There Really Is A Little Boy In There

Sometimes it's easy to forget there is really a little boy in there...especially when your kiddo is big for his age. I had a reminder today how much Joey really still needs me.

Today, Joey's Boy Scout troop left for summer camp. It's his first long camping trip with the troop. Sure, there have been a bunch of weekend camping trips but this is the first one that lasts more than two days. Joey has been really looking forward to this trip. He has been so excited about it...talking about the hiking...looking forward to the swimming. Hell, he even started gathering stuff from the packing list by himself. I honestly wasn't anticipating any problems.

But, when I went in to wake him up this morning, he started moaning about how he didn't want to go anymore. He was saying he didn't think it would be fun. This shocked the hell out of me. Sure, before he bridged up to Boy Scouts, Joey expressed concern about camping without me but, once he was in the troop, he loved every minute of it. I thought we weren't going to have to worry about insecurity and homesickness. I was wrong.

I tried explaining to Joey that it was normal to be nervous. He promptly denied being nervous at all. He just said he didn't think it would be fun and what if he didn't like the activities and it had nothing to do with nervousness. Yeah, sure. I did give up on that discussion. I simply told him that the troop had paid for him to go and that meant he was obligated to go. We were not going to waste the troop funds that they graciously helped us out with. Joey was almost near tears and I felt like a total heel insisting he had to go. But, if I gave in, he wouldn't learn anything...he wouldn't grow...he wouldn't develop independence. But, I still felt like shit because I could tell how nervous he was.

Luckily, Gabe came to the rescue. Gabe was drawing funny pictures and ended up totally cracking Joey up. I suggested Joey take one of the pictures with him and, if he wasn't having a good time, all he would have to do is look at the picture and he'd start laughing. Joey asked Gabe if he could take the picture with him and Gabe was thrilled with the idea.

Once Joey had the picture in hand and he figured out I wasn't going to give in, he turned himself around and seemed eager to go again. He jumped right into the thick of it once we got to the meeting point and there were definitely plenty of boys for him to have fun with.

Do me a favor and keep your fingers crossed that he has a good time this week. I want this to be a wonderful experience for my not-so-little little boy.

Where has the time gone?

This past weekend, the boys and I went to a graduation party for a young lady we use to live down the street from. I remember meeting Jennifer over 9 years ado when she was in the 3rd grade. Now, she is graduating and going off to college. I know it happens to everyone. I know everyone says it. Where has the time gone and how have they become so grown up?

It seems like only yesterday that we were bringing Marty home from the hospital. He was a big baby, almost 9 lbs, but he seemed so little to me. I could cradle him in one arm and he could curl up on my chest. Now, he is taller than me and I only have 3 years until it's his graduation party I'm planning and attending.

If I admit Marty is that old, I suppose I have to admit that Joey is finishing elementary school and will be starting middle school next year. It won't be too long until I have to say that he is taller than me too.

Even my baby, Gabriel, isn't a baby anymore. Gabe is wrapping up his kindergarten year and he's become so tall. He is actually taller than either of his brothers were at that age.

It's both hard and wonderful watching them grow up. If I do my job right, I have to watch them stumble and fall. It's the only way they can really learn. But, I also get to see them learn and develop. I get to watch them become compassionate, caring, hard working individuals. If I do my job right, my boys will grow into men and will make their way in the world independent of me and Vic. It makes me so proud watching them take their first steps along this road. If I'm truthful, the older two have takes more than just their first steps along this road. My boys aren't babies anymore and I just can't figure out where the time has gone.

A Few Nuggets Short of a Happy Meal

There are days I seriously wonder about the intelligence and general mental competence of our dog Jack. Well, it's not really his intelligence I wonder about but he definitely makes me shake my head at him on a frequent basis. Imagine a dog stuck permanently in his teenage years and you have Jack.

As sweet and kind and patient as he is, he is also scattered and spazzy and sometimes doesn't seem to have a clue. Tonight, he had one of those moment. We had let the dogs out and, as seems to be their MO, they started barking a short while later...let me in,let me in. Well, wouldn't you know it but about 10 minutes after that, Jack came over to me, dancing around like a visit outdoors was necessary, and demanded to go back out. So, after some bitching about his indecisiveness, I got up to let him out. Normally, all it takes when he's like that is for me to ask him "Do you want to go out?" and he is off like a shot to the back door. Not this time. He took off but then he stopped about halfway there. I kept walking and tried to get him to go out but he just kept giving me the "I don't know what the fuck you're talking about" look. As soon as I gave up and came back in to the living room to sit down, Jack started the dance and whine, I must go out routine. This time he really did go out but I came back in muttering about the damn dog being a few nuggets short of a Happy Meal or a few bricks shy of a load. Marty heard me and was vastly amused and that got me thinking.
What is your favorite funny way of saying someone is clueless?

So far I've come up with...

•  a few nuggets short of a Happy Meal
• a few cokes short of a six pack
• a few brick shy of a load
• a few ways short of a bulb

Belated Back to School

Not that my children were late in going back to school but I'm late in getting the post up because of the chaos of Thursday night and my exhaustion on Friday. All three of the boys had a wonderful day on Thursday. Marty likes all his teachers but he seems to particularly like his creative writing teacher. He really likes the creative writing teacher's sense of humor.  Hehehe, the man has a wooden battle ax (black blade, green handle) that he uses for the bathroom pass. He really knows how to appeal to the teenage sense of humor. Joey has also gone from moaning about school to truly enjoying it. He likes his teacher and has his best friend in his class. We don't know who Gabe's teacher is going to be yet. His school does a staggered start for the kindergarteners. They divide all the new kindergartners into 5 groups and each group comes one of the first 5 days. That lets all the kindergarten teachers evaluate the abilities of all the kids. They then divide them into class making sure the classes are balanced as far as their abilities are concerned. We will get to go meet Gabe's teacher on Wednesday.

Of course, I subjected all three kids to first day of school pics...

How did my boys get to be so grown up looking and so handsome?

Wordless Wednesday: It Was All Worth It

For this, I would go through it all again.

Random Wrap-up in Pictures

Hey y'all, I have a bunch of pics I meant to show you this month that I never quite got around to posting. So, I'm doing a December wrap-up in pictures.

All these pics are clickable and
a bigger version will open in another window.
I'm not sure what prompted this.
This rainbow was amazing. The complete arc was visible.


Butterball is growing so quickly.

Gabe and his dog Jack
Gabe's papier mache volcano...a Christmas present.
I got this adorable ornament from my pal in Wistful Girl's ornamentexchange. Sadly, I don't know who to thank. Can anyone help?
The tree and gifts
Ninja Bread Men courtesy of Marty and Joey
Gabe and me during our night out
Vic and Gabe during our night out

Gabe HighPants
Gabe can spell his name and a number of other words.
Freddy is healthy and thriving. He evengave us a Christmas present...a dead mousie.
HAPPY NEW YEAR!

A Cruz Christmas

I just realized that I haven't shown you pictures of my tree or any of the other fun holiday pictures I've taken. All these pics are clickable and will open in another window. I am thrilled with the way our tree turned out. It may not be a designer tree but each and every ornament on there means something to us.Santa Gabe
Santa Gabe, Santa Joey, and Butterball
Santa Marty places the angel
Santa Grinch and the Christmas balloon
Our tree in all its glory
our angel
our angel all lit up

Butterball couldn't resist the treeDo you have any pictures you would like to share? Leave a link, I'd love to check them out.

My weekend in pictures

I promised pictures from this weekend and here they are. For the family birthday party, Joey wanted a cake with a Trojan helmet on it. So, I found a picture of a Trojan helmet...and, I did my best to replicate it. It wasn't great but, Joey had requested a non-buttercream frosting and it was much harder to work with.and, for his birthday party with his friends, I made a cake with a sword and did the Greek alphabet around it. Once again, I was working with that other frosting and it was much more difficult to make things neat.
We also had Joey's Space Derby for Cub Scouts this weekend. We had both been slack and hadn't started making the rocket until Friday evening for a derby that started at 9:30 Saturday morning. Since his Cub Scout pack collects pop tops to donate to the Ronald McDonald House, we decided to decorate his ship with pop tops.

Joey placed 3rd in the Most Unique category. I think he and I did a pretty good job considering what a rush job it was.

And, tomorrow when my brain will hopefully be working better, I'm going to write my Happy Anniversary post. I know it will go up 1 day late but it's the best I can do.

Super Gabe

Today we are having Perfect Moment Monday on a Tuesday. Lori over at Write Mind Open Heart (formerly Weebles Wobblog) says that "Perfect Moment Monday is more about noticing a perfect moment than about creating one. Perfect moments can be momentous or ordinary or somewhere in between."

Joey's birthday was on Monday (PLEASE go wish him Happy Birthday in the post below if you haven't already) and my parents had ordered him Tae Kwon Do sparring gear and a re-usable breaking board for his birthday. Given the vagaries of the US Mail, miraculously, the sparring gear actually arrived on his birthday. That was it's own little sweet moment but the really great moment was when all three boys went back into the den and they took turns breaking the board. Yes, even Gabe took a few turns. Check it out (and pay close attention, it is quick)...Gabe was so tickle that he actually broke that board and he was thrilled that he impressed his brothers. I mean impressing your big brothers is GOLD if you are the youngest. Hell, I was impressed because breaking that board is the equivalent of breaking a 3/4 inch thick board. Just to show you how strong the board really is, I recorded this a little later in the evening (again, only a few seconds long)...Go check out the other perfect moments at this week's Perfect Moment Monday on Write Mind Open Heart.

Happy Birthday Dear Joey

10 years ago today, I thought I had 4 weeks left until I welcomed my second son into the world. I was wrong. Joey had his own agenda and he decided he was ready to be born almost 4 weeks early. I have to say that despite the fact that puberty has reared its UGLY head, Joey has grown up to be an incredible young man.
Joey is having a great year in school and is really discovering that he can have likes and enjoyment that differ from his big brother. Joey has discovered that he is really good at math and seems to really enjoy it. His artistic skills are also flourishing. What is really fun to watch is how well Joey interacts with Gabe. Joey not only plays incredibly well and is very tolerant of his baby brother but, he will also get up with him on weekends and let me sleep in a bit. Can we say heaven? Joey is also learning to cook and does really well cooking sausage, eggs, and toast. He occasionally surprises us with breakfast in bed. Joey is kind and empathetic but he is also a really strong kiddo Vic and I are so lucky to have Joey as our son.

Happy Birthday Joey!

A Quiet Night?

Welcome to the new edition of Show & Tell blogger style hosted by wonderful and fabulous Suzy at not a fertile myrtle.  I decided to entertain y'all this week with a bit of the ridiculousness that goes on around here on a regular basis.

If you are a long time reader, you'll probably remember that I told you that my boys are not quiet sleepers. Not only do they talk, argue, sometimes yell, and even sing in their sleep, but they are also physically active in their sleep. You truly never know what position you will find them in when you go in to wake them in the morning. And, one time when Marty and Joey were really little, they were sharing a bed because we had company and one of them pushed the other out of bed while they were sleeping. Gabe seems to have continued that tradition. Yesterday, I stripped his bed because it was time to wash his sheets. I didn't quite get them dry before bedtime so I let him put a sleeping bag on his bed. Not only did he get out of the sleeping bag while he was asleep but he totally changed positions on the bed. This is how I found him when I went in to wake him for school this morning...Head on over to Suzy's to check out the other Show & Tell entries this week.

Welcome to Fall...

I'm feeling a bit lazy today so here are a few pictures and a video.  Welcome to Fall!

Gabe after preschool
Marty, Gabe, Joey, and my mom
Gabe and me
Live from the bumper cars
from the top of the Ferris Wheel
Gabe and scarecrow at
preschool field trip
Gabe and T in the corn maze