Thief

Bagels have been working for breakfast lately. 

I like them with cream cheese.  G likes them with butter. 

So I'd made us each one, left the kitchen for a minute, and came back to this....

New Expressions

There are two frequent phrases lately that I love.  I'm not sure that either will come across without photos of the attendant facial expressions & gestures, but I will try.

- G will do something ridiculous.  I'll ask him: "What are you doing?"  He'll look back at me, totally perplexed, and say "I na no, Mama."  (I don't know, Mama)

- I'll be trying to accomplish something (always).  G will be troubling around my feet (always).  Finally he'll think of something that he wants to go get/accomplish.  Before he goes, though, he'll call for my attention.  Then he'll stick up his index finger, drop down his chin, raise up his eyebrows, and sincerely assure me: "I be reye ba (right back) Mama.  Reye ba."

Movie Night

Last week we had a less-than-stellar week here.  On Friday night I was ready to engage Joseph in a major Teen vs. Mom explosion. 

Instead, I took the boys out for pizza.  Then ice cream.  And then we watched a movie.  Joseph & I both love "The Emperor's New Groove."  It was our first time watching tv with G.  He really liked the opening credit music/dancing.

The night turned out so much better than the brawl would have.  Thank goodness.

Floss anyone?

When G decides to work on his oral hygiene, there's plenty of floss to share.

Growth

February 18th
Stretching up to Joseph's doorknob:

August 22nd

I asked him to stretch up to Joseph's doorknob.  He was willing:

although kind of puzzled about why I'd want him to stretch.

(Note: 6 months later, still no pants)

I recently measured him at 37" and 31#. 

That would mean - in the last 6 weeks - he grew 2" and no pounds.  Is that possible?

Celebrating the Boys

Little by little we're stealing moments to celebrate Joseph's 18 years.

Friday after band camp we gifted him.



Comforter & sheets for college.  Not too exciting when college is still a year away.  But exciting if you realize that he wouldn't otherwise get new sheets for college.

Saturday was dinner in Chinatown with his dad's family.  No one there was very concerned about photos.  Which may explain why all I have is these...

No evidence that the birthday boy was there.  You'll have to trust me.

And then celebrating G....  Can you believe that I can take him out to a long restaurant meal now?  At church now we make it through all of the opening songs before I have to take him out.  He's developing the ability to sit!

Don't ask me why sitting is a problem.  I imagine him at the orphanage for 3+ years doing nothing by lying & sitting.  Yet when he came home, he could/would not sit still for anything.  Maybe it's the "quiet" part that was tripping him up.  Maybe it's just that he knew what fun alternatives to sitting we have.  For whatever reason, it was an issue.  Only it's becoming less of one all the time.  Love it!

Bip Bop

One of Joseph & my favorite things is when G declares that he wants to wear his bip bops.

Recipe Share

1.  Did you ever expect to find a recipe on my blog?!  Don't worry.  It fits my recipe requirements: less than 5 ingredients & 10 minutes are involved.

2.  There is a good chance you will dislike this recipe.  Both my boys did.  But I like the concept of it so much that I had to share.  Let me know if it works better in your house.

On KLove recently they were interviewing a lady.  She was talking about the health benefits of watermelon.  And how easy it is to blend up watermelon, add some coconut milk and honey or maple syrup, and have awesome healthy-ish popsicles.  Sounds delicious, doesn't it?

Don't let him fool you.  He hated it.

If you want to try it.


Update: Tonight G devoured a whole popsicle.  Maybe they taste better on Thursdays.

18

Recently I experienced The.Worst.Ever Customer Service. You think you’ve experienced awful customer service before? Oh no. You have nothing compared to the multiple hours I spent on “LiveChat available 24/7” and the telephone with Norton Antivirus. Let’s just say that my experience involved Farheen in India. Who told me on Tuesday that I had missed my Wednesday renewal date because it was Wednesday in India. Yeah – not so much! Norton Antivirus, I hate you.


Anyway.

I mention this because at one point Farheen asked me my son’s age (because I told her I was late picking him up) (because I had spent the previous hours with Farheen). When I told her Joseph’s age, she said, “Oh! You sound so young.” Now, what exactly did that mean? I believe she was trying to compliment me in an attempt to diffuse my wrath. I’m still puzzled by that. Is it good to sound young? Too young to have birthed your child? Who knows. Maybe she was just trying to explain that I was getting rotten customer service because I sounded like a teenager.


Anyway.

I really am the mother of a 18-year-old! Can you stand that?!

This morning, my 18-year-old boldy declared that he is now an Adult. To which his father promptly replied, “Great. Then you must be ready to pay rent. Because adults pay bills.” Way to celebrate him, eh?

And why was his father here this morning? Because it is very hard to celebrate the birthday of a person who is at Band Camp from 8am until 9pm every day. [Band Camp stinks. Not as bad as Norton Antivirus, but close.] So we celebrated this morning with a surprise birthday breakfast. Andrew picked up breakfast and came over, and the “party” was on.

A "young adult" worth celebrating.

Do you realize this may be the last year that I will live with this person?  How crazy to realize that he really is launching.  I am going to try to spend the next 365 days enjoying him while I can.

Vacation: Part 2

WARNING: This post includes 10,000,000 photos. 

It was impossible for me to cut out any more cuteness than I did.

So - finally - Part 2!  I wasn't sure if my friends would want photos of their children on here.  One did; one preferred not.  So, while I am about to swamp you with cuteness, just know that -in person- the cute factor was even more extreme than this!

On Saturday our family was able to meet up with two other families.  Each had adopted one of G's friends from Haiti.  These were children who G lived with for the first years of his life.  It was AWESOME and AMAZING to be part of their reunion.

G goes to day care most days.  He sees the same other children every day.  He plays next to where they're playing.  Sometimes they interact.

Not so with the friends we saw on Saturday.  G had an absolute blast.  He was so happy to see his buddy.  And played with him wildly.  My favorite part of the weekend was watching this game:

1. Run to a good spot.

2.  Hug each other really hard.

3.  Spin around while hugging.

4.  Fall to the ground.

5.  Continue hugging while rolling around.

6.  Get up & repeat.

I did warn you about the serious cuteness, didn't I?

We went to a Childrens Museum together.  And, if you're counting - yes - that does mean we hit two Childrens Museums within two days.

There was a show.  Different dancing styles through the decades.  I rocked out the 80's, of course.  Both boys enjoyed watching the show.

But only one boy knew his way around the dance floor.  Wish you could've seen his moves!

G may not dance, but he knew how to look cool on a motorcycle.

We were treated to a merry-go-round ride.

I couldn't decide about posting M's photo with his mom

or with his sister.

Both were too cute - eh?

There was hiding

and flying

and driving.

Big brother P was a delight!  He told us all about puffer fish.  And he even shared his cotton candy.

Back at the house there was jumping

and running outside

and running inside.

It was a wild wild day.  Tons of fun. 

We're so grateful we had the opportunity to get together again - in the USA!

More Willow Creek Summit

I left you with the question "How are people most motivated at work?"

According to Daniel Pink there was a very large study done which found that the single largest factor for people feeling motivated is.. when they're making progress.  Isn't that simple?  And yet, doesn't it ring true?  I know that when I feel like I've progressed on a project, I feel like I've had a good day.

So then, the lesson becomes - as a supervisor, how do I help my folks to feel like they're making progress?  I do it by building in celebrations of milemarkers as projects progress (even if I have to create the milemarkers).  And I do it by creating more opportunities for feedback.  Pink questioned the import of an annual review, asking "What if Serena Williams only got feedback once a year?"  We have to build specific goals into our projects so that we can periodically measure our progress.

I wrote about progress on projects, but the lessons apply also to progress on personal development.

Is this interesting to normal people, or is it just me?

Vacation: Part 4

(yes - still skipping Part 2)

I used two of my precious vacation days to attend the Willow Creek Leadership Summit with Joseph.  I was doubting whether that was a good investment of my days, but WOW it was a great conference.  Enjoyed the time with Joseph.  Received lots of challenges, encouragement & ideas.

One example.... Daniel Pink talked about the concept of a "FedEx Day".  That's where once a quarter, employees are given a whole Thursday to work on anything they want, not related to their normal job.  Then, they have to present what they did to their team on Friday (overnight, thus "FedEx").  Doesn't that sound like an easy way to stimulate creativity in the office?  Pink said, I think, that google has a rule that 20% of an employee's time can be spent working on whatever they want.  With google retaining the license to whatever creative ideas develop, of course.  He said that google news and gmail were both the result of 20% time.  I can't wait to demo a bit of this concept at my work.

Oh - I'll leave you with a question from Pink's presentation.  He asked, "How are people best motivated at work?"  What do you think?

News & Observation

(There's more Vacation to share about, but it has to wait.)

News first.

Ever since Joseph first started thinking about college, there has only been ONE destination in mind.  The dream college.  The goal.  The ONE.

It was while trolling this school's website that Joseph discovered their summer program.  He applied, was accepted, and loved it.  Along the way, he's met lots of folks there - even the Director of Admissions.  And every single minute on that campus has only served to cement its ranking as The ONE.  The looming question of "Will I be accepted?" has been anguished over in our home on many many occasions.

Today Joseph received a form letter from The One congratulating him on his "standing as a high scorer in the PSAT...program."  AND - at the bottom of the letter was a handwritten note from the Director of Admissions: "Hi Joe - I was so excited to see your name on our PSAT list!  Congratulations!  Am really excited about the possibility of you being at [The ONE]."

Oh my word.  The joy.  The hope!  It's really fun to see your child's excitement.  Do you think that when your child's dream comes true it's better than if one of your own dreams did? 

Plus - Joseph's joy factor impelled him to both trim our bushes and scrub out G's little pool - furthering my joy :)

I did remind Joseph that if The ONE doesn't provide a SERIOUS MAJOR LOT of financial aid, then they will be The Impossible.  We shall see.


The Observation

I had really looked forward to my sister's family meeting G and getting to see how funny he is in person.  The kid is a riot.

Only - when they were here, he was not funny.  Not really even once.

As soon as we were back to our regular lives, he blossomed again.  I've been wondering about that.  There are a few different possible explanations, aren't there?  In any case, it's good to know he blossoms at home.

One little example happened tonight.  G gets to choose 3 books for me to read before bed.  Tonight he carefully chose and gave me 2 books.  Then 1 more.  Then -very deliberately-without making eye contact with me- 1 more.  And then again - 1 more.  And then, with exaggerated carelessness, he waved his hand at me & started to lead me towards the bed: "Let's go, Mama."  I held it for 2 beats, but had to burst out laughing.. and he joined me.  He was totally trying to pull one over on me!  And he thought it was hysterical that I busted him.

I love my boys.

Vacation: Part 3

(Yes, I'm skipping Part 2 for now)

We got home from Indianapolis and drove straight to my parents' house, where my THREE NIECES were visiting!

Innocent running-around-fun

...turned into a skirmish when the kids commandeered the garden hose from Grammy.  She paid for that mistake with a major drenching. 

A trip to the Childrens Museum with ALL the grandchildren.

Which child do you suppose most enjoyed the magnet-tiles?

Hmmm...

The older "boys" did seem to enjoy themselves.

Back at home, these three had fun

... that was magnified when M, A, and M joined us!

(Sorry about Mallory's pose.  You try getting a decent shot of 7 little ones.)

At one point I went upstairs because G was hollering.  Turns out that the girls had placed a bouncer at the bedroom door: "No, G, you can't come in.  Only GIRLS can come in because we're changing clothes.  The girls are nak&d in there."  G was NOT happy with the discrimination.  But what ensued was glorious - a parade of princesses.  Molly was there coaching (in a highbrow English accent): "Chins up, ladies.  Graceful.  Remember that you are princesses."  Oh my.

The young ladies are back to their own castles now. 

And us, we're back to video games & trains.

Vacation

We took our first family vacation!  It was a tad bit challenging choosing something that would be enjoyed by a 3-year-old and a 17-year-old, but we settled on an Indiana waterpark.

Troubles plagued our morning: Joseph out of allergy medicine, me unable to find my drivers license, weather that was coldish & rainy... but we pressed on.

We made it to the waterpark, late, but alive.  I instructed the boys that we were to have FUN.  One of them achieved that by huddling on a deckchair with a book.  The other boy joined me in a wave pool / lazy river / tube slide extravaganza.

Indianapolis is a great city.  We got to walk around downtown and enjoy a delicious dinner served outside.  Awesome people watching.  G's first midnight bedtime.  We had fun.

Speech Progress

I love you:
"I-uh-oo" has become "I-luh-loo"

What happened:
"Ha-happen" has become "Wha-happen"

I noticed a five-word sentence: "Look, I opened it Mama."  That was exciting.

I'm a little sad over the progress.  "Ha-happen" was just so cute.  I mean, I want G to be able to speak properly.  But like when he's 20.  It's all just going so fast.