MOM! SOMETHING FELL OUT OF THE TRUNK!

I absolutely love our Suburban. I wish we had it years ago. The kids love it. They are not on top of each other in the car anymore. We still have room for strollers and baseball equipment when all six of us are in the car. The trunk doubles as a rain cover when open and we can actually give other people a ride somewhere now! It has been a wonderful addition to our family. That being said, it has taught me a little lesson about patience and humor. So here goes.

Now that we have all this "additional space" in the trunk, there is a TON of "stuff" always in our trunk. I am okay with this. I mean we have four kids, so of course we need to carry a lot around, right!? We just finished up baseball season....Correction......it is always baseball season around here! Needless to say for the past few months, there has been an extensive collection of tennis balls, bats, base plates, gloves, cleats, etc in the trunk. Better to keep it close than not have it when you need it is MacGyver's motto I think. None of this bothers me....the trunk is definitely big enough for everyone's stuff! But there is one thing that tickles me about this "junk in the trunk". One of the staples in our trunk lately has been tennis balls which apparently are great for baseball practice.

The first time it happened was in December at the hospital parking lot. I was taking Sparkler to her pre-op appointment, it was pouring down rain and the stroller was in the trunk. I hopped out, excited to get the stroller from the fancy rain protected trunk, opened the door and POW! Out tumbled AT LEAST 30 tennis balls! They scattered all over the parking deck floor- no joke. I about passed out. I had 5 minutes to get where I needed to go, was a nervous wreck about Sparkler's surgery and frankly not too excited to pick up all the lost tennis balls. Then I laughed. This had to be God using his sense of humor to calm me and bring me back to the focus of what was really important. So I collected all the balls from the ground, making numerous trips back and forth (in case you don't know, tennis balls falling from a 3 foot ledge roll far!), and reorganized things in the trunk so it would not happen again. And yes, I did recognize all the passerby's laughing and/or gawking at my charade.

This has happened more times than I can remember ever since. Most of the time the kids are with me and love to let me know MOM! SOMETHING FELL OUT OF THE TRUNK! as if I was unaware of the spewing! I used to collect every single ball that fell out of the car ( in case you are wondering, MacGyver keeps the tennis balls in a crate....but due to my talented driving, I can knock the crate over going around corners at 45mph! just kidding...kind of!). I have learned to laugh about this now. Of course it tends to happen in the most "worst case" places. I am certain this is all an intention to teach me a lesson to slow down, enjoy life and not let things upset me that really don't matter. I have even learned to share from this experience. If I am somewhere with other kids around such as a park or school, I don't take initiative to collect the balls. Instead I leave them for others to enjoy! Crazy or courteous.....you choose! I know now that one day soon enough there will not be any "stuff" in my trunk and I will miss the days when balls flew out by the dozen! I'll miss chasing the balls around the parking lots under the concerned glare of passerbys! Thanks God for teaching me about patience, humility and humor in a not-so-traditional way!

FINALLY FRIDAY......FINALLY!

Between MacGyver and I both teaching several summer school sessions, running 5 academic health camps at a local university and spending time with the kids enjoying summer, I have neglected the blog! It is a bit crazy around here! Needless to say we have not had the camera out too much lately with everything going on, so I thought it would be fun to do a twist on Finally Friday. Here are "baby" pictures from each of the kiddos.......can you guess who is who? Make it a great weekend and stay cool!

IT STARTED WITH A SEED......

"Here is our "garden" in March.

We usually buy plants in early May to start the garden. This year we decided it would be fun to try something different. So we bought the planting tray which held 72 pods. We picked out the packets of seeds we wanted to plant and together as a family we began our garden. The kids all put seeds in and helped water each week. We labeled the tray so we would be able to identify each plant as it grew. We kept the tray on the kitchen table so the kids could watch it grow. Eventually the tray had to sit outside. The kids still helped water it and liked to report back to us how the plants were doing each day! Then in early May we put the tiny plants into the ground. To see the tray prior to planting in the garden, I wouldn't have believed our garden would florish at all. Honestly, if you looked from far away you could not distingquish between some of the plants and any weeds in the garden. Within 2 weeks, the garden took off and to much delight (we have had several years of not-so-great-wish-it-grew-a lot-better gardens) it did in fact florish! Here it is today........

It looks like we will be eating and sharing fresh fruits and veggies very soon! Can't you just taste the fresh salsa, pickled cucumbers and bacon, lettuce, tomato sandwiches? Come on over any time and pick a basket to go!

GRADUATION

Smoke Bomb "graduated" from preschool recently. I have probably said it before, but this preschool is so wonderful. They did a fantastic job of making this a special occasion for the children. Here's to our new Kindergartener! I keep telling myself not to blink...... in 12 short years he will be wearing the real cap and gown! Be still my heart.....sniff, sniff

A MIND OF HER OWN........AT 18 MONTHS!?!?

Without a doubt, Sparkler has been her own person since the day she entered the world. Well let me rephrase that. It started in the womb. Each time I had to have a non-stress test to check her heartbeat and health before she was born, she would typically decide it would be more fun to "play" than cooperate with the doctors. A test that should normally only take 15 minutes or so would often take an hour or more. It began to be a running joke and several times they were sure she would have to be delivered that day until the last minute when she cooperated! The evidence was already there....this girl is going to have a mind of her own!

Surely this is a good thing ....I mean I want her to be an independent, stand-up-for herself and creative type of person. I was just not prepared to see it so soon. She seems so little and yet here she is "telling" me what she likes. A great example is her fashion. Yes, you heard me right, she already has fashion preferences! The other day I put on her dress and sandals that matched. We got downstairs and she immediately took of her sandals and brought me her black boots. Then she proceeded to say "Mama" repeatedly until I put them on. Next, she picked up her pink silly band, given to her by Smoke Bomb, and put it on her arm.......way up high above her elbow so it would fit just so! Then, (and I am not exaggerating one bit!) she walked over to her bows and pointed once again saying "bow, bow" until I got one down. I put it in her hair and she exclaimed, "No"! I tried another bow with the same response and she would have nothing to do with it. I finally took down the American flag bow that her aunt had recently given her and sure enough she leaned her head down to have the bow put in her hair. Then she happily pranced away- all 'girly' and ready to go! I was cracking up.....just one of these alone would have tickled me, but all at once? I can't wait to see what's next! Way to go Sparkler...keep dancing to your own tune!

FINALLY FRIDAY!!

I have officially been in a blogging slump lately. I think my brain has been on overload! But that is over! The news from here is a newly graduated preschooler/soon to be Kindergartener, 4 more days of the school year for Smoke Bomb, the third set of glasses for Fire Cracker (since January!), swimming pools & slip-n-slides, cul-de-sac holiday parties, fun in the sun events at school, couponing (finding 350 diapers on sale for less than 5 bucks out of pocket!), tourament baseball and stormy weather! How is your weekend shaping up? Make it a good one!

YOU ARE NEVER TOO OLD!

Recently we put a lot of baby things away since Sparkler is getting older and not using it much. One of the things we put away was the pack-n-play in the den. I used to let (okay, more like make!) her play in it while I cooked dinner or the kids did homework. But she had outgrown it......so I thought!?!

Here is where I found her in the playroom the other morning. She had been really quiet and that is a tell-tale sign that something is going on. I caught a glimpse of her as I rounded the corner and then ran to get the camera once I realized what she had done. Somehow (the how will follow at the end of this post) she had managed to climb into her babydoll's miniature pack-n-play! She was just sitting there as content as could be, snug as a bug in a rug!

It reminded me that we are never too old for some things! Why not go after some of those things we might think we can't do because we are too old? We are only too old if we think we are, right? Is there something you have been wanting to do but stop yourself for fear that you are "too old"? Bahumbug I say......get out there and do it!

ENDNOTE: So the way she got in the pack-n-play was HEAD FIRST! She bent forward, head down on the bottom of the pack-n-play, did a side roll and brought her hips over the top edge, wriggled around and there she was! I am telling you this child has NO FEAR! It was hilarious!

FIRE CRACKER'S FRIEND

It started out innocent. No one really thought much about it. Then we (family and neighbors) started to see a trend. We were surprised. They are so young! I mean really, who would have guessed (a then) two year old could be so compassionate toward a friend! He started to cry when we had to go in from outside play. He started to look out the window each day and ask where his friend was. That is when we knew Fire Cracker was smitten with our neighbor's little girl - they are the same age with her being just 4 months older.

For the past year or so we have all sat back and watched the two. They are so funny and cute together! It cracks us up. They are like a little elderly couple who have known each other for years! At any given point, you can find Fire Cracker and his friend chasing each other in the grass, riding bikes alongside each other (he even goes to get her bike from her garage for her! hehe......), sitting side-by-side having a snack on the brick walkway or sharing a chair and chatting away in a language only they can understand. Fire Cracker just adores her! As for her, she seems to enjoy him as well, but often moves into toleration mode for the little boy constantly in her shadow! The first thing Fire Cracker does when we go outside is ask us or her parents where she is and when she will be out. And like I mentioned, he is totally deflated when we make him come in. She is the only one he plays with if she is out. She will forever be his "first friend"!

A great example of this cute little "couple" was the other evening when they got their beach towels out and pretended to be at the beach on the front lawn. They danced and talked and played for what seemed hours. Sometimes they would even sit with their backs against each other just jibber-jabbering to each other. One day I will catch them on the video camera so you can see the full effect. I have never seen anything like it! Who knew a little three year old could be so chivalrous?

YEARBOOK TIME!

It still cracks me up that elementary school students get a yearbook! They are still so little! Bottle Rocket's school did a great job with the book this year. He brought it home yesterday and showed it off proudly. Wow, what a year does! I (or he!) could probably not even tell you where the year book is from last year. He brought it home, looked over it and never touched it again. Well this year, it is the coolest thing since silly bands! He checked multiple times between last night and this morning to be sure he had it packed to go back to school today. He is giddy to have all his classmates sign the yearbook. It really is cute.

The sweetest thing about the whole yearbook happened this morning. Early this morning we heard Bottle Rocket in his room telling Smoke Bomb that he wanted him to be the first to sign his new yearbook! I have mentioned before that one of my frequent prayers is that our kids are close to each other and remain that way for life. What a blessing to see this affection between Bottle Rocket and Smoke Bomb. As if that was not plenty to make my day, we got downstairs to eat breakfast and Bottle Rocket asked MacGyver and I to sign the yearbook too! Now trust me, I am not naive! I know there will come a day when the last thing our kids want is their parents to sign the yearbook. For now, however, it is a great feeling to see Bottle Rocket focusing on one of the most important parts of life- family! I am very proud of you Bottle Rocket!