Under the Sea with Maddy

  Upstairs in our house we have a girl's bathroom and a boy's bathroom and the boys don't go in the girl's and the girls don't go in the boy's.  It's a rule. 
  A few weeks ago our 2 year old granddaughter had to move in with us and as is often the case with grand kids, the rules change.(If you're a grand parent, you know it's true.)





 Maddy shares the boy's bathroom with them. Not only is their bathroom larger, it's also....cleaner. (sorry girls) Maddy's uncles have been very kind and tolerant. They have put up with all the things that come with a little girl - without complaint. They're even getting used to showering with mermaids. 

Under the Stars

Camping out in the backyard is just as good as any campground for my boys. It only requires a few tents, a fire in the fire pit, lots of sticks and hot dogs and marshmallows. Oh, and someone willing to camp with them. Tents are way less comfortable at my age but I couldn't resist their enthusiasm or the sounds of the night.

  We started talking as we sat around the campfire and we went from scary stories (mine) to the boys telling me about what they loved, times when they failed at something, who they wanted to marry and what was important to them. It was a sweet time listening to these boy’s hearts and I wouldn't have traded it for all the king size comfortable beds in the world. 

 Well, maybe.

Testing the Edge of the Nest

  When our babies are new, we can't even think of leaving them with anyone. I don't think we had a sitter for my girls until they were about 6 and 7.
  But God has a way of preparing our children so that by the time they're ready to go out on their own as adults, it's not all that bad.

  Summer camp gives me a little taste of that.  Our three middles are off for the week at church camp and as I waved goodbye I thought about each one.                                                                                            Isaiah - I'll miss his very quiet, hysterically funny humor.  I won't miss teaching him to drive and wondering if he thinks it's okay to not put the brakes on until he's almost inside the trunk of the car ahead of us. 

Emma - I'll miss her wild, fun craziness. I won't miss her 16 year old girls moods.

Elijah - I'll miss his sweet hugs and kisses. I won't miss........actually he doesn't really annoy me at all.  Guess because he's much further from leaving the nest.

Enjoy the week my loves and don't grow up too quick.

Just Today

There is something sad about opening your calendar to the month of August to add an event. 
There it is in black and white....the end of summer.
Not once, before I turned 18 was there even a reason to plan things three months in advance - summer seemed endless.
Now I have to know who has camp which week, when everyone has a doctor appointment and when we start school again. 
Really sad.
So I try hard to not let any part of summer slip away.
I always say "yes" to swimming with the kids. The tents and lanterns get pulled out and we sleep outside in the backyard. 
Summer slows down when we hunt for raspberries along the road to put in our yogurt.
Summer and berries are only here for a moment.

All of Them? YES!

  When you have a big family there are some things that just don't happen. Not many people can invite you over for dinner, because who has that many forks? You can never sit together in a restaurant that has booths or park in down town Baltimore because your vehicle takes up 3 spaces. Your kids do get invited over for sleepovers, but you can send 4 or 5 away and still not have an empty house. 

  But there's that one friend. Mine is Jeanette.  She invites ALL my boys over for a sleep over....and she likes it. She feeds them dinner and even makes pancakes for breakfast. Our house is very quiet on those nights (wonderful) and I know, between her boys and mine, that hers is very not.  

            Hope you have a Jeanette in your life!

Recovery is Sweet

If you could choose when to injure yourself in a way that requires surgery, I would highly recommend doing so at the age of 10. 
  Although Samuel was a bit nervous before hand, his after surgery mood was .....pretty much excited! He did have an issue with the whole, "nothing under your gown-blue hat" thing, but otherwise, it was all kind of a lark for him. The call from his friend Ricky, gifts, cards, balloons and ice cream made the whole thing seem like he was the luckiest guy around, which of course, made his other brothers all try to think how they could score a surgery. I was the only one seemingly tired from the day. All that fast healing seems so wasted on the young!
  

  

The Ouch that Won't Quit

What started as a fun Frisbee game on the beach, became a summer wrecker for Samuel a few weeks ago. Somehow he ended up with a torn meniscus that needs surgery. He has been patiently hopping around on crutches not being able to do much except swim. He was supposed to leave yesterday for California to play in the AYSO National Games, but tickets were cancelled and all he has to show for his big chance is a t-shirt. 
 Doing nothing has been hard, but he has managed to turn even this into a sports competition and has us all time him for how long he can stay suspended in the air between his crutches. (I should probably have stopped him, but there's only so much you can do.) Today is the surgery and we're off to the hospital. And his attitude is, as always, just fine.