Homecoming Week

It's not very often Mike and I have time for ourselves.  

So when he came home with a picnic date last weekend and I was at a football game, we had to postpone. Luckily, the long weekend allowed time for us to sneak away for a couple hours Sunday night.  

His heart of gold melts me every time.

Maisie had her first debut as a cheerleader and absolutely loved it. 

This is "her" sport and I'm so glad we finally found it.

It was cold, misty and miserable.

Yet the smile never left her face.

And Homecoming week has been EXHAUSTING.

But due to this cutie having a role in the festivities, I wouldn't change a thing.

A Dad First

This guy has a zillion and seven things to do each weekend.  The weather has been fabulous and I know the itch to play Paul Bunyan in the woods or or reenact a scene from Dukes of Hazard with his Jeep has been thick.  

However, he's a dad first and wouldn't trade that title for anything.

Which explains why I've found him like this over the past three weekends. 

With teenage boys, sometimes this is the best way to show them what love looks like.

Our Herd

Well if this isn't the most adorable thing I've seen in a while, I don't know what is.

She's the only 7th grade cheerleader, but based on her current TicTok moves, this girl will have no issues learning the cheerleader groove.

This little rascal celebrated his 15th birthday with his best buddy.  

We ended up going to the Mexican Restaurant in Osceola.  Mack brought his friend along as well.  

There were only a few jokes about the white boy in the big Sombraro surrounded by Guatemalans.  

Jayson encouraged me to test out the new 'portrait mode' settings on my phone and taught me about the different light and focus modes.  

Each of us are demonstrating our fake smiles in this shot.

And then there's this girl and her herd...

Some days I feel I can relate.

Celebrating 15

Of all my kids, he was the one to take off alone.  

Always on the lookout for a new path to follow, an abandoned place to break into, a new neighbor, or hallow tree to explore.  

He was the one who went missing one Christmas day when he was 6 and we found him eating Christmas dinner at the neighbors house with their grandchildren.  

The one who snuck out of the house when I was nursing 1 month-old Maisie and lead to me running down the street calling for him with Maisie still in a tight latch.  

He was discovered at another neighbors house eating pizza with them at the dinner table.  

He was 4.  

The boy was made of curiosity and adventure.

He had places to go and things to do.

There wasn't much standing in his way. 

Of all my kids, he's my risk taker.  

The one who scares me the most.  

He's the bravest, yet the most vulnerable. 

He's making me earn the title of being 'Ross's Mom'

And it's taken me 15 years to learn I cannot corral this kid.  

He's been a caged-up tiger in a zoo for too long.  But he wasn't born a zoo-tiger.  

He was born a jungle tiger.  And he needed more.  

More competition.  More people.  More experiences.  More compassion.  More obstacles to overcome and more push.

No two kids are alike.  

If I've learned anything over the past 15 years, it's that one child cannot be compared to, or parented the same as another child.  

They are all individuals.

Therefore, I've cut yet another strand off the cord, and he's navigating life as a Winterset Husky this year.   

I'm not there to watch over him.  I'm not there to rescue him when he forgets to have his permission form signed, forgets his practice shoes or realizes he doesn't know how to use the credit card correctly for gas at the gas pump.  But he's figuring it out on his own.  

One day he will leave here and have no problem going off on his own.  He's already kinda done it... many times.

So today he turns 15.  In a year he'll be 16.

In a world full of unknowns,  I know his faith is strong and his heart is kind.  I know he is vulnerable, but he is also an overcomer.  

This year he is number 15 on the field.  

I'm choosing to celebrate each day, each hurdle, each success and each day God hand-picked me to be his mom.  

This year I'm celebrating to embrace 15 for so many reasons.

Yard Work

Ever since last weeks storm, Molly has been itching to get outside and do some yard work.  

Once she got the hang of gathering branches, loading them onto the mule, driving them to the burn pile, unloading them, and repeating the process over, and over again, she told Jayson he needed to get outside and help out.

I could overhear Molly encouraging Jayson throughout the process. 

"Wow Jayson, you're SO strong!" 

"You are REALLY good at yard work Jayson." 

All I could think of was what a great big sister she is.

In other news, Ross is dealing with sore feet and ankles due to football practices.  He's had a couple days off to rest and I've been forcing him to ice them each day at least once.  

I'm hoping he'll be good as new for practice Monday.  

I'm also hoping he washes his hands.

Molly Turned 10

On a picture perfect Saturday night I took these 3 rascals to a drive-in movie at the school.  

They were SO excited.  You'd have thought we were heading to the moon.

 

Of course we had to pack ALL the outdoor furniture cushions and old comforters I store in the house to create a bed in the back of the truck incase they got too sleepy.

Oh, and the movie didn't start until 9.

Sheesh!  Thankfully we didn't have to sit through previews.

Jay looks completely uninterested as he stares into space and itches his balls inhte below shot, but I promise he enjoyed the movie too.

And because we weren't born yesterday, we knew to smuggle our own popcorn in brown paper grocery sacks. 

Molly's ACTUAL birthday finally happened on Monday.  

She was a super-crab when she woke up because the box fan in her room stopped working the night before which made her too hot to sleep and Maisie was scared of a creepy doll coming to life and haunting her. 

Therefore, both girls ended up on the couch through the night and were woken super early by Jay talking to his Roblox characters.

But, the show had to go on and ear piercing was on the morning agenda.  

Yes, she's had her ears pierced before, but they closed up.

So we packed into the truck and made our way toward Des Moines as we noticed the crazy dark storm clouds rolling in.  

I figured we could beat it.  My truck does have EcoBoost (as Jay taught me).

But then the rain started.

And then the wind.

I told the kids I was thinking of pulling over, to which they replied, "NO, just go Mom."

Fine.

So with my hands at 10 and 2, music blaring through the radio, Molly looking a little nervous and Maisie saying how much she loved the threat of storms, we continued down the interstate through the derecho.

We had ears to pierce for crying out loud, and we weren't going to let anything stop us.

Claires, or Bust.

And that, was that.  

Her ears are pierced and she's officially 10.

Friend Parties

 The 10th Birthday friend party is DONE.

Molly's suddenly into making random expressions for the camera.  

Feeling blessed she actually cares and at least makes eye contact.

Feeling extra blessed we only had one puker (it was no bigs and she hit the toilet straight on.  Not her first rodeo at our house)

I'm one of those parents who really doesn't mind slime.  

But glitter slime- Nope!  

Not impressed with this gift. 

I feel sabotaged.

Swimming was a hit for those in the water.  

For this mama, who was sweating through her shirt, struggling through a rough bout of PMS, being bit by flys, and listening to Jay complain about being wet and hot and providing a dialogue of Back to the Future scenarios he insisted I participate in, while Maisie whined about any and every physical ailment she could think of before finally threatening to "pee her pants," I was starting to consider all my options for surviving the afternoon.

These two were floating along as I told them they looked like an old couple and I wanted a picture.  

Molly immediately giggled and said to her friend "Get over here fatty!"  

Seriously?  

At the same time I felt completely mortified, I began to wonder how much better life would be if we could all live and act like we were 10 years old again.