Wednesday, July 25, 2007

Hug your babies, count your blessings

I feel compelled to write this down. I read a lot of blogs. Some every day, some once, twice, linked from other blogs, found by accident. This week, I found a blog that made my heart hurt and my arms ache to hold my babies.

I was reading this post on Tracey’s blog and went on to read about Hannah’s mom. I don’t think I’ve ever read anything so tragic, so loving, so beautiful, and so very full of pride and hurt. I ache for this mom, this family that I have never and will never meet. What a beautiful little girl, what a terrible loss.

The very thought makes me hurt all over. My stomach hurts, my heart hurts, my arms ache to hold my boys tight and protect them from all the horrible things that could happen. It happens every day to families who never think it could happen to them. It makes me want to be a better mom, to make sure beyond any doubt that they know I love them more than my next breath, that they’re the reason I get up in the morning, that those 2 sets of brown eyes are the most amazing things I’ve ever seen and oh God how very lucky I am to have them.

Don’t waste it. Hug your babies, tell them you love them, dress up in sparklies in honor of Hannah, play a silly game, pick some flowers, have a tickle fight. Above all, be there. Be the strength behind everything they do, love them so hard they feel it no matter where they are. We have no way of knowing what life will bring next, so live it as hard as you can.

Tuesday, July 10, 2007

To an athlete

I don’t know who wrote this, but if anyone knows, please share so that I can give credit where credit is due. I am working on a football program, and this is included, titled To An Athlete. However, it reminded me of my boys and I see that this is how Kyan feels about Jaben. Thinking about it as a little brother to big, it put a lump in my throat and of course I had to share.

There are little eyes upon you,
And they’re watching night and day;
There are little ears that quickly
Take in every word you say;
There are little hands all eager
To do anything you do;
And a little boy who’s dreaming
Of the day he’ll be like you.

You’re the little fellow’s idol,
You’re the wisest of the wise.
In his little mind about you,
No suspicions ever rise;

He believes in you devoutly,
Holds that all you say and do,
He will say and do, in your way
When he’s a grown-up like you.

There’s a wide-eyed little fellow,
Who believes you’re always right,
And his ears are always open,
And he watches day and night;
You are setting an example
Every day in all you do,
For the little boy who’s waiting
To grow up and be like you.

Friday, July 06, 2007

4th recap n stuff

We had a nice 4th of July, in spite of Kyan being sick and Jaben being at Boy Scout camp. I can't believe how much I'm missing him now and I can't wait for him to get home tomorrow! So for now, I'll recap the 4th... with pictures!

First, we went the the annual 4th of July parade. Jaben's scout troop came back from camp to be in the parade, so we were very excited! Here's Kyan waiting for the start of the parade... in the sprinkles that, thankfully, didn't last too long.

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Jaben's float was one of the first to come by, and they were moving quite fast! This was the only picture I had time to get, and it wasn't a very good one. A good friend of mine got a better picture... in fact she got great pics of the whole parade! For her recap, go here: Palm Tree Fanatic

And here's Jaben, looking far too excited to be in the parade.

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My cousin Timmy is in the middle school marching band. He plays drums, but as they passed us, he was pushing another drummer in his wheelchair. So, that's what I got my picture of.

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Later, my aunt, my sister, her friend and kids came for a cookout. I didn't get pics of that because, as I said, Kyan's been sick. So we napped a bit and then ate. After that I took a trip with another mom out to Camp Firelands to visit our big boys for Parent's Night. Jaben was actually happy to see me and hugged me in front of his friends! Here's my sweet boy...

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We had a picnic dinner with the boys while we were there. Here's Jaben and Logan (whose mom I rode with) having their dinner. Jaben is drinking root beer, btw!

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We then took a fun, bumpy hayride back to the boys' camp area to see where they're living (amongst the big 'ol wolf spiders!) for the week. I forgot to get a pic of their camp, but I did get a pic on the hay wagon of Jaben and his tent mate, Matt.

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One odd side... when we were on the hay wagon heading back to the front of the camp, I ran into someone I knew in high school! Hey Tina... remember Geneva?? Remind me to tell you about that! So very odd!

When we got back to the front, Jaben bought a slushie and I ran to the ladies room. There was quite a line and I guess he got tired of waiting for me. Poor kid was all worn out!

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So... I took a couple of quick shots of the front of the camp because it was pretty. These pictures can't begin to do it justice. It was gorgeous!

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And then it was time to leave. I did buy Jaben a pretty cool water bottle with all kinds of scout camping stuff inside it before we left, and he's been a bit bored at camp without enough scheduled activities to do (long story) so he said he wanted to come with me. Logan told his mom the same thing, but I don't think they really wanted to come home. I think maybe it was just a little hard to see us leave. I'm sure they're having fun and they'll be home tomorrow so we'll hear all about it.

We didn't go the fireworks that night because, as I said before, Ky's been fighting a cold. But we could hear them from our house! That was unexpected! It was nice, for once, not to have to fight traffic as well as actually get a halfway decent night's sleep. I did have to work the next day, after all.

Tuesday, July 03, 2007

Jaben's website

While still somewhat under construction, it's still a pretty good start for an 11 yr old with limited computer knowledge. I know - they're supposed to know more than we do, right? He's learning tho and this site might just end up being very cool. Check it out, increase his hit count and sign his guest book!

Jaben's games n stuff

PS He's at scout camp this week so it'd be very cool for him to come home to a huge increase in hits!