In Love with the Boy

Oh, my little boy just continues to madden me and melt my heart every day of the week.

Last week, he came home with two notes from his teacher. One for elbowing another little boy so hard that he made him cry for 5 minutes and the other for play punching someone too hard 4 or 5 times.

Then today, he proudly popped in the door and showed me the "excellent" written across his hand. I made him cookies. It was the first HAND message of excellence he had ever received. Can you believe the word "excellent" even fit on his hot, grubby hand?

Before bedtime he came downstairs wearing every shark tooth necklace that he owns. All four of em. There's just something about a little boy that makes you want to hug em and never let them go.

The child is competely sold out right now to his interest in the Titanic. He pores over pictures and knows a lot of info about the disaster, including the location in the ocean where the boat sank and the name of the boat that saved the survivors. Today at the library, I found The Magic Tree house book Trouble on the Titanic and the CD to go along with it. I turned it on for him about 9:15. Bad idea. I thought he had fallen asleep to the author's soothing reading of the story, but at 10:45 he came and asked me (told me) to put the next CD in. "No way!" I insisted. "WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYY," he moaned loudly! Luke really brings alive the old saying "my way or the highway." I gave him a sleep strip and it was MY WAY like it or not.

Surprisingly, he has a soft side too. Our doggie isn't well. In fact, we took him to the vet today to see if there is something we can do. He sleeps all day and hasn't eaten in several. They decided to keep Cosmo overnight, and when I told Luke, his comment was, "Poor Cosmo. He must be so discouraged." My sister's 3 year old daughter Maggie has captivated all of us, but in particular Luke who sits next to her at every family occasion and cutely puts his arm behind her back when he is walking by her.

One more thing: last week, when I took him to Sunday school, the teacher stopped me and told me that Luke had prayed for the Sunday school class last week and that his prayer was a really wonderful one. Honestly, I so seldom get stopped with positives about Luke that the tears flowed out of my eyes almost immediatley. That meant so much to me. So we got in the car and I mentioned his prayer to him and he said that in fact he needed to pray right now. "Heavenly Father," he said quietly, "please help me to get 1000 Lego Motors so I can make cars, and... (glancing over toward me,) "please give my mom 200 pairs of earrings." Ha. So much for the profound prayer, but at least he included his mama!

What a lucky mom I am!

Bits and Pieces

*I have been asking myself lately when I used to fit blogging in?!! Holey Moley! This month I am lucky to find time to put on deodorant.

*Valentine's Day was lovely. Our little family had a Valentine's Breakfast, which was nice since our Valentine's evening consisted of the oh, so, romantic Valentine's Day Basketball Game. The best thing about the evening? 2 of my awesome friends keeping me company through an exciting/stressful basketball game.... AND.... ORU won! Love you too, honey- that's a great present any day of the year. (I did get flowers - below - and a very sweet card).

*Not that we had mac and cheese for our Valentine's Breakfast, but speaking of food, am I the only one who is amazed at how different Mac and Cheese seems the older my kids get? When they were little, one box of mac and cheese went on and on. It was like the fishes and loaves. Now, I stir up a pan of it and it looks like such a piddly little pile of pasta. It's just a strange feeling that I can't quite get over for some reason.

*Here is our energy-filled little boy at the beginning of his basketball game this past Saturday. At Upward games, they announce the names of the kids (Luuuuuuuuuuuuuuuke) and they run out and get all excited. Luke may get a little more excited than most. He has a lot of gusto.*All your comments on my last post really encouraged me, complete with the necessary round of tears. If you ever get that Loser Mom feeling yourself, take a look at all those comments. I completely intended to personally respond to every single one of them... they truly lifted me up!!! Thank you so much for your thoughts and encouragment. This is a better week. Plus I had a crazy friend who called me at 7:30 AM on Saturday just to make sure I wasn't missing our bball pictures. Ha! Nikki - I miss your Florida-living self.

*Oh, and the lesson? The bigness of God's grace and that I in my human condition need to extend that grace to all people. I need to quit looking at that speck in other's eyes when there is a log in my own. Cuz I was on the other end of that and it did not feel good.

*One thing I am so busy with right now (besides life in general) is being in charge of Teacher Appreciation Week for our school in April (220 people). The theme is JEE Faculty and Staff: YOU ROCK! We are incorporating a rock and roll theme and it is going to be so fun! Though right now it feels like a full time job. Having meetings, organizing activities, contacting people, getting donations, being creative and just thinking it all through. Woh!

* I sure miss reading your blogs too! I just haven't. been. able. to. :( I miss the bits and pieces that you share. You know me, always getting inspired by you! Miss you!

*Oh, and Elle Belle who is always taking pictures, grabbed my camera and took one of herself. I love the crumbs on her cheeks and how her freckles pop. So Ellie. I love that little girl. I love her to pieces.*Good night, my friends! Blog and non-blog! I know you are out there. XOXOXO.

Lukeified

The girls and I sometimes reflect on how different our lives would be if 5 1/2 years ago, a little boy had not entered our world, bursting upon the scene with grand gusto.

It seems apropos now, looking back, that he couldn't be born naturally, because he had gotten himself into quite a predicament: the cord wrapped around his neck. And that Tom and I had to be rushed off to the stark white surgical room to have him born by emergency C-section, The whole family waiting breathlessly for our wide-eyed boy to take his first gasp of air.

Since that moment, none of us have really caught our breaths; he keeps us going... moment to moment and day to day!

Here are some things we may not have around without him....

*An innumerable amount of hot wheels cars. Some without wheels, some crushed, some with Cheerios smashed inside of them. Some painted, some immaculate. Some named. Some in piles. Always wanting more.

*Trick tracks. Arranged in every formation known to man.

*Naked bottoms - stuck in our faces whenever possible. (what is this about?)

*Tech Dech skateboarding stuff - his latest love.

*Behavior Charts! - We were introduced to the lovely discipline by Luke's kindergarten teacher. Didn't even know they existed.

*Monster Trucks - he even has a monster truck video that he can watch and I laugh as he throws in the appropriate "yeeeeeeeeahhhh!"

*Daring stunts - on scooters, on the trampoline, into swimming pools, on bicycles (look at this one when he was 3 1/2), ... pushing the envelope. Always. Even in the kitchen! (see below)But the real reason I began this post in the first place was because of Luke's love for Legos. I call him a Legomaniac. Sometimes, his attention span seems impossible, but when it comes to Legos, he can sit there for HOURS, and not budge. This started when we went to Disney World two Octobers ago and Papa bought the kids a Lego set at the Lego store when we were shopping. Luke was hooked and has gotten progressively more demanding for more difficult sets. It's gotten to where the $20 and $30 sets just don't cut it. So, this Christmas, Nana, Papa and Grand Carolyn got him some biggies: The $100.00 sets. He spent a few, short days working on the Police Headquarters. When it was time for a dinner break, he would cry and say, "I can't eat because I can't get my mind off Legos!!!" But when he finished, he was so proud of his accomplishment. I was proud too - proud there were a few hours that he wasn't begging to play the Wii. Whew. Small victories. Anyway, he wanted me to take some pictures and post them on the blog for all the world to see.

Legos have had a pretty big influence on our family. Ellie is now in love with Legos, and the funny thing is my sister's girls, the three pretty princesses, well, they like Legos now too! And you may be able to catch them working a (gasp) Indiana Jones Lego set! All because of Luke.

We've all been Lukeified. And glad about it.

Boy Advice - (WFMW Backwards Edition)

If you've read this blog for long, you may know about our boy. Our gritty, grumpy and garrulous five year old boy.

He has a lot of gusto.

I know they all do, those testosterone-filled-little-works-of-God.



but I have had moms of boys say to me,
whew... that one... he's got more testosterone than usual!

And I think he does.

Poor guy, he's got two big sisters and 3 precious princess cousins and his way of saying hello is to push them over and then tackle them. With 5 little females, that gets him into trouble.

I'll tell you what he really needs is a brother. But that would require somewhat of a reversal if you know what I mean.

His teacher sent me an email today. It wasn't great news. He is loud. (I know.) He can't keep his hands to himself (Yep. That's true too.) And he likes to stick his tongue out a lot. (We keep working on that!)

I love him madly. With every fiber of my being, I want him to grow into a strong man who loves the Lord. I get down and pray over him (when he's asleep mind you; otherwise, I might get head-butted.) We do firmly believe that God will guide him and bless him and help him to see that other people have something called feelings.

But between now and then, what I need from you Works For Me Wednesday readers (and anyone else!) is some Boy Advice. Just some little nuggets of practical encouragement for us and our Rough and Tough Boy. How do we make it through the Rough and Tough days? Books you've read? Scriptures you've prayed? Mantras you've followed? Humor you've relied on? Reward systems you've utilized? Approaches you've tried? Ways to get through to his thick noggin???

Thanks for your input. In about 15 years, Luke should thank you too.

Now With More Gusto

Those of you who have read this blog know that I always talk about the gusto with which Luke approaches life.

I just loved his gusto-filled comment today: "I'd like to dip the world in ketchup and take a bite."

I know... you're thinking I misunderstood him. Surely, he said he'd like to dip his fries in ketchup. That's what kids LOVE to do. Dip their fries.

I do have one ear that squeaks more than it should, but No, I didn't misunderstand him. Because it all started with his discussion of the massive and varied list of ketchup-worthy items. Mac and cheese. Waffles. Olives. Mommy. Our House. The World.

Coming soon: Luke's Breakdancing Chronicles

10 things I Love About Luke

1. He refers to himself as “Larry Boy.”

2. He enjoys playing 9 holes of golf with his dad.

3. He eats almost anything including coleslaw, black olives, brussel sprouts and macademia nuts.

4. He likes to sing at the top of his lungs and likes to make up songs including our family’s favorite song “1-2-3-4 Dinosaur.”

5. He has a good heart.

10. Luke will sit down on your lap and read books until YOU'RE tired. He is interested in so many things and asks a ton of questions.

6. He does almost everything with great GUSTO.

7. He reminds me of his Papa in so many ways.

8. He can do tricks on his Scooter.

9. He has an imaginary friend named Pop. Pop is a tiny black bug who likes to drive in fast cars. Pop goes to preschool with Luke, but his parents live in Arizona. Pop hangs out with Luke a lot.

10. He is 1000% boy in all that he does and says and God made Him that way!!!

This Never Happened When the Girls Were Little

NOTE: I have received a couple complaints that this picture is hard to see. It is a picture of Tom's grandmother's bookcase that was handed down to us a few years ago. The big black spot is the hole in the glass that Luke caused by throwing one of his little Matchbox cars through it.

I guess that it's the price we pay to have a wonderful, fabulous, active, impulsive, strong, willful, energetic, creative, fun, wild, BOY in the family. I'm sure Tom's family, with 4 boys, had many moments like this. If you look closely, on the second shelf, you can see the upsidedown tanker that caused this accident. Luke actually had some remorse about this one. He went to his room without protesting and told me he loved me about 10 times.

Luke Kneviel?

After having a boy for 3 1/2 years, I still am not used to how different they are than girls! The risks! The noise! The jumping! The smells! The wildness! Here is Luke on the scooter doing his latest "trick."