He Was Just Trying To Be A Gentleman

He was just trying to be a gentleman, some guys come by it naturally.  My R is one of those guys, he was born to hold the door for you, or help you carry something.  He delights in giving a hand in helping someone.

We were at the library a few weeks ago, an older woman was carrying a large box of books to the donation bin, R gave me his books and ran up to help this woman carry her box into the library.  Smiling and listening to her the whole while.

At the beach his sister complained because he ran past us to open the beach gate for her.  “mom make him quit trying to help me I can do it myself.”  {it was NOT the little girl who said that either}  I replied “honey he can’t help it, that is just how God made him.”

He has grown and matured to the point that he sometimes sees the full, clean dishwasher, but not always.  But if someone is struggling he sees it.

On Sunday we went to the early service and then to Sunday School.  Some of us had birthday and even Christmas gift cards we wanted to spend, using the back to school sales would be a great excuse to shop.  We went to the early service, then after eating a quick-lunch at home we went to the outlets about an hour away.  I say {quick-lunch, we left church, got home had lunch, changed clothes and back to the van in just about an hour.  For our family that is a quick turn around time!

We shopped until we dropped.  Literally.

Keith and I were able to get some great deals, I worked my gift cards so hard they were crying for me to stop!  {My favorite thing about getting gift cards is seeing how much I can get out of them!}  C also found an exceptional deal.  While the rest of the kids came home with the money they brought.  {No worries.  I am sure they will spend it sometime.}  It was hot in our great southern state and our outlets are like so many others, each individual store opens to the outside.  We were sweating and flushed and just so hot.  I sent the big kids with some money to buy some lemon aid for the kids who wanted it, and I stepped inside a pretzel place.  After a very long wait I had 3 cups of pretzel pieces.

The lemon aid was so huge the person who purchased it, decided that the ones who wanted to drink it could share it.  We share a lot in our family.  The pretzels were divided into 6 or 7 servings.  Each child slipped lemon aid and had a treat.  I was the fun mom!

When we left it was raining so badly we could not see 2 cars in front of us, roads were flooding and the lightning was so close we could feel the electricity in the air.  We could not stop on that ride home because there was no way we were getting out of the van into the lighting, and C brought the van up to us in the rains, he was dripping wet, shirt off and wrapped in a towel in the van.  No shoes, No SHIRT, No service, we were not going to leave the wet man-child in the van while we ate.  We had snacks in the car as we headed home.  We came to a calm patch I told Keith to take the next exit we’d grab something to eat, as we got off the exit another wave of storms hit.  We got back on, I announced that I would make scrambled eggs and toast for our late dinner.

She said she was not hungry, thankfully I did not force her to eat.

Around 9:30 the house was settling down for the night, the little kids had already been sleeping for 2 hours.  I put a sweet comment on facebook;
sometimes when I watch my children sleep I check to see if they are dead. and then I cry because I love them so much and then I sneak out of the room so they don’t wake up!

My friends were in agreement that they did the same thing sometimes.  O was in my room asking for help, when E came in sleepy-eyed and complaining.  A was crying, it woke her up.  I went up to check on A, she was sound asleep.  I walked closer to her to push her legs on the bed when the smell hit me, it hit hard.  Poor little A, she had gotten sick in her bed, puke was everywhere!  Puddles and piles on her sweet pink sheets, on her pillow, in her hair, on her stuffed friends and baby dolls, on the jammies that did not get put away from the night before.  I called down to Keith to come help shower little A while I took care of the cleaning,  O ushered E to her room, to sleep on the floor while we cleaned it all up, then she brought up cleaning products and took down clean pajamas for A.  I cleaned and picked up as much as I could, I took a few dolls to the sink to wash them.  While Keith was helping get the mess out of A’s hair the crying woke PS who started crying.  R went in to help with PS.  Keith came upstairs, as I was walking down with the laundry basket of dirty bed sheets.  On my way down O followed me, R was at the family room, he came towards me as I stopped at the landing, his arms were out, he wanted the basket.  I told him “I can do it”  He asked for the basket, I told him “I’ve got this”   I may have twisted my body away from him in effort to carry the basket myself .  {the real reason I did not want his help, R has a very sensitive stomach, I did not what him to get sick}  I then misjudged the step (#3) as being the ground.  That part is R’s fault, the boy is 6’2 and I forget how tall he is, I thought I was at the bottom, but I was not.
I stumbled, and fell.

I fell the last 2 steps smacked my right knee and shin and ankle,on the steps, I hurt my left heal.  I used the laundry basket and the chin up bar as a way to slow down as I hit the ground and slid to a pile of bruised pain on the ground.  My shin is swollen, bruised and the skin is missing in places.  It hurt so so so bad.

When I stopped moving down to the ground R took the laundry basket and O ran to get Keith, he came to me while O went to rescue A who was still crying and R went to comfort PS who was awake and very much a sad baby.

I told Keith it hurt so much I could not even cry.  After a bit I stretched out my legs and laid on the floor.  When the pain subsided enough I was able to get up and walk around, it throbbed and stung and burned all night long.  Today more than 3 days later it hurts when I bump the area, last night I was able to sleep with out the pain waking me up.

I had to update my facebook status:
UPDATE on the beautiful I love my sleeping kid mom moment…
O was asking me to help her do something when A started crying in her sleep, woke up E who came to tell me, I went upstairs A had thrown up ALL over her self, her jammies her bed, and about 50 dolls and stuffed friends, and was then sleeping in the throw-up, all in her hair. Keith came up to take the child to the shower, O came up with cleaner, on the way down the stairs with the laundry basket I fell down the last 2 steps because I was too stubborn to let R take the dirty laundry, scraped my shin all the way down, now I am sporting a lovely bruise along my whole leg, and A’s crying in the shower woke up PS. R is snuggling PS trying to get her back to sleep, O is comforting A and I was going to go to bed at 10:30…
so now I have 3 children awake who should be sleeping, a set of sheets and love friends in the washer, and a shin that hurts, stings, tingles, is bruising and the skin is peeled off.

A friend tried to encourage me, saying maybe it was something she ate, when I read that I realized that J R E and A all shared the same drink and then realized that we also shared the same pretzel bites…  I was in for a long night.

An hour later, after my tumble on the stairs I went back up to cover the spots with baking soda to hopefully pull out the smell.  When O went to her room, to bring E back to her own bed, she called out to me.  E was kneeling on the floor in O’s carpeted hallway leaning over a bucket throwing up.  

Two kids down in an hour.

R was still up I told him to take a trash can to bed “your next dude”  he asked why would I say that???  Now his stomach hurt because I scared him.  J was soundly sleeping I woke him up, told him the girls were sick, here is a trashcan next to your bed if you get sick aim for the can.  In the morning he told me he though he had the weirdest dream, until he saw the trash can on his floor and then realized that his mom did tell him about the girls…

If I had only let R do what he was born to do, be a gentleman I would not have knee pain, a swollen bruised leg.  I am thankful that sweet kid did not say anything to me about how he was only trying to help.

He’s a good kid that child-man.

Thankfully we still had 2 days before school started so the girls had a chance to recover to go on that first day.

What about you, ever refused help only to land flat on your face?

Go hug your kids
jen

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I’m Sorry Did You Say Senior?

Time marches on, I was just taking this picture,  Notice the very sad face on R, Kindergarten was delayed a week because of some new classroom restructure construction issues.  C was going into 4th grade, we loved his teacher, J was just a baby, only 17 months old.  I love this picture but what I want you to see is that little girly.  She was starting 2nd grade.  She was so very excited to start 2nd grade.  Her classroom was right next to her aunt, she was in the same class as many of her friends, and she adored her teacher.  Today she starts her senior year.  This is it, the end of her education at our school, I am so very sad, I just don’t know how to put it in words.

I did not worry about a college when she was a pink-faced newborn in that hospital room, if only I knew then, what I know now.  I would have been more worried for her about college than for anything else.

I cried when she started kindergarten, I knew that this would be the beginning of the end, that we would know exactly how long until she left us for college, left us to find her own way, left us for her own life.  Now as she starts her senior year I realize that all her life we have been preparing her for this year.  We have prayed for her daily, to be successful in her education.  We have prayed for friendships and patience, we have prayed for teachers and staff who love on her.  This is it. this is the final year we will have the faculty and staff from our school pour into her life.  And that makes me sad.  I know that I should be thankful or glad {I know, because, people keep telling me I should be glad she is growing up, ready to show the world what she is made of} but I am not glad, I love having my girly home with us.  She is a calm and constant steady, she loves on A, she has ninja packing skills, she is patient, she and R have become a club of 2, they have bonded since C left for college, they have grown closer. The girls look up to her, asking her questions and listening to her, J and O talk sports statistics. And as this year progresses I know that it is closer to the end. closer to her departure for college, closer to the change that will happen in our family.  And it makes me sad.

Sure I am thankful that she can attend our school, one of the best Christian schools, with excellent staff who know her by name, I am thankful that she has been pushed academically, that she has been prayed for and taught the words of God, she has been pushed spiritually.  I am thankful for all that, but each day this year I will also be reminded it is the last, the last first football game of the season, the last homecoming, the last Christmas musical, the last of the exams, the last prom, the last of finals, the last of everything as we know it.  So if you see me crying on her very last first day of school, please let me be sad, or encourage me, but do not say I should be glad.  Do not say I should be thankful that she is closer to spreading her wings, and go out on her own.  Do not tell me to be thankful that school started, because it is the last first day of school she will have.

The beginning of the end for O, her last first day of school.

It was supposed to be the first first day of school for little A, but someone was sick last night {that is a whole blog on its own, so she is home one last day with me!  We might just go do some retail therapy}  R is in 10th grade now, and as he said “you don’t have to be sad for me, I’m not changing or doing anything new this year.”  He is right, I am thankful that he is in 10th grade, no changes this year. He is nervous about some of the classes he is taking, his math teacher LOVES math, love like, jump on the couch, Tom Cruise crazy, loves math.  He is fun and energetic, but he is a teacher who expects you to learn by leaps and bounds.  He will push and guide and cheer a student on, the others have had him, have worked hard, but loved him.  R will too. I need the non change year, because in 2 very short years I will be a mess, he will be a senior.  J has some changes this year proving how fast he is growing, he can join the school cross-country, middle school is on the 3rd floor all to themselves, his dad will be his principal, and he has a top locker.  He is quiet and helpful and has more energy than I could ever have.  E is in 4th grade, this year, she has a teacher who will be perfect for her, sensitive and gentle, a teacher who understands how sick E can get, and is laid back enough not to get uptight when she misses school for illness.  Her teacher has a joy of teaching and a sense of humor, she will help E so much this year.  {E’s glasses are just for fun, because they are super cute, not for any necessary reason}

Time marches way too fast for me!

Go hug your kids, one more hug, back rub, and kiss on the head.  Because we know time and tide stop for no man.
jen

I Thought It Would Be Fun.

As you all know, O is leaving for college in 1 very short year.  That is it.  I only have one year left before my baby girl leaves us.  I am heart-broken about it, I cry all the time, and I know, from experience, it will only get worse as time goes along.  We go out together as often as we can.  I am trying to savor every minute I can with her.
Earlier this summer, we went to a very nice flea market, antique fair.  We really enjoy antique/junk shopping together. I purchased an enamel ware pot and lid, I am so very attracted to them right now, and every time I buy one I find a use for it, making me realize,
1 I have too much junk
2 I need more enamel ware.
When we were finished, O asked if we could stay out and shop a little more.  I dropped R and E back home, they were babysitting cousin G.  O and I continued on to our favorite antique/retro store.  They have the wildest things, a wood and glass mermaid coffee table, an entire set of snow-white garden gnomes they are almost 3 feet tall, and a 10 foot metal rocket ship.  I found another enamel ware square dish for steal.
After buying that small enamel container we were finished, O wanted us to continue shopping and not go home.  I asked if she wanted to go in a store I had driven past many times I told her the name, “fairy something, or something fairy” was all I could remember.  I thought it would be fun to go inside and see what they had, from the window it looked very interesting.  I thought it would be fun. We drove up to the curb and parked.  When we walked in I stopped short, like a comedy routine, she bumped into me and I stumbled a step.  This was not the sort of store I wanted to go in.  It was a witch store.  Or more actually they help those who want to reach a new spiritual level.  Um, it was a witch store.  Full out wiccan.  They had stones and smells, and potions, they had cloths, and candles, they had some sort of dream catcher thing, and costumes, they had rooms for reaching that higher level.  A kind man came our of a curtained room, where he was sitting in a circle with other like-minded people, to ask if we needed help, {ummm yeah we needed help, an out, we needed a polite escape} I explained that we had driven by many times, and often wondered what was in this store.  He answered me, but my ears were ringing I could not hear him because I was trying to think of an escape. {They were not holding me captive by any means, I just wanted to get out of there.  I believe witch craft is real, but I also believe it is from Satan, and I wanted out fast.} We made a quick walk around, to be polite, laughed quietly at the awkwardness of the situation, and made our exit.  I am sure that the people in the store had a good laugh at us.

A few days later, we were all going to the library we drove past that fairy store, O joked about the kind of mom who takes her innocent daughter in there.  R asked what kind of store it was.  I said “a fairy store and by fairy store I mean wiccan store.”  Little A looked at her sister and asked O “Hey want to go to the fairy store” R asked what they sell, we told him some of the things we saw.  E asked what wiccan is, I explained it is witch.  A piped up “it is an evil witch, wait it is an evil fairy, I want to be wicked, O will you be a wicked fairy with me?”  O was laughing, and answered “sure I’ll be a wicked with you.”  A rubbed her sisters arm and said “You are my favorite sister.”

Never a dull moment.

We have been going out on Wednesday nights for a few months now.  I started out going alone, but soon O was coming along.  We don’t talk, we just sit in quiet and peace.  Sometimes we read, or she works on pictures on her computer, or does homework.  We do talk sometimes, but usually we are quiet.  We like it that way.  A few weeks ago we went to Village Inn, my mom says the pie is the best ever (I say it was good, but not the best ever.)  We went O was reading Tess of the d’Urbervilles for her summer reading for her English class.  (She still has one more book to read, but it is much shorter)  O hated Tess, she read/listened to it read to her, it took 24 full hours of reading/listening to get through the book.  She is glad it is over, and even more glad I purchased her copy in the clearance section of Books A Million.  So as I was saying we were at Village Inn, eating breakfast at 8pm at night.  We were in a booth, we were both reading, we were quiet and content.  I rather tall, skinny, man came loudly into our area, he was stretching, like a runner after a race, talking quite loudly to the waitress, he then loudly announced to her, and everyone in the area he was going to go to the bathroom.  We could not help but notice him, and his party of 3.  After we finished eating we resumed reading while waiting for our pie.  The man was talking to his group about his knee, and lowered his knee brace to show the group, then he lifted his leg right next to our table he ripped the knee brace off his leg and stretched his toes wide, like Ariel did when she discovered she sold her soul for feet, only this was right near our table.  O noticed the white knee soft brace fling up and thought he was taking off his socks.  She looked up and caught my eye, we started to giggle, at first it was quiet, but the more we tried to stifle it the funnier it became, it was such an odd thing to see an adult yank off a knee brace and flex their toes next to a table.  We could not stop laughing, and those who know me, know I can get quite a cackle going.  We had tears in our eyes, we were not looking at each other, we were taking shallow breaths to get control.  The server for his table came to get their orders, he looked at us and said “I’ll have what they are having,”  We were only having a case of the giggles at the preposterousness of the event.

Never a dull moment.

How about you?  Ever go into the wrong store, and get surprised?
Go hug your kids, they need your love!
jen