Sad Faces :(

We were pleasently surprised when we were dismissed early from school on Wednesday and given Thursday and Friday off because of sickness. This was so nice, as it gave me extra time to plan for Eli's Friday night birthday party.

Um, yeah.

So, due to the weather - namely, tornadoes - there will not be a sweet 16 party tonight. (Insert lots of sad faces here)

We were expecting lots and lots of teenagers to come out and party tonight. Instead, poor Eli is sending texts and making Facebook posts, telling of the severe weather cancellation.

I feel terrible for my boy. What a birthday! We had the option to continue on with the party. But I thought that I would feel horrible if

1. something happened during the party (a tornado!)
2. no one showed up due to the threat of storms

So, tonight, we will be hunkered down in Grandma's basement. I will not be in my mini-basement because it is stinky down there and there is no electricity and there is no where to sit. Just boxes and boxes of stuff.

So, I guess I will now wish for all of my friends and my family to have a safe, healthy Friday night.

I am so very, very thankful for my Eli. Happy 16th Birthday!

Weekly Review.

As you can see here, Tripp is reading! I asked his teacher for extra material, and she gave me two 1st grade books. When he finishes them, I promised a trip to Chuck E. Cheese! He has made it through book #1 in less than a week. I am looking toward seeing the mouse next weekend.

Eli. Eli is dating. He has a girlfriend. She is sweet and oh, so pretty. They went out on a date! Since he doesn't drive, she picked him up. It wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. I tried not to think about it.

Emma is all over the place. There is lots of girl drama. She is loads of fun, and she surely has her own opinion.

We had our first snow day last week. I was excited, but it would have been much better had we been in school for a few previous days. I did nothing, just sat around in the jammies. Dave said I looked like a bag lady :)

On Friday, I got tubes put in my ears. That is right, tubes, like tubes that little kids get. And I will tell you that they do this in the office for adults. With no medication. And it hurt alot. When the first one went in, I was a little sweaty. I compared it to sticking a q-tip to far into your ear for about 2 hours. :) As soon as the first one was finished, I heard the wheels on the chair squeak. I guess I really do have a hearing loss- not just selective hearing. :)

Here is to a busy week. Report cards go out on Wednesday. So I have lots to do on tomorrow and on Tuesday.

Motherhood.

So, this week, Eli - without any prompting by me - goes and sees his guidance counselor at school. It seems that he didn't like the path he was on. He changed his schedule and added Driver's Ed. That is just fine, we let him have one "fluff" class per semester. He changed to Honors Chemistry in the Spring. He also changed this path from Science something to Science something else.

Then, he handed me a packet because he wants to apply to Tennessee Govenors School. Great, I say. I start to fill it out. Then, I get on the internet, and I read that, if accepted, he will be gone for five weeks this summer. Ouch. I felt the burn.

Five weeks, I thought.

Me: Ummm.... Five weeks? In a dorm? And you will only be 16?

Eli: Well, It won't be that far away. And I don't know that I will get accepted. We just have to apply. But it will count toward those college credits that I need, and next year, MY JUNIOR YEAR, I am taking six college hours WHILE I AM IN HIGH SCHOOL... and since you are a teacher, it won't cost that much, and WHEN I GO TO COLLEGE IN ONLY TWO YEARS it will help me out ... (at this point I tuned him out and I heard)..

Me: Two years, I have been saying two years, but he could go away for five weeks now, and then WHAT next summer, and then what if he sees bad stuff in the world and I am not there and he doesn't call and who will help him find socks and what if he can't remember how to cook an egg and what if his pencil breaks and he can't find a sharpener and he may run out of notebook paper and he uses an awful lot of shampoo and doesn't have a blowdryer....

INSERT MEDICATION HERE

What really happened is -
Me: Ok, Eli, Let's fill these papers out. And you have to write an essay. This should be fun.
Eli: Well, just how long of an essay?

And I knew that my Eli was in there somewhere :)

Here I Am.

Wow. What about a blogging break? I knew that I needed some down time, blogging became a chore to me, but I am thinking that I should have written something. I don't have a whole lot to show for 2011.


Speaking of 2011 - Time has flown! We are already in the middle of October. Lots of things have happened... Emma and Eli and Tripp are in school. I am chugging along, teaching 3rd grade. We have completed Dave's football season with a Championship Trophy (!) for the second season in a row. Eli has three games left in his season. I think, at this point, he has scored close to 40 points this season. I love, love, love to watch him kick.

Picture out of the local paper - Eli #85 kicking.

So, we are busy with school, and football and the store. Tripp started gymnastics last month after spending the last six months standing on his head. Emma went to watch one night, and she loved it too, so now she is tumbling around. She also takes piano, but I can only handle one activity, so one must go.

My new neice is coming next month. My sister in law, Terri, is scheduled to have Adaline Fowler in November. Boy, isn't Mallie going to be in culture shock. I can't wait to hold her and change those itty bitty diapers again. I surely thought I would never say that. I also want to do a little baby sniffing. I love baby lotion!

Here is a quick video of Eli. :) I am a proud momma. For those of you who understand football, Eli tackles the guy at the end, too. I just about died.

Eli.

A few weeks ago, I was both humbled and disturbed when I had to drop my first little boy off at the door of high school.

He was absolutely thrilled to begin this new chapter. There was no anticipation on his part. Only excitement. But me? Well, of course, that is a different story.

I have known from day one that this child is special. He spoke early - by the time he turned one, he was speaking in sentences. His favorite movie was "The Lion King." He was able to name every animal before they ran across the screen in the opening credits. He potty trained at nineteen months. He could tell about the gravitational pull of the moon by time he was three. He swam well by four. He was reading well by time he turned five.

When Eli went to school, he went full force. School was so easy for him that he stayed in trouble. He shared his mischievousness by stuffing his pants pockets full of Pokemon cards - over 100, in fact. He got caught. In the cafeteria, he took the challenge of another boy and bent a spoon. That spoon - still in his box in the top of my closet - cost us 52 cents. One day, he told the teacher that I put special powder in his food to make him sleep at bedtime when he complained night after night of ninjas breaking into his windows and trying to "get" him. By first grade, during a fit on the playground, he threatened to burn the world down. We got a call to come to the school where we were met by the school psychologist, the principal, and a matronly spinster type teacher who thought we had a problem child on our hands. We did not, I insisted. He was just active, with an extremely active imagination. He needed a challenge.

Third grade brought more teacher/parent/student drama. Fourth grade brought a variety of discipline to get his attention. Surely he could sit down to do his work; Both Dave and I knew that all he needed were some challenges in class. Fifth and sixth grade brought about the same kind of problems. Seventh grade - whew. Seventh grade. That is when his hormones hit - Eli gained about six inches in height, thirty pounds, and a on/off like a lightswitch pissy attitude that carried on until the end of grade eight. Somewhere in the middle of grade eight, a teacher promised us that Eli's eccentricity would plane out soon. We waited patiently for him to have to sit down and pay attention and study to learn. My mother heart was sympathetic to what went on in his head. Here was a child, my child, who caused me great joy along with great drama. He was always so pleasent to be around, so full of ideas and stories and action. I knew they just didn't really understand. When I looked at this little-big boy-man, I saw my baby. And I still do.

Finally - Eli's high school career began on August 10th.

On that Tuesday morning, I silently watched this striking young man get ready for his first day of high school. Pleasent, planed out, ready for challenges. Eli was placed in all honors classes. He is handsome, articulate, well read. He has goals for his life. He knows what he wants. He has taken charge. I couldn't be more proud of him.

As I got ready to pull up to the front drive, Eli told me I could stop, to just let him out at the sidewalk. So I did. When he got out of the van, he gave me a dismissal with the fling of his bangs. He gave me a quick "See ya, Mom." And off he went, with his hands up in the air, letting everyone know he had arrived. And he has.

Today, I got a text from Eli. All it said was "Can you come to school and sign some papers for me." And so I went, right then, to see what he had done. Did he loose his phone already? Was he being sent to alternative school? In School Suspension?

When I got to the school, he was in the lunch room eating. He "swaggered" up to me (he told me just last night that he has a "swagger") and handed me the papers to sign. My sweet baby is running for class president. He showed me all the signatures that he had already gotten; he knew that he had the support. I asked him what he had to do; a teacher told me he had to advertise and give a speech, to which he replied something about better lunches. The teacher suggested that we use, 'Vote Eli. All Your Dreams Will Come True."

If she only knew how right she was.

How blessed I am to have been picked to be this child's mother. While I am excited to watch him grow and mature over the next four years, I also have a sense of dread because I know that in four years, he will start another chapter. I have the desire to hold on tight to this kid, to not let him go, to keep him forever. I know this is not realistic. So, for now, I am going to work at spending more time with him, enjoying his personality, building him up.

It's Football Time in TN!

Ugh.
School starts in two weeks.
I can't wait for some serious structure and routine for the kiddos.

Football season is here.


Not only is Dave coaching middle school, Eli is playing high school football. And we also have a kid in fall soccer. That is going to be alot of juggling. Dave's practices are from 3-5 p.m. and games are on Tuesday and/or Thursday. Eli practices - well, I don't really know when. But I am sure it will be every day. And as we all know, high school football games are on Friday nights.

Wait, while I am on the subject, let me tell ya how scary football is for me.

For some reason, it scares me to see Eli out on the field. I guess partly because he kicks, and when he plays, it is all on him. Also, he is so thin, and he is my baby boy, so the thought of those big, fat kids tackling him sends me into hyperventilating and sweating.

OMG.

It doesn't scare me when he plays soccer. Just football.

Oh, he also made the high school soccer team last week. That is pretty cool.

So, I am going to comfort myself with the fact that he is a freshman, and freshman don't get to start in football.

Random Ranting and Crazy Thoughts.

I guess I am at a blogging standstill. Here are some random happenings and thoughts that I am having lately:

• I was unhappy in class this morning. I didn't want to be there. I kept yawning. I can't wait until it is bedtime tonight.
• Last night, Eli came and laid down with me and Dave. He stayed in with us for about an hour. That kid is a goof ball. If Dave would have let him, he would have got under the covers and slept with us. I am not kidding.
• Reality hit me last night that my time with Eli is limited. He will be fourteen next week. In three years, we will be doing college applications. We will be thinking about him moving to the dorms. He is already thinking about it. It is a downhill slide from here.
• I am not sure how I got to the point from having a sweet newborn baby with cute little elf ears to having a six foot tall teenager that wears men's jeans (31X32). Seriously, it happened in the blink of an eye.
• If I close my eyes, I can still smell the newborn baby smell. I can see his little fuzzy white hair and his scrawny little body. I see his perfectly formed newborn mouth.
• I will be 35 in May. I was 20 years old when Eli was born. Technically, I could be a grandma. There were several girls in my school that had babies at age 14, age 15 and age 16. If I would have had a baby at 14, that child would be 20. I would probably be a grandma. So, somewhere out there, there are women my age with grandchildren.

I just depressed myself. I need drugs. :)

I love that kid. I don't want him to go, yet I want him to get to do cool stuff. Last night, it was still Harvard. I asked him, "Eli, what do you want to do with your life?" He said, "Well, I was thinking about being a doctor and running a company."

Good combo, Eli.

Random Thoughts and Various Happenings - Bullet Style!

School is back in session! Since I don't like to have to work at blogging (it is too much like writing a paper for school if I over analyze) I am not going to try to transition my thoughts. Here they are- easy to write - easy to read - in bullet style format! (I wish my teachers would take papers like this instead of insisting on MLA or APA...)

• Yesterday was the long day of the week... it ended up easier than I imagined, yet I was exhausted by the end of the night.
• The kids are still not getting in bed like I would hope. We are, for some reason, feeling the need to try to do some things with them. We went to a basketball game on Tuesday night. Tonight, Tech plays Austin P. - that would be fun....
• Eli's 14th birthday is coming up. I always think alot about when he was born this time of year... I think about how I felt 14 years ago this month, how I had no idea what was about to happen to me, the anticipation of waiting on my first child, my plans I had for the future...
• We are still van shopping. Last time we bought a van, six years ago, it took us about a month. We drove an '08 yesterday. But man, is it hard committing.
• On my drive home from school last night, I realized that the last four vehicles that I have owned were dark blue... now my van now is kinda purple tinted, but is often mistaken for a dark blue color. The van I drove yesterday? Well, it was navy blue also. There is a silver one that is identical.
• The anniversary of Roe v. Wade is tomorrow. I know that not everyone is pro-life, but think of this... it is so hard to imagine. Since 1972, 52 MILLION babies have been aborted in the United States. When I think of this number, I think of how upset everyone still is over 9-11 (and rightly, they should be) - that number was 2,895. Yet, we, as a nation cannot gather courage to voice outrage at the 52 million innocent children lost. Children, people. Come on.

I guess I will close on that one.

Where Have I Been?

Whew.

In a mad rush to get all of my homework done last week so that I could have a little relax time with Dave, I neglected my blogging.

Something has to give.

Regardless, I am back. And I am tired. I am always so exhausted by the end of the semester. I always feel lazy, but I just got an email from one of my AWESOME education teachers wishing me a Happy Turkey Day, and she also said that she is experiencing "end of semester exhaustion." And it hit me that this aggravation that I feel IS NORMAL. Just hanging on until about the 5th of December. After that, when my two major projects are done, I will be just fine.

Oh, about were I have been since Sunday.

The Beta Convention.

With 6000 Students.

At the Opryland Hotel.

Eli played the lead singer of Guns and Roses in a campaign skit.

See how he looks with eyeliner (and no sleep)?

Doesn't Dave look proud?

A Secret.

During the 8th grade year, students take a practice ACT test... I forget the name of it exactly. It tells what "direction" students should go in high school. It tells whether they are college bound. It gives a projected ACT score.

Eli took this test a couple of weeks ago. He didn't even tell me he was taking it - I found out on Wednesday night at church services from another mother. So I asked him the day after the test and he said it was "fine" and "easy" and that it was "no problem."

The test is somewhat different than a regular ACT - scores range from 1 -25, with 25 being the highest score possible.

Today, I got an email from a guidance counselor at his school.

It seems that Eli got a 25. There has never been a 25 at LMS before. Out of the whole test, he missed three math problems.

So, Eli runs in the house this afternoon. He is ecstatic. He is bursting open with possibility. He is talking Harvard. :)

We are so proud of him.

When is it O.K. to voice your opinion?

Many times, I find myself having improper thoughts about things.

For example, if I see someone with an abnormally large head, I think, "Man, she has a big head." Or, if I see someone with whacked out fingers, I think, "Man, she has whacked out fingers."

The majority of the time, I never say this out loud. I think it, but I don't say it. And I sure never write it down for others to read.

Imagine my surprise, when recently, someone wrote something to me DIRECTED AT ONE OF MY KIDS.

Talk about kicking ass. Or dreaming of it, at least.

For the past week, I have been rehashing this over and over. Most of the time, this is in my head. A few times, oh several times, I have went over and over this with Dave. Finally, my mother in law told me to get over it.

I guess this story is not so much as to rehash it again. I think I am sick of thinking about it - today, anyways.

What it is about is how hard parents love their children.

I remember feeling this way when Eli was smaller. I remember the anger I would feel when he was wronged. I remember the stuff we went thru, how I wanted to kill people because they were affecting quality of life. I have disliked people immensely just because they hurt his feelings, excluded him or made snide comments.

I think that as time has went on, he has grown up, I have learned to let go a little bit. His problems are different now. I know that when that girl breaks his heart, I will feel like kicking some butt then.

My protective cycle has started with Emma. I can't stand people who direct their insecurities toward small children.

Breathtaking.

Sometimes, I love my children so much it takes my breath away.

I had to go to LMS to see Eli the other day. He came out of class and I watched him walk down the hallway toward me. My "almost" six feet tall Eli, blonde headed, blue eyed, long arms and legs, big wide smile. Dimple in one cheek. His swagger is that of a young man. He carries himself with confidence. He is pleasent. Sure of himself. No insecurities.

As I watched him walking toward me, I teared up. What I saw in my mind was my firstborn, two year old son with white-blonde hair, a tanned little body, so skinny, so smart, spelling words, telling me about the sun and the moon. Curling up in my lap, reading books with me at bedtime. Loving to be rocked to sleep. Never wanting to sleep alone. Asking for broccoli and rice for dinner, drinking chocolate milk. Never afraid of the water. Loving art projects. Always wanting to learn more useless information.

So, anyways, Eli walks up to me. We say hi, I talk to him for one minute, and off he goes, back to class. I think all day of how proud I am of him. I am so excited to see what he is going to do with his life. This kid has an awesome potential. He takes my breath away.

8th grade.

Today, I took Eli and I dropped him off for 8th grade.



He had his backpack, and his football bag with all his stuff in it.



He wore plaid shorts and a blue tshirt and black socks and Nike shoes.



I am really enjoying this kid. He is so funny, so witty. I love his personality, I love how he loves people and how affectionate he is. He likes to laugh, to tell jokes, to be lazy - all at the same time.

I asked him if he was a happy teenager. He said yes, except that Emma and Tripp bug him.

I can't wait to see what he does with his life.

Eli - The Football Player.

Eli decided a few months ago that he wanted to play football for the middle school team.

This seems like a good idea to him, because 1. Girls like football players, and 2. he is a good "kicker" at soccer, and kickers don't get tackled, so football really won't hurt.

Imagine my sweet husband's joy when he was asked to coach middle school football, and HIS SON finally decides to play football!

Well, the season started last week. Or, practice started. It is every morning from 7 am - 9 am.

The first couple of days, I watched and waited for Eli to gripe, complain, or ask to quit. Nope, didn't happen. We are at the end of week two, and it is still a go!

Today is Eli's first game - it is a scrimmage game. He seems excited to play. I am feeling a little nauseated at him playing.

Eli told me a few weeks ago that he thought he would go to college at Harvard. He thought he would be either a doctor or a lawyer.

Kick Hard, Eli :)

It's Friday and Eli's Home!

Is that exclamation point a good one or a bad one?

It could be interpreted as this:

Eli's Home! :)

or

Eli's Home! :(

Just kidding, Eli. You get the happy face. We missed you so much. You are a joy (most of the time).

My vacation starts today at 3 p.m. I will go home, clean house until about 5 p.m. I need to go to the grocery store. Then, I am off with some girlfriends for a get-together. It is a dad's night with the kids. I am hoping to spend some time talking, laughing and just hanging out. With no thoughts of school, dirty laundry or misspellings on the church bulletin. (Some people were just plain nitpicky this week, I tell ya :)) Nothing like an 8:02 a.m. phone call that informs you that your bulletin did not match up with the previous night's announcements at church.

My thoughts for next week are this: I hope to spend some time playing with the kids, at the pool, taking naps, jumping on the trampoline and being a mommy.

We will see how it goes.

Eli's good day.

Today was an Eli centered day... many times, all the kids are intermixed in activities. Today we got to spend the day doing just "Eli stuff". Tripp's soccer game was cancelled due to rain - so we started off staying in the house till almost 11 am. *I even got to sleep to 7:30!*
First on the agenda was scholars bowl.. Eli was on a team of five boys representing his school against other schools in the county.

This is Eli answering in the beginning round that is used to choose the top two teams.

His team won! He went on the stage to compete for first place. See the look of intensity on his face? He is so serious and so competitive.. and so smart. :)

And his team placed first! Yey Eli!

This is the face I get when I ask him for a pic.

We moved on there to a soccer game. Here is Eli in action. These are the first pictures that I have taken of him playing this year.

He is #12.

They ended up loosing.. but they played - or really just slid around in the rain.

I enjoy watching him. He is a good soccer player too.

Following that, we came home and then the little kids went to grandmas for a couple of hours. Dave and I took Eli with us to an adult birthday party. There were some little kids there, but it really wasn't the place for them. It was nice to spend the day with Eli and focused on Eli.

Eli went to lunch.

My super cute 13 year old son was giddy today. Is is possible to describe a 13 year old boy as giddy? Well, this boy was giggling, bouncing and jovial. I didn't think it was quite possible to hear an actual giggle come from a boy with an often off pitched voice due to puberty, but today, I saw it happen.

And I wasn't sure whether I wanted to laugh or cry. So I did both.

Here's the story. Eli has a certain friend. "She" is a cutie. We all go to the same church together, and I know that Eli and "she" are really good friends.

Her dad invited Eli to go to lunch with them today after church services.

Eli runs thru the parking lot, finds me and tells me what happened.... "Mom, her dad invited me to lunch with them. DoyouhavemoneycanIgopleasepleaseplease?!?!"

What he said next brought me tears...

"Its a magnificent and marvelous moment."

I went and found Dave so he could witness Eli's giddy-ness, then we borrowed some money for Eli's lunch (a boy can't go broke, and he also kept saying "I wish I had my wallet"). My boy was a little nervous. He asked me to go with him to meet her parents so they would know it was ok. So I did. Her mother was laughing so hard. She knows the situation.

Off he went, in the car, to lunch - with this girl who is his "friend" and her parents.

Lot's of times, he doesn't need me. He can make his own food and do his own laundry. But today - just for a moment, he needed me and he needed my support. That one phrase "Come with me, Mom" meant so much. I know that my job as a parent is to raise a productive adult - but, boy - this is hard. I hate letting go. I guess it would be easier if I could prepare. But some things hit you when you aren't looking. This sweet little boy who stared at me with those big blue eyes the first time I held him, who resisted when I taught him to read, who loved me to sing him "our special song" until age 7 - he is really growing up. I knew how sad I was a couple of weeks ago when he officially hit the teenage years - but today it hit me like a ton of bricks.

Look at what happens when a boy crashes out.

After staying up ALL night, inhaling junk food,

and P A R T Y I N G all night long, Eli went down.

This was waaayyy after lunch.
Matthew gave him a stuffed pig to sleep with.

And shaving creamed his nose, for good measure.


Then, he got his toes painted a lovely shade of purple,

courtesy of Grandma.

Dad thought he would be great with a bucket on his head.

And lots of baby shampoo, too.

Grandma thought he would look better with a

custom Amish bonnet to adorn his head.

Matthew thought that he looked better with a few more pigs.

We woke him up, hoping he would cry. He didn't.

He went right back to sleep. All that for nothing.

Happy 13th Birthday, Eli. Sorry we enjoy torturing you..

But it is so much fun. You scream like a girl.

Love, Your Momma.

13!

My baby is 13 today.

I remember waiting all those months for him to be born. The anticipation of what he would look like, wondering if he will cry alot, and dreaming about how much fun it is going to be when I am a mommy. On the day he was born, it was a Wednesday morning at 8:27. The nurse handed this baby to me. I was his momma. He had little blonde hair. His ears were very tiny and so cute. He looked at me with those big blue eyes. He didn't cry. He just stared at me.

Happy Birthday Eli. I love you. What a blessing you are to me.

Me and the boys.

I am enjoying going thru my old pictures. What I don't enjoy is how much my kids are growing up.

With this particular of photo, I see how much my kids' hair changes color in the summer time. This was October 2007 - 16 months ago - and we were on a youth retreat for church in Chattanooga. Dave and I chaperoned and we took Emma, Tripp and Mallie with us. For a weekend. In cabins. With a long, long walk to the potty. In the dark and in the cold. AAUUGHH!

I also notice how much Eli's face has changed. His hair has always been white in the summer and darker in the winter. I just didn't realize how much his structure has became more masculine. He will be 13 tomorrow. How did that happen?