Doing the Math

This is a big year for us.  Well, I guess you could consider Tim's big year as 2008, if we focus on the year he turned 40.  It hasn't been long, though.  Today he is 40 years, 1 month, and 3 days.  Our kids like to count their ages down to the minute - especially Reed, our numbers boy.

January, February, and the first 12 days of March are my favorites.  These are the few days when I am noticeably younger than my husband.  I tend to rub it in as his days continue to add up.  However, as we get closer to my birthday, my gloating subsides and I prepare myself for age equality.  Yes, my 40th is looming and my list is not yet finished.  I still have quite a lot of running to do.  I am not optimistic that all will be completed.  I am optimistic; however, that I will hit the big 40 very soon - God willing!

The other day Cole was eating lunch while I was cleaning the kitchen.  He was rambling on and on about various topics and I was polishing the cabinets (I don't usually clean this diligently, but I am about to put the house on the market).  Somehow his conversation topic turned to math and he wanted me to listen to his addition facts!  He had come to the realization that all 6 of us are really 40.  Cole added all of the kids' ages and came up with an amazing fact.  Add Caroline's 12 years to Brooks' 11 years, plus Reed's 10 years and Cole's 7 - guess what!?!  They are 40!  and so is Tim. He was lumping me in to the "40" crowd....

Ha ha ha!!!  I'm not 40 yet!  I still have 45 days.  I'd better head to the gym.  I promised 40 miles this year and I think I've only run 5.  Yikes!  Surely I can check this off before I do hit the grand old age of my husband!

Seven

a post that's just a month late!!

He's SEVEN today.  Our little Cole Franklin.  I have to be careful - he won't be "little"much longer, although I have to say that I think he loves being the youngest in our family.  This boy is full of fire  - everyday, all day long.  He's been that way since he was in my belly.  The day he arrived was a celebration for all.  It ended my life as a pregnant woman - huge as I was (51 lbs heavier than normal)!

Seven years of fun began on this 24th day.  He was due on Halloween, but I convinced the doctor that I really wanted to be home from delivering long before the 31st! Caro, Brooks and Reed couldn't wait to meet our "boo baby".  What would he look like and when would he be able to walk and talk?  

Cole, you are a blast!  People always say you talk with your eyes and you laugh all of the time. 

 I watched those eyes change from blue to green as yellow streaks emerged around the age of 1.  I thought for sure you would join your sister as a blue eyed child, but at the last minute, you surprised us all and now your eyes are green.  Yes, you have filled our lives with surprises.

Cole, you might be my fourth child, but you have provided many firsts.  You were the first to insist (with incessant crying) that I drive around in the middle of the night until you fell asleep.  I always said "I'll never do that!".  You were the first to refuse all baby food.  How could you eat real food when you had no teeth and were less than 1??  You surprised me and mashed everything with those little gums.  You were the first to write on my walls with a  Sharpie marker and the first to play in the dishwasher detergent.  Maybe I should say you were the only one.  You were just trying to help at the age of 18 months - dumping the gel in the dispenser, right were it belongs.  'Cause "I can do it BY MYSELF"!  You were the youngest to jump off the high dive in Houston and the youngest to jump from the 2-story deck at the Robinson's lake house.  I thought for sure that jump would end your bravery, but no, you came up out of the water announcing that you were going to do it again!  You did a flip off our diving board at 2-1/2 - your water wings flew off and you began to sink. Once your dad pulled you out, you just giggled and hurried off to do it again! 

You never like to be alone.  You are absolutely attached and in love with your brothers and sister. 

 Any day they are gone you ask me multiple times when they will be home. You coined the phrase "BrooksReed" - "when will BrooksReed be home?"  

You are the master at keeping up.  You can ride your bike as far and as fast as they can. You can discuss movies and play games as well as those big brothers.  Your memory is like your sister's.  You can still remember details from life in Mississippi - and we moved away when you were 2-1/2.

Cole, you are a loving, silly, smart, fearless, delightful little boy. 

 You bring joy to my life.  I love to snuggle with you in the mornings and I love to hold you on my lap.  I wish I could bottle you up and keep you at the age of seven forever and ever, but then I wouldn't have the chance to watch you grow into a man.

  My heart swells when you say, "Mommy, I really missed you!" or "Mommy, I really love you!"  It thrills me to hear you read and to watch you smack that baseball. 

You've had a lot of firsts this year.  You lost your first tooth, in fact you lost 6!  You completed Kindergarten, and learned to read.  Math is fun for you - especially counting money and telling time.  You also began taking piano lessons.  I love to hear you playing "Spooky Halloween" and "Jingle Bells"!  You are a Tiger Cub although you've already been camping with the scouts for 4 years!  This year is exciting because your best friend, Nate, is a scout, too!

You are the light of my life and I am so thankful to have a boy named Cole Franklin to call my very own.

Slumber Parties

Cole went to a slumber party at his best buddy's house last night.  The occasion was to celebrate his 6th birthday - which occurred amidst great sickness at their house - in February.  Due to many different schedules (and continued sickness), the party is a few months late.  However, when you are 6, the delays are not easily understood.  Cole has been talking about this sleepover for months.  Every week, at least once or twice, he would remind me that he still hadn't gotten to go to Nate's.  When was the sleepover going to be?  Why can't it be now?  But we said it was going to be a long time ago! How come...?  

It's hard to see beyond yourself - when you are 6.  and 30 something.  I continued to explain that it would eventually work out.  But that didn't help him much in the anticipation department.  Monday Cole came home with a fever.  He still had it on Wednesday morning. Again, I was beginning to think that the sleepover would have to be way-laid due to sickness.  

Happily, Friday rolled around, and Cole was well enough to go.  He was packed before school started.  He wore his overnight backpack around the house for hours.  After school, he counted down the minutes until we would leave.  The car was filled with elation and great expectations during the 5 minute drive to his house.

I checked on him around 9:30 - or really - I was checking on his parents - to make sure they were still surviving the 4 little scoundrels.  (maybe I was really trying to see if the scoundrels had survived).  They were all tucked in bed.  Quiet.  Hopefully they would all go to sleep soon.

Suddenly the phone rang around 11:00.  A phone call that late can never be good.  Sure enough, it was AJ calling to say that Cole was fully dressed and ready to head home for the night.  What??  This has been a night of great anticipation!  Why would he be ready to come home?  He never wants to come home.  He would gladly trade all 5 of us in just to live in peace, love and harmony with Nate and his family.  His mom is the world's best cook (he had also been discussing the possibilities for breakfast).  His dad is the "funnest" - he chases them all over the house.  His sister is the cutest little thing you've ever seen.  Plus he has an adorable kitty named "Lucky".

Hubs went to pick him up while I put his brothers and their friends to bed.  He waltzed in, bright as could be.  Evidently, he and Mack had never been to sleep.  I haven't tapped in to what exactly they had been doing while the other 2 slept - but believe me - we will discuss it in full today.  Both Cole and Mack ended up in their own beds last night.  

You know me, I am just sad for the party boy.  Poor Nate was asleep when they left and would be waking up to find that his best friends had bailed on his party.  Sure, I know there will be many other nights for sleepovers, but with all of the waiting and planning, I am sure he will be sad to be breakfasting without his 2 pals.

We're sorry, Nate!  Somehow the sleepover monster swooped in and busted up the plans.

Happy Hearts

Tonight Reed finished practicing the piano and walked into the kitchen.  Cole had just come in from outside because it was so cold.  Reed said, "Cole, do you want me to play with you now"?  I stopped him and hugged him.  I told him that he has been doing 3 things on a regular basis that I really love.

1.  He gets up in the morning and makes his bed without me asking him to.

2.  He has been practicing the piano without being asked.

3.  He asked Cole if he wanted to play.  

I told him that #3 makes my heart happy and his little brother's heart happy.  Reed said, "and it makes my heart happy".  and we had a 3 person hug (instigated by his younger brother).

Brotherly love at its best.

Now You See It, Now You Don't!

We bought a new house this summer. We are still in the same neighborhood, but we needed a basement to store our junk and we needed the house to be configured a little differently. Actually, I began looking for this new house about a month after we moved into our first home in Oak Ridge. I have seen lots of houses and I could tell you minute details about the real estate market, if you asked! Oak Ridge has quite a history - as the home of the atomic bomb - the secret city - where 75,000 people once lived. Now it is a small town close to Knoxville with fabulous schools. This is a science mecca with all sorts of engineers and physicists - and interestingly - such professionals have designed many houses around here. They have random rooms in them - might have to go through the master bathroom to get to the playroom or you might want a swimming pool in the middle of the house - look for a house in Oak Ridge, and you will see it all. I am sure these home design professionals had a perfect reason for situating rooms in such a way, but for the subsequent owner, the reason is not always clear.

Now you know why it took so long to find our jewel. 3 long years and a realtor who would do anything to make me happy - just so I won't drag her to any others! So it was, last December when we were on our way home from Snowshoe, when she called and said she had found a house for

us. She began to read the specs on it and suddenly, I had to see it!

Sure enough, it was a good fit for us. We moved in this past July and we love it. My very favorite feature is the waterfall that cascades down the hill just off of our breakfast room. We have a plate-glass window to gaze through as we are mesmerized by the sound of a mountain stream. Unfortunately, the river birch which was strategically placed just beside the waterfall has aged through the years and the roots have completely penetrated the liner of the stream bed. What does that mean? Basically, that we spent more on sewer and water than we ever did at the old house, in the month of September. Well, not that bad, but it was an outlandish bill.

I have been distraught over the sadness of losing my water feature! It was really my favorite thing about the house. I am happy to report - today is the beginning of a new waterfall. We have a good friend who is going to rebuild just after the river birch is removed. Here is where we are so far:

The pictures are rather dark, thanks to the weather. They are not supposed to be black and white.

I just can't wait to get it looking like this again:

Cole informed me today that the Groundhog must have been wrong (because it was 72 today). I sure hope so, I can't wait for Spring!!!

In Search of the Perfect Shot

I have been filing pictures away in my photo albums this week. I am not a scrapbooker. I started out that way, but by the birth of #3, I realized the album by album account of our life was never going to happen. I now resort to collecting our pictures for the year in a photo-safe box. At the end of the year, I spend a day going through the photos and selecting the best for an album like this.

Before digital cameras, I used to get a bad case of Christmas Photo Anxiety that I am sure many of you can identify with. Tim and I would spend several frustrating afternoons trying to capture that perfect picture to send out of our little angels (or a picture that at least made them look like angels).

2002 took the cake for requiring the most patience. We set out to the country club with adorned children in a happy mood. Hair was fixed, outfits picked, and naps had been taken. We even brought along some outfit changes, as I recall. I was feeling energetic and optimistic!

Unfortunately by the time naptime ends, the gnats are out in Ocean Springs. If you aren't familiar with gnats, avoid them at all costs. Gnats are the reason we moved away from Ocean Springs! Here is our photo journal:

Reed hadn't found his smile yet...














attempt #2...














attempt #3 with gnats:

change of location, attempt #146














a little fun in the middle:


new clothes for attempt #339 (and we left the 1 year old out completely)....

one year old chose to leave self out of this one...

not cooperating (again)... but the older ones are really trying to smile!
We ended the day with this shot, although Tim wouldn't let me send it out for our Christmas picture that year. I personally thought it was a perfect solution to our rigorous shot attempts. As you can see, even this one took a while. But don't they all look like angels?

Necking is free!

Cole, our 6 year old, was recently discussing money with his dad.  Actually, he was inquiring why Tim has to work on holidays (MLK Day was last week) and some weekends.  Tim explained that he works so that we can pay for the things we need.  We have to buy groceries so we can eat, we have to pay for the electricity we use when the lights are on, and we have to buy clothes, shoes, etc..  Not only that, but we have to pay fees for Upward Basketball (a game which he had just finished).  So Cole went on a mental search for something that is free.

-what about driving a car??

-yes, we have to pay for the car, and we have to buy gas to keep it running.

-what about cutting down a tree?

-well, that is kind of tricky, because you have to own the land.

-I know something that is free... necking

-What??? Necking??? How do you know what necking is?

- You know, Dad, necking a sweater!

We are in the last days of Cole discovering mispronunciations.  It makes me sad.  This week he decided mid-chorus to clarify the words to "Rocky Top".  He's been singing "Rocky Talk" all this time.

He has finally adjusted from "musgick" to "music".

This summer he is going to be the "Ring Bear" in our nephew's wedding.

Our favorite mispronunciation is the name of our niece Meredith.  Meredith has a dog named Memphis who came to visit when Cole was 3.  Since then, her name has been Merdephis.  A combination of the dog and Meredith.  He is starting to catch on, so now I call her Merdephis, too.  I just can't stand to lose his sweet speech creations!

Barf bowls and Other Comforts

This week has been quite long for my 6 year old.  He came home from school on Monday with a fever and sore throat.  Within 2 hours (after a negative strep test) his sore throat progressed into one very upset tummy.  Bring out the barf bowl!  Fill it up, take it to the toilet bowl.  Time and time again.  In the middle of the night we were travelling to the toilet bowl for other outpourings.  Isn't that a nice description?  The poor guy had some horrible virus that had come to stay.  Wednesday we had to have IV fluids in order to re-hydrate him.  Thursday he continued to have no appetite until evening.  Finally, he was willing to eat some warm spaghetti with a dab of butter.  He had 3 bowls!!  plus a pedialyte popsicle and lots of gatorade.  I think he is on the road to recovery.

I was really quite proud of myself this time.  I don't do well with throw-up.  In fact, just hearing the word will send my adrenaline on a swift course through my body.  I get sweaty palms and worry, worry, worry about whether or not it will hit the family.  BUT this time, I calmly took care of the poor fella.  You see MH wasn't home and he is usually the caretaker when t.u. comes to visit.  He will clean it up, kiss the kid, and do whatever else is needed.  I am, on the other hand, usually freaking out and having IBS symptoms.  Nerves, really.  You see, I think it is somewhat of a phobia stemming back a few years...

my sister puked on me when I was about 8.  We were sleeping (at least I was) when all of a sudden, well, you can imagine, I am sure.  I have been scarred since then, it is most certainly a throw-up phobia.

I really do run if I hear it or see it - and believe me - if it happens even remotely close to me - I will see it.  Then I think about it for the entire rest of the day.  I am just sure that I will catch it or that someone I am with will catch it.  This is absolutely unreasonable, I realize, but reason doesn't go with t.u.

I am thankful that God matched me up with a man who never barfs.  Yep, it's true... in the 18-1/2 years I have known him, he has only upchucked once.  The night before he had a bit of bad crawfish and it sent him over (to) the edge of the bowl.  I haven't eaten crawfish since!

A Wicked Birthday

Today is #4's birthday. He is 6 today. His birthday usually falls over Fall Break, so he gets to celebrate in various locations. Today he wanted to spend the morning at ESPNZone. The boys had a blast playing with their dad on the coolest games.

We had lunch at Pizzeria Uno where we enjoyed another meal of pizza, Chicago style.

After lunch we walked to the theater where we got to see "Wicked." We all had a great time. I think we will be singing the tunes all the way home.

We celebrated #4's birthday at The Cheesecake Factory. It was yummy!

My Mom is Out of Town

#4 is out of town this weekend with his dad. It's a special weekend for MH, he's celebrating his 20th high school reunion. It's been 20 years since he was a purple and yellow tornado - you really have to wonder about those colors and the chosen weather event. But really, when you think about it, the sky does turn eerie colors just before a tornado arrives in town. but I digress....

2 weeks ago MH and I went to an out-of-town football game. We left all 4 with a favorite sitter who is extremely responsible and who is determined not to let my #4 run her over(after being runover a few times before). Sunday morning, she actually fed them, ensured that they were dressed and drove them up the hill to our church. Did I mention that they were 25 minutes early for the service - or 45 minutes late for Sunday School(depending on your perspective)? One of the greatest thing about our church - food wise - is that you can have a second breakfast when you get there. The pastor's wife makes this incredible blueberry bread and there are usually donuts.

ANYWAY... in #4 goes, scarfs down 5 donuts and tears down to Sunday School (late) and announces "MY MOM IS OUT OF TOWN". What an interruption to the tale of Gideon - the one who hid from Jesus - #4 isn't hiding a thing. He was up on sugar and up on freedom. Like a kid on Spring Break - MY MOM IS OUT OF TOWN!