Fritz overheard me making arrangements for a playdate next week. When I got off the phone, he said, “Next week, Mom? But…but…I won’t be here!”
He’s going camping with Scouts.
I guess he thought we’d sit around and wait for him to come home before resuming our regularly scheduled lives.
He did laugh when I suggested he not roast any marshmallows or go on any hikes lest he have fun without us. It’s amazing to watch him mature right before my very eyes.
Somebody asked: “When did that happen?”
I answered: “A long, long time ago.”
In unison, Fritz and Billy pipe up: “In a galaxy far, far away.”
Billy: “Mom, can I buy Fritz a Wii for his birthday?”
Fritz’s birthday was three weeks ago. “No.”
He leaves and I hear him report back:
“It didn’t work.”
Next to the Omaha zoo is Rosenblatt Stadium: home of the NCAA Men’s College World Series. In front of the stadium is a sculpture called “The Road to Omaha” which depicts cheering young men who are, apparently, happy about progressing to this event.
My children pose with the victorious team.
I wonder if I’ll get get to go to Omaha to see one of my own boys play? Wouldn’t that be nice?
Here are Billy and Katie. Maybe Katie will go to the Women’s College World Series which is held in Oklahoma City. We almost went to Oklahoma City instead of Omaha last weekend.
This great shot was taken by a friend. My little slugger.
Fritz loves to pitch. He’s not bad either. He actually can throw strikes, much of the time.
This picture is for my mother-in-law. My husband’s side of the family has a genetic defect that has them all stick out their tongue when they’re concentrating. I do not do this. My husband does it. All my kids do it. Bizarre.
“Mare-eeee” sing-songs the half-man. “Mary,” he sings.
“I’m going to devour you with kisses.”
And he does.
Besides the thought of my daughters placing flowers on my grave, nothing makes my mother’s heart soar more than my children enjoying each other’s company.
Fritz took this photo and the accompanying video. There’s a bit of Blair-Witch-Project-esque movement, but other than that, it’s really cute.“I do not know how you came into existence in my womb; it was not I who gave you the breath of life, nor was it I who set in order the elements of which each of you is composed.” 2 Maccabees 7: 22
Fritz paraphrases 2 Maccabees 7:1-41
Once there was a widow with seven sons. The king said that everyone who was Jewish had to die. They brought the widow and her seven sons to the king. The king said to the first one, “Will you eat this meat?” The first one said, “No.” They tortured and killed him. Next, the second brother said, “No.” They tortured and killed him, too. The same thing happened to the third, fourth, fifth and sixth brothers. Finally, they went to the seventh brother. The king asked, “Will you eat this meat?” The mother spoke to her son and said, “Do just like your brothers.” The youngest brother told the king, “You are not nice for killing my brothers.” He still would not eat the meat. They tortured and killed him. Then they killed the widow.
Maccabees doesn’t gloss over the torture part of the story. “Not nice” is putting it mildly.
Fritz set his alarm by himself with no prompting so he could get up early to watch cartoons.
***
Yesterday, Fritz asked me if he needed to watch his Latin DVD. No, we had done Friday’s work on Thursday. Peter the Parrot must have heard us. A few minutes later, he came up to me waving the Latin DVD.
“Mommy, I watch Latin DVD?”
***
Wednesday morning, Mary had her well-baby checkup, but I didn’t have time to stay for shots. When I went back in the afternoon, Katie and Jenny begged to come with me. As the nurse filled out all the paperwork, my girls stared at all the stickers and lollipops. Since once I actually had a nurse at a different facility tell my kids that only the child getting shots could have a sticker (prudently protecting the government’s pennies, I suppose) and not wanting them to get their hopes up, I told them they wouldn’t be getting anything.
Jenny asked, “Can I have a shot, Mommy, pleeeease?” And since I admitted to her that she’s due for her DTaP booster, she’s asked me every day since when I’ll take her back.
Attention: Residents of Hell.
I issue this severe winter weather watch for Friday, March 14th. Fritz is eating macaroni and cheese of his own free will and desire. In recent months, there has been an increased trend for him to actually sample different foods without crying, moaning, or tightening his throat muscles. He even admits to liking some of them. Preliminary research has linked this phenomenon to the sudden, brief drops in temperature in your area. The science suggests that if the trend continues, permanent climate changes may become a reality. In the short term, expect some frost and the possibility of some flurries.
Reit This Way 