Puberty and Other Funny Things...

So my dear Aubrey will be eleven in a few days. He has started taking a special "health" class at school, about growing up. He calls it "puberty class". It has been pretty amusing. He brought home the note from school requesting his participation last Wednesday. We talked about it and I told him he could attend them if he discussed everything he learns with his dad and I. So on Thursday, he comes into my bathroom in the morning and tells me he needs deoderant before he gets dressed. I obliged him and he went to school. On Friday, he informed me that he had needed a more manly smelling deoderant and he wanted to make sure I knew he had pimples. He hadn't even had the class yet!

So yesterday, I got home from work and he was sitting at the counter. Brey, our oldest, was in the den and Thane wasn't home from work yet. "Mom", he says, "I had my puberty class today and it was really confusing." I asked him to elaborate. "Well, first they showed us a drawing of a man," he said. "Okay..." I said. "Well, the drawing was a naked man, mom", he said. "Uh-huh", I raised my eyebrows. "I am sure you didn't see anything you didn't already know," I said. He laughed and then asked, "How do the egg and the sperm get together?" I stopped in my tracks and smiled. My fourteen year old in the den is laughing hysterically and at the same time my husband walked in the door. "Let's ask your dad", I said. Aubrey repeated his question and my husband answers, "I don't know Aubrey, let's ask Brey!" Brey responds, "I don't know either!"

Now, I don't want any of you to worry...I did tell Aubrey about the birds and the bees and I had to dismiss my husband and oldest son from the room because they were laughing too hard. When I finished talking to him, he fell off of his chair onto the floor, saying "Ohhh, Mom!!" It was pretty funny. Thane and the older boys always make fun of me because I talk to the boys about this stuff. Boys are so different than us girls. They don't want to talk about anything and we want to talk about everything! So, when it was time to go to bed, Aubrey asked if he could ask me another question. "Of course, " I said. "What is a sanitary napkin?" he asked. Trying not to giggle, I asked "What do you think it is?" He responded, "I think it is one of those special napkins that has hand sanitizer on it that you use before you eat." Wow, I can't imagine what he'll learn tomorrow!

Please check this out...

If you are reading this you must check out the following site: www.audreycaroline.blogspot.com For the next 2 days you can listen to the song "Unredeemed" by Amy Perry. The words are printed there also. Take the time to listen to it. It may just change your day!

My Man...

Well, you knew it was coming eventually, the post that is all about the man, the myth, the legend...my hubby. He's all I can talk about, think about, write about right now because he's been gone all week and now he's home! It's amazing how much a girl can take for granted. With five boys and two full time jobs, lots of things get overlooked around here. It was good for me to have a week to take notice of the things I never even realize need to get done that he just silently takes care of.

One morning, I got the boys off to school (which is a job in itself!). They get on the bus and I am trying to leave for work and I realize the dog is looking at me. Oh yea, something Thane takes care of. And how about the trash? The cars? The math homework? The clams we caught over the weekend? Yep...all Thane's. So, this week I got a lesson in what it's like to be dad and mom, and I didn't like it very much. But my lesson was about a lot more than just chores and responsibilities that I don't want to have to do.

Thane and I met in January of 1993, it is one of my favorite stories...

Thane was a cadet at West Point, and I was in nursing school in Philadelphia. Thane's friend Dan was dating my friend Peggy. One Saturday night, Peggy asked me to go to the local pub with her and Dan, "He's bringing some of his friends from West Point. They always ask me to bring girls." she said. Hmmm...I wasn't interested. I told her so, and she told me where they would be in case I changed my mind. Luckily, I did. So later that night I walked across the street from my apartment in center city to "Doc Watson's", our local student hang out. When I walked in I quickly located Peggy and Dan sitting in a booth with 3 other guys. I walked over to their table and was introduced to the 3 cadets sitting with them. Finding none of them particularly interesting, I made polite conversation and decided I would make it a short evening. After a few minutes of visiting 2 guys made their way over to our table. They had been playing pool upstairs. Peggy made the introductions and I am pretty sure I never even heard his name. I don't remember anything she said actually. All I remember is him. To this day he remains the most incredible man I have ever laid eyes on.

When the evening was over, he asked me for my phone number. I gave it to him and he headed back to West Point promising he would call. I went home to NJ that weekend and told my parents I had met the most amazing man. "He's from Idaho", I said. "Like, the West Coast?", my dad asked, worried. "No, you know, Idaho, in the middle of the country," I answered. Dad quickly responded, "That's Iowa, Becky." (Geography has never been my strong suit) I waited counting the minutes, hoping he would call...thank goodness, he did. The next weekend he invited me to West Point to watch one of his friends wrestle. I drove up, so nervous to see him, and as I waited for him in the parking lot, I saw him walking towards me in the long gray overcoat and hat. He was the most handsome man I had ever seen. I was completely taken by him. And it wasn't just the way he looked. He had a manner that was so different. He was so strong yet his spirit was so gentle.

Well, to make a long story short, four months later we were married. It has been almost 16 years and I love him more this day than I did the first. I didn't think it was possible to love him more, yet every day I do. It is amazing when we are so young and in love, we really have no idea what love really is...what marriage really is. Thane has loved me through so much. Yea, he has loved me in good times and bad, in sickness and in health, but it is so much more than that. The bad has been really bad and the good has been really good. Five boys and many states later, we're still loving each other and still learning about love.

Thane is a true blessing from the Lord. That is how I look at him now, my gift from God! How thankful I am for him. No one warms my heart more than he. He is my best friend, my closest alli and my soul's companion. When he is away, a piece of me goes with him. I am truly thankful for every day that I get to be his. When he got home tonight he brought me a gift. It was a necklace with three stones. The two clear stones are joined by a blue one. To me, it represents the Lord centered between Thane and I. As long as He joins us, we are forever one.