Goodbye Lincoln, Hello Lawton

Don't let the sign fool you!  While Warren tried to play it cool with this move to middle school, it was certainly met with his share of tears.  As he said "I've been at Lincoln since Kindergarten."  And though he left the walls of Lincoln, he's moved to the new walls of Lawton, with most of the same friends...which is a huge blessing.  He's made a great group of close friends.

To prepare for the move to middle school, we decided this would be a summer of growing up....he learned to do his own laundry, on his own time.  He learned to make his own lunches and how to use the microwave.  He even went to his first sleepover.

As I drove around before dropping Warren off, I went over a million different things I felt he needed to know for his first sleepover.  What to do if he couldn't fall asleep.  What to do if he woke up before everyone else.  What to do if he got homesick.  What to do if he wet the bed.  And when we pulled into Lincoln's driveway, Warren said "Mom, can you quickly give me a kiss out here before we go inside?"  And, at first, I was sad.  Sad that my boy was at the age where it wasn't cool to give your mom a kiss or hug.  But, I decided to look at it from a different perspective.  Instead of being sad, I decided to be happy that, while it may not be cool anymore, my boy still wants a hug and a kiss from me!

Now that school is in full swing, we couldn't be more excited for Warren and this new chapter.  While the week before school started was filled with lots of anxiety about getting to classes on time, middle school seems to suit him well!  He's playing percussion (with Lincoln) and enjoys hanging out with his friends in the band room before school.  (Brings back such great memories for Chris and me.)  He was also selected for a leadership class, that he has 8th period....and really loves.

Meanwhile, we're all learning how to deal with "middle school meanies."  I had to check Warren out early one day last week for a doctor's appointment to have a wart removed.  The next day, after freezing the wart, it had become much, much larger.  Before school the next day, Warren was talking with a group of "friends" when he accidentally spit on one of the boys while talking.  That boy made a huge deal out of it, exaggerating his wipe and squealing "Ewww, that's so gross!  Great, now I'm gonna catch your wart!  Ewwww!  That's so gross, Warren!"  While my heart broke for him, I couldn't have been more proud of how he handled the situation.  He apologized to the boy for spitting, saying "I'm sorry.  I can't really help that when I talk."  Then he simply said "That's not really how it works.  You can't catch a wart from my spit."  He could have easily "fired something" back to the mean boy, but he didn't.  Instead, he took the high road.  And the next day, he went and found some new friends to sit with.  You really do find out who your real friends are!

So, while middle school is filled with some tough "character building" times...it's also filled with lots of fun, new experiences, like Cotillion.  As Warren started Cotillion this year, Chris and I "braved" the first carpool duty!  And, I just need to give huge props to all the girl moms out there!  While Chris worked with teaching Warren how to tie a tie, these girl moms got to work their way through experiencing panty hose!  And, based on the nervous chatter in the car, I can only imagine what that might've been like.

I'm sure learning to tie ties isn't nearly as exciting as panty hose.  Definitely not as much hilarious conversation....As the girls got in the car, Paige lifted up her skirt to fix her panty hose.  With that, Marin says "....and that's why you need Cotillion!"  That, just after Paige says "Ugh!  Panty hose are so hot!  And they scrunch up!"  To which Marin responds with "Ya, they scrunch up somewhere!"  All this as I look back to see Harper rolling his eyes, cracking up!

Not having navigated this road before, we weren't sure what to expect with middle school.  But I can tell you, we have been pleasantly surprised.  Granted, it's just the third week of school, but already, we have seen a much more confident, relaxed 11-year old.  We've watched some pretty great friends learn to be awkward together.  We're learning to step back and let Warren handle things.  We're learning to trust that we've built a good foundation and laid the groundwork so he's able to handle the tough situations without us....but that he still knows he can come to us at any time!  But most of all, we're learning to enjoy the ride!  Enjoy the moment!        



       

Girls! Girls! Girls!

Sometimes I'm just at a loss of words with Harper.  He is smart, stubborn, hilarious, witty, creative, secretly sensitive, confident, independent and oh-so-strong!  He was invited to a bowling birthday party tonight, for his sweet friend, Riley.  He knew he would be the only boy there....and he was totally fine with that.  It definitely didn't stop him from wanting to go celebrate!

The fun began when we attempted to pick out Riley's gift.  I knew Riley to be very girly and figured she might like something from the store, Justice.  The four of us walked in and clearly looked out of place.  As the store clerk came over to help, I explained the situation and she pointed us to some things.  However, Harper found a super cute outfit that we all thought looked like Riley.  As if watching my "boy family" pick out an outfit for an 8 year old girl wasn't funny enough....friends from church just happened to walk in at the exact moment we were joking about the small size, by holding the pink shorts up to Harper.  My friend, Angela, very calmly said, "Kim, you do know that this is going to require an explanation."   

Meanwhile, when Harper and Chris came home from the party, Harper walked in with a limp.  He immediately laid down on the couch, while Chris got an ice pack.  As he helped Harper get situated, they told Warren and me the story.  

Apparently, Chris was busy getting a couple of bowling balls for Harper and the girls at the same time Harper (who had already taken his shoes off) was busy getting his own bowling ball.  Harper dropped his bowling ball on his toe and, because Chris was at the other end of the building looking for bowling balls, he had no idea what happened.  So when he made his way back to Harper, he found him sitting down, by himself, crying hysterically.  After Chris settled him down, super strong Harp decided to "man up" (as his friend Riley tells him) and bowl with his friends.  

After we took his sock off, we found his big toe very much black and blue; I'm quite certain his big toenail is dead.  But I can tell you, had I not seen his toe, I would've had no idea anything was wrong.  Not one peep, not one complaint, not one tear.  In fact, even in his pain, he still kept us in stitches with his jokes, like: 

Q:  What do you call a donkey who doesn't know his name?

A:  Stupid.  

We helped him get a shower and tucked him in to bed...but not before he told me about the rest of the party.  (So, while Harper knew he would be the only boy...what he did not know was that there were going to be 20-ish people girls there.)  The only thing he had to say was "Mom!  I only went to the bathroom two times during the party.  That's all.  But those girls had to go at least five times!  And, they didn't go once by themselves.  At least five of them had to go at the same time....every time!"  Sounds about right!    

Flowers Don't Bloom....

They say flowers don't bloom without a little rain.  So, bring on the rain!

This summer, we've been preparing Warren for his first summer in the middle school camp at the Warren W. Willis Camp.  While he's been going to the camp for two years, he has always been with the elementary kids; this was our first "middle school" experience.  He had a blast the past two years...always immediately talking about the next year.  He was even more excited when we "roped" his school friend, Lincoln, into going this summer, too.

As camp neared, his excitement was met with lots of nerves, resulting in several nights of tears.  He was excited about going, but sad to leave us for the week.  Meanwhile, Harper was scheduled to start a LEGO Art Camp on Monday....so he would not be going with us to drop Warren off, like he had in years past.  That definitely played into Warren's nerves a bit.  But, we assured Warren that he would be just fine and once he got there, he would have a great time.

Our camp tradition has been that we stop at Fred's for lunch, before heading to Leesburg.  But since Harp was going to art camp, we decided to get up early and go for breakfast, before taking Harper.  When we got to Art Centric, Warren bravely held his tears back as he told Harper good bye.  (To clarify....he held his tears back long enough to get back to the car...at which point he unleashed!)

It was pouring when we got to camp, so check-in was a bit delayed.  When we finally got up to the check-in table, one of Warren's favorite counselors, Artemis (who happened to remember Warren's name....which made him feel super cool) told him that he was going to be in North Boys this week.  (While that meant nothing to me, for Chris and others who had experience with camp....it was pretty exciting.)  When a break in the rain came, we took off and rain out to North Boys.  Apparently, North Boys is one of the old, old cabins.  They've added a window unit for AC, but there are no bathrooms.  So, after we got his bunk ready....we rain over to the outhouse to check out where showers and bathroom would be.  Then, we made sure he was settled and said our goodbyes.

Though he did miss his big brother, I'd be lying if I said Harper didn't enjoy his week being a single child.  He had a blast at his LEGO camp, but did miss not having Warren around to play with in the pool.  So, as Saturday approached, we were all getting excited to head back and pick him up, though we were not looking forward to waking up so early.  (Because check-out starts around 8:30, we were planning to wake up at 6:30am to get on the road by 7am.)

But, God works in mysterious ways.  At 6:59pm, Friday, we got a phone call from an unknown number in Leesburg.  Normally, since I don't ever talk on the phone, I wouldn't answer it, but since it was Leesburg, I decided I probably should.  On the other end of the line was Nurse Karen, calling to tell me that Warren had been puking all day and we probably needed to come get him.  On the plus side, she said, he was in the Health Center with a friend of his from school.  (It's all in perspective.  While this was a plus for Warren, this was Lincoln's first experience at camp....not sure that would count as a plus for him.)

So, we quickly piled in the car (literally pulling Harper off the toilet), took off and made it to Leesburg in about an hour.  When we arrived at camp, they brought Warren out and he just fell into my arms in tears.  He looked weak and defeated and through his tears said "I just want to go home."  When we asked what was wrong, other than puking, he said he had a horrible week.  He shared some of the details of the week, telling us that some of the other middle school boys were pranking other cabins, some were turning off the lights in the outhouse, and lots were cussing.  Not only were we disappointed in the week, we were embarrassed for Lincoln's family.....first timers at camp!  We talked with Gwen and Ray (Lincoln's parents) who were also there, picking up Lincoln...and apologized for what seemed like a really rough week.  Gwen said perhaps there is a blessing among the week, that we just can't see yet.  What if God was using this week to prepare our very naive boys for what they may experience in middle school?  Perspective.  I hadn't considered that.

Our boys never hear curse words.  Those words just don't even slip out at our house, so it really bothers them when they do hear them.  They don't like it when people are treated meanly.  So, what if this week was meant to start preparing them, while still in a safe environment, for the road ahead.  Perspective.

And while the week seemed to be less than stellar, from what we are used too....it still provided an amazing place for Warren's faith journey.  On the way home, in between the "rough week" stories, Warren shared with us that he had found a Bible verse he really liked.  He couldn't remember it, but was excited to share it with us.  Chris and I both smiled, nodded and left it at that.

The next morning, Warren and I were the only two awake.  As we sat on the couch, we snuggled under a blanket and read his Bible......all his idea!  He wanted to find his new verse, Psalm 9:1-4:

"I will give thanks to you, Lord, with all my heart;
     I will tell of all your wonderful deeds.
I will be glad and rejoice in you;
     I will sing the praises of your name, O Most High.

My enemies turn back;
     they stumble and perish before you.
For you have upheld my right and my cause,
     sitting enthroned as the righteous judge."

And after we found it, he asked about my favorite verse, which I shared, 1 John 4:4:  "You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world."  Then he wanted to look up the verse of his favorite baseball player, Ryan Yarbrough, Psalm 46:10, "Be still and know that I am God."  So, we sat, reading his Bible.

After the rest of the house woke up, we all got dressed and in the car to run some errands.  Warren asked if we could listen to "Reckless Love".  I had heard the song many, many times before, but never really cared for it.  As we listened, he shared that they played it at camp a lot and he would cry every time he heard it.  Then, even went so far as to say this was his new favorite Christian song.  (I didn't realize he had an old favorite Christian song.)

So, while Warren didn't feel like he had a great week at camp...I'm convinced that he did...he just doesn't realize it.  Perspective.  After all, flowers don't bloom without a little rain, right?