Day 27: Hard Knock Life

There must be something about being newly licensed that helps one out of bed.  Because in my 16 years of knowing my boy, he's never sat his own alarm and been up/ready before I reached his door!

Ever eager for his new-found freedom, he traveled bright and early to our donut shop to surprise his dad with breakfast, when he arrived home from work.  The three of us enjoyed chocolate milk and sugary delights, before I headed out into a literal monsoon, leaving the boys snug on the couch.

By the time I walked into the office, I was dripping wet, drenched from the downpour.  Guess I needed two showers in one day!  I've heard ranges of 3-5 inches and there are areas still flooded that I don't recall ever being so high.  It's been a strange summer.  Scorching heat one moment, flood plains the next.

Because of the flooded roads, inevitably my schedule was rearranged.  Instead of being grumpy about shuffling things and working a now full Friday, I decided to make the most of it.  My new driver was marooned so I went home for an extended lunch to see him.

To my surprise, I found him asleep on the couch and his dad a busy bee, with fresh vacuum marks and empty laundry baskets left as evidence.  There's not much else that makes me happier these days than housework I don't have to do.

As Tim retired, Noah stirred and settled for noodles and movie on a rainy, wash of a day.  The movie of choice - Annie.  For years, we've sang, "Hard Knock Life" to the kids, whenever they'd whine about doing chores.  They never really got it and after seeing it as an available free movie, today seemed like a wonderful time to expose him to the wonders of a classic musical.

To my surprise, he enjoyed the movie and I loved the trip back in time.  My 40 year old brain may forget why I walked into a room but I remembered the words to every song.  And now maybe I'll get a chuckle out of Noah when I sing it to him in the future.

As he's matured, he's not one to complain much but everyone gets grumpy now and then.  Life is full of rain clouds ready to cloud up our day.

But as the sweet, red-headed girl sings...

The sun'll come out tomorrow.  Or around here, by the afternoon.

Upward and Onward

Last night was Noah's final Upward practice and Saturday will be the last game of the season.  It's always a little sad to see an end to something we love to do as a family.

While my gas tank will appreciate not having to drive to Owensboro two additional days each week, there are so many things about Upward I'm going to miss.

If you didn't catch my post last November, you can read it here from the beginning and what this program means to us.

For the rest of you, I'll carry on.

Every Monday night for the past several months Noah and I have made the trip for practice.  It has given us at least a four hour block of time to be together each week and above all that has been a joyful blessing.  We've had great conversations on our commute, laughs, and inside jokes along the way.  I've also enjoyed watching him grow as a player under the leadership of his coach. 

Last night, I treated Noah to a sushi date prior to his practice, to celebrate the end of a season.  We both shared a first, eating at the sushi bar, and it was such fun watching Noah watch the chef make our meal.

Eavesdropping on their prayer circle each week at practice has also been an encouragement to my soul.  To see Noah growing as a Christian and building on his faith is probably one of the proudest mom moments I can have.  I've watched him willingly and openly share prayer concerns and offer to lead the group in prayer several times this season.  I have no doubt this also falls on the leadership of our church home, as the strong examples he has there for role models.

At the end the coach asked each of them to share two things they learned - one athletically and one spiritually from Upward this year.  Noah's warmed my heart.  He said the one thing he took away from their devotions was to always follow God's path, not the world's, for his life.  How I prayerfully wish he holds on to that throughout his teenage years.

May he always look Upward to God to direct his life.

Still Hangs with Mom

What's better than a "Mom & Noah Day?"  An unexpected and unplanned one!

For the past few years, Noah has gone with me to an annual Indian breakfast.   A local oncologist opens his home each spring as a benefit to the American Cancer Society.  Noah, being just as adventurous of an eater as I am, it's something we've come to look forward to each year.  Hard to believe though that the little kid I first brought along is now taller than me!  This year, though we were scurrying out the door, I managed to think and pause long enough for a photo.


We were somewhat rushed Saturday morning because we had a certain time to be back in town.  Living nearly an hour from the breakfast, it also meant we had a specific time we needed to leave.  Though we made it to the breakfast on time, we didn't have the luxury to leisurely eat and go out back for a stroll through their picturesque backyard.  However, in the short time we were there, we made the most of it.

Noah tried everything but tossed me several items, one toothy bite missing from each.  As he lapped up the syrup and melted cream from his waffle, I caught him eyeing mine.  Actually, he was at first glancing at the buffet.  My "Mom look" let him know without words it wouldn't be appropriate to go back for seconds, but I softened that news by sliding my waffle over to him.  He gladly accepted.

As we left with our bellies content, he softly grabbed my arm, a silent thank you and secret hug.  If that's all the one on one time we'd had yesterday, I would've been happy from that single moment.

Heading to my office, the closest place to change for our next stop, I noticed Noah's shoes.  Although we were on a tight time limit, needing to get home for a ballgame, I realized a shoe shopping trip was in order.  Though we'd just bought the current pair less than three months ago, his poor sock covered toes were hanging out the sides!  When I asked why in the world he didn't tell me (smacking myself internally for not noticing already), Noah responded with a shrug.

Boys.

And though he'll only need those spiffy size twelves for a total of 13 days, as school is nearly out, they were worth every penny seeing him strut his stuff.  I might add, it was the quickest shoe shopping trip in my personal history,  helped in part because I totally avoided the women's section!  At any rate, we made it to the ball field on time, or if I'm being honest five minutes late, which considering all we packed into less than three hours, I'd say that's pretty impressive.



He trotted off to be with his team.  I figured this was the end of our day, though it was still technically morning.

Noah was dressed in his uniform but wasn't on the field to play.  The high school team called all the teams from the county to be recognized, one team at a time.  I chuckled a bit when Noah took the field, stopping at the dugout to shake the hands of the "big boys," especially since he was bigger than some.  And he's only 12.

We settled in to watch the game when an announcement came through that changed our plans.  A time delay found Tim an open fishing opportunity.  (He'd been itching to take out his boat for weeks)  And it found me and Noah with a free afternoon.  We opted to wait the game out out, grabbing a burger and keeping our shade tree spot.  A chunk of the day faded into early evening, cheering on our boys.

I thanked him for spending the day with me, knowing he could've just as easily hung out with his friends and other teammates who were littered around the stadium.  He smiled agreeing he'd enjoyed the day too.  Again I assumed that concluded our day and was one happy mom.

Once home, we had time apart during the evening busyness of preparing dinner and for church the next day.  But bedtime found him crawling up with me to watch tv, taking advantage that his dad was thoroughly enjoying his fishing time and wouldn't arrive home until midnight.  Tim prodded him off to his own bed in the wee hours of this morning.  I drifted back off to sleep, blissfully thankful for a complete morning to night quality time with my growing boy.