HE DID NOT ....
JUST DO THAT!!!
Uuuummmm ... yeah, he did.
I don't know which is worse, the fact he put his face into a cupcake, or that he did it while it was perched upon a Princess plate?
Just sayin'.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY DREW-BE-DOO!
We love you!
** If I were a good mother (and blogger), this would have been posted back on August 31st, when Drew actually turned 10 years old. Hey, at least I blogged it! And I'm not even two months late. That is called success in my book!
We all know the routine because we've been living it since we were five years old and in kindergarten. Each year , our mothers set out our finest set of new school clothes, woke us 15 minutes earlier than normal to style our hair 'just so'. With a comb nestled into our book bag, we were sent out the door with reminders to smile our best smile.
And then hours later, we stood in a line with our classmates, waiting our turn for some strange woman using that same comb to yank and pull our hair in directions it was never meant to go, before shoving us onto a carpeted box and demanding we look at the camera and smile. The bright light next to the photographer shone brightly into our eyes and the snap of the photo usually happened just moments before we expected it to. Right?
A few weeks later we were presented with our 'school' picture. The image that would not only be swapped with every kid in school that we considered our closest friend, but also framed and mounted on the living room wall for the upcoming year. Right up until it would be thrown into the memory box just waiting to humiliate us to no end a decade later ... and replaced with the new dreaded pic showing us growing a year older.
Is this the experience you all had growing up? If not, then you must think I'm some sort of crazy lunatic going on and on about the experience. But, you should be getting used to that by now, so I'm not too worried about you.
Anyway ... I do things a bit differently with my kiddos. Maybe it's because I remember the torture of years past. Or because I'm lazy. Or maybe simply because they don't ever have an awesome new school outfit suitable for such a big day. Regardless ... my kids wake up on picture day and get dressed just as they would any other day. They comb their hair and brush their teeth ... in our normal mundane routine.
Then they leave for school.
And when the pictures arrive home ... I always wish we would have given it a little more effort.
However ... I don't have to wait a decade to humiliate them.
Jake - 7th Grade
Drew - 5th Grade
Emily - 1st Grade
Molly - Kindergarten
In this world of technology, I find it so funny that my children are note writers. Like MAJOR note writers. It is not uncommon for me to find notes laying around the house that the kiddos have written to one another. And it's almost daily that I have one delivered directly into my hands from the composer.
I've shared some of them with you in the past ... and have decided that I need to share a lot more, specifically so that I can keep them as momentos. I just love some of the things they say.
For example, here is one written by Drew not too long ago.
How sweet, huh?
Or maybe not ...
Nice, huh?
So, I'll let you guess which box I checked ...
Yes, I am completely aware that it's been two weeks since the eve of the first day of school. I fully expected to write about it the moment those four kids were safely nestled into their seats on the school bus ... and it drove away.
But, when that time actually came, I just couldn't find the words.
And still, 14 days later, I still don't have the words to describe the experience, as I have yet to be able to wrap my head around the fact that all four of them are now in school. ALL DAY!
However, don't fret ... I do have the traditional and mandatory "Back To School" photos. So those will have to do. M'kay?
Here are the boys. Don't you just love the sarcastic look on Drew's face, making it perfectly known that he is not happy about having his photo taken? Or going to school for that matter? Jake is more seasoned ... and knows not to fight it. It's going to happen whether he likes it or not.
Jake - The 7th Grader ... and yes, someday I'm fairly confident that he WILL grow! At least that is what his doctor tells me.
Drew - The 5th Grader
The entire morning Molly couldn't wait to get out of the house and get to the bus stop. She was devastated that I made her pose for pictures. I KNOW! Molly. Not wanting the camera in her face. I wouldn't believe it either if I hadn't been the one yelling through clenched teeth to "STAND THERE AND SMILE, DAMMIT!" And of course Emily checking to see if the neighbors can hear me yelling ... again.
Emily - The Big 1st Grader
And Molly ... the Kindergarten!
Something tells me that they were just as excited to go to school as I was for them to go to school!
Just sayin'.
And just so you know, I am confident I'll learn how to take pictures that aren't so washed out and awful when I attend the I Blog Conference this November. Are you going?
For nine years I've been trying to contain Drew. After all, he has always been my rambunctious one. The child with the never ending supply of zest. I often wished that if I could just bottle a quarter of his energy, I'd accomplish my to do list every single day.
Obviously ... my wish was never granted.
Just sayin'.
Anyway, I can never seem to get Drew to settle down and horn in ... however, Lucky doesn't seem to have that problem ...
AT ALL!!!
After all my efforts ... this damn dog makes it look so darned easy!
School is out for the summer and my schedule for running the kids here and there and EVERYWHERE is more than cut in half ... so guess what? You'll be seeing AN IOWA MOM highlighted a lot more often in your feed reader. Whether that is a good or bad thing? I'll leave up to you!
SO ... This is Drew's second year playing in competitive baseball. He loves it. Mind you, this year ... he's been struggling a bit while learning a different position than what he's used to, and found himself in a huge slump when he found himself up to bat. However, everything is slowly coming together and he is doing better with each passing game.
It was just this past weekend that his team found themselves at a tournament just a few miles from here. After the threat of rain ... that never arrived ... their first of four games was underway. The boys were hitting. They were fielding. They were doing everything right. They clicked and played as a true team and it was obvious when you look back at the outcome of those two days.
It was Drew's first ever tournament WIN ... and he was proud to perch the newest trophy upon his shelf in their bedroom.
A big CONGRATULATIONS and WAY TO GO to the 10U Prairie Hawks!
And Drew, we are so proud of you for sticking with it, staying focused, finding your confidence and carrying on when things were a bit frustrating for you! We know how much you love this game ... and we so enjoy watching you play it!
** Stay tuned to find out what happens at the "Victory Pizza/Pool Party" ...
