Summer Randoms, Surprises, Dependency, and Family Togetherness

This past few weeks can be best described as…unexpected.

Exhibit A, a.k.a. The Cracks that Shouldn’t Be

The first surprise event occurred while Bacon Slayer was playing church-league softball. He was covering home plate, caught a rocket thrown from center field, and was attempting to tag a runner out. The play would have gone off without a hitch had the runner slid into home to avoid being tagged, however the runner didn’t realize that what he thought-was-a-home-run-hit, had actually been fielded-and-thrown-home.

Neither did the runner realize that Bacon Slayer had the ball-in-question firmly in his glove, awaiting the tag. Therefore, said runner did not slide to avoid the tag but rather ran through the base, and consequently, Bacon Slayer’s hand.

Oops.

I should note that my beloved Bacon Slayer excused himself from the field just long enough to pull his pinky finger back into joint. He then finished playing both that game and the one following in his double-header.

Men!

Exhibit B, a.k.a. The Titanium Hand

Seriously?! How does a guy pull a finger back into place and not realize that his hand was broken? Bacon Slayer blames it on the adrenaline of the moment. I give him credit, because I’m certain that I would have be writhing on the field asking for my mommy. I’m just not that tough.

I feel as if I haven’t done a proper update on the Sons lately. Those of you that follow me on Instagram see the daily wackiness that goes on around here, but I know that the majority of you aren’t over there, so allow me to recap a bit of what the boys are up to.

Son #1 had a big birthday a few weeks ago. I’m officially a parent of a teenager. I’m really not sure how this happened because I’m just sure that he was a infant 5 minutes ago. Since Son #1 is my head sous chef, I snagged a sweet Texas Longhorns apron while visiting Jeanne – NanaBread in Texas. His favorite Aunt NanaBread sprung for the chefs hat, which not-so-surprisingly, he actually wears when working in the kitchen.

Jeanne is in serious cahoots with Son #1 for his college years. They’ve already planned how he’ll live with her & TCP to establish residency in Texas so that he’ll get the in-state tuition rate.

Hooligans, there are! Both of them! 

Since Mr. Sassy-Pants-Teenager thinks he can handle all the heat you throw at him when salsa is concerned, Jeanne helped me pick out a really spicy, Texas ghost pepper salsa that packed some serious kick for thisguy. As you can see, he scoffs in the face of capsaicin.

The Baby also celebrated a big birthday this summer. The Big FOUR! I’m not really sure how that happened because I’m positive that he was an infant just 5 minutes ago.

The Baby keeps us on his toes with his charming, yet determined disposition. This kid definitely knows his mind. He’s a force to be reckoned with, for sure!

Unlike last year’s Overachiever’s Thomas the Tank Engine cake, this year the Baby requested a Giraffe and Kangaroo cake, modeled after his favorite stuffed animals. Son #1 insisted on crafting the figures out of some leftover marshmallow fondant, with no help from me. The kid was firm about the “no help” thing, too. He even snarled at me when I tried to peek at his handiwork before it was complete.

Diva. 😉

Son #2 continues to re-engineer everything within reach. His preferred medium is Lego and Bionicles. If I had a nickle for every time I stepped on a little plastic building piece…well, let’s just say that I’d be able to feed a lot of hungry people with all that money.

Son #3 is still rabidly social, and the Mayor of our family. He’s a charming little socialite that always takes the time to pick flowers for his mama. Sometimes, he even asks for permission first. I love him.

The Reclamation – Erosion Control Project continues. More on that soon. All the project really means to the neighborhood toddlers is that we have a big dirt pile for them to roll around in.

Which they do.

Daily.

We’ve experienced a bit of Drama of the Appliance Kind, this summer. The theatrics began with the refrigerator decided that it was too old and tired to go on, which led to us living out of four large ice chests for over a week until we could find a replacement. I’m so thankful that we were in a position for such a major purchase. I don’t know what I would have done if forced to change the ice for more than 8 days.

Totally a First World Problem.

Conveniently enough, the dishwasher died on the very afternoon the the new refrigerator was delivered. This led me to the discovery that I had never taught my children how to properly wash a sink-full of dishes. Sure, they’ve washed a few pots and pans in their day, but never an entire meals worth of dishes. So, I scrubbed the sink, and taught the boys the age-old dish washing method of I Wash, You Dry.

Son #1 proclaimed that he kind of liked washing dishes together because it gave us a chance to just hang out and talk for awhile.

His insight gave me pause. I realized how dependent we’ve (Read: the Societal We) become on modern appliances, and although convenient, the modern technology has really robbed us of time that would otherwise be spent in community with family. I resolved not to fix the dishwasher for awhile, so that we could spend more time enjoying one another’s company with the shared chore.

Of course, that novelty soon waned and after several days of washing dishes solo, I totally caved and called the repair man.

I know! It was a weak moment! But a family of six creates a huge mess of dishes all. day. long.

We’ll just continue our family togetherness in the form of Whiffle Ball, spontaneous beach days, and card games. We’ll leave the bulk of the dish washing to the machine.

I hope that y’all are having a great summer! I’d love it if you’d drop me a comment to let me know what you’ve been up to!

Happy Summer, Friends!