Thanksgiving, Day 2

On the second day of Thanksgiving,

I am thankful for extra pillows

and

that my children can sleep through

anything.

Thanksgiving, Day 1

On this first day of Thanksgiving

(yes, around here we celebrate twice),

I am thankful for uncles.

Did you know...

... that I take pictures?

I fell in love with the camera as a sophomore in high school, when I took a photography class simply to fill an elective.  It was one of the best things I ever did!

So, here we are, fourteen years later, and it's time to unveil my new photography blog.  Just a space to post some of my photos.  Enjoy!

Jennifer Read Photography

Best Laid Plans

When one becomes sick or hurt, the most effective place to recover is on Bubby and Poppa's bed.  Just so you know.

Our Saturday Plans included lunch and a photo shoot with the family of one of my oldest friends, baths and lounging at Bubby and Poppa's house, and a fun-filled evening of dinner and a show with the family.  In my humble opinion, a pretty close to perfect Saturday!

Our Saturday Reality included lunch and a photo shoot with the family of one of my oldest friends, a tumble on the playground during said photo shoot, a trip to the ER where we got a CT scan of the five-year-old's head, and a diagnosis of swelling but no bleeding in that cute little noggin.  Followed by happy meals and a movie on Bubby and Poppa's bed.

I'm thinking we probably should have stuck with plan A.

Why We Were Tired

We spent Sunday evening with friends.  Some of whom left Monday morning for Germany.  To live there.  We had a wonderful evening, with lots of chatting and laughing for the grownups and lots of running and blasting for the younger crowd.  Followed by tearful goodbyes.  Tears that, for more than one six-year-old, lasted well into the night.  And that's why we were tired on Monday.

So we planned on getting to bed right on time on Monday.  And things were going perfectly. Right on schedule.  Until Mike showed up at our door right as we were heading up the stairs for bed.  Mike was one of Dan's seminary students.  Now he's got a wife and a cute little girl.  So he makes me feel old.  But we like him a lot, so we stayed up and visited.  And that's why we were tired on Tuesday.

Finally, on Tuesday, I got some boys into bed right on time.  But me?  Well, we got new furniture for the family room last week, and the yellow walls just had to go.  So I painted.  And painted.  It's not quite done, so you'll have to wait a while longer for the after pics.  That's why the boys felt great and I was tired on Wednesday.

But as we all well know, there's no rest for the weary.  So I dragged my tired little (okay, not so little) bum out of bed and into the kitchen on Wednesday.  I hosted the Teacher Dinner at Gatorland, the culmination of weeks of planning, days of shopping and cooking, and hours of setting up, serving, and cleaning.  It was worth it to thank our teachers.  I think.  And that's why we were tired on Thursday.

Today I had a nice long to-do list.  But by the end of the day there were no little checks on it.  That's right, other than a quick ego-boost in kindergarten (I wore pink, and apparently that makes one beautiful to five-year-old girls), I did absolutely nothing today.  It was nice.

But that to-do list will be waiting for me tomorrow.  And it's time to break the cycle.  Good night!

Warnings

I am 29 years old and I am going gray.  Really, I have more than my fair share of gray hairs already.  I'd like to blame it on genetics - my great-grandmother had gone completely white well before she hit 29.  But I don't think genetics is the answer in this case.  No, I blame my five year old.

Camden is a wild man.  He is also sweet and loving and fun.

I believe that the Lord gives us prompting - even warnings - through the Spirit.  And I believe He's been giving me some pretty strong warnings about this boy for quite some time.  As in, since he was a newborn.  I've known since Camden was born that, despite the fact that he was my quiet, calm, easy baby (the complete opposite of his brother), I was going to have to be very careful and protective of him.

See, I have nightmares.  Not the kind of nightmares you have after watching a scary movie (I don't do that) or telling ghost stories by the campfire (I'd rather sing silly songs).  No, I have very powerful nightmares, and they are always about Camden.

When he was tiny I used to have dreams of him disappearing from his crib.  I'd go to check on him in the middle of the night and instead of my sweet baby I would be greeted by a scary adult hand coming out of the crib to grab at me.  Or I would hear him crying and I would get up to go take care of him.  Only he wouldn't be in his crib, the cries would be coming from the basement.  And I would know, as I got to the top of the stairs, that somebody had him down there, and I was alone, and if I went down they would hurt me and then I wouldn't be able to save my baby.  Or even let anyone know he was in danger.  I spent many sleepless nights, even after he started sleeping through the night, just watching my baby sleep.  Because those dreams were so scary.

It's been a few years since I last dreamed about Camden being harmed.  But last night my Camden nightmares came back.  Last night, in my dream, I watched him fall two stories to the concrete floor below.  Thankfully, I woke up as I was running to where he would have landed, so at least I was spared the image of my little boy on the ground after that fall.  It was terrible enough as it was.

I can't help but wonder, what does this all mean?  Why do I dream such horrible things about my sweet little boy?  And it's not because I'm a crazy, paranoid parent (I hope!).  Have I ever dreamed that Jake was in danger?  No, not once.  But Camden, all the time.

I think I am being warned.  He is a special little boy.  He is smart and cute and has incredible energy and charisma.  I have no doubt that he is going to go very far in life.  But he is fearless.  He thinks the crime is worth the punishment.  He doesn't believe me when I tell him something is dangerous or will hurt.  He'd rather discover those things for himself.  And I have to watch him like a hawk.  Because he is a great kid and will be a great man.  As long as I can get him safely to adulthood.

Sometimes I worry that I won't be up to the task.  But as much as I hate having nightmares about my baby, I also have to give thanks for them.  As scary as it is to wake up convinced that my little boy just fell two stories, I am grateful that it didn't really happen.  And I am grateful for the warnings I receive, as his mother, to watch and care for this special little boy.  I know that because of these dreams I pay more attention and am more careful to watch and to teach him to watch for danger.

I just wish these warnings would be a little less stressful for me.  My hair can't take it.

A Positive Spin

Tonight, at his soccer team's end-of-season party, Camden got the "Winning Spirit Award."

Because whenever the other team would score, he did this.

P.S.  Yes, Camden is picking his nose while receiving his award and trophy.  There were other "better" shots, but I liked this one, myself.

Trick-or-Treat! Halloween!

We sure did have a fun time this Halloween!  Granny and Poppy came to cheer on our morning soccer games and then we headed off to fill our candy buckets.

First stop, Trunk-or-Treat with all our best buddies in the church parking lot.

Jake and Grant have got to be the cutest clone troopers I've ever seen.  I dare you to disagree.

Camden was much more interested in the hot dogs than the candy.  So while the rest of the kids gorged on their candy, Cam found himself a quiet spot to enjoy his dog.  Sometimes I wonder who's child he really is.

Upon finishing the hot dog, Camden promptly disappeared.  And I mean, he was GONE.  As in, after a solid 15 minutes of an all out search this mommy was getting pretty panicky.  And then a little voice called out from a tree...  That's right, he'd been in a tree.  Seems Anakin is pretty great at camouflage.  Brown jedi clothes + brown leaves = Panicked Mommy.

So, we found the young Skywalker and headed home to get ready for round two.

Jake was astonished (and a bit ticked) at the number of other Star Wars characters we ran into in our neighborhood.  Apparently he thought his costume choice was really original.  I couldn't bring myself to explain to him that his costume choice has been overused every year since before his parents were born.

At the end of almost two hours of trick-or-treating in the rain with a group of very excited little boys, we came home to inspect the goods.

Now, boys are at school and I'm home alone with the candy.  This could be fun...