An Update on Life

Today is the kids' last day of school, which means, among other things, that blogging is about to decrease.  Summer isn't blogging season.  It's Doing Season!  So here's a brief update (ha ha), plus a summer preview.

Tamra

My latest accomplishment is that I am not crazy.  It was close for a while, there.  I feel like this is a year of lessons.  Lessons about marriage and patience and endurance and money and stress and sanity.  Lessons that I'm glad to be learning, but wish I didn't have to learn.  Because I wish life really were that dream where there's a rainbow and a happy valley and a pot of gold guarded by a leprechaun.  ...  Though maybe that would be too easy.

Still, life is good, and I am happy.  What more is there to ask for?

Rob

Rob is in the home stretch!  His last day with current boss is July 2nd.  This Saturday his lab is having a Farewell Party for him and another exiting co-worker.  After July 2nd we'll be having a Happy New Boss Party.  All our friends are invited (we'll let you know when we set a date).  This is something worth celebrating!  It's been a long 2 years.

Right now Rob isn't teaching a class, so we're taking a short breath before July when he's teaching 4 hours a night, 4 nights a week.  It originally was 6 hours a night, so it won't be as horrid as originally planned, but he won't get paid as much, either.  I'll take the trade-off.

Miciah

I don't write as much about Miciah as the other two kids, because she's growing up.  Her life isn't as "I'm a little kid" centered any more, and the stories are often weightier.  I remember, when she was born, Rob and I talked about keeping a journal for our kids when they were too young to do so.  We talked about what age we'd hand over that responsibility.  We picked the age of 12.  But for Miciah, 12 seems too late.  ...  Meh, who knows.

But, I will say that Miciah is a great kid.  She can be moody and difficult, but she's most often kind and thoughtful and creative and wonderful.  For Memorial Day weekend, for instance, because Key West Friend was arriving late, Miciah made her an extensive card that included a map of the house so she would know her way around and not be confused.  Miciah also put a maze on there, and an I Spy game, so Key West Friend wouldn't be bored.

While we were camping, Miciah found a daddy long leg friend.  She had to let it go and then cried for about 15 minutes because she was so sad that "Lucy" was gone.

That's our lovely Miciah.

She still loves to read, which I love, and she's now recommending more books to me than I have time to read.

Oh!  She came home asking about Justin Bieber.  All her friends are into him.  I didn't know who he was, but I looked him up and he can actually sing (like cute little Michael Jackson with the Jackson 5).  So I bought a few of his songs on iTunes and Miciah was thrilled!  She immediately sat down and wrote a note to her friend that said, "Livi, Guess who I listened to?  Justin Bieber!"  Though I did draw a line:  I told Miciah I would NOT purchase "Baby."  Seriously, how many times can you say "baby" in one song?!

Elijah

Elijah melts me.  He's rambunctious and crazy, but he's also very sweet.  He loves flowers and pretty things.  I don't want him to get any older, because I know that some day someone's going to tell him that "boys don't like flowers," and then that sweetness will be gone.

He was super serious about school and did great.  At the beginning of the year I wasn't sure how things were going to go.  I figured he'd either latch on or he'd blow it off, so I was happy that he decided to latch on.  He even loved homework by the end of the year!

He's now reading beginner books, and I LOVE when he reads Dr. Suess books to me.  First off, Dr. Suess is genius.  But, mostly, I just love listening to Elijah read TO ME.  So cute.  Kids learning to read is, I think, the first real validation that parenting isn't pointless.  :)

He keeps trying to hurt himself doing stunts, like wheelies on his bike.  His bike that still has training wheels.  He makes me laugh.

And he loves the wii.  We impose time limits, mainly for him.  But he doesn't fight us when we make him turn it off, because he knows that will work against him in the long run.

Tank

Tank is a curious creature.  He spends a lot of time watching movies and laying on the floor.  If I tell him he can't watch movies, he often chooses to just lay on the floor, looking at nothing.  He's a mellow kid.

I thought about how he doesn't really play unless I make him.  I spent some time watching him, trying to figure out what he's all about.  And then, one day he said, "Mom, come watch the birds with me."  I went outside with my book and started reading and he yelled at me.  "Mom, you said you'd watch the birds!"  I stopped reading and he started talking to me about all the birds.  He named them.  He counted them.  He noted their positions.  ...  The kid is a biologist!  (This makes Rob happy.)   And I decided right then that Tank is just fine.  He's an observer.  And I can't discourage that.

He also throws fits these days. Cute little "I need more sleep" fits.  They often end with a nap.

Summer Preview

Our summer plans have changed quite a bit.  After nearly going crazy after April, I knew that I couldn't leave for the whole summer.  So I canceled on my parents.  Not to be discouraged, they opted to bring Miciah and Elijah out to California.  (My dad says this is "salvaging" his summer.  My parents are the cutest.)  So, my mom will come in town next week, as planned, and when she leaves on July 4th, she'll take the two oldest back with her.

Elijah is excited to be old enough to go.  In years past, we'd talked about sending Miciah out, but Elijah was always too young.  So this year, when he said, "Can I go?" I didn't have a reason to tell him no.  (And Elijah is okay with going even though he won't be able to play the wii for a month.  We had that discussion.)  My parents are THRILLED to have the kids with them.  In fact, they've invited MORE grandkids to hang out with them for July.  ...  I think my parents are weird, but more power to 'em!  I hope I have that much energy when I'm 60.

That will leave Tank and me home by ourselves most days.  As I've been telling people, I'm not sure my parents are doing me any favors by leaving me with 1 kid.  :)  Now I have to entertain him by myself!  But I'm looking forward to it.  It'll definitely be different, but different good, I think.  Especially for a change of pace.

During July Rob and I will go back down to Mammoth Cave and do the Wild Cave Tour.  I'm SO EXCITED, but I may have already mentioned that.

And then, at the end of July, I'll fly out to California with Tank, and we'll spend 2 weeks there.  We'll see as much family as we can, have a good time on the beach, all that CA stuff.  And then, a few days after Rob's insane class is over, we'll fly home and finally be together as a family again in mid-August.

Whew.  It's going to be an awesome summer!