Michael...

Michael has had an eventful month. On St. Patrick's Day morning Michael called me at work asking me if he could dye his contacts green. I obviously said NO but I allowed him to experiment with dying his tongue green.

Over the past couple months I have seen his frustrations with being the little brother. As AJ gets older and gets to do more things I have tried to help Michael direct that energy into some positive things.

I am thankful to live in a day & age where we have cell phones because its a little easier to be a nervous mom. Its reassuring to know that I can call and find out where they are if I ever need to track them down. One day after school Michael gave me quite a scare. Earlier that morning he asked if he could walk home after school. When he walks he is always home before 3:00 but that particular day, AJ beat him home which never happens. AJ & I waited for a couple minutes then we decided to go out to look for him. We went to several of his friends houses and none of them had seen him. We drove up and down every street between our house and the school with no luck. After about 25 minutes looking I really started to panic. Should I call the police? Should I call and tell Adam? We went to the school and they called for him over the speaker with no luck... AJ & I prayed together. School had now been out 1 hour and 15 minutes. I didn't know where else to go or look for him? I was so mad, upset & scared and terrible thoughts started going through my mind that no mother should have to consider... School had now been out 1 hour and 25 minutes. Somehow my car wandered to a neighborhood just west of ours and I remembered him talking to Jessie on face book. I didn't really know they were friends but I knew where she lived and I knew she sometimes walked home. I pulled up to the house and asked the mom if she had seen Michael. She said that she had picked Jessie up from school and she hadnt seen him. She called for Jessie in the house and then checked the backyard to ask her if she had seen him. Well anyway, there he was with about 10 other friends playing in the backyard. I had never been to that house before and as far as I know, he had never even played at her house before so for me to find him there was truly an answered prayer.

Micheal also had a lead role in their school play Treasure Island as Captain Smollett. When I found out that he had a lead role I was quite surprised and nervous but as we practiced his lines together I realized he was quite talented and had memorized his lines almost perfectly. When it came time for the play he was very comfortable on stage, his microphone worked perfectly and he didn't miss any lines! Who knows, maybe I have a little actor on my hands?

Michael continues to enjoy drawing and art. Below is an egg that he painted and the shell happened to crack during the process. When he pealed it, there was a perfect spider web pattern on it. He thought it was pretty cool and used my camera to take a ton of pictures so he could draw it later.

AJ

AJ has also had an eventful month. After we got back from our cruise AJ had 6-F's and had to work very hard to get caught up. I felt bad that we put him in that situation and am reluctant to take the kids out of school for family vacations in the future because it was stressful to come back. As a result of the bad grades and being overwhelmed AJ decided not to join the track team. He has expressed an interest in Shot Put but decided that he should concentrate on his school work. Well a couple days before the first track meet the coach approached AJ and told him that he didn't have to come to practices or pay any fees but asked if he would come throw for the team at their first track meet. So he went, no jersey, no idea what he was doing and threw for the team. From what I remember he threw around 28 feet, pretty good for his first time with no practice. I don't know if he will continue doing it but it was fun to watch.


AJ also had an opportunity to go to a 5 star restaurant with his school class to La Caille near Solider Summit (I think). He got all dressed up left for an evening to learn about etiquette. He ate escargot, salad (but not the tomatoes or onions), chicken and a banana flam beau.

AJ has also started spring training with the high school football team. He goes to weights most days after school and on Wednesday mornings before school. His shoulder still gives him problems sometimes but hopefully he can get his strength back. Once a week they go to one of the coaches houses and do Strongman Competitions. They flip big tires, pull a truck uphill and try to get on the record board. The high school team is very goal oriented which I really like. I am hoping that it is motivating to AJ to keep working toward improving his skills. Click HERE see his Coach Russ Anderson doing one of these drills.

AJ has been anxiously waiting for his jeep to be functional so we can take it out when he practices his driving. It has been in and out of the shop for various reasons trying to get it to pass emissions. A couple weeks ago he was able to purchase some new (much needed) front seats and seat belts. Adam & him spend one Saturday morning installing those together. He also purchased a new antenna and spent several hours installing it so his radio would work better.