A Great Day

On Saturday January 2, 2010 our daughter Kamrie was baptized a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

We were so blessed that both sets of grandparents were able to come for this special occasion.

Kamrie asked her big brother Zac if he would perform the baptism.  He of course said he would, and did a great job!

I was amazed at the number of people that came to support Kamrie in this milestone of her life.  We are so blessed with so many friends here in TN!

First and Last

Yesterday my kids headed back to school. I am usually full of excitement when my kids go to school. I have never felt sad, even when it was a little one going off to Kindergarten. I think part of it is the freedom for me, but also that I LOVED school!! And for the most part my kids do to.

Well, this year was a little different. As I was taking the annual first day of school pictures, it hit me hard that this would be Zac's last first day of school!! He will be graduating this year and so next fall (well, summer) he will not be a part of the tradition! He is getting closer and closer to leaving us, and it KILLS me!! I will miss him like crazy and have decided to just stop thinking about it.

So here are the photos!!

Kamrie - 2nd GradeScott - 5th Grade
(here that means middle school! And I
fixed his hair before we left!)
Chad - 6th Grade
(took him to the Dr, in that last 5 months he grew
3 inches and put on 30 pounds)Tyler - 10th GradeZac - 12th Grade!!

They wear uniforms to school, I didn't make them
wear matching clothes for the photo!

BOYS

This was too good to not blog!!

Tyler's birthday was Tuesday (blog to come) and this is what he got -

(it's an airsoft gun, calm down)

Today Zac wanted to see how much it would hurt to get shot!

He said it hurt a little!

Lucky, Joy, Anxious, Love

Yesterday my oldest son, Zac, celebrated his SEVENTEENTH birthday! I have tried to post something about each of them on their birthdays, this post is coming a day late! It is a day late because I really want to share what being his Mom has been like. The four words in the title I think sum it up for me.

LUCKY - I feel lucky because Zac is truly, and genuinely GOOD. He was a good baby, a good toddler, a good kid, and now a good young man. My friend once asked if I could bottle whatever I did with him so she could give it to her boys. I had to be honest, and not take credit, I tell everyone "He just came that way!"

JOY - Zac has the ability to bring joy to any situation. I feel he is genuinely a joyful person. In fact there have been times when I have had to be harsh with him, and always felt so bad for taking any of that joy from him. He almost always has a smile, and even if he tells you he doesn't have that many friends. I know that everyone that knows him feels like his friend.

ANXIOUS - There are two reasons I feel anxious. The first is that I realize my time with him living under the same roof, seeing him every day, is limited. But I am also anxious to see what amazing things he will do with his life. No matter what he does, big or small, he will bring his joy and goodness to everyone around him. His wife and children will be loved and cared for. He will work hard, and do the very best job he can. He will serve his Heavenly Father, and live the gospel.

LOVE - I never knew how much I could truly love someone until he was born. It is a different love than the romantic love I have for my husband. It is an all consuming love, lay down my life kind of love. A love, I think, only comes from the birth of a child. A part of me, and part of the man I love. A child is the epitomy of love. I am thankful for the blessing I was given 17 years ago, to be allowed to be a part of this amazing persons life. To love him, and for the love he gives me.

In other news...

So, here is the post about Zac I promised. (I know, you've all been just dying!)

A month or so ago our transmission went out on the van. While we were getting it fixed a friend from Jim's work loaned us a car he doesn't drive. It was a giant Bronco!! After the van was fixed he said we could hang on to it and that Zac could use it. Well, one afternoon Kamrie was invited to a friends house, I was busy and asked Zac to drive her the .5 mile. A little while after he left my phone rang and it was Zac -

"Mom, I just got hit"

I made sure I understood him correctly, that he had been hit, not hit someone, and that he was alright. He was and so I jumped in the van and headed to the site.

As I came to the street I saw him standing there, and behind the bronco, was a TOW TRUCK!!! As Zac had been waiting to turn left, with his blinker on, the driver of the truck got distracted and by the time he saw it was too late. The tow truck actually looked worse than the bronco.

So the insurance, totaled out the bronco and paid our friend. I think he plans on fixing it any way.

This Boy of Mine!!

My Zac is a unique, amazing, frustrating young man. He always seems to do the right thing, I rarely worry about him. In fact a friend of mine that he babysits for once asked if I could bottle what ever I did with him, so she could give it to her boys. I quickly responded, that he just came that way. Another of Zac's qualities, I sometimes refer to as his blond side. He sometimes makes comments that leave us speechless, if you know what I mean.

The frustration comes in when school is involved. He is sooooo smart, but has struggled forever, with remembering to turn work in etc. We have pretty much known that he has ADD (attention deficit disorder) since about first grade, but we have tried to "deal" with it. Well, I have decided that we need to maybe do more. After his last grades came in, and emails and phone calls from teachers who can't understand what is going on. They too recognize that he is very intelligent, but not working up to his capabilities. Soooooo. . . I had him try his brothers medication on Sunday, he didn't act any different, he complained of a stomach ache, but he didn't have breakfast. For those of you not familiar with ADD, the only real way to know if your child has it, is if the medication works. (there are a lot of things that take place before this final step)

This is what I have been leading up to - today when he got home from school, he sat himself down at the table, and started doing his homework, then organizing his binder. I didn't know he had taken another pill this morning. Then, in classic Blond Zac fashion he says -
"You know what's weird about that medicine, it makes it hard for me to focus on more than one thing at a time"

Just for Fun!

My friend Mandee had this on her blog and I had to try it too. I don't know how accurate it is, I did get different results with different pictures.