Current Events

Aaron and Kaleb carved pumpkins this year.

Braylen finished up his first quarter as captain of the safety patrol at school. Setting up cones, handing out "parking tickets" and blowing his whistle...Braylen enjoyed it all. His post ended after today's character assembly, which he led with the other captain and two co-lieutenants. He won an award at the assembly that our family's never been eligible to win: the before school character behavior award. Why could we never win this award? Because our kids are never early for school! I don't believe in being early. :) Safety patrol changed that, which allowed Braylen AND Aaron to win this award!!

Now that first quarter is behind us, I want to hold on to each day of the next three quarters. I love going to the school knowing all three of my boys are there. Braylen's at the top of the school, Kaleb's right in the middle, and Aaron's such a cute kindergartner. I remember when Braylen was a cute kindergartner who loved the swings. It feels like he went from the swings to his online math homework in a blink. And Aaron's on those swings now. Please let these next 3 quarters last and last.

Meet Matt the crawdad

Kaleb brought his crawdad friend home last week. He feeds it cat food (from our neighbor) and changes the water. But will he pick it up? NO! Will I? NO! Braylen to the rescue!!! Someone needs to pick it up so the water can be changed. Really, I don't know what we'd do without Braylen's help.

Lately I've been thinking of Kaleb as my tenderhearted perfectionist. He wants so badly to do everything perfectly. Piano lessons can be fun for him, or torture, depending on how well he's doing. After a recent lesson Kaleb told us, "I think my music made my teacher tired. She keeps yawning." :) Like our other boys, Kaleb sometimes drags his feet and whines when told to do something--brush your teeth, make your bed, etc. Grrr! But then he makes me laugh, like this:

Me: Kaleb, it's time to do your homework.

K: Aw Mom, I don't want to. (pout) Another reason why I want to be a dog.

Can you tell he keeps a running list of why he wants to be a dog? Life would be so much simpler! By the way, he's going to be a dog for Halloween. :)

Kaleb loves birds, although he never says he wants to be a bird. :) His favorite is the eagle, and his second favorite is the pigeon. Strange combination, isn't it? But that's Kaleb. His tender heart grieved over a robin this week. It flew into our picture window one morning before school. Kaleb watched it die on our porch, and then it was time to go. I spent the short drive to school trying to explain why God would let the robin hit the window and die. Matthew 10:29 says, "Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father."

Aaron loves turtles

Aaron's inventing his own language and calling it "Faasher-e-man-jaw," although he slurs it all together really fast. Such a silly boy he is! Sometimes I can't understand him and he'll remind me it's his new language. He's learning how to read (in English) and I love hearing him sound out new words. He looked at a cereal box and said, "Why does it say me-saggy?" It took me a few seconds, but I realized he was trying to read the word "message."

Besides the award I mentioned earlier, Aaron also received the character award at school today. Know what's right, do what's right=integrity, which is this quarter's featured character quality. I'm so happy for Aaron. He's shining at school and has so many friends. Now he's won this award. I can sense God nudging me to remember His faithfulness in Aaron's life. First by bringing him safely into this world, a miracle I think about this time of year. Second, by teaching us to wait upon His best for Aaron's life. Not what might seem easier at the time.

Finally, Derek wrapped up a week of EVOC (emergency vehicle operations course) training. He even took me out to his course and taught me how to drive, law enforcement style. All the boys were in school and we had the day to ourselves, since he wasn't scheduled to lead training that day until 5:00. I loved everything about our time together, except one thing. Whipping around and around the course wrecked havoc on my sensitive stomach. I felt green around the gills for much of the afternoon. I guess I have a good reason to drive my minivan and never drive a cruiser. :)

Getting Away

Ready to set sail and leave the clouds behind!

Last year's Christmas gift turned out to be this fall's greatest adventure! Mom and I had the time of our lives on this Girl's Get-A-Way cruise through Premier Christian Cruises. Leaving my boys behind was hard. Saying goodbye the night before an early morning flight is just not easy. Their pillows were damp when I checked on them one last time before going to bed. Awww, they really do love their mommy. :)

We traveled to Ft. Lauderdale, and I must say I enjoyed watching my own tv on the plane. Sometimes I'd watch the miners' rescue, other times I'd keep my eye on Hurricane Paula. That storm was headed straight for our planned route. Thankfully it ended up not being an issue at all.

Royal Caribbean's Grandeur of the Seas took us from Ft. Lauderdale to Key West to Cozumel! I took all kinds of pictures of the ship for my boys, and pictures of the water for me. :) As much as I'd love to cruise with Derek someday, I think he's better off on land. Friday night the ship felt a little bumpy in the rolling seas--just enough to make me dizzy at times. Mom and I handled it though, and thankfully we never felt sick.

Some of our new friends: first with Karen Kingsbury...

...then with Melissa Reeves

I wrote all about our times together in my journal, allowing me to just share some highlights through my blog.

• I loved spending this time with my mom. Sitting by the pool, walking around the ship, or ordering room service for breakfast--we enjoyed it all!
• Every night we ate dinner at our assigned table, which just happened to be right in the middle of the celebrities and their families who were on this cruise with us!
• Key West was beautiful! Perfect weather, lots of walking, lots of shopping, and lots of ocean all around us.
• Through various speakers and musicians, I learned that my reaction determines my reach. I saw these Christian leaders describe their broken pasts, showcasing God's redeeming love. Life can be such a juggling act, and one speaker encouraged me with truths related to restoring order in the midst of the busyness.
• Nicole C. Mullen was my favorite performer, by far. Karen Kingsbury is as good of a storyteller in person as she is in her books.
• See? We did more than sit by the pool and sip Cokes! But we did that too. :)
• Snorkeling in Cozumel! Mom started out saying, "I don't like this!" In her defense, it was very choppy water. We persevered and enjoyed it once we got the hang of it. Very beautiful blue water filled with tropical fish swimming all around us.
• Laughed a LOT and enjoyed being a woman in a group of 900 other women! There's another girl's-get-a-way cruise in January 2012. You should go if you can.

My husband and my dad took such good care of my boys while I was gone. They met us at the airport Monday night with homemade welcome home signs! Kaleb got to me for the first hug and Aaron and Braylen were not far behind. It was sweet reunion for sure. Derek summed up his experience at home by saying, "Now I know why you do some of the things you do. It makes sense to me now." Wow! What wife wouldn't want to hear her husband say that!!!

I wouldn't change one single thing about this trip with you Mom. Thank you for this incredible time together!!!

Did I Really Do That?

Mom and I are home from our girl's get-a-way cruise and today I'm wondering, "Did I really do that? Did I fly in 4 planes and ride in 3 buses and cruise to the Caribbean and back in a ship?" My oldest son brought me back to reality yesterday when he needed to visit the clinic for some help managing his asthma. There I was, lounging around the ship at sea, and then suddenly I was in the clinic's waiting room with my son. Did that really happen?

Today I'm feeling some culture shock as I try to get back into my daily life at home. I think it will take me some time. I keep thinking of the pampering I received on the ship. The speakers and singers I listened to, and the things they taught me. How it felt to do absolutely nothing at all.

Maybe when I'm feeling a bit more ambitious I will post pictures and share some highlights from our trip. But for now, I'm still soaking it all in. :)

9 years

Sneaking in a blog post before my Caribbean adventure this week. :)

9 years ago today my grandma passed away. It was all very sudden and I was very pregnant with son #2. Sometimes I wonder what it would be like if she were still alive. Would she have visited my home again? I think so. She and Mom came to visit me each fall in college, and she made it here for Braylen's baby dedication. What a trooper she was, sleeping on the couch and all. Because my grandpa passed away in his mid-50's, my grandma lived alone for 18 years. But she vacationed with us every summer, and she stayed with us on the weekends quite a bit. I'm thankful for those memories. She loved her great-grandson, the only one she ever knew. We gave our second son his middle name in honor of my grandma. I wish I'd had more time to know her as an adult. I wish she knew her other great-grandsons. She loved Braylen's blond hair and blue eyes. She would have been happy to see that carried on in Kaleb and Aaron.

So as my mom and I get ready for our mother-daughter cruise, I like to think of it as a celebration of our relationship. Her mom is in heaven, and I've been blessed with sons. But we have each other. God can use all kinds of circumstances to draw people closer together. In this case, He's using lining up this 9 year anniversary with a Caribbean cruise. I love how Great our God is!

Getting Ready

Everyone knows fall is a busy time. This year it's even busier than it usually is. Next week I'm leaving on a much-anticipated mother-daughter cruise with my mom! :) In November, a much-anticipated family wedding. In December, Christmas with my side of the family. One trip at a time, so this week I'm all about getting ready for my CRUISE!!!

People without children ask me if I'm doing any shopping for my cruise. People with children ask me how I'm preparing to leave my family for 6 days. For the record, the only shopping I'm doing for this trip is for things I need to leave behind. Like meals for my family. :) The two most amazing men in my life, my husband and my dad, will do a fantastic job taking care of my kids while I'm gone. But they can't be fantastic at it if they don't know what they need to do. Hopefully my word document describing all the daily things that need done in my absence won't overwhelm my capable caregivers. Well, maybe they will be in awe of all I do. That would be okay with me. I'm also hoping my kids step up and be responsible. A girl can dream, right? :)

This past weekend Derek and Braylen attended Webelos Woods, a camp designed to woo Cub Scouts to join Boy Scouts. Even though they camped out during our first patchy freeze of the season, Derek and Braylen had lots of fun! Different troops planned activities for the Cub Scouts, and my guys narrowed their troop choices down to three. If Braylen moves on this winter to Boy Scouts, we'll have to decide which troop to join. Derek was impressed with the boy-led troops rather than adult-led troops. I think that's been our problem with Cub Scouts all along. The boys run wild while the adults try to reign in the chaos. In Boy Scouts, the boys lead their troops, make scheduling decisions, and end up designing their troop to reflect their interests. A nice surprise, I must admit!

Braylen really liked tying all kinds of knots

The tomahawk throw

I'm not sure if I'll blog again before my trip. Things will only get crazier as this week progresses. So before I sign off, I want to remember something Aaron's been doing lately. At night he says his prayer, and he ends with "amen." But not just any amen. He says "A...snaps his fingers once...MEN!" Where does this child come up with these things? :)