Senior Year, Here He Comes

Since Devin missed his opportunity to have his senior portraits taken at school while the photographer was in town, Devin and I got to take a tour of the countryside for over an hour to have his senior formals taken. It was a nice drive, but it took all afternoon. I didn't think I had ever been to Woodbury TN, but as we drove through the town I began to experience Deja-vu.
As I watched Devin sit up straight and tall and give the photographer his "million dollar smile" I couldn't help but to have flashbacks of his toddler years. I could picture him in the wagon as I pulled him with the lawnmower, I visioned him driving around the back yard in his little red cozy coupe. Yet, here we are today preparing for the last year of school. It's not that this makes me feel old, it just makes me feel like I didn't have enough time. There is a window of opportunity to shape and mold children, to really make an impact on who they become. A small chance to make an impression of what a well rounded, respectful, considerate adult should be. Once that small window of time has passed, kids start tuning you out.
I think I mostly feel guilt; or maybe it's just because I am his mother, but for every struggle that he faces, I feel like I failed to teach him something. I think I have been so used to handing him everything in life that I didn't realize how fast he was growing up and that he needed to learn how to do things on his own.
I blinked and now he is grown. He is a smart young man, I just hope that I can stay out of his way as he finds his way through life.

Sleepovers and Slides

Monday (June 10) Devin and Brookelynn went to spend the night with Darlene. Stoker and I had a quiet dinner alone. There were intermittent rain showers all evening. I gave Stroker his first massage on the new massage table that I purchased.

Tuesday (June 11) I took a drive to Smithville by myself to get a slide cover sewn to our obstacle course. I don't usually travel alone, but it was a fun ride with the windows down and the radio up. That evening, I drove to Sparta to pick up the kids from Darlene's and I picked up mom to join us for a quick dinner at Mickey D's.

Wednesday (June 12) we wrestled that slide cover back on the obstacle course. As luck would have it, we chose the hottest day of the week to take on such a task. It was 92 degrees outside and we had sweat rolling off of us. My eyes started burning from the sweat getting in them. Stroker was ramping and raving about how we better not ever remove that cover again and the kids were the only ones that were not delusional due to overheating.

When we finally finished and got cooled off, we swung through a drive thru on the way to church.

From the Orthodontist to the Attic

Both Devin and Brookelynn had appointments at the orthodontist Friday. Devin had a check up just to see if his teeth had shifted any since his braces were removed a couple of years ago. Dr. Wheeler.

Brookelynn was there for her first evaluation. They took x-rays and consulted with us on pricing and procedures. Brookelynn was okay with everything except the idea of having four teeth pulled.

 We spent Friday evening playing with the dogs in the yard. Cletus is still upset about the new dog. It’s gonna take a little longer than we expected for him to get used to Kimba. Stroker took them both for a ride in the back of the truck. It was Kimba’s first ride in the truck.

Saturday, I felt like Willie Nelson because we were “on the road again”. We went to Whitleyville, Baxter, Livingston and Clarkrange.

It was my turn to help serve breakfast at church on Sunday. I took my usual. Cheese Danish and chocolate milk. The day turned out to be a rainy, stormy one, so I thought it was a good opportunity to get our attic door fixed. I text my brother and asked if he was available to come over to help. About three hours later, we had a brand new attic door installed. I am glad to have that fixed. We lost another limb out of the side yard tree today. I think it is going to fall one limb at a time.

We went to Cheddars for dinner Sunday night.

Multi-Tasking

We had to make a trip to Monterey before church Wednesday evening. Cassidy went to church with us on Wednesday night. That is the first time she has joined us in a few months.   

Cletus has had about all he can stand of Kimba. His little nerves are shot. 

He is getting more comfortable here at the Hayes House. He has started chewing on our rugs and he decided to dig up a plant that we have out front.

I treated myself to a pedicure on Thursday while Brooke went to gymnastics.  Earlier Thursday, Brookelynn had to visit the dentist to have a cavity repaired. That was the first time she has ever been numbed without the nitros-oxide gas beforehand.  She had “not-so-sure about this” look on her face. While she was getting drilled and filled, I had Devin at the barber shop getting his "pre-senior picture" hair cut.

 I’ve been a bit of a multi-tasker all day.

Tuesday Treat

We were up until midnight playing with the new puppy last night. We can’t seem to figure out where that little fella came from. Stroker said that it had to be someone that knew he wanted a German Shepherd.  Stroker’s first thought was that it was his stepdad, but we stopped by his work to ask and he was as surprised as we are.

Cletus is so stressed out. Kimba has tried to play with him all day and Cletus is just too old to play. He keeps showing Kimba his teeth and he growls a little. Kimba has chased Cletus all over our yard today.

We made a trip to Standing Stone Park today to the Overton Lodge. It was a tranquil place with the lake and the wilderness surround us, but it doesn't take our bunch long to get tired of nature. 

This evening was the anniversary dinner that Brookelynn prepared for us. We knocked on the front door and when Brookelynn answered, we told her that we were the Hayes and we had reservation for 2.  She politely led us through the house to the back patio to a table set up with a candle light. She presented us with menus (that she made) and asked what we would like to drink.  We got to select appetizers, salad, our entree and anniversary cake for dessert. 

What a sweet girl to put so much effort to make us an anniversary dinner. 

Today was a great day. I enjoyed every second of it.

Anniversary Puppy

We began the first day of June with traveling the Upper Cumberland. We were from Gainesboro to Spencer. The evening brought in showers and threatened us with storms.

Sunday (June 2) was our 10^th anniversary. We kept it pretty simple.  After church, we went to lunch at Applebee’s with our church family.  Brookelynn was determined to spend the entire day with us, so she stayed right by our side. We looked at a few open houses and made a trip to Livingston later that evening.

Stroker went to join the men’s group from church for dinner at Golden Corral while the kids and I went to dinner with mom on Monday (June 3).  Brookelynn had mom to go inside Wal-Mart with her while she shopped for ingredients for our anniversary dinner that she planned to prepare for us this week. She spend $32 on items for this meal. It will be interesting to see what we are served.

After getting into bed Monday night, we were awakened suddenly by Devin flipping the overhead light on in our face. “Someone is outside!” he said. “Turn the light off..turn it off” we replied. Stroker got up and went out front to see if anyone was there. He said no one was there. Meanwhile, I opened the back door and seen Cletus on the step. As I bent down to pet him, a cute little puppy appeared from around the corner.