Theme Thursday: Double (Providence, Rhode Island)

OK, Cari's photo theme today is "Double." I'll be honest. I wanted to find a way to show off this picture of our sons. Two sons, Double. That works, right?

I took this photo at the Ruth's Chris Steak House in Providence, where we celebrated my (gulp) 51st birthday. The boys are notorious for not wanting their pictures taken, especially when I look like a goof using my iPad to get the shots. Oh well. I told them this was their birthday present to me.

Now that they both are high school teens, it is great to see their bond develop even more. They protect one another, defend each other, help each other and yes, annoy the heck out of each other. 

Birthday Boy Says: "No Candles, No Singing, No Pictures"

I don't know much about raising girls. We never had a daughter. The past 17 years in this house have been all about boys: Legos, Tinker Toys, Lincoln Logs, Matchbox cars, comic books, Star Wars. These days our home is cluttered with soccer cleats, bike helmets, golf clubs, goal-keeper gloves, bass bows, trumpet music, and rosin.Tonight, our older son's 17th birthday, was, well, boyish.

Theme Thursday: Faith

Brothers and sisters:
Faith is the realization of what is hoped for
and evidence of things not seen. 

Hebrews, Chapter 11

My husband is a faithful man. No, you're not going to find him at a Knights of Columbus meeting, or at daily Mass or at a hospital bringing the Eucharist to patients. That is the way many men live out their faith beyond their Sunday Mass obligations. 

Instead, you will find my husband for three and a half hours every Wednesday night this summer in an un-air-conditioned high school gym, coaching basketball. Sometimes, when the paid referees don't show up, you'll find him both coaching and refereeing games against leagues in other towns. You will find him spending three hours Sunday afternoons leading the boys in practice at a county park. It costs not a dime to participate in the league, which means families of modest means have something to offer their sons during long, hot summers. 

A few years ago, Greg volunteered to found this summer basketball league for middle school boys. The league has grown to more than 40 participants this summer. My husband still largely is the only adult involved. The boys he coaches, pictured above in purple tee-shirts, are from a wide range of family backgrounds. What they share with my husband is the love of the game. 

What are the "things not seen" in this picture? The difference Greg will make in these young men's lives and the difference they already are making in his. That's why this is a picture of faith. 

Linking up with Cari.

a beautiful postscript: Last night, at the last game of the summer season, a coach from a neighboring town gave Greg a piece of artwork: a carved-out globe depicting the Manhattan skyline prior to Sept. 11, 2001. The globe was made from rubble from the attacks. The coach had no idea Greg is a survivor of the attacks.

Theme Thursday: Statues

Linking up with Cari here. Today's theme is statues.

I can't for the life of me understand how my sister-in-law managed to shoot this pic of her son, at left, and my son. These boys are very lively.

While I am analyzing this....While there are differences in the boys' appearances, some things stand out that shout: cousins swimming in the same DNA pool.

Their body postures. Their foreheads. And finally, their eyes. While their eyes have different shapes, the pupils are nearly identical. 

On My Midday Walk: Confused by this Crustacean

Today, taking a break from my online graduate classes, I took our dog for a long walk in a county park by the Raritan River.  On my hike back, I encountered three brothers with their mom, leaning over something by a stream in the park. Upon closer inspection, I saw they had captured some sort of crustacean and had put it in a plastic bag with water. They told me it was a lobster; at first I thought it was a crab, but later I realized it looks nothing like a crab.

Five Favorites: Our Boys, My Man, Weight Loss and Good Red Wine

1. This boy. Our new high-school student. We're spending the week together at home after we spent a few days traveling together. He said he likes hanging with me. Imagine. Doesn't feel like calling any friends right now. He's reading books, playing video games, playing his trumpet, shooting hoops, and swimming with me. Oh, and telling me lots of jokes - in his deadpan style. Here are the two latest.

This Moment: Trumpet Shopping

this moment....

 

As our son shops for his first trumpet

 with a family friend/ trumpet teacher.

   

    Linking with Amanda and others.

Tempus Fugit: In Which I am Reminded of the Passing of Childhood

 (the boys in seventh and fourth grades)

The passage of time rarely troubles me. I never have been a sentimental parent. When friends mourned children moving from one grade to the next, ("Can you believe kindergarten is over?") I never felt sad, only excited for them. 

Opening Day: Middle School Baseball

It’s about
the ball,
the bat,
and the mitt.

Ball hits
bat, or it
hits mitt.

Bat doesn’t
hit ball, bat
meets it.

Ball bounces
off bat, flies
air, or thuds
ground (dud)
or it
fits mitt...

"Analysis of Baseball," by May Swenson (1978)

This Moment: Trumpet Lesson

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' at www.soulemama.com

In the Wake of a School Massacre, The Smallest Actions of Love

The murder of 26 innocents in a Newtown, Connecticut elementary school and the suicide of the shooting suspect are evils I am unable to absorb. I struggle to even pray about this. Words feel inadequate.

Instead, yesterday and today, I have tried to make my actions my prayers, focusing on the children put in front of me: my own children, their friends, and the dozens of students I teach. Is this self-absorption? Is there something more, something bigger I should be doing? In a piece he wrote today, Father Christian Mathis' words reassured me that the conversion of my own heart has got to come first: "Prayer and even the smallest actions of love are powerful weapons in the battle against the evil still present in our world today."

A Good Heart and a Cell Phone in a Broken World

Our 13-year-old son put his cell phone in his sweatshirt pocket Saturday afternoon as he headed to the high school track for a run. About halfway to the high school, he realized the phone was missing. He backtracked. Four times. He came home distressed. This was his very first cell phone. He has had it a little more than a month. I told him to go do his run and I called t-mobile to deactivate the phone. Then, something extraordinary happened.

Our Son's Struggles, God's Grace, and Dr. Who

I have been in a funk in the past few days. Our 13-year-old son, who has learning disabilities, is struggling in eighth grade. The end of the first marking period is Monday and in every class he has work he has not completed, has lost, has hidden some place in his binder and can't find or forgets to turn in.

This afternoon, I spent about three hours with him after school, going over what he needs to do next. He is so very discouraged, feels so badly about all he has left undone and all he has done and lost. There were tears from him, and angry outbursts from him about the unfairness of the teachers' demands.

Somehow, this afternoon I was graced with deep well of patience, the kind of patience I easily show all day long to class after class of special education students at the high school where I teach but which often eludes me at home.

Hurricane Furniture and Other Blessings

I realize this photo of our backyard, which is a slate patio, might not say much to you. But this picture says a lot to me about endurance and promise.

The Day Before He Turns Thirteen

This morning, I am sitting in the family room, reading a memoir and nursing a sore throat with cough drops. Boy turning 13 tomorrow comes  bounding down the stairs in bare feet, wearing jeans, a white tee and black suspenders. He is dribbling a soccer ball. 

How to Build a Tardis Cake (Or, What Happened Before the Whovians Showed Up)

I am not much of a baker; the other day my banana bread was so overcooked, my sons thought I had put walnuts in it. So when our 12-year-old said he wanted to have a Tardis cake for his Dr. Who Season 7 Premiere party, I enlisted the help of two friends, one of whom is a wonderful baker, the other who knows how to decorate just about anything. Trips to Party City,  googling Tardis cakes and this masterpiece emerged from our kitchen Saturday, with no help whatsoever from me, except for a quick run to the supermarket to pick up extra frosting and white chocolate....

The Whovians Are Taking Over Our House Tonight!

Here in the United States, BBC America is showing the Season 7 premiere of Dr. Who. Our 12 year old last week cycled through our town to send out invitations to classmates who are fellow Whovians. Tonight a small group of costumed boys are in our house, eating Dr. Who foods - including fish fingers with custard, bowtie pasta and a fabulous tardis cake.

Wednesday Night: Boys in My Kitchen

 For the past two Wednesday nights, our 12 year old has invited classmates over - for a massive water gun and balloon fight, followed by pizza making. I sneaked into the kitchen as the boys were working on their meals to shoot some of the action.

This Moment: Off the Diving Board

. . . . . . . .

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' at www.soulemama.com

Summer Afternoon at the Pool with my iPad

This afternoon my husband and I and our younger son went to our swim club. I brought my school-issued iPad and took my first photographs with it. We were told to spend time enjoying our iPads over the summer so we can know them well enough to use them in the classroom in September. The iPad's camera is a huge upgrade from my Samsung camera phone.

Here is our 12-year-old, who has spent about at least four hours today jumping off the diving board.

After this photo, I had to put my iPad away becauseI got a little too close to the pool and  a bit of pool water splashed on my iPad!