lazy days of summer...where did they go?

I love summer! Barbeques, watermelon, corn on the cob, homemade ice-cream. Just the word "summer" conjures up memories from my childhood, those good ol' days when summers weren't spent inside a air-conditioned 60 degrees, where's my sweater and why do we have to freeze in the middle of summer, office building. Summers as a child meant running through the sprinklers, then laying down on the hot cement to get warm, drinking in the scent of wet concrete...hmmm, I love that smell...and everytime I get a whiff of that intoxicating scent I'm reminded of my days as a youth. 4th of July parades with neighborhood kids marching up and down the sidewalks banging the lids of pans. Selling lemonade in Melinda's carport so we could make enough money to buy slurpees at 7-11. Learning how to sew, to cook, and to garden every summer as "The Sprouting Clovers" at 4-H with my best friends. Summers spent at Lisa and Laurels cabin in Midway, pretending to be olympic synchronized swimmers at the Homestead pool. Walking up to the meadow, singing songs about the beautiful world, true love and the magic of fairies. Sleepovers with friends and cousins under the stars, making wishes on the falling ones. Shelling peas, snapping beans, canning cherries and peaches while Mom patiently wiped the sticky floors and scrubbed cherry juice stains off our clothes. Sneaking into the neighbors yard to jump on their trampoline, and sneaking out at night to toilet paper. Yep, those were the good ol' days.
But seasons come and go, and with the passing of time and the graduation of school, summer kinda lost it's magic. Work replaced those lazy days of nothingness, shorts and swimsuits were replaced by dresspants and heels. Lemonade stands replaced by 10 minute breaks at the water cooler, sun-bathing replaced by sweat bathing driving home in an un-airconditioned car. And 3-month summer vacations became 1 week off work, usually taken up by church service.

Aahh, but then children came along...

...and the magic appeared once more!

My little boy...not so little anymore.

My little boy is growing up. It wouldn't be so bad if he wasn't also my baby. All mothers need babies, it's what we do. Mothering teenagers and married children just isn't the same, and although my baby is 11 now, he'll always be my baby. Do you know that book, "I'll love you forever, I'll like you for always, as long as I'm living, my baby you'll be"...I'm getting choked up just writing the words. I could have written that book, I should have, I'd be a millionaire. That book didn't get to me the way it does now, until I had a son of my own, and the older he gets, the harder it is for me to let go and realize he won't always be the little boy in my lap, letting me smother him with kisses. He won't always be the little boy catching frogs and grasshoppers. I'm sure one day I'll look him in the eye and wonder how he got to be taller than me. Somehow this blog took a detour, it's Trey's birthday, and I didn't mean for it to be a pity party for his mother. So...I'll try again.
Yeah! Trey turned 11 years old on July 5th! We celebrated his big day while camping with his cousins at Palisades!
Trey has always been such a blessing for our family. After 2 girls and 7 years of trying to have another baby, Trey finally joined us, and it was worth the wait. Trey is always making us laugh. When he was little we used to compare him to Jim Carrey because of all his funny facial expressions. He would always try to imitate others. Once when Trey was almost 3 years old, Chelsea had a goldfish she brought home from school. Trey was really intrigued with the new little pet and loved to watch him swim in his bowl. I didn't want him climbing on the bathroom counter to look at him, so I scooted the fishbowl to the edge so Trey could watch him from his chair. One day while I was working on the computer, I noticed the silence was just a little too quiet for my comfort, so I thought I'd better check on him. I peeked in the bathroom, there was water all over the floor and counter, and in the bowl, Chelsea's fish floating belly up. I said, "Trey, what happened to the fish?" He cupped his little hands and in a very proud voice he said, "I hold him!" I'm not sure if he held him too tight or just too long, but he loved that little fish to death.
There were times when we had a hard time understanding Trey, literally. I don't remember what the situation was, but I remember him once asking me for a 'dresser-dress'. Hmmm, what's a dresser-dress. "No, a dresser-dress!" I don't know what a dresser-dress is sweetie. "Not a dresser-dress, a DRES-ser DreSS!" I don't know what your saying. (Poor thing is in tears now) "A Tresser-chress!" Oh, you mean a 'Treasure Chest'? "Yes! A dresser-dress!" I felt so bad I actually bought him one, a big one that could hold lots of dresses.

Trey will always be my "Treybabe", sweet, kind, loving and always ready to give a hug and kiss for his mom. To his sisters he'll always be "bugger-boo" and "bud", always on hand to help tease, play around with, watch scary movies with, and stay up way too late with. To his Dad, he'll always be his "little man". If you could clone Tary, you would get Trey. Those two are two peas in a pod. They both love to play ball, hunt, fish, eat hamburgers and french fries, and think 'rice' is a four letter word. Tary loves to hang out with his son, as we all do! He is such a fun, quick witted, loving, not so little anymore, boy.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TREY!

Now, how about cuddling on my lap for a bedtime story...grab the kleenex, I know just the one!