The Bahamian Devil

Well, I think we brought home a different kid. I am not sure what happened to our sweet, cute, laid back Tater Tot. The boy who is with us now is quite a different creature! If we all thought Cookie Monster was a wild man at this age, then we are in a for a rude awakening. Even my mom, after five kids of her own, had no good advice for me. He doesn't sleep, eats like a ravenous animal, and screams about everything. He has a temper that far surpasses anything I have experienced before. So, needless to say, we are cracking the whip. He is upstairs screaming right now because he doesn't want to nap even though Chris was up half the night with him. He'll get it. We may resort to earplugs by the time he does, but he'll get it. He just thinks he's the boss. He just doesn't understand who he's dealing with. Why do you think I even had kids? So, I could be the boss! ;)

It is good to be home. Messy, but good. Still unpacking, and there is dust in every corner of this house. We had the countertops replaced in the kitchen (finally) while we were away, and the construction zone dust is still here. Lucia can't get here fast enough! Our vacuum cleaner is on its last leg, and is so loud it truly scared both Tater and Nosey when I ran it this morning. We have continued the laziness theme upon our arrival here, and I am enjoying it. Chris finally broke down and went to the grocery store so we won't starve to death.

Summertime is always my favorite time of year. Has been since I was a kid. Maybe it remained that way as an adult because I was on an academic calendar when I was in school and then when I worked too. It always makes me feel free. These days it's mostly free from Nosey's schedule. However, he starts camp tomorrow. Six weeks this summer. I am really excited for him. He really works hard there, but it is so good for him and he has a TON of fun! I am so truly thankful for that opportunity for him. It is a true blessing from God.

Will order ever be restored to our lives?

What am I ever going to do with these boys when I get home? Their schedules are a wreck! As I type, Tater is screaming his head off in the next room as he has done every night since we got here. It is really getting old. Nosey finally had a good day today, and has just drifted off to sleep, but will probably be woken up by the screaming banshee next door. Of course, we can't even get Cookie to come upstairs. He is too busy playing with the cute little girl staying beneath us. I swear he thinks he is a teenager already. Well, sort of. He definitely still loves his mommy.

Well, tomorrow is our last full day here, and while we have had a lazy, relaxing time I am ready to go home. Mostly because Chris never did come down this year. It is definitely not the same without him. We have been lucky enough to have the iChat to keep us together, thankfully.

In all my packing brilliance, I, of course, left the charger for BOTH of the digital cameras I brought. So, all those pictures I was going to take with my new mac daddy camera are not going to happen. About the best I could do today was to take a couple of pictures with the Photo Booth Application on my laptop. Pitiful. However, I have included them for your viewing pleasure. I told y'all that I would forget EVERYTHING without Caroline!

Father's Day in the Bahamas

Well, for starters I haven't posted since we got here because I have been too busy trying to do NOTHING. However, these three kids of mine keep getting in the way of the whole nothing thing. Tater, Posey, and I all have horrible coughs and runny noses. Nobody has really been sleeping all that well. It is getting better. And, it seems that the only time Nosey is truly happy in the pool is when Poppy is around, and Poppy has been feeling pretty crummy too so hasn't been around as much as I would have liked.

Last night, as I was laying Tater Tot down for the eleventh time in his Pack n Play, Cookie comes to me hugs me really hard and says "I don't want Poppy to die". He continued by saying that if Poppy died then it would be such a long, long time til he would see him again. You stop wondering where these come from with Cookie, and immediately address his heart, which apparently is breaking at this point. He of course, is crying his eyes out, and I am left speechless (believe it or not, parenthood has done that to me a few times). I tried to reassure him and he says that Poppy is really old and how sad it all is. He reminds me that Poppy is my daddy, in case I forgot. I asked if it would make him feel better to go give Poppy a hug, and he took off running. That seemed to do the trick best of all. Nothing like a hug from Poppy.

Two things stick out to me in this. One, is again how sensitive Cookie really is. I have never met another child remotely like him, and I have met a lot of kids in my day. He wears his heart on his sleeve and feels things so deeply. This will create many life lessons for us both in the years to come I am sure. Secondly, is how sure of his own salvation he is. The faith of a child is a beautiful thing. He just knows without question that God loves him and forgives him and that is enough. I pray that it will always be that way for him.

Well, this Father's Day is a bittersweet one for us. Yes, we are in the Bahamas away from all of life's pulling-at-you stuff. But, Chris isn't here with us. He may not even be able to come at all. He is tied up at home with some stuff that just can't wait. If that all turns out well, then it will definitely be worth it. However we are sad he is not here with us. On the other hand, I am the only one of my dad's kids here with him on Father's Day. I wish everyone could be here with us!

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!

SCHOOLS OUT FOR SUMMER!

Well, the kids are finished for the school year. I can't believe I now have a 2nd grader and a Kindergartner. They both had parties with their class and said their good-byes to their teachers as both of them are moving away and won't be back next year. Both Cookie and Nosey had the same teacher the past two years, so this means big change for them. For the rest of the family too. Change is hard, especially for adults.

So, I am supposed to be packing up for our two weeks in the Bahamas with my parents. We leave in the middle of the night for the airport. No sleep for the weary. Instead of packing, I am procrastinating and watching a prerecorded Oprah show. 

Fast forward. I am now in the Bahamas. Never did even post yesterday. Got sidetracked. Everybody here is exhausted. As usual on the night before our family vacations, I got less than 2 hours of sleep last night, so I, too, will be hitting the hay early.

My lifelong best friend, Robin, is here with me to help with the kids. Thank goodness for her. I would not have made it here today without her help. Truly, I would be stuck with three children in some stinkin' airport. Probably arrested for killing someone.

Let the vacation begin!

Baseball and Backaches

So, I would say the last couple of days around here have been  a 7-year-old boy's dream, and the parents of a 7-year-old's nightmare. I guess only a nightmare if that can happen while you lay wide awake while your air mattress leaks all of its air out and you end up feeling the bumps from all of the pine cones and branches underneath your tent that your Eagle Scout husband said didn't need to be cleared out because, "We have an air mattress, so why does it matter?"  That kind of a nightmare. The kind where you are awake the whole time, but wish you were sleeping.

We went to Cookie Monster's last baseball game of the season on Saturday morning, where Tater Tot ate his first dirt clod (at least to my knowledge). 

Afterwards we ran around like chickens with our heads cut off trying to throw everything into the car to go camping for the night. I am pretty certain the humidity was around 100%, and the bathroom was at least a quarter of a mile away, but it was great, really. No, really.

Cookie Monster had a great time, but even he woke up in the middle of the night because the ground was so lumpy.  The adults got absolutely no sleep. We have been walking zombies all day. My girlfriend LeighAnn, who moved to Nashville last year, came to visit for a couple of days, and probably regrets it about now.

On top of all of that, our Caroline's last day with us was Friday. I am hoping that she will be working with Nosey Posey at school next year, but that's yet to be

determined. We knew she was leaving us for months in advance, but that didn't make me any less sad. AND, I now have to somehow get ready to go to the Bahamas for two weeks without

 her help. I wonder how many things I will forget... What will we ever do without her? WE LOVE YOU CAROLINE!!