A Rite of Passage

Something has been happening to Chet. His voice sounds funny. His shoulders are getting wider. And his upper lip has gotten hairy. So last night he asked Jack to teach him how to shave. Apparently the unbladed bubble bath toy razors I bought for him 12 years ago are longer sufficient.

So after showers, and in front of a very small mirror, Jack first showed him how to lather up.

Then Chet watched carefully as Jack said something about grain and rinsing the blade and a bunch of other advice that doesn't apply to me and I wasn't paying attention to. I was too busy noticing how dirty the mirror is. (This is Jack's mirror. My mirror is clean. Just so you know.)

Then Chet made me stop thinking about how big he is getting when he accidentally spread some shaving cream in his mouth.

He  got it all cleaned up, though, and was finally ready to rid himself of his fuzz.

So Jack carefully showed him how much pressure to use, how to contort his mouth to get to different whiskers, and how to avoid digesting anymore shaving cream.

So now my funny-sounding boy, with his ever-broadening shoulders, is clean-shaven and well-educated in the shaving process.

And I am feeling a little lost, wishing he was shaving with his plastic razor and bubbles again.

Chet's Literary Compositions

Chet has been writing poems in his English class. I love it.
I thought I would share one of them with you.

Tell Me a Story
Chet Wellborn

Tell me a story
where the brave knights fought.
Tell me a story
where the wise men taught.

Tell me a story
where blazing swords are.
Tell me a story
where dragons aren’t far.

Tell me a story
where sirens have sung.
Tell me a story
where the spears are flung.

And when you are done
tell another one.

This is a story he had to write. I had to laugh, because this is exactly what he would do.

The Wish of Mine

One afternoon, on a sunny Tuesday, my family and I
went to the park.

When we arrived, we met Tyler and a few other people.

Kyle and Todd went to the swings with hard
seats.That were painted red and would squeak with each push.

Faith and Beth went for a run for the entire time, walking
every now and then.

Matt and I raced each other to the stream's bank. The water
was ice cold.

There I saw a 12 foot long a fish, colored like a rainbow,
that would grant one wish.

So I wished for more wishes.

The fish did as I asked.

Then I wished for a billion dollars.

I got my billions dollars, and the fish tried to leave for some reason.

So I just had it for dinner.

The Sweetheart Dance

A week or so ago, Faith's classmates elected her the queen of their class for the upcoming Sweetheart's Dance. I think Faith had mixed feelings about this. She was flattered and excited to be chosen, but it meant she would have to wear a dress.

Getting Faith to wear a dress these days is a struggle of epic proportions, but we went shopping last week and found a very pretty dress that we could both agree upon. I couldn't get her to curl her hair, though. I don't know where that stubborn tomboy streak comes from.

When she got home from school today she got ready to go.

While this picture doesn't do her justice, she was stunning. Simply stunning.


Chet came home and announced he had a date for the dance. After dinner I loaded them up and drove my youngest teens to the dance.

The first part of the night consists of introducing the court. This boy was Faith's king.

Faith was an extremely nervous girl during the entire time they walked to the stage.

In fact, she never really smiled during the whole ceremony. She pretty much looked like this the whole time.

You know what calms nerves? Friends. Best friends.

Chet introduced me to his date, and we had pictures taken. She is a very sweet girl.

His friend Sheldon was there too.

After the court was introduced and I had taken pictures, my sweet docile (cough) children told me I had to leave.

What? Leave? Why?

Apparently they thought it could be potentially embarrassing to have your camera happy mom running around the junior high dance. So I left, but I made plans. I called Jessica to see if she wanted to come with me when it was time to pick them up. If a mom is embarrassing, surely a mom and an older sister could make some toes curl!

We got back and found Faith dancing with somebody else's king.


And one of our weekend kids was dancing with her boyfriend. This picture cracked me up.

Apparently our presence wasn't too embarrassing. Chet danced with Jessica.


Then Faith danced with her.


This just might be my favorite picture of the night. I love the big smiles on their faces.

After Chet's date left, Faith convinced him to dance with her friends.

That must be one of the pros of being friends with somebody who has a cute big brother.

You know what makes school dances so fun?

Friends. Best friends.

And a camera happy mom who knows you'll be glad I was blinding you with my flash when you look back on these photos years from now!

A warning as I edit Christmas pictures

If you are 13 years old and refuse to get a haircut,


and your 12 year old sister is really bored,


she might just do this to you.


And then your mom might post about it on her blog.

Christmas Concerts

The school had their Christmas concert a couple of weeks ago. Chet played with the band, and Faith sang with the Honors Choir. There was a huge crowd, and the auditorium was packed. Jack and I ended up sitting near the back of the room with our friends. During the concerts, I was taken back in time.

I joined the band in the 6th grade. In fact, we played some of the same songs that Chet's band played. My mom, my brother, Gramma, Papa, Great-Gramma and Great-Aunt Clair came to that first concert an hour early to make sure they had front row seats. In fact, they never missed a concert in the four years I was in band. Nor did they ever fail to be there an hour early to get their front row seats. When I was old enough for marching band, they would be on the parade route and sit through hours of floats going by just to see me for a minute or so as I marched by.

Because kids are kids, I was often teased about my family being there, front and center and early for every show. I remember feeling so embarrassed and wanting to hide under my seat. I think I even asked my mom to PLEASE sit somewhere else. But Great-Gramma needed to be up front because her diabetes was blinding her and she couldn't climb stairs or weave through rows of chairs, and I had no say in the matter.

During those years I really thought my family was there because they liked music. And it was true, they did love music. My Great-Gramma was a classically trained vocalist and a concert pianist. However, if you have ever heard a 6th grade beginning band concert, you know that nobody is there simply because they are a music connoisseur. They aren't there because the music is so intricate and compelling. They are there because they love somebody on that stage. My family was there, every single time, because they loved me. (Although Jesse didn't have much say in the matter either. Attending his sister's concerts was rather compulsory for him.)

As I sat near the back of the room because I had arrived too late to snag front row seats, I thought of those concerts of the past. I thought of how Gramma and Great-Gramma and Aunt Clair are all gone now. I thought of Papa who has been unwell and unable to travel. I thought of Mom and Jesse, who are over 2,000 miles away. I wanted to cry.

Because I wish I had appreciated their presence and their support.

Because I wish I had thanked them.

But mostly I wanted to cry because I wish they could have been there to see my kids' concert. In the front row. An hour early.

And just because they loved music so much.

He plays the euphonium.

Chet joined the beginning band last year. He chose the trumpet as his instrument, and I was pretty excited as I plunked down the money to buy him one. Trumpets are pretty cool instruments. I couldn't wait to hear him play the blues, and I had visions of being haunted by Chet's rendition of Taps.

Then at the beginning of this year his band teacher asked him to switch instruments.

To a euphonium.

I spent 4 years in band and I had never heard of such a thing.

So now Chet plays the euphonium. It is sort of a cross-breed between a trumpet and a tuba. And it has its own sound. Last night Chet was practicing for his upcoming performance when Jack heard it for the first time. "What the hell is that?" he asked me.

"Oh, that is Chet on his euphonium," I replied.

"His what?"

"The instrument his teacher asked him to switch to."

As the conversation went on, I explained to Jack that the band teacher thought this would be better for Chet because his mouth is too big for the trumpet. Jack said something about Chet getting a big mouth from me.

I don't know about you, but I had no idea that personality traits could genetically manifest themselves in physical form in my offspring.

Go the Distance

Chet and Faith joined the running club at school. This is big news for Chet. After all these years, here is a competitive sport that requires strength, training, discipline, and a will to give it all, a
and he can actually participate. Faith has been planning on joining the track team as soon as she is old enough. Having this chance to be part of this cross-country club was a golden opportunity for her. Over the last few weeks, they and their team have been training when the weather has relented enough to allow them to do so. They thought they were ready for their first meet.


On Wednesday, we drove to Rogers where a bunch of other middle schoolers were ready to compete in this meet. Most of them train everyday. The majority of them were teams in uniforms. Their parents had signs with their schools and teams on them. They warmed up with well-polished drills. I knew that with only a few actual practices under their belts that our kids weren't going to win. Yet I couldn't wait to see what they would do.


At last all the kids were directed to line up, mark, set, and go!


Tyler set out to win this race. He sped past the other runners, and for a while held a first place position. But cross-country meets aren't won by sprinters. All of our kids need to learn to pace themselves and build some endurance. Tyler's take-off dash to the front was impressive to see, though!


There were two laps in the run, totalling 1.5 miles. Chet had me worried as he came around the first lap. I could hear him breathing, his face was flushed and pale at the same time, and he kept stopping to walk. He told me later he wanted to pass out at this point. All the other parents were on the sidelines cheering their kids on and urging them to speed. My mama bear came out and I could be heard hollering, "Are you okay???" Besides, his legs were blinding me.

Faith made it around the second part of the run before she started the final lap, and thought she was done. I was trying to encourage her. I said, "Good job, Faith! You're almost there! (she thought I meant "almost to the finish line") You only have one more lap to go!" At this point she looked at me and said, "whaaaat?" as best she could muster.


She buckled back down, though, and pressed onward. Along with pacing, we need to work on some breathing techniques. I am pretty sure they are supposed to breathe in through the nose, out through the mouth. I am positive they aren't supposed to gasp and gulp for air.

By the time Chet made it around the second part before the final lap, he had fallen somewhere, bruised his knee, was walking because his energy was sapped, and could barely muster the breath to say "gonna throw up." I really didn't know if he would make it the rest of the way. He was paler than he was the first round, and I could see he was exhausted. The mom part of me that doesn't want him hospitalized or worn out for two weeks wanted to pull him out right then and there. The mom part of me that just wants to see my son's dreams for himself come to fruition couldn't bear the idea of that. In the end, I kept silent except to say, "You're almost there, Chet! Don't worry about anyone else, just do what you can do!"

The kids finally heaved their way around the last lap, and I saw Faith coming with these two girls. They are from the highschool CC team, and were there to help guide the kids around the paths. These two basically adopted Faith, and through the rest of the lap kept her going when she wanted to stop and walk. Later she told me that anytime she slowed down again, they cheered her on and literally helped push her forward to keep her going. They were awesome.


I missed seeing Chet come in, and for a minute before I found him, I felt an internal panic bubbling up as I wondered if he had passed out during that last lap. But he had made it ---- safe, sound, and sweaty.

In the end, Chet came in last place, and Faith was 2nd to last. I thought it was a glowing victory for both of them. They could have stopped. They could have given up. Instead, they pushed on and they both finished the race.

I do love to see my kids win in sports, but sometimes I think there are much better things to be experienced in losing. Not only does Chet want to train harder and longer now, he is actually asking me to make him salad to eat. He has never eaten salad. Somebody stole myveggie hater, and replaced him with tall gangly teenager! EEK!

Chess Tournament Time Again

FYI... I started posting this yesterday, but was pulled away. So anything that says "yesterday" was the day before, and anything that talks about "today" was yesterday. Is that imperfectly clear enough??

Spring brings baseball, birds, flowers, and other wonderful things, and amongst all those fresh new beginnings it brings chess around here. We love "chess season." Yesterday Faith played in her grade's tournament and took 3rd place. Sadly, I did not have my camera and wasn't able to attend. I am very proud of her anyway.

Today was Chet's turn. I remembered the camera and got there near the end of the first round. Chet had already put this young lady into checkmate, and they were just playing some practice games until the other teams finished up.

Tyler was there competing too. He gave it a valiant effort, but was eliminated in the next round. It is time for some "tough love" chess lessons for Tyler to encourage him to not leave all his pieces tucked into the corners. I was proud of him for competing!


The next round started, and Chet very quickly brought his next opponent face to face with checkmate.


They played some practice games while they waited for the other teams to finish their first games. Officer Riggs removed these pieces from Chet's board to give the other player a slight chance.

Playing with two knights and his pawns didn't really bother Chet, though.

He soon had two queens and put the girl into checkmate.


So for the next game, Officer Riggs removed ALL of Chet's pieces except for his king and pawns. Chess can be won with pawns, though. Let Chet demonstrate.


See... you just maintain your offense, and get a pawn or two across the board to recover a queen. Checkmate was in the near future.
That round ended, and Chet was paired with another boy who didn't really want to compete against Chet. I think he actually could have done okay if he didn't talk himself into losing before the match began. A lot of these kids don't give themselves enough credit for how well they can play if they slow down and doublecheck their boards.

Chet won that round and moved onto the final four. This is where HIS nerves began to kick in, and he let his opponent give him a run for his money. He ended up winning, and the final game was set for tomorrow morning, where he will play the boy sitting kitty corner to him. This is the boy he lost to last year, so he plans on getting lots of practice in tonight. Personally, I think he needs to worry more about not being nervous and letting it cloud his focus. Go Chet! I am so proud of you, you checkmating, can win with nothing but pawns, and be polite about it the whole way chess guru you!