Growing Pains

Harrison came home from school today with a jammed finger from playing two-touch football during recess.
He kept wincing every time he moved his hand while he was doing homework.

Me:  Harrison, do you want me to kiss it better?  Will that help?
H:  No, Mom.
Me:  Are you saying you are too old for me to kiss your boo-boos better?
H:  No….(long pause) …. Yes.
Me:  :o(  (insert frowny face)
H:  And I hurt my 'swear-finger'.  I can't bend it to keep it down!!

Last Day of School

I found this list posted in Harrison's bedroom this morning. He must have written it last night in preparation for the last day of school.

Solution: Get the things you want

Everybody likes you

Sounds like a plan to me, Harrison!

Father/Son Campout

I love the Father/Son Campout, especially as a mother of four boys.  Andy said he would take Abric with him this year.  I had the entire evening and house to myself!  I just didn't know what to do with such freedom.  

Andy was a trooper with all four boys.  They got caught in a huge rainstorm.

 Waiting out the storm in the tent.

 Playing Hero Factory.

 Eating granola bars.

 After the rain, they cut through a log to get to the dry stuff inside in order to build a fire.

Guess who forgot to bring their shoes.  (Harrison)

 Playing in the open fields.

 Playing in the after-rain puddles.

 Harrison, still shoe-less.

 Breakfast the next morning.

They survived the night!

The rest of the story:
Last night, half-way to the campground, Harrison yells, "I forgot my shoes!"  Andy said, "Well, whose fault is that?"  Harrison answers, "MOM'S!"

Getting ready for school

Getting ready for school this morning, Harrison only had one pair of shorts left in his drawer that were clean.

Harrison: You shrunk these shorts? What were you thinking?

Me: Harrison, I think you've grown since last year.

Harrison: (Growls and stomps off.)

Quote of the day

While eating stir-fry for dinner tonight, Ewan exclaimed:

Wow, Mom, this is some great chicken!

I just didn't have the heart to tell him that it was tofu.

Valentine's Day

I love you t(o) Mom from Zane

I love you

more than

a cow loves

grass.

to Mom from Zane

Me too, Zane.

Me too….

Phonetics

While driving in the car, we were talking about our family names and what letters they start with.

• Ewan: My name is spelled E-W-A-N.
• Me: That's right!
• Ewan: Is there a U in my name?
• Me: No. E and W make the 'YOU' sound, and A and N make the 'AN' sound.
• Ewan: Huh. . . (looking out the window) I always thought there was a U in my name….

Ewan, little buddy, when we named you, we never thought of the phonetic repercussions while you were learning your ABCs.

A Beautiful Day

The local forecast for Saturday was a high of 64. We knew we couldn't stay home on a day like that! We picked Harrison and Zane up from a slumber party at a friend's house down in Maryland. Our van hit 100,000 miles on the way, so we had to document that.
We ended up taking the long way around the Baltimore beltway (thank you, GPS). With 5 hungry boys, we stopped at the first restaurant that wasn't fast food. It happened to be P.F. Changs. We were worried about our pocket book, but decided we needed to feed the kids fast or the day wasn't going to go as well as we had planned.

I. Love. P.F. Changs! They were so kid-friendly! A kids' meal was only $3 and it came with chopsticks and chopstick helpers. Even Ewan was able to master the art of 'Kung Fu Panda Noodles', as they call lo mein.
Abric loved the 'horsies' out front. You'll have to click on the picture and enlarge it to see his enthusiasm.
Our experiment for the day was to ride the DC Metro with all four kids and a disassembled jogging stroller. Andy carried the main part, each boy had a wheel, and I had Abric.
All the boys loved riding the train. Ewan is in a pull-a-face-for-the-camera phase, which really grossed us out because those trains are not clean. You can even see his gum.

Happy, happy boys.

Abric getting in on the face-pulling action.

Why did we ride the metro? To go to the National Zoo, of course. It is free!
We saw lots and lots of different animals…. and lots and lots of different people. (It was packed.)

We saw lions

and tigers

but no bears.

The more we walked, the more I realized how unprofessional my camera is. Oh my!

We did finally see the elephants on the way out of the zoo.

Quote of the day: after carrying Abric, and Zane, around half of the zoo, I asked Andy:

Me: Are you tired?

Andy: No, because I'm wearing a marathon t-shirt.

Andy, I love how you can always make me laugh.

Faith

To make a long story short, my 4-year old nephew Connor (on the left) was hospitalized for 22 days with an infection: HUS. Logan (on the right) was also hospitalized, but his stay was much, much shorter and his infection was much, much less severe.

It was so difficult to be so far away and to be so worried about him. We prayed every day for Connor's little body to fight for his life. Ewan, who is only 1 month apart from his cousins, was really concerned. He always made sure that we prayed for Connor.

When Connor finally came home from the hospital, I told Ewan the happy news.

Me: Ewan! Connor is coming home from the hospital today!

Ewan: (pondering for a minute) Mom, is this because we prayed for him?

Me: (lump forming in my throat and whispering) Yes, sweetheart.

Zane's - the big 7!

Zane is 7 years old now and, I have found, is going to be a mover and a shaker. If he wants something done, he is going to make things happen. How do I know this? Because he invited his friends over for his birthday party that he himself organized.

All by himself.

Without telling me.

Zane, as he came home from school: I can't wait until four o'clock! I can't wait until four o'clock!

Me: What happens at four o'clock?

Zane: My birthday party! My friends are coming over!

I just kind of let it go, not thinking that anything would happen. We finished up his homework. I was in the middle of baking his birthday cake. We had just planned on a small family get-together around 6:30pm for cake and ice cream. The big party would happen next year, when he turned 8.

Sure enough, right on the dot at 4:00pm, the doorbell rang. His friend, R, was standing there with a button-down shirt, sweater vest, nice khakis, and gift in hand.

I went along with it. What else could I have done? I ran upstairs and called Andy:

Me: Andy! Where are you?

Andy: On my way home from Gettysburg.

Me: Zane planned his own bday party at school and people are showing up! I need you to pick up some pizza.

Andy: (laughter)

Ten minutes later, I received a phone call from a parent.

J's Mom: Hi. This is _____. J is insisting that Zane has a birthday party today at 4:00, but I told him we would have gotten an invitation. Is Zane having a birthday party?

Me: Well…… today is Zane's birthday…..and apparently he has planned a birthday party.

J's Mom: (laughing) You mean boys do this, too? (Apparently one of her daughters had done the same thing??)

Me: We are just having a little pizza party if J wants to come over.

They had family plans that night, so he wasn't able to come. (I was secretly relieved because I didn't know how I was going to keep them all entertained while still trying to finish the cake, do the dishes, and clean the house.)

Zane: I'm so bored!! R, what did you get me?

Me: (Ack!) Zane, that's not polite to ask that. Why don't you go play the Wii?

Zane: (gave me an expression like 'You're a genius! and ran off to play the Wii.)

Andy soon came home with the pizza-that-saved-dinner. Zane and R played the Wii, then R's brother came to pick him up. Whew!

I felt awful that R didn't even get a piece of birthday cake because I wasn't finished decorating it yet. I'm sure he was pretty confused with the whole situation.
Later that night, Zane did eventually get to blow out his candles, with his silly siblings and cousins.

Happy Birthday, Zane! We love you.

A very brave boy, or, his very last words

After a very hairy day of mouthiness on Harrison's part, he had broken the final straw. He smacked Zane while taking their nightly shower.

To make a long story short, I spanked Harrison, sent him to his room. Andy went in there to talk to him and ended up giving him a half-hour lecture.

Andy: (lecture lecture lecture) You know better than to act like this. (lecture) Are you going to try to make better choices now?

Well?

What do you have to say?

Harrison: Well, that was a waste of time!

Seriously? Does this boy have a death wish? Thoughts of Bill Cosby's "I brought you into this world, I can take you out of it" seem to come to mind.

The Talk

Hard to believe that Harrison is growing up so fast. Wasn't it yesterday that Andy and I were bringing him home from the hospital? We were driving so carefully that I think we almost caused an accident with our over-cautiousness. And yet, this morning, in the garage, Harrison got 'the talk'. The time had come for our son to learn about the birds and the bees.
We knew this talk was coming based on comments Harrison had made about certain things. One day we were driving home from the doctor and we got stuck behind some red-neck with 'come SEX me up' or something like that written all over the back. I was taken back by it, but Harrison was even more aware of it.

Harrison: "Oh Ewan, I am so glad you can't read because there is a really bad word written on the back of that car!"

Me: What word is that? (playing dumb in order to pick his brain)

Harrison: Can I say it, Mom?

Me: Yeah, you can say it. It isn't a swear word, Harrison.

Harrison: That car says 'sex' Ewan. It's very bad!

Another instance happened last Friday when we were dropping the boys off at Andy's parents' house.

Andy: (teasing, and also testing to see if H would get embarrassed.) Hey, Harrison. See that couch over there? That is where your mom and I kissed for the very first time.

Harrison: You mean that is where you reached base one?

Andy and I look at each other: Our son knows about first base????

We then had Harrison tortuously explain to us what first base was. His cheeks were bright cherry red.

Yes, the time had come to put the record straight and to make sure that he got his information from us. I can't remember how old I was when my mom gave me the talk. (I didn't believe a word of it, actually. It all sounded too far-fetched, until 5th grade when we watched 'the movie'.) Andy was in second grade when he got the talk because he had asked his mom about something he had heard at school.

Harrison took it very well. I think it made things make sense to him; he was finally able to put 2 and 2 together. We used this book, The Human Body, which gave just enough basic information for him to be able to understand.

Great Weather = Play Outside

We have been experiencing great weather these past couple days. It has been in the 70s-80s. I'm not sure why Ewan insisted on wearing a sweater, but I can reassure you that he did go change after about half an hour.
Abric tries very hard to keep up with his big brothers, who are riding their bikes in the distance.
We also decided to break out the sidewalk chalk and with boys, I guess you can't expect nice drawing of the sun, clouds, or a stick family frolicking. We get bodily functions written all over our driveway. Thanks Harrison.

Zane's own attempt at spelling: forat. I guess imitation is the best form of flattery.

Drama King

Harrison has been dealing with a weird breathing problem. He has told us that he can't seem to catch his breathe, so he will take these deep breathes to compensate. It seemed to come and go, but I wasn't sure what was going on. After a couple days I decided that we needed to go to the doctor and get it checked out. With a history of asthma on both sides of the family, I knew we needed to get this diagnosed if there really was something serious going on.

She checked his breathing and other vitals. His lungs looked clear. She checked his blood oxygen level, which were at 99%. This kid is healthy as a horse.

While Harrison was distracted with the toys his brothers were playing with, she proceeded to tell me that his deep "I'm trying to catch my breath" breathes seemed to be a little theatrical. I nodded and, mentally looking back at when these episodes occurred, agreed with her.

She left the room for a moment and Harrison took the time to ask me about what she had said.

"What did she say, Mom? What is theatrical ---- cancer???"

He was so concerned, and my heart did go out to him, but I had to laugh inside myself. I reassured him that it wasn't cancer, that he was perfectly 100% OK, and that we would talk about what theatrical meant.

Eavesdropping

Andy and I were up late visiting with a youth leader from our church. To make a long story short, we were discussing the registration forms regarding a youth trip to Palmyra, NY this summer. A large part of our discussion was about electronic devices, i.e. cell phones, mp3 players, etc. We wanted the youth to sign a waiver that they would put them away during certain points of the trip so that they would pay attention to the activity instead of texting their friend sitting right next to them on the bus. (We all know that happens, right people?)

Anyway, when Andy and I went up to bed later, we found this note on top of our bedspread:

It says:

dear mom and dad

I heard you talking about to give are electronics away and we are not bad boys. we really don't want them taken away. p.s. : I think your evil mom and dad.

from: Harrison

to: mom and dad

Andy and I were rolling on the floor! It was so funny! We composed a note back to Harrison that said:

Dear Harrison,

We were talking about taking electronics away from teenagers. You guys are good boys!

Love,

Mom and Dad

p.s. That's what you get for eavesdropping and only hearing half of the conversation.

My Valentines

I'm so lucky to have five very special Valentines in my life. Here are four of them eating their Valentine's breakfast of waffles, raspberry syrup, and heart sprinkles. Feel the love.
This is the best waffle recipe ever. So healthy and nutritious that I can completely justify a healthy dollop of cream, one of my weaknesses in life.
As a backdrop to the rest of this story, we had a big breakfast at our church yesterday. While the parents were busy with the auction, a fundraiser for the Young Women's program, the children were able to make Valentine's for their parents.

Abric, my 18 month old, was given a factory-made card that he scribbled some of his sweet markings on the back. My heart melted.
Ewan made a red heart with a stenciled-kitty cat nestled inside a purple heart. It was so sweet that I didn't even mind the fact that cats are pure evil. My heart fluttered.
Zane spruced his Valentine with a ginormous doily and his own artwork. My heart skipped a beat.
Harrison composed his own very special message, complete with smiley faces to soften the blow. At least he has alliteration going for him on this one. My heart did a double-take.

(In case you can't read it, it says, "Boogers are blessings.")

And here is my favorite Valentine of them all: my sweetheart, Andy.

I love you, honey!

Happy Valentine's Day!

I just have to give a little plug for my blogger friend, Alissa. Last year, she created the cutest Valentine's Card idea ever. This year, it has taken the blogcrafting world by storm. Isn't it darling?

Pay no attention to the real lollipop in his hand.

I couldn't get him to pose without actually holding something.

It's Christmas Eve!

Today started off on the wrong foot. I felt like literally everything I did, I either broke it or somehow had to make the project 10x more difficult than it needed to be. To make a long story short, among other things, my sewing machine broke. Ewan tried to make it better by saying,

"Mom, I can fix your sewing machine. I have a BIG hammer!"

Thanks, Ewan. Just hearing that made me feel better. (That is what laughter is for after all, right?)
As soon as Andy came home, he helped me decide that it is much more important to have a happy mom rather than new jammies for Christmas. So I put the sewing stuff away and headed out the door for a much needed 3-mile therapy run. Ironically, running so hard that you almost puke somehow makes everything better. My endorphins were flying and so was I. (Running is my choice of drug right now). Plus, the house was cleaned and vacuumed while I was gone. I love my husband.
After a quick shower, we headed to Andy's parents house for our Christmas Eve festivities. We ate finger-food, played games, and opened presents.
Isabel was so excited to get her Webkin that she danced all over the room.
Zane and Ewan keep a careful watch over Grandma while she opens her present from us: a gift card and some pictures that the boys drew just for her and Pappy.
All the cousins, minus Morgan and Bryce, happily sitting on the couch after opening presents. (Ewan was happy, he just didn't want to take the time from playing for pictures.)
We also watched 'Joy to the World', a short film about Christ's birth.
After a nice evening, we headed home to open. . . Christmas PJs! (a $10 coupon to The Children's Place saved the day! I had run to the mall quick after dropping the boys off at Andy's parents house.)
Letters to Santa, along with cookies and carrots.
Abric decided to place one more call before bed. :) Actually, he started running a fever tonight and the Tylenol had just kicked in.