A Little Guilt Trip

I got off of work early to take Austin to a doctor's appointment. On the ride there the boys were really quiet and I did most of the talking. On the way home though the boys had lots to say. Austin started off by asking me why I can't be home with them anymore. I told him I wish I could but it is better for our family now that Mom works. He said "For Who Mom?" That question really got me thinking. Then he teared up a little bit so I tried to change the subject only to be interrupted by Preston who chimed in with Daddy needs you home too. It really makes you think about your priorities.

Big Brother is Watching Over You

Austin has always been our adventurous soul. He finds mischief where there is none and has gotten into more sticky situations than all three of my boys put together. One thing that he does do even if he doesn't show it all the time is watch over his little brothers. He watches over them, makes sure they are taken care of and thinks Mat and I are a little lax on the parenting when it comes to them playing around our neighborhood. We have always been a little protective of the boys but over the years we have given them more independence. Austin doesn't care for that at all. In fact we have had neighbors tell us what a great kid Austin is and how he cares for all of the kids in the neighborhood.

A little for instance regarding him is this: Preston and a neighbor girl were playing in our backyard one minute and the next they were gone. It was like they disappeared in the blink of an eye. Well, Austin panicked so bad. There were tears and a frantic Austin was racing from neighbor to neighbor trying to find them. We did find them and guess what? They were in the backyard the whole time. We have a half acre and they were in the way back corner playing in the dirt. We didn't even see them back there. It showed us how much Austin cares about his brothers (even though he won't admit to it most of the time).

So tonight my Austin is spending the night at his friends house. I was dozing off in bed and my phone rings. Lo and behold it was Austin and he was checking on his brothers. He was making sure they were ok and in bed. I told him they were and he just told me "Good Mom. I just wanted to make sure they were good. Love you Mom, have a good night." How can I ever get mad at such an awesome, caring kid? He truly loves his brothers even if he doesn't always show it.

Advice from an 11 year old.....

I haven't been feeling well and we were supposed to be getting ready to go camping for Father's Day. I was trying my hardest to not stress out and just go with the flow but of course, that is NOT my personality. Austin came out of the bathroom and as he was passing me he stopped, looked at me and presented me with some great advice (at least he thought so). Austin said hey Mom I think you need to read page 52 in your magazine. It tells you how to smile even though you are stressed. I said what magazine? He said the one on the side of the bathtub. Then he told me he took a look at it while he was in the bathroom. He said it sounds like something that might help you Mom, just saying. I really think God gave me boys to keep me laughing even in a stressful situation. They keep me on my toes, that's for sure.

This and That

Here are some more pictures from the past few months.

Disneyland!!!

Enjoy some pictures from our recent trip to Disneyland.

Summer Has Started

Well, summer is in full swing and the boys are loving every moment of it. Mat is able to be home with them during the day so the boys are having fun. We already had our big family vacation. We went to Disneyland and we had a blast. Nothing like visiting the House of the Mouse (as one of my friends says). We stayed a week and did the whole Disney thing and took the boys to the beach. Overall we had an awesome vacation.

Onto summer though.....my Austin is heading to middle school in the fall so I am hoping summer crawls by. I am not ready to be a mom of a middle schooler. He is an awesome kid so I know we will have no problems but it is still an end to my little boy and the start of a preteen.

I am going to make a very conscious effort to keep up with my blog this summer and from here on out. So if you check my blog regularly you will actually have something to read.