Lessons

Lessons Learned (or Reiterated) Today

* Say the nagging rules in a funny voice and they might hear them.
Shawn loves to laugh, and saying anything in a silly way can often make him chuckle. I "laid down the law" today but said it in a funny voice, and he thought it was hysterical. He kept repeating it. He may not necessarily obey, but it won't be because he didn't hear it!

* Be careful about using phrases or even words from a Phineas and Ferb song (or any other for that matter), or I'll hear it repeatedly.
I make a lot of connections to things I know the boys enjoy, but I'm learning to be careful of doing so when it could become a song. Today I compared something to the word "aglet"--the tips of a shoe lace. We really only know that word because of Phineas and Ferb, so the boys had to start singing the song. On repeat. I had it in my head all day.

* My husband can be the worst of the lot with boyish behavior.
If I have to be careful of references with the boys, I have to be especially diligent with HoneyBear. I called him after dropping off the boys and told him the aglet story. I didn't make it to past the word "aglet." He immediately started singing the song as well. When I made it to school and we said goodbye, apparently the phone didn't disconnect. I heard a strange sound and looked down to we were still in a call. The sound was him yelling through the phone "A G L E T" and the rest of the song. At least it made me smile.

I'm sure there were more, but I slept late this morning after taking some pain meds last night. Of course, that reminds me of another lesson learned--the meds that you take when you DON'T want to sleep will knock you out right away. Taking meds with the hope of letting them do their thing and you get some sleep means the meds won't take effect until just before your alarm is supposed to go off the next morning, and will then last the entire day!

Sometimes life is just full of lessons.

Big Wheels Keep On Rolling...And Sometimes Slide

When the area gets heavy snow and ice, people are encouraged to stay home. Often, though, they don't. They go shopping. They buy stuff. And stores require restocking of products to keep up with the demand.

This means that people who work in delivery can't stay home when the weather is bad. Trucks still have to run when there is snow and ice closing schools. Even when the police strongly encourages everyone to stay off the roads, delivery drivers often still drive.

Because Pepsi still had to be delivered during the Northwest Arkansas Snow of 2011, HoneyBear drove his truck. He drove all over Northwest Arkansas. He even made it all the way out to Oklahoma. He had a few problems getting out of docks that were slick with ice since the stores don't as a rule clear off their docks - regardless of safety - but overall made it through the day. He made it back to Springdale and only had to get fuel and head back to the warehouse before he could come home, get warm, and relax after the stressful day.

I was looking forward to getting him home. I hadn't worried all day, but had been concerned, and was ready to have him with us and off the roads.

Instead, I got a call from him after I knew he was almost done. He had been in an accident. His truck had caught some ice and slid off the road. He was fine, but he had to wait for the truck to be towed.

Well. This was not good news, but my main concerns were his warmth ("Do you have enough fuel to keep the heat going?" "Do you have your coat on?") and how his boss would react. I wasn't overly worried, though.

Almost two hours later I started to get concerned. At 6:09 I finally got a text. He had been taken by ambulance to the hospital. (He had also gotten to play with the stuff in the ambulance. We had recently visited a fire station with our Cub Scout den and seen an ambulance, so we were seeing the fun side of the little ambulance adventure--or trying to see the fun side at least!) He didn't think we needed to go to the hospital because he had a ride back to the warehouse to get his truck.

With slick roads and it getting dark, I wasn't so sure driving home was such a good option, though. I started getting shoes on and having the boys get ready.

Then I happened to see part of the local news. Which caused me to grow really concerned.

The local news reported that there weren't many accidents in the area, but that one semi truck was still on I-540 and was about to be towed. It seemed to be a nondescript white semi, without the Pepsi artwork on the trailer I would have expected, so I didn't think much about it, especially since it had been several hours since the accident. Then I looked closer. There, on the door of the cab, was a Pepsi logo.

(It's very small in this image, but was more obvious on our TV. The images are from from 40/29 TV, and are actually grabbed from a segment later in the week on truck safety on the ice rather than the original segment I watched. They reused the footage from the accident, but said in the package it had happened in Bella Vista. After knowing the rest of the story, that was one more thing to shake my head over regarding the newscasts.)

This had to be HoneyBear's truck. This truck hadn't just slid off the road, though; this truck was jack-knifed. This truck was very, very close to the supports for the overpass bridge. This truck could mean my husband was not exactly as fine as he wanted me to believe.

I immediately started texting and calling, but didn't a response. I found out later that the state trooper was in his room in the ER filling out the paperwork, so it was understandable he didn't interrupt the trooper to text me, but I was getting seriously worried! Fortunately for my anxiety level at the time, the news segment had a follow-up a bit later in the broadcast. The reporter shared that "the driver" had been released from the hospital with no injuries. This was a big relief! If he had been released, he would be coming home soon. I stopped getting ready and just waited.

Unfortunately for my anxiety level, I was still not getting a response from HoneyBear. I started worrying again. Tyler tried to make me feel better by reminding me that the news said he'd been released, but he should have contacted me by that point. I was not feeling calm.

He finally got in touch with me from the ER. He was waiting on a CT scan. He had hit his head on the back glass of the truck cab, and the doctors were concerned. It was also starting to hurt. He had NOT been released as the reporter had said, and did not know when he would be released.

Of course this meant the boys and I would be going up to the ER. There was no way I would let him drive after dark in pain and possibly on pain meds. My vehicle was the 4-wheel-drive, and surely I could make it to the hospital and back once I got the car out of the snow pack of the driveway.

I did get the Explorer out, and we did make it to the ER. HoneyBear was finally released and given pain meds, with orders to rest for 24 hours. We were able to call our family and friends and let them know things were okay. After a long evening of worry and pain, we were all finally at home resting.


We all stayed in and relaxed the next day, with Pepsi even closing down for the day. Of course, this meant that HoneyBear wound up working Saturday with his co-workers rather than having a sick day, but at least he got a day to recover.

Tyler learned something very important from the event. He didn't understand why we were going to the hospital when the reporter had said Daddy had been released. He couldn't quite grasp yet that what they say on the news isn't always correct. It was a media literacy lesson that was important to learn, though I definitely would not have chosen that way of teaching it. It's one he may never forget.

To the Dentist

Most parents will agree it's hard to find time to get basic appointments taken care of, like the eye doctor and the dentist. Shawn was scheduled to start some orthodontic work in February, so it was very important he visit the dentist for a cleaning before stating ortho. Unfortunately, I was in the hospital the last week of 2010, and the appointments I had scheduled for the three of us had to be canceled.

With snow days keeping us home in January, I took a chance and it paid off--I was able to get the boys in to the dentist on a snowy afternoon! They didn't have time for all of us, but we scheduled a time for Shawn. When the person after Shawn didn't show up, we snuck Tyler into the schedule as well, so they both got their dental checkups and cleaning.

Surprisingly, Shawn had done a great job of keeping his teeth clean. Considering the difficulty we've had with him brushing his teeth, this was a very pleasant surprise. (HoneyBear thought his lack of appetite due to meds might have been in his favor since he didn't eat much. Not eating much meant less ick in his mouth!) He chose a gumball machine from the treasure chest and got a "Certificate of Bravery" good for a free taco from Taco Bell.

Tyler didn't get a good report, unfortunately. Hearing this from someone other than parents might be a good thing, though. The hygienist showed us all proper brushing habits again, and he seemed to take the lesson to heart. He chose a little toy lizard from the treasure chest and also got a "Certificate of Bravery."

They got their usual goody bag of dental care items after the visit. The upcoming weekend was a big football day with the Chicago Bears playing rivals Green Bay, so when I saw their toothbrush colors, I almost cheered. Orange and blue for Chicago--Go Bears! :)

I may not have gotten a cleaning, but the boys were set for another 6 months, and Shawn was ready for his orthodontic work. Besides, it's much easier to schedule one adult than a child who has to be picked up from school!

January Snow

The third week in January was a full week. With the very successful start of Cross Church Fayetteville on January 16, we were glad for a holiday and no school the next day for a bit of rest. Of course, we wound up not getting much rest between doctor appointments for me and Shawn and a vet appointment for Tucker and cub scout meetings in the evenings, but the boys and I did get a little extra sleep in the morning.

Our short school week was made even shorter by the weather. Early morning of January 20 ushered in a snow storm that resulted in accumulation of 4-5 inches in Fayetteville. Fortunately, it wasn't too terribly cold, so we were able to get outside in it and play.

They brought out some cars to drive through the snow. The cars got buried in the depths and had to be "rescued."

 They had a snowball fight.

Shawn much preferred sending snowballs after his brother than getting hit.

They had left the football in the yard so that it was buried in snow. They decided they had to play football, so dug it out. I think Daddy was jealous when he got home to learn they'd played snow-football. The crazy weather days were his favorite times to play his favorite game!

When they tired of playing with the football, Shawn decided to bury it again.

Tyler threw a few more snowballs, but Shawn had a bit of a meltdown when a snowball hit him in the face. He couldn't get the snow off his glasses with his gloves on.

He continued playing sans glasses. Now that the football was buried, it was time to bury a soccer ball. Even in winter we have an abundance of balls in our yard. They may not be aired up, but they're there!

It was only snowing very lightly, but enough to try to catch flakes on the tongue.

 Tyler was very serious about his snowflake-catching!

They moved on to lightsaber duels. Tyler was not happy to have to use the red one, though, since no one used a red lightsaber on Planet Hoth in The Empire Strikes Back. Since they were playing in the snow, it had to be Hoth, right?

Missing two days for snow meant the holiday week was very short, but the boys had much fun playing in the first big snow storm of the year. We had already experienced a snow event in January, but "only" had about 1/2" of snow, so this one could indeed be called the first "big" snow storm. Meanwhile, there were already predictions of another storm or two headed our way. At least this one allowed some fun in the snow!

Cross Church Fayetteville

What exciting times! We are so close to the first service of Cross Church Fayetteville. The building is almost ready, and the plans are coming together for each team.

Wednesday night, January 12, our main teams met together at the building for the first time. HoneyBear and I joined the CrossKidz team to find out our roles. Though we'll be focusing on the Wednesday night activities once they start up in February, and HoneyBear will be balancing parking responsibilities with his time with CrossKidz, we're excited to be able to serve during the Sunday morning services for the first month or so.

HoneyBear did not have a good work day, with some problems occurring with the Pepsi truck, so he met the boys and me at the church. We arrived early enough to get a good look at the building and enjoy the Kidz area set.

We spent a little bit of time cleaning up toys for the preschool area. The boys, especially Shawn, joined a friend in her magical box--the best toy ever--and stayed entertained for quite some time.

Mr. Cameron gave us some great info, with Nick also joining in the meeting.

We left excited about the upcoming weekend for Cross Church!

I Love Fayetteville

I moved to Fayetteville in 1993 to go to school. Though we did live in Springdale for a few years after we were married, we've lived back in Fayetteville since Tyler was 2. We don't dislike Springdale, or any other town in Northwest Arkansas, but I work for the Fayetteville School District and our boys go to Fayetteville schools. We love Fayetteville.

We also love our church. HoneyBear has been going to First Baptist Church of Springdale since junior high. I started going my junior year in college. (I moved to that church because he went there, as well as a few other friends from our college group.) We were married at the church. Although we did attend another church not long after we were married, we both loved First Baptist and wound up back there. Both of our boys were baptized there. The boys and I have been in numerous childrens' choir presentations there. We love our church.

Our church is in Springdale. That's only a short drive up the road, but it is in a different town. It's a great town, but not our town. Last spring I began feeling a slight bit of discouragement about the location. The boys' friends (other than church friends) live in Fayetteville. I felt a bit of resistance asking friends to go to church with us in Springdale when we live in Fayetteville, even knowing it's so close. I also realized that a lot of the kids active in the youth group and childrens' ministry attended Springdale schools. Though there was absolutely nothing wrong with that, I began growing a bit concerned that the boys would have church friends separate from school friends. Since I have had a tendency to "church hop" in the past, though, I determined to ignore my concerns.

I was amazed and awe-struck in April when Pastor made an announcement that would change our lives. Our church would be planting a location in Fayetteville. We would have three campuses, all with the same mission and focus of reaching Northwest Arkansas, America, and the world for Jesus Christ.


FB AdvancingOurMission from Cross Church on Vimeo.

Even with my previous feelings and concerns, it was not an easy decision for our family to become a part of the Fayetteville campus core team. I had a ministry opportunity with children's choirs, the boys were active there, we had friends we loved, and of course we had history at the Springdale location, especially HoneyBear. After prayer and discussion with others and together, we did make the decision to move to the Fayetteville location and work as part of the core team at the new campus.

We are so thankful for this opportunity. The first service is almost here, and we're moving forward in our new roles. I have an amazing opportunity to still be part of the children's ministry, including childrens' worship. HoneyBear will be not only part of the children's team, but will also use his vocation of driving to help the parking team. He'll be driving the 16-passenger vehicle to transport our members and guests between the various parking lots available to us up to the building. This is something he is uniquely skilled for, and it's exciting to see him have a perfect fit in our new adventure.

The boys will leave some of their friends, as will we, but God is working in our lives, and we all feel that we are where God wants us. What an amazing feeling it is to have confidence we are in God's will and his perfect timing.

We thank our God for our church and our city, which we love.

Sugar Sugar

The Hogs had a great football season overall this year! With a final record of 10-3 (6-2 in SEC), they played in the Sugar Bowl on January 4, 2011.

I wasn't feeling up to a big get-together or watch party, so we opted to just stay home. I did, however, pick up some special treats. Rick's Bakery was doing a special on pre-orders for the game, so I ordered some cupcakes--some in chocolate and some in white for my son who doesn't like chocolate (I know, I don't understand it either.) We love Rick's--not only do they taste great, but they always turn out so cute. I  ordered a Rick's cake for Tyler's first birthday party, and it was just so precious I got hooked. Tyler's birthday cakes come from Rick's every year now, and many of Shawn's as well.

The Rick's cupcakes this year fit well with the theme--SUGAR bowl! They were so sweet with all that icing. But we enjoyed them.

 We may not have won the game, but we're still proud of our Hogs.

Deer Camp

I've become more of an "inside kind of girl" over the last several years, particularly since being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and experiencing the accompanying heat intolerance and challenges with temperature fluctuations. I think it's sometimes hard for my boys to believe that Mommy really did grow up spending more time outdoors. I've had to be careful, but we have been able to take some camping trips and do some fishing, so hopefully they can learn to enjoy these things anyway. Of course going boating with Papa and Nana also means tubing, which they already definitely enjoy. (They were shocked to see some pictures of Mommy as a teenager water skiing recently, though. It seems they think Papa has a boat and tubes just for them!)

This past year we were able to introduce Tyler to another outdoor activity that's always been meaningful in my family--hunting. Although Nana has never hunted, and I only went a few times as a teenager and young adult, deer season and squirrel season were always important parts of the year in my family. My dad, my grandfather, my dad's cousin, and some other men loved spending the time together in the woods almost as much as the hunting. With my grandfather and dad's cousin no longer with us, the love of hunting didn't change, but the loss of the important hunting partners certainly dampened some of the comradery that these trips allowed.

HoneyBear did not grow up hunting, but he has always adored being outdoors and quickly learned to enjoy hunting trips. He has tried to join my dad hunting several different times since we married, but time off work has rarely worked out. Since he works with several hunters, he can't take off the times when my family spends time in the woods, and trying to coordinate the boys' fall sports and other things just gets crazy.

This year finally worked out with an after-Christmas hunt. To make it even more special, this year Tyler joined in to begin learning about his hunting heritage! He had already learned to enjoy his Red Rider BB Gun, but had not had any other opportunities to be involved in guns or hunting. HoneyBear and Tyler went through hunters' education classes in early December. It wasn't the most entertaining class for Tyler, but he did pass the test and seemed to learn some things. He especially noted the information on ATVs, since riding Papa's 4-wheelers has become a favorite activity at Nana and Papa's house.

For the hunting trip, we traveled to Little Rock late Christmas Eve for Christmas at Nana and Papa's, then on December 26, the first day of the after Christmas hunt, we all traveled down to Camden and the deer woods. HoneyBear towed the 4-wheelers, and Papa towed the camper. 

HoneyBear's Christmas present seemed to be appreciated--a Hogs hat perfect for hunting.

HoneyBear looked on as Papa connected the trailer with the 4-wheelers to our truck.

Tucker and Roly enjoyed chasing Papa as he headed around the camper.

Since it was a pretty chilly day and Nana and I both were feeling poorly, once we got there she and I settled in to the camper and napped (which meant there were no photos taken at camp). Shawn enjoyed being in the campsite, and wandered around collecting rocks and just being all boy. Tyler got a chance to go over with HoneyBear and Papa to sight in the gun he'd be using and do some shooting. 

After a brief moment of being directionally challenged, Shawn, Nana and I left the guys in the woods and headed back to Little Rock. They wound up not seeing any deer, but did enjoy the time together in deer camp.

Builders

This year we have gotten involved in a new free activity for kids--building workshops. Lowe's has Kids' Building workshops every few weeks, and provides a free building kit and a place to build it, along with an apron and badges for each project. We've had so much fun with these!

We've built baseball games.

We've built bird feeders (and purchased bird seed from the store to use in the feeders...that one didn't turn out to be as "free" as the others ☺).

We built a little school house for teachers' appreciation week that could also hold a business card. HoneyBear even built one of those for me!

We planned to build a catapult--the project Tyler was most excited about--but wound up getting there too late. We were able to get the kits, though, so we'll build them at home this summer.

This weekend we changed it up a bit and went to Home Depot. Home Depot does their kid clinics once a month, on the first Saturday of each month. It makes it easier to remember, but of course is less frequent. This month's project was a mini soccer game in honor of the World Cup. The boys were excited that Home Depot's project used wood glue as well as tools. They also use pins on the aprons rather than sew-on patches, so the pins could be added immediately, as opposed to patches, which are still waiting to be attached.

We'll continue these fun, free outings as long as the boys enjoy them, especially since they wind up with a fee toy after the building is complete!

School's Out for Summer!

Snow days never look as good in June as they do during the winter, and this year our area certainly looked askance at them after Memorial Day. Our district only had 5 days out of school, which was actually fewer than many of our neighboring districts. Unfortunately, no snow days were built into the schedule this year, meaning that all five had to be made up at the end of the year. Rather than finishing the year the Friday before Memorial Day weekend, we went the Tuesday through Friday of the week of Memorial Day, and an additional Monday of the next week. June 7 felt like it would never arrive for many of our students--and teachers!

Our family made a decision this year that still seems a little surprising--the boys missed the last day of school. Hear me out before you gasp too deeply, please. Though I work in the district, I am on a longer contract than teachers in order to ensure technology in the building is ready for summer. This also gives our team the chance to offer some early summer professional development that counts toward the following year. This means that a week after school is out for students and teachers I am still on contract. This is not a problem, but it does require child care for the boys. The week is the perfect week for the boys to stay in Little Rock with Nana and Papa!

Going to school on Monday and then getting to Little Rock with Mommy and Daddy working the next morning was more of a challenge than we wanted to face, however. With the boys still in elementary school, and teachers assuring me that there would be little but movie time and cleanup missed on the last Monday, we opted to take the boys to Little Rock over the weekend.

Friday, June 4, was the last day of 4th grade and kindergarten for the boys. I forgot the 'real' camera, but did get a quick cell phone camera photo of them as they were going in the back door.

They've grown up so much this year! Of course, they have grown physically. Here they are on the first day of school, excited about a new school year in a newly remodeled building, with Shawn just starting 'big school.'

They also learned a lot this year. The both brought home wonderful report cards, and Tyler even got a certificate and a medal for getting all A's on the Honor Roll all year. He also showed a huge boost of confidence, between GT presentations and reports, getting a solo in the school musical, and having the lead in the church musical. It helped to make a great new best friend, too.

Shawn had an impressive year of learning, despite some challenges. He struggled with his sensory issues, continuing to chew on marker lids and bouncing a lot. He started his occupational therapy during the year, and also began taking medication for ADHD. Despite these challenges, his reading, writing, and math skills were wonderful, and he continued to surprise us with his new abilities and knowledge.

We're so excited about a fun summer with time at the library, at dollar kid's movies, camping at the lake, trips to Silver Dollar City, a day at Wild River Country in Little Rock, fireworks at Nana and Papa's house for the 4th of July, and just lots of fun. I expect them to have some video game time, too!

So our rising 5th grader, our rising 1st grader, and their Mommy are very glad to sing "school's out for summer!"

Baseball, Books, Buffets, and Nerf Bullets

Some of our Saturday's are filled with rest, especially when certain MS symptoms show themselves. Some Saturdays are filled with family fun. Still others are productive days where we get things done around the house.

It's a rare Saturday when we are able to have family fun AND be productive.

Saturday, April 10, 2010, was fortunately one of those Saturdays where we had some fun family time in the morning, and still had some productive time in the afternoon. It was a wonderful day, and the boys enjoyed it a lot.

We started the day with a first--we went to Lowe's for a kids building workshop. They provide kits and aprons for each child, and let them use tools. After the kit is built the children get patches to sew on their aprons and a certificate. Tyler now wants to go back every time there is a clinic, and I think it's as much for the patches as the building projects!

April 10 was a perfect kit for our boys--they built a miniature baseball game, complete with ball, that they could then play after it was built! Both boys were very excited to get started.

They opened the kit and sorted out the pieces, then started going over the directions. This is Tyler's special area--following directions--and Shawn loves to follow his brother.

With some help from Daddy and the Lowe's workshop leader, the boys built their baseball games.


Lowe's Kids Workshop 4/10/10: Baseball Game from DigiLaura on Vimeo.

Once the games were built, it was time to play with them!

After our baseball building fun, we headed for some books. We needed new stories for bedtime, so we went to the Fayetteville library. The boys and I renewed our cards (and paid some fines), while HoneyBear got a new card. Tyler went for the digital card catalog to find books for a research project, while Shawn was drawn to the computers, from which we had to drag him away when it was time to leave.

After much deliberation, HoneyBear chose 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea for our next family read. I'm not sure if our current musical about diving under the sea had any influence, but it was a good choice.

After leaving the library, it was time for lunch. The cafe I was hoping for had closed since the last time we were there, which was admittedly a while ago, but we were able to drive by the Razorback baseball stadium in our lunch quest. Since we had spent the morning building a miniature baseball game, seeing the actual baseball stadium seemed appropriate. With my lunch choice no longer available, we decided upon a favorite of the boys, especially the big boy--Chinese! Somehow this has become a common theme, though HoneyBear would say we don't go there enough. We do go enough, apparently, that the owners and several of the wait staff know us, making the boys happy.

After a full morning, we made it home. With pretty weather and a desperate need to get some cleaning done, we opened up the garage and became productive in the afternoon. The boys enjoyed this process, since we found several stored toys that hadn't yet been used, as well as some that had gotten buried. The favorite of the afternoon was a Nerf tag set, though Shawn struggled a bit playing by the rules!


Nerf Tag from DigiLaura on Vimeo.

Our fun and productive day was a great mix, and created memories for the boys and us. Hopefully we'll be able to repeat the formula soon!

Do We Already Have a Pre-Teen?

Some things really surprise me. Fortunately, a lot of surprises are good things. Particularly as a pessimist---ahem...realist---surprising outcomes are often a very good thing. Expecting to have to replace the starter in my car and only needing a battery is a good surprise. A card or gift from my hubby that I find in my car is a good surprise (hint, hint...).

Having my sweet little boy, who is only 9 years old, suddenly act like a rebellious teenager, however, is not such a good surprise.

This week is testing week for Tyler. THE testing week. The tests that determine how the school and district is ranked and rated. The tests that he should have no problem doing well on, but still require concentration.

Testing week does not mean he gets away without doing homework or chores, however. It does mean an earlier bedtime.

With testing week upon us, Monday night we saw a side of Tyler that we wish we hadn't. First, he chose to not do his homework. We have been having some struggles with math homework this year. He is consistently not doing his math practice exercises, so he is behind on his multiplication and division facts. This is unacceptable in our house, and he knows it, but the math facts are not fun, so the sheets get forgotten at school. I even bought him a game for his Nintendo DS for Math, but it's not as much fun as his other games.

His homework was to redo questions he missed on his math test, all of which went back to the basic math facts. Not only had he not done them after school, but he did not do any of his work, instead getting on the computer and later on his DS. I asked him about the test just before bedtime, so that he suddenly remembered he had to redo it and get a parent's signature for bonus points.

Instead of gathering to read a book chapter or two before bed, we all gathered in the boys' room to go over the missed problems. Forty-five minutes later, he finally got it corrected. With testing continuing the next day, staying up that far past bedtime was problematic, so we skipped our reading. We hurried to get them into bed and tucked in, and went about our evening.

An hour later I discovered a problem.

At about 9:45 I went back to my room to go to the bathroom. Hearing a noise from the boys' room, I prepared myself to get Shawn back into bed. This is a regular occurrence, unfortunately. I was quite surprised to find Shawn sound asleep and looking quite angelic. This was a good surprise.

I was also surprised to see Tyler in his glasses, even though I thought I remembered him putting them on his bedside table. I was even more surprised to move his covers and discover something unexpected. His DS, which was supposed to stay in the other room at night, had somehow gotten into his bed. It had somehow been turned on. It had somehow been in the middle of play. My child had somehow done all this in order to play games. To top it off, he excused himself by saying he just has a problem stopping playing the games.

Fortunately for him, it's quite easy for us as parents to help him with this problem. In his words, he is now "banned" from the DS. He is also not to be on the computer at Grandma's house after school, since that time is supposed to be used on homework. I would be surprised if he were to do something like this again anytime soon.

I hope that this is the only surprise of this type I have from him. Of course, as a realist, I know that I'm likely to be in for some other situations as he gets older.

Hopefully he'll surprise me and his teenage years will be wonderful. Because I think we have already started the process.

I think we now have a pre-teen.

Looking Towards a Musical Spring

I have expected to share pictures of the boys in the snow, and in fact have two days of snow adventures to share. With the snow finally melted and the sun peeking through, though, our family is ready to look toward spring and warm weather. I'll plan to share our snow adventures when we're out of school for spring break, and looking at snow won't cause fear of more snow days and more days to make up at the end of the year.

We can definitely tell the boys are ready for spring--we've already had multiple times jackets have been lost at school after being forgotten on the playground. It is frustrating for them; with mornings still cold with temperatures in the 20s, we have to have jackets and coats, but the afternoons are in the 50s, which is a heat wave for us after our colder temperatures this winter. Of course, it's even more frustrating for them when they get in trouble for forgetting their coats at school.

This spring will be another musical one! Last spring Tyler and Shawn and I were in our church musical and Tyler was also in a musical at my middle school while taking guitar lessons. That got out of control quickly, so we won't be doing all of that this year, but we will have another musical at church--God's Word in 3D. Tyler is ecstatic to have just been told he'll have the lead drama part in the musical! He'll play Jonas, the leader of the little pack of kids going under the sea to explore God's world. Jonas has a sidekick TJ who follows along with whatever Jonas does, and that part will be played by another Tyler in our group.

This will be a family event, since Shawn will be in the preschool/kindergarten choir and sing before the musical, and I will again lead a small group. This year we get an extra special treat in that Daddy will also be leading a small group. He will work with some kids to have them act out without words a song about the story of Jonah, complete with a big blue whale. He's excited to be doing some drama work again, and Tyler and I are proud to have him join us.

This spring in school Tyler also gets another musical treat--the 4th graders are learning to play the recorder. I'm incredibly excited, since learning recorder and doing well is what led me to choose to play clarinet in band. He loves music, so he's just happy to play. Tyler gave a little recital for me while Shawn was in therapy, which I was able to get on video. They heard it in the therapy session, and Shawn told everyone that it was his brother, who can play Hot Cross Buns on the recorder. He was very proud of his brother.

Hot Cross Buns on Recorder by Tyler from Laura Wainscott on Vimeo.

Shawn also loves music, especially pretend instruments. His air guitar and air drums are outstanding :). He especially loves the song Monster by the band Skillet, which I often have to play over and over when the boys are in the car with me. I finally got a part of that on video as well, though it's in a moving vehicle.

Shawn Feels Like a Monster from Laura Wainscott on Vimeo.

We're looking forward to seeing more of the sun, feeling more warmth with the spring weather, and hearing more music this spring.

Do you have any musical adventures heading your way this spring?

Happy Valentine's Day

I love Valentine's Day! It's my favorite holiday. It's made extra special for us, because we actually consider February 12 and February 16 special days, too.

February 12 is special because we consider it the anniversary of when we started dating. That sounds corny, of course, but when we met in college we were best friends first. After a year, we both started to feel like we wanted it to be more, but there was so much at stake with our friendship we were concerned. On February 12, 1997, my dorm roommate and I had a little dinner party. Her boyfriend was in town from England (yes, the country, not England, Arkansas), and we wanted to have a special time. The four of us had dinner and watched the movie "The Rock." When HoneyBear left, we had a moment to talk, and decided to see what would happen if we became a dating couple. We celebrate February 12 as an anniversary.

February 16 is the day that HoneyBear proposed to me, in 1998. We had made a joint decision, and had even picked out a ring together, but he presented me with it, along with a giant panda bear and a precious card, in the living room of my apartment. It was a Monday night, and I had rehearsal for Fine Arts Team through the University's Baptist Student Union that night. Since he had been on the team the year before, the team members were good friends to both of us, and we planned to tell them that night of our engagement. He had excellent timing to ensure I had a ring with the announcement. Of course, he was a little sneaky and told me it wasn't ready so the actual proposal could be a surprise. We definitely consider February 16 a special day in our lives.

With the two dates, plus Valentine's Day, it's easy to find a time to celebrate together! This year we had the fortune of having two celebrations. We had a date night on Saturday night with the boys staying with Grandma. We took advantage of the Valentine's special at one of my favorite restaurants, Marketplace Grill. We even saw some friends--the instructors of our dogs' obedience school classes were out for the evening, too. As a plus, my hair was actually fixed curly, since I had gotten it highlighted that afternoon!


The next night was a special evening organized by our church. Child care was provided at church, so the boys were able to play with friends. Called the Great Date Experiment, it was the first of 6 structured dates, with instructions available for download. To be honest, we didn't follow the guidelines exactly, but we did appreciate the parts we did complete. This first one was on Communication, so there were some guided discussion questions that were really fun and helpful. We were also supposed to take a picture of ourselves at each step of the process.



Did you make a memory this Valentine's Day?

Making a Man Made Out of Snow

Snow! Our family has had some fun in the snow this year. During the days we called the NWA Snow Storm, the boys and I had several days outside in the snow. HoneyBear got to be in on some of the snow play, too.

Sunday afternoon, with snow everywhere and snowmen all over town, we made our first family snowman. HoneyBear had of course made lots of snowmen, and had always loved the snow. Tyler had also made some snow creatures, the most memorable being the one he made with the little Blue (from Blue's Clues) sprinkler we had in the garage when he was just 2. We moved Blue into the yard and packed snow on him. A little scarf finished off the snow Blue.

This time we had help from Daddy. We would make a snow man.

The boys brought Daddy the snow, with some help from cottage cheese buckets. The dogs didn't last long outside, but still left some marks that had to be avoided when collecting snow. With the boys' help, the snow was packed into a form. We added a cap from HoneyBear's collection, and he was done.

I took the chance to use my Flip Video camera from school so we could remember the day we made a man out of snow.

NWA Ice Storm 2010

During the last week of January last year Northwest Arkansas suffered from an ice storm that caused almost the entire area to be out of power. When people in Northwest Arkansas heard that almost exactly one year later we would be facing another winter storm warning with ice and snow accumulation, the region reacted. Grocery stores were quickly wiped out of bread and milk, and Sam's went through quite a few generators. People in the region also stocked up on bottled water, so that HoneyBear had extra deliveries to the grocery stores with Aquafina and other Pepsi products.

As we watched the weather move into our area, we all watched the radar and the weather predictions. Thursday morning started with some sleet and freezing rain, but then cleared, with no road problems, so we made it to school. The winter storm watch was changed to a winter storm warning and a winter weather advisory, though, making us nervous all day that school would have to dismiss early. Fortunately, we made it through the day before the rest of the storm system hit.

Just after school was out, light precipitation started. By the time I got home, just minutes from school, my Explorer was covered in icicles.

With memories of last year still in our minds, we began to get nervous. For our family, our safety net was even eliminated--though we had been able to escape to Little Rock the year before, central Arkansas was also expecting winter weather, and we could no longer drive down to Nana and Papa's house if we lost power.

Fortunately for keeping power, NWA Ice Storm 2010 turned into NWA Snow Storm 2010! The sleet and freezing rain changed over to snow, and kept it up for hours. The ice and snow in our yard was so pretty--a true winter wonderland.

Tucker wasn't very happy with the cold or the snow, but Roly spent time outside. He was so funny prancing through the snow.

We were quite thankful to not have the power outages and dangerous conditions from the previous year as we settled in to enjoy the snow.