Simply Stacy

Catch up post #1

Wow, when I started looking back on the pictures that I uploaded from my camera, it was a bit overwhelming.  I realized that I haven't blogged much at all.  So I plan to hit the high spots in a few posts to catch you up.  

First, I will point out that I uploaded a couple of albums today as well.  Enjoy.

I will start with Charlie at his school Easter egg hunt.  He was so excited to get to play in the park and hunt eggs.   I got to run around the park and slide with him and his friends.  They had a blast.  Then we hid a LOT of eggs.  Well, I say hid...it was more like put them out on the ground for them to find.  They were only kindergarteners after all. 

Charlie was so proud of himself.  He found the most eggs in his class.  He was running all over picking them up like a machine.  He definately inherited more of my competitiveness than Britt.  He still has the sweet nature behind it though.  He was more than happy to share his eggs with his classmates that didn't get as many.  He is such a sweet boy.

 

Then came Easter morning. This was the first holiday after I moved out.  We were all trying to figure things out but the boys didn't have any problem figuring out what to do with the candy and toys that the Easter Bunny brought.

They were so excited that the Easter bunny had found them even at my house.  And that they got exactly what they liked, Charlie a transformers basket and Britt a camoflauge one.  That was the first time my house really felt like home.  They were so excited playing and eating chocolate bunnies. It made my heart full.

Then it was time to get the sugar high boys ready for church. They wore classic white and khaki linen.  They were so handsome as always.  But there is something about Easter morning that makes them even more cute.  Don't you think?

 

It is getting late and I am going to end it here for now.  There is more to come.  And I promise it won't be as long in between posts next time. 

 

Gratitude

I have decided with this being Thanksgiving week, it would be a great time to assess my life and share some of thethings that make me grateful.  Not just the normal, broad subjects like family and home, but much more specific.  So hear goes.

I am thankful for...

Freedom to worship or not to worship how we chose.  Not only for the governmental freedom, that so many have fought to protect, but the freedom that my God gives each of us to choose to follow Him.  If He took that choice and made it mandatory to worship Him, it just would not hold the meaning that it does when it is my choice to follow Him.  He allows me the choice and I chose, daily, to walk with Him.  It is something that I feel called to do, and that calling comes from my wonderful Savior. 

Food that is readily available to us.  At times, I complain that we don't have anything to eat in the house, when realistically we could eat for weeks on the boxes, cans and bags in our pantry and freezer.  It may not be the most appetizing of meals, but starve, we would not.  We venture out for quick meals when there's no time and there is always store calling my hubby in to grab a Mt. Dew and a quick snack.  Then when there is more time, we go out for sit down meals around another's table and let them do all of the preparations, cooking and clean up.  I am so glad that I can say and I am almost certain that my husband can say that we have never truly been hungry.  I hope that we can share that wealth.

The total and unbridled love of my children.  Not to say that there aren't times that they look at me like they wish I would totally disappear from the face of this earth, usually following statements like "Go clean your room" or "It's homework time."  But there are also times that they will, each in their own unique way, communicate how much they love me.  Charlie is more direct by saying what he feels.  He says at least ten times a day, "Mama, I love you."  But just this weekend, he looked me right in the eyes and said, "You are the best Mama I could ever have."  That's the love that I am talking about.  Britt is much more subtle.  I catch him watching me when I didn't know he is looking and his smile when I see him so reminds me of Pat.  He is just admiring me for me, ignoring the fact that my hair is a mess, I still have on PJs and I have yet to sit down and play that game with them yet.  He is patiently waiting because deep down he knows that he owns my heart.  And I think that I have a pretty portion of his too.

That I get to pay back in a small way the great things that the veterans of this country have done for us.  When I walk the halls of this VA Hospital, I feel like bowing and thanking them for their sacrifices.  Because in one way or another, they all made sacrifices.  And the most amazing thing about it, most are too humble to accept praise for it. 

I hope to keep sharing these as the week continues.  The boys are out of school all week so I am sure there will be some stories to be shared as well. 

Carving Jack-O-Lanterns and the Belt

Yesterday started off like any other day.  I got up a few minutes before the boys were due home from school and started thinking of what the day and the week held for me. 

To self: Today is...what is today?  Ah, Tuesday.  Does Britt have scouts tonight?  {check the cellphone calendar} Nope.  Okay, so tonight is free.  Tomorrow night, church.  Thursday night, technically free but one of these free nights needs to be used to get decorations ready for the Trunk or Treat at church on Friday night.  So tonight or Thursday night we need to go on the search for the Great Pumpkins and carve them. Thursday night is the night before Halloween and who wants to carve a pumpkin for just one day?  It would be like putting the Christmas tree up on Christmas Eve.  Wonder when the Charlie Brown special comes on.  {Check listings}  Tonight.  Well, we watch that or carve, but not both because I am not carving their pumpkins while they watch TV.  {Set DVR to record it}  Tonight is the night for the annual pumpkin carving!  {The boys burst through the door} 

This is how I spend my five minutes of free time before the boys get in from school.  Sad isn't it?

I tell the boys that we need to get their homework done because we have something fun to do today.  They are excited and do homework without whining or even asking for a snack.  Amazing what they will do when they think something is in it for them.  They finish their homework in record time and I tell them the game plan. 

Britt is great with it until I tell him that we are going to Walmart.  I know, I know.  Walmart is not a very festive place to gather the treasured orange gourd but I needed some other things from there.  Remember that we do not have a Target or any other option for some things.  Sad but true.  Britt hates Walmart.  Well, to be more accurate, Britt hates shopping unless it is for one thing that is for him.

Charlie is all about going to Walmart because he knows that he has birthday money to spend and is sure that we will be stopping by the toy section!  He was a little disappointed when I told him that he was not going to get another toy until he managed to find a place for pile of toys that he got at his party in his room.

They are still stacked in the living room. A little tradition that was born because frankly we have a very small house and birthdays and Christmas toys require some purging in the boys' closets and bins. This takes time so the toys seem to stay in the living room for a few days until we make space for them.  The boys look at it as a special treat to have their toys out and ready whenever they get ready to play with them.  But, I digress.

Off to Walmart.  While we are there, I decided to look for some school jeans for Charlie.  We realized when we got their winter clothes out that he only has two pair of jeans.  A couple of pair of jeans should do until I can find the time to look again or order them on-line.  Plus, he is with me today which is a bonus for finding the right size.  

We are in the boys' clothes and he is very cooperative while I am finding his size.  While I am searching for the right size in the style I want I hear this huge gasp.  Charlie said, "Mama, look."  I didn't think much about it because Charlie is the closest I will ever come to having a girl. (A bit dramatic)  

I absent-mindedly said, "What is it?"  To which he replies, "It's beautiful!"  Told ya.  A bit may have been an understatement. 

I look up to see this:  on the shelf of course.

(sorry about the picture quality, still learning this camera)

In case you don't have boys or you have boys that are not into this...this is a Transformers belt that is a blend of the two emblems of the Transformers, Autobots on the left and Decepticons on the right.  See what you learn when you're the mom of boys!  Basically, this will be the envy of all the little K5 boys at NPE tomorrow because Charlie HAD to have it. 

   

So, after adding a couple of pairs of new jeans and the coolest belt EV-AH to our stash, we headed off to the pumpkins.  The boys were surprisingly not very picky about their pumpkins this year.  I recall one year that we had to look and look for just the right one.  I have a feeling it was because Britt was tired of Walmart before we even made it to the clothes, and Charlie had the belt which far out shadowed a silly ole pumpkin any day.

That was fine with me.  They picked one out and I inspected it for bad spots and carveability.  Both passed with their first picks.  I put Charlie's in the buggy but Britt was determined that he wanted to carry his to the check out.  Who am I to deny this boy his wishes.  Besides if he dropped it in the store we could still get another one without having to brave the Walmart checkouts twice.

He carried it to the front of the store but had to set it down before we got to the checkout belt.  He has a lot to learn about Walmart.  The first rule of Walmart: There is no such thing as a quick trip to Walmart.

Even if you walk in, walk straight to your item, and walk straight to the checkout.  The checkout is designed to stall you so that you will buy beef jerky, gossip magazines, candy, Cokes and perhaps something that was As Seen on TV. 

We finally make it through and we only succumb to beef jerky and three drinks.  A relatively sucessful checkout if you ask me.

Home to do some carving! 

I get everything ready while the boys are drawing a sketch of what the want their Jack-O-Lantern faces to look like.  They were pretty true to the boys' personalities.  Charlie wanted round eyes, dimples and freckles just like him.  Britt's went with the classic look of triangles. 

Pat helped us cut them, because me with a knife trying to cut anything that is not on a hard flat surface is not really safe.  Add an excited boy right beside me and it is a recipe for a trip to the ER.

 

Then came the grossest part.  Emptying the guts as Britt called it.  He loved it and was not grossed out at all. 

 

 

 

Charlie on the other hand, was not going to stick his hand in there.  Until Pat figured out that he really thought it was guts inside.  Then he was better but still not really liking it, as you can tell from his face.

 

 

 

Britt wanted to do all of his own carving so I outlined his design for him and let him go.  With one of those non-sharp carving thingys not a knife.  My controling OCD nature cannot watch them do something like this and not want to pull it from their hands and do it myself.  Knowing this about myself, I asked Pat to supervise his first self carved pumpkin. 

 

Charlie wanted me to carve his.  He did, however, stand over me and comment on every move I made.  He has a bit of the OCD controlling nature himself.  He just hasn't developed the confidence to want to take it from me yet.  He liked his pumpkin in the end though.

 

Here is what you will find on our front porch should you come calling. 

 

 

 

Wanna see other's pumpkins?  Check out this site:

Charlie

Charlie is the kind of kid that people are just drawn to.  He is very sweet and considerate of everyone else.  I know, I know.  Another mama bragging on her precious baby.  I have always thought that about him and I try not to brag too much because who wants to hear it right?  And honestly, most of the time when Mama's brag, well about half of what they say is seen by others.  The rest is inflated by their own love for said child. 

So why brag now?  I have confirmation!  I have suspected it before, but now we know.

For example, when we go to the high school ball games, kids come out of their groups.  Kids I don't even know mind you, yelling things like "Look, Charlie's here" and "Heeeeey, Charlie!"  Charlie never even checks up with us and just casually goes over to see them.  Well, he just has a lot of friends for a 5 year old I tell myself.

Then we are at Charlie's soccer game.  I am watching him play and this little boy around 8 years old says, "Look, there's Charlie."  Knows him from school I am sure.  He mentions him several times, enough that I had to ask him how he knows him.  He says, "He rides the bus."  Ah, a fellow bus rider.  "Do you ride the bus with Britt and Charlie?" (notice me throwing Britt into the picture for good measure because I feel like he gets overlooked at times...good Mama!)  His mom looks around and says, "No, he doesn't even ride a bus."  The kid runs off and I am left to wonder.

That brings me to this week.

Pat is finishing a job for a couple that he has worked for before.  They have a child, 9 or 10 years old, who rides the bus with our boys.  He, like almost all little boys, loves Pat because he drives the  bulldozer.  So the little boy comes over to talk to the super cool bulldozer driver.  Pat is asking him about school, the bus, you know just making conversation with a 9 year old. 

Out of the blue the boy says, "Your Charlie's dad aren't you?"  To which Pat admits he is.  Then the boy tells Pat that everyday when Charlie gets on the bus everyone yells CHARLIE!  Kinda like Norm from Cheers. 

It may not be much proof, but it is proof enough for this mama! 

Playin' with the Player!

I am going to tell you a story that happened today and before you keep reading...I must have your word that you will NOT hold this against me. 

Deal? Okay.

Homecoming week is this week and the elementary lets the kids dress up for three days: Monday-Camouflage; Wednesday-College Jersey/TShirt Day; Friday-North Pike Colors.  If you know anything about my boys, you know that Britt was all about Camouflage Day, Charlie not so much. 

Just to give you a little background before I continue.  Britt is my child that took over a week to remember to turn in a signed permission slip for a field trip.  He is also the one who will be taking retakes on school pictures because he "didn't know" he had to hand the photographer the money.  That's a long story that I won't get into now.  When we get onto him about taking responsibility for his papers or homework, heck, when we get onto him about anything his go-to phrase is "I did the best I can." 

How did he get so smart to know that this phrase would work so well for so long?  What are you going to say back to that?  "I knowbut..." is usually my favorite response.  I don't want to say, "No you didn't" when in all actuality he may have.  That would be just saying "Your best isn't good enough."

So, that leads me to today.  I lay out the boys' clothes about half the time since I am not home in the mornings and it helps my sanity because I know they will at least match.  Anyway, I didn't lay out their clothes for Monday and forgot to remind Pat about Camo Day.  No camo clothes were worn by my two. 

Britt comes in from the bus and the first thing he says is that he didn't get to wear camouflage.  I felt bad for him, I really did.  I apologized several times.  Now comes the full fledged milking of the situation.  He went on and on about how EVERYONE had on camo. 

To this I replied, "Charlie didn't."  Hoping to lighten the mood.

He came back with, "They even made up a club for people with camo on at recess and I couldn't join."

That is going a bit far with it little buddy.  Moms can tell when you are lying and you just jumped that creek!  So I come back with, "You know, if it was that important to you, you should have helped us remember it.  After all, we did the best we could." Also giving him that little pitiful look that he gives me when he says it.

He looked at me with more understanding than I expected.  It was as if there was a nonverbal dialog going on between us that if put to words may have gone something like this.

B: Touche.  That's not playing fair.

M: Welcome to my world.

B: I guess I oughta just drop this before it gets any worse.

M: Don't play games with the original player!  Where do you think you got it from? 

B: Don't tell Dad, maybe it will work on him.

And that is how it goes when you have a child that thinks like you.  Now if I can just get him to harness that creative thinking and quickness into something constructive.  

BTW, you all should be thankful for the typepad spell checker.  I don't know if my blog would be readable without it.

Soccer

The boys have started soccer and I have to tell you that it makes for a fun outing to watch them play.  Britt, as is usually the case, is really not into it.  He says that he loves soccer but when he actually gets there he is just not "into" the game.   It is evident in this picture where he is more into aiming at the birds flying over than what is going on in the soccer game. 

 

He does well when he actually pays attention though.  He still says he is having fun even though he is spending most of his time on the bench playing with the other kids.  He is just so not into sports.  I can't wait until he is old enough to start competitive shooting.  I think that he will be much more into that!  He did play a little today though and here is the proof.

 

Charlie is playing as well and he is loving it.  I think that he is going to be more into sports than Britt. 

Soccer at this age is just one huge clump of kids kicking each other and every now and then they actually kick the ball.  That is when one of them hasn't fallen on it.  I love watching them play sports before it becomes so competitive.  Charlie actually got an assist.  He threw the ball in, right to his teammate, who kicked it in for a goal!  Way to go, Charlie!  Here's the picture of that play.  (Sorry about the unedited pictures, I didn't have time to photoshop them before coming to work tonight.)

   

I am enjoying soccer but I have to say that with both of them playing and on two separate fields, it is a little hectic.  I will be glad when our schedule calms down a bit and we get our Saturdays back! 

True colors...

I know I have said it so many times before but Britt and Charlie could not be any more different.  This has been made even more clear to me in the past few weeks.  Charlie absolutely positively loves school...homework and all.  He was so excited to actually have a page of homework last night.  He rushed in and got right to it.  Britt, well, you know.  He was not so excited, but in his defense he has done much better this week.

Let me give you an example.  Since the beginning of school I have been laying their clothes out the night before since I am not there in the mornings.  I usually not that organized but I shudder to think of the clothes that they will wear to school if I didn't.  I have been doing this for a couple of weeks now I guess you could say we have gotten into a little routine.  I put Charlie's on the side by his bed and Britt's on the side by his bed. 

I was laying them out last night and was running late.  I couldn't find a yellow shirt for Charlie to wear.  So when I finally found one, I just laid the clothes down and went to get ready.  Charlie came in the living room a few minutes later with a serious look on his face.

When we asked him what was wrong and he said that he couldn't sleep with his clothes on the wrong side.  Can you pass down OCD?  Apparently so!

Speaking of wearing colors.....check this out.  It is not just LSU but all college teams!  Cool Huh?

 

Britt's Dirty Jobs Party

I cannot believe that my little boy is eight.  I know it has been said so many times that it goes by so fast, but there has never been a more true statement.  It seems like yesterday that we brought him home from the hospital not knowing what to do with him.  Now we are old pros at the day to day stuff, meal times, laundry, etc.  However, I don't know if you ever get comfortable with how you are doing as a parent.  Maybe that is how is it supposed to be, so that you don't let you guard down.  So that you think and rethink the choices you make on their behalf.  I know that I will not be a perfect parent, no one is.  But I pray everyday for the wisdom to give them what they need to be healthy, happy men of God when they are no longer with me.  (I also pray for the patience to deal with them...see the previous post on homework)   I just hope that the things we do for them and with them are enough to show them a fraction of the love that I feel for them.  I never thought I could love him more than the when I first saw him, but I was wrong.  That love grows more everyday.  As I watch him grow more independent, I pray that he knows Mom and Dad will always be here for him.  To let him soar as high as he can, but to be there waiting to catch him should he fall.

 

Britt is my child who is not "into" anything.  He will watch movies etc. but he never has pretended to be the superheros.  When Cars came out, Charlie collected every one he could get his hands on.  Britt, just didn't seem interested.  Transformers, same story.  So when it comes to birthday parties, he is my challenge in finding some theme for his parties.  This year I was thinking about what he is into and all I could come up with was hunting and fishing...we've done that.  Then I went to what does he watch on TV.  Well, documentaries don't lend themselves well to eight year old birthday parties.  Then it hit me...why not a Dirty Jobs party?  I asked him and he thought it was a great idea. 

So, the first picture here is where we made homemade slime the night before to put in the goodie bags.  They had a blast making it and I must say it was pretty fun to play with the gross stuff.  Although I may have green dots on my table for life after the food coloring mishap.  It will just remind me of a fun night with my boys.

The next day we went down to the river and started setting up for the party.  Britt and Charlie were so good all day while we were getting everything together.  Here they are doing a trial run at the worm bucket.

We decided since they would be so messy after participating in the activities that it would be best to serve the cake before the "dirty jobs."  Britt was so excited when I gave him his own Dirty Jobs t-shirt to wear to his party. 

Here he is with the 11 other kids opening presents.  He always amazes me how polite he can be when other people are involved.  Now if I can just get him to be that nice at home.

The first dirty job was to dig worms in the worm bucket. They went two at a time and had 30 seconds to get as many worms as they could find.  We put almost 100 worms in there.  It was lots of fun to watch them get grossed out but keep digging.  Charlie ended up with the most worms.  He was so proud to beat his big brother and all of the other big kids.

Then it was off to the mud pit.  We tied string accross the pit for them to crawl under but they were not belly crawling like we thought they would do.  They finished with hardly any mud on them.  Jack Kelly was the fastest one through the mud.

Then we took the strings down and told them to have at it.  They started off kinda slow but before it was over, it looked like a nasty political campaign there was so much mud slinging. As you can see from the picture I was not immune to the mud pit.  They got me with it and I couldn't stand by and let them get away with it.  I did a little slinging of my own.

They raced to the river, a little challenge they came up with on their own, to wash off.  You could only see the whites of their eyes on most of them.

The last dirty job was to find golf balls in the slime on the river.  Because of the rain there was only one section that still had slime on it and it was pretty nasty.  But they didn't even check up when I told them to go.  They found all of the golf balls in record time.

Then it was time to relax and swim in the river.  They all got in and cooled off.  A few revisited the mud pit and the worm bucket.  It was a fun day!

I had to include this one because I thought these were so cool. Morgan gave Britt some stilts for his birthday.  These just show how much times have changed even from when we were kids.  Pat and I both had stilts but they looked nothing like this.  They were the old fashion wooden kind.  Oh to be a kid again and get to play with all those cool toys. 

First Day of School

Tuesday morning the boys both got on that big yellow school bus.  It was a little sad for mom but somehow it just wasn't as sad as seeing Britt do it all alone two years ago.  One thing may be that he was not as excited about school as Charlie.  But more likely it was because I knew that they would be on there together.  Letting go was hard the first go around, but I did much better this year!

Charlie has been waiting for this morning for two years now.  He was so ready to get on with this big school thing.  He wants homework.  He wants to play at recess and eat in the cafeteria.  It is like a great new adventure for him.  That is why it is hard to be sad.  To Charlie sending him to school is like sending him to summer camp.  I just hope he keeps enjoying it that much for 13 years!

Britt was more excited about it this year than any other year.  He was anxious to see his friends, but I think mostly it was because he was going to get to show Charlie the ropes.  He has been a good big brother so far.  They even told me today that they worked out a deal about who gets to sit by the window.  Britt gets the window seat in the morning and Charlie in the afternoon.  Sounds like a good team if you ask me.

Here's to a great year my boys.  And always remember that no matter what happens, your brother is just down the hall.  So good or bad...it will get back to Mom!  I love you guys!

I haven't forgotten about the survivor post that I promised.  I am working on it.  I may even have it done by the end of tonight if it stays slow.

Later.

I took the boys to the dentist yesterday.  I remember going as a kid and it was not a fun thing but it was not traumatic to me either.   Now my sister, Becki, has different memories I think.  Anyway, I just don't remember it being all that bad until I got braces.  Then I hated going because I would always be sore for a few days while the new adjustments settled in. 

Britt didn't have any problems, other than sitting still.  (and a couple of cavities)  Charlie however has the strongest gag reflex of anyone I know.  He cannot eat mashed potatoes because of the texture...they make him gag every time.  That itself is sad to me...I love mashed taters! 

He did not have a good visit today, or maybe I didn't.  They tried to get an xray of his mouth and he kept gagging on the little thingy that you bite.  He started crying and looking at me like make her stop.  I let her try it one more time then said, we will just have to wait on those xrays, don't ya think?  She agreed and he got himself together rather quickly.  I was surprised how quickly.  If you ask him about his visit to the dentist he said it wasn't bad. 

I know that it's not that big of a deal, but man does it make a mother feel bad when there is nothing that you can do to fix it when they are hurt or scared.  I was right there with him and that is what matters most, I think.  But from a person who rarely cried before, this motherhood thing has sure opened the tear ducts!

Happy Independence Day!  Go do something fun!

Later.