Party!!!!!

Well, we did it! Will got his braces off today, and I didn't hardly cry. I got a little teary when Miss Jill showed us the before and after pictures but I so didn't go into soap opera drama:). I kept it together and just savored the fun of the moment. And when I say, "Fun", I mean "fun"!
The office takes braces off just one day a month. I guess because they do it in a big way. Dr. Landers wears a tuxedo. Woo hoo! His wonderful assistants wear fabulous evening gowns. Gorgeous! There are balloons and a big banner. There is a table of fun glass jars filled with all the things a child should avoid when wearing braces. (I think we get a "C" for that effort. I mean I get Laffy Taffy but who would have thought that cheese balls were off limits? They are heaven covered in artificial cheese dust!) After Will got his braces off, he got an oriental take out box to fill with these sugary delights. Oh, and then there was Miss Jill acting as the "Party Pic Man" taking all kinds of photos. (Party Pic Man was a reference to my high school dance days:))
What a nice way to celebrate a special day. I am not sure Will caught it all in the office. I think he was distracted by the television screen in the ceiling. But once we got in the car, it began to sink in. He began thinking about those before and after pictures and he got it.
He was not a fan of the braces. Neither Brent nor I had ever made a big deal of his teeth before the braces so I am not sure he understood the purpose. He got used to them and rarely complained, but today got it. He was grinning from ear to ear. I offered him the rest of the day off from school to hang with me and celebrate. He chose to go back and show off his big deal:) I cannot even explain how happy inside that makes me.
I think I get why Dr. Landers does what he does. Up to this point, I honestly thought it would be kind of yucky working in all sorts of mouths. Today I saw how his work creates a new confidence in these kiddos. It was fun to see the delight in Will's eyes.
Today was a great day. Thank you God for giving us the resources to afford such a wonderful gift. Thank you Brent for committing to our family that you would take care of us in every way. And thank you Dr. Landers, Miss Jill, and the other very special ladies that have worked on Will's braces this past year and a few months. He is walking taller this afternoon because of each of you:)

That's Unfortunate:)

A little background maybe for better understanding but more for sympathy for the story that follows;): I am a morning person. I mean I am not a 6:00 am morning person, but mornings are good for me. It is when I historically have been at the peak of my mental sharpness. Since becoming a mom, the fact that I am a morning person hasn't changed but that peak I just spoke about has leveled off somewhat. I have four kiddos and usually one or three have found their way into our bed at some point during the night. (I kind of hate it but kind of love it all the same.) That being said, although I am not quite as sharp as I used to be in the mornings it is still when I am make the most efficient use of my time and it sets the tone for my day.
So a few months back, I was on it. I mean I was getting the kids ready for school, my husband ready for work, the house ready for any unexpected visitors, & myself ready to actually exit the car. (I usually take the kids the 4 blocks to school barefoot and in my pajamas never really considering what I would do if the car broke down or if I was in an accident.) This was a day I was ready for. And since I was clean, I decided I might as well show that off so I decided to make a surprise visit to my in-laws at work. My father in-law has an optometric office in Shell Knob that they work at on Tuesdays. So, I scurried around finishing my last few tasks before heading out to meet them for lunch. At this time, my youngest, Mac, was about 3 months old so I needed to nurse him just before departure. As with many young babies, Mac was quite regular during feedings, and it was always a guess as to what kind of trouble we were going to be in. On this day in particular, I was about half way done feeding when I began to feel a warm sensation on my leg. After I shut my eyes and said a small prayer, I lifted Mac to survey the damage. Oh no! It was everywhere, on Mac, the bedspread, my jeans. Well, I decided to clean up in that order. I changed Mac which unfortunately involved washing his face and hair because of course, on this day, we were wearing an outfit that had to go up and over;) Then I stain sticked the bedspread and threw it in the wash praying that mustard color would come out of my light colored bedspread. (Why I continue to choose colors that are so unfriendly to boys is a mystery to me! Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!) Lastly, I needed to address my clothing situation. As I mentioned, Mac was only a few months old at this point so my clothing options were limited. I still had only one pair of jeans that fit without total muffin top so changing was not an option. It was all about spot cleaning for today:) Thankfully, it all wiped up fairly easily. I was out the door within just about 20 minutes with only a wet spot on my thigh as evidence of the disaster of doo doo that just took place.
Lunch was great. My in-laws were really surprised by our visit and happy to see us. After we returned home, I proceeded to take my jeans off so that now they could be washed properly. I mean, the stains were gone, at least I thought, but the jeans needed to be scrubbed for simple peace of mind. I took them off and laid them on the washing machine. Yep! It is as it seems. I guess in my haste, I failed to check the backside. Yes, I walked around for roughly 8 hours (a few mom and pop shops, lunch at a real restaurant not a drive-thru, from the front to the back room of my father in-laws optometric office and back up front again) with mustard yellow poo in the sweet spot of my backside. No one said anything. I mean, okay, I can hope that those people at the optometric office had severely poor vision and just couldn't see the offense but what about everyone else? Maybe they didn't notice? Nah! Ot did they just feel too bad to tell me? I had two little boys, ages 3 & 3 months, on hand so maybe people just didn't have the heart. I don't know. They probably thought, "That poor girl has her hands so full she has not the time nor the sense to check the mirror." Or worse, "That poor girl ain't got even the time, the sense, nor the control to just stop and "go".";)
Ugh, Shell Knob is a small town. Thankfully, my father in-law is the only optometrist there so even if they wanted to, they couldn't hold it against him. Heck, maybe they feel bad for him, know he must have a lot on his plate with a daughter in-law like that. "Girl probably ain't got the sense to get out of the rain!" Sadly, after four boys, they might be right about all the above:)

Am I ready yet?

We have eight more days, and I am really excited and really nervous about that. We have eight days until Will gets his braces off, and he has no idea what that means. I mean, he is nine so he knows what the braces coming off means but he really has no idea. He's happy about it but happy about it because he is in the third grade and few other kiddos in the third grade, if any, have braces. So, he is not in the norm and sort of views himself as a "nerd" because of the braces. (I am not even going to tell him that one day, not too long from now, glasses will be in his future too;)) I do try to tell him though that, years ago, braces were less common so yes, they fell victim to the stereotype of "nerdiness" but that has changed. And that although he is one of the few kids his age to have them, that will soon change too. So for Will, getting the braces off means the freedom to eat all the chewy, deliciousness the packaged goods world has to offer, and it also means that he might at least get one foot out of "Nerdville".
I, on the other hand, think that next Wednesday means so much more. I see my son as amazing. (I am his mother. I should see him that way.) I see his humor, his brilliant creativity, his sweet heart. I see the man that he will be, and that is why I am filled with excitement and nervousness for next week. Because getting his braces off, for me, will just reveal more of the beautiful man he will one day be, and that is wonderful, exciting. But it also means a reminder that he is already nine years-old. Last time I checked, he was nine months and taking his first few steps, and then practically running the next day. He was five and walking into his first day of Kindergarten, smiling and certain. He is now nine, and taking another step toward becoming an awesome young man. So I am nervous.
I am quite certain that Dr. Landers, his orthodontist, has no idea what emotional bomb he will have on his hands next week. Has he ever had a mom cry about such a non-event for most people? His office has been so very kind and done such an amazing job with Will and his overbite, underbite, and tongue thrusting. They have been so patient and welcoming when we arrive and that is saying something. I have three other boys ranging from ages six years-old down to nine months. So when we enter the building, we make a scene;) I can only imagine how they must prepare for our appointments. They probably built the new building and loaded it with video games, televisions, and all the fun a kid could ask for outside of Disney World just to keep my kids from climbing the walls and their mother out of therapy! (Sidenote: The last visit, my three year-old walked in the door and exclaimed, "This is paradise!" Yep, he said that at the dentist's office. Hard to believe, I know.)
So is Dr. Landers prepared? Yes for Will, maybe for me. Am I ready for it? Most of me, the big girl in me says, "Yes". But that other part of me, that one that can still see and hear my two year-old look up at me and say, "Well yook (look) at you Mommy, I yove (love) your belt." says, "Nah."

Where has the time gone?

Sadly, it has been a few months since I last posted. I am not saying that people are waiting on pins and needles for the next post, but this is sort of my attempt at a journal for my boys. I am terrible at diaries, and my handwriting is pathetic. Typing/blogging is my best option for getting down my thoughts and recordings of our life as I see it. The boys might have other memories of how things went down but I am the mom so what I say is truth:)
So to catch up - It is early February and Christmas has come and gone. We were blessed to see all the extended family this year during the holidays. We hosted some and were hosted by others. We had a jolly time!
We celebrated Christmas a little early this year with the whole Chism family. To kick the festivities off, we did the Polar Express Train ride in Branson, MO. My kiddos have seen the movie and liked it but my brother in-law, his wife, and children LOVE the movie. So the idea of trains, hot chocolate, cookies, Santa Claus, and the mystique of the Polar Express sounded like a wonderful way to begin our holiday. And really, it was. Somehow during the boarding process, we snaked seats in this upper section of the the train car. There were so many of us (7 adults, 1 girl and 6 boys) that no one else thought it a safe or sane idea to join us up there. They were all VERY smart people. So, we had this whole area to ourselves. The kiddos could roam freely, somewhat and just enjoy the magic of the lights and sounds of Christmas. Although the ticket prices are definitely something you have to plan for, it was really a special night that I know most of the kiddos (Mac's just 9 months so he gets a pass:)) will remember...and the adults too. The rest of the weekend was full of food, presents, and laughs. We really had a great time just being, eating, and making Christmas memories.
On Christmas Eve, my side of the family came to NWA to celebrate. It is the first time in several years that we have all been together on Christmas. We usually celebrate in hitches. (Plane tickets are cheaper that way;)) So it was really special to get to celebrate with some of our usual family of 6 traditions with a family of 9 and then family of 13. We were crowded but it was fun. Will and I prepared yummy sweets for our guests. He wasn't interested in helping with the real food. He just was frank about it and told me that "desserts were his thing, not vegetables". (And I thought he was hangin' in the kitchen to be with his mom. Now I know it was really about licking the bowl:)) Anyway, the weekend was simple but wonderful. Because Nana & Pawpaw currently live in Florida, when they come to visit, we kind of just "be". We don't go out much. Again, Nana and Pawpaw live in FL so they although they love time with the grandkids, they ain't lovin' December in Arkansas. We played the game Pit which was a lot of fun. It is a great game because it takes all of about 2 minutes to explain, and it is pretty kid friendly. My niece and nephew played with us. My nephew is 9 and from time to time would not play exactly straight. I am not sure that was because he is 9 and not totally getting the game. I think he got the game but used his age to his advantage. In the end, we laughed until we tinkled, ate until we were miserable, and loved until we couldn't stand it anymore:)
Our Christmas was merry. We spent time with family. We talked about Jesus birth and celebrated it with cake. We enjoyed the magic of the season. We were blessed!