Oh My Poor Deprived Children. . . How Did They Survive Childhood. . .

My children think they are the most deprived things in the world.  I love it, I have made it my goal to deprive them of everything I can think of.  Heeheehee!!  Not really but, that is what they believe at their very core.  I will never forget when Sprat was in middle school and all of his friends had the latest iphones and poor little deprived Sprat did not have a phone at all.  I am polishing my mean mommy crown as I type this morning.  I know that some kids do need phones and I get that but, at this particular time I was not working and the boys were either at school or at home with me so there was no need for a cell phone for them.  That same year as I was buying school supplies preparing for the August back to school fun, I found this cute little eraser made to look like a smart phone.  You know where my devious mind is going don't you?  I decided to have a little fun with the boy.  I found a box and wrapped up the eraser phone and had it sitting at his place at the dinner table that night.  I think this was his eighth grade year maybe.  Needless to say he was not amused at my humor.   He did finally get a phone, he got a flip phone his freshman year of high school.  He was too embarrassed to carry it so I cut off the service and he did not have a phone again.  He did eventually get a phone his sophomore year because he had his license and I thought he needed a way to get in touch with us if something happened with the car.  He did not get an iphone either and I still have not heard the end of that.  I do not like i products and I will not buy them.   I still have not heard the end of that one especially since  Big T got a cell phone (not an iphone) in his seventh grade year.  He only got one because that was when I went back to work and he would be coming home by himself.  I needed to be able to get in touch with him if I got called in to work and his ride home changed.   Most recently we have had issues with the boys having a car.  Big T will start driving more regularly this Summer and Sprat is going to have to have a car to back to school in September.  Their big question is who gets what car?  Sprat thinks he is getting my car and Big T is getting his old car.  Which is partly correct but, we have not made the decision on that just yet.   While we were at mom's for Easter my brother in law had one of his cars, a cute little BMW, I am sure you can hear my wheels turning.   I asked if we could borrow it for a picture, Big T got in and I snapped a few pictures of him behind the wheel.  Yes, I sent one to Sprat at school via text, no caption just Big T behind the wheel of this sweet little BMW.  Again, I polish my mean mommy crown.  It did not take long to get that return text of "Who is that?"  I replied with, Big T is getting this and you get to take your little blackberry to MA since it has front wheel drive it will do better in the snow.  He replied with, "that does not seem to add up."  This went on for a few hours, he really thought Big T was getting a BMW and he was going to keep his car.  My kids are so gullible some times.  That Sprat even thought I would buy them anything that was better than what I was driving just makes me want to laugh and laugh.
He will never let me forget that Big T got a phone in seventh grade and he did not get one till he was a sophomore in high school.  I keep telling him it was a need based decision.  Loving your kids does not mean bending to their every whim.  Sometimes, it means saying no and meaning it. 
Stay tuned the Boy is on his way home for the Summer, the garden is growing, herbs are growing and I am about to get knee deep in making stuff with my herbs. 

My Fridge is too Advanced for Me. . .

I shared with you last week that we had to get a new fridge and how new fangled it was.  It got even more advanced than we ever thought this week.  We were going to celebrate Sprat's birthday on Saturday night so after the hubbs and I had worked cooking breakfast at Church we picked up an ice cream cake for after dinner.  We came home and I put the cake in the lower right side of the freezer section of this super techno fridge.  After dinner I went to get the cake out so that it could thaw a little for our dessert.  When I picked the box up the cake was leaking out of the bottom, it had completely melted.  Let me describe the way this fridge looks;  it has four doors, the top two are the refrigerator doors and the lower two doors I thought were the freezer doors.  Apparently the right side of the freezer can be adjusted so that it is either a:  soft freeze, chill, or freezer.   We had inadvertently set this lower right door to chill (refrigerator temp), I had not put anything in there other than that ice cream cake so I had no way of really knowing that it was not freezing.   We figured out how to change that temperature and it is now a freezer in both lower doors but, how cool is it that we can add more fridge space if we need it.  I kinda like that.
Sprat drove himself to Church yesterday, that was his first trip alone since he got his license.   He drove to school today too.  I made him text me when he got to school so I would know he was safe.   I also told him he had to text me before he leaves to come home after football practice.  I am still adjusting to this convenience of having another driver.  He did not take Big T to school though, I do not think he is ready for that responsibility and neither am I.  I am sure once the hubbs and I are both working there may be a time when he will have to drive him to school but for right now he does not.  It is going to be another interesting week here at our house, so stay tuned and hang on.  

This and That on Monday. . .

I posted a Brazilian recipe last week that I really like.  I tried another one later in the week and it did not taste as good.  It was a meat and rice dish and my meat was very tough and for all the spices I used it was not very flavorful so I will not share it.  Just remember that I share only the recipes that I like I might tell you about the ones that I did not like or that did not turn out very well but I will not share them.   This one looked and sounded really good on paper but it was so very time consuming and like I said the flavor was just not there.  

Sprat had his first varsity football game on Friday and we won.  Yayyy, he got in at the end of the game and he did well.  Both of the boys are getting ready for school to start and Big T is a little nervous.  He will be in the eighth grade this year.  My how the time has flown, Sprat a Junior and Big T an eighth grader.   Sprat has been driving more and he will be getting his license very soon.  I am very nervous about this one.  These kids do not pay attention when they are behind the wheel.  They are goofing around with whomever is in the passenger seat or playing games going through the parking lot.  Parents I beg you, please remind your kids how important it is to be focused on the car and the road while behind the wheel.  I watched a boy in a huge truck, too big for him to be driving at such a young and inexperienced age, almost hit my Sprat because he was turned around and looking behind him as he showered down on the gas.  I have talked and talked to Sprat about the importance and the responsibility that comes along with being a driver.   These next weeks will probably be the most stressful so far for me as a parent.  

Prayers to all the parents preparing your kiddos for the new school year, prayers for the kids too as they face new adventures in learning.   

Teen Driver Interview for Insurance. . .

The Insurance agent interview went well and I am really glad that our agent required this.  I wish all agents would require it, it might change the way some of these kids act behind the wheel.  As a parent you can tell your child what a huge responsibility it is to drive a car and how important it is to pay attention at all times.   When another adult that is in authority talks to your kids about this "privilege" and, yes it is a privilege for a teen to be driving, if you let them think otherwise that is your first mistake.
 Our insurance agent is a retired city police officer and also a former military police officer and he takes his job of insuring young drivers very seriously, as he should.   He had a very frank talk with Sprat about the seriousness of being behind the wheel and communicating with his parents about where he is and following a curfew.  I hope that Sprat will take heed to what he heard yesterday and remember that every time he goes out the door and drives off that we will be in a panic until we know that he arrived at his destination.   He made Sprat set up a contact for him in his phone and told him if anything happens and he cannot get in touch with the hubbs or I he can call him.  That is true customer service and something that the hubbs and I value very much.  That is comforting to know that there will be someone out there that will be there for my kids if they ever need it.
If you sell auto insurance and you insure minors I hope that you will take some of what I have shared here and do the same with your clients, they will appreciate it.   This is our agents requirement before he will sign off so that the minor can go to the DMV and get their license.
I had heard from many of my friends that their insurance went up two thousand dollars or so and I was pleasantly surprised that ours only went up $800 a year by adding Sprat.   Our agent said that our company that we have our auto with was very good to minors and we have multiple policies with them so that helped too.  With everything going on with the hubbs and the job front I was so relieved to find out that it was not going to go up that much.  Whewwww!!!
Stay tuned for more on the job front, some new prospects showed up yesterday so we may have news there this week.

Updates on the Family. . .

It has been a year today since my hubby had to have surgery on his knee for a torn quadricep tendon and muscle.   I thank everyone that prayed for us during this time last year as we struggled to cope and recuperate.  Looking back I know that God watched over us and held us up as we made our way through the year.  This was a huge event in out life and it is easy to look back and see where God worked in our lives, but what about all the little things he does every day.  I have mentioned before about journaling and how I keep a prayer journal.  I try to write in it every evening before I go to bed, this helps me get things that are troublesome off of my mind and on paper and turned over to God so that I can sleep.  When you keep a prayer journal you can go back and look and see how God has worked in your life.  It is amazing to see what he really does and sometimes you cannot be aware of it if you are not writing it down.   So, with the hubbs injury it is really easy to see how God walked with us through this difficult time.  He will never be 100% but he is pretty darn close these days.  It took a good six months of physical therapy to get him here.  
Big T has begun Lacrosse and is having a ball.  The group he plays with had a professional Lacrosse player, Casey Powell, come and gave a skills demo and teach the boys a few things.  This guy was great, he played in high school, college and is now playing professionally.  The boys loved watching him and listening to all he had to share with them.   He worked with them for two hours and did drills for the skills he was teaching them.  He then stayed for autographs and photo opportunities.   Big T is loving Lacrosse, we have a Jamboree coming up this week, I am going to be taking lots of pictures.  I am practicing my new hobby of photography.  
Sprat is getting geared up for football in the Fall.  The high school has already started weight lifting and conditioning after school.   He is doing well in weight lifting, he  benches 225 lbs. and he is squatting 320 lbs.  He has really grown this last year and I think he is going to do well in football.  He has still not gotten his drivers license yet.   I hope he will be ready to get it in the next few months.  I am not rushing him though because I want him to be ready.  This perplexes me because when I was ready to get my license you could not have held me back for anything.  There are several kids his age that have not gotten their license and I cannot figure it out.  I am not rushing, he will do it when he is ready.  There must be a reason, I just do not know what it is.
We have a lot to look forward to this year so stay tuned. . .