The Birthday Baby

Amazing, but true.

Jay is 13 whole years old.

Love you, Babe.

Tar Heel Born

As part of Brant's search for the perfect college, we took a trip over to Chapel Hill for the official UNC admissions presentation. After the tour was over, we met with the guitar professor, did some people-watching on Franklin Street, shopped at Johnny T-Shirt, ate at Four Corners.......and even caught a Rush event at the Phi Mu House. (Drew and Brant decided that sorority rush is kinda stupid and girls are just plain weird.)

As much as my true-blue heart would love to see B go to Carolina, my mom radar told me that he wasn't feeling the Tar Heel love as much as I was. Coming from a small Christian school, it's probably just too big and too overwhelming.

Disappointing, but old well........

(Hahahahahahaha. Carolina humor. I crack myself up.)

For Will

Dear Will,

As you head back to high school I just want you to know that I love you and hope you'll have a great sophomore year.

How awesome is it that you have a chance to study music...that we live in a city with a phenomenal arts school.....and that you have the ability through your art to add goodness and beauty to our world that is sometimes so very ugly.

I thank God often that you are you. I thank Him for the way your brain works, for our shared love of books and words, for your blue eyes....for all those songs He puts in your head that you play for me on piano late at night. Over and over.

As you go into 10th grade, I am praying essentially the same prayer that I've always prayed for you. God, be with Will and keep him safe....protect his body and protect his heart. Help him know the difference between right and wrong. Please give Will friends and teachers that know you.....and understand him. Make your presence known to Will. Help him know that you are real. Be with him....walk with him....whisper in his ear and call him closer to you. Help Will become the man you would have him be.

Have a great year, Will. Try hard. Use your gifts. Learn all you can. Make some new friends. And always, glorify God in every thing you do.

I Love you!

-Mom

July & August Recap

Wow. I don't know where summer went........

(OK. Check that. After trolling through all the pictures I took, I know exactly where it went!)

Brant had a lot of fun playing Big League baseball with a bunch of old friends.

We had a laid back, but fun, Fourth of July. Luke and Ty were completely amazed by the Tanglewood fireworks display. Can't wait to see their eyes when we go back for the Christmas lights.

Sadly, Jay's All-Star team lost the Little League division championship to their rivals, the Winston-Salem Nationals. It was a tough loss, but the Nationals were a great team and went on to win the NC state championship, then made it all the way to the semis of the

LL World Series regional tournament. You might have seen them on ESPN.

Brant taught Ty to tie his shoes, thus, staving off my aneurism a little while longer!

Babe got braces! Drew and I got the enormous bill.

Our neighborhood swim team went undefeated and won the League Championship.

Brant feels sure it was because of his mad coaching skills.

Way to go, Stingrays!

We had a great visit with my friend, Kris, who was back in town from Iowa for a few days. She was so excited to finally meet the new guys.....read them stories, baked red velvet cake, fed them sweet cereal before I woke up. Yeah, I'm pretty sure Luke & Ty would have packed their bags and gone home with her.

Will made it back from Vermont safe and sound.....full of Ben & Jerry's ice cream, exotic thai food and fancy chai tea.....conservative values in tact.......just in time to head to the beach with the rest of us.

Big B turned 17 while we were there!!!

He was happy to receive Jack Johnson concert tix.

Will and Jay returned to Sparta, NC and beautiful Camp Cheerio again ---Will for his 8th summer and Babe for his 4th. Unfortunately, Will has aged out now, but oh, how he would love to go back as a CIT next summer. Err......except for the part about supervising hundreds of little kids for six weeks!

I thoroughly enjoyed my mother's family reunion in Pilot Mountain. It happens every August and is one of my favorite times of the entire year. Luke and Ty were definitely surprised to see the mountain pop up on the horizon as we drove north.

Ty now calls it "the hill."

I visited non-stop with my precious aunts, uncles and cousins and yep,

we all ate pretty much non-stop, too.

My flower girls are all grown up.....and all more beautiful than ever.

Ty's Turn

Ty was excited before his first day of Kindergarten....and exhausted afterwards!

I love the smell of library books.....

Brant, Jay and Luke all went back to school today!

Kindergartners start Tuesday and Will will return on September 1.

Jeff Foxworthy would be proud.

You might be a redneck....if you ask your mama to send barbecue pork rinds in your camp care package.

Not missing many meals.....

Ty and Luke have been home almost 4 full months now and still, nearly every afternoon about four o'clock, Ty will come to me and ask a question that hurts my heart.

"'Eh, Mom, we having din-ah?"

He's not asking what we're having and he never wants to know when we're eating. He's not trying to prompt me into gettin' it in gear to fix dinner. Ty looks me in the eye and I can tell that he earnestly wants to know if we're eating.

Most days I off-handedly reply, "Of course, don't we always eat dinner, Ty?"

He thinks for a second and then usually his eyes blink a good long blink and a smile slowly spreads across his beautiful face.

Today when he asked, I answered, "Yes, Ty. Think for a minute....haven't you eaten dinner every night since you've been with me and Dad? And haven't I fed you breakfast and lunch, too---- every, single day?"

He paused.....and then, there came that smile.

"Yes-oh, Mom. You right."

And then Ty danced and danced with happy sock feet, a Matchbox car in each hand.

This Will make you smile, #5

So.......

Will has been in Vermont all month studying cello by taking part in a chamber music festival. The event draws high school and college kids and teachers from all over the country but, for whatever reason, there aren't many southern kids in attendance.

One day last week, Will was hanging out with some friends, all from Connecticut and New York, as they waited for dinner. Will was starving and made the comment that he'd been hanging out with yankees up north so long, he could hardly remember what good southern food tasted like.

Then he added,

"What I wouldn't give for a buttery, flaky biscuit right now...."

His friend said, "Huh? What's a biscuit?"

Will, astounded, asked, "Oh, my gosh.....you're kidding, right? It's a delicious piece of hot bread made out of flour and butter and milk!! You didn't know that???"

The girl shot back, "Well.......I DO know what a grit is!"

Will told her that apparently she really, really didn't.

And that she'd better stick to playing violin.

June Dashboard

ZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzz.............

Should any one still check my blog, here's what our June looked like:

Jay's Little League team (that Drew coached!) won the League championship.

Babe did his part by hitting a three-run homer to put the Cubs out in front for the 5-2 win.

Right after the tournament, everybody but Brant headed for Topsail Island.

Brant, facing real-life commitments and responsibilities (gasp!) had to stay in town to work coaching our neighborhood swim team. That's him throwing down his cool lifeguard look with the Wayfarers. Sooooo JFK, don't you think?

Unfortunately, Brant became super-sick with a pilonidal cyst in his back while we were gone. When the pediatrician couldn't get things under control and it was clear that B was getting worse not better, I came back from the beach early and got B over to the ER. A surgeon did a procedure to clear the infection and a new antibiotic and some Vicodin eventually

put B out of his misery.

On a less icky note, we got to celebrate Father's Day with Drew's Dad this year.

He and Drew's mom, along with my mom and sister Kari's family were all in town for Luke's and Ty's baptism on June 20.

The new guys wore their traditional Liberian clothes for the occasion.

Brant and Will played the prelude and offertory for the service making it even more special.

Of course, we took loads of pictures after the service.

Jay is savoring his last summer playing for our Little League's All-Star Team.

We're just a little bit excited around here. All the parents paint their cars like this....really.

I'm not the only freakishly-competitive one. I promise.

And...on June 27, Will left for Vermont for the same chamber music camp he attended last year.

He'll be gone until the end of July. Four. Whole. Weeks.

Sniff. Sniff.