No Tears for Daddy

Trying to get the boys to the car for school, Evan stopped at the door to kiss Laura goodbye. He turned toward the car and hesitated. (NO, not that look! DON'T turn back around!) But he did - he got that look - the one that says, "I don't want to leave Mommy today." The one that means a struggle is coming. The look that betrays a deep longing in the heart of a child to just go back inside and snuggle with his mother for the rest of the morning. (Aww MAN! Not today!) I ran to the door to scoop up the deserter as he ran inside the house and grabbed Laura's leg. "I wanna stay with YOU, Mommy!" (kiss, hug, prying, crying, fighting to strap him into his seat as he showers me with warm tears and snot)...
Why does traffic back up more on the days you're running a few minutes late with a child in the backseat whining, "I want Mommy" for 20 minutes straight? Funny, though, as soon as we pulled onto the school drive, the crying stopped, the backpacks went on, hugs and kisses for me and then, "bye, Dad" from each as they jumped right out and headed to class without a hitch. Amazing. Thank you, God! (Wait a minute! No tears for ME?!)

Hand-Me-Down SLAYER

Evan's birth came at a great time, economically speaking, because he was born the same month as Nathan (two years later). So the hand-me-down deal has been golden! Now, Nathan gave some wear and tear to his clothes, but most have lasted well enough to serve both boys. Let me just say that it's a good thing we don't need many of them a third time, because Evan is a "the buck stops with me" kind of boy. While we have sent some clothes on to their cousin, Blake, I'm sure most of them will be "play" clothes. Evan is a slayer of hand-me-downs. He eliminates the possibilities of even his new clothes being passed on - usually within the first two wearings. Paint, mud, markers, tears, food... if you want to know what Evan was into on any given day, all you have to do is look at his clothes. I love that he is a "grab life by the horns" kind of kid. But when you live like that, you have to expect a higher turnover rate in clothing!

All I want for Christmas '09

After much thought and planning, sending out various idea lists and securing all of the intended items, the boys popped off with a last minute "I really want" request. A scooter? Where did that come from? They had apparently enjoyed the new discovery at a friends' party over a late December weekend and knew they had to have their own. Thankfully, it was one of the simple twenty dollar kind. Toys R Us had them on sale and they each got a Razor scooter along with the other Christmas gifts. Who knew that those scooters alone could have saved us a lot of hassle if we'd only given only them? I mean, they like their microphones and PA setup, the playset rockwall and the various gifts from family. But the one item they have spent more time with/on is their scooters! Amazingly, as nervous as Nathan had been about riding his bike before without training wheels, he is already performing tricks and stunts on his scooter. Thankfully Evan can't get my truck tailgate down to ramp off of the bed, but I won't let him take his scooter in the backyard unsupervised because I KNOW he's probably dying to ride it down the slide!