A Reminder To Us All...of How Time Flys

My first baby boy... 

U know, the one I slept next to

for the first weekof his life...

On the floor, next to his crib, listening, waiting,

drifting off only to jump at the sound of his little cry.

Working furiously on his bottle while bouncing him

so as not to wake Doug.

Watching the snow fall out the window,

under the streetlight.

Listening to Turning Point every night,

eating homemade oatmeal chocolate chip cookies

while he drank his bottle,

his body helping to keep mine warm.

He just drove out of our driveway alone.

Not for the first time, nor the last.

But the first day that he will be gone from lunch until 10:00pm.

He is armed as well as we could, 

for what he will might encounter,

today, tomorrow, next week.

And the rest, we trust God to handle.

Knowing

the watercolor ponies

will one day

ride

away...

Lunch

I was busy doing something one day not long ago

so Solomon told me he was going to go

make a sandwich for lunch.

He is one of the few meat eaters in the family

and LOVES Boars Head turkey.

Giving accolades for his creativeness,

I secretly wondered if this even qualifies as a sandwich.
 Always wanting to name things, I wondered, what would you call it?
The Openface Butter Platter?
With a side of cheese?

Buuuuur

My awesome husband at the sledding hill.









Under Construction

Please excuse the wreck.

I began tweaking the blog, perhaps I shouln't do that at this hour.

Eyes are seeing double.

Need 3 days of sleep.

Goodnight.

16 Candles

Dougs Mom and Step Dad are in Arizona for the winter

so just his Dad and my parents came for cake Thursday night

after Doug braved the blizzard for Q'doba at Nathans request.

Adrianna really wanted to get this helmet for Nathan.

We had a difficult time finding one that did not ship from China.

 

When wrapped, the kids had Nathan convinced

this was my new Rubbermaid mop.

This was suppossed to resemble a mean GI pose

(not a 9 year old sucking his thumb)

We did not even need 2 whole cheesecakes that night,

leaving more than 2 in the fridge for Nathan.

My Mom suggested breakfast for everyone

but he had other ideas that did not involve so many people.

He could use a little weight.

Guises and surprises

January 18, 10:00pm

Nathan's 16th Birthday Eve

This year he requested 4 cheesecakes.

2 for when grandparents come over for cake.

2 for him.

I'm starting a bit late but I can do this.

**************

Thursday, January 19, 2012

Nathan's 16th Birthday

Background:

Nathan bought his own Jeep awhile back with his own hard earned cash.

He didn't insure or plate it because it had a cracked windshield

that needed replaced and intended to search the junkyards.

Wednesday evening Doug talked to Nathan about possibly getting

the insurance, plate, registration taken care of in the next week

and the plan was for us to go to DMV after classes Thursday am.

*******

Reality:

Adrianna, Solomon and I race to the DMV after dropping the kids at class.

With proof of insurance and application for personalized plate,

we register the Jeep and run out with temporary plate in hand

heading for home.

We tricked up the jeep with a few extras that we bought,

threw the temp plate on and headed back to Holland.

Doug picked up the kids from class in the van,

fabricating a story about Adrianna's teeth really hurting

and drove to the DMV get Nathan's license.

During this time, we in the jeep ran through the car wash

and hid behind a snowdrift waiting for the call.

As the birthday boy arrived at the DMV,

Doug called asking how AJ was doing, etc...

this was my cue to slowly creep through the Ditto parking lot.

I asked Doug to put the phone on speaker and apologized

for not being able to make it told him everything he would need.

Meanwhile, AJ ties the Happy 16th balloon out the window

and we begin racing toward the van, still talking on speaker phone.

According to reports, Nathan turned and pointed out a jeep that was

the same color as his.

At this point, I am blaring the horn, telling him

I made it after all.
Franchesca had tears in her eyes when we pulled up.
Doug did too.

I had been running the video recorder in the car wash

until Doug called and in my excitement threw it in the seat next to me.

The plan called for AJ to video the entire approach.

Instead, I have 3 minutes of upside down video of the steering wheel.

When I grabbed the cam to get this shot I wasn't thinking and took it through

both of our windows.

The surprise factor was hugely successful. 

Here Doug fields the classic question about what school is closed today...

He was so flustered by the whole ordeal that

he spelled his middle name wrong! 

We attracted quite a few stares.

Seems as though folks just don't have their entire clan with them

when someone gets their official drivers license.

We must not have appeared too suspect

as no social workers arrived at our doorstep.

We walked out and my son asked me to ride home with him.

We had to make a stop for him to buy me a York peppermint patty
and a pop for him.

What a fun day.

#2 (or Funding the Orthodontists Vacation to Hawaii)

 **Prior authorization was given to post these photos**

This spacer being put in lasted 6  hours



 We were home 3 hours after getting the wires applied

when a bracket came and we lost a band holding a wire in place.

It appears we will be buying stock in Ibuprofen, applesauce

and spiral macaroni and cheese (Kraft only).

Editors note

For those readers who commented (or didn't but wanted to) (or did so privately)

on clothing selection in the Kindle Fire post-

let me clear any misconceptions.

We open some things in the am, in our jammies, hair undone,

teeth unbrushed, some people nursing coffee cups.

Later in the evening we get dressed in something

a bit more appropriate than Star Wars pj's

for dinner, a few more gifts and the annual family photo by the tree.

For some years now, that is the only time we specifically gather for a posed photo.

So no, my friend, I did not dress just for the Shock and Awe pics.

In fact, I didn't know there would be any, as I was taken by surprise.

Unfortunately, we must have been very preoccupied with our new toys,

because this is the closest pic I can find with any of us by the tree.



Sweet Surprise

Nathan went back to work this week~

no extra day off from the Biology teacher,

even in midst of our worst snow storm this year.

He drove both ways,

what better way to gain experience in snow

than in a mild blizzard.

16 days till The Big Sixteen.

When we finally made it safely home,

we discovered to our surprise and amazementthat while we were gone,

the girls had totally removed every decorationfrom the tree and had hauled it out into the garage.

Adios tree. You were pretty. And fragrant. And expensive. And shortlived...

***********

A few last  Christmas pics. Here is Nathan opening his gift from Adrianna.

She put a false bottom in the bag where she hid the gift,

then put a rock in and covered it with tissue paper.



Like Mother, Like Daughter

It has been a challenge finding enough (appropriate) books

to keep Adrianna's reading appetite satisfied.

She reads far above grade level but I still hesitate to hand over some of my favorite books

due to the more mature themes running throughout.

She devoured The Hobbit years ago

and has been persistently begging to delve further into the world of Tolkien ever since.

Early in December when we were at the library,

I led her to Teen Fiction, and while I quickly searched for To,

she found a trove of Star Wars books that she had always overlooked.

As she loaded up her bag, I walked over and gave her Tolkien, Volumes I and II.

She gave me "the look" and said "You're serious"???

She quickly emptied the bag, lining up Luke Skywalker for another day

then went and found Volume III for good measure.

She read the entire trilogy over the weekend. 

I had been telling myself no to a Kindle for her,

not wanting anytime internet access available.

After chatting at length with the knowledgeable, cool, Best Buy dude,

I was convinced that this was the perfect gift for her.

Access to Amazon store for Kindle, no web browser.



Adhering to the reputation attached to being a salesman,

he lied.



AJ loves her Kindle.

I'm wondering if the library ebooks and Amazon

can keep up with her though.



************

Fast forward 8 hours...

I set aside my pride to post the following pics.

The are not at all flattering but I have decided I do not belong in Hollywood after all-

SO WHO CARES?

They do however, capture the true "shock and awe" of the moment.

(me, thinking: "it's that little ceramic room heater I saw at Menaards")

(me to self: gasp! doesn't he know that I have Columbia snowpants JUST like these?)

(me stumbling along, aloud: "Oh. Huh. Wow.")

(Me, after removing (my) snowpants from the box and seeing my real gift.)

(Me: really, truely surprised, having declared my new glasses
and phone my Christmas gifts)


The kids had been waiting all day to recount the story
of pulling into Best Buy late one night with Doug
to buy my Kindle
and seeing my van was parked right there as I was in Michael's.
After waiting a long while, they parked descretly
and made a run for it.
My van was still in front of Michael's when they walked out an hour later.



Live Shock and Awe photos
captured by Adrianna.
She did a great job.