wasn’t a shock… I knew that we were going to have a shoe crisis. I just didn’t know it would be so dramatic, and so poorly timed. J wore these shoes, in this condition, to church Easter weekend. How embarrassing! I am SO thankful for the grandparent intervention, providing us with several new pairs. Thanks, Nana! I hope the boys appreciate this blessing as much as I do. (They probably don’t. I know.)

Speaking of Easter...

Last week, P had to take a dozen eggs to school, each stuffed with some sort of non-candy prize. I keep a stash of little junk toys in the pantry. They are all trinkets from school and birthday party goody bags. And the boys never even notice that I’ve swiped their new junk toys and put them in my little bag. So, I stuffed a dozen plastic eggs, which we already had, with little toys, which we already had. Wasteful spending averted. Whew!

The boys’ Easter baskets were a bit ironic. They were filled with candy and hygiene items. How random is that? But since we don’t really “do” the whole Easter Bunny thing, I didn’t see any sense in making purchasing exceptions for their baskets. We’ve said from the start that we would allow the purchase of hygiene items and food… candy is, after all, edible. Besides, my kids love to get new toothbrushes and Star Wars Band-Aids, and it's fun to watch Peeps expand in the microwave.



I’m glad that this holiday was easy to navigate within our chosen limits. But best of all, I’m glad that the boys understand that Easter is not about chicken embryos and sneaky bunnies. They know that Easter is a celebration of Jesus, the sacrifice for our sin. They know that because of His triumph over death, we can someday reach Heaven.

And that is worth everything in this world!

We were having eggs.

One morning this summer, the boys and I were having breakfast and talking about eternity. Jackson had asked Christ into his heart at church camp in 2007, so he and I were doing much of the talking. Parker was mostly silent, but I could tell that he was deeply listening and weighing our words. J and I talked about what it is to be a Christian, and I explained how it is that a person would go about becoming a Christian, all while P thoughtfully picked at his eggs. Then P looked up and said, “I haven’t decided that yet.” And the way he said it, I thought that it might be a long time before he would.

Fast forward to bedtime last night. With a heavy heart, I told Parker that one of the teachers from his school, Kathy Albert, had passed away. We know that Mrs. Albert was a Christian. I reminded him that she had been very sick for a long time. Her body could not get better. God wanted Mrs. Albert to come to heaven. So, she did.

Thus began a discussion of heaven and hell. Parker told me about someone he knows who doesn’t choose the best behavior, and told me that he thinks this person is going to hell.

“Whether you go to heaven or hell is not decided by how many good behavior days you have at school,” I said.

“I know,” he said, and left the proverbial door wide open.

“Thank goodness for that, right? Because every person on earth messes up and sins. Every person EVER, except for one. Do you know which one?”

“Jesus,” he nods. Hooray! Children’s Church is working. Good job, guys.

“That’s right. Jesus lived a perfect life, without any sin at all. And sin is not just bad behavior. Our words and even thoughts can be sinful. We all sin. But Jesus didn’t have any sin at all. He lived completely without sin so that he could be the sacrifice for our sin. God knows that we can’t pay the price for our sin, so Jesus paid it for us. And because He paid our price, and rose from the dead and went to heaven, we can go to heaven too! Anyone who believes this can go to heaven.”

“Well, I believe that,” he shrugs.

“You do? That’s awesome, buddy! Have you prayed to tell God that you believe it?”

“Yeah, I did that a long time ago when I was six or something,” says Mr. Nonchalant. “At breakfast. We were having eggs. I prayed in my head and just didn’t tell you.”

And I knew the very breakfast he was talking about. It was this summer.

I’m glad that Parker finally revealed to us his decision to follow Christ. Now we can rejoice, along with all the angels of heaven and Mrs. Albert and all the others who have gone before us.

“…there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”
Luke 15:10

Hallelujah!

Potty Mouth, Jr.

When I was in third grade, I got in trouble for saying “crap”. Well, I got in trouble for a lot of things. Saying crap was just one of the many.

I still like the word. I’m a crapsayer. I just am. Perhaps it’s because I’ve been saying it since the third grade. Yeah, that’s probably it.

Anyway. I got in trouble. My mom said that I wasn’t allowed to say crap until I was 10 or something like that. I don’t remember how long she said I was supposed to wait, because I went right on saying it. Just not around the house. Classy, right?

You know how, when you’re young and misbehaving, parents like to tell you that they hope your kids will be JUST LIKE YOU? I think you see where this is going.

Yesterday, Parker got in trouble at school. For using inappropriate language. Only he didn’t just say it. He wrote it down.



Yuck.

I was glad that he told me about this in the car, because I am infinitely immature, and laugh at inappropriate times. (Particularly when disciplining my children.) I think maybe I hid my smile and stifled my laughter pretty well. Maybe. It just shocked me to hear my sweet baby, in his little Mickey Mouse voice, say “You suck.”

Like I said, at least we were in the car and I was facing the road and not the backseat. Had we been face to face, the weight of the situation would have been completely lost because of my inability to hold myself together.

I laugh, because that’s my reaction to things. I can’t help it. It just comes out. But seriously, people. It hurt my soul to know that my sweet little Parker would say something so nasty to another little person. Bleh.

Now here’s where I got just plain mad. Kids learn the words that are spoken to them or that they have heard spoken to others. The domino effect on this is devastating. You may be asking, “Where does a seven year old learn such a phrase?” At least, that’s what I was asking. Who out there is telling my little baby that he sucks? I’m sorry to say that he picked it up from Jackson. And where does a nine year old learn such a phrase? From jerks at school. And now, my kids are the jerks at school, spouting foul language.

Great.

But I have hope. Because of the role of Christ in their lives, my kids are far better people than I was in elementary school. Hopefully the talk we had about this yesterday will take hold in their hearts, and they won’t say stuff like this anymore. Not at home or at school or anywhere.

At least not until they’re 10 or whatever.

Happy Birthday Parker!

I can hardly believe that my baby is seven.

I have spent far longer than anticipated sitting here at the computer, sifting through old pictures. I cherish the memories attached to pictures, and didn’t want to rush through.

I adore this kid, and there are so many pictures that I wanted to share. But it was too many. Way too many. So here a just few favorites to celebrate Parker. Enjoy!



At our old park by our old house. I actually played here sometimes when I was little!



P’s first real Trick-or-Treat experience. He was so happy to have the candy in his hands, there was no WAY he was going to put in some bag. He held it all until he couldn’t hold any more.



P loves his big brother!



Autumn Leaves



I love Parker’s imagination. He loves to play pretend.



So, who here is the biggest ham?



Wonder.



First day of school! I was so excited for him, but I still cried.



Happy Birthday, Little! We love you!!

It's a Spirit of Self-Control, Not Self-Righteousness.

I’m not a particularly political person. I don’t go to rallies or participate in heated debates. I’m not getting my panties in a wad over the current healthcare issue, or demanding immediate resolution to our nation’s economic crisis. It is what it is, people. Government can’t fix everything.

Not even if we were served by the administration that you WISH had been elected.

I didn’t vote for President Obama. I was disappointed at the election’s results, but the fact remains. He is the leader of our nation and as Americans, and especially as Christians, we are called to support him. Let me just say, I am not in favor of blindly following anyone. Those who know me know that I tend to have questions. It’s not necessarily driven by doubt, but I typically have questions for those in leadership. And if a leader is a true leader, they can handle answering a few questions from little ol’ me.

Last night at a school parent meeting, I learned that President Obama is going to address America’s school children next Tuesday, September 8th at 11am Central Time. I was a little surprised, but not shocked. Fellow parents, it’s not a scandal. I’m pretty sure he is not going for mass brainwashing. He’s the President. He’s facing the sad reality of our nation’s terrible drop-out rate, and he’s going straight to the source. The kids.

Why are conservatives so upset? Because you want your children to retain the right to drop out mid-way through their education? Trust me… they’ll still drop out if you let them.

Seriously though. What are you teaching your children by resisting the broadcast of this speech? One parent compared this impending address to Adolph Hitler’s propaganda. Really? Hitler? Really.

There were several parents at last night’s meeting who declared that they would be removing their children from school during the address. I doubt they’ll back it up, but even if they do… They’re only inviting trouble down the road. These parents will be teaching their children that, if they don’t want to listen to a person of authority, they should just walk away. Or plug their ears. Peaceful protest? Perhaps. But it seems more like defiance to me.

And what will happen later, when YOU are the authority figure that your child doesn’t want to hear? When they walk away or block out your voice, will you smile and say “Aww, look at that! Look at my little conscientious objector. I’m so proud!”? I don’t think so.

I am looking forward to next Tuesday with this in mind:

For God did not give us a spirit of fear, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-control.
2 Timothy 1:7

What is there to fear? Nothing can stand against God. I have to trust that God has ordained those who come into power. I am praying for President Obama, that his time in office will be purposeful, that his leadership will be respectable, and right now I am praying that his speech on Tuesday will be pleasing to God. Not pleasing to me. Not pleasing to you. Pleasing to GOD.

I plan to lean on Him, and fully invoke this spirit of power, love, and self-control as I talk with my children about President Obama’s address. Ultimately, I wield far more power over my children than any president. My words and actions have a much greater personal impact on them. I want to show my children a broad display of love and grace in this and all circumstances. I commit to exercise self-control as we speak about our great country, her leader, and his authority. Whether or not I agree with his words, he has authority here.

As my children view President Obama’s address in their classrooms, I plan to be informed. I will be watching the speech here on my home computer. I would encourage all other parents to do the same.

Also, read up on what has been communicated to your child’s school:
• Letter to school principals
• Activities for Grades PreK-6 [PDF, 64K]
• Activities for Grades 7-12 [PDF, 108K]

I hope that this can be a beneficial experience for our nation’s children, in which they find encouragement and strength. I hope that this can be equally positive for our nation’s adults, that we embrace this opportunity to partner with our government for the sake of our children’s success.

I know this is a hot topic, and you want to sound off. Please comment. Share your thoughts and perspective!

Chess Club, First Attempt

My sweet Jackson has inherited quite a few of my qualities. I’m sorry to report that some of these are not the greatest. Crazy hair, exceedingly fair skin, and orthodontic needs come to mind. As well as a slightly ridiculous amount of caution.

You see, I prefer the known and reasonably predictable. I don’t particularly enjoy trying new things. I wish I did, but that’s not who I am. I have to force it. And sadly, Jackson is the same way. Only most of the time, he is not willing to force his own exploration of the new. Usually, it’s forced upon him. Sorry kid. You’re just like your mother.

Today we went to our local library to check out the chess club for the first time. When I first posed the idea to the children, both were interested. But by the time we arrived at the library, Jackson didn’t even want to come into the room. Since that wasn’t an option, he stood sulking behind the observation chairs. Parker sat next to me, anxiously awaiting his introductory chess lesson. I pointed out the pieces, told their names, and the way that each one moves. Which is the extent of my chess knowledge.

Soon, a library lady came over to get Parker and another boy, and sat with them at the nearest table. Leaving one empty seat next to Parker.

Jackson sat down next to me and asked, eager to leave the room, “Can I go look at books?”

“Sure. You can check out the Series of Unfortunate Events, book 2.” By the way, we read the entire first volume today, and are all excited about getting on to the next one. I’m pretty sure we’ll be done with it tomorrow, and back at the library looking for the third installment on Thursday.

Anyway.

Jackson protested that he wouldn’t know where to look for it, even though he knows perfectly well how to find things with our library’s computerized catalogue. Seeing an opportunity, I said, “Okay, you stay here while I go look. Or… you could sit at the table with Parker. Just so he doesn’t worry when I leave.” A pretty transparent suggestion, considering that Parker isn’t much for worry.

I left the chess room, found our next literary adventure, and checked it out. When I returned, I found that Jackson had actually taken the bait! For over an hour I watched him and Parker soaking up new knowledge, engaged and excited, triumphantly expanding their horizons by embracing something new.

Minus One, Plus One.

Lately, God has been blessing me with many opportunities. For patience with my children especially. (It would be great if God just granted us vast amounts of patience. But that would be too easy, wouldn’t it?)

Sometimes I make the most of these occasions, and sometimes I don’t. Sometimes I respond to circumstances impulsively, which is rarely the best choice. Sometimes I remember to take a breath and try my best to reflect His influence in my life.

So far today, my success rate is a wash. Before breakfast, the kids had a fight and I didn’t handle it well. Minus one. We three ate our breakfasts simultaneously, silently, and separately. Parker, who loves sign language, wordlessly but quite clearly stated, “I don’t love you.” To which I calmly replied, “Oh, that’s too bad. But I love you. Now clean up your dishes and brush your teeth.” Plus one.

At this moment, I am simply thankful that God continues to offer me opportunities. Pass or fail, He openly and expectantly invites me to face challenges again and again. He knows that sometimes I’m going to fall short, and I know that He’ll always pick me back up when I do.

Hopefully someday my scorecard will boast more wins than losses. Hopefully someday I will grow up and stop keeping score.

Soda Pop

While storms raged outside, the boys and I stayed inside mixing up a new summer treat: Homemade Lemon-Lime Soda Pop.

Parker found this recipe in Pretend Soup and Other Real Recipes. That boy LOVES to read. He will read just about anything, from babyish board books to biographies, and always cover-to-cover. He has even read (and retained some of) the Periodic Table of Elements from Hydrogen to Ununbium. So, naturally, as he was reading through every page of this children’s cookbook, he picked out a few things that he would like to try.

Homemade Lemon-Lime Soda Pop Recipe

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
¼ cup + 2 tablespoons apple juice concentrate (thawed)
3 ice cubes
1 cup soda water

1) Squeeze juice from a lemon and measure 2 tablespoons into a glass.
2) Squeeze juice from a lime and add 1 tablespoon to the glass.
2) Add everything else and stir. Enjoy!

Yield: 1 serving (easy to make more!)



This was fast, easy, and delicious! The real win is that you are using apple juice concentrate instead of sugar.

The boys had fun and loved what they made. There’s even talk of opening a “Homemade Lemon-Lime Soda Pop” stand. So if you’re in my neighborhood this weekend, and see a table and a couple of little boys out on the corner, stop by!

A Great Morning

Today when we sat down for our picnic lunch, I was a bit frazzled from a morning of household craziness. So I asked Jackson to lead the prayer over our meal.

He thanked the Lord for our food and then, to my absolute shock and confusion, he genuinely thanked Him for letting us enjoy a “great morning.” That’s where I lost track of J’s prayer and branched off on my own.

Eyes still closed, I thought, “WHAT? Great morning? Who here had a GREAT morning?” And I twisted my face into an expression that Parker apparently found hilarious. His giggles snapped me out of my mental sidetrack and I looked up. The boy was cracking up and soon, so was I.

J totally lost focus, so our prayer closed with a quickly chuckled “Amen” from all three of us. I thought I should explain myself, because J was looking pretty confused. It's not every day that people burst into laughter while he prays.

I’m sorry Jackson. I made a face and Parker saw me. He started laughing, and then I started laughing. I didn’t mean to interrupt.

Why did you make a face?

Well, you thanked God for our "great morning." The dog pooped on the floor. You boys fought over Lincoln Logs, locked each other out of the bathroom, and complained the entire time we worked outside (which was only thirty minutes but felt like an eternity). The dog pooped on the floor. AGAIN. You fussed about popsicles, and Parker just got his mouth washed out. Which part made this a “great morning” for you?

I don’t know… Just getting to be here with you, I guess.

That is the best thing I have heard all day. Thanks, bud.

That Jackson is one sweet kid. One sweet kid who spends part of each day driving me out of my mind. But at least we can all laugh about it!

Lunch at School

Ah, the school cafeteria… When I was a kid, we sat at long tables, sharing the attached bench seats. I loved the opportunity to have a guest join me for lunch at school. I loved it when anyone at my table had a guest. My favorite thing about it was that the guests would sit among the children and entertain us all. Grandparents’ Day provided a wide variety of personalities upon which to rest my attention. It was simply glorious.

Now as a parent, I find lunch with my children at school to be a completely different experience. The children still sit at long rectangular tables, but children with guests don’t usually get to sit with their friends and share this good fortune. Instead, the children and their guests are banished to the back of the cafeteria to sit at their choice of three round tables. I call these the “Prison Visitation” tables. The only way that you can avoid sitting at the PV tables is if they are already full of other prisoners and their visitors, which seems to be a rare occurrence. This is my fourth year to visit my little inmates at school, and not once have I been allowed to sit at a regular table with the kids. Not even once.

So today, I sat with Parker at the PV tables, looking out at the room full of kindergarten lunchers. For the first time, I noticed a special dynamic surrounding one kindergarten table in particular. Apparently, there is something really great about sitting in this specific location. Some kids, who are clearly the cool crowd, sit at this same table every day. The chairs may as well have their names engraved on the back. Classmates vie for the remaining seats, and it is apparently quite sad for a person to be turned away. What is this magical table of coolness and lunchtime joy? The peanut allergy table. But you don’t have to have a peanut allergy in order to sit there. You’re eligible if you bought your lunch from the school cafeteria because, as a rule, school provided lunches are peanut free. Today, two girls were forced to move from the allergy table so there would be enough room for the kids with actual allergies. They wore their saddest expressions as they picked up their lunch trays and relocated to the boring, regular, non-allergic table. You’d think someone just told them their chicken strips used to be cute, fluffy little baby chicks. Heartbreaking, isn’t it?

I never thought that having an allergy would be hailed as a status symbol, but I guess it kind of is. Well, in kindergarten anyway. While my children will never know the glory of having their own special seat at the peanut allergy table, I can rejoice in the fact that we always have the option of slapping together a pb&j and calling it a meal. Amen!

By The Way, They Won 7 - 5.

Last night was the first game of the spring baseball season. This is Jackson’s second time to play, but it’s still something new. Last fall he played in a coach-pitch league. Now he’s in kid-pitch. While it might seem scary to have eight and nine year olds throwing fastballs at each other, none of the batters were hit by any of last night’s pitches. That’s more than I can say for the first game of our coach-pitch team.

But that really doesn’t have anything to do with what I want to say today. It’s just funny.

The season-opener was last night at 7pm. I cringed when I got the news. The game starts at seven? On a school night? Oh, boy. Our kids usually go to bed at 7:30. Life is just plain easier when they go to bed on time, but sometimes we just have to let that go. It’s the season-opener, after all.

There were some challenges, of course. Jackson spent much of the afternoon in uniform. We ate a wind-blown picnic dinner at the ball fields while wondering if we were indeed in the right place. Parker is a restless little guy, who doesn’t enjoy sitting on bleachers for extended periods of time. The boys went to bed two hours later than usual.

But all of these challenges are also provided great moments to be enjoyed.

Jackson spent much of the afternoon in uniform, including the time spent with our HomeTeam. How cool is it to go to non-sports-related places while dressed in your full uniform? Yeah, I play baseball. We’re headed out to the fields right after this. My uniform IS awesome, isn’t it? I know he likes running around in that getup.

We ate a wind-blown picnic dinner at the ball fields. We didn’t see any of J’s teammates, so we kind of wondered if we had come to the right place. But that’s only because we were really early, so we got to take our time enjoying our meal. It was windy and a little chilly, but a beautiful day. And I would always rather be cold than hot. Eating at a ball field picnic table is different than eating in my dining room, but it was a chance for my family to sit down around a table and share a meal. I can’t ask for more than that! When we were done eating, Andy and J went to warm up and Parker and I read a chapter from a library book.

Parker doesn’t really enjoy sitting on the bleachers to watch the game. We can only manage to focus his attention on the field when Jackson is up to bat. Even then, he may not watch the whole thing. Instead, Parker scaled the chain link backstop, ran footraces with Andy, and paced back and forth on the low stone wall between our field and the next, lost in the world of his imagination. Every outing with Parker is an adventure.

When we finally got home and got the boys showered, brushed, and jammied, it was 9:30. Exhausted, they happily fell into bed and quickly drifted off to dreamland.

While we won’t be taking the whole family to any more 7pm school-night games, I’m glad we were all there last night to kick the season off right. I’m looking forward to the rest of the games, watching Jackson play and entertaining Parker (or should I say being entertained BY Parker) in the stands.

Lord, thank you for the lesson. I'll try to remember it this time.

Quite a while ago, when our boys were just beginning their interest in Legos, we discovered what seemed to be a good thing. In one of the new Lego packages, Jackson found a form that you could send in to receive a free two year subscription to The Lego Club Magazine. The offer boasted of articles, instructions, and pictures sent in by subscribers. Sounds like a cool thing for a budding Lego enthusiast, right?

Oh my gracious… what a mistake! Yes, the magazine has some articles, instructions, and photos of random things constructed with Legos. But mainly, this publication is a catalog. No wonder it’s free! My kids want nearly everything they see within the pages. They ask us to buy them and, after we say no, they vow to save every penny they earn until they have enough money to buy the things they want. Sheesh.

Last year, the “I wants” reached an all-time high. Andy and I determined that these Lego catalogs are the root of the problem. So, I started intercepting the mail before the boys could check it, putting the offending magazines directly into the trash. Not surprisingly, as the magazines disappeared, the attitude faded. End of story? Oh, no. I wish it were.

I can’t explain why, but I decided that the boys would like to see the new magazine when it came in the mail. And so I gave it to them. Ugh. Really, I wish I could explain why I would do such a thing. What at first seemed like a sweet, generous, caring action has revealed itself to be quite the opposite. Because of the attitude that this magazine invokes in my little Parker, he now sees me as mean, withholding, and cruel. Why won’t I just buy him these toys that his happiness hinges on? I’m not kidding. He has shed bitter tears over his lack of new Lego toys more than once in the past week.

It sounds over the top to say that Satan tempted me and tricked me into it. It sounds cliché and blame shifting of me. But seriously. The sunshiny cheery voice in my head that sold me on giving the boys these magazines has quickly turned in a stormy maniacal laugh, ridiculing me for my own stupidity. I hate that.

Like I said, this “magazine” was discovered quite a while ago. I think we just have to be nearing the end of the two-year sentence, right? It doesn’t matter. I won’t be bringing another one into my house.

Sadly, I know that it will take quite some time to undo this damage. But thankfully it can be undone. I will rid my household of all Lego magazine paraphernalia, and slowly my little Parker will forget about this drama. I, however, will remember this lesson for years and years to come.

Break out the mom jeans and minivan.

We've always known that our children would someday need serious orthodontia. Both Andy and I are veterans of the Metal Mouth Club who previously faced a variety of issues. We wore braces, rubber bands, retainers. There was even involvement of a pallet spreader and headgear. Sadly, our poor children inherited all of our dental problems. The boys made their first trip to our orthodontist on Monday. Those were some scary looking x-rays, my friends. I shouldn't have been surprised.

So today, suddenly, Jackson has braces. I can't believe I have a kid who is old enough to have braces. Scratch that. I can't believe that I am old enough to have a kid who is old enough to have braces. I always thought that I would be older when my boys were ready for such things. I pictured myself, I don't know, more mom like. I'd put on my mom jeans, slurp a glass of Metamucil while I watch the news, load the kids up in my minivan, and drive them to the middle-aged man orthodontist. Cliche. My imagined scene was very different than the reality of my life, which I consider a great blessing!

Jackson is doing very well. He watched Ice Age the Meltdown while reclining in the dental chair, seemingly oblivious to the hands and tools at work on his teeth. He doesn't really have anything to compare this experience to, so all he says is that it's "weird" to have braces.

Parker is fascinated. He stares and asks questions. On the ride home from our orthodontist, he said, "Jackson, I really like your braces. I can't wait until I can have braces, too. I'm going to start wiggling my teeth tonight so they'll fall out sooner." Lord help him. Actually, don't help him. P's mouth is such train wreck... the last thing he needs is for his little baby teeth to come out too soon!