Time is flying! It seems like yesterday our lives were crazy...a boy starting kindergarten, a newborn at home, and a newborn in the NICU. It has now been over 3 years since those days. Now we have a 3rd grader and two 3 year olds.
David is still a smart boy who loves to read and learn about science related things. He can easily read a chapter book in a night. It's hard to get him to put down books once he starts. He "zones out" when he is interested in anything... books, tv, whatever. He likes to be right and gets mad at himself when he gets anything wrong. He is a sweet cuddly child but is also a talker. He loves to have friends and can be loud and wild.
Dillan is a lot like David. He loves to sit and have someone read to him. He likes to learn. He is hard-headed with a capital H. If he wants to do it, everyone is happy. If he doesn't want to do something, everyone is unhappy. He will sit in the floor and not budge. No kind of punishment will change his mind. Forget it. He is a cuddly kid. He likes to dance and is often caught bobbing his head in the car. He also likes to sing. He gives big kisses and hugs. Dillan's new saying is "Guess what?" He says it all the time.
Daniel is a character. Period. He is silly and mischievous. He likes to make a pooting sound after most of his sentences. He has the cutest little grin when he does it too. He likes to take things from his brothers and then whine about it when they do something back. He can think of all kind of excuses to get up when it is time to go to bed. I'm cold...well cover up. It's dark...yes it's night time. What's that sound?...there is no sound. He's like a little monkey and can wrap his little body around you. He doesn't like to share his mommy and will push, kick, or do whatever it takes to get David or Dillan off of me is he is sitting with me.
I now realize why Josh and I were sometimes told to pretend there is a box between us in the car. These three can drive me nuts when we are in a car. They argue over the dumbest stuff and no one is ever wrong! Sometimes the DVD player is a lifesaver. Other times, they kiss and hug all over each other.
All I know is, God has blessed Walter and I with three precious boys...on good days and bad.
Come Monday, my days of being a stay at home Mommy will end. I can't tell you how sad this makes me. Don't get me wrong...I love my job and the students I see each day, but I miss my sweet little boys. I LOVE being with my children. They make me feel joy, laughter, crazy, happy, love, crazy, tender, tired, and crazy. Oh, did I say crazy?
I will miss our weekly adventures, going to the park, stopping for ice cream, swimming, playing in the yard, walking to the mailbox, feeding the fish in the pond, hearing them laugh and play together and then fight, going to the creek, and Friday play dates.
I am so very thankful for all the times we shared during this very SHORT Summer!
The good news is I will have the chance to be a stay at home Mommy again for 2 weeks in December and again in May. David will be in the 3rd grade at the school I work at and Dillan and Daniel will be next door this year at the Child Development Center.
I love summer! I love not having to get up and ready every morning. I like having a free schedule. I like the water. The blackberries, blueberries, and other fruit is yummy. Ice cream and popsicles don't seem so bad. I love going to the creek, river, beach, and lake. Of all the things, I love being a stay at home Mom the most. I have 2 months to stay home and enjoy our 3 boys.
The month of June has been very busy. David left the day after school let out and went to the beach with his grandparents for 5 days. The next week, all of us headed to the beach for a weekend. We were able to spend time with Natasha and her family, play in the ocean, fish in the bay, eat seafood, go to the state pier, and swim in the pool. It was a good trip. It was definitely easier this year than it was last year with the twins.
The day we came back from the beach, David left with my Mom to stay at Lake Martin for a couple days. The babies and I joined them during the day and went home at nap time.
We've also played outside and in the slip n slide, went to my Dad's creek, played with the trains, gone to the park, and enjoyed each other. I love making memories. I always want my kids to look back at their childhood and think "My Mommy loved me and loved spending time with me."
Tomorrow David and I will be using his ticket he earned for reading to go to Six Flags. Tina and Quinn is going with us and we are excited! I hope David gets soaked on the Thunder River.
When I started teaching in 2007, I knew that teachers impact children's lives. I remember all of my teachers from school. I remember my childhood best friend's Mom, Mrs. Milam, teaching me in kindergarten. I loved her and she loved me. I remember sitting on the rug singing "Itsy Bitsy Spider" with her. I remember being Ms. McKee's teacher's pet in second grade. I even remember Ms. Turner spraying air freshener every time someone crop-dusted in fifth grade! Bahahaha! Teachers are such a HUGE part of a child's life.
When my own child started school, I realized this even more. He was with her more than he was with me each day. EVERY word a teacher says is absorbed. They remember the fun and interesting activities they do. They remember how they are treated. They remember it all!
As this year ends, I am thankful for David's 2nd grade teacher, Ms. Preskitt. David is a very intelligent boy who loves to read, learn about anything science related, and technology. He loves to show people how to do things. He likes to get things right and really doesn't like to be wrong... not to be rude, just because it makes him feel like he's not smart. He is more of a follower than a leader and he craves his peers' approval. He cares about what people think and takes most things to heart. He worries about things. His sense of humor is not lacking and he thinks boy things are HILARIOUS, like pooting, burping, etc. I wonder where he gets that from?
Ms. Preskitt is creative in all ways. She has somehow brought that side of David out a little. As I look at the scrapbook she helped the kids make, I am reminded of some of the fun activities they did. They made panther hats for Homecoming, dressed as Dalmatians for "Dot Day," made edible landforms, and made themselves out of a plant thingy. They painted a giraffe, made homemade ice cream, and had a pet alligator named Iggy.
As I read the scrapbook and looked at the pictures, I also noticed something else. My child, who hated writing, has become a pretty good writer. That is a HUGE accomplishment! Thank you Ms. Preskitt!
As an added bonus, he even semi-likes crafts now!
Thank you for working with me and working with David. He's not always perfect, but he means well. :) This parent is truly thankful.
Eight whole years have flown by! We hoped and prayed for a little one and we received a precious baby boy 8 years ago. March 23, 2006 our first bundle of joy arrived.
We celebrated a week early since his birthday always falls during Spring Break. He had a party at the new, safer Chuck E Cheese. He had a great time playing games with his friends. He also got to get in the Ticket Blaster and try to catch tickets as they flew around. He found it was a lot harder than it looks! Natasha made him a Minecraft cake, we had pizza, and opened presents.
On David's actual birthday, he awoke to his door blocked with streamers and balloons in the hallway. I woke up and made cake batter pancakes for him complete with sprinkles and a candle. We went to church and had lunch at his choice.. China Garden AKA China Garbage.
We are proud of our very intelligent and sweet 8 year old. He is in 2nd grade, reading on a 5th grade level and math on at third grade level. He still amazes us with his knowledge and need for more knowledge. He likes playing outside, jumping on the trampoline, learning about critters, building with Legos, playing baseball, karate, Minecraft, and having family time. He is a fun kid who wants to have everything right. He can care less about having a clean room. We love him just the way he is.
It's March 24, and my Pop passed away today around noon. My mind has thought a million thoughts. I am of course sad because he is gone. Sad because I no longer have him, my kids no longer have him, my grandmother no longer has him, and my Dad no longer has his Dad.
I feel joy because he is now with in heaven with THE FATHER, his mother who died when he was 5, his Dad, his brother, his 2 sisters, and so many other family members and friends. I feel blessed because I was given 30 years with him... 30 great years to cherish. He was MY POP and I was always special to him. He always made me feel this way. We never saw each other or left each other without a kiss on the cheek and an "I love you." He helped teach me how to love and how to show love.
He also helped teach me how to take care of myself. I learned to shoot a gun at a young age. We used to shoot go out back and shoot the 22, pistols, and more powerful guns as I grew. I wouldn't trade that for anything. I find great comfort in knowing I can protect myself if the need should arise. He also taught me how to change the oil in my car. When he and Mawmaw bought my a car, I would drive it to their house and we would change the oil and filter together.
I always had a good time with my grandparents. We would play countless games of Yahtzee, Aggravation, Rummy, and Dominoes. We would watch Wheel of Fortune and Full House together. We went to the mall to "baby watch," not shop. He made trails all through the woods and we would go walking. Later he got us a 4-wheeler to ride on the trails. He had a garden and we would pick the tomatoes, cucumbers, corn, eggplant, etc. He made a wagon to hook onto the back of the tractor and he would ride Josh and I on it. He hooked a Nintendo up on the back "porch" for us to play. We would take trips to the store where he would buy me candy and ice cream. One time he bought me each flavor of push-ups. I ate all of them that night and later threw up in his and Mawmaw's bed in the middle of the night. He got up, changed the sheets, and we went back to sleep. He monitored how many I ate at a time after that. He always had plenty of ice cream to choose from. I opened the freezer last night and there sat 3-4 containers of ice cream. He would come and get Josh and I each Wednesday to go to Dairy Queen and get a buy one get one free sundae. He was always at my softball games and later would laugh about my butt. He always said it suck out and you could put a quarter on it and it would stay! Not sure if that was a compliment, but he thought so. :)
My brother and I were able to see lots of places because MawMaw and Pop would take us on trips. Each year we would go to North Carolina to see Mawmaw's family. They would take us to Dothan to the Water Park. We went to Disney World, the Everglades, and Key West on one trip. I remember one hotel we stopped at. Josh and I went in with Pop to check on a room. He started fussing with the attendant and we ran to the car and dove in like it was a drive-by. We knew he wasn't going to cut the attendant any slack! I was fortunate to go on 2 different vacations out West with them in the 5th and 6th grade. I saw things I hope to see again like the Grand Canyon, Royal Gorge, Yellowstone, Corn Palace, Arches, and more. We stopped at every Wal-Mart or K-Mart we saw... and I always seemed to forget my money in the car. Those trips I will always treasure.
He thought I was perfect... but never forgot ANYTHING I had done that wasn't so perfect. He would bring things up and laugh about them. He always told the story of me calling him to come and get me. When he got me in the car, he found out I was fussing with my mom and that's why I wanted to go. He said I blurted out "I hate my Mom!" and he told me to hush my mouth, that I didn't hate her. Of course I didn't...just what kids think when they are mad. He also would tell the story of me calling them saying we didn't have anything to eat. He and Mawmaw thought my parents were having a tough time and hadn't told them. They went and bought groceries and showed up at the house with them to find out we had groceries... I just didn't like any of it!
My grandparents always had a way of making people feel welcomed. I have heard so many of my friends and Walter say this. I had many friends who would go to their house with me and play. Now that I am older, I realize that is not common. It was special, because that is who they are.
They made all 3 of our boys feel loved too. My favorite memory of them and Pop is the time they spent in his room. He had a bed that would move up and down and massage. When David was younger he would get in there with Pop and have him all folded up in the bed. His head and legs would be up in the air. Daniel and Dillan followed suit. They did the same thing to him.
Even as Pop lay in the hospital bed, he still made me feel loved. In the ER he would hold my hand and he told me to make sure the boys knew how much he loved them. After he was put on the breathing machine we would have lots of talks. I would go down for the 8:30 visits most nights. Most of the time it was just he and I. He wasn't able to communicate, but I would talk to him like he could. He would squeeze my hand and try his best to look at me. A few time he shook his head yes or no, or squenched his eyes at me...I squench my eyes at people too...just like him. I am so very thankful for those last memories. God let him hang around just so we could have a few good talks.
I have no doubt he is in heaven now loving on his mother. I find comfort in that...
I
woke up extra early on V Day to make pancakes for the family. I realized I had no eggs to make the pancakes with so I tried oil instead. Bad idea. All that work, and they could have ben used as a bouncy ball! Bahahaha! I even made them pink with sprinkles. In the trash they went. Luckily David ate some of his candy first and thought that tasted ruined the taste of his pancakes. I wouldn't want to tell him he's wrong, so I let him believe it.
Valentine's Day is always a fun day when you are in elementary school! David's class wore these cool hats with their name written in the hearts and had a party at the end of the day. We made snack mix for the party. Valentine's Cards aren't the same as they were when I was a kid. To get excited now, the card has to come with a piece of candy. Back in the day, the card itself was exciting!
We had a candlelit steak dinner at home with the whole family that night.
David had a doctor's appointment in Montgomery one day. We thought we would make it back to Eclectic by 11:30, but that's when we left the office. So instead we enjoyed the beautiful day together. I love days like this! We had breakfast at Krispy Kreme (his teacher is probably happy we didn't make it to school) and lunch with his Daddy at Arby's. We had never tried the famous cupcakes at GiGi's, so we shared a chocolate chip cookie dough one. Yummy! Then we headed to downtown Montgomery to go explore the Archives building. We heard they renovated the kid's room and added some other rooms too. It was very interesting. We surprisingly found that the First White House of the Confederacy was next door, so we went inside. This was David's favorite. We also had to make a stop at the Adullam House thrift store before going home.
My Dad's last day of the work life was this month too! He invited us down to the fire station to watch the F-16s fly at night. I had never been there at night to see them and neither had the boys. We loaded up and got there just in time. We missed two of them, but were able to see the other four. The boys explored the fire trucks of course and then we had cake. You never know what Dad will won't so we didn't want to go too far out with surprises. It was a good night and the fire shooting out of the back o the planes was cool to see. Proud of my Dad for this milestone. David said he can spend even more time with us now.
