My boys' futures

Ian has big plans for his future.

• He wants a mohawk. It must be the tall, spiky kind.

• He wants to be a 'Marshanary' (mercenary for those who don't speak Ianese). But not just any kind of mercenary. He wants to be the bad kind that kills people and doesn't get killed.
  

• He wants to be rich.

• He wants to go to heaven. He is conflicted a little. He wants to do things for the Lord, but isn't sure a 'marshanary' is the right thing to do.

Evan has plans, too. His are a little more simple. He wants to be Harry Potter. Anyone know where I can get his application for Hogwarts?

Wow, Ian is 5! (Technically, 5 years and 8 days, now)

Last Monday, July 6, 2009, my baby boy number 1 turned 5! I can't believe it.

We celebrated at Chuck E. Cheese with his brother, Evan, and his friends, Brock, Battle, Brewer, Makenna, Ashlyn, and Ellie.

He loved the Chuck E. Cheese party and I highly recommend it to parents of 4-7 year olds!

Just some thoughts on my beautiful boy:

He made a grand entrance into this world (let me tell you the story sometime) and is still making grand entrances where ever he goes.

Ian is an interesting child.

His cousin Isaac is his 'best friend' and hero.

He is so loving and caring.

He is very smart and already loves to do math. He asks his dad to make him out 'pop quizzes' so he can test his knowledge.

He loves to play trivia. Of course the questions generally revolve around the Holy Grail, Abraham Lincoln, Star Wars, and Indiana Jones.

He is a typical big brother. He loves Evan sometimes and 'hates' him other times, but you say something bad or do something to Evan and see how quickly he jumps in to defend him.

He is very interested in history and wars. He especially likes to hear about the civil war and his great-great-great grandfather, George Washington Welch, who fought for the Confederacy. Shiloh is one of his favorite destinations.

He wants nothing to do with organized sports, but loves to swim and play on the swing set in the backyard. He loves to play spying games, war games, and pirate games. The swing set is his fort/ship/headquarters for most.

He is worried every night that he played too many 'gun games' during the day and asks if he did. He doesn't want to have bad dreams.

He now thinks kissing is gross.

He has beautiful brown eyes.

He is growing too tall (now at 44 inches). He is built solid and Coach Wes at church is always telling me that he can not wait to see what kind of football player Ian will be.

Most importantly, Ian loves God. He loves to tell the stories he learns from the Bible. He always wants to kill the devil and the bad guys because they do not love God.



What else could a mom ask?

The Magic of Disney

It has been ages since I have blogged. Not sure why I have neglected it. It sure isn't because nothing is going on around here. Au Contraire!!!! So, thanks to a little nudging by a friend, I am back. Some of you may be glad. Others may be saying, "Does she think we really care?" LOL If you fall into category two, then I say you must or you wouldn't be reading this right now!

Since my last writing, we took our first family trip (along with our good friends Evan and Cindy) to the wonderful land of Mickey! I was a little hesitant at taking a 3 year old and a 4 year old, but soon realized that they are the target audience for Disney!

Depending upon which child you ask, it was either the most wonderful trip ever (Evan) or the worst trip ever (Ian). It is funny how I have one glass half-full child and one glass half-empty.

Anyway, Evan was so awed by everything he saw. He loved the rides and the shows. The bigger the ride, the better for Evan. He is a little dare devil. He cried when we didn't get a chance to get back to ride Splash Mountain, but I think Big Thunder Railroad made up for it a little. If he had been big enough, he would have ridden Expedition Everest at Animal Kingdom! I think his absolute fave was the Test Track at Epcot. He giggled and squealed the whole time!!!

It really hit home with me and Kenneth the moment at Epcot when we first saw Daisy Duck. His face lit up and you could see that he had fallen in love for the first time (with many more to follow during the next few days). He wrapped his arms around her and hugged her and stood very proudly as we took her picture with him and got her autograph. This same scene unfolded many times during the trip with just a substitution of a different female Disney character. Evan was quiet the 'ladies man' with all the princesses and female characters. At the "A Dream Come True" Parade at Magic Kingdom, every princess blew Evan a kiss. Of course it didn't hurt his cute factor in the fact that he had insisted on wearing his Mickey T-shirt (it has Mickey's body, but Evan's head is the head for the body) and his Mickey Ears. One of the dancers in the parade came over and gave him her streamers and gave him a kiss on the check before she moved along the route. He was so excited. It was one of the cutest moments in his short 3 years. Then, that night at the "Spectromagic" Parade, he was thrilled when Cinderella blew him a kiss from her carriage on her float and then winked it him. As if that wasn't enough for our little Casanova, at the end of the parade Minnie Mouse noticed him standing (still in Mickey Ears, but now with the addition of giant Mickey Hands) there waving at her. She motioned to him that she loved his ears and also blew him a kiss. To him, he was the only one at that parade and every character was waving and communicating only with him. (Isn't Disney great at creating that feeling with everyone!) All Evan could talk about (and still talks about) from the trip is how Cinderella blew him kiss and winked at him and how Minnie loved his ears!

Ian was the opposite. He cried when we mentioned riding Splash Mountain. We made him ride Big Thunder (which he liked while riding but wouldn't admit to after the ride ended). He also says he hated the shows (I'll have to tell you about his experience at "It's Tough to be a Bug" with the black widows. Thanks, Cindy!!! LOL) and all the other rides EXCEPT the Buzz Lightyear Spin and the Peter Pan Ride. He is so funny. He didn't even like the characters at first. When we stood in line to meet Buzz and Woody (2 of his absolute favorites) he refused get close to them! It was crazy! He did warm up better after we met Rafiki and Jiminy Cricket. He finally decided he liked the characters when we saw Daisy at Epcot. His flirt factor came out when we ran into Mary Poppins and Alice in Wonderland. He hugged on them and was blushing so much as I made his picture. It was precious. When you ask him about the trip now, he still insists (publicly) that it was horrible and the worst experience of his life. (But privately, he asked when we are going back!)

All in all, it was the most wonderful trip we have taken as a family. I teared up as I looked back down Main Street at the castle after the fireworks as we were leaving on our last night there. I whispered to Kenneth as we fought the crowd toward the gate that I didn't want to leave. I personally can't wait to go back. I know now why people go back year after year. I know that each visit will be a new adventure as the boys grow older. I can't wait to experience through their eyes the wonder of it all again and again.

Thanks for sharing your dream with us, Walt!

The Zoo

At the zoo this on Tuesday:

Ian to the Storks:

Hi, I'm Ian. We are humans.

Slice of Cheese??

Recently, we have been having a problem with Evan and his anger issues.

The way that it generally manifest itself is through yelling and name calling and it is usually directed at me. His insults of choice have been "Idiot" or "Meanie-ac" (which I assume was supposed to be maniac but meanie applies as well).

The rod of correction has been liberally applied so now he is thinking twice before he calls me a name.

Now, after careful consideration by the 3 year old, his name of choice for me is "Slice of Cheese".

Not sure where that came from and not sure I like it, but it beats the others.

There is still the respect issue that we are working on. One battle at a time!

Are the judges ready?

The scene at our house this morning:

Evan walks into the kitchen, where I am, with his rifle, sabre, and little flag folded neatly and ready to lay on the front sideline.

Evan: Mom, I'm a guard boy. Can you get the music ready?

He puts on his glove and stands at attention as I put the CD in the player.

Evan: Mom, SAY IT!

Me: Say what?

Evan: Say, "Are the judges ready? Is the unit ready? Performing their show. Lawrence County High School Winter Guard you can take the floor in competition."

I say it then push play. Evan proceeds to perform his interpretation of Pages of My Letter by Keri Noble.

We may have retired, but I am afraid that my boys, in particular Evan, have not retired.

It is going to get quieter aroud here...

Ian has officially decided to move to Aunt Susan's house. He is tired of me telling him no and thinks Susan makes a much better mom. According to him, she lets him do what he wants and is way cooler than I am. Plus, her house has an upstairs.

But, he does want me to pack his bag for him and drive him over.

I am sure this isn't the first time he will 'run away' to Aunt Susan. Thank goodness for good aunts who can spoil our kids in ways that we can't.

I remember another little boy who used to say the very same things to Susan about his Aunt Sally. Now we have come full circle.

Call me if you see a U-haul leaving my house being driven by a 4 year old!!!

BTW, Evan fired me yesterday, again. Guess I'm doing something right as a mom! :)

"I miss my guard girls"

Those were the first words out of Evan's mouth this morning. Followed by, "Can we go to a guard contest?" We shouldn't be surprised. The color guard life is all my boys have known. I knew they would miss it, but I guess I didn't realize how much.

The girls from our program have played a big part in the lives of our boys. All have been special in one way or another, but some have become like sisters to our boys. Evan will really miss his 'friend Christian'. They both miss Emily and Sasha who have already graduated but have been their babysitters since they were born. They will miss all of you who chased them or helped watch them since they were babies. They will miss riding Mr. Harvie's bus with you and playing with you. They will miss running onto the floor during rehearsal or running out onto the floor during retreat to steal a trophy or two.

They are not the only ones who will miss it. I know I will miss the relationships that we have had with the girls and some of their parents. Mostly, I will miss being able to watch as the girls grow and mature from silly little girls into beautiful young women. The guard program offered Kenneth and I the opportunity to help 'parent' some kids when we didn't have kids of our own. I know we have touched many lives over the past 19 years, but the kids have touched us more deeply than any of them will ever know. Thank you to each and every one of you for being who you were and even more for who you have become as you have matured.

Remember this, "If you do your best, then you always win."

We love you all and will miss the activity.

Thanks again for 19 years! God bless!

Mac and Cheese

Ian: Dad, can I have some more macaroni and cheese?

Kenneth: Sure Ian, let me get you some.

Ian: Dad, maybe you should call me E....(short for Ian)

Kenneth: Okay E...here's your macaroni.

Ian: Thanks, Ken

"Five Loaves and Two Fish" abridged by Ian

The other night during their bedtime reading, Kenneth shared the story of Jesus feeding the five thousand. As he often does, Kenneth used cloze sentences and prompted Ian to fill in the blanks. Here's Ian's spin on the biblical account.

Kenneth: Jesus was teaching a huge crowd of people. Lunch time came and there was nothing for the people to eat. One of the disciples said that he had seen a little boy with five loaves of bread and two fish. So Jesus...

Ian: ... told the disciples, "Steal the kid's food and I'll make it bigger and give it to everyone else."

Kenneth: Are you sure that's what happened? Jesus told him to steal it?

Ian: No, actually he (the disciple) took out his cell phone and called for someone to bring everybody something good to eat.

Getting Started

Well, here goes nothing. I have been reading blogs for a while and think maybe it is time that I joined the blogger world. My life is like a circus sometimes with my 2 boys (3 actually--one just happens to be the one I am married to). I love being a mom and wife. I love my life as well. I hope that the events of my life may put a smile on some faces or at least a nod of knowing sympathy from those other moms of boys out there.

My boys are ages 4 and 3. We waited later in life to have our boys. More accurately, God waited until we were older to give us our boys. They are 14 months apart, so at times it is like having twins around here. I had 4 years of diapers (3 with 2 in diapers), I had two on bottles, two in cribs, two with pacifiers. You get the picture. It has been quite a tiring 4 years for me, but it is getting easier month by month. I shouldn't complain. At least my boys were sleepers and slept through the night most of the time. Usually the only time they would wake at night as babies was when they were sick. So, I count myself blessed.

My 4 year old is Ian. He is so much like me it isn't funny. (Or at least that is what my mom tells me) He is very interested in learning all he can about everything. He soaks up everything he hears like a sponge, especially about science and math. Here is an example of an exchange he and I had yesterday:

Ian: Mom, can you get me an inclined plane? I want to push my cars up on my bed.
Me: Sure, Ian. What is an inclined plane? (asking to see if he knows what he is talking about)
Ian: (looking at me as if I had just asked the dumbest question in the world) Mom, it is a simple machine. You know, like a board or a ramp.

Life with Ian is going to be very interesting as he gets older and learns more.

Now, Evan! What a child! Kenneth says that Evan is a lot like he was. The dear Lord must have given me Evan to teach me patience. I have recently learned to stop praying for patience. Instead, I pray for perseverance. That is what it is going to take to survive Evan. Let me describe him for you. He is very strong willed. He is the one who makes his big brother cry. He has a vein on the side of his neck that pops out when he is angry (he got that from his Papa Jerry who has one on his forehead). He likes to make himself heard and likes to have things his way. An example of Evan:

Me: Evan, stop writing on the wall!!! Give me that pen, NOW!!!
Evan: NO!!!!! (takes off running to the other room)
Me: You better stop right there, young man!!!
Evan: You are fired, Mom!

Now, for the gentle side, Evan is my precious angel. He is very sweet, when he wants to be. And is the first to say the kindest things to me. He gives the sweetest hugs and kisses and is such a blessing. He likes to play alone and is so much fun to sit and listen to when he doesn't know you are listening.

Life with Evan is always an adventure!

My 3rd boy is my husband Kenneth. He is the most amazing man I know. I am so blessed to share my life with him. We have been married almost 19 years. Although we have had the normal ups and downs of a marriage, our relationship is stronger than it has ever been. We actually like each other which is something that a lot of folks who have been married as long as we have can't say! He is an amazing father and I am so thankful that God put him in my life!