My Title is Mom

Last night, Cole and I were in my bed before I put him in his bed, and He said “mom, what’s your middle name?”

I said “Renee”,

and he said “Mom Renee Patterson. Huh, mine goes together better. Cole Maddox Patterson.”

I said, “you do realize that my first name is not really Mom, right?

Cole: “Well, Yeah, I know it’s Ashley, but you’re actually Mom, not Ashley”

Me: “ok, I agree” lol

Bittersweet endings.

Back to school. One week down.
So incredibly bittersweet.
The boys started 6th and 2nd grade last week and I am excited for them and nervous for them.
I have run errands that I hadn't tried to run all summer, because they are the mundane chores that the kids wouldn't be interested in.
I have organized the spare bedroom and we have made the garage look respectable.
We bought a new vehicle, a 2017 Tahoe in tungsten metallic, and it is beautiful!
I have cleaned more in one week than I may have all summer.
The pillows stay on the couch in the living room all day long.
I have already finished one book, and started another.
I have done laundry without stopping in the middle to get someone a drink or snack.
I have taken a long, hot shower without anyone walking into the bathroom to ask me where their socks are…

But I have also missed little hands dragging me out to the yard to play baseball midday.
I have overthought decisions I have made and they have made.
And I have woken up sleepy little boys to send them off into the world, each taking a piece of my heart with them.
I have watched them hurry out the front door to walk themselves to school, because “we’re old enough now, Mom!”
The books can wait, the laundry and cleaning can wait, but these moments, these long summer days, are fleeting, and I hope we lived them to the fullest!
And, oh, how I have missed those boys this last week!

These little boys know I love them.
How could they not?
I tell them a multitude of times daily.
I love them fiercely, and wholly, and indescribably, and irrevocably!
Today, when I arrived home from work, I got a running, jumping, squeezing, burst my heart wide open hug from Cole, and my day was made!

What they don't know is that I still kiss them every night, hours after they have fallen asleep.
They don't know that I sometimes climb in bed with them, just to remind myself that they will always be my babies.
They don't know that sometimes I am so overwhelmed with how much I adore them, these two most incredible small people, that it brings me to tears.
But someday, they will.
Because, someday, they will love another tiny human as much as I love them.
Until then, I'll just keep loving them up.

Little Scares along the way.

Pool parties make the world go round.

It seems there is a pool party every other day around here. And we wouldn’t want it any other way.

The boys love to swim and go off the board. Twiggy and Sharks and Minnows are game favorites. There’s always watermelon or a bag of chips available.

Yesterday, Cole conquered diving off the board at Robertson’s pool, and 5 minutes later went ahead and advanced it to a front flip. That’s my boy.

Jax has mastered the front 1 and ½ flip off the board. And he is doing back flips off the board as well. His newest addition to his repertoire is the inward dive (not my favorite).

We survived fireworks, with only a few scares! Cole got hit by the backfire of a roman candle while at a friend’s house on the 4th, and Jax managed to get stung by a wasp at about the same time. I felt like I was in crisis mode for about 10 minutes, until we determined no one was burnt or going into anaphylactic shock!

Ah, the life of being a parent. Your heart lives outside of your body.

Full Spring Saturday

 This morning, on the way to baseball practice, we passed the county jail and Cole wanted to know why people don't stay in prison their whole life. So I explained that some crimes aren't severe enough to require a life sentence.

His next question was if sometimes they get electrocuted… welp!

After an hour of baseball practice we headed back home.The conversation on the way home consisted of why people cuss and which words are cuss words. Cole explained that uncle Coby had use the S-H-I-T (he spelled it for me) word and that it was OK to say hell if you were speaking about the place, but not OK otherwise.

I dropped off Cole and grabbed Jax and headed to Dick's Sporting Goods to finish our shopping for family pictures. I love getting to hang out with each of them separately. We picked up some lunch at culvers and headed to the soccer field where we met Dad and Cole for Cole's soccer game. Then straight back home to get ready for pictures. Dad packed the cooler for our Mother’s Day picnic at the park.  

We met the photographer downtown at 3 o'clock, had some pictures taken there with TJ’s side of the family, and some at the river, and then on to Krug Park. After pictures were finished, we had a picnic in the park. On our way home from the picnic, TJ talked to Casey Culver and they were fishing out at the Culver farm. So we went there and fished for a while and then headed back to the Culver's to watch the Kansas City Royals baseball game. Other than Cole’s soccer game,  I'm not sure I sat down today.

As we were heading home from Culver's and talking about school being almost out for the summer, Cole says “I wish I was still in preschool. Preschool is the best!! Our teacher let us staple.”

That kid loves his office supplies!

What a fun-filled day with my people.

Sweet, sleepy Cole

Cole has been coming into our bedroom in the middle of the night for a while now. Since I am never opposed to a little snuggle, I would let him climb in bed beside me. After about 5 minutes (or less), I would send him back to his own bed. Well, after this had been going on for quite some time (probably a few weeks), Dad finally decided this was not best for anyone’s sleep schedule. So, we asked Cole to stay in his bed, or if he woke up, to go back to sleep, without coming into our room. That very night, Cole came into our room, very quietly woke me up, said “Mommy, I love you.” To which of course, I replied, “Awe, baby, I love you, too”. Then he said “good night”, and went back to bed.

Heart completely melted on the spot!

What a sweet little boy I have.

Sleepwalking?

So Cole has not been coming into our bedroom at night for about a week now.

Well, last night, at about 1 am, I hear something, and wake up to see Cole’s bathroom light on.

I go in there to check on him, and find him standing in front of the bathroom sink, peeing down the front of the bathroom counters, completely unaware of his surroundings. I redirected him to the toilet, which left a spray of urine across his entire bathroom floor and some on his walls.

When TJ asked what I had been doing, I told him what had happened, and he got a giggle out of that.

The next morning at breakfast, I told Cole what had happened. He claims no recollection of said event. Likely story! And then tells me to “at least I wasn’t peeing on the carpet”. Huh.

Sporty Boys

These are the days.

We always let the boys choose the sports that they participate in, and some of those sports have taken some getting used to on my part.

Let me just say, I never pictured myself as a soccer mom. I found soccer incredibly dull, and truthfully still don’t completely understand what is going on, or who should be where.

But, when it’s your kid out on the field, all of a sudden, it is infinitely more interesting.

Jax chose to forgo soccer these last couple of years and try out flag football instead.

In addition to flag football, he has picked up baseball, and still plays basketball. The sport I am most excited Jax is playing is golf. A lifetime sport. This sport that he will still be able to round up a group of friends in 50 years and play, and hopefully still enjoy. We are in the thick of basketball season right now, with tournaments about every other weekend.

And now, in the dead of winter, with ice storms and snow in the forecast, Jax is participating in a golf clinic at the indoor training facility at Missouri Western State University, and absolutely loving it. Day 1 of clinic, he won the chipping contest. Because I am his mother, it might be said that I am partial, but the kid has a really natural swing. It is a thing of beauty. They tweaked his grip on Day 1, and he says he can tell he has more control. The Missouri Western coaches have only great things to say about him, and have pulled us each aside to compliment his swing and encourage us to keep him playing.

Cole is my soccer player. He really enjoys it. He also is playing basketball and taking swim lessons. He is starting basketball soon.