Sun and Sand Slipping Away

Two blogposts in one day, wowzers. I have hardly been able to do two in one month!

I write this from the colorful kitchen of the beach house we rented for our summer vacation. We have had a fun four day trip, and I can't believe it is almost over. I was just browsing through some old posts, and came across my post called, You're Gonna Miss This, and I was just thinking this today. Life speeds along. My best friend planned this trip sometime this spring, and now it is almost over.
We have walked along the beach, the children have splashed in the water in their clothes, their swimsuits, and their clothes again. We have built sandcastles, sandcars, sandbars, sand fish ponds. We have made s'mores over a beach campfire, and we have enjoyed time with old friends. It has been a packed weekend, but sadly a fast one, and now everyone in the house (three adults and seven kids), are sleeping (except me!), and will wake up, load up, and drive north.

It just goes by so fast. My boys no longer cling to my leg at the edge of the water like they did a few summers ago. They ran from me, with their friends, jumped in the water, waded out further than I was comfortable with, and played, and played, and played. No stoppin' them.

Time was spent with my best friend of 18 years, and now we will part tomorrow, and the next time I see her kids, they will not be the sweet little fourteen month old, the cars-obssessed 2 year old, and the dainty little 5 year old ready for kindergarten. Who knows when we will see them, but they will have changed so much.

Another family joined us for two of the days...dear, dear friends whose children are peas in a pod with my three boys. Many tears were shed by my six year old when he had to say goodbye to them yesterday. It just goes by so fast.

 We're going to look back on this beach vacation, and remember the chaos, the friendships, the sunburns, and it's going to seem like forever ago. It's claustrophobic to think about it, really. It's inevitable. Time flies when you're having fun. And we have had so much fun these past 9 years as parents, it's lightening fast.

Sometimes You Just Gotta Let'em

After a very LONG drive from corn country to cotton and cattle land, what do you do with three very anxious little boys?

Do you make them sit quietly in the back seat and look at the flat coastal plains of South Texas?

Or, do you put on the upteenth movie to numb their brains to mush?

                Or, do you leave them be...

                                        ignore their giggles....

                                                      dare to turn around at their quiet whispers....

And then, when you see that they are drawing on eachother's faces (with washable markers)...

                 Do you yell?

 Do you cry?

Do you hit the ceiling?

Nope, you laugh and you get a photo and tell them this is the only time they will get away with it.

After all, they have traveled for a very, very long time!

My All Star Player

Well, this isn't the best picture...I will try and get a better one. My six year old is almost finished with his first season (and hopefully last) of t-ball. Not that he doesn't enjoy it, or that he's not good at it, he is just ready for the big leagues aka coach pitch. :) It is tough for him to start at this level when he's been playing ball with Daddy and his brother for two summers...and he sees his big brother play on a "real" team.
But I am proud of this little guy in light of all that. He is the most encouraging team mate, always shouting at his friends "good hit" or "go to second!" or "SAFE!". I joked with him and said, "Maybe one day you'll be a ref." And he looked at me like I was crazy...he wants to PLAY! He hits the ball as best as he can, and he runs those bases as if his life depended on it. He proudly says "his team is the best" and he told me he's a little upset that his coach doesn't shout their team name louder in the group huddle. He is just itching for the real thing. It will come soon enough, All star! :)

Gladly On the Sidelines

Sometimes I have to remind myself that my boys are at the age where they will look back on these times as "their childhood". It could be good memories or not-so-good, and with that foresight I have the ability to shape their memories for the better.
Being the mom of an avid sports fanatic...aka. Caleb, my almost 9 year old...I must force myself at times, to be part of his sports-playing memories. It is easy for me to let my husband, the assistant coach for this year's baseball team, play the role and drive him from game to game, while I tend to the other three at home. But I make myself go, chasing around two of them while I watch the game, and appeasing the baby when she fusses.

Perhaps it is out of guilt, but that's okay right now. Even though sometimes the last thing I want to do at the end of the day is sit in the hot sun among spit-soaked sunflower seeds and stinky 3rd and 4th graders, I want my son to look back and remember Mom cheering from the sidelines.

It all became clear to me, and affirming, yesterday after he pitched an awesome inning. He ran into the dugout where I stood bouncing the baby and keeping one watchful eye on my other boys and one on him. His pride shone through his smile. I said, "Good job, Caleb!" and he tossed his glove down and said, in a handsome hero sort of way, "I did it for you." And went about his baseball business.
Melt-my-heart! Yeah, I'll be at every game! :)