Hard Hearted?

Once again it is back to school time and with both boys now gone all day I am too excited. I realized a few years back that I am a "special" mom. I was taking Jack to his first day of Kindergarten, surrounded by moms putting on a brave face and wiping their tears. I didn't get it. I gave Jack a high five and a "see you in a few hours" and whistled a happy tune the whole way home! I wondered what in the heck was wrong with me. Do I not love my little boy as much as these concerned, compassionate, emotional moms? I got over that pretty quick. Of course I do! Jack and I had a unique relationship, and he was very ready to be at school and I was very ready to have someone else inspire him, teach him and help him grow. I thought it was great! And I still do! I think I am a much better mom in shorter segments of time. I know I need to be totally positive and patient for 2 hours in the morning. Then I can regroup and unwind (with my two little ones) and be ready to be "on" again for another 5 or 6 hours, even though those 5-6 hours are the most crazy, frantic time of the day. But if I can break it down I do much better. The whole 14 hour straight thing day in, day out does not bring out the best in me. So, when it is time for school to begin, I say Hallelujah! Don't get me wrong, I still worry to death about my boys up there at school. Are they fitting in? Are they being nice to kids around them? Are they going to make it to the bathroom? Will they be respectful to their teachers? Can they stick up for themselves and make good choices? It goes on and on. My prayers have come much more frequently in the last three days. But does it make me cry? Not gonna happen, the smile is too big! Both Max and Jack wouldn't look up for a picture, getting too big for mom to hang around! Now I get to spend more time with my two little rascals! While we were walking home Lucy said, "Jack, Max?" I told her they were staying up at school to learn ABC's and numbers. She said, "How....Bout...Lucy?" Soon little girl, too soon! Maybe the tears will come then? (I doubt it.)

Proverbs 22:6

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

Creepy

We like to plant LOTS of tomatoes because we really like tomatoes, and because we also like to share. You know, with, like, neighbors and friends. We didn't have this in mind:
These things were huge and they were eating my tomatoes! After we found about 4 of them, and their giant poop, I was pretty creeped out. Fortunately, after googling "disgusting tomato caterpillars" I found out that they would not devour me and my children, and that to get rid of them I simply had to cut off their horn until green blood comes out and throw them out for the birds. Or stomp on them. Or cut them in half. Or drown them in water. Ok, very creeped out. Definitely something for the strong man of the house. When Byron came home, he and the boys pried them off the plants, took them far into the backyard snipped them in half with trimming clippers, oohing and ahhing over the green oozing blood, and threw them in the garbage. We haven't found any more but I still feel totally violated. Hungry?

Birthday Surprise

I can't believe we have a NINE year old! Yes, I know it is just one year past eight, but nine just seems like a lot more years. This is what our Jack looked like when we moved here to Michigan 3 years ago. This was taken on his 6th birthday . Time has just flown and here we are in the same porch but with a BIG KID! Woah! And what does every BIG KID need but a surprise birthday party!!! His friends and their families did a great job keeping it a secret. He thought his party was going to be on Monday, his actual birthday, but we surprised him Saturday evening, two days early. These boys of ours have totally been into the Indiana Jones hype so we thought an Indy Adventure would be right up their alley. They all had to work together to find an antidote to save birthdays around the world. They were given clues and, thanks to the best Daddy, homemade whips to help them along the way.
They had a great time, then enjoyed pizza and watching The Last Crusade. Lucky for us Jack thought it was the best party ever. Whew! I was afraid he would still want his Monday party because the surprise one was not what he wanted. Fortunately he loved it. Much to Jack's disappointment, his last baseball game fell on his very birthday and we made him go. Gratefully he got to enjoy the team's only win of the season and he played well and actually enjoyed himself. We of course had to still do the traditional birthday dinner at Red Robin, even if it was two days later. It ended up being a five day celebration and after being spoiled like this I think Jack knows he is officially nine years old now, and that we love having this big kid in our family!!

More Fun in the Sun

So camping is fun, but it isn't my favorite thing. I like to go because I loved camping when I was a kid and I want my kids to have that experience. Well, camping with babies isn't fun. We have two. (Ok, so Lucy really isn't a baby anymore, but it is still two sets of diapers, two cribs, two high chairs, you get the point...) Well, camping it the rain REALLY isn't fun. It rained both nights we camped. So you would think we would have had a horrible, nightmare of an experience. Oddly enough, it was quite the opposite. We had a blast! I think there were a few things to our advantage: friends, the beach, and twin 12 year old girls! We met up with our long lost Ann Arbor friends and it was so great to catch up. Max and his bestest buddy of 3 years didn't just gel right away after the year hiatus, UNTIL they remembered their common passion : Computer Games! They sat like this for 45 minutes straight, totally captivated in conversation, it was a riot! I basically didn't hold Sam for two days straight because he was passed from one set of eager hands to the next. Lucy thus had more Mommy AND Daddy time than she has had in a long time so she was super happy. We camped at Warren Dunes off the "coast" of Lake Michigan. Basically Lake Michigan beaches RULE!! The sand is finer than California sand, the waves not quite as big but big enough to play in and not feel like you are going to get dragged out to sea. The greatest bonus is the FRESH WATER! You can actually clean off from the beach and get clean! It totally feels like you are at the ocean, but it is fresh lake water, AMAZING. Plus there are incredible sand dunes close by that are super fun to climb up and jump or run down. The boys loved hiking and exploring, just couldn't get enough. We all had a ball and decided we definitely have to go back before the summer is over. There are more friends going in August and we are thrilled because we realized that we DON'T have to go have another camping experience to enjoy the beach. I mean, why press our luck? Camping with babies and rain and mosquitos was great and all, ONCE, but who are we kidding? It couldn't be so great the next time, especially without the twins! We think we are the smartest people in just planning a day trip, and we can't wait for another day at the beach!

Family, the Fourth, and Thirty Four

What a wonderful week we had. We were so lucky to have Byron's parents visit us for almost one whole week! They are on their way moving from Hong Kong to Salt Lake City via Ann Arbor then Mesa. They get to spend about 3 weeks in AZ but they have to spend their time at doctor and dentist appointments and split the rest with 5 children, 5 spouses and 23 grandkids. Well, we got them here at our house for 6 full days by ourselves!! We still feel so lucky. They came at the perfect time with the long 4th of July weekend, Byron's birthday and absolutely gorgeous weather. Ok, except for the huge storm that knocked our power out during our barbeque and stayed out for the next 30 some hours. Our kids thought it was the best barbeque ever and still ask if we can have another barbeque durning a rainstorm that knocks out the power. Sure, why not? We celebrated Byron's birthday at Greenfield Village which is a Henry Ford museum of cool historical things village style. It was really interesting and fun to walk around while visiting. We ended the day with nothing else but birthday dinner at Red Robin. We were too stuffed for cake, which was a good thing because our power was still out when we got home. No baking here! Byron got one candle on the candlestick Max shaped himself at Greenfield Village. What an awesome birthday for one great guy! We were invited to breakfast and a bike parade on the 4th. It was so fun with great food, fun friends, perfect weather, and a relaxing atmosphere way better than any city parade. That night we had our own fireworks show in our backyard that was spectacular. Ok, maybe not spectacular, but it was super fun with fireflies adding their own sparkle of light, and knowing we weren't having to battle traffic and crowds. Grandma and Grandpa got the MVP award for coming to help with family pictures. I knew we needed extras to help situate and make kids smile, and they not only fit the bill but were the best. They danced and told silly jokes and fixed clothes and basically were awesome! What a relief that is over -- pictures are never my favorite. We haven't seen them all but here is a sneak peak of the sneak peak we got. I'm quite excited (mostly that it is done!) We spent the rest of the week doing the normal things like cooking and eating (a lot!), going on walks, church, and trying out fun gifts from Hong Kong. Mostly we just relished being together, letting the kids really get to know Grandma and Grandpa. It was so much fun, we are so sad they are gone. Lucy really took to Grandpa and today was asking for him, it was so cute. They definitely made a lasting impression! Luckily Grandpa has a church assignment in the fall that will bring them back to Michigan. It made saying goodbye so much easier. We can't wait to see them again!

Beach Bummin'

We had a wonderful week in Southern California. We stayed at a beach house on Capistrano Beach, a nostalgic place where we used to go with my Harbaugh grandparents and cousins. Oh, how I loved those trips to Cali! My mom has always wanted to recreate these wonderful memories with her own family and we were finally able to do it. Byron has joked that any reunion with my family is "girls camp". Well this was way better than any girls camp I've been to! My mom did an amazing job of creating an incredibly fun week for her 6 kids, spouses and 25 grandkids. We had beach olympics, sand castle competitions, Chinese day, smores around the campfire, boogie boarding in the waves, Bonko night, and a Sunday fireside. We ate incredibly well (meaning way too much food and delicious desserts everyday!) My mom even had Burnham Capistrano Beach 2008 shirts made for each person. I was the lucky one who got to celebrate my birthday there with everyone, including Byron's two sisters and their families who came for the day. It was a blast! We ventured off the beach one day and took our kids to Legoland, they had a ball, (minus Max getting sick and throwing up about 4 times while we were there.) The best part of the whole week was just being with everyone, getting reacquainted with all the kiddios that seem to grow up so much in the months we are apart, and laughing with my siblings. They truly are some dang funny people. What a Burnham Camp to remember! Way to go Mom, it was the BEST!