Week 28!

Once you go "Mom" you never go back!
As if it isn't hard enough that my baby boy is turning 8 on Sunday, last night I got one of those, "step on your heart" moments. Growing up, I can remember my Grandma Kathy always saying, "When they are little, they step on your toes, when they are grown, they step on your heart". I always thought I knew what she meant and invisioned terrible teenagers who would talk back and storm off angry. I didn't realize those "step on your heart" moments could happen so soon and without the child intending to at all. I could tell Drew was bothered by something last night and he finally said, "Mom, can I talk to you about something?" I always laugh when he says this because I always have responded with, "Drew, you can always talk to me about anything". He then proceeded to prepare me for the blow by saying that he didn't really mind calling me "Mommy" and that I would always be his "Mommy", but could I please stop signing his lunch notes, "Mommy" and instead just write "Mom". He said that some of the other kids were making comments. My first thought was guilt because, to be honest, I had been thinking for some time now that I probably should just write "Mom", but somehow, I couldn't bring myself to do it. I didn't want to force him to grow up, or didn't want to admit that he already had, whichever, it was probably selfish to keep writing it. I'm a teacher, I know how other kids are--they will tease about anything if given the opportunity. So, I just smiled at him and said sure and that I was sorry I hadn't done it sooner, and of course I should be writing "MOM" because he was getting so big. He gave me a hug and ran off to play, and I quietly packed his lunch, sighed to myself because, yet again, this was another sign of "the beginning of the end", and sadly signed "Mom" to his lunch note. I'm sure somewhere in the distance, I could hear that old wedding song, "Sunrise, Sunset...Is this the little boy I carried?" Gee, I really hate that song!


10 weeks left!
I have only been back to teaching for two weeks and have already managed to catch a cold. At least this one seems to be mainly in my throat. I just feel so tired. We had a great weekend. Drew's football team won 30 to 0. He was so excited. Dawsyn and Snowball entered the pet contest and took 3rd place. Delaney and Dax both entered the limbo contest--that was adorable! Drew got to ride in the parade with his football team and then we had a big cookout at mom and dad's with our friends. It was like a final stamp on Summer. I'm not too sad to see it go because that means we are closer to baby. I am in that stage where I waver back and forth between really wanting the baby here and not wanting it to go faster because I know I will miss it. Most of the time, I am just too busy to think about it.
Saturday was an interesting day--we thought we would finally have an afternoon and evening to relax and were looking forward to watching the Notre Dame game. I was sitting on the couch reading a book to Dax and Shawn was on the floor playing a board game with the older three when we heard a loud "plop" on the living room carpet, then another, and another. It took both of us a minute to realize that it was coming from the ceiling. We looked up and, sure enough, it was "raining" in the living room. Apparently, the kids had left he sink running upstairs and the drain had been emptying slowly and had overflowed unto the floor, down through the ceiling, around the can lighting and drip, drip, drip... unto the living room floor. Needless to say, the kids thought this was the coolest thing. Well, all the kids but Drew, he ran and got the phone to call my dad because he wasn't sure Daddy could handle "this type of thing". LOL! Ah well--just another day in paradise!