15th Birthday

Today my baby turned 15.

Dear Vaughan,

I love you. Today you turned 15, actually it was 24 minutes and 15 years ago that you were born. Wow, I can't believe it's been that long. You have been such a blessing in my life. I feel so privileged to have you for a son and to have spent the majority of your days with you.

It seems like yesterday you were learning to crawl, jumping in your Johnny Jump-up and climbing on everything, jumping off it and yelling, "Watch this Bubba!" I couldn't eat a bit of chocolate without you smelling it from the next room and still look to you when my chocolate stash has been compromised.

When I watch you with your friends I smile. You are a good friend, trustworthy and loyal. Your laughter makes me laugh and brings a sense of joy to my heart. You are the best big brother Justin could ask for, you are patient and loving, kind and generous, at times. You are the hardest worker I know and have helped me in more ways than you can ever imagine.

I've always said God gave you to your father and I to raise us. We were so young and immature when you came into our lives, I'm still in awe that they let us take you home from the hospital. You were so frail and tiny in size but ever so big in heart and life. You took the NICU at Dartmouth by surprise when you began to make noises at 2 months premature and under 24 hours old; you stole my heart the second I saw your face. You have brought more love and joy to our lives than I ever could have imagined, you have in some strange way helped raise us and now look at you, entering your 16th year of life.

Thank you for being you.

I know I'm not always the greatest mom on the planet, I've yelled a few too many times, not given you 100% of me as I should and have lacked in my parenting skills I'm sure; forgive me for that, but know that your Father in heaven never yells and condemns, always give you 100% of Him and doesn't lack any good thing.

As I watched you sleep tonight my heart fluttered with excitement and shuttered with fear. I am so excited to see where your journey will take you and fearful of the bumps that will arise on the way. Part of me wants to go ahead of you, smooth things out, make the path easier, but I know it's the divets that will shape and form you. You will be shaped and formed into a wonderful, godly young man.

Listen to what everyone has to say and love everyone for where they are at. Dance. Eat well and steer away from caffeine. Recycle. Be kind to your brother and put others before yourself. Spend time everyday outside and read. Get plenty of sleep and drink orange juice often. Keep in touch with the people from your youth, the bond you share with them now will help carry you in the future. Smile. Don't take things personally and pause before you speak. Travel. Vote. Accept those who vote/think/believe differently than you, enjoy the freedom the two of you share. Love. Love more than anything else. Love your neighbor, your enemy, your God. Keep your eyes on heaven and your heart devoted to Christ, in the end His Word is all the advice you'll ever need.

I love you my little one and I look forward to doing life with you another day, another year, another 15.
With all my love,
Mom

15th party pics...
Jenga






























Cupcakes...



























Big brother Branden.

























The gang, the poor van- it's getting old, just look at the roof. It's been through a lot with you guys.
























Your independence is growing.
























With your Mimi. How lucky you are.














Now we enter the driving years....

A Whole Lot of Rastlin' Going On

So last night after putting the boys to bed I heard some rustling around at the other end of the house. I tip-toed toward the boys room only to see the light under the door click off and then silence.

It wasn't but a few minutes later when a small war broke out.

My boys aren't big fist fighters but they are boys and "rastlin'" is in their blood. I think it's the hunter-gatherer in them; anyway I've never had a problem with the "rastling'" (I just like that word) and found a trampoline good for those physical days.

While my boys are "boys" they are not the size of boys anymore, so when 2 children who are 5'5" and 6' go at it- you can hear it and feel it. For a brief second I thought an earthquake was occurring. As I crossed the house and their hallway was in view I saw my youngest running from my sewing room to their room and he was pissed. Loud words were coming from his mouth and he was on a mission. Before I made it to the room I heard some crashing and then suddenly quiet. I entered their bedroom to find things looking pretty normal, besides a cleared off dresser top, the boys were no where near each other.

Getting to the bottom of the problem, which involved a light being on and music being played, I really just wanted both boys to see the attitude of their heart.

The thing with kids is they are always ready to point the finger, OK so adults are good at this too, but I'm talking about kids right now.

Anyway after a few minutes of "He this and he that" and "I don't get this, it never goes my way, he's your favorite" I finally stopped them.

"What was your sin" I asked each of them.

"How did you do your brother wrong? Let's face it, injustice is all over the place and ultimately you are only responsible for your actions and in the end it is so much more worth it to put your brother first."

The conversation went well and went long and in the end both boys seemed to see their own fault and suggested a better way of handling things next time. Vaughan also brought up the fact that he has less patience and gives less leeway to his brother.

Why is that?

Why are we harder on the ones closest to us? Why do they get to see our bad side the most? I guess it's because of the unconditional love we receive from them, the comfort of being so real at home.

Finally I got them to bed and made it to my own, but not without a few thoughts to take from the situation. I reflected on some relationship issues I'm struggling with and saw that like the boys I need to look at myself, my thoughts, actions and heart attitude. When I do this I see that it is so freeing and true what the book of James says in chapter 4 verses 1-3:

1What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don't they come from your desires
that battle within you? 2You want something but don't get it. You kill and
covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not
have, because you do not ask God. 3When you ask, you do not receive, because you
ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.

So we survived another parenting "episode" and I'm sure we have many more to come.

Bring it! That's been my motto, let's just face this teen thing head on.

I'm ready, I guess, and things were really put into perspective when Steve said to me this morning, we only have 6 years of children in the house left- that's less time of them being in the house then the time we've lived here in FL; and it seems like yesterday we moved here.

Still surviving this thing called teen years

~Michelle <><

Time Marches On

There's a weird feeling one gets when their child, who they remember as being just that a child, does adult things.

Yesterday we took him to the beach.
He went with a friend.
To meet some other friends.
He usually doesn't like to go to the beach,
at least not with mom and bubby.

He said some people from church were going.
When clarified those "people" boiled down to one name.

Darn those "people."
They have long hair and pretty smiles.
They never showed up at the beach, I couldn't help but be happy they didn't.

Somehow, I thought that 5 letter word would cease to exist around here.
It didn't.
I've got teenage boys and g-i-r-l-s are inevitable.

I'm trusting these years ahead to God.
Only through Him will these girls I survive!

Beach anyone?

Would someone please tell me they have eaten a half a jar of peanut butter for a snack. It happened here.
1- 18oz. jar
2 days
1 child
gone

This never ceases to amaze me. They are living, breathing, garbage disposals.

It reminds me of a time when Vaughan was a baby, we were at a friends house watching sports.

sidenote: we were teenagers and in high school at this time so our "friends house" was actually his parents house

back to the story: I'll never forget his mother making a huge plate of nachos with all the fixin's. I'm talking meat and all. I was sure we'd eaten lunch before we went and bowls of chips and snacks lined the table when we arrived, I figured all the eating was done and over with; however, I have a vivid memory of the plate of nachos disappearing... quickly.

What I witnessed that day 14 years ago has come full circle. Whether it be nachos or peanut butter the shelf life around teenagers is about 5 seconds.

Anyone know where I can get peanut butter on sale??

~Michelle