And on that note…

We spent Thursday evening watching old Batman movies. Wow, I had a kitschy childhood! I never realized how Crayola-bright Robin’s outfit was, but mostly my boys thought we were nuts for thinking it was such an awesome show way back when. They’re pretty sure 1966 was a really really long time ago.

Here are 5 for your Friday, the last of 2010:

1) Have you seen Melli’s new grandson? He’s absolutely beautiful and wonderfully loved by an incredible extended family. If you need a shot of cute or “awwwww” these pictures will make your day.  (There’s an incredible backstory of God’s Grace, too, but I’m going for “awwwww” today.)

2) Humorous-Juniorous, my 15yo son, has asked me to forward all of the College Board SAT prep questions to him (they’ve been arriving in my e-mail inbox for months). He’s apparently enjoying the chance to answer the daily questions and finding them to be correct. Someone get this kid a scholarship!

3) Speaking of scholars and proud families, MusicMan made the President’s Honor Roll at his college for the first semester (complete with an impressive GPA of 3.86). This isn’t a “mommy blog” but I can’t NOT brag about how proud I am of him!

4) Aside from the overwhelming amount of testosterone running amuck in my house this week, it has been soooo nice to have everyone home and together. I’m trying to savor it, because when MM flies back to school next week, we won’t see him for 4-5 months.

5) For the first part of the sentence on #4, I will be getting a ton of spam… and not the kind you can fry up in a camping fry pan.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Do you have any plans for the evening/weekend? And are your plans as exciting as old Batman movies? 😛

Celebrate!

1. Last Friday night was Humorous-Juniorous’ birthday party. It was the first time we had met most of his friends from school (H-J is a bit of an introvert). It was a successful geekfest. Who else would talk about math and wish for a video game called Orchestra Hero? (Admittedly, that WOULD be very cool!) They partied with DDR, snacks, Mario Kart racing, snacks, stick fighting outside in the dark, S’Mores at the firepit, Monty Python’s Holy Grail, cake and ice cream. And did I mention snacks?
If you needed party ideas for a 15yo boy, you’re welcome! 😉

2. We live between 2 towns; the smaller one has a population of 600, the larger town is ten times that size. The town with the traffic lights (FOUR!) had its annual Christmas parade last Saturday. More photos here and here…

3. SnakeMaster would gladly own a horse.

4. This is what the dining room credenza looked like on Monday. Procrastinator, who??

5. MusicMan, my college son, is flying home today. We haven’t seen him for over 4 months, so I’m sure you will understand if I’m absent much of the next few weeks.

[titleless]

One of the things particular to Military dependents is an identification card. For a teenager on a military installation, this card is a ticket into the Exchange, the Commissary, and the movie theater (although, for the latter, you do still have to buy an actual ticket).  It’s also required when checking in at the clinic or pharmacy because it is proof that the person qualifies for military benefits.  These cards must be renewed every few years, so we recently took H-J to the nearest Army post to get his new I.D. card. The difference in the photographs was startling to me. Obviously, I’ve been paying attention as he has grown from a little boy into a teenager, but looking at his sweet 10yo face for the last time before turning his old card in brought a flood of memories.

HJ four years ago

He’ll be turning 15 on Sunday. Where did the time go?

First Day of School

SnakeMaster, 5th grade

Humorous-Juniorous, 9th grade

Encyclopedia Blue, 12th grade

And now yesterday’s song makes me feel a little weepy…

Weekend Reflections

(H-J in the middle)

Two weeks ago, Humorous-Juniorous completed a 2-year class in his journey from childhood to young adult status.
On Pentecost Sunday, he and 11 other classmates joined the church.

Today, MusicMan is preaching a short sermon as part of Graduate Recognition Sunday. Two months from now, he will be leaving his family behind as he journeys off to college.
As an ordained Deacon (he served as a youth deacon this past year), he is also assisting in serving communion today.

My babies are growing up.

Proverbs 22:6
“Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.”

Into the clouds

Carmi is celebrating the 100th “issue” of Thematic Photographic this week with the theme of Into the Clouds. Click here to join the party!

click ’em to embiggen

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So…. this weekend is crazy-busy. Today I clean like a whirlwind (or not… did I mention our temps are hitting 90 degrees F *PLUS* humidity?!) and shop for groceries. Tomorrow I have to be at the school at 4:15am with H-J. We are headed to a band competition and then to an amusement park (they do get to change out of their concert dress uniforms first). Expected return to the school is  sometime before 2am. Yikes!
While we are gone, EB will finally take his SAT and MM will put in some hot hours of yard work before THE GRANDPARENTS (yay!!!) arrive for a late supper. (Note to self: remember to plan some food for SuperDad to fix for supper.) This actually does tie in to Into the Clouds since they are flying here from the other side of the country. But even if it didn’t… well, it’s my blog! 😉

On Sunday morning, MusicMan is preaching one of the sermons because it is Graduate Recognition Sunday.  This means there will be 8 of us vying for 2 showers before getting to church for the 9 o’clock service (and I suspect he’s supposed to be there early). We have a tough enough time getting 6 of us there at differing times on other weeks, so this ought to be interesting…
The annual church picnic begins at 4pm over at the county park. That wouldn’t be such a big deal, except that the group I sing with is always asked to perform, along with leading the music for Vespers (although we use that term broadly and loosely — we are, after all, a group of Presbyterians at a county park). I won’t be at rehearsal on Sunday morning since I’ll be at the brunch for the graduating seniors and their families. First things first!

So…

What do you have planned for the weekend?

14 years

** blink **

Born on his great-grandparents 65th wedding anniversary and the first snow of the season…

The great-grandparents are long gone, but just like 14 years ago, today is the first snow of the season and the beginning of a new year for H-J.

Happy Birthday, Humorous-Juniorous!

IRL update

out to lunch with my beloved MIL & FIL

Mucho family togetherness has hindered my blogging time in the past few weeks. .. and probably for the entire summer. Still, we are having a good time together, so I figured it is time for a family update because a few people who read my blog actually know us IRL (that’s “In Real Life” for you non-bloggers).

boys with their visiting grandparents*

*Grandpa isn’t shorter than Grandma — our driveway slopes, and this picture was taken before they left on Tuesday morning.

Good Morning, Mr. Box Turtle

SnakeMaster is turning 10 years old this month! Can you believe that my sweet baby boy is going to have 2 digits to his name? *sigh* He’s also heading out for a week at the beach with his best buddy down the street. SM‘s 2nd family here is taking him along on their family vacation! Yes, I considered begging to be taken along, too…

Humorous-Juniorous was formally introduced to Buttercup on July 4th. He & SuperDad decided this meeting was one year too early after H-J drove it far into the shrubbery and then later took off a guide wheel on the neighbor’s tree.

Humorous-Juniorous

Encyclopedia Blue

Encyclopedia Blue has not been having a lazy sleep-in kind of summer. His father gave him a schedule for training up his body before cross-country season begins August 3rd. And yes, we occasionally make him shave by threatening to do it ourselves.

MusicMan recently had his wisdom teeth extracted, but it hardly seemed to phase him. This is the first night when he was icing his cheeks one side at a time while playing “Oh Heck” with the rest of us. Two days later, he was eating hamburgers. He is mistaken in his belief that his father’s old car is now HIS. Still, there is great freedom (for him and for me) now that he doesn’t need to borrow my ride. I don’t like being wheel-less, and he doesn’t like driving a minivan. I’m still coming to grips with the fact that my firstborn son is now, technically, an adult.

SuperDad isn’t able to travel west with us this summer, due to work requirements. We’ll miss him (that’s a major understatement on my part). I’ve already written about SuperDad’s new ride. It’s a stick-shift, so only he & I can drive it at this point.

As for me, I’ve been working on getting back to looking like I did in this picture (early 2006). So far I’ve lost about 14 pounds (half of that has been since I joined Weight Watchers). I’m still considering coloring the gray out of my hair before my 25th class reunion that’s coming up in a few weeks. (This picture was taken before most of the gray appeared.) But the really exciting news is that I’m off this evening for a blogging meet-up with a half-dozen other women in the general vicinity! I’m very excited to meet these ladies! 😀

Taking care of business

This is the view looking down our road this morning at 10:53am. The snowplow came through about an hour ago, scraping away some of the ice that fell overnight. I watched a compact car waggle its backside down the street, but I have not ventured out, except to take pictures and drag out the rubbish & recycling bins (hope springs eternal)!

Farmer*sWife has given me blog fodder for today. First, look what the mailman brought in the snow yesterday:

I'm a WINNER!

Okay, I admit it was 2nd prize, but hey, I won something! 😀 Thanks, Farmer*sWife!!

And it was packaged in this cute box (these must have been cute shoes for Lil’Gal) Also, a week or two ago, I agreed to be interviewed. FW has been very patient with me while I attended to “real life” business.

FINALLY, I’ve got a bit of time to post her interview questions and my answers: THE INTERVIEW

1) How did you and your hubby meet originally and what was your very first impression?

I blogged about this once, but here is the short answer: we met at a cross-country ski camp (as counselors) and I was fascinated by this man who looked directly into my eyes with his own denim-blue eyes.

2) When you were pregnant with each of your children, did you find out the sex or wait it out until birth?

Although I had ultrasounds with each of my babies (and several in the last 2 weeks with my first), the older 3 boys were very modest and never showed their gender. The youngest boy was clearly visible on his ultrasound — even his Kindergarten brother could tell!

3) If you could go back six hours in time, once each day. What do you think you would use that ability for?

This one is easy: MORE SLEEP …and maybe some housework

4) What is your favorite day of the week and why?

Sunday is my favorite day of the week. I love going to church for the worship service (as grouchy as I am getting out the door, SuperDad & the boys might wonder about the validity of that statement). In the afternoon, I try to avoid chores (well, okay, I’d like to avoid them any day, but ESPECIALLY on Sundays!) and take time to read or nap.

5) What do you think your boys will choose for their career paths, and why do you think that?

MusicMan will be heading off to college in another 18 months or so (YIKES!!) and will likely major in Chemical Engineering. He thinks math & chemistry are easy subjects at school (!!) and we’ve been encouraging the older boys to think Engineering for their majors. When he was little, we thought he might be an architect. MM can look at diagrams and put things together. I look at diagrams and think, “huh?”

Encyclopedia Blue is a bit of a wild card. He’s super-smart but takes F.O.R.E.V.E.R. to do his work. When he was in Kindergarten, he wanted to be an astronaut. He’s always been interested in science, is a whiz at math, and has a photographic memory–but don’t ask him to discuss how the character in the book is feeling or what he thinks about the character. You will get a blank stare in response. EB has talked of wanting to cross the Amazon at its widest point. He also talks of doing some sort of scientific research in remote parts of, say, Alaska. So he may move far, far away and we’ll hardly ever hear from him, which would be sad. 😦

Humorous-Juniorous is scary-smart and could do anything he set his mind to– doctor, lawyer, entrepreneur. At one point, he was interested in genetic engineering. Right now, H-J is interested in computer programming — specifically, designing his own video games. We’ll still encourage him to get the engineering degree to go with the video gaming. 😉

SnakeMaster has never handled a snake, but he is totally enamored with Steve Irwin, Jeff Corwin, and Animal Planet programming. SM continues to be interested in a career where he can educate others about animals. (I’ve suggested he marry Bindi Irwin, who is one year his senior.)

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That’s all I’ve got today. If you haven’t yet been interviewed by someone else (this meme has been making the rounds in January) and are itching to participate, let me know and I will e-mail you a set of questions.

I’ll be posting about our inauguration day party SOON. Because if I wait much longer, y’all are gonna be like, “what inauguration?”

Lucky 13

H-J on the day he was born

:: blink ::

H-J today

When he woke up this morning, he was a little bit disappointed that it wasn’t snowing.  He was born on the first snowy day of winter.  It was also his great-grandparents’ 65th wedding anniversary.  Yes, December 5th is a very good day.

Happy 13th birthday to Humorous-Juniorous!