A Teenager in the HOUSE

Raising a child is full of surprises! I read all the parenting books, went to the baby fairs,  I'd been around some babies, how hard could it be?  Matt and I were so lost. It's impossible to be prepared for waking up all hours of the night especially if you're a nursing mother.  There are wonderful moments.  There are scary moments. There are not feeling like yourself moments. There are I can't stand my spouse moments (y'all know it's true on BOTH ends).  And everything in-between.  All the gear your child requires - strollers, burp cloths, diapers, wipes, bottles, changes of clothes, car seats, more diapers, pacifiers, swings, playmats, the list is endless and bank accounts are drained.  I wouldn't trade anything for my three kids.  We've got a small and cozy house (that we can afford).  We have vehicles that work and get our kids everywhere we need to go.  Our kids are healthy and happy and smart.  They are surrounded by family and friends who love them dearly.  We have everything we need!  Bring on the teenage years...

Today 13 years ago, I could have never imagined that this tiny 6 lb. baby girl would be the most stunning, grounded, devoted, intelligent, hard working young woman that she has become.  I catch myself looking at her and thinking...where did all that time go?  It was a blink!  She should be yanking barrettes out of her hair (still as tender headed as ever today and always has her hair pulled back).  She should be screaming at the top of her lungs in the bathtub with a foam visor and goggles with Matt trying to wash her hair (again hair issues - smh). She should be in the middle of my kitchen floor drinking my Mocha Blast from Baskin Robbins (her favorite frothy drink has become a Mocha Frappe from Starbucks). She should be potty trained by now (j/k but she was almost 3 1/2 when she stubbornly relented).  She should be sounding out all of her primer words (is currently reading Stephen King books and just started the series The 5th Wave).  She should be listening to Coldplay's Clocks (on repeat) on our computer pounding away on the keyboard and "pretending" to work (now is on Instagram, texting and watching Good Mythical Morning). She should be wearing a colored wrist band and looking for her matching opponent in youth league basketball (playing a power forward for 7th SWMS).  I should be spending Gymbucks on clothes (spent $200 on Junior's clothes at Kohl's and didn't get half as much). This list could go on and on.  Our child will only become a teenager once, and today is that day for Matt and I.  We have a teenage daughter and LOVE her to pieces!

Last Year Single Digits

 

This is the last year I will have a child in single digits, sniff, sniff!  At work yesterday, one of my co-workers brought her daughter in with her new grandbaby.  As I was chatting with her daughter, she was asking me about tricks/tips for her teething little baby girl.  I drew a complete blank.  I told her it's been so long since I had a baby but that Orajel was a lifesaver.  She asked if her little girl was too young for it (because the doctors said she was).  Again, a complete blank.  How is it that that time moves this quickly.  I used to "pretend" I knew everything about raising babies and could give advice at the drop of a hat.  Today, I feel so far removed from that as my baby turns NINE today.  Instead of teething, he is losing all of those baby teeth.  Instead of fussing about being in pain, he can tell me, and I can take care of it with an ice pack or quick dose of Motrin.  The baby days are long gone and life is full speed ahead.  It makes me sad and glad at the same time. 

Miles couldn't be any sweeter if he tried.  He is a conformist (but not in a bad way - more in a compliant and easy to be around "let's play whatever" kind of way) and totally loves being with his friends.  He's fun loving and uncomplicated-typical 3rd child criteria.  He thinks his brother is coolest and follows his lead, sometimes to his detriment. 

Whatever Miles is into at any given moment lasts quite a while - a creature of habit - currently, he's obsessed with wrestling.  For a while it was golf and before that basketball.  Dominoes resurface here and there.  He uses all the dominoes, wooden blocks and Jenga pieces he can scrounge up.

He likes working out with Matt in the garage - lifting weights and jumping rope.

His current favorite breakfast is a honeybun and sausage biscuit. However, it didn't take much convincing to get him to go to Waffle House this morning to celebrate.  He absolutely loves their toast and mixed fruit jelly.  No one can make toast like Waffle House.

Our boys love their Uncle Seth!

The whole crew at Waffle House!  We love our little Miles's!

 

He is going to have a birthday party tomorrow with family and friends at the Regal 12 to see the new Goosebumps movie.  It's a birthday filled weekend of fun for our precious Miles!

UPDATE (Oct. 18)
We had a wonderful time at Regal Cinemas celebrating Miles's 9th Birthday. We had quite a crew, and Sunday afternoon is the perfect time to see a movie (especially on a chilly fall day).

Come if you dare, you're in for a scare!

I hadn't planned to stay for the movie since our party package included one ticket for the birthday boy and one ticket for a parent.  I figured I would just head over to Kroger and pick up the birthday cake while the kids and Matt were at the movie.  I had made the party reservations before Fall Break, and at the time I was booking, the movie was going to be 2-D at 2 p.m.  I was a bit surprised that Regal already had their movie times.  Usually they aren't posted until the week of the release.  However, the lady I spoke with had all the movie times so I decided to go ahead and plan a party around it.  After Fall Break, the theater called to confirm my numbers and proceeded to tell me that the movie was a 3-D movie.  Not only do our kids not really like 3-D, I knew that would make my party more expensive.  AND, I knew I couldn't watch the movie - 3-D movies + my eyes + motion = not good.  I told the lady that I understood they had made a mistake but that I had planned my number (and party time) based on the information I was given.  Regal was super sweet about it and gave me some additional free passes to offset the cost.  It really wasn't the cost so much (3-D movies are about $3+ more expensive), more the fact that they told me one thing and then it changed.  Either way, it worked out, and the kids had a blast!

 

Regal 12 has a nice party room above their arcade and set everything up for us.  Miles is a chocolate cake FAN!  

 

 We came, we watched, we ate cake, we opened presents and we celebrated MILES DEATON!  It was the perfect day!

Fall Finishes...

Fall Break came at the perfect time - a break from life.  The completion of many things happened.  For me personally, it was the culmination of the SKyPAC Scarecrow entry for the Lost River Cave Trail. Each year LRC has a scarecrow trail for visitors during the month of October.  A group of us at SKyPAC got together and decided to promote the Blue Man Group (performances in January).  This project took quite a bit longer than I figured it would, but the end result was worth the paint covered fingernails and torn up skin from working with framing wire.  A couple of things are necessary for the construction of the perfect BMG scarecrow - you need at least three men.  If you're looking to construct the perfect BMG scarecrow (like most of my readers out there do on a regular basis - HAH), there are a couple of vital things you'll need to pull this off. 

Supply List

·         Family Size Box of Captain Crunch

·         4 blue pool noodles

·         Silver galvanized trash can

·         3 black sweatshirt tops (Men’s small/medium)

·         3 Styrofoam male heads

·         6 Playtex blue gloves
      Wiring (hanging or craft)

      2 - drumsticks

·         Outdoor paint: blue, orange, pink and yellow (glow in the dark if possible) – splattering on trashcan and (blue) for painting heads.

·         Lots of plastic bags and possibly metal forms

·         Trash can sprays to look like paint is splattering

Step 1 take inventory of supplies which involved trips to Hobby Lobby, Target, Walmart and Kohls.  Hobby Lobby was hit with paint, male Styrofoam heads, google eyes, and sprays.  If you want to correctly feature the Blue Man Group, the color and head are EVERYTHING.  Finding the perfect blue is paramount on the list!  Target had the exact sweatshirts we were looking for with very small neck holes.  Walmart was the place for rubber gloves, pool noodles, glow-in-the-dark paint and family sized Captain Crunch.

Step 2 after purchases are made begin assembling.  Begin with collecting plastic bags or go dumpster diving at Kroger’s recycle bin (like I did, with their permission, of course).  Wrap your Captain Crunch box in contact paper since your crow will be outside and exposed to elements.  If you can acquire some wire fencing, it works great for forms - along with a great pair of wire cutters.

Don’t, I repeat DON'T make the mistake of spray painting Styrofoam because it will essentially shrivel up and die.

 If you are lucky enough to find someone throwing out a galvanized trashcan, then you’ve struck gold because these suckers are pricy.  Locate some old insulation/styrafoam and cut it to fit your can. Fill the cut out with some Christmas sprays to emulate a paint splattering look.

 Step 3 – the most important part of the scarecrow is the actual bodies and heads.  The heads must look masculine, and the blue paint selected must match accurately.  It’s also important to find black sweatshirts (inexpensively) with small neck holes.  Those gems were at Target for $8.99 ea.  Googly eyes are also a must and can be found at Hobby Lobby.

Step 4 – start your painting and be prepared to re-paint over and over again because you want an exact match!  You will also need some sort of modge podge or poly urethane covering to protect your heads.

Step 5 - start putting all your elements together.  This might involve a trip to Lowe's for some PVC piping especially if your bodies have no legs. Display your finished project. 

Karson has mentioned on more than one occasion that she cannot WAIT to see the Blue Man Group at SKyPAC in January.  I am hopeful that her basketball schedule won't conflict with us being able to see the production.  This is probably one of the funnest (and a wee bit stressful) projects I've been a part of.  If you haven't had a chance to visit LRC this month, be sure to make a trip especially if you have kids.

For Matt, Fall Break came at the perfect time for the close of his first season as South Warren High School's golf coach. He's got a great group of golfers and had an enjoyable season.

For Karson, the beginning of Fall Break was the end of her volleyball season at South.

 The girls made it into the District Finals against Drakes Creek Middle School.  The first game was a nailbiter and our team ended up losing but not before fighting back.  Karson was up to serve and the game was 10 - 22, and she managed to get 11 points on her serve making it 21-22, however, Drakes ended up beating us 23-25.  Karson was a mess (she later told me that she wasn't crying because she was upset, but she was crying because she knew we were better than them and could beat them).  We won the second set 25-19 which took us into the tiebreaker set to 15.  Karson serves first and got the team to 5-0. I can't remember the final score of the 3rd game, but we WON!  It was so exciting.  Our overall record for the year was 20-9.  All the team's losses were to 8th grade teams during tournament play.

Karson received the District Tournament MVP award for 7th grade.  She's always an MVP in our book no matter what.  She excels in leadership, academics, and hard work.  She took a week off for fall break and is now part of the South Warren Spartans Girls Basketball team.  Practice started today!  Whew, no rest for the weary.  AND, Matt is coaching both boys in basketball and has a coaches meeting tonight.  Gonna be a busy winter!

Karson's cheering squad!

New South Wrestling Y'all!

I promised y'all a great article and here it is "hot off the presses!"

New South's #1 FANS!

By: Matt Deaton

 

New South Championship Wrestling is the greatest experience a person can have on this earth (besides almost everything else we can experience.)  Isaac, Miles, and I loaded up in the Highlander with Isaac's friend Ethan Winn, and we headed down to the metropolis of Franklin, Kentucky.  We were hungry for supper, so we swung into the local McDonalds in Franklin, which is just like every other McDonalds except it's a lot more Franklin-y.  We ate burgers and fries, and then with that delicious, gourmet food churning in our stomachs, we headed to the wrestling arena (the Franklin Boys and Girls Club).  

When we arrived at the arena (gym of the Boys and Girls Club), we were surprised to find that it was already packed, even though we got there 7 minutes early.  There was a ring in the middle of the gym, and the boys' eyes got really big.  All the ring-side seats were taken, so we had to sit on some bleachers against the back wall.  Fortunately for us the arena/gym in Franklin isn't very big, so we were still close enough to the ring to get some sweat splashed on us.

The amazing wrestling experience began with the portly promoter with a mousey voice coming out with a wireless mic and getting us fired up for what we were about to see.  It turned out, however, that the New South Championship Wrestling should actually be called, "Fat Guys in Tights Putting Each Other In Headlocks Association."  But, the boys loved it and seemed to have a good time, and we created a very interesting memory.  The awful wrestling/acting lasted longer than we did.  We made it about 2 hours and then we headed back to BG.  There was probably another hour left of the wrestling (fat guys hugging) after we left.  

People come up to us on the street all the time and ask us, "Will you ever go back to NSCW again?"  The answer is, "Only every time it comes within 800 miles of Bowling Green."  We are BIG fans!