Elevensies

It's crazy.

Just crazy.

Josh turned 11 this month.

Eleven!

Our house is in a mess with some projects we are doing, 

so we decided to have our family celebrations 

at special places away from our home.

We had fun meeting our family from the north 

in Kokomo at the Hacienda.  

That's a treat that we don't often enjoy since the nearest Hacienda is the one in Kokomo.

We also celebrated with our down-here family 

at Zaharakos in Columbus.

It's an old-fashioned ice cream parlor.

I intended to give everyone a quick "Josh Quiz" 

after we ordered our food, but visiting and seating arrangements 

kept us from being able to do that.

Sooooo...here is the quiz that Josh and I prepared!

If you know Josh, see how well you know him.

If you don't know Josh very well, then it will give you 

a glimpse into his 11-year old self.

I have some pictures to go with the questions.

Don't let them fool you into answering the question 

in a certain way. 

Some of them are tricksy.

Here we go!

The Josh Quiz

Josh was born on Sunday, August 14, 2005.

What time was he born?

a) 4:36 am     

b) 1:32 pm     

c) 10:14 pm

What is Joshua's middle name?

a) Paul     

b) Robert     

c) Jose

After "dada" and "mama," what was Josh's first word?

a) duck     

b) milk     

c) doggie

If Josh could live in a house shaped like anything, 

what would it be?

a) an X-Wing     

b) the Death Star     

c) the Millennium Falcon 

 In which pattern did Josh break his arms?

a) Right, Left, Left     

b) Left, Right, Left     

c) Left, Left, Right

 What is Josh's favorite memory?

a) Getting Charlie     

b) Going to see Star Wars 7     

c) Swim lessons

If Josh could be invisible for a day, what would he do?

a) Go to the set of Star Wars Dance with 8     

b) Watch and see what William does all day     

c) Dance with Chuck E. Cheese

 What is Josh's favorite color?

a) Orange     

b) Green     

c) Blue

Where is the most wonderful place Josh has ever been?

a) Holland, Michigan

b) Holiday World

c) Sheboygan, Wisconsin

What is the most important appliance or piece of furniture in Josh's house?

a) His bed     

b) The TV     

c) The microwave

What is Josh's choice for his Birthday Supper?

a) Spaghetti     

b) Pizza     

c) Chicken fingers and fries 

How did you do?

Answers:  b,  b,  a,  c,  a,  b,  a,  c,  a,  b,  c

Now you know ten things about Josh 

that you didn't know before.

What?

You say, since he's eleven, we should know 

eleven more things about Josh.

You should know that Josh is determined, tender-hearted,

 and has a really fun sense of humor.  

He knows what he likes and what he doesn't like, 

and he has a very strong sense of what's right and what's wrong.

His life verse is Joshua 1:9...

"Have I not commanded you?  Be strong and courageous.  Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go."

How he got this verse is a story for another day.

A Little Boy's Heart

We have been doing some major house-clearing this summer.

Clearing out drawers.

Clearing out cabinets.

Clearing out shelves.

Clearing out all the excess.

One. Thing. At. A. Time.

It was Matthew's turn to look through his drawers.

I asked him to empty his "Lucky Drawer" 

and his "Special Drawer."

After doing this, I told him to make three piles...

Throw Away

Garage Sale

Keep

(Yeah...I've seen "Clean Sweep" once or twice.)

Here are his "keep" items.

I saw them sitting there on the table, and I got a little teary.

How precious to be able to get a glimpse 

into an 8-year old's heart...

to see what he sees as keepable.

Pocket knives from Dad, marbles, a mood ring, a wooden snake, Batman, a pet rock, a dog figurine from Rentown, 

a huge plastic paper clip, St. Patrick's Day pins, a basket from Grandma, survival bracelets from Josh, a homemade controller thingy that he made with William, a head light, a magnet ice cream scoop from GG, a water bomb ball, shoelaces, 

a magnifying glass, Joe's dagger, sunglasses from Grandma's eye doctor, and Bill's pink paper violin.

Each item has meaning.

Each item is special to that 8-year old boy in some way.

And you find that when it has meaning 

to someone you love,

it has meaning to you too.

From Beijing to Rio

 I remember sitting at the BMV quite a few years back.

I'll bet it was in 2000, because it was time 

to renew my driver's license.

I sat there waiting.  And waiting.  And waiting.  

Which gave me lots of time to think about stuff.

One of the things I remember thinking about was 

what I would be doing four years into the future 

when it was time to renew my license again.

That made me think about what I was doing four years before.

1996

I had a baby girl who was just a couple months from turning one.

Now, here I was in the year 2000 

with a 4-year old and a 2-year old.

My 1996 self didn't see that coming.

I kept on thinking...

2004

Carrie will be 8, and William will be 6.

2008

Carrie will be 12, and William will be 10. 

I think that's when I quit thinking 

and started people-watching instead.

I don't sit at the BMV and think those thoughts anymore.

Now we don't have to renew every four years.

We can do it all online.

Quick as a blink.

No thinking required.

Now what turns my thoughts to "four years from now" 

and "four years prior"are the Olympics.

I was standing at the kitchen sink, washing dishes, yesterday morning when the newscaster reminded me that the next Summer Olympics would be held in 2020 in Tokyo.

But hold up!

I remember the 2012 Olympics!

The Summer Olympics were in London.  

I remember that, because we got the London Olympics Wii game 

and felt like we were really participating with the athletes.

Especially the trampoline athletes and 

the ribbon dancing athletes.  

The kids were so young four years ago.

And how about 2008 when 

the Summer Olympics were held in Beijing?!

Matthew was just months old!

So...you really need to see what time does!

I'm only posting pictures of the kids, 

because age doesn't affect me anymore.

I always look old.

Summer Olympics 2008

Carrie...12 years old

Summer Olympics 2012

Carrie...16 years old

Summer Olympics 2016

Carrie...20 years old

Summer Olympics 2008

William...10 years old

(Seriously?!  He was younger than Josh is now!)

Summer Olympics 2012

William...14 years old

Summer Olympics 2016

William...18 years old

2008 Summer Olympic

Josh...3 years old

Summer Olympics 2012

Josh...7 years old

Summer Olympics 2016

Josh...11 years old

Summer Olympics 2008

Matthew...4 months old

(So you can probably guess that I don't 

remember the Olympics that year.

There were many other things that were a blur too.)

Summer Olympics 2012

Matthew...4 years old

Summer Olympics 2016

Matthew...8 years old

Summer Olympics 2008

Jack

Summer Olympics 2012

Charlie...2 years old

Jack ran away.

Summer Olympics 2016

Charlie...6 years old

 And in four years?

The 2020 Summer Olympics will be held in Tokyo.

The kids will be 24, 20, 15, and 12.

Charlie will be 10.

Paul and me?

Uhhhhh...

We won't go there.

Ugly Stuffed Animals? Ulysses S Anderson?

Have you told your 8-year old what USA stands for?

I didn't.

While watching the Olympics,
Matthew turned around, eyes wide, and said, 

"I never knew that USA means United States of America!  Wow!"

I guess learning immersion doesn't only apply
to learning a secondary language. 

This led to a conversation about other acronyms
that my kids have learned on the fly.

And that's why I'm deciding not to worry about
William today as he begins his college career.
All by himself.
On a campus of over 30,000 students.

And I'm not worrying, because,
 as I stood at the door with him this morning,
he asked me to pray with him.

And, of course, I lost it.

He will learn this college stuff by immersion.
On the fly.
With his Lord as His Guide and constant Companion.

You know what else my kids have learned on the fly?
Potty Training...Skipping...Shoe-Tying

Oh, and I blame the shoe-tying,
not on forgetfulness on my part,
but on Velcro.

I probably wouldn't have neglected shoe-tying
if their shoes would have had strings.

Hasta Mañana

Tomorrow.

 The sun will come out tomorrow...

and shortly after the sun comes out, 

William will be driving to his first day of college classes.

Seriously?

Seriously.

Already?

Yep.

Already.

These two.

Both in college.

Well, sort of.

Carrie doesn't start her junior year of classes until next Monday.

But we won't talk about that as it might be a sore subject.

Okay.

There may be a few more chuckles on Carrie's part this week as 

William is waking up to his alarm clock 

and driving to school every day

and bringing home assignments 

from chemistry and math classes.

Yesterday.

Every tomorrow has a yesterday.

Pretty profound, huh?  I thought it was all mine 

until I googled it to make sure and found this quote...

"Every tomorrow has yesterday built into it." 

--Rabbi Robert L. Kravitz 

Yeah.  

Even more profound than mine.

This was a tomorrow that became a yesterday.

And had many yesterdays before that.

And this was once a tomorrow too.

And now it's a yesterday.

A waaaaay yesterday.

Tomorrow.

I mean, yesterday.

See?

Every tomorrow has a yesterday 

(built into it. --Rabbi Robert L. Kravitz) 

--Jodi

What I really love about our yesterdays is that they were good.

Isn't that the way with yesterdays?  

They become more golden as time goes by.

Carrie and William don't always get along. 

They have some prrrretty good arguments.

(They call them debates and try to convince me that 

we really did do debate in high school.)

But a good foundation was built.

And that good foundation has resulted in kids young adults 

who are good friends.

Sidekicks.

Buddies.

Playmates.

(and classmates)

Compadres.

How do I know?

I listen in on their big kids conversations.

W:  "What do I need to know about starting college?"

C:  "Leave plenty of time to get to school and park 

and walk to class."

C:  "Sooo...are you excited or nervous?"

W:  "Right now I'm excited.  But that changes by the minute."

C:  "You're going to have so much fun!"

Yesterdays are good.

But tomorrows can be even better.