We had such a great time on our cruise!!! Wake is so animated about everything that it made the time even better :) He loved the kids club and the beach. He liked snorkeling until something stung him and that was it for him!! His favorite part of the vacation was the "fancy dinners". Clay and I had chosen the late seating for dinner because we though the kids wouldn't be too interested and they could go to kids club while we had some alone time. The first full day on the ship was my birthday so we all went to dinner. We had to drag Jonas away from the friends he had already made and Reed was pretty sleepy and ambivalent about dinner. Wake was in HEAVEN!!!! The waiter brought him a kids menu and he said, "No thanks! I'm havin' what they're havin'!" He ended up going with us every night but one. That night there was a late night party in his kids club and he didn't want to miss the "dance". You would not believe the things he tried (and liked) at dinner. He ate roasted duck breast (which he embarrassingly ordered as "roasted duck boobs"), lobster, calamari, shrimp cocktail, scallops, and so many other things. One night they had baked Alaska and I asked him if he wanted to get it to share. He said, "Get your own!" Each night the waiter would bring him a Roy Rogers when he brought out our wine. He also got up and danced with the waiters every night. It was awesome!!! I love how Wake enjoys life! I sometimes worry about his impulsiveness but I also realize that without it he would miss out on so many wonder full moments! He doesn't stop to calculate what others are going to think or what might happen if.... He truly enjoys life. I know their will be consequences to pay at times but I am so grateful that God put this sweet gift in my life. God is teaching me through Wake that life doesn't have to taken in perfectly planned steps, but sometimes in blind leaps. I am so lucky to be his mommy!!

Paper Towels

Today when I picked the kids up from school it was "cold", at least for us Texans. It was the first really cold day of the season so I took the boys to get hot chocolate at our local coffee shop. While we were waiting for our drinks, Wake disappeared. Every time he disappears we all know where Wake is, bathroom! He has a crazy metabolism and poops about 5 times a day!!! When he finally comes out of the bathroom I did what every mom does, ask him "Did you wash your hands?" He said, "Yes, but they were out of paper towels." I said, "did you just dry your hands on your jacket?" He said, "Nope, there were some pretty dry paper towels in the top of the trash can!!!" WAKE!!!!!

Wonderful Weekend of Wake!!!

Anyone who has three kids knows what a precious commodity alone time with one child can be! Wake's birthday is coming up and Clay and I have been wanting to do something special with him. Jonas was going out of town with some friends to see UGA play LSU so we dropped Reed with my sister for the weekend and planned WOW (Weekend of Wake)!! Wake had Friday off school so Clay took the day off work and we went fishing, out to lunch for Wake's favorite (chili cheese dog) and then X-Men Wolverine for movie night! Saturday morning we got up and went to Dallas for the State Fair and Mary Poppins the musical! Wake loves to be the center of attention so it was a fabulous time!

Mary Poppins captivated him! After three hours of sitting, when it was over he said, "What? That's it?" If you know Wake, I'm sure you can hear that coming from his mouth!!

At the fair he and I had made a list of things he wanted to do. First we did "Hands on the Farm". This was a very cool farming exhibit where he got to plant crops, feed animals, harvest crops, milk a cow, gather eggs, then trade in his commodities for cash. He then spent his cash in the company store and bought some fruit snacks. I had obvious reservations to this blatant advertisement for capitalism. Clay told Wake to go directly to the store and ask for farm subsidies for not planting this year. At any rate, he wanted to "do it the right way", so we agreed. Clay and I have long known that Wake will rebel with a bow tie and a young Republicans membership card so we weren't surprised!!

His favorite activity was the Colorado Mining Company. For $8. (which is really cheap considering it's more than that for one ride in the Midway) you get a bag of sand with hidden treasures inside. He chose a bag and had a fantastic time sifting in the "river" with his screen box. He found 7 arrow heads. The guy who was running the stand brought Wake another "free" half bag of sand when his was gone. According to him, "This kid is the best advertisement I've had all day!" Wake was his usual self, being completely dramatic at every find!! He is so much like Clay's dad that it just makes me smile. Any day now he's going to say, "Phenomenal!!!"

He ate like a pig, as did Clay and I! Poor Wake was born to a mama who tries very hard to make sure that he has very little to nothing artificial in his diet. We don't do lunch meat with nitrates or hot dogs at home. Every chance my parents and Clay get they sneak Wake out for a chili dog because that is his favorite food! Well, he had never had a real corny dog until this weekend and he is in love!!! He gobbled up every bite of his foot long Fletcher's corny dog. As we were leaving Saturday night Clay asked him if he had gotten to do everything he wanted to do at the fair. Wake said, "Can I just have one more corny dog?" So....we bought 12 more tickets ($6) and Wake got another one!!!!

Wake is Relentless!

Poor Wake hates coming in second! As he once told my mom, "Second place is just first looser!" Well, he has been waiting and waiting and WAITING to get a loose tooth. At least once a week all during Kindergarten he would come home mad as heck that someone lost a tooth. He would do his little head bob with the "Guess What! Someone else lost a tooth!!! I'm such a freak!" Well, finally on this Tuesday night he noticed his tooth was a little loose. He had Clay work on it, wiggling and working it for a full hour. Finally Clay told him it wasn't ready and he'd just have to wait and work on it a little more tomorrow. He gave us the standard, "WHAT!" and went to work on it himself. We saw him tie dental floss around it and get his brother to tie it to the door. That didn't work. I caught him telling Jonas that he would give him the money in his piggy bank if he would knock it out with a hammer. Jonas looked very excited at this prospect!! Finally it seemed he settled down. We all went to bed. At a little after midnight Wake woke Clay and I up. He had a bloody towel in one hand and his tooth in the other! He was screaming "I did it!" and laughing with glee!! I finally got him settled down and to bed. The tooth fairy had to borrow 5 bucks from Jonas' wallet :)

Love Note!

Wake has written his first love note! The mom of the little girl he gave it to (Madison) is a friend of mine and saved it for me. In typical Wake fashion, it says,

To Madison

From Wake

and inside it says,

"You love me!"

Soooooo Wake...... I need to start praying for the poor girl that falls in love with him now!!!

Happy School Nurse's Day!

Today was School Nurse's Day (at least at Lindale ECC) and Wake was insistent that he take a gift to his nurse. Wake has quite a relationship with Nurse White! She is definitely Wake's "type"! She is young, beautiful, super sweet, very attentive! Earlier this year I had a conference with Wake's teacher. She was worried about Wake because he seemed to "feel very bad" two or three afternoon's a week. He was also thirsty a lot (needing to go get a drink) and one day even wet his pants. Wake hasn't had an accident since he was three years old so this also alarmed me! Clay's dad has Type I diabetes so we were both very worried and took Wake in for a check. All of his tests came out fine! Dr. Everett (who is oh so smart!!) asked Wake how he feels when he "feels bad" at school. Wake gave this long detailed description (which was also very dramatic!) of this near death experience! Dr. Everett asked him what Nurse White did when he went to the nurse's office and Wake said "She gives me a peppermint and lets me take a nap on her couch. Sometimes she rubs my back." Dr Everett smiled and said, "Wake, I think you are just fine but I'm going to send a note to Nurse White telling her that you need to watch your sugar so no more peppermints and that you need more exercise so no more naps." He hasn't been to the nurse since!!!!

Last night when we were trying to decide what to give Nurse White as a present, Wake said, "Remember when she had to clean up my pee!! That deserves a HUGE present!" He is so right!! We settled on a nice box of chocolate and spring flowers.

Romantic walks on the beach!

Tonight we went to the store (again!!!). In the check-out line I see Wake talking to the guy behind us. He's in one of those motorized carts. Wake says to him, "I've always wanted to try one of those." The guys says, "I hate having to use this thing. I wish I could walk around and not get tired." Wake says, "I'll bet you wish you could take a walk on the beach with your wife at sunset." The guy started dying laughing! He said, "yep! That would be really nice." Wake never even cracked a smile. He was serious the entire time. What a mind!!!