Spring Break Day 2 or The Day I Forgot The White Shirt

In the Deep South, Easter Sunday takes on a life of its own.
We may believe in the Resurrection of Jesus, but we also believe in new clothes and ham.
And all the stuff that goes with that.

Because our little family of 3 is living "apart" right now, Dan/Daddy met us at my family's for the weekend. Which meant I was responsible for bringing his Easter finery for that all-important day.

Well.
Khaki pants? Check.
Navy jacket? Check.
New lime green tie that perfectly matched my dress and the boy's shorts? Check.
White dress shirt?
White dress shirt?
"Uhhhh. Honey? Where's my white dress shirt?"
Poop. It took me .5 seconds to realize it was back in the closet at our house. 264 miles away.

Dan/Daddy was a lot calmer than me. I ranted and raved about my failures as a wife and a mentally capable adult for a few minutes before I pulled myself together.
And remembered the true meaning of Easter.
And then I remembered that I had a LOT to pack up.
And then I remembered that all the stuff I packed consisted of Dan/Daddy's turkey hunting gear and approximately 76 firearms.
(You see, because we are moving in a few months, I brought some things to keep at my parents' house during the move. Like my plants and guns. The movers won't move either.)

So I blamed my forgetting of the white shirt on all the unnecessary weaponry I was responsible for.

We had a wonderful Easter Sunday after all, and Dan/Daddy looked completely appropriate in his casual shirt. He should have worn camo. I packed plenty of that.





Look closely. Yes, my son wore Converse tennis shoes to church.


The "guys" (Dan/Daddy, the boy, the nephew, my dad, my brother)


#1 Sis-in-Law (a.k.a. "Martha Stewart")


I could just pinch his cute little cheeks, but don't tell him that.


The "girls" in this rowdy crew are way outnumbered.


And how about that bruise on the boy's knee? We like to keep it real.


Hope your Easter was blessed.

Easter Shenanigans or Spring Break Day 1

And yes, I had to google that word to make sure I was spelling it right.

shenanigans: Silly or high-spirited behavior

Bring on the multi-colored stained fingers for church!


And the boredom while you wait on your eggs to reach that perfect shade


Why is the smallest person in the room the most "in charge" of the activity?


"No Uncle Daniel! Don't drink the purple tea!"


We also took time for the more meaningful activities of Easter.
Like dunking Peeps into liquid chocolate.







Perhaps the only thing happier than a row of Peeps is a row of Peeps with chocolate booties.

Prayers...

... for the people in Alabama and Georgia and all over the Deep South.
These storms were monsters.

Thinking of you all.

Celebrating the Military Child

Was anyone out there concerned about me disappearing from blogland for 11 days?
I wasn't concerned about me at all.
I thought I'd show you a little of what we've been up to this month. (In between storms. As I type this, we are yet again under a tornado watch. I'm hearing that other parts of the South have been hit again. Gheesh.)

April is designated "Month of the Military Child."
And I happen to have one of those.
The schools have lots of different celebrations and fun events to honor these young heroes.
At the boy's school, the month kicked off with an assembly and a visit by the 82nd All American Chorus. They are an unbelievable a capella group...made up of all active duty soldiers in the 82nd Airborne. Very cool.
(And I have a very cool video of the performance but it will NOT upload. Very not cool.)


Field Day" was a blast...



Did you all have "Field Day" as kids? I remember it fondly... a chance to wear summer clothes and run around all day in the heat playing sports and games. I have certainly outgrown the idea of that being a good time. Dan/Daddy swears he never had a "Field Day." He feels deprived. I think he forgot.

My friend Jeanna and I were rockin' the official PTO wear...


Those long legs are gonna take you far, son. Especially if you need to jump across a sand pit...


The boy also had a piece of artwork chosen to be in the Art Show...



The month-long celebration was supposed to end with a picnic, a concert, and a jump by one of our parachute teams. But, it rained.
So I checked the boy out of school early and we headed to my family's for Easter weekend and the start of Spring Break. Finally, right? Most of you had Spring Break at least 3 weeks ago. Not us.
I think... because they are military kids, they need 2 weeks off.
I also think one month of honors isn't quite enough to say "you are awesome" and "thanks."
Thanks for giving up your dad or mom to long hours, dangerous jobs, and too many deployments.
These kids know more about heroism and honor and sacrifice than most grown-ups walking around today.

What a Weekend

If you watch any news or the Weather Channel, you might have heard of the storms that blew through our area on Saturday.
If you - like my friend "S" - have your head buried in the sand, let me fill you in.
We had ourselves some nasty weather.

So many tornadoes touched down in the state of NC that the experts can't even agree on a number.
That's more than enough.

Our little city had a big one... an F-3 if you're a weather nerd like me.
In non-weather nerd terms... very scary.

We spent part of Saturday afternoon in the bathroom floor.
When the tornado sirens went off, we prayed for safety for us and for whoever else was in the storm's path.

We watched the news until the power went out, and we managed to keep updated with our dying cellphones and texts from neighbors.

The devastation leaves you in tears.

All this happened less than a few miles from my door.
We were without power for almost 24 hours, but some people won't have any for much longer.
Two of the gates to our base remain closed because of the destruction leading right up to them.
We have friends who have damaged homes, and our hearts hurt for everyone who lost so much.

So on this Monday when we might normally be complaining about the hum-drum irritations of life,
we are counting our blessings.

10 On Tuesday

These are my favorite type of questions. Totally random.
If you have a chance, stop by Roots and Rings to check out this week's 10...

1. If you work, do you drive to work or take public transportation?
Well, I like think of a stay-at-home-mom as a "worker" in her own right, but I don't have to drive to get to my office. As a stay-at-home-mom, I live in my office. And in my car, now that I think about it.
I am a fan of public transportation, too. If I lived and worked where it existed, I might take it.

2. How often do you get your hair cut? Do you go to the same person every time?
Since I have short hair, I have to get it cut more often than my wallet would like. Every 5 weeks if I want it to look halfway decent and not cause me anxiety. I have enough things to worry about... I don't need an uncooperative hairdo making me want to jump off a bridge.
And yes, same girl. I say "girl" because she was born the year I graduated from high school. My goodness.

3. Do you read the newspaper? If so, a hard copy or the online version?
I like the Sunday paper in hard copy. Every other day, it's online news.

4. What is the best book you have read this year?
"The Hole in Our Gospel" by Richard Stearns

5. What is the best movie you have seen this year?
Hmmm... that's tough. We see a lot of movies, but most of them are with the boy, so they're geared towards the 12 year-old set. (Is it embarrassing to say I liked "Diary of a Wimpy Kid 2?") I've seen some good movies, but nothing life changing.
I am, however, REALLY looking forward to some movies coming up. Harry Potter and Pirates 4 to be exact. Wait... maybe I am a 12 year-old boy.

6. Do you tend to crave sweet or salty foods?
All foods. I crave eating.
No, seriously. Salty.

7. Do you eat breakfast every day? If so, what do you have?
I try to eat something or I'll get a headache. I usually eat whatever I've made for the boy... cereal, oatmeal, eggs, waffle, bagel. We are not picky breakfast people.

8. If you celebrate Easter, what Easter treat/candy are you most looking forward to?
I do love a Peep. Have you ever tried the microwaved Peep? I hear it's to die for. I equally love a Reese's Egg.

9. How late is “sleeping in” to you?
9-ish. It was a lot later when I was younger, but a small person living in our house changed all that. Now we get up with the chickens.

10. Where are you going on your next vacation?
There may not be much of a vacation for us this year. With a move coming up, we might try to squeeze in some family visits. There's a chance we'll go to Disney in the winter (woo hoo!), but I am trying not to get too excited. Yet.

Pictures From Home

I am too tired to post pictures and too pooped to blog about my "40th Birthday Girlfriends' Getaway" this past weekend. Is that a sign of a good time? Or a sign of the age we were celebrating?

I will fill you all in when my strength returns, but I can tell you it was a great trip.

Meanwhile, back at the homestead, all manner of man-fun was occurring.
The boy and Dan/Daddy managed to make it to a birthday party, attend a parent-teacher conference, and still have time for pizza, movies, football, and fishing.

These are the picture texts I received while I was gone...


Oh. That. Face.
After 3 unsuccessful years of fishing here in NC, the guys finally found a place to fish where you catch something. Is it just me or does he look a tiny bit happy?

And the text that come with this photo said...
"Dinner"


You think this worries me? It doesn't. I cannot condemn the eating of doughnuts. Ever. Even in place of normal food.

The only thing that did concern me about being away all weekend was coming home to find that the cat had been bathed.
I think we are all better off not knowing why.

Where Exactly Did The Last 12 Years Go?

If anyone knows what happened to my chubby-cheeked and chunky-thigh baby, please tell me.
Because I woke up this morning to a 12 year-old.




Before I break into a weepy version of "Time in a Bottle" by Jim Croce...
Let me just say "Happy Happy Happy Happy Birthday" to the best boy ever.

I tried to keep you 3 forever, and that didn't work.
I tried to hold you still at 7, but that was a waste of energy.
I considered the "brick on the head" trick at 11, but here we are today...

Wishing you a happy 12th birthday.
I wouldn't trade a single second of the last 12 years for anything.

Take it away Jim...

If I could make days last forever
If words could make wishes come true
I'd save every day like a treasure and then,
Again, I would spend them with you.

Field Trip Woes

Mercy.
Yesterday was a day for the record books.
I went as a chaperone on the boy's Field Trip to the aquarium.
Sounds innocent enough, right?

I'll summarize by saying that...
1. Several WRONG turns were involved.
2. 210 5th graders is a lot of pretween-y people.
3. Seven buses is a lot of buses to keep up with when making MANY wrong turns.
4. Maybe buses weren't meant to make tight u-turns?
5. Tow trucks were involved.
6. 2 out of 7 buses stuck in mud at the beach/aquarium means dropping off 160 kids at the aquarium and going back to get the 70 kids out of the mud.
7. Going to a "Reptile Show" means a snake will be involved.

And that was just all in the first half of the day.
Because of all the poor navigational choices getting to the aquarium, the bus I was on (with the teacher "in charge") decided to lead the way.
But.
No one followed.
Yep... the 6 buses behind us all agreed to follow our new GPS-guided route and our driver's suggestions to get home before 2013. But then they didn't follow.

We were all supposed to be back at the school by 5:30 pm. The principal, who was fully aware of our situations, had been trying to keep the waiting parents updated.

Guess how many parents were happy to see only ONE bus drive back up to the school? At 6:20 pm.
Guess how many unhappy parents were waiting about 34 more minutes for the rest of the buses?
Do the math: 210 kids + 7 buses = ___ ticked off parents' cars jamming the parking lot?

Oh, and it was raining.

I think we may have had our April Fool's Day a little early. Except I was there and it wasn't a joke.

Other than being tired of being on the buses, the kids were great sports about the whole ordeal.



And, they had a great time in the aquarium.





So we made it home about 8:30 last night, and I hit the ground running.
That cutie-patootie in the picture above is turning (gulp) 12 tomorrow.

In between my tears about having a 12 year-old, I have to make cupcakes, pick up a bouncy house thing, clean my house, and get ready for family to arrive.

Oh... And, I may not volunteer for a Field Trip for a while.
Wait. I forgot. There's another one next week.

Call the Loony Bin and reserve a spot for me, please.