Family Weekend

This being our last weekend before football season starts and every Saturday is booked from now until November, we decided to head out for a night and have some family time. It seems that the only time we are able to really have family time is if we get away. So, we loaded up and headed out of town as soon as Jason got off work on Saturday at noon.

The boys were glad to be away and truthfully so was Jason and I. We've basically been going nonstop for weeks now between football practices, Vacation Bible School, church website meetings & Bible studies, school starting back, Fair Board committee, PTO member for the school, work, home, laundry, selling a house, buying land, yard work, getting ready to build a house, planning a move. What is that old saying, "If you want something done, then give it to someone who is busy." Well, that has been our motto lately.

So, we headed out to just have some family time, some fun with each other and to put everything else out of our minds. And we were pretty successful. We made it to Pigeon Forge and went to the Comedy Barn. It's been many years since the last time that Jason and I went there. We really enjoyed it...laughing until it hurt. The boys weren't all that impressed. It is however as I explained to them - sometimes you do things that you don't necessarily enjoy because someone else in the family does enjoy it. Being the parents, we do that often. I think it was good for our kids to do it once for us. They did think it was silly when Jason got picked to go on stage and be part of a skit. (Got that on DVD by the way!).

After the Comedy Barn we went and rode go-carts. That got rained out but the tickets we purchased are good for any day. Perhaps we'll make it back up there this fall and be able to use them then. On to a lovely dinner where we played Tic-Tac-Toe and other games on the Kids menus. We had a great night sleep then up yesterday morning for a day of fun. While Jason and I got ready as well as bags packed up, the boys played their Nintendo DS games. Then on to breakfast and to Splash Country. This is Riley's most favorite place on earth. Yesterday was not the best day to go to Splash Country from a weather perspective. The sun never really did break through the clouds and it didn't get hot temperature wise either. However, from a crowd perspective it was perfect. We were able to go on the rides without hardly any wait in line. We enjoyed time with the boys talking and being silly. I got lots of pictures of them as they played and swam in the water.

We headed back to Sparta and each napped at different times on the way home. And only one fight in the car....towards the end of a trip....over a DS game. I would like to insert that Jonah took his nap after this fight (must have needed it, huh?). We also stopped in Knoxville and ate at the Mellow Mushroom. I'd eaten there once before but none of them had. It wasn't busy and it was something different for us.

The best thing was the time that we enjoyed just the four of us. All in all...a perfect family weekend.

Growing

My boys are growing. Literally. And I don't mean just growing up as in Riley starting Kindergarten and Jonah going into the first grade. I mean physically they are growing. And I am seeing signs of it everywhere. Personally, I am just not that happy about it either.

The other morning, Riley was reaching up to a shelf in the bathroom for the toothpaste. I was about to say the words, "Wait a minute and I'll help you" when I realized that Riley was reaching the toothpaste without standing on his toes and leaning. He could reach it by himself.

While shopping for some new school clothes, we bought Jonah a shirt and shorts outfit in a bigger size. I was sure that it would be too big and he would wear it next summer. I was wrong. He wore it last week to school and it fit just fine.

Last weekend while we were at Splash Country Jonah was able to go on two rides that he's not been able to ride before because he wasn't tall enough. And on the tube ride he was tall enough to ride by himself. He even carried his own tube while in line. While Jason and Jonah stopped for a snack, Riley and I went down the Lazy River. He splashed and swam around me. Then he decided to get in a tube and float a little while. He pulled himself in the tube all on his own and laid across it. Then we floated along the river.

Wow.....how did they grow so fast??? And when???

I can only imagine how much they are going to grow this next year!!!

First Warriors Game

Well, the first Warrior game was last Friday night. And boy were we ready for it! We've been eagerly reading the newspaper all during the off season workouts, the scrimmages, the football camps, etc. to find out how the team was doing. However, the first game is a big test.

Jason, the boys, and I loaded up for dinner at El Tapatio and then off to the first game of the season. Excitement filled the air. We all had on maroon and gray clothing, our Warrior stadium seats, and our parking pass & season passes. We are true Warrior fans! Made it to the stadium about 10 minutes before kick off and was able to talk to some friends. When we walked through the gate, we were handed a card roster along with a full season schedule that was made by a local bank. Very nice. This I can keep up with until I know which number goes with which name.

Jason and I made our way up to our seats. This was the first game that we let both Jonah and Riley go down to another area of the bleachers and sit with some of their friends. Luckily they were in our section just at the bottom. They kept coming up to see us to ask to go to the bathroom, to get something from the concessions, etc. We did have one minor incident. Riley picked up a bottle of the body paint on his way to the concession stand and got it all over the side of his game jersey. So, we had to take off his game jersey and wash it out in the sink. I was so aggravated that he picked up trash off the ground. Why would you pick up trash? Did not get a satisfactory answer on this. Thank goodness that he had on another shirt underneath the jersey. And thank God that the paint came off the jersey. And of course you know that the only time that the Warriors scored, Riley and I were just coming out from under the grandstands. We missed it. Oh well....they will score again this season.

It was showing rain on the radar and the wind was picking up so Riley and I headed to the Tahoe during the third quarter. I had not packed ponchos or an umbrella and was not in the mood to get wet. We listened to the game on the radio and Riley played the Nintendo DS. Jason and Jonah endured and it ended up just barely sprinkling. The location of our parking spot was enough that I could still see the scoreboard and part of the field. I will have to say that the radio announcers did a great job with the game.

This game was the first chance to see what the new head coach and his staff had been working on with the team. Definitely caught glimpses of greatness! I believe it is going to be a good season and we'll watch some exciting games. Go Warriors!!!

The First Days of School

It's really amazing how less than one week of school and already my boys seem to have grown up so much! First grade and Kindergarten....how can that make such an impact in just a matter of a few days? However, in this short amount of time they seemed to have just "grown up".

Jonah is reading things all of the time, everywhere - signs and papers. And this morning I asked him to write "cheese" on our shopping list. He is quite responsible and very naturally falls into the "big brother" role now that Riley is at school. I was so happy when I pulled up the other day to pick them both up and they were playing together....by choice. Of course they were digging in the dirt but that is completely besides the point.

And Riley....I think he's grown two inches taller in the past week. He already is "getting" school - where to go, when to go, etc. By the second day he told Jason that he didn't have to walk him down to class from the cafeteria. He knew where it was and could go alone. And he is up pretty much first every morning and ready quickly and that has never happened.

As we drove home yesterday afternoon the boys were falling over each other to talk about their day. I learned this, we did this, I made that, we read this, we counted, we played, etc. I hope this enthusiasm continues. Of course the best parts of the day still revolve around recess, lunch and snack time. Jonah thinks that is funny that his teacher posts what they did each day on a webpage. But it makes for more detailed conversations we have about what he is learning and the activities they are doing.

We enjoy packing lunches together in the morning - choosing snacks and drinks, talking about the upcoming day. Thankfully the boys' schedules are similar this year - PE, Library, and Music are all on the same days just different times. This will be a great source of help to mom and dad to make sure tennis shoes are worn on PE days and books are returned to the Library on Wednesday.

We need all of the help we can get.

Taking Up For Mom

Sunday afternoon as we ate lunch with friends, I tossed out an idea I had for a get together at our house with our new youth Sunday School class. My idea......have the teens over to watch Monday Night Football and have a devotional time during half time.

The teens at the table were like "yeah - that would be cool." Got a couple other funny comments from the adults including my husband. I tried to be louder than them saying that it was my dream to have this....it would be so fun....all the class talked like they liked football....and not to mess with my dream.

My youngest son Riley turns, looks at Jason and says, "Stop it dad! It's mom's dream!" No one said a word....they all about died laughing but they didn't say another word.

Way to go Riley - way to take up for mom's dream!

Friendly

I've always said that I'm not friendly. I've had many of my close friends who have tried to dispute it but when faced with the clear facts even they have had to admit, I am not friendly. For example, if I go to the grocery store or to Walmart, I do not find it necessary to make conversation with the check out clerk. Now I am not saying that I am rude. I walk up and say hello, smile, nod, whatever. But I don't see the point in carrying on a chit-chat conversation with a total stranger. I just don't feel obligated to carry on a conversation about nothing important with whomever happens to be sitting close by. If a meaningful conversation starts or there is an important observation to make, then I will jump right into it, get to know them and have a new friend. But I don't enjoy having useless conversation about nothing at all with a person I don't know just because we happen to be in close proximity of each other. Now, I have worked really hard in the last few months to be more friendly. To put myself out there and try to get to know people. However it is completely out of my comfort zone to be friendly.
It seems though that my children are going to take more after their dad than me. It absolutely amazed me how many people Jonah met as a kindergarten student this past year. He knew almost every teacher, the office staff, the principal, and so many students in all grades. I know it made a difference knowing the variety of students since he stayed each afternoon for the After School program. However, if it would have been me, I probably would have had my certain group of friends and that would have been all. Again, I'm not a snob and I don't think I'm better than anyone. I'm just not real comfortable with that "get to know you" type conversation. I wasn't comfortable even when I was his age.
We go through Walmart at times and kids and adults alike will say hello to Jonah and smile at me. They will walk by and I turn and ask him who they were. Most of the time he knows their name but if not their name then he knows what grade they taught, where they worked, who they were related to, etc. Completely amazing to me. And I'm so proud that he is easily able to make friends and get to know new people. This summer we decided to send him to the school's summer daycare program rather than his old daycare with all children that would be younger than him. The first day he only knew one other boy in the program and that was from playing basketball and not even on the same team. Now, he knows all of the kids and most of them actually attend different schools. And since they've been going to Summer School each morning, he has met even more people. He probably knows more people right now than I do!
This morning my husband Jason called and said, "Well, we have another Mr. Popularity on our hands." I, of course, needed more explanation. He said that when he dropped Riley off this morning for Summer School, they walked down the hallway to his class. They passed a few students and teachers and each one spoke to Riley and knew his name.
It looks like I will end up being known as Jonah and Riley's mom. I just won't know who they are.

Love to Learn

Both of my kids are in summer school.  It's interesting when you say this to people because their initial reaction is usually shock especially since Jonah just finished Kindergarten and Riley is set to just start Kindergarten this fall.  "Isn't summer school just for kids having trouble?" is the initial words or the look on their face.  Well, summer school is not just for that reason.  It can be a time of fun and learning during the summer when lots of kids are hitting the brick wall called "I'm Bored".  And it's not like a normal school day.  It's only half a day and they are able to learn a variety of things and in a fun way.We had planned for Jonah to go to his old daycare during the summer.  However, we found out about an opportunity for him to go to the daycare program through the school and opted to go that route.  There were a variety of reasons that played into that decision: (1) playing with children his age or older vs. interacting with younger children or babies all day, (2) plenty of interactive activities inside and outside vs. playing the Nintendo DS  inside or shooting basketball outside by himself, (3) opportunity to go to summer school vs. only follow up to kindergarten is at home with mom.So far Jonah has enjoyed the school daycare program.  He's looking forward to the days they will get to go swimming at the YMCA but enjoys playing on the playground, kick ball, dodge ball, board games, etc.  And he is enjoying summer school.  He has been learning Spanish, enjoying story time at the library, and music classes.  He's come home in the first two days and is counting to ten in Spanish, told me his assigned Spanish name (Ezra) and is telling me colors in Spanish.  And he loves story time.  Currently Dr. Seuss is his favorite author.  And music time is filled with singing action songs such as the famous "Chicken Dance."  Riley is also enjoying summer school.  He enjoys story time and the play doh center.  It's hit or miss whether he enjoys music time or not depending on if he knows the songs already.  He enjoys playing outside and snack time.  He likes all of the teachers he says but has decided that it's not necessary to learn everyone's name in his class.  He'll settle for learning a couple names of the ones he really likes.  Last night as I was talking to a few friends after church, we were discussing books we have read, are reading, or want to/should read.  I love to read.  I have always loved to read.  I haven't always had time to read but I think there is nothing better than curling up on the couch with a good book.  It is one of the most relaxing things for me.  One memorable time was the boys had spent the night with someone so Jason & I went out to eat and then to Books-A-Million.  We browsed books and magazines for over an hour.  Then I settled on a couple of purchases.  I went home and started reading until I got sleepy.  The next morning I got up after Jason went to work and I did my few things around the house.  When those things were finished, I settled in to finishing my book.  And I did.  I finished it that day, in peace and quiet, without interruptions or distractions.  I only stopped reading when I decided it was time for lunch.  And when my family all got back home that night....I was one relaxed mom and wife.  Now granted not all books are "learning" books.  However I have found that although the book may not be specific to teaching me something, the fact that I was reading has helped me to become a good speller, improved my grammar skills, and expanded my vocabulary.  And it's an amazing thing when someone is relating something to you and you can respond, I've read that before.  Or if you are disputing/validating a point, you can reference reading it in a book, magazine, article, etc.  It just makes you sound more intelligent!I hope my kids always love to learn.  I hope that I will be able to show them that learning is fun.  Learning is something you can do wherever you are or whatever you are doing.  You don't have to set out to learn but if you'll be open to it, then it will happen.  There's no need to turn off our brains just because it's summer, or because we graduated, or because we're thirty (almost).  Every day is a great day to learn something.  And I love it

Riley

Well, my baby has turned five years old. Wow...it is hard to believe Riley is already five and we are doing the preparation for school. I remember when we found out we were going to have another baby. My oldest had just turned 13 months old. Yes, I had a one year old and we were going to have another baby. It was just a little overwhelming. I remember wishing it would be a boy. We hadn't really cared with the first one and we didn't find out before hand if it was going to be a girl or a boy. But with the second baby and them being so close together, we told them that if they were 100% percent certain of the gender during the ultrasound then to go ahead and tell us. And they were 100% and it was another boy. I think I literally breathed a sigh of relief. Having two boys would certainly make it a little easier since we already have boys clothes and toys. And we kind of know what to expect with a boy, right?
Wrong....these two boys are night and day different. Jonah came out a very smiley baby however Riley, well, I think he saved his smiles for the first two years of his life for just a very few special people. He would go to various family members or friends and sit in their lap and watch others with a very somber face. He wasn't a baby who just laughed and smiled alot. About the two year mark though he must have decided that he had soaked in enough of the world and his personality begin to burst out. He is one of the smilingest (that's a word in blog land, right?), loveable, funny kids you will ever meet. He is friendly and never meets a stranger. If no one is around to talk to, well he will just talk to himself. I've watched him many times in his bedroom or on the porch, pretending to "work" on something and carry on complete conversations with himself. I do believe that his imagination is endless.
Riley loves to help. He loves to help daddy when he is mowing the grass; he loves to help mom cook in the kitchen, wash dishes (this would equal putting them in/out of the dishwasher), even clean up the house. He enjoys helping because that means there is someone to keep company and of course conversation. And as you know from my second blog post, the conversations can be quite interesting.
Riley is a home body too. One of his favorite things to do is to make brownies or cookies and then watch a movie in mom & dad's room. He loves water. He would spend hours in the bathtub if he could. And Splash Country in Pigeon Forge TN is his favorite place on earth. Even better than Disney World.
Riley loves to make me people laugh. And if he knows that something is "funny" then he will keep doing it or saying it as long as you continue to laugh. He love to tell a joke. Two of his favorite - one that Pastor Mike Campbell taught him about Pete & Repeat sittin' on a fence and the other one from the Madagascar 2 movie about good news and bad news. This enjoyment of making people laugh will probably lead him to being the class clown in school and getting in trouble. He will probably have hundreds of friends though. He's not normally one to get in trouble. However there are many times that he fails to listen to the instructions or warnings because he's making someone else laugh or talking. Lord help us!
Another neat thing is that Riley loves to be held. Still. My oldest son, Jonah, rarely wanted to be held at five years old. Even now, he doesn't spend much time sitting in your lap. He likes to sit beside you and is great at giving hugs. But Riley loves nothing better than to crawl in your arms, lay his head on your shoulder and be held. He thinks nothing of laying his head over on your lap in the restaurant booth and going right to sleep knowing that you're going to carry him to the car too. And when he looks up at you and asks to be held it makes you want to hold him. He has the most precious little face.
Wow....what a gift to be Riley's mom and enjoy him every single

Thoughts about heaven.....from an almost 5 year old

In our current daily routine, I leave work and pick up my almost five year old son (next week), Riley, from day care and then drive less than fifteen minutes and pick up my six year old son, Jonah, from school. In the few minutes that we have in the car together alone before we pick up Jonah, there is usually a discussion about how the day went, if you went outside and what you did outside, who was there and who wasn't, and how many "feet" you had left and why. For those who haven't heard about the "feet" system, let me explain.
At our day care, everyone starts the day with 3 feet. These 3 feet have your name on them and are hanging on a string on the wall. Now, if you misbehave then you have to remove one of your feet and put it in the boot. Cute, huh? If at the end of the day you have at least one foot remaining, then you get a prize from the treasure box. Literally, some days there are kids just hanging by a toe.
So....you can imagine that the entire ride from daycare to school pick up is full of conversation....especially if you have met Riley. He enjoys talking. Last week we quickly covered all of the normal topics of afternoon conversation very quickly in our ride. And there were a few moments of quiet and then the discussion began....

Riley: Mom, do you know that you don't have to have money in heaven?
Me: Really, why?
Riley: Because Jesus will just give you whatever you ask for. If you ask for something, He'll just ok, here it is.
Me: Wow, that's pretty cool. (few moments of silence)
Riley: Mom, you know that you don't have to cook in heaven.
Me: Really....that's cool.
Riley: Yeah, if you get hungry, you just ask Jesus and He'll say, ok, here it is. And it's already cooked. That's kind of magical.
Me: Yeah, that is awesome.
Riley: But, if you're bad you get kicked out of heaven and have to go live with the devil. You only get one chance you know.
(Theological discussion begins....)
Me: Well, I don't think that we will want to do bad things when we get to heaven. You see, when we go to heaven, we're going to get new bodies and in those bodies we will not want to do bad things anymore.
Riley: New bodies...oh....then we won't have to get kicked out.
Me: That's right. Once we get to heaven then we never have to leave.
(Few moments of silence)
Me: Riley, what do you think heaven looks like? Do you think it has green grass, a sun and clouds?
Riley: No...it's gold.
Me: Wow, that is amazing.
Riley: Yeah, so it's really sparkly. And silver. That's sparkly too. And you know, that when you get to heaven....you can touch the sun?
Me: Yeah, I guess you can touch the sun because you'll have that new body.

Part of this conversation, I'm sure is his imagination - how he pictures Jesus in his imagination cooking his food in seconds and just giving it to him. He may be thinking that when he asks Jesus for something to eat, that he won't get the response "No, you don't eat that for breakfast" or "No, you can't have that before dinner". However, his idea of the closeness of Jesus and how beautiful heaven will be....now that is right on.

My name

When I finally decided to make the leap from putting thoughts in emails to actually trying a blog, I had to come up with a name. I thought about when my mom named me. She said that she searched hard for a name that wouldn't have a nick name. She went through college year books and found the name Melanie. Try as she might, she could not come up with a nick name. However there ended up being a show on television just a few short years after I was born about a restaurant called "Mel's Diner" and you guessed it....my nickname became Mel. My mother hated it at the time because Mel was a man. But....it didn't bother me. And now my own mom calls me Mel.
Throughout the years there have been a few other nick names added. My dad calls me MG (short for my full name Melanie Gean). My best friend in high school called me Mellie. One of the guys at work calls me Melvin. I've also been called Smelly Melly, Water "mel" on, Melanie Felony (this one doesn't make any sense since I've always been a goody two shoes.). My brother's nick name for me was "Princess" but he used that mainly when he was mad because I was going somewhere and he wasn't. I believe the words were "The Princess always gets her way!"

When my husband Jason and I started dating most people called him by his name. However there were some friends that used his middle name, Argo, and another group of friends that called him Ray Ray. Still not sure where that came from? And after we'd been to a couple of family gatherings, I had to ask why some of his uncles called him Jake instead of Jason. No good answer....they just always did.

Now...I have two sons - Jonah and Riley. I never did think about whether they would have nick names or not. I assume at some point everyone has a nickname. However, I don't think that my oldest son Jonah has ever had a nickname. He's always called Jonah. Sometimes he mistakenly is called Noah since it is a more common name than Jonah and sound similar. But, it is not a nick name. But my youngest son Riley has had many nicknames for his young five years. We started out with the nick name Rooster. This came from the fact that he was up at the crack of dawn ready for the day. That name was eventually shortened to Roo. From there we added Ri. Since we've started playing sports and there are either multiple Riley's (boys and girls) or Briley, Bailey, Kylee, etc. we either use Ri or use his full name, Riley Austin. The other day he decided that he wanted to add a second name which I informed him was known as a nick name. He said that he wanted to be called Piglet. This actually is very appropriate since he can sometimes remind you of Piglet - he is a little small, cuddly, and has a lot to say but sometimes gets all tongue tied trying to say it all.

So...maybe some names are prone to nick names....or maybe some personalities are. Not sure which one is the case but either way....you can call me Mel.