2008 Year in Review

Little Updates

December came and went, Christmas came and went and now it's already a new year, the kids are back at school and things are getting back into the groove again. I can't believe how fast time is going.

We had a good Christmas, the boys got spoiled again as usual, but I can't complain because Sean surprised me with a new Nikon digital SLR camera. It's fun and I've got lots of learning to do, but I love being able to take the shots, the close ups and see them right away. I never thought I'd move away from film and I doubt I'll move completely away from it, but right now I'm having fun with it. I haven't downloaded the first picture either. I'm not sure what's wrong with me. Crazy I guess.

The boys finished up indoor soccer and they actually had a pretty good season. I think the spring season is going to be a good one for them. They picked up three new players, including one girl, but she's a great little player. They decided against Upward Basketball this season and I can't say I'm sad over it. Whew, a break.

In a week we leave and are going to the mountains for a week with some friends. We are going to ski and tube. I'm just hoping it snows a little more. But it's started to get a little colder and hopefully will be great weather for us. It's been in the 70s here on the coast and well I'm ready for a blast of wintry weather.

The boys are doing well, Evan I'm praying is back into his old self and he's doing good in school and doesn't seem to mind going as bad now. He's just as sweet as can be, and is in the loving mood where he just loves to give out hugs (only to me of course, but I don't mind) sorry Grandmama's! Sean is just as sweet as ever, I'm really enjoying these ages. I hope it last alittle longer too. I'm not ready for them to want to do their own things. But I know it's coming.


But I'm thinking with Smirks like these, I'm in for a real treat!!

My, how things can change

Saturday November 15, 2008

Sunday November 16, 2008


Nothing makes them happier than to play outside one day in shorts and the next in the snow!!

Sean turned 10!

Last Friday Sean had his tenth birthday!!! Wow, he's having a great year so far, he made the Principal's list at school which is straight A's and still loves school. He's gotten so tall and can pretty much look me straight in the eye. He had a fun party at the park where he played kickball with about 20 friends. They seemed to all have fun and amazingly no fights came about and they all played fair.

Here's my big guy on his birthday, being silly.

We took a couple of his friends to a skateboard park and they had a blast.


Sean is growing into such a sweet young man, he's watching out for his little brother and encouraging him to do good in school so they can go to Duke together. He worries about his family, his dogs, his friends, he's just got the biggest heart. I'm constantly in awe of him and the things he does. (not all are good things, but hey)

Happy Birthday Big Guy, we love you so very much and are so proud of you!

Smart Like a Fox!

I've been talking to the boys about always doing their best and trying hard. Both have a tendency to get a little lazy at times and that's fine occasionally, but not all the time. Evan has days where he'll just decide not to try at his classwork and he'll just mark answers on tests that have nothing to do with the question. Then thinks nothing about the fact that he makes a 25/F! I would have lost my mind if I made an F. Hopefully when report cards come out, he'll see that he doesn't get rewarded for making bad grades. The frustrating part is, we know he's capable.

So anyway, I've been talking to them every chance I get and last night I was telling Evan how he was just "smart as a whip" and Evan says, "really." Sean puts his two cents in and says, "I don't think he's smart as a whip" and I'm thinking Geez child work with me here. I can just see Evan deflating, I mean Sean is his idol. So Sean says, "well, whips just sit there and someone has to whip it to make it work."

Okay, yeah good point kid. So I tell Evan he's smart as a fox and then Evan says fox aren't smart. That's when Mr. Knowitall, I mean Sean says, oh yes Evan fox are really smart just like you.


Awe, how sweet I think and then he adds....

But they actually use their smarts!

Gotta love that kid!

My Goofs

My boys being goofy.

Evan rapping the peanut butter rap...

School's Cool

I'm happy to report that Evan seems to have found his groove at school. I'm not counting chickens right now, because the wind can change directions, but for now my fingers are still crossed. He, I hope has finally realized that it's not so bad and he's got a great teacher.

Sean on the other hand has gotten comfortable and has decided that he's going to try to get away with talking. He's just sociable. What can I do? However, I did get the best compliment on him yesterday. A friend and I were having lunch and she told me that her youth minister's wife teaches special education and she has a little boy in Sean's class. Anyway, my friend told her that Sean was a friend of hers. The special ed teacher says, "oh, Sean he's the nicest, sweetest little boy, he will take his time with my special ed student and will help him and not many will do that at this age."

Oh be still my beating heart!

Walking Away

Walking away from him as he sits in the hallway crying, was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do. When I was pregnant with the first boy, I was told that for the rest of my life I would never stop worrying about my children. Learning to crawl, walk, talk, read, kick a soccer ball,cuts, bruises,hurt feelings,and so on and so, the feelings are always up higher than one can imagine and lower than you can imagine. Walking away from him knowing he doesn't want to stay, but not knowing why is way beyond anything I ever want to endure again. I've tried everything to figure out what is causing this breakdown at the beginning of school each morning. At first he didn't want to read or do his schoolwork, then he just didn't want to go. He says no one is bothering him at school, he says he's bored, he says all kinds of things, but none seem to be the real answer.I've been in contact with his teacher and she says he's fine after we get over the hump.

Each day has gotten better, he's going in without crying, just a little whine. Nothing too bad. Why did it take him this long?

Walking away is hard, but the Lord knows I'll never walk too far.

In about oh say 5 years......

I'm thinking this will be standard operating procedure. They must have sat on the boat and jet ski for an hour just talking and cutting up. It's cute now, and I think the world of those girls, but in about oh say 5 years, I'm going to be saying... Back away from the girls.. slowly... and no one will get hurt!

Listening to God, by Evan

Sean, Evan and Lainey were discussing being baptized yesterday in the car. Sean tells Evan he's not ready, not sure what makes him the expert. Lainey tells him that he'll feel it in his heart. Sean says, "Yeah, Jesus told me I was ready and I could tell in my heart." Lainey agrees and Evan says well I can't ever hear him. So they tell him that he just has to listen. To which Evan replies, "Well, I can't ever hear, because the TV is always on."

Evan's Eight

Where did the time go?I can't believe my baby is eight years old and in the third grade. In the past year you have grown so much not only in height and weight, but you're quite the little man now. You have a heart of gold, but also a streak that runs through you that can be quite mischievous. You don't let anything hold you back and keep up with your brother easily. The more he throws at you the more you take and give back. You even take that to the soccer field where you're known for being the smallest player, but the toughest, a slide tackle or a shoulder is just your style and the funniest thing is that no one ever expects it from you.

Happy Birthday my little tough guy. You keep filling my heart with joy and love each day. Thank you. I love you!!

Mama

Wake up early, Check
Bookbags packed, Check
Lunches packed, Check
Nerves, Check
Teeth Brushed, Check
Hair combed, Check
Eat Breakfast, Check
Leave early since everyone is headed in the same direction, Check
Nerves, Check, Check, Check!


The Third Grader and the Fourth Grader

Watching him walk into a new school, Heartwrenching, Check!



Today is the day, boys went back to school. Sean is starting 4th grade at the elementary school and was a little nervous, all his friends will be there, but he doesn't know any of the teachers, nor does he know his way around, the pick-up and drop-offs are different. It's alot to take in.

Evan was fine, he was at the primary school where he's big man on campus being the third grader.

I'm fortunate that they both like school, which makes it much easier for me to see them go.

A Sharks Tale

I took the boys surfing this past weekend. Evan didn't take his board and opted for just playing in the water. He saw a friend of his and they ended up playing together. Sean loves to surf and heads out and will sit forever just waiting for that perfect wave. After sitting for a while he comes in and says to me that something kinda big brushed against his leg. I figured it was a fish and big was only in his head. I can get a rather big imagination while swimming in the ocean too. I've seen both Jaws and Open Water, freaky.

Anyway, a little later he heads back out again, much braver than his mother. But anyway, he stays out for a while surfing and finally comes back in. This time he comes up to me and says I saw that thing again and it was a shark. Okay, sure, I'm thinking porpoise really. But I didn't tell him that. Pick your battles, right.

Fast forward to his third time out, again much braver than his mother, especially since he says he actually saw a shark. So he's out there and he just standing by his board while Evan and his friend and another boy are splashing around, wrestling in the water, just having a good time being boys. Evan's friends dad suddenly jumps up and yells at his boy. All the boys stop and turn toward the beach like we didn't do it. So he yells again and tells them to get out. They still just stand there. At this point I'm half way over to where the dad was standing wondering what my two had done. None of the boys move and he yells, "Get out, there's a shark!"

I've never seen them move so fast, all four boys are practically running on water. They get out and the dad tells them he saw two sharks swimming about five feet behind them. All the splashing and murking up the bottom they were doing caused them to get curious. He said they were about 5-6 feet long each. He told me that they had seen several the day before and that they had been really bad lately.

Wow, we didn't go back into the water that day. However, they have been bugging me daily to take them back surfing. I wish I had the same fearless attitude and I'm not going to make them stop. But it's still very eery to know they were swimming with the sharks so close.

Things can change in the blink of an eye, but don't worry God never blinks!

Confession is good for the soul

Sunday we had some friends over for dinner and they brought their three kids and we grilled and they played and had a great visit. Monday, I get a call from Sean and he says that the boys went on the golf course while they rode their bikes around the neighborhood. We don't normally let them ride freely through the neighborhood, but being that there were five of them we thought it would be okay, but our one rule is stay off the course.

So Sean tells me that two little boys showed up at the grandparents house which is on the other side of the neighborhood and told them they came by themselves to begin with then they confessed that they had three friends with them. Next, they tell them they had ridden through sprinklers, that's why they were wet. Only one was soaked though, so Granny gets him a towel and something to drink and sends them on their way, they come home, nothing is said and on about their business they go.

Until, I get this call telling me about what happened, so we wait, our plan is to wait a day or so and then tell them that a friend told us they saw them out on the golf course playing by the pond.

However, Sean the oldest boy decides it's eating away at him and he sings like a canary. While Daddy is still at work he tells me he climbed over the fence to the swimming pool and stuck his head in and then climbed back over, he did this all on his own and no one else went with him. So being the compassionate mother that I am, I ask him if anyone saw him and he says no, I said are you sure, he says yes. Then he says, Why? So I explain to him that going into that gated pool is trespassing and I hope no one saw him because they could charge him with that. Uh, he got a little upset and wanted to know if he was going to jail. For a fleeting moment I did have to decide whether to say yes or no. I tell him no, they would probably just charge him a fine being that he's only 9 but it could go on your permanent record.

Fast forward to later in the evening and we're about to go on our bike ride and he says all in one breathe, "uh Mom, we stopped by Granny's house and I told her we went through the sprinklers, I didn't want to get busted by her too!" Oh really, do you think you should have done that. Have you learned anything from all this? Yes ma'am.

So in a matter of minutes he's confessed his soul. I'm happy that he has a conscientious and feels comfortable talking to me and then he says, "why is this in my head and I can't get it out?" woohoo, I have another opportunity. "Because that's the Lord putting it on your heart and telling you, you need to let this out."

Still praying that this will stick.

All Summer Long

The boys started back to soccer practice, still going to work with Daddy and still aggravating him daily, they seem to be mustering through. Sean turned 40, had a surprise party for him which turned into quite the ordeal. When you haven't seen 3am in a long time it takes a long time to get over that. We're still recuperating.

We've been surfing some, I even got out and surfed with them, omg is it hard. I knew I was out of shape, but man oh man did that let me know just how out of shape I was. My arms felt as if they would fall off, I think it took me about an hour to get feeling back in them. I truly don't understand how they stayed out there for nearly seven hours paddling and surfing, it's beyond my realm.

Speaking of that day, we went with some friends and stayed on the beach for seven hours, we had a tent and lots of food and drinks and just sat around talking and swimming and hanging out. I love being able to go over to the beach and just hang, during this time of year it's usually pretty busy, but their are places you can go that the crowds don't reach. Even Sean came with us, he really had a good time too, he had his tent and was content.

Evan going to take a break

Waiting for the perfect wave

Sean going in

They really enjoy surfing, Sean more so than Evan, but Evan is learning. It's really not easy but it's really fun, I'm fully intent on surfing more. Maybe that's what I should ask for, for my birthday.

Somehow I can't believe that there are any heights that can't be scaled by a man who knows the secrets of making dreams come true. This special secret, it seems to me, can be summarized in four C s. They are curiosity, confidence, courage, and constancy.

Walt Disney

A new motto for the boys

"Don't put your fingers where you wouldn't put your pecker!" Now why didn't I think of that years ago? While watching/flipping through channels last night with Sean, he stopped at the show Black Gold and they introduced some man and he was talking about the parts he had lost since working on the oil rigs and he just comes out and says this.

I at first just sat there, thinking about what he had just said. Then I came to the conclusion, hey that's so true.

I asked Sean if he thought it would work if we instilled this in the boys for their fast approaching adolescent years? He just laughed.But hey it might work. Crazier things have happened!!

Boys of Summer

Part One
There has been so much going on lately that I haven't had a chance to write much. The boys passed the second and third grades with great grades. They partied with their friends the first week and then they started to work. Work has been going okay, if they could just stop fighting long enough to realize that being at work with Daddy is much better than being at the Boys and Girls Club (even though they go swimming, to the movies, bowling, etc) Maybe they'll get it sometime around August.

Sean Being Recognized for Honor Roll all year long!

Part Two
They also went to the State Games and played soccer, they had an awesome time. The first game on Saturday though was tough, the team they played was an All-Star team that was well coached and boy did they have their game together. Our boys who are not used to losing had no idea what they had just encountered. That game ended 9-1, I tell you it was bad. Their second game on Saturday in blazing sun, we found our Hurricanes, they played soccer and although it was another tough team this game ended in a tie. That's okay, we got one point which didn't count us out of the tournament. Sunday morning game came and the Hurricanes definitely showed up, they beat this team 6-1. So this put us tied for second place, this also put us tied in all the tie breaker categories. So basically they decided to flip a coin to decide who plays for Gold and who plays for Bronze. We won the coin toss and got to play for Gold which guaranteed us Silver.

They had to play the All-Star team again and this time they played awesome, the did not win, but those boys didn't think we had the same team, in fact some of the parents thought that we had brought in two boys, one being Sean(the biggest child on our team) and the other, a little black boy. Neither of which would be easy to sneak in. Oh well, they took home the silver medals and were darn proud of it.

Evan and Coach getting his Silver Medal

Sean getting his Silver Medal

The Lewis Boys getting ready to play

Part Three
After we get home I guess from all the stress or being in the heat or something cosmic, I get strep throat and suffer through that for a week. Finally the antibiotics are working and I'm starting to feel better.
Part Four
We also bought the boys their birthday presents early. They are officially boys of summer, they each got surfboards and are loving their new boards and catching some waves.

Waiting for that perfect wave, this day was not the day for perfect waves, but they had to try out their new boards.

Got up the first time, just need better waves...

Summer has officially started

The boys got out of school on Friday @ noon and immediately without passing Go went straight to the beach and stayed until 8 that night. Saturday they got up and headed straight for the pool and then again on Sunday, I'm not sure how they are still going, because I was so tired last night that I could have slept for three days.

Sean (little) started his new job today. He's working with daddy being the whatever guy and Evan gets to ride around and be supervisor with his papaw. I'm sure that with it being 100 degrees outside, Sean is wishing he was still 7. He has been so excited about working and telling all his friends how much money he's going to make and what he's going to do with it. I wonder just how long it's going to last?