Attitude

Someone was NOT happy with me this morning when I refused to let him outside as I was leaving for work.  This was apparently my payback as he stared me down the entire time climbing up the piano and plopping down right in the middle of my plant, which he's never done before.

I was simply trying to avoid having a “baked Oreo” when I got home.  

I think Mr. Spider plant preferred that I let him go outside.

We're all middle schoolers!

 I’m pretty sure I’m FAR more excited than the boys that all three of us will be at the middle school this year. I am concerned I'll need to take back my maiden name though as I'm not sure the building is ready for three Claybergs.  

Carter’s looking forward to starting his first year at the middle school as it’s a whole new experience and much different from elementary. I do believe there are a few nerves flowing through him right about now too. 

Austin is getting ready to start his final year at AMS. I think he's looking forward to seeing his friends, but not being in the same hallway with his mother! He nearly had a heart attack when he realized he has three classes RIGHT NEXT TO or ACROSS THE HALL from my classroom.  Ha! I have a feeling my candy dish will empty much more quickly this year!

Me...I'm starting my 19th year of middle school.  Jeesh...you'd think one of these days I'd be smart enough to get out of there!

Magic Wand

Miss Heidi must have a magic wand. I'm thrilled beyond belief at how she managed to make my crew look presentable in our family photos!  This lady is uber talented. More importantly I am so blessed to call her my friend.  

Now, it's not quite as hard to make these handsome boys of mine look good.  It was probably harder for me to get them showered and in something other than athletic shorts and a t-shirt.  

But Ace and I?  We hardly even look "mature"! Well, he's missing some hair, but I suppose that's to be expected having to put up with me. I think Heidi's even talented enough to fix his hair situation if he wanted.

I am wondering how in the world these boys of mine seem to be nearing the same height as me?  UGH!  Mama's still in charge though!  

You can check out some more of our pics here. Thanks a million Heidi for sharing your amazing talents! We couldn't be happier with the results.

High Flying

Our gift to Austin for his 14^th birthday was to spread his wings and fly high amongst the clouds on a vintage Red Baron plane with Brian Aukes from Half Fast Flying Adventures.  Well…today was the day he got to do just that and fly high amongst the clouds.  

 He almost looks like he could be a fly boy!  

Brian's wife Rachel, who is both a pilot and author, got him all strapped up in his parachute...which made this mama's heart skip a beat or two as she was calmly giving instructions on how to get out of the plane and pull the strap in case of an emergency!  Who's idea was this?!?  

Ahhh...he looks WAY too old right here with his flight helmet on and ready for take off!  It was so cool as he was able to talk to Brian, who was in the seat behind him the entire time, and hear all the radio traffic happening.  

 There goes my boy... This is really going to happen!  

I would have given anything at this point in time to have had a window into his thoughts during this time.  

Here they are coming in for their landing. He got to fly over Huxley and see his hometown of Ames from a bird's eye view.  He loved flying over Jack Trice Stadium, the middle school and our house.  

 Little did I know until he landed that some airplane acrobatics were involved on this flight!  Oh mamacita!  It's a good thing my mama heart didn't know that before take off!  

He got to experience three different acrobatics: a hammerhead, a barrel roll and a loop.  Holy Moly!!!  A hammerhead is where Brian flies the plane straight up as high as it can go and then flies straight down towards the ground. Oh my!  Who does that?  

The barrel roll is a sideways roll in which the plane rolls all the way around and the loop is where you fly down and then head into a backwards, upside down loopie spin thingy! This mamacita would've died of fright!!!  I have a hard enough time looking at the ground from up high the right way, let alone doing it upside down strapped into an open air cockpit!  

Check out that smile!  

We can't thank Brian enough for this experience of a lifetime for Austin. 

...and somehow my lucky "Maverick" got a quick spin around in the air before we headed out!  I have no doubts he said, "Talk to me Goose!" to Brian while they were in the air.

What sweet memories for both of them.  Of course, Carter mentioned that he'll be 14 in 2 1/2 years.  I think that was a big hint that I'm supposed to remember! 

Under one roof

My pampered prince is home again after spending a week at Riverside Bible Camp.  I absolutely LOVE the experience that Carter has while he's at camp.  This was his 4th year of attending Riverside and he loves E.V.E.R.Y. minute of it.  I love that he gets the Holy Spirit digging deeper in his heart and has the opportunity to see the young men and women who are counselors praising God and setting great examples for the kids. But oh how wonderful it feels to have everyone under the same roof again.  My mama heart is quite content!  And...despite an older brother insisting that he didn’t miss his little brother and enjoyed being an only child all week, it’s funny how inseparable they’ve been since he's come home!