ThursdayFridaySaturday

One Big Blur.

Rain. Sun. Yay. Rain. BigScaryStorms. Hide. Rain. Sun. Yay. ACK - baseball.

Jase is getting the Sideline Sibling Trial by Fire. He'll handle it better when the weather warms up. Or when he can walk. Or maybe next year. Something like that.

That's pretty much how the rest of the week went. Thursday, the schools all let out at noon, in anticipation of the storms. When the schools let out early for weather, none of the community rec activities are allowed to continue. I made the boys' day by cancelling our school when I got the call. They thought that was great, as we still had several good hours to play outside before the storms hit.

Today is Sunday. We plan to make it to church. But it's nearly eight, and I'm having a hard time waking people. Oh, sure, they'd get up if I asked them to. I just don't want to ask them to. It's so quiet. The birds, the rooster, the morning glow. Just me, a cup of coffee, and you all. It's so peaceful.

And did I mention quiet? Now that everyone is well, we don't so much have the Quiet anymore. Mixed blessings, and all that.

EmBaby owns the baseball fields - just ask her. She can navigate to and from any field at any time. She thinks she's All Grown Up, able to go to the Snack Shack and the Playground on her own. All the other kids do it. Why can't she? *sigh* Well, Mommy has this odd quirk about thinking three-year-olds should maybe still have the occasional parental oversight, honey. Sorry.

James, on the other hand, does have a lot more freedom. He's nearly 11. He checks in. He comes back if something weird happens. He loves taking his own money to the Snack Shack, finding acquaintances from previous years, telling jokes and sharing stories. He doesn't leave the fields, or go looking for trouble. (I still check in on him when he's off and wandering, though. Good kids tend to stay good kids when they've still got a little guidance, here and there.) And, I worry. Working on finding that middle ground between Overbearing Suffocator For Your Own Good, and Turn 'Em Loose WAAAYYY Too Early. gah. Parenting requires a lot more finesse than I gave my Mom credit for.

Smidge... yes, he's Jake. Jacob. Not Smidge. He informed me a while back that we can still call him "Smidge" on Tuesdays. "JakeRabbit" on Thursdays. But the rest of the week, he's "just Jacob". That was a shocker, really. At least he's weaning me slowly, I suppose. Good kid. Go easy on the Mama.

And now, EmBaby's up. Time to get moving!

Kiss those babies!
~Dy