Somebody's Growing Up Fast (and Other Happenings This July)

It's hard to believe that Gavin is 7 months already! The summer has flown by, and so have many of his milestones. The little booger is a real mover and shaker. He began army crawling in June, a week before he turned 6 months old, and honed his skills on our trip to New Jersey. Now he's more than mobile, crawling all over the place and trying constantly to keep up with his brothers. A couple of things that he's doing amaze us: he will stand flat-footed at the train table and play with/suck on trains while not holding on at all (see below). He also crawls to the bottom step and pulls himself up to standing, pulls himself up to standing when he's on our laps by using our shirts as a hand hold, and will take steps when we stand him up and hold his hands. Some people say he's going to be an early walker. We'll have to see!



Last weekend we went to my hometown - Gering, NE - to celebrate Oregon Trail Days. Since my entire family went (Mom, Dad, sisters and their families, aunt and uncle) we got a lot of quality time with family and friends. The Kirbys no longer have a home in Gering, which is hard for me still, but we stayed with the parents of my dear friend from growing up, The Parrs. What made it even more fun was that Allyson and here family were there too, as well as our friend Julie and her family. We got to have a fun evening of catching up at Jadie's house, where I was reminded that not only am I blessed to have my dear college friends, but also to have these five amazing women, who shared my growing up years, still in my life.



The five grandsons posed (if you can call it that) for a photo op with their Grandpa, a task which felt an awful lot like herding cats.



And finally, a picture of the countryside where I grew up. Some people think that the panhandle of Nebraska is flat, hot, brown, and...well, flat. Those of us who love the land in that part of the country are drawn to it's wide open spaces and humongous horizon broken only by sandstone bluffs that look so different depending on how the sun is rising or setting, how the lightning is striking the sky, how the snow is falling, and even how the fog has settled. As Allyson and I drove into town one morning to get some donuts from the world-famous Gering Bakery, I couldn't help stopping the car to snap the picture below. Being "home", though the home of my childhood is no longer there, fills my heart with peace. As my uncle says, "Life just slows down here". Yes, it does, and I love it!

Scottsbluff National Monument

Mommy's Little Helpers

Wow...May 19th! That's the last time I posted. I have such a hard time motivating myself to write these days. Well, I guess that's been the case for several months now. I still compose posts in my head, but most of them never actually make it out of the jungle of my marshmallow mommy-brain.

The boys are out of school now, and we are excited about having two months of not having to run around like crazy chickens with no heads every morning. I'm feeling good about the boys' summer chore list, and I think they are too. Two new rules that I think are going to be life changing for me are:

1) TV goes off at 8am
2) B.O.B. time for 30 minutes every afternoon (an old camp term for "Body on Bunk")

So far, both of these little babies look promising. On the one whole day we've gotten to try implementing them (Friday), we got a lot done in the morning, and Connor actually fell asleep and took a nap!

You know, sometimes when I hit on something that seems like a real gem to me, I wonder why I didn't start doing it earlier. Then I have this moment of pleasant revelation when it occurs to me, "Hey, I'm the mom here. I can make rules like this whenever I want!". I mean, I don't want to abuse my parental power or anything, but I think I'm going to start thinking about what works for me a little more. I'm also finding that teaching the boys how to clean their own bathroom - a multiple-step training process - has very real payoffs. Geez! Why didn't I think of this sooner?

One Foot in Winter

With two inches of snow on our grass this morning, it's hard to believe that summer is just around the corner. The garden, which had just begun to come to life, was blanketed with heavy wet white stuff, and I found myself crossing my fingers that with the melt, we wouldn't find broken lilac bushes and early bloomers that won't bloom. After getting home from work and doing a quick assessment of the damage, it looks like we fared pretty well. It's supposed to be beautiful this weekend, so I'm hoping to get out and plant the perennials that I bought Husband for our anniversary. He is after all, my favorite gardening partner.

Today I had my first major run-in with a student. It was a middle-schooler who was running through the halls. When I asked her to stop running, she blew right past me in full stride, chasing another student. When she walked back my way, she refused to acknowledge me and as she passed me in the crowded hall, she shouldered me (which I think was probably unintentional). Calling her by name, I asked told her to turn around. I found myself using the horribly matronly-sounding "Young lady!" to get her to turn around (I cringed even as I said it). Turning around, she rolled her eyes and said, "WHAT!". We had a very brief exchange that left me feeling really sad. Sure, I guess I "won", but who cares? What bothers me is that a young girl thinks it's okay to blatantly ignore school rules, and to treat an adult with such utter disrespect. Fortunately for me, another teacher and the assistant principal witnessed it, and completely backed me up. As a result, the student is going to miss out on a really neat field trip. I found myself feeling really sad for her (but believe me, not one bit guilty), then had to remind myself that she made the choice. I mean really...most of us made it all the way through high school and college without ever having a run-in like that with an authority figure, right?

I am counting down the days until the end of the school year - 12 left, to be exact. Still, with my eye on the summer, I find that I have to keep focused on finding a job for next fall. I had another interview this past Monday, and I feel really good about it (of course, I felt really good about the last one and have never heard back). I have two more interviews tomorrow. It's a very humbling experience to lay yourself completely bare for people you don't even know and then run the risk of never even hearing back from them again. But, I will press on...I know the perfect job is out there for me somewhere. And as I do find it, I plan to focus all of my energy on my favorite thing...being MOM. The boys and I have big plans; plans that include the library, the pool, making snow cones, riding bikes, and staying in our jammies until past 7am. And maybe, just maybe, Gavin will decide to start sleeping through the night...

A Week of Summer Fun

Last week the boys and I celebrated one of their favorite days of summer...the opening of "The Market". We have a little farmer's market two blocks from our house, at the edge of our neighborhood. Most of the produce comes from fields at the end of our street or nearby, and it is a delicious treat to walk or bike down between July and October and pick out fresh produce for dinner. Though neither of the boys is particularly fond of vegetables, they are both completely enamored with the market. Maybe it's the suckers they get every time we're there, maybe it's the fact that they can walk down and pick out their own groceries, and maybe it's just the fact that it's summer, but the market is magical.

Actually, this summer seems pretty magical all the way around. In just the last week, we've hit the park twice, played with friends in the fountains, gone swimming, had a big family BBQ hosted by my sister and her new husband - not to mention Kirby putting together a 70-piece puzzle by himself in about 20 minutes (sorry, couldn't resist slipping in a little shameless bragging). As I watched the boys running ahead of me to the market, I felt a pang of sadness and dread about going back to school in the fall. I couldn't help feeling like I'll be missing out on a lot when I eventually go back to work...then I realized that this is why I'm going to be a teacher...so that I can have time like this with the boys every summer. Oh, the years seem to stretch ahead with endless possibilities! I just hope they don't fly by as quickly as each summer seems to.

Ahhh...To Be a Boy

For once I actually find myself alone in the house in the morning, the last person to leave. Stephen and the boys are already up and on their way to a Huck Finn fishing derby. They boys are so excited. This is a big day for them, full of "manly" activities. Connor is geared up with his pack-pack loaded with Etch-a-Sketch and a wrapped English Muffin (he insisted on putting his "lunch" in his pack "like Mommy does"). I'm anxious to see if they catch anything - especially if they catch the pink fish that Connor tells me are living in the reservoir.
This summer looks to be our most fun summer yet. Having a three and a five year-old boy is a different world compared to how I grew up, but I love it! I have decided that if I get to come back as anything after I die, I'm coming back as a five year-old boy. One of the things I'm getting the biggest kick out of is how they want to sleep now that the weather is so warm. Both of them get dressed in their PJ's each night, Connor insistent upon pulling his underwear up over his Pull-Up. A peek inside the room an hour later reveals two crumpled balls of pajamas on the bedroom floor. The boys have decided it's too hot for pajamas and they want to sleep "like Daddy".

Yep. Because Daddy always makes sure to put his diaper on before he puts on his underwear at night.