Monuments

Small Town vs. Big City

So I spent a couple of days in Washington DC last week to see my brother who lives in Idaho, but was over with his son for a field trip. Actually, he was an ambassador for his school and I'm very proud of him.

But when I got there I was informed that the way to get around was by public transportation and I don't mean this to sound like "I'm so above this, are you kidding me" in my finest southern drawl. I mean, I live in a small town and "Oh my, I didn't bring my gun," of course in my finest redneck southern drawl. Because, we don't have public transportation here and all we hear about is the bad stuff that goes on, on them.

However, to my pleasant surprise it was kinda fun and exciting and not scary at all. In fact that's the only way to get around, I believe it's scarier driving there than letting someone else drive you. Talk about road rage.

But as I road the Metro or the bus, I looked around and there were tons of kids, unsupervised going around the city. Pretty typical for them. But I thought could I let my kids run around the city without me. Small town life if they walk down the street and do something they shouldn't be doing, I'm going to know about it before they get home, because someone is going to call me. On the other hand though, it was fun to have so much to do and offer in one place.

But in the end, I decided that I like the open waters and nothing to do unless you have a boat and no public transportation lifestyle.

One road in and one road out of our city, not I395/I495 which split by the way and you better know where you're going.

The Mixing Bowl of Emotions

When Evan picked up the soccer cone and threw it at his head, at first there was apprehension, then the sucking in of air for fear that the kid was going to retaliate then a sense of pride when Evan happily ran on with practice. Even though the child sat on the ground screaming his head off, I felt nothing for him, he deserved it. The bully had met his match had gotten what he deserved. Evan was targeted, he's the new kid on the team, one of the smallest. This kid never thought Evan would strike back. But he did and every parent on the sideline silently cheered for him.

Except one, yep, the one who made this kid the bully and just so happens to be the coach; had an outburst and threatened to throw any kid off the team if they threw any more punches. Then came the anger, What the hell is this man thinking? It's your child who is causing all the problems you go and take him with you.

Later, after leaving the park, I look back at Evan and he's crying and said that he didn't want to be kicked off the team and he didn't want everyone mad at him. I assured him that they were not mad and the rest of the team was pretty darn proud of him as was I.

But then I thought of what courage that took to hit him back, I mean you know you don't want to be picked on and you can end it, but what a commitment it is to actually strike back and be willing to take the next consequence. Wow.

My sweet little boy is turning into a young man. What a mixing bowl that is!!

It's Soccer time again! Let the Games begin!

The busy season has arrived. Last night when I got home and the thought of not having to go to soccer practice or anywhere else elated me. Woohoo, I have one day a week to do nothing but homework and cook.

Soccer started again about three weeks ago and on our first game we won! But the exciting part of that is, EVAN SCORED A GOAL!!! He was so excited as were we. He's having to prove he can play with these "big boys" and he's doing a great job.

Sean is trying some new positions this year. Forward and also Goalie. He's doing good at both. Maybe he'll take after his Uncle being goalie.

Thursday Thought on Friday

"Toto, I've a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore."

Thoughts for Thursday

The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.
Eleanor Roosevelt

It's your Birthday, we're gonna party!

Today You are 7! I can't believe you have grown so much it seems like yesterday I was holding your tiny hiney wrapped in a blanket looking into your soulful eyes. You're such a sweet kid and still at this point love us unconditionally. I love that you still get excited over stuffed dogs and your room is still full of them. You're growing into such a little man and to see you at school in the second grade or playing soccer with such determination my heart could just explode. I look forward to so many new days with you and I pray the unconditional love never ends. I know mine for you will never fade.

Happy Birthday My Little Man!

Thursday Thoughts

I think people that have a brother or sister don't realize how lucky they are. Sure, they fight a lot, but to know that there's always somebody there, somebody that's family.

First Day of School; Check

Whew, the first day is done with and they came home very excited and ready to go back. They both said their teachers were really nice. Here's hoping the rest of the year is just as good!

No Worries

The boys had physicals last week. Both are obviously growing like weeds, Sean is just about as tall as I am and moving in on the weight quickly. Evan is growing taller, but his weight is not going as fast as Sean's does. He wants to gain 30 pounds by his 8th birthday, so he can no longer sit in the car seat. I think he may be closer to 12 by the time he makes it to 80 pds.

During the physical they checked their eyes, ears, hearts, etc. and in the end had to get two shots. They do not like shots, neither do I, but at least I don't scream and thrash around like some crazed animal. After much coaxing, Sean decides he'll go first. He does, does great doesn't even flinch, no problem. One would think that Evan would follow suit seeing that his brother didn't die right there on the spot. No! He cries, fights, screams like a crazed animal. The nurse and I both had to hold him down, he had to get his finger pricked, so yeah, I agree that does hurt. But even after the shots were over and he was free to go, he stood there screaming. We finally leave and he's okay after we exit the door.

Fastforward to Monday morning, first day of school, Sean had a reaction to the chicken pox shot starting Saturday that was localized, but not spreading or causing any other reactions, so on Monday when it still looked bad, I took him to the doctor's office after dropping Evan off at school. On the way to school however, Evan had some sage advice for his brother.

"You're going to have to get another shot, BUT DON'T WORRY IT WON'T HURT!" says the boy who was totally traumatized by his shots just two days earlier.

Thought for the Day

Cherish your vision and your dreams as they are the children of your soul; the blueprints of your ultimate achievements.
--Napolean Hill

The Cool Crisp Mountain Vacation

Being a beach comber my first thoughts in the mountains were, what do these people do? Where do the kids ride their bikes or skateboards or skooters? How do you drive up the side of that mountain? I just couldn't live here. It's beautiful to visit but living here, I couldn't do. (although a few years ago I wanted too)

Our vacation started great though, we laid in bed and watched movies until 12, we had popcorn and oreos for breakfast, no compliants from the boys at this point. They were even happy to hang out outside because there's a big dirt pile of red clay that they drove their trucks on, dug holes into, fought in, rolled in, jumped in and loved every minute of it. We finally got up and dressed and went over to Boone and ate lunch, then went to the shops downtown, picked up some brochures and found some hiking trails. So we headed over to Blowing Rock and hiked a trail around a lake, it was so peaceful and nice. The hills/mountains were growing on me. I certainly can't hike around the ocean.

The next day I found out where you ride your bikes, you go to Damascus, Virginia and rent bikes they drive you up a mountain and drop you and your bike off, and you ride down 17 miles on an old train track across tressels, by streams, you can stop twice to eat or rest. The only thing needing rest though is your brake hand, it's all down hill. It's one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen. We can't wait to go back when the leaves are changing to do this again.

Riding down the Creeper Trail

Whitewater rafting is next. I mistakenly made reservations with the wrong outfit. It was very important for us to arrive at 10:15 am because we would be leaving by 10:30. At 12:30 we finally pull off after having to wait for them to blow up rafts, funyaks and then Sean and two other men had to wait for more rafts to be brought to them. Once we finally got going the water was so low from lack of rain, we had to paddle five miles. Not much rafting, but Evan's still not old enough to do a larger river. We paddled the Nolichutky and while it was beautiful, the paddling and heat overtook the fun. Sean paddled his own funyak though and did a great job. We were spent by the time we finished and starved since we hadn't had lunch, so we took our river funked selves to the Olive Garden and piged out.

On the fourth day we hiked again, one of the brochures we found mentioned a swimming hole and rock sliding which sounded like fun. We hiked and hiked and hiked, Evan even went skinny dipping. Finally we find the hole and it's breathtaking. Three waterfalls, three little swimming holes and a large one at the bottom. The water is cold, too cold for me, but the boys got in of course.

At the waterfall


Pure Beauty


Sean swimming


Evan swimming in the very cold water


Daddy taking Evan to the very cold waterfall

All in all it was a wonderful time. Very relaxing, probably because I didn't have to go to work, I didn't have to cook, I didn't have to wash clothes, I didn't have to walk the dogs, I didn't have to do anything but have fun.

PS. I'm still a beach girl though, simply because I don't like driving up the side of the mountain, especially when my car starts sliding backwards. I know, I know next time I'll have tires with tread. I probably should have mentioned that before going.

Cape Field Trip, we didn't do these kinds of field trips when I was in school!

The whole second grade class went to Cape Lookout for a field trip at the end of last school year. They drove buses down to Harkers Island and ferried the kids across. We took our own boat and man was it so much fun. When I was in second grade I think we may have gone to the zoo or something and it wasn't a great zoo either.

Anyway, the kids had a great time. Evan of course got to be a second grader for a day as will Sean when Evan's classes go this coming school year.

Snacks Definitely



Boat Jumping

Becept Pruberty!

These are two of Evan's word pronunciations. He says becept all the time, I've tried to get him to say except, but it just comes out wrong.

Last night while playing around with Daddy, Daddy says "wow, Evan you've got lots of little blond hair on your legs." Evan replies with, "yeah, becept I've got Pruberty now."

He thinks he's going through puberty, he says his brother told him the word and it means when you get hair on your legs, under your arms, down there, and on your feet.

oh boy, it's going to be a long road with these two, they already like to use "manly" soap in the shower and then they have to dot on some deodorant and of course comb their hair just right.

"That's my boy..."

Sean calls Evan his boy who looks after him. ( In other words, Evan's his little runner, his slave)

I guess when you're six, you're big brother is your hero and you'd do anything for him.

Summer Fun

The boys spent a week down in South Carolina with their Gunny and Grammy and they had a blast, riding the horse, grooming the horse, Evan played with new puppies and luckily did not bring one home. They are already planning for next year. So am I, I didn't think I'd have fun, but I really did, don't tell them that though.

Sean and I got to do lots of things we never do, eat in peace, go to the movies, go out with friends, shop in peace, go to bed when we wanted, all the things you take for granted when you have no kids.

It's great having them back though, they've been hanging out with Daddy every since, going to work with him, helping him, distracting him, going swimming, playing golf. They are having a great summer vacation. As long as they stay away from the Boys and Girls club, they are happy.

We are planning on going on a family vacation to our mountain house and take the kids white water rafting and tubing down the mountains. We may do the water park on the way over and possibly the zoo too. I'm just looking forward to a week off from work.

Next week we're going to meet Mimee in Myrtle Beach for the weekend. We always have a great time when we do that. Then they start soccer camp the next week, should be good and hot for them by then at least they'll be playing at night, when it's only 90 degrees instead of 100.

I wish it was summer vacation year round. It's so relaxing not having to run around with all the activities during the school year, we can ride our bikes after dinner instead of running in at 8 or 9 taking a bath and going to bed.

The Second Grader

I put a picture of the third grader up but didn't put one up of the second grader. He did great this year and gets cuter everyday, along with taller. His stitches are all healed up and his arm seems to not bother him either. I thought he had broken his arm this past weekend, but the swimming healed it miraculously. It's amazing. The sheer will they have when they want to do something or not do something. And this little guy here is the king of all stubbornness!

It's a sin

The boys started the summer camp program at boys and girls club Monday. This year is different because they separated the 6-7 from the 8-9's therefore leaving Evan with only one person he hangs out with. But that one friend of his hasn't been coming this week. The first day he comes home and says, "I only have one friend and he didn't even come today." So I tell him maybe he can make some new friends. He says, "I'm just real quiet and I sit by myself, I don't get into trouble that way."

So Tuesday he decides to take his stuffed dog, Belle, but when we get there they tell him he can't have the dog there. ( I don't know what that stuffed dog was going to hurt) So he starts crying and finally agrees to let her come to work with me. So I pick them up and he says, "I could hardly eat my lunch I was so upset over not having Belle with me."

He's completely serious with all this and while it sounds completely heartwrenching and sinful, when I pick them up I have to drag him off the playground from all of his non friends.

And That's the ballgame!

I promise to play fair and enjoy the game. Amen.

Sean's team played last night in the second round of tournament play and they in all aspects of the game outplayed this team, this team who went undefeated the entire season. Our boys should be very proud of themselves, most have either never played baseball before or they had just moved up from Coach pitch which is not like playing baseball at all.

I think they all had a good time and no one is the least bit phased by it, they each started a whole new day and now baseball is in the distant past. I am going to miss going to the ball field and eating hot dogs and cheering for our team. It's a summer past time and it was really fun. The one thing I will not miss is the boys being drama queens. Each one of those kids pouted if they struck out, each one pouted if they got on base, but didn't cross that glorious finish line with the neon lights flashing "You're Home Safe" I think next year instead of purple jerseys they should have pink. But this last game they did do much better with their attitudes and hopefully next year they will be a year more mature.

The pouty face!


Swing batter batter Suwing!!


AHHHH, YOU'RE HOME SAFE!

And that's the ballgame, until next year!

Bandaids, stitches and suits of armor!

My kids have not been out of school a week yet and one already has stitches and the other ate asphalt yesterday. I hope this is it for the rest of the summer. Last night I had to buy the mother load of bandages to make sure everyone had all the antibotic oitment they needed on and all the scrapes and things covered. My hieney can't take anymore! Everytime Evan jumps or falls or rides his bike or whatever my hieney hurts for him. Then Sean crashes on his scooter and gets one of those scrapes that doesn't bleed at first it just turns white, then starts to bleed. When it started it didn't want to stop. Ugh, I don't do blood, it's just gross.

Music

Sean got his report yesterday and it was very good and by way he's promoted to the third grade. Last semester he did really good except in music he had an "N" needs improvement. So I told him that was crazy to end up failing second grade, because basically he couldn't behave in music.


On his report card this time, he got an "O" Outstanding in music. Not just a satisfactory, but he made sure he got an "O" he wasn't about to tell anyone he failed second grade because of music.


Think I should tell him that he really would not have failed because of that or just let him figure it out.



Here's the third grader!

Stitches

I bet you can guess which one too, yep, Evan. He and a friend were playing at the ball field and he fell on a log and cut his leg (near his privates) and ended up with six stitches.

Getting them was not fun, but now he thinks it's pretty cool. Everyone he sees that's the first thing out of his mouth. "I've got stitches"

I'm sure when he's older, he'll want to show all the girls his "scar" considering it's location, oh the stories he'll tell.

Day 700 Pacified

He got him a new puppy. Not the one he's been begging for, but when Daddy and I went out of town we found him a cute little soft German Shorthair Puppy that we couldn't see him living without.

I don't know where he gets his craziness from.

More Wild Horses

A family of horses we came upon on Taylors Creek. They did not even look up when we pulled the boat right over to them and took pictures. It's really too cool.

Oh wait these aren't horses these are wild Banshees! But they are cute. They too were not bothered by the camera.

Day 698

We seemed to have forgotten about that cute little puppy!

Wild Horses and Wild Boys

For Memorial Day, we headed over to Shac with the other 30,000 locals and anchored the boat and sat and enjoyed the day in the sun. We were there for probably 15 minutes when we see this.




A beautiful lone wild horse.



He did not seem the least bit bothered by all these humans who had invaded his island.

It was such an awesome sight.

After the hoopla with the wild horse we dealt with the wild boys the rest of the afternoon. They had fun as long as you add water they are happy. They played in the really cold water all day, on the banks digging and again in the water. The adults just people watched all day and boy was that interesting.

And here's the wild boys on their boogie boards

and Evan on his daddy's life vest. Cold Much?!

That Cute little puppy...... AGAIN!!!

So to leave our house and go anywhere in town you have to pass B-E-L-K! And everytime we pass it, what do we hear, "oooh, can we go to Belk? I've gotta have that puppy!"



We've given him chores and opportunities to earn $14, but he says that will take 14 days. What does he expect.



You would think that he would forget about this puppy, this child can't remember to brush his teeth, come in out of the rain, clean his room or anything else or the fact that he has over 1000 other cute soft puppies.

For instance almost every picture of him, he's got a cute little puppy with him.

The Black one, Coal!

The Yellow one, Gunner!

And WHY would you want a cute soft "Stuffed" puppy, when you've got this?

Makes me want another cute soft little boy!

PS. Not really!

Conversation Continued

Evan: "Daddy there's this cute puppy at Belks and I've just got to have it, will you buy it for me?"

Daddy: "I don't know Evan, you have so many puppies already."

Evan: "Please, Please"

Daddy: "We'll see, not right now."

10 minutes later

Evan: (Holding out about 50 cents in his hand) "Daddy, I'll pay you more than the $14 the puppy cost if you go get it for me."

Daddy: "Well, is that all the money you have?"

Evan: "yes, it's more than $14."

Daddy: "I think we need to let you work a few more jobs before you can afford it."

Evan: "Ugggghhhh, You mean I have to work for money."


PS. Still no puppy....

A conversation with Evan

Evan: "Mom, I've got to have this cute little puppy."

Me: "No, Evan you have a thousand at home!"

Evan: rubbing the puppy on my arm "but just feel how soft he is!"

Me: "yes, he's cute and soft, but no!"

Evan: "mom, please I've just got to have this soft cute puppy?!"

Me: "no"

Evan: "I'll pay you 20 dimes for it!"

Me: "ugh!"



PS. He didn't get the puppy.

Belle

From the looks of this picture one would think this is the Most Statuesque dog in the world, just look how well behaved she is. One would never know that this dog just six months ago, loved to jump the fence and run all over Purgatory Bay, no one could catch her, it was her game. People still see her walking on a leash and say, don't let her loose, you'll never catch her.

But she's been "fixed" of jumping the fence and now she stays right in her yard and behaves like a normal dog. So what that she has electrical volts around her neck and if she goes out of the yard she gets shocked.

Inside she's pretty good too. She gets in the trash, eats whats left at the table, on the floor and she always goes to the back door and proclaims she must go now! If you don't get up she will continue talking to you until you get off your butt and let her out.

These next pictures are from the same photo session. They can't all be perfect.

This is Sean and Belle hanging out in my leather recliner. Smart Boy-Smart Dog!


"So if I don't look at her, she will go away with that camera"



Are you going to put that thing away yet?

Why I had my boys so close together.

On Mother's Day I had a great day, very relaxing, I even got to nap! The boys played outside most all day. At one point I was watching them build a fort or hideout. They had drug every spare piece of wood their Daddy had brought home, their soccer goal, their bikes, the fake ficus on the deck, bricks, from somewhere an old sleeping bag and anything else they could possibly dig up. It was quite amusing to watch them work together, help each other.

Later I look out and they are both sitting under the trampoline talking. I wondered what they were talking about, girls, sports, riding their bikes, or just simply the wind blowing.

I love they are so close, best friends, and I love that they will always have someone in their corner. Brothers!

Can't you just feel the love!!

This week has been an easy one, only one practice due to the weather and only one game this weekend. Three nights this week, I've actually cooked dinner, real meals not dollar double cheeseburgers on the way home to do homework. At 6:30 Tuesday night, we had eaten, dishes clean and I was sitting there going what do I do now? I haven't had that in so long that I couldn't decide if I wanted to laze around and watch something stupid on television or actually do something good for myself and go walk. Believe it or not I chose to walk. The boys rode their bikes and of course the walk started out like normal, they have to ride through the driveways if they are circle drives in the front of a house. Everytime, they just can't help it. Living in Purgatory Bay you never know when someone's going to come out and yell at you for being in or near their yard.

I fuss, they say yes mam' and we wait for the next tempting driveway to appear. Never fails they have to do it. Ugh, so much for a nice relaxing brisk walk. I can't wait to get home, I knew I should have taken door number 2 and lazed on the couch.

It's blowing a gale!!

I think we can unlatch the hatches and go back outside. For the past five days we've been having a Noreaster Storm, winds at 50, raining one minute, sun the next and repeat. I sure hope the old fisherman are wrong, they are saying our hurricane season will be bad if the wind is blowing this bad already.

During this time of high winds, the boys have sure been in rare form. Surprising me every minute with the things they can come up with. Leaving me wondering if it's just "boys being boys" or worse will they be serial killers one day? No wonder some animals eat their young. Oh well, I'll stick with Boys will be Boys!

The other night I got out my old scrapbooks and looked back at the boys. It was so much fun to remember those crazy nights up feeding them and those sweet days of seeing them take their first steps or say their first words and I thought about how fast these last 6-8 years have passed. I really wish their was a pause button. I'm not sure how long I could keep it paused, but I'd sure stand on it for awhile.

I just know that I'm going to wake up tomorrow and they are going to be grown and I don't want them to be grown.

Stages

My boys seem to be going through another phase right now. They are being super nice to people I will leave unnamed for fear it will stop as soon as I utter the name. They are listening to this same person. They are also handing out freely hugs, snuggles, and kisses. This person is certainly taking them. They are even at times being nice to one another. At times! Other times they fight like cats and dogs.

I love the different stages they go through, right now I'm loving having an 8 and 6 year old. So far this has been my favorite stage, just on the brink of being too old for their parents and just young enough to still enjoy life. They have been through so many, tantrums, back talk, stubbornness, total dependency, total independency. Each one brings something new to their personalities building that person they will be. But this one, this one is so cool I hope it last for a long while.

I guess like the old adage says, "This too shall pass" I'm looking forward to the next stage with anticipation and hope that it just keeps getting better.

I wasn't being nosy!

"I was just sitting there eating my lunch when I overheard this information, But I wasn't being nosy, I didn't even look in their direction, I just sat and ate and this stuff just came to my ears." Says the big guy.

Out of the mouths of babes.

It's not the size of the dog in the fight, it's the size of the fight in the dog.

Both boys are playing soccer this season and they both love it so much. In the fall little guy will be able to play on the big guys league and team. Which makes Momma happy because that cuts down on the practice time. Cuts out any conflicts of having two soccer teams and most times in the fall they only play soccer anyway. That is until the little guys decides for sure if he wants to play football. I hope he decides he doesn't want to play football.

The big guys team is doing very well. He's all about some soccer now. Very serious when he plays. Reminds me of my big brother when we played.

I love to watch them play not only is it so neat to see them get into something they enjoy other than playing in the back yard, but something that teaches them things. It also brings back memories for me. I loved playing soccer when I was a kid. The exhilaration of it was almost too much and all that comes back when I'm watching them play. I remember never, I mean never wanting any ball to get passed me, because if they passed me, they came upon my big brother and after he would save the goal, because he was a really really good goalie, he'd let me hear about it. So the exhilaration of it wasn't all fun, it was pretty scary too. But he made me tougher because of it. The big guy does this to the little guy making those memories all that much more bittersweet.

The little guys team is doing pretty good too. They have their days, they are younger and less experienced but getting there. I often wonder if he will be ready to play on the older boys team, he'll be the youngest one out there. I know exactly how he'll feel if the big brother jumps his mess. But for some reason there's something about this guy who I think may jump back.


He holds no bars and athlete just describes him. Check out how he just watches and then calculates what to do next. His size at first glance is a hindrance to him, but he'll show you just how big he is.


It's just like it used to be, just like it should be.

Doggy Diazapam

Having a dog is like having another child, having two dogs is like have four extra children. Belle, the shorthair stays inside and really the only problem with her is, she likes to eat things in the middle of the night and she occasionally gets alittle jealous. She will sit between Mr. Big Sean and I and she doesn't like the boys getting too much attention, but I just chalk it up to her being a girl and well girls are like that. But we have a big dog, Bingo, half shorthair half lab who stays outside. He was inherited and never house broken and he's a great wonderful loving beast of a dog. The boys can put their hands right into the bowl while he's eating and he'll back away patiently until they are done. He's super protective and doesn't like the garbage man coming within 100 yards of the fence, especially if we are outside.He's a good hunter and he listens well, but and you knew there had to be a but, he's afraid of thunderstorms. He'd make a great weatherman, because the storm could be in Idaho and he'd warn you about it with this persistent, pesky, bark/howl that doesn't stop. Always happens in the middle of the night too. Keeping us and the whole neighborhood up and the problem with this is, we live in Purgatory Bay and folks in those woods don't take kindly to being awaken by a dog in the middle of the night. Dogs in this neighborhood should be inside cuddled in the bed with their masters. Dogs rule in this neighborhood, except for those that are outside dogs, they should be put to sleep.


Thus we have resorted to doggy diazapam. 5mg and he can deal with the whole sordid affair. We are well stocked with this wonderful drug. A word of caution, it takes one hour for the drug to properly enter his system and quiet down. So be prepared for a few hours of missed sleep at night and there you have it just like having children.