It's hard to believe that this "big" boy (who called this evening to inform me that he caught four fish today!) will be 9 at 7:20pm.

I still remember the rush of emotions I felt at his birth...shock at his size (pushing 11 pounds!), pride and gratitude for an amazing and quick home birth, delight at being able to present our 19 month old with a "little" brother, awe at this sweet baby boy, relief that I wouldn't have to go through yet another night of false labor.

I called him "My Sunshine" as a baby.

He's had a year with many growing pains...he keeps us on our toes (especially my dh, as our son seems to be his clone in oh so many ways), but we continue on in love, awe, and gratitude for time we get with him, and the blessing he is.

Happy Birthday, "Roo". You are my sunshine! 

Since Sunday, we've survived Daddy traveling, Mommy working, OT and PT appointments, near-disastrous babysitting arrangements (don't ask...), a funeral, delivering meals to hurting friends, preparations for a father/son campout (in honor of ds 1's upcoming birthday), babysitting for dd 2's friend (two days/nights and counting), and a house full of girls of all shapes and sizes last night (impromptu sleepover with the "leftovers" not included in the father/son trip!).

Whew...

"All" I have left is shopping/prep for my son's bday dinner and Monday's Memorial Day cookout, and ongoing work on a pet project. AND two more weeks of school (at the moment, I'm actually grateful for that!).

Then we can get ready for summer...and all of the joyous chaos it will bring with it!

 

We're slammed here. My sweetie is on the road, Mama is working for the U this week, the last few weeks of school are upon us, and to add insult to injury, Blogger has been giving me fits since Sunday.

Fortunately, it's made me take my gripes to the Lord, not to the web (insert sheepish smile here).

I'm looking forward to Friday...the majority of the insanity for the week will be over (did I mention the funeral as well?) and the kids will be home.

Maybe I'll even have a moment or two to write something more than pre-coffee babble.

Thirteen Places I have lived: 1. An apartment in Clifton, OH2. A house in Oakley, OH3. Two houses in Fairfield, OH (my mom married the guy down the street, so we moved over two houses!)4. A house in Katy, TX.5. A house in Lafayette, LA.6. A house in Germantown, TN.7. A house in Palm Harbor, FL.8.A dorm room in East Hall at the University of Florida9.An apartment in Gainesville, FL.10. Married Student Housing (University Village South) at UF11. A rental house in Gainesville, FL.12. A house in Shelby, NC.13. An apartment and our current house in Phoenix, AZ Links to other Thursday Thirteens! 1. (leave your link in comments, I’ll add you here!)

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Would you believe that it just started RAINING here??

Don't ever let anyone say that He's not in the details....

I'm off to start the coffee pot!

It's raining over at Susan's place today. My father (in New York) is getting hit as well with lots of fallout from the New England storms.

After my family, rain has to be the thing I most miss out here in the desert. Gloomy weather is the perfect outlet for the melancholy corners of my personality. I love to watch the rain, to walk in the rain, to throw a batch of cookies in the oven and curl up by the window under a quilt with a book in one hand and a cup of really good (or even not so good) coffee in the other. I love to watch my little "desert rats" run around under this strange stuff falling from the sky and stomp in puddles.

I'm headed east soon for a visit. I'm making a date with myself for the first summer shower I encounter.

 

 

...but I have to confess that Akeelah and the Bee was one of the best (and certainly most family friendly) movies that I've seen in the last year. (Apologies to my beloved Pride and Prejudice, but this one actually held my 10 y/o dd's attention!).

How could you not love any medium that celebrates words? The vocabulary lesson alone (not to mention the shameless plug for Latin) was worth the admission price.

I also loved the fact that Akeelah, while she felt alienated from her surroundings) was not a "nerd"...she learns to embrace her intelligence without losing herself (or her neighborhood friends). My oldest dd (a bit of a "word nerd" herself--Did I mention that she placed fifth in our regional spelling bee?) needs to see more messages along that vein.


Sadly enough, at 10 (and grade skipped), she is already facing tremendous social pressure to "dumb herself down". Some of this pressure comes from older children who perceive her as an academic threat. Worse, however, are the well-intentioned comments from adults, aimed at encouraging her, that only serve to highlight her struggle to "fit in".

The theme of the movie can be summed up in this quote, framed on the wall of Akeelah's spelling bee coach: