Ben kicks it!

We had an incident right around Easter 08 when Ben rode his bike down the road and fell over. It was like something out of a cartoon. He just plopped over. No feet down, no catching himself, just one minute he is riding his bike, the next he is laying on the ground on his bike. It was awful. He told me that he would NEVER ride a bike again. It is too dangerous.

Then for Christmas last year, he asked for a razor scooter. His Grandad went everywhere under the moon to find the blue razor since blue is Ben's favorite color, and Ben seldom asks for something. You just kinda have to guess about what he wants. Ben has loved the scooter. As a matter of fact, I still go to check on him at least two times a week that the scooter is in bed with him. The scooter has never seen outside action, because it is also deemed too dangerous, but it is loved.

Fast forward to my frustration with all things electronic. I had to take Lucie for her diagnostic testing for Kindergarten yesterday. When we returned home I announced that we would eat a fine feast of Taco Bell and then go out to ride bikes. Ben says "I'm not going." I told him that we would just get his bike out and he could sit on it and push it around with his feet. He finally agreed about this, and took it in the grass to play with it. He quickly got frustrated when he kept trying to get it to go in the grass. (I saw him out of the corner of my eye trying to pedal.) The girls moved to the road, and I finally convinced Ben to bring his out.

After several times of me standing there holding the bike, and him walking away telling me that he couldn't ride there, he finally climbed on with me holding the bike VERY steady. I then had him put his feet up and showed him how it was just like tight rope walking on the wii board. That clicked. He agreed it was just like adjusting his character on the screen when he played the game.



My Ben took off down the road on a bike. Furthermore, he can't wait to go back out and ride more! I am so pleased. I have to say that this has made the wii fit worth more than I had to pay for it!

Communication Barrier....

I am tired. I am tired of listening to people argue and whine. I am tired of picking up the same things over and over. I am tired of feeling like I am living in a trailer park again. (Just that whole house looking awful feeling, I guess...)

Andrew has returned home because he had a medical problem. Fine, we keep moving forward.

I guess that this turn of events has caused me to realize that I am in a very poor position with my family right now. I am disrespected. When I ask a simple question, I am met by lies. I am really furious.

Sorry, I am not going to keep dumping on my reader... I guess that what I really wanted to write about right now is I was tired of the shouting. Tired of the drone of the tv. Tired of little zombies walking through the house and randomly throwing things into the floor.

So I told the children to find something else to do. "Something that is not electronic" is what I instructed them. Sounds simple enough.

The funny thing is that the same barrage of questions assaulted me from every direction that did before I said this...

Can I get on the computer?

Can I watch a movie?

Can I turn the TV on?

Can I play playstation?

Can we watch a movie in Lucie's room? {I like this one in particular, because it is almost like implying that because you are in Lucie's room, it is not electronic...}

After several "NO"s and me hitting the point that I started to look a little like the sea witch in The Little Mermaid... I stop a moment for one more question...

"Mommy, is there anything in this house that isn't electwonic?" Lucie says...

Wow. I can't even talk to my kids anymore. I am so stressed....

Morning time with the girls...

Sitting at the computer checking my email, and the poll results for the guinea pig name, I am listening to the conversation of the girls. My little princesses are in the living room. Sadie is coloring and Lucie is criticizing. Lucie says "Saaa-dee! You can't cower that way. It is aww wong. Your supposed to cower with these fingers holding the cwayons..." Sadie says "Yes, I can, because I'm a giant and I know what I am doing." Followed by, the typical "NO, I am the giant, because I am smarted than you..." And you get the great childhood argument of yes, no, yes, no, me, me, me, me that makes me think debate team will never be a great option for my children. Then Lucie says "Fine! I am going upstairs! I AM THE GIANT IN THIS FAMILY!!! I AM THE SMARTEST ONE HERE!!!"

Me, just sitting over at the computer trying not to die laughing and secretly wishing I had this argument on video tape, so Lucie could see that the genius of the family thought that the right word was giant...

Here are pics of said guinea pig for the poll. Thanks for all of your help.

Anchors Aweigh!!!

I got my call from Andrew tonight at about 23:30. I can't wait for the next two monthes to pass so I can see him again. When he ran from the bus with open arms to give me a hug today, I could see him as a little boy again. I didn't want to let him go, and I knew that I had to. My emotions are so mixed up right now. I really can't explain the pride that I have knowing that my son is serving in the United States Navy, but I also can't express the pain that I feel knowing that he won't come walking in the door anymore.

Lucie wanted to get all gung ho on cleaning out his room this evening, and I just couldn't handle it. We did a little work on it, but it just seems so final to put away his things. I will be doing all of his dirty laundry over the next couple of days, and he won't be here to wear it. 18 years is not enough time to spend with your child. I so hope that some day he will be close to me again. I don't know if he will ever live here in Texas with me, but I hope so.

It was very hard walking back to the parked car with the kids. Sadie just kept telling us that we just have to forget about Andrew now. Lucie was crying about how "he was a good brother... why did we have to get rid of him?" I am not exactly sure what is going on with Ben. He is really quiet about it. I can tell that he is very sad. He found a bunch of Yugio cards that Andrew had told him he could have. I have already been watching him just look through them like they are the greatest treasure a boy could ever have. I am glad that Andrew did that for him. I am sure that Ben will treasure those for a very long time, if not forever. Every bus that passed us was Andrew, and the girls stopped to wave. I can remember thinking that about planes for the longest time after my Uncle Ricky joined the Navy. I was about Sadie's age then, I believe.

I leave this blog with the last picture that I have of Andrew and myself together before he left. I wish that someone had taken one of him hugging me before he left, but I was probably holding the camera. Please remember him and all of the women and men that serve in our military in your thoughts and prayers. I know that he is anxious to see his 2 buddies from school that left for basic earlier this week, and there is another one of his friends leaving next Monday.

Military blahs...

I just have to say that when I was 20 years old, I watched my husband march away to go to war, and I never thought that anything could be worse than that. I was pregnant at the time, and I felt like I was just left with a hole in my heart. Today I watched the same child that I was pregnant with at that time get on a bus to move to Chicago and go to basic training. I think that over all I feel worse than when his dad left for Iraq. I just know that I have already done everything that I could for him in the last 18 years, and now I worry that it wasn't enough. Oh well...

Here is Andrew's "happy song" that he spent the last 2 monthes driving me nutso with....

Time for bed...

I wish that there were some eloquent way for me to put into words the things that I would like to say right now. All I can say is that I keep laying down and thinking that if my baby went in tomorrow and said that he didn't want to be in the Navy, it would not break my heart. I have asked questions like I wonder if Sadie will even really remember Andrew living in the house with her. Ben has cried, and then been very relieved to find the old Yugio cards. I keep trying to wrap my mind around the fact that I actually encouraged him to go into the Navy. I am really jealous of all of the other families that have the summer with their children after graduation. I wish that he was just going to college in the fall. I wish that I could go to bed tonight and know when my son might come home again, and if he ever will. I don't like the fact that I will not know where he is all of the time anymore. I know that the only important thing is that the Lord will know where he is, but it breaks my heart to know that I won't be able to just go to him if I want to. I also have to say that I am extremely proud of him. I am excited for him and all of the opportunities that he is going to have in the Navy. I am really jealous of the fact that he will be able to travel all over the world. I guess I will try to go to bed. I know that I get to see him as my baby just one more time tomorrow morning. A good night's sleep would do me good.