allow me to brag on my boys...

When Jared was born the nurse brought him to me in the night and exclaimed
"He's so alert and serious, looking around investigating the world. I believe that he just might be doing algebra in his head"
I am sure he was...

Jared told me it wasn't a big deal if we missed his awards ceremony...
his Dad was gone that week, and it was in the evening
we had other places to be...and it "wasn't a big deal" according to J.
Well, what we didn't know was that Jared won the award for the highest grade in geometry.
(we found out shortly after, when half of the 8th grade class texted him)
He was the only 8th grader in the 9th grade class.
and he had the highest grade.
It was a big deal. A very big deal....
and we missed it.
Just one of many goofs that will occur when parenting multiple children.
so just for the record...
Jared is extremely gifted, and I'm so very very proud of him.
(even if I did miss the darn awards ceremony...)

Also,
hello?!?
it would be lovely if the school sent home a little note when your child is getting an award other than honor roll.
Not that honor roll isn't reason enough to attend...but a heads up would have been helpful....

This morning Jack Banana got the citizenship award for his class.
His adorable teacher Mrs. Cindy said that
"All the students in the class will tell you that they adore Jack" that's pretty cool.
I have to agree with the class.

I love seeing my boys shine with their own strengths and accomplishments.

and no,
I didn't leave Coley out,
he has his awards on Monday.

happy weekend!

There is some serious balloon art on my kitchen table...

So it's 90 degrees here today.
I now remember why I need to lose weight.
Not to be cute.
Or buy (read that fit in) cute clothes.
(although I can not lie... those are very close contenders)
It's because being fat in the summer is not cool.
It's actually the opposite of cool. It's hot.
and not in a good way.
In a true stroke of brilliance,
I stopped to get (hot) coffee before heading to the grocery store this afternoon.
(in my defense I had a headache....what? coffee is not medicine?)
that really really cooled me off...
or made me sweat more.
one
or the other.
Last night Jack had an amazing catch.
He was playing second,
the kid that hit...really hit. hard.
the ball was heading straight at Jack. fast.
he literally scooped it out of the air.
(and then I think he looked behind him to see where it went)
His coach was so proud of him.
It was cool.
I could tell Jack was pretty tickled with himself.
The boy can hit, but catching....not always so much....
When he came off the field Coley went over to the dugout to tell him good job.
Jack replied
"It was coming right at my face...what was I suppose to do?!"
Ha. that's my boy..... *How much do I love that there is a Hootie on the team? Lots.

Jack had his allergy testing this morning.
48 polka dots on his arms...
and ....
.....
.....
thundercats are go!...
NO ALLERGIES!
(still)
Happy dance. happy dance.
The allergist said there is always a possibility
especially with peanuts,
but after two years of being ok it was unlikely...
so that was a relief.

Having a teenager on facebook is interesting.
(just having a teenager is interesting)
I'm getting use to the text-talk*
What I can't understand is the horrible horrible spelling.
I understand it's a relaxed environment....
and clearly on my blog punctuation is not my priority...
but simple words like "impressed" spelled "empressed" ?!?
Seriously...there are a lot of teenagers today are going to grow up and not be able to spell.
at
all.
and contrary to popular (teenage) belief...it's sort of important.

Of course Cole's speech teacher informed me (at the IEP meeting)
that my child doesn't really need to learn to write legibly
"they just use computers anyway"...
She was not making a joke.
but I may have laughed.
a tiny bit.
I vote both writing and spelling important.

I'm so ready for my boys to be done with school.
(they're ready too)
Jack has gone to two different parks, had "water day", played in a kick-ball "tournament",
gone to the zoo, had board game day, and has field day tomorrow....
I think they're done.
What about you?

*np. isn't a typo and doesn't really mean no. it is possible that someone thought that...and might have gotten rather angry with their teen.
np = no problem.
I'm slowly catching on.
slow
ly.

Summer List 09 Edition

So far the list includes:

1. Go to Crater of Diamonds State Park and look for diamonds
2. Go to Disney World (way to aim big Coley)
3. Go to the Gulf Coast/beach
4. Go camping
5. Go to a RedBirds game
6. Go to NC
7. Go to the lake
8. Run in the race
9. make tye dye shirts again
10. Go hiking
11. Go to a movie
12. Take walks after dinner at the park/let the boys play soccer
13. Bike ride at Craighead Forest Park
14. Fish at Craighead Forest Park
15. Get a puppy
16. Make smores in our firepit
17. Get 3-D sidewalk chalk and make some art outside
18. Have a squirt gun fight
19. Get/use a weight bench
20. Movie/game nights once a week
21. Get a basketball hoop
22. Soccer camp
23. Go to Graceland
24. I still want to go here
25. Plant flowers in the garden boxes in the backyard
26. Eat outside whenever possible
27. Go on picnics
28. Go to a museum
29. Play tennis as a family
30. Play baseball as a family
31. Watch fireworks
32. Get ice cream from Andys
33. Paint
34. Read Read Read...
35. make Kool-Aid
36. Get our own fireworks to set off
37. Make popsicles
38. Have a lemonade and cookie stand

We will add to the list for the next few weeks,
then cross off as we go
and
of course play outside is a given.
Some new ones and some from last years list.
Oh summer. We love you.
*** Colten also suggested "buy a Corvette"...I decided we could just leave that one off.

(my Dad in Vietnam)

Thankful today (and always) for the brave men and women fighting for the freedom we enjoy daily. God bless our soldiers.

A must read today.

(We love you Tony, Essie and the Harrison clan)

Thursday.

1. Jack came home from school yesterday with a lovely rash and hives on his face. I was pretty sure it was something he ate, but took him to the doctor this morning anyway. We saw the new pediatrician at the clinic, and I loved him. I knew when he started talking about Fast Food Nation, The Omnivore's Dilemma, and In Defense of Food I would be switching our primary doctor.
He told me that it's entirely possible that Jack reacted to something in the (horrible) processed food they have during "snack" here at school, and that it's probably not a return of the food allergies of his past. But. To be on the safe side, Jack is having allergy testing next week.

2. When Colin leaves for any amount of time it is inevitable that
1. something will break.
2. someone will get sick.
3. I will have to be multiple places at once.
and I got to check all three off the list the first day.
Jared is going to love that I'm leaving him at Colten's soccer practice tonight so Jack and I can go to the orientation at the middle school. Teenagers love that sort of thing.

3. Speaking of middle school. Why in the world would they move 3rd graders to middle school?

4. and Speaking of school. I am still not convinced I'm not homeschooling next year. Why is it such a hard thing for me to decide? I don't know, but every time I think I'm sure what I'm doing in the fall, I change my mind again.

5. I can not wait for summer vacation. Making the annual summer list of things we want to do. Sleeping in is right at the top of the list...for me anyway.

6. Jack has a baseball tournament this weekend. The first game is tomorrow night, Colin won't be back yet, so I need to know where I'm going.
Directions at the batting cages last night went something like this
"Turn by the WalMart. Go until you see a four-way stop...I think it's a four-way. Turn right. No, it's left I think. You will see a bridge off to the side. Look for a school...."
Because I'm not directionally impaired enough as it is.
So, I asked if maybe the coach could email the address to us.
This is the email I received. "Drive down the bypass. Take the first Trumann exit by the Super center. Turn LEFT at the stop sign. Go straight until you pass the Sonic at that light turn RIGHT....etc"...No address.
It's like my grandpa giving directions while I was driving. Turn at the tree honey. No not that tree... the next one...no no the next one....

7. Here is an example of why I shouldn't try and take photos AND cheer...
Happy almost Friday.

Colten was studying for a history test a few weeks ago...
Colin asked him a date.
he replied "1762"
"Close" Colin said "It was 1772...the year of your mother's birth"
Colten looked at me funny.
"I was born in 1972 Cole"
without missing a beat my child says
"Ohhh....I was going to say did you hang out with Sacagawea or what?!"
nice.

tiny review of our tiny trip...

During our trip to Ohio
we spent a lot of time in the pool. (yes, it's the same in the water as it is out)

the boys saw their old friends, teams, and teachers. and we ate at all of our favorite restaurants that we miss.
it was pretty neat because we've never been back to a place we've moved from.
(and as frequently as we do that, it's sort of crazy we haven't)

in Missouri the rain let up and the middle played in a tourney...while the big and the little worked on "rainbows"...
which is when you kick the ball out from behind and arc it over your head landing it at your feet...
if that makes sense.
it's amusing to watch.
Jack can't quite do it yet.
Jared can (occasionally)...
We drove over 1500 miles in the 6 days we were gone.
I took an absurd amount of photos like this...
and this...
but not a lot elsewhere.

I'm still attempting to get caught up.
and Colin leaves tomorrow for a work trip...
(hopefully he will leave with clean undies....but the verdict on that is still out)

Working on a little bit of laundry right now.
Be back soon...

After these messages we'll be right back...
Heading to Ohio with Colin.
Work for him. Fun for us.
Then off to a soccer tournament in Missouri.
Please note
my boys could care less if they have clean underwear,
or clothes...
but
snacks are a different story.
We have just a few snacks for the car.
The iPods are charged.
MacGyver (the complete first season) is in with the dvd player...
and we will be back in a week.

Both tournaments were cancelled because of rain.
I get my four all to myself ALL weekend.
Lucky lucky me.
To top it off...it's an amazingly gorgeous sunshiny day.
happy mother's day weekend friends...

Jack comes home from school frequently with odd requests.
I need coffee filters, and twist ties...
I need pipe cleaners, and tissue paper...
I need glue and a squirt bottle....
He's always making something.
It was lovely this weekend, to see Colten join in.
(without being encouraged by us)
His fine motor skill issues normally make crafts less than enjoyable....
but apparently Jack sold his latest and greatest craft idea to Coley,
and he actually,
dare I say...
enjoyed it.
Makes my heart happy...

I really need sofa advice...

I always thought I would want this sectional or one similar (and less expensive)
but maybe it isn't the most practical choice....
It would fit our living room here perfectly, but we won't be here for long...
and maybe a sectional won't be the best fit in our next house...

So then I thought maybe I wanted something simple like this one (this style)
in red...but then again, maybe I should get a more neutral color....Then I found this one and I like it too...Can you tell we've never bought "real" furniture for our home?!?
Colin's mom gifted us with sofa money for Christmas
and we have yet to spend it.
The decision is so hard.
Sofa suggestions? Links? Ideas? I need them...
ooooh do I ever.

He's getting better....

Any guesses on what he is playing?

3 possible titles for this series of photos:
What boys consider fun...
I wish I had Colten's metabolism
and
My boys have serious farmer tans

No Rhyme or Reason

when Jack was a baby,
I could put him in his snowsuit,
and lay him on the floor,
and he wouldn't move an inch...
he wouldn't even attempt to right himself.
he could.
but for some reason the snowsuit confused him, and he would just lay there.
super convenient for me.
I could pack up the diaper bag, organize the snacks and whatever else the older boys (2 and 6) needed....while my mover and shaker was still.
however...
Colten would never let Jack just remain helpless on his back.
the minute he noticed,
he would "flip" him...
so that the smallest man could go again.
cute huh?
I love the second to last photo...they look so tickled with themselves.

They still have a very sweet, sometimes tumultuous, relationship.
I'm so, so glad they are close in age...and can share these childhood moments together.
Every night I have to say
"Boys...no more talking. Go. To. Sleep!"
many, many times...
Sometimes,
Colin will say...
"Shhhh-hh...let them talk. I think it's sweet."
I do too,
but then you try getting them up in the morning.

*A few more random things on my mind*
(yes even more random than that photo series of my boys from 7 years ago)

1. It's been rain rain rainy here.
Which I like actually...the rain is nice
but,
the school pick-up situation...
not so nice.
We literally live behind Jack's school.
there is a BIG field that separates us...
School ends at 2:50.
The parent (car) pick-up line starts forming at 2:10!
I kid you not...and it wraps around the loop, into the street, and beyond...
Ridiculous.
So. Jack walks home.
Only when it's raining....
I have to make a decision whether or not to go pick him up...
obviously before 2:10...
Monday it had rained in the morning,
and then sort of cleared,
weather.com said 0% chance of precipitation.
decision = let him walk.
Kid you not.
2:50 exactly...the sky opened up, and the rain didn't just come down....
it poured down.
So, I cursed weather.com (that still said 0%)
grabbed an umbrella, put on my rainboots....
and headed out across the field.
I get to my shiny bright son...
who looked at me with all the seriousness in the world...
and said "What the crap Mom?!? You couldn't just drive over to pick me up?"
Angelic really.
It stopped raining midway back across the field...
I was still laughing at his expression and "what the crap" when I got in bed that night....

2. I had forgotten until Gabby's comment on my last post about the Sonic cups...
Colten was notorious for punching holes in the bottom of the FULL cups when he was little.
I can't count the number of times he drenched himself (and his carseat, and the car) in technicolor slushies...
Hysterical that he is still mangling the stupid foam cups....

3. Mother's Day.
Open letter to the folks that organized a soccer tournament, AND a baseball tournament in two DIFFERENT cities Mother's Day weekend....I am not happy with any of you.
Colin, Jared and Colten are going to be in Little Rock that weekend.
Jack and I will be here.
Makes me want to cry.

Just a few from this weekend....

*disclaimer. the story below is true. I however do not eat hot dogs anymore. especially not cold ones.
the boys do occasionally eat the "good ones"...I find them disgusting...

Before the game.
I fixed the boys hot dogs in the microwave.
"You want to hear something gross? When I was little I ate these right out of the fridge....cold! Gross, huh?"
Jack "But when you got electricity, did you cook them?"

Sorry, too funny not to share.
when I got electricity....sheesh.
Off to game #2.
Hopefully Jack hits like yesterday...
he got a homerun,
and I forgot my camera.
(yes. after I just blogged about it...go figure)

There have been a large amount of bad haircut photo requests.
I will get some photos this weekend of the big and the little...
in all their new haircut glorious-ness...
but in the meantime,
here is one I snapped yesterday,
you can kind of see Jared's hair...
doesn't look too bad in this pic...hmmm.
Actually, the overwhelming response to Jared's hair at school was positive.
(whew. middle school is hard enough, so this was a good thing)
who knew.
Apparently the "Jim Carrey in Dumb and Dumber" look is in here.
I kid, I kid....(kind of)
J's hair has grown on me.
I can see his eyes now, which I like...
and his lovely face.
Jack on the other hand came home from school crying on Monday because the kids in his class said he looked
"more like a girl"...
I like that one can look more,
or less,
like a girl.
it's good to qualify the girl-ness.
poor Jack. Also, please note that light fixture will be changing when the tax refund arrives...
When we were looking at houses here we saw so many with horrific light fixtures,
so when Colin bought this house (without me having seen it)
that was one of the first questions I asked him.
"Does it have ugly light fixtures?"
his reply. "No"...
Apparently he did not understand the question.

this photo is for Aunt Gabby:because we love her, and she asked for a snap of Oley in his green sweatshirt....

Jack has a baseball tournament this weekend.
The email from the coach yesterday listed 3 games...
and I thought to myself "hey, that's not too bad"
the email today added 2 more to that tally...
So if there was any question about it...
I will in fact be at the ball field ALL weekend long.
(Maybe I'll remember to take some photos this time?!?)

Please note that you know you are a mom to boys when on the way to school
the following conversation doesn't even phase you...
me "Just be sure you're listening to your teacher"
Jared "I was. We were just playing with a dead squirrel"...

happy weekend!

Tuesdays game 12-1 Good guys.
much better than the haircut stats....
and seriously, have you ever seen such a cute little catcher?
Actually that wasn't Tuesday's game....it was a pre-haircut game.
I kept saying how cute Jack was...and Jack kept explaining that he didn't catch all the balls.
I guess when you are the catcher, being cute is not the most important thing. (?!?)

A couple Sundays ago we went to a local Mexican restaurant for dinner.
they had some balloon guy there, making balloon creations for the kids.
true to their nature...
Colten was horrified. Jack was mesmerized.
Jack then also wanted know how to make them. He's very much a "figure-it-out" sort of guy.
I found a clearance balloon animal kit at Barnes and Noble last week, and he's been working on them since. (very hard for little hands...and big ones actually)
Please note however, he is still a boy...and the most popular thing to do with the balloons?
You guessed it.... Adorable.

I woke up Tuesday morning to find a sick Jared.
totally threw me, because he's never sick.
So we dropped off Jack at school and headed to the walk-in clinic.
We were the only ones there...
which thrilled me because I figured it would just take a few minutes.
We got our "room"...
and we waited...
and waited...
and waited.
an hour later the doctor appeared.
looked the big boy over.
and said.
"I think it's bronchitis, but if you want a chest x-ray we can do one"
me - "If you don't think he needs one I don't"
doc - "I'm going to prescribe an antibiotic, is there one you prefer?"
me - "I can't remember the last time he took an antibiotic, so whichever one you think is best"
doc - "I was thinking a z-pack. Is that ok?"
me -"thats fine"
doc - "I was thinking about prescribing a cough medicine, would that be ok?"
me - "that would be great. thanks"
here is my thought. next time, he can just leave a signed prescription pad IN the exam room.
I knew he'd need something, so I'll just randomly pick an antibiotic, and we can be out of there in like 10mins.
Much more efficient, and since he felt the need to ask my opinion on everything anyway....
I think it's perfect.
What I really need is a homeopathic doctor.
I think that's a giant request for here....but it would be nice.