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.