eternally chaotic

Christmas this year introduced a new member to our family named Red.  And NO to those of you thinking the unthinkable – the family head count remains at a solid seven, including the dog.  This little persons name, after much enthusiastically and somewhat fanatical debate among existing family members was determined to be “Red”.  Red the Christmas Elf.  He would only be around for a few weeks out of the year, didn’t eat much and pretty much remained stationary throughout the day – at some point during the day, when our eyes were cast elsewhere, he would just vanish until the next morning.  Red had some specific rules about being touched or bothered as well – certainly the kids were to strictly forbidden to touch him and to leave him alone lest he lose his observational and somewhat magical powers granted by the spirit that is Christmas.  Red’s job was to cast a watchful eye upon his family, take score of the good versus bad and report back to some higher power a recommendation as to which list each household member might befit.  Somehow during his strictly “observational” process he would always find a way to cause mischief and leave a mess.

Two nights before Christmas however, Red left something additional in each of the stockings of the Children of the Corn.  A gold dipped envelope containing a silver inked letter from The Man himself.  Now was the time of reckoning.  The time of knowing.  Was it the good list or the bad.  What did Santa think?  What did he know?  When we opened our weary eyes the next morning would they sparkle and shine from majestic reflection of silver and gold or be dim from broken hope and disappointment.

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Jacob wrote a story recently for school about some time we spent playing in the yard.  I thought instead of writing something up along with the pictures and video I would just use his story.  Let him know what you think.

2010 was the year that I got my dad two katana swords for his birthday.  Which I thought was really cool.  The sad thing is that I didn’t get to play with them until last Saturday.  Also because it was one year since I had got those swords. They’re really cool and it was worth the waiting!  They are made of white oak which is a very strong type of wood. One of the swords is over half the weight of the other!  I could barely lift it.  Well, anyway I asked my dad, “Can I get the ninja swords out and play with them?”.  “Gosh, I totally forgot about them!”, dad replied. “Well, all right.”

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After about two months of talking about it, we finally got our day at the gun range.  Jacob has been very patient over the past few weeks as trips have been planned and rescheduled or rescheduled and cancelled.  Today though was the perfect day and instead of just Jacob and I going, we were all able to go and take our shots.  We headed to Bulls Eye Marksman Gun Club and Indoor Range.

Jacob was interested in shooting his first rifle and after a few months of talking about it and learning the various safety aspects of doing so, it was time.  They both hear me talking about going to the range and have been interested in joining me.  I thought that would be excellent as well and have been working to that end.  I certainly want them to understand and respect weapons as they grow, in particular if they have an interest – one of those instances where if they have an itch it sometimes helps to let them scratch it with you versus with someone else.  Regardless I want them to understand what is acceptable and what is not.  What rifles, shotguns and pistols are for, how to be safe around them and what to know and do when they might handle one.  This was our first hands on lesson.

The day had finally come.  We don’t have a small caliber rifle and I was wanting to start him out light with a 22 so both the noise and recoil didn’t give him a bad taste from the beginning.  The range had a nice bolt action Ruger 22/77 with a low power scope that we took out for a spin.  I was hoping for something with iron sites as a start but this was what they had and we made the best of it.  It was a bit heavy though and there was some awkwardness in holding it because of the weight but the boys made the best of it and shot quite well.

Jacob won the coin toss and got first shot.  He did remarkably well considering he had never shot before and we were in a very crowded and loud range with lots of noise offering easy distraction.  His first two shots found their mark near the center and he was excited to continue.  We let each of they boys run a clip through and took turns at the reload.  Isaac had some initial trouble with sighting through the scope and adjusting to the weight.  We propped it up on a towel that the range had for just this scenario and let him hold it a bit short and he was able to find his mark.  After a few errant shots he slowly worked his way into the black and orange and as the shooting continued he was able to keep his mark most of the time.

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Today the boys and I adventured out to Zoo Atlanta. It was an exhausting 100 degrees, and the boys were in go-go hyper mode. They were so excited, like children in a candy shop. Mommy mentally and physically could barely keep up…. Lol.

Boys cooling off in the misting fans, lol.

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Today I took the boys to Skate Country. As a child “Skate Country” was the place to be, but as I have grown I tend to forget about these cool places. The boys and I have been searching for “BIG” kid things to do and came up with a list. Today Roller Skating was chosen and with much excitement. The boys were going on and on  - how cool they were gonna be skating and how they new exactly what to do. Surprise…Surprise!

Within minutes after we arrived the boys had their skates laced up and were ready to go. The moment they stepped on the rink, everything that they had boasted about was washed away. I was able to get them around the rink one time. After that they were done…”I want to go home” – “can we play games – “I don’t want to skate”. Poor babies, they were so disappointed on how “not easy” it was.

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Jacob recently celebrated his 10th birthday.  Long before this day came he had it all planned out.  Dinner was going to be Taco Salad, cake was going to be white with white icing, and presents were going to be had.  Ah, the tough life of a ten year old.  He got his wishes though and then some – even some special bits, purchased months ago that he didn’t know about until the next day.

Jacob was certainly shy this year for pictures and while opening gifts but he had a great time and when the spotlight wasn’t pointed in his direction he opened up and enjoyed himself.  I guess ten is that magic age where things start to change and you notice when you are center of any type of attention.

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Fall and Halloween are now a touch behind us but I still wanted to share a few moments we had together at Jaemore Farms in Alto, GA in early October.  It was a perfect day for picking up pumpkins, taking a hay ride, playing some festival games and generally enjoying the perfect weather.  The games were pretty cool.  Our favorite two were the Apple Sling Shot where Isaac made a bullseye and won a free pumpkin (that got to be my pumpkin) and the duck race where you had to pump a well handle to make the water flow as fast as you could so that your duck would get to the big pond on the other side the fastest – the CoTC loved this and did not want to leave.

It is rare to get snow in Georgia, or well normally it is, but the past few years we have received at least a little, normally after the turn of the new year when winter is in full swing.  This year however we were surprised that the weathermen were actually right for once when it started snowing on Christmas Day.  It didn’t take long before the temperatures plummeted and massive snow flakes started to stick and accumulate.  It was a wet snow to start with, wet enough that Dad and I were able to chase off Autumn, pummeling her with snowball after snowball when she had to leave Christmas night – I guess next time she will stick around

The day after however much of the wetness had dried up and all that was left was a nice power – little icy for skiing but nice nonetheless.  The CoTC could take it no longer though and wrapped themselves in layer upon layer to head out into the arctic cold.  Great times ensued !!!

It was great to have snow and even better to have it on Christmas Day.

I was enjoying some quite time watching a chick flick – Last Song – when the house started shaking and music started thumping from the second floor.  I figured Jacob was just jamming out to some music but after a while I decided to head up and see what he was up to.  I peaked into the room only to find Jacob dancing like Vanilla Ice and M.C. Hammer.  I went in to be supportive (he could be up to worse things…) and danced with him for a few minutes.  I left to grab the camera and ninja’d back up to get a video hoping he would not stop or get embarrassed.  Instead he got cocky and danced harder (just like his mother….grandmother!!!).  I did get a good video from the door and another from his room (after editing supporting cast out of the video) of him jamming to his favorite tunes….High School Musical 2.

Last night Berkeley Lake Elementary School had its school concert for the third and fourth graders. Jacob has been excited about going for the past few weeks. He has been asking us to play various Michael Jackson videos online and has every now and then been dancing like a zombie in the kitchen. I didn’t know why, or didn’t put the two together, that he might be performing something special for us. Well now…were we in for a treat.

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