Happy Thanksgiving . . . .

So happy to have my Sprat home, if only for a few days.  Thanks to a minor snafu by Mom Sprat also enjoyed his first plane ride via a first class flight home from Boston, while the hubbs flew coach. It felt good seeing the boys talking and picking with each other.  I guess absence does make the heart grow fonder.  There was minimal arguing and fighting these last few days.  We had a whirl wind Thanksgiving visiting everyone but it was so good to see family and friends.  It seems as though we blinked and now we are getting ready to send this big guy back to school.  Good news though, he will be home for a longer Christmas break. 

We got to hear all about how cold it is in Boston already and how it is dark by four o'clock. I do not think he is ready for the real winter he is going to experience, he has only had a taste of cold.  He does have lots of winter clothes and a big coat and boots to wear but he is going to experience Winter like he has never had before. 

 He has gathered with his friends to visit and catch up on what everyone has been doing and he had a list of places he wanted to eat that they do not have in Boston.  First meeting with all his buddies was Bojangles and then he wanted to eat at Salsaritas with all of us.  The boys went to Thanksgiving Eve Love Feast, that was also a must on Sprat's list of things he had to do while he was home. He took a picture of his Thanksgiving plate to show his teammates what a southern Thanksgiving looks like.  He  is the only true Southerner at this school so they all love to hear him talk especially the young ladies.  The hubbs had to stop on the way home from the airport to pick up Cook Out with some sweet tea.  He has asked on numerous occasions to send him some sweet tea via the mail.  I told him we could not do that.  It is funny the things that we get use to and that we miss when we do not have it.  He seems to be having fun and doing lots of cool stuff, Mom just hopes he is studying in between all of the fun.  Mama feeling blessed and very thankful for this visit with my boy. 

Below is one picture I was able to snap over this break, I hope I will get a couple more during Christmas. 

I am the Slacker Mom. . . But, I do Love my Kids. . .

I am a slacker mom, I have one good picture of Sprat in his cap and gown and not one good one of he and I together.  I must say, I am a little jealous when I see these moms with these great pictures of their boys and their tux at prom and their cap and gown at graduation.  I am just never able to capture those moments, I have other moments but never these perfect moments.
I have this one halfway decent picture of Sprat:

As you can tell, this was a quick snap as he was coming off the stage after receiving his diploma.  He hates having his picture made and that does not help when trying to capture these precious moments. When he was little I could hold him hostage and snap away but, now that he is grown up he is harder to hold on to to grab those special moments.

This is one of my favorites, I love those chubby little cheeks and that smile is contagious.  He has always had such a great smile and was always such a happy little fella. Not many things upset him.

I challenge you to look at these pictures without smiling.  He is just so darn cute!!

So many adventures ahead for this guy, I cannot wait to see what happens.  Stay tuned as Boston is getting closer and closer.  Who knew there was so much paperwork involved in going to College?  I do not remember this much.

Things are Changing. . .

We sold Big T's bunk beds and  went bed shopping for him yesterday.  The hubbs and I delivered the bunk beds on Saturday morning and Big T will be riding the sofa in the mean time.  We found a really nice bed with a dresser and mirror.  Sprat got a new bed when he moved into what use to be the playroom from this same place.  We also got our double recliner a couple years ago from them.  They have a wide variety of furniture for every room at reasonable prices. 
Now I have to clean Big T's room so that the new furniture can go in his room.  I hate cleaning!!   I have watched those remodel/un-clutter shows where they take everything out of the room on to the lawn and you have to justify everything that goes back in the house.  I wish I had the nerve to do that.  I think I could get better organized if I did. Right now, I just go through things a little bit at a time and find things the kids do not want or need or cannot wear and donate them or take them to someone that I know that has kids that fit that size or age.  I have two bags of clothes and two pairs of shoes to take to work for one of my co workers.  We are also getting rid of some toys the boys have out grown, that is hard.  They are ready to throw everything out and dear old mom over here has a sentimental attachment to everything.
Sprat and Big T were both into Thomas the tank engine and so we had all of the Thomas the tank stuff and I wanted to keep some of it for possible grand kids, much much later down the road.  They are great wooden trains and the tracks and the books. All of that takes up space and the hubbs and the kids would like to throw it all out and I just cannot bring myself to do that. 

Confession Time. . . .

Ok, so I am going to confess a few things today.  I have been excited about the possibility of going back to work but I have also been terrified.  This is a completely terrifying adventure, I have been out of the workforce raising my children for the past thirteen years.   Many things have changed since I worked and I am feeling a little overwhelmed.
I have always questioned if I have made the right decisions raising my children and I guess all parents have similar questions.  Should I stay home and raise my kids?  Can we afford for me to stay home with the kids?  These are all the questions my hubby and I asked before I decided to stay home. I do not regret my decision to stay home with my kids, I feel very blessed that I was able to stay home with the boys.  I went back to work too early after Sprat was born but he went to work with me.  He stayed with me for the first eight months of his life and then he went to an in home daycare.   There are little things I regret about sending Sprat to daycare, I regret that he had to go at only eight months old and that I missed out on some of his milestones.   Both the boys went to preschool and that I do not regret, it got them used to being around other kids and learning how to follow the rules.  I also believe my kids benefited from being around other adults and learning how to get along with different people.
With all of that out I will share my biggest fear.  What if I cannot cut it with this new job?  I am a little depressed because I am not at home as much with the boys.  I want to be a good example for the boys.  I want them to know that it is ok if when they get married their wife wants to stay home after they have kids or if she wants to go back to work after having kids.   It is a personal choice for each family and no two families are alike.  There is no one answer to fit everyone.
Stay tuned as we make this transition.

Little Things for the Kiddos. . .

The end of the school year is fast approaching and some will be preparing one for college, some will be preparing for a Wedding, and some will be preparing for a new high school student.  Ahhh, the varying times of our lives as parents.  Each of these a big milestone for your child and for yourself.
I am just trying to keep my kiddos focused on school and school work.   I do think about these other milestones I mentioned and I think about all the things I need to teach  my kids before they go off on their own.
There are so many little things you can do now to share with your kids when they graduate high school.  One thing I have been doing for my boys is writing them little notes about things that happen in their lives or if I think of something I think they should know about a particular situation they are struggling with, then I also enclose a little money with it.  I seal it in an envelope and write the month and year that it was sealed.  I think I will give these to them when they graduate high school or college I have not really decided yet.  No matter when I give these to them they will be getting notes from me at all different times in their lives along with a little cash.  I usually enclose between $10 and $20 in each envelope.   This is not my idea, I borrowed it from somewhere else but I cannot remember where.  I have seen it on Pinterest but I started doing this before Pinterest existed.  Where ever I picked this up it said do one note a year.  I have done a couple a year, just whenever the mood has hit me or if something happened that I felt I needed to write on.  
I am not sure how much my boys will appreciate their mother's words or the extra cash but I feel good that I have done this for them.   I hope they will take my words to heart.

Am I too strict or is everyone else too lenient???

I know I am pretty strict when it comes to my kids and their behavior but, lately I feel like I have to be.  During the school year my kids come home and get straight to their school work after a good snack though.  They don't go to the TV, video games, or phone until all of their work is done.  That has always been a hard rule in our house.  From the time Sprat started 1st grade there has been these kids in the neighborhood that insist on ringing the door bell to get him to go play as soon as they get home from school.    I told Sprat to tell them he could not play until his school work was done and he had finished his reading.  Everyday the same thing so finally I just set a time limit, that the boys could not come out and play until 4pm. that way these boys would know.  That did not do any good, they still were ringing the door bell as soon as they got off the bus.  Sprat was a straight A student and I was going to keep it this way.   One day Sprat had been grounded and could not go out and play and one of the boys came over and I told Sprat he could go out and tell the boy he could not play.  They went out on the porch and I was taking the trash out.  I was in the driveway and could hear their conversation when, the little boy (3rd grader) told Sprat, "when you are 18 you can tell your parents that you aren't going to take any more of their sh$#."  I just about stroked out right there.  I resisted the urge to go and snatch my child up.  I listened patiently, this is when you find out if you have done any thing right raising your kids.  The moment of truth.. .   Sprat responded by saying, "no, no, no,  I would never talk to my parents that way."  That is all I had to hear and I knew in my heart I had done something right.  I went to the porch and I said, " you are right you would not speak to us that way."   I told the little boy he needed to go home right then.  A few other things happened that year, my driveway was egged and  Sprat was mooned by this little boy while the other neighbor boys watched and laughed.  That was the year I told that little boy he was not allowed at our house again.
I am now the scourge of the neighborhood because not one of the other neighbor boys parents or that boys parents asked why he was not allowed at my house.  Isn't that funny?  If my son had been told that he could not play at someones' house I would call to find out what he had done.  Not one person has asked me what happened.  I am sure there are many rumors going around as to why but nobody has asked me.
Of course Sprat is now a rising 8th grader and we still live around these people and they are still just as ugly and nasty as ever.  The little boy that egged my drive way and mooned my child now is being left by himself at all hours of the night.  I know what my kids are capable of  and I know that I cannot leave them alone for more than thirty minutes at the most and certainly not in the middle of the night.  I realize people work and their kids have to be left alone but, being left alone during the day is a whole other thing.   I am very fortunate that my dear hubby has a good job and I am able to be here for my kids but, we do not live like this without sacrifice.  We don't do lavish vacations and we are on a tight budget.  We have not been on vacation in two years but, we are going this year.  My Dave Ramsey plan has kicked in and we have been saving to pay for this trip since last year.   This trip will not follow us home.  That is for a later post.
I would love to hear your opinions on this subject.  I know my friend Beth will post and I thank you Beth for keeping my comments alive.  Even if you have a different opinion than my own I am open to hear what you have to say.  Am I too strict?

Big T and camp. . .

Dropped my baby off at camp yesterday.  I cried on the way home.  I am going to miss him so much this week.  I hope he will be able to stay a week.  He only stayed two days last time and that was two years ago.  My hope is that he has grown and will be able to stay the week.  I am going to miss those bright, happy, big eyes, and that beautiful smile.  He always makes me laugh, even when I am fit to be tied with him.  I hope the weather will hold out.  Cabins, storms and my poor baby do not go together.  A friend from the baseball team is in his cabin and I am so relieved for that.  He will at least know someone there.  They have big plans for them each day and he signed up for wood working, sports, and music for his extra activities.  They have a big slide into the lake and a bouncy thing in the lake to jump off of .  If they can keep him busy I think he will make it.   I did not sleep last night listening to the thunder and seeing the light flash before my eyes.  I know you might think I am being silly but, he has never been away from us this long before.  Please remember him in your prayers.