Catch up.

Let's take a moment to catch up with the Porters:

1. Too much laundry. Too many dishes. Constant piles of paper stacked waiting to be sorted. Bikes and scooters are tripped on everytime I walk through the garage. Toothpaste remnants on sink. Toilets never flushed. Toilet aim is always off. Shoes are tripped on. Coats are dumped. Trash is always over flowing. Things are always missing. Mom is always to blame. Lights left on. And so forth.
2. Laughter abounds. Calvin, Dad and Mom Gin Rummy tournmants. Sunday cookie making. Mario Bros playing. Story reading. Back scratching. Story telling. Lullaby singing. Super tight hug giving. Testimony bearing. Friend making. Sibling kindness. Basketball playing. Piano practicing. And so forth
3. We have a 10 year old in the house. Ethan hit the double digits today. This is our year for friend birthday parties. But I do attempt to persuade them to NOT have a big crazy party. I do this by offering them $100 in cold hard cash. They can either take the wad, have a $100 party or split it up. Good news...Ethan took the money.
4. Calvin turns 12 in five days. He went from wanting the $100 cash to a birthday party back to taking the cash. I think after he saw Ethan's huge stack of brand new 100 $1 bills he was sold.
5. Ethan and I had a blast shopping with his $100. We went to Tyson's Corner mall. I think my kids have been to a mall only a few times in their life. He was in awe. And even after having a wad money burning a hole in his pocket, he didn't spend a penny. After a trip to Toys R Us and Costco, he finally decided on an ipod. And even though the ipod was $130, I just had to throw in the extra few dollars after his donation of $29 of his other birthday money to the people of Haiti.
6. Ashton still will not put his head in the water. Not only are we talking about a pool, but the bath as well. Is it time to just dunk the kid?! Anyone out there willing to try to teach him to swim? He usually has a big tantrum on the pool deck when the instructor has attempted to get his ears wet. I am at the age where all I want to do at the pool in the summer is to read a novel. But curse that blasted swim vest. It is a total give-away that my son can't swim.
7. Tate sleeps with fifty pillows and four hundred blankets each night. I can't even tell where he is most of the time.
8. After spending 5 days in the hospital for a blocked small intestine, Garth won't admit it was a lovely get-away and counts as such.
9. Sommer is learning French. This pleases her father who has been a delighted tutor (Garth LOVES the kid's homework...and seems very upset when he doesn't get an A on a project...I mean, when his child doesn't).
10. The Porter's are taking their first family vacation in five years! WE ARE SO EXCITED! Mickey...we're coming!