I have great kids!! And luckily, they have the whole "Jeckyll and Hyde" thing downpat. At home, they might be fussing and fighting the majority of their wake time, but at school--angels. Ha! In September their school announced it's first ever (brand new school, just opened this year) students-of-the-month. There is one picked from each classroom (I think?). Grace was picked from her class! I was so proud and she.....forgot to mention it. I found out through the 3rd grade newsletter. Today I was at their school to attend Ethan's "Thanksgiving feast" and as I waltz through the front doors, I notice a bulletin board that says "Students of the month rock!" (sidenote--their school is called ROCK Spring Elementary and everything there "rocks"). I quickly scanned the board to see if maybe Grace's picture was up there, but instead I found Ethan! Last week they picked their second students of the month, and this time Ethan was picked!! Again....he forgot to tell us. So my 2 kids were in the first 2 batches of great kids recognized at their school. I am proud beyond words. Now if only I could make them think I was secretely videotaping them at home to show their teachers.....then maybe I would get to witness some of this excellent behavior!!
Last night both kids had basketball practice back-to-back. Ethan's is at 6:00 and I take him, then Scott brings Grace at 7:00 and one of us goes home with Ethan. This was the 3rd week, he knew the drill, but every week he cries that he wants to stay and watch Grace's practice so he can play with the basketballs. Last night as Scott was driving him home, he was crying about having to leave, then he started crying b/c Scott told him he couldn't watch TV when he got home b/c it was bedtime and evidently it went on....and on....and on. Finally Scott told Ethan to dry it up, to which Ethan replied, "I'm not going to stop crying. Ever! Because I know it drives you CRAZY!!" Well, Scott said he couldn't contain his laughter and he just burst out laughing at that comment. Which that, of course, sent Ethan into another tailspin of tears b/c Scott was making fun of him! (sidenote: those of you who had boys and thought "at least there won't be the whining and drama that comes with girls....think again, my friend!) So as Scott told me this story tonight, I thought of some pictures I have of Ethan mid-pout. Here are a few that I still had on my computer. Someday these might come back to haunt him!
Here's Ethan drying his eyes with his jammies after being told he couldn't be in the fashion show at his sister's slumber party! Poor baby!
Can't remember what this pouty pose was about--we were at my mom's house. Could have been any number of things! Ha!
This was in Knoxville at a hotel we stayed in. Ethan had just stuck his tongue out at Scott, so Scott had grabbed his tongue and pulled on it to surprise him (and hopefully deter him from doing it again). He was NOT amused. hee hee
This weekend I went to Brentwood to have dinner with 3 of my best friends from high school. It was so great to see them, and it made me realize how there are some people who you can go months, if not YEARS, without talking to and you pick up right where you left off. I guess there is just a "history" that doesn't go away. Friends that I have met as an adult are still important, but sometimes there are nerves or worrying about how this person will respond to this or wondering what that will make them think of me. When you've been friends since 8th grade, there's none of that. And I have to admit....I will listen to the teenagers at church talk, or my babysitters and I think to myself "my friends and I were never like that!!" But OH WE WERE. When I was at my mom's, I was looking for old pictures to post on facebook and I came across a shoebox of old notes (remember when you used to pass notes at school, long before the days of texting and email?) and I was shocked. We WERE that stupid!! ha!!! Oh the things we worried about and fought about and talked about....I guess that's teenagers for ya. But I'm so glad that these 3 girls that held such a big place in my heart as a teenager are still there!! We've all gone completely different directions geographically and in our careers, etc. but where it matters, we're still close.
Candi, Susan, me and Amy at Stoney River--YUM.
Yesterday was Veterans Day. I'm ashamed to say that before I married Scott, that day didn't mean as much to me. And I'm obviously not the only one....when I got home from work last night, I asked Scott if anyone at work said Happy Veterans Day to him? He said one person from the tech center (in Michigan) e-mailed him, but no one else acknowledged it. That's a shame. We live in a world where we are so self-absorbed, and if it doesn't directly affect us, it doesn't enter our minds. But what our soldiers do day in and day out DOES directly affect us, all of us. It takes a special person to be able to make the ultimate sacrifice for the sake of strangers. I couldn't do it. But I'm sure glad there are people who can. And do. So try to remember to thank your veterans--not just on Veterans Day--and thank God for your veterans everyday in your prayers.
and NOW I can see where Ethan gets his blinking problem! Ha!!
Grace wrote Scott a letter yesterday for Veterans Day. It was so sweet....and pretty funny!! Here it is....
War Eagle! Today we went to Auburn for homecoming. This is the first time Grace and Ethan have ever been to an Auburn game. Heck, it's the first one I've been to since I graduated! And the second one Scott has EVER been to (to say he's not a football fan would be the understatement of the century. He looked as though someone was sticking bamboo shoots up his fingernails during the game....Ha!) The kids thought it was so neat, at least they did for about 90 seconds and then they were ready to go walk around on campus. We managed to hang until halftime, watched the band perform and then left. As we were walking out the gate a man who passed us said "Galentine?" I had no idea who it was, but Scott turned and shook the guy's hand and immediately started smiling and chatting. Turns out it was Shane James, aka "Doc James", one of the medics who was in Somalia with Scott. I have found that when Scott sees one of the soldiers he was in combat with, even if they haven't seen each other or spoken since that day, there is an instant bond, an instant connection. Scott isn't one to shoot the breeze for the heck of it, but he stood and talked to Doc James for quite awhile. He introduced us to Shane and Shane introduced us to his daughter, etc. etc. Meanwhile, my kids and their friend Mallory were running wild in circles around these men, completely ignoring the fact a conversation was going on. Ethan stopped for a minute and Doc James said to Scott, "So, how's your thumb?" (which is where Scott was shot during the Battle of Mogadishu in Somalia). Scott took his hand out of his pocket, held out his thumb and laughed and said "Oh, it's still attached!" Right about then, I watched Ethan as he took Scott's hand in his, grabbed Scott's thumb, turned it over and looked at it, all the while having a puzzled look on his face. After a few seconds of this, Ethan kind of shrugged his shoulders, dropped Scott's hand and took off chasing his sister and friend again. It immediately struck me that Ethan was confused as to why Scott's thumb would be a topic of conversation. He knows his Daddy got shot. He knows where. But to him, Scott's thumb is as normal a part of Daddy as the hair on his head. Our children know us so well, know every inch of us, and it is so familiar to them that even the imperfections seem perfect to them.
Tonight Grace asked me if she could call Mason--a boy at school that she has had an on-again/off-again crush on since 1st grade. It's cute, they see each other in the hall and speed up to get away from each other, Mason makes a face at her in the lunchroom and she rolls her eyes like it's the most ridiculous thing she's ever seen, someone says "you like Mason!!!" and she insists "I do NOT!!" All of the typical elementary school boyfriend/girlfriend stuff. (Too bad that activity doesn't continue through high school....) In fact, as I write this she just came in the room to show me her "Mason folder" where she has doodles and terms of endearment written all about Mason. She took it in Ethan's room to show him and she said "Look at my Mason folder!" and he said "But you hate Mason!?" and she said "I do not. I love him." UGH!! So back to the phone call thing. She kept asking me over and over WHY she couldn't call Mason. I told her b/c girls don't call boys, and she wanted to know why not. I guess I wasn't giving her a very satisfactory answer b/c she asked "Is it illegal?" Thinking back, I should have said "Yes, exactly!" b/c Grace has an overwhelming fear of being arrested by the police. I'm sure it stems back to the days when she learned how to take her seatbelt off and I told her if the police caught her, she'd go to jail. Geez, I have probably done some serious irreversibe damage....yikes. Anyway, I told her it wasn't illegal, you just don't do it. She finally relented and quit asking. For now. I fear I am going to have a long, hard road when she's a teenager. And Ethan isn't much better! He asked me at dinner the other night (very seriously) "Mommy, what if the girl I choose to marry isn't single?" and I said "You mean she's already married?" and he said "Yes!" I told him that wouldn't happen and he let out a loud sigh and hung his head like he had the weight of the world on his shoulders. So dramatic my children are....wonder where they get it?
Here's Grace and Mason on the last day of school in 1st grade. Look at that huge smile!!
.....that just so happens also to be election day. Seemed like this day would never come. In a way, I'm glad it's winding down so I won't have to worry and stress anymore. My kids have learned a tremendous amount during this election season. I have found that my kids also take what their teachers say to heart, which makes me realize that I have to make sure I instill the values and morals into them at home that I want them to have. For example, Ethan said to me the other day, "I know about the election. John McCain--good, Barack Obama--good, John McCain--talented, Barack Obama--talented. They want the same job so they have to stay away from each other". When I asked him where he learned that, he said Mrs. Hamrick had told him. And as far as Ethan goes, what Mrs. Hamrick says is GOSPEL. Of course, he must have forgotten that little tidbit today b/c as Obama was on the news, Ethan ran up to the TV and said "ooooh!! We hate Obama!!" and Grace chimed in with "No Ethan, we don't hate Obama. We hate his IDEAS." So I think I've done a decent job of not turning them into hate mongers, as many think Republicans are. (ha!)
The kids were out of school today for a teacher work day and so we went into town to have lunch with Scott. The trees are starting to really turn now, and the colors lining the streets were breathtaking!! I always used to make so much fun of my parents for oooohing and aaaahing over silly trees. The fact that they would take a trip through New England with no other purpose than tree-watching seemed ridiculous to me! But now I understand. I just happened to have my camera in the car (as anyone who knows me knows that my camera is never far!) so I pulled over and got some pictures of the kids playing in the leaves.....in someone's yard who we've never met!! It was the perfect blend--beautiful scenery and beautiful kids in their McCain-Palin t-shirts!
