The Joy of Life

Playing with Baby Girl, I suddenly started singing Ladybug Picnic to her, from the old school days of Sesame Street.  It gave me the itch to look up the song, since I couldn't remember all the words.  From that point, we started watching classic Sesame Street clips together.  We jammed to C is for Cookie and waltzed together to Oscar's I Love Trash.  She wanted nothing to do with Ernie's Rubber Ducky.  Either she's prejudiced against orange people or she was embarrassed by the sight of him in the bathtub.  I'm not sure on that one.

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I got a letter from the school saying that Son #2 was accepted into the gifted program based on his recent test scores!  He scored 99% on the math test!  (I'm not sure if I could do that well on a 4th grade math test!)  This was a shock to both my husband and me.  You would have to know this kid. 

At one point of his life, we were sure that he had a learning disability.  I even wondered about more serious problems.  He was a late talker.  He didn't communicate well until much later than his peers.  He screamed a lot and got frustrated when you couldn't understand him.  He didn't listen, didn't follow directions, and was so difficult to manage.  Well, we thought, our first son is the smart one and #2 will just always struggle.  Boy, were we wrong! 

One day, he just decided to turn it off.  He became the most polite, well behaved, and calmest child you've ever seen.  It was hard to believe he was the same person!  So to hear that he's gifted...it just blows my mind!  Going through those things with him gave me patience to deal with Baby Girl's difficultness.  She has a lot of the same tendencies as him.  I already see her growing out of it and becoming more like her brother.  These are the things in life that make parenting such a joy!

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Son #1 left for his first hunting trip last night.  No one in our family has ever been a hunter.  My aunt married a man who hunts a lot and always said he wanted to take my sons hunting.  I fought it for a while but reluctantly gave in.  I trust this man more than I trust myself.  He and my aunt are so good to my children.  They never had children of their own so have adopted mine as their own children/grandchildren.  We had the talk about how it's not OK to hunt animals solely for the fun of it.  It's a way of providing food and we will use what we take.  I am not a fan of wild game.  I kind of hope he doesn't get into this because the thought of plucking turkeys and cooking up venison does not suit me well.  I'm sure he'll have a good time though. 

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Big Sis has been raising money for Jumprope For Heart at school.  It was so sweet to hear her talk about how the little kids in the hospital are sick in their hearts and need our money to get better.  I thought she was going to tear up at one point.  But then she admitted that she really wants the water bottle prize for collecting money.  An almost selfless act...

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My May 2nd banquet is almost here!  I'm so anxious to be done with the craziness associated with this time of year!  I think I'm prepared.  The restless nights with a racing mind keeping me up are nearly over!

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The Mailbox Kids have gotten bored and moved on!  Either that or they're terrified of my six foot, 200 lb. + bald neighbor who came out and yelled at them.  I do have a couple good videos of them messing with my mailbox, in case I ever need it.