And Then He Was 18

My younger son turned 18 on Tuesday this past week, but I haven't taken time until now to blog about it.  


When he was a baby he had really red hair.  I can remember my Grandma being so excited about it saying she had hoped to have a redheaded great-grandchild.  This is obviously an old faded picture and of poor quality, but I posted it so you could see how red his hair was when he was just a baby.  His hair is still somewhat red, but it is darker now than it used to be. Yes, that's me holding him in case you are wondering.

He was (and still is) a very cheerful guy.  He seemed to always be smiling as a baby.  He loved sitting in this little plastic chair that he had that was just his size.

This picture was taken this week after the last high school orchestra concert of the year.  He won the top local award for being an outstanding orchestra student.  Some scholarship money to be used towards private music lessons came along with the award.  We were all quite surprised when his name was announced for this because my son is a junior and usually it is given to a senior. 

Here he is on stage with his upright bass before the concert started.

His girlfriend made him this amazing cake for his birthday.  It was a double layer yellow cake with fudge frosting between the layers and on the tops and sides.  She then covered the outside edge with KitKat candy bars and covered the top with M&M's.  I wouldn't even want to guess how many calories were in it, but it was yummy, of course.

We went out to dinner for his birthday to celebrate.  I sometimes miss the little boy that he used to be, but I am so proud of the young man he has become.

Inch by Inch

I have been pretty busy the last week or two at the library promoting the upcoming summer reading programs, so I don't have a lot of other news, but I thought I'd share a few pictures of what's growing here now.

The last couple of years I tried to grow morning glories in the flower pots on my front porch, but was unsuccessful because something (squirrel, chipmunk, groundhog, bird? --not sure what) kept eating the seedlings as soon as they sprouted.  I'm trying it again this year, but this time I put some plastic netting over the pots as you can see in the picture below.  I hope the net will keep the creatures out of the flowers but still allow the vines to grow up through the openings.  So far  so good.  You can see the sprouts are just starting to come up now.

I transferred some peony plants from my mother's house to our yard before we sold her house at auction.  This is the first time for a bloom to appear.  I have three plants, and they are all still fairly small, but one of them produced this lovely bloom for me this week.  I was so thrilled to see it.

This photo of yellow tulips is actually from a couple of weeks ago, and they belong to my neighbor, but they grow right along the borderline between our two properties so I get to enjoy them too.  I love their cheerful, sunny yellow color.

I posted some pictures of my daisies on a sunny day not too long ago, but here are a few I took on a cloudy day looking up at the clouds.  I like how soft the clouds look

 The lyrics from a song have been in my head recently since I planted my morning glory seeds.  John Denver sings one version of it.  Here are some of the words.
                                                

Garden Song
by David Mallett

CHORUS:
Inch by inch, row by row
Gonna make this garden grow
Gonna mulch it deep and low
Gonna make it fertile ground

Inch by inch, row by row
Please bless these seeds I sow
Please keep them safe below
'Till the rain comes tumbling down

Pullin' weeds and pickin' stones
We are made of dreams and bones
Need a place to call my own
'Cause the time is close at hand

Grain for grain, sun and rain
Find my way in nature's chain
Till my body and my brain
Tell the music of the land

CHORUS

Plant your rows straight and long
Season with a prayer and song
Mother Earth will make you strong
If you give her loving care

Old crow watching from a tree
He's got his hungry eye on me
In my garden I'm as free
As that feathered thief up there

 **********

Speaking of growing and changing, I also wanted to share just a small update  about my older son.  This is a recent picture of him.   He lives in Florida where he is going to graduate school.  He recently visited Universal Studios with some of his friends which is where this picture was taken.  

He is doing well.  His classes are going very well, and he is working a part-time job in his field.  He currently is working as a Behavior Analyst with two autistic clients, one a nine-year-old boy and one a twenty-two year old young man (same age as my son).  


He will be coming home for the month of July when he has a short break in his classes, and I am really looking forward to seeing him then.  (He stood in front of this fancy electric bass to show it to his younger brother.)  We keep in contact with him frequently by Skype and phone and email and such, but none of those are quite the same as actually getting to see him.  It will be nice to have him home again even if it is for only a short while.

Follow Me Where I Go

I went to my last day of Leadership Class on Wednesday this week.  We spent the first part of the morning doing a team building exercise.  We were split into two teams and given various materials we could use to get a golf ball, a ping pong ball, and a toy car from inside a box on a square we were standing on to the inside of a circle on the floor about twelve feet away from us.  We weren't allowed to leave our square and each of us could only touch the materials that were assigned to us.  There were several other rules we had to follow too.  Anyway, we figured out the puzzle by working together.  It was a fun exercise, and it reminded us once again how much better we do when we cooperate with each other and work together.

After that exercise, we listened to a motivational speaker.  She was quite good, but I actually had heard her speak once before at the library, so much of what she had to say I had heard before.

We next traveled to an area hotel where a room had been set up for us to just relax and have fun together.  Pizza was brought to us for lunch along with pop and chips and cookies.  We played several different Wii games, Pictionary, and card games the rest of the afternoon.  It was a fun afternoon and a very nice way to end our nine months of classes.

We were then dismissed for about an hour, after which, we met at a local restaurant for dinner and awards.  We were each given a certificate of graduation along with a crystal teardrop shaped award with our name engraved on it.  We also received a motivational book and an insulated cup with the word "Excellence" printed on it.

At our last meeting we were asked to write three words to describe each of our classmates.  So at our meeting this week, those lists had all been compiled, and we were each given the list of words that our classmates wrote to describe us.

The list below shows the words that were used to describe me.  The number in parentheses shows how many people used that word as a descriptor for me.  Of course, we have been encouraged throughout this nine months to be supportive of each other and work as a team, so it will come as no surprise that with these lists we were supportive of each other too.  My classmates described me with these words:

quiet (6)

thoughtful (4)

friendly (4)

gentle (3)

calm (2)

helpful (2)

shy (2)

kind (2)

sweet

unassuming

wise

practical

creative

kindhearted

peaceful

intelligent

Six different people of the eleven described me as quiet.  People have been telling me that I'm quiet all my life, so that didn't come as any big surprise to me.  However, I haven't felt very "wise" or "intelligent" lately, mainly because I have been super busy at work promoting the upcoming summer reading programs at our six library locations.  Mostly I have felt frazzled and overwhelmed and scatterbrained rather than wise because I've had so much on my to do list.  Anyway, it was nice to read this list from my classmates.  They were kind and supportive, as I think we all tried to be with each other.

Over the past nine months, we have formed friendships, and I will miss seeing these people regularly.  With luck, at least some of us will be able to stay in touch with one another.  This class has been a valuable learning experience, and I learned a great deal about my community from it.  This is our group at the dinner in the evening.  I'm wearing white and black and standing in the middle of the back row.  (*Note to self to wear something with more color in it next time I have my picture taken.  Wearing white made me look even paler than I already am!  Yikes!)

We will be seeing each other at least a few more times as we complete the rest of our community projects.  This Saturday, we will be doing some painting at the Humane Society.  We also have some painting planned to do in one of the buildings at the county fairgrounds and a tree-planting/beautifying project in the works too, but dates haven't been set for those yet.

Wonder Woman? Not Even Close.

My son in Florida sent this e-card to me for today.  I have never felt like a "Wonder Woman" mom--far from it.  I've always felt like I was flying by the seat of my pants rather than as a result of any super powers. Being a Mom is one of those jobs that doesn't come with a "how-to" guide.  You do the best you can and hope everything works out OK.  I miss my older son, but he is doing well, and we keep in touch regularly.  I can't really ask for more than that.

Anyway, this card made me laugh.  We all seem to have some sort of odd  skin tone disorder.   You'll notice that my son gave his younger brother the role of the "daughter" in this little video too. (Well, somebody had to play that role.  The options were limited!)  I'm sure my older son thought that was amusing.  My younger son laughed about it too.  I'm glad both of my boys have a good sense of humor.  I think having that will always serve them well.


My Mom always had a good sense of humor too.  I miss her very much, but I'm very fortunate to have many good memories of her.  I've posted this picture here before, but it seems fitting to post it again today.  This is of my Mom and Dad when they were very young. I love their smiles in this photo.

Wishing you all a Happy Mother's Day!

Daisies, Daisies, Daisies, Daisies, Daisies and a Poem

The daisies, in the flower bed in my back yard, are blooming like crazy.  

Quite a few blooms have appeared, but there are still lots of buds yet to open.

The sky was an incredible shade of blue today and the weather was beautiful.  So now that you've seen the daisies from above, how about a few views from below so you can see how blue the sky was and how pretty the sunshine was.

The sun doesn't always shine, of course.  So here are a few shots of daisies after a heavy rain that we had earlier this week and the poem that they inspired.

Rainy Day Daisy

Swaying in the wind, 

a daisy stoops 

and struggles 

under the weight of heavy rain.

Water drops slide down

tugging at the petals

before rolling off 

to soak into the ground. 

Then the rainy day daisy winks,

straightens,

stretches its roots, 

and lures the rain in,

soaking it up.

Springing back after the storm,

tilting and nodding,

the daisy turns

and faces the sun.

Oh What a Night!

My son and his girlfriend attended the prom this weekend as I mentioned in my last post.  It was a big night, and they both had a lot of fun.  After getting all dressed up for the occasion and posing for pictures, they joined a group of friends and traveled in a rented "party bus," as they called it, to Toledo for dinner.

After dinner they returned to the high school for the dance.  "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory" was the theme of their prom and the decorations in the high school gym creatively reflected that theme.

When the dance was over, they returned home for a quick change of clothes and then climbed onto five school buses and traveled to Fort Wayne to a gaming center where they bowled, played miniature golf, rode bumper cars, played video and arcade games, and did other fun activities.  While playing the games they won tickets which they could then turn in for drawings for prizes.  At the after-prom activities, they also had available hot dogs and pizza and pop and a large dessert bar.

My son won a prize at the end of the games.  His name was drawn to win a pair of Oakleys sunglasses.  He was so excited. He and his girlfriend both had a great time.  My husband and I were on the food committee for the prom and helped chaperon the after-prom events.  The events ended at 4:00 in the morning, and we made it back home after cleaning up about 5:30 this morning.  We were exhausted, of course, but we had fun seeing the kids enjoy the evening.  I put together a slide show of pictures from the night if you'd like to get a glimpse at how things went. (There's no sound.  It's just pictures.)

I'm So Easily Amused!

Hey, it's the weekend!  A co-worker gave me this dancing sunflower a couple of days ago.   It is solar powered and never stops dancing. It sits on my desk at work, and it makes me laugh. It is always moving. (There is no sound to the video, so no need to turn on your speakers.)  I wish I were solar powered and could always be dancing.  Someone told me there are also daisies just like this, but I haven't seen them yet.  Wouldn't it be fun to have my whole desk covered with these dancing flowers.  I'd have a garden right there on my desk looking like flowers blowing in the breeze. HA!  Yes, I will be the first to admit that I am very easily amused.

I wish I had this much energy.  I'm going to need it this weekend.  Saturday night we are going to help chaperon the after-prom activities for my son's high school.  It is being held at a gaming center where the kids can bowl, play mini-golf, ride bumper cars, and play other games.  While there, the kids can have pizza or hot dogs to eat, and the parents of junior students are donating items for a dessert bar too.  Earlier tonight I finished baking and icing six dozen cupcakes as our contribution. My son and his girlfriend are going out to dinner with a group of their friends and then to the dance and then the after-prom activities. It's going to be a busy weekend here.  I hope the weekend is good for all of you.