running cross country

It's been a Fall of running across the country. In the space of two months I will have flown across the United States and back again three times. I'm about to gain a daughter and officially don the title of Mother-in-law. I'm getting ahead of myself. Meanwhile, here on the home front, Morning Boy of the fourth grade has been running almost everyday for the Middle School. He was excited to run on the cross country team and has been happily engaged in this activity without a cheering section for almost a month: life has been competing for my attention. This week I was finally able to see him race.

 He's pretty serious, and tries to best his time from previous meets.

 I'm a big fan.

Perfect TEN.

It's not a small thing to consider how quickly a decade can go by.

Our caboose turned ten today.

At 12:05 pm.

Ten years ago at noon I was on the operating table waiting to see our little boy, who we were told might not be born alive, or would most likely not live much past his birth. 

Here's the short version of why we consider our Morning boy to be our miracle:

At the first and only ultrasound during my pregnancy with him, the ultrasound technician spotted four choroid plexus cysts, or pockets of fluid on his brain.  We were told that these cysts were most likely a marker for a condition called Trisome 18. It was a frightening few moments that turned quickly into an opportunity to exercise our faith. Since this was fairly early in the pregnancy, Mr. Dub and I decided quickly not to spend our energy for the remaining four and a half months worrying about something over which we clearly had no control. I did NOT go home and look things up on the internet. I did not have any further testing, and I made up my mind that we were NOT going to despair over something that we could do nothing about.  We DID share our story with only four individuals who we knew would guard our secret as sacred, and who would be able to help support and sustain us during a busy and uncertain time.  We decided no one else needed to know, and no one else needed to worry.  We made plans to have our family close by at the time of delivery.

And OH! did we feel tremendous JOY when our last little guy was born healthy and strong. He is a gift. I'm grateful for EVERY.SINGLE.MINUTE of the last ten years.

 Today, he enjoyed phone calls from loved ones

 A new tin lunch box he's named Reynaldo

 Big sisters at home who mix things up a little

 Good friends who make us laugh

 (we are happy to return the favor)

and a made-to-order chocolate chip cookie ice cream cake.

HAPPY Double Digit BIRTHDAY M.B.!!

XOXOX

Game ON.

Whether in the net or on the field, number three takes this game very seriously.

And it's seriously entertaining to watch.

Look who got a new bike

We like having Enrique around.

He brings the party.

Twelve and 1/2 school days left

This morning it was TOUGH to get out of bed.

We can DO this!

#upupup

That's some gigantic shelf bling

In keeping with the theme of dishing out accolades, I almost forgot to mention Enrique and the biggest trophy he's ever earned. Actually, he thinks it might be the ONLY trophy.

Enrique is the president of his fraternity, Kappa Kappa Psi.

He's spent many long hours devoted to this brotherhood, and made plenty of personal sacrifices in their behalf. Countless hours and a tireless commitment paid off a few weeks ago at the Northeast District Convention when his chapter (the Epsilon Nu chapter of Kappa Kappa Psi) won the District's Top Chapter Award. 

Congratulations, Presidente!

Twenty-ONE!

 When your second child turns 21, contemplating and CELEBRATING become the orders of the day. Unfortunately, distance and schedules kept the whole group of us apart.

There was NO WAY, however, that I was going to let April 9th go by without sharing some birthday love IN PERSON with this dashing ADULT (!gasp!).

His sisters and I were laughing about the fact that he is the only member of the family to be born in Fitchburg. How did that happen?  It's a badge of (?something?)... well, it's unique.  Like him.

And honestly, you can roll your eyes if you haven't already, but I swear it was just last month that I was wondering (after 12 hours of hard back labor) if he would EVER make his appearance?  

 We met on campus for lunch.

It was so nice to just sit and chat and catch up.

I miss him!

I look at the bins of legos he's willed by default to his younger brother, and wonder why he's not still nine or ten, playing in the room at the top of the stairs and raking his fingers through the small plastic pieces, finding just the right parts to some amazing creation under construction.

Of course there were birthday cupcakes in the car.

 And some gifts that he was so graciously thankful for.

(Even the vitamins Mimi!)

The rest of us lit up a cupcake in his honor after dinner on the homefront.

Happy Birthday Enrique!

We love you so...

these two are the apple(s) of my eye

my big boys are side-by-side

It doesn't happen very often, but when it does, it makes me H-A-P-P-Y!

 To me, it sometimes feels like they're still the munchkins I used to dress alike.

little men in uniform

There IS something about a man in uniform, right?

Even not-quite-grown-men in uniform hold my gaze a little longer than usual.

We attended the annual Pinewood Derby as parents of a Bear Cub.

Mr. Dub is one of the den leaders.  Does that make him Dub Cub?

THE highlight of the night was hearing our cub's name called as they were awarding trophies for the fastest pinewood derby cars.  None of us expected it, which made morning boy's enthusiastic leaping and whooping to the front of the room to accept his trophy for being the fastest Bear extra entertaining. 

(It's also why we weren't prepared to document the celebration)

I know that secretly, Dub claims part of that trophy as his.  It took raising three boys and a LOT of pinewood prep to earn that baby.

Junior Basketball

 It's been another season for the record books. There will be many more years of basketball in our future.

open mic: third grade

Once each month Morning Boy's teacher holds Open Mic afternoon. The students can sign up to do whatever they want. The most recent program included a fine presentation on the baking soda vinegar reaction in a home made volcano. It was a crowd favorite.

January ball

We've had two snowstorms since these pictures were taken.

Today we had to take the ball to the church gym so we could get some shots in. 

Last week?

The snow had melted just enough so that this boy did not want to come inside.

Not at all.