Today is our 21st anniversary:) We celebrated by...sending the Middles to camp all week lol! Seriously, we had a full week. We had hoped for part of Wed and all day Thursday off to do something fun but that did not really happen.
Monday and Tuesday I had my normal 12 hour days, so that was typical. Tuesday night we had a college friend's son come with 2 friend to spend the night on their way back from vacationing in another state. It was great to see him again after 4 years and catch up:) The last time I saw him he was a Freshman in high school and now he is graduated! Makes me feel old lol!
Wednesday we just barely had enough time to go to a town an hour away to go pick up our other car that we had to put a new transmission in. Not happy about the transmission thing (which is why we usually always buy new cars and drive them until they are...well used), but we had just enough time to go to Red Lobster for lunch before I had to get back for work so we made that our "anniversary dinner." We had Buddy and JJ with us and it was nice to spend time with them. Buddy is so quiet and hides away when the Middles are around, and to get him to actually go out with us is a feat (other than to a movie he wants to see;) Lunch was hilarious. JJ must be in a growth spurt and he ate, and ate, and... ate. I ordered grilled chicken trying to be healthy and JJ insisted on fish although we were pretty sure he wouldn't eat it. Mine came with shrimp (that I won't eat but he will) and I ordered fruit. So...do you see where this is going? Yes, JJ ate my chicken, fruit, and shrimp, and Buddy's mozzarella sticks, and my husband's shrimp, and some of his linguine. I got the fish lol! I do not like sea food. It is crazy to me that our two most picky eaters both really like sea food lol!
Then my husband drove home the now fixed car and I took the boys home. I stopped to have Buddy drive home and JJ yelled, "No!!!! We are all going to die!!!!" I had never driven with Buddy yet and was very pleased to find him to be a very careful driver:)
Thursday we had to take a quick trip north 35 miles for separate errands. Then he got a call from the museum he frames pictures from 75 miles the other direction saying they needed him to come get a picture ASAP to frame for a magazine article. Then I got a call to see someone at the hospital...so we finally got to see each other after supper last night. So much for our "free" day lol! Such is life.
Today, our anniversary, was also typical of our life. We got the kids picked up from camp. Faith was at horsemanship camp so she had a great time riding horses all week. But, her closing program (since she was int he 3rd group) was at the same time as Superman and Grace's closing program so we didn't see theirs at all:( It was hot, dusty, smelly, and I was reminded of why I don't camp (and yet another reminder as well of how Buddy's idiosyncrasies are really my genetics - he also would never camp lol!)
We got home and had 1 hour and 15 minutes to shower everyone, eat lunch (Beautiful came over to eat with us and to hear about the kids' camp experiences - adding in many of her own), unpack and start to wash all of their belongings, undo all of Faith's hair and wash it really good, and get ready for the Bible Study I lead for Faith, Grace, and several of their same aged friends. Bible study went well and then I was off to a town 25 minutes away to meet with a friend who moved away 18 months ago. I got to eat with her and catch up - then bring home take out for my husband and I to eat for supper and got pizza for the kids.
After supper I took 3 of the kids to the pool (I won't say more than this, but please, please be in prayer for Faith. We are having some very serious issues with her and if they are not improved may need to consider...alternatives).
Anyway, JJ was so excited to have his big brother back at the pool with him. But Superman LOVES to dive and back flip off of and experience the diving board rather than play in the shallow end. JJ asked for a life jacket and to go off the slide. After a couple of times he announced he was going to go off the diving board. Honestly, I didn't believe him, but did humor him. He has gone off the diving board twice this summer and both times it was after I hung him off of the and gently dropped him from not far above the water. He has wanted NOTHING to do with the board. But, he got right up on the diving board and jumped off with no hesitation! Then he tried to do a flip! The third time he wanted to try to do back flip. I yelled, "no!" Then I thought that I really shouldn't be trying to stop him from trying new things so amended it to, "please just don't hit your head on the board." So he jumped off backwards! He went over and over about 15 times before the pool closed, even trying a back/sideways flippy thingy. Superman models well for him:)
I will finish this with some funny thoughts about our kids and camp. It has been fun for us to pick the kids up from camp and hear what was so memorable to them. Every time we picked up Beautiful from camp it was always, "I saw deer! and turkeys! and......" every kind of animal she could possibly find out there. When she was a teenager it became about animals AND pranking other cabins (and the horses, she always did horsemanship camp).
Faith: she got the horse that Beautiful always rode at camp. She enjoyed riding and having her own camp experience since we separated her and Grace this year.
Grace: Pranking. She definitely enjoyed pranking people the most. Of course;) She came back so kind, gentle, thoughtful, and appreciative. We are hoping it lasts because it sure is precious!
Superman: Pranking. He also enjoyed the pranking. He also really liked his cabin leader who had been in foster care 3 times. It was good for him to see another man who has been in foster care and is doing well now:) Superman is a kid who has such a heart for Jesus and to serve others. We often talk with him about his being a "peacemaker" and how there is a time and a place to be a peacemaker, but also a time to set good boundaries so one is not taken advantage of - and sometimes others' need to experience the consequences of their choices and we can't always jump in and fix them or they won't learn to make better choices. Anyway, he is always aware of other's discomfort and wanting to make it better. Apparently last night the boys slept outside. Superman woke in the night and another boy was shivering and really cold...so he gave the boy his sleeping bag and just slept on the ground with his pillow. To be completely honest, I am struggling between wanting to commend him for having such a servants heart and wanting to remind him that he can't harm himself in the process (although this was the hottest week of the summer so I don't really know how cold it actually got). That struggle right there just goes to show that Superman is a far less selfish person than I am. He is a diamond in the rough:)
So, that is our anniversary week - in essence a synopsis of our life as a whole. Busy. Chaotic. Unexpected chasing. Special moments that we have to chose to stop and savor in the midst of everything else. And reminders that God is at work in our kids' hearts and we get to watch what He chooses to do, or not do, with them:)
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