a face only a mother could love.....

Ketchup on cheek. Runny nose. Finger in nose. Father behind camera giving instructions to pose for nose-picking picture.

Sigh.....

A young man in the making......

Sam. Nine and a half. Sports lover, particularly football and baseball, but interested in all of them. Inventive. Creative. Fiercely independent. Growing up too fast for his mother, but still hugs his mother. Smile that lights up my day.

He's been at camp this week...having fun, eating root beer floats, playing capture the flag, growing in his walk with God (even if he doesn't realize it! :). I've been at home having fun with the other kiddos and worrying about storms in northwest Iowa. But in about an hour we'll go pick him up. It's just not the same when one of us isn't here.

Tim took this picture at Pine Lake when we dropped him off last Sunday. Once he met his counselor, he was off. But we were still able to sneak some shots of him before we left....is this young man really my boy? Sometimes I don't realize how fast the time goes.....

more questions, questions.....

Okay, let's see if I can remember the stream of questions in the car tonight....it's 9:30pm and we're driving home....

Pete: Is it bedtime?
Me: Yes.
Pete: Did you change it?
Me: Did I change what?
Pete: Our bedtime. Is 9:30 our bedtime now?
Me: Well, in the summer 9 or 9:30 is about your bedtime.
Pete: It used to be 8:30. Did you change it?
Me: Yes, I guess I changed it (not feeling the need to explain that if we get home late, that changes bedtime...not like this hasn't happened a million times before..)
....a few minutes later....
Pete: What are activities?
Me: They are things that you do to occupy your time.
Pete: But what ARE activities?
Me: (sigh)
Janie: (understanding her brother's brain better at this point than I am) Peter, they are things like sports or crafts or playing Star Wars or taking a walk...
Pete: I'm doing an activity right now. I'm blinking my eyes......
Me: (audible sigh)
Janie: (audible sigh)
Pete: (crossing I-74 bridge)Does this bridge ever fall down?
Me: Um, no. If it did......(never mind)
Pete: Why doesn't this bridge ever fall down?
Me: Well, they have people to check it to make sure it's still sturdy...um...
Pete: Do they check it every day?
Me: Well......
Pete: How do tornadoes come?
Me: Well, the weather has to be just right, and they just appear....(stupid answer, I know...I'm getting exhausted by now)
Pete: Can they come to Illinois?
Me: Yes..
Pete: Can they come to Moline?
Me: Yes....
(Now pulling into driveway to find that Tim is not home - had to work late)
Me: Poor Dad, he's still working (it's almost 10pm)
Joe: How long until the end of his shift?
Me: (not sure where Joe got that idea....) He doesn't have a shift. He just works until the job is done.
Pete: I thought a job took five minutes or you get fired.
Me: (realizing that he's thinking of the time I yelled at the boys about slacking off and how when they get a job, if they take an hour to do a job that should take five minutes, then they'll get fired..I think I may have blogged about that...)
Janie: some jobs should take five minutes, like putting away your clothes....
Peter: How many hours has this day been?
Me: (another audible sigh...perhaps a groan) Pete, just go inside and we'll have a bedtime snack...

I walked inside and went straight to the computer, trying to keep this string of questions fresh in my mind. As I was typing, Pete came in and told me he was going to give me an "after bedtime snack hug". And he did. :)