Scout Camp...Adam's home.

Adam has been at Scout Camp all week and came home yesterday. Hooray! We missed him while he was gone. When Brian picked him up from his Scout Master's house he said, "Mom's got to get a picture of you!" Having sent many boys off to scout camp and seen what they look like when they come home, I wasn't surprised when I saw Adam. He was wearing his week of camp ALL over him from head to toe. I love that he is still such a boy. I keep telling him not to grow up. 
First of all, his uniform is a little embarrassing for me as a mother and fills me with guilt. It's most likely NOT his shirt, but a hand me down from one of his brothers and I'm sure the rank patch isn't right AND notice the "chalk outline" of what was once a patch above his left pocket. It looks like it was "glued" on. It's not the only patch I have glued over the years. Eeek! BUT...he has a smile on his face and doesn't care about his uniform. I might get that right one of these days.

Aside from all of that, let's move in for a closer look....

What I'd like to point out here is the mustache. His fellow scouter and friend, John, told Brian that Adam had a mustache the entire week. I thought he took soap with him. Maybe it wasn't on the list.

The dirty, untucked, half unbuttoned shirt. The t-shirt underneath doesn't 

look much better.

The shorts had to match the shirt. I asked him if he showered and he said, "No, but I jumped in the lake a couple of times, but that doesn't count." At least he changed his underwear.

He said he was the only one who got this many mosquito bites. Hmm...I guess we forgot the bug spray along with the soap. But seriously, with legs that cute, what bug wouldn't want to take a little bite?!

He came home with his watch, which I was very happy about since I borrow it 

every other day.

They were up in Flagstaff at Camp Raymond, but fortunately not near the big fire.

Just stuff he came home with. I am kind of wondering about the two belts, since he was wearing one. I guess we have 3 scout belts now? Anybody missing one??

Basket Weaving and Woodcarving merit badges. Is it only a mom who would get all mushy looking at these little handiworks? I guess I just picture him sitting up there at camp, with his half buttoned, dirty shirt, mustached face and his grubby hands deep in concentration working on his little baskets and remembering the same boy at the age of 3 sitting on the floor of his grandma's house in his p.j. shirt and little boy underwear, deep in concentration with his coloring book and wonder where the time has gone. I guess he's not listening to me growing up anyhow. 

Simon Goes to Camp

We got to do a little road trip with just the girls to visit Simon up in Prescott yesterday: Emma, my mom and me. Simon is working as a counselor at Friendly Pines Camp. Brian's brother, Kevin runs it. It's a great camp; well-run. Simon looked camp-y and outdoorsy and is taking good care of all the little campers that come his way. We had lunch at Wildflower, shopped a little (sorry, Simon) and saw Toy Story3 in 3D, where my mom and I both caught a little catnap. I didn't want to sleep, but with 3 hours of sleep the night before not even TS3 could keep my peepers open. Still love that movie, though...and 3D glasses have improved a ton since the last time I saw a 3D movie.

Music to my ears.

      It's been such a long time since I've posted anything, but I'm just going to jump right back in. I finished my semester at MCC's Red Mountain campus and now I have the summer to play catch up on other things. I made new friends, loved being a student and had fun learning again in a school environment. Overall, I was happy with how the semester turned out. I could not have done it without the support of Brian. Thank you, thank you. He joked all semester that he was dating a college girl. I do still feel like a girl on the inside, so I was always surprised when I was reminded in one way or another that I might not be as young as I think I am. I was mistaken for a teacher on my first day in the cafeteria when they were trying to point me to the teacher's lounge! I met some great "kids" in my classes who are impressive and then there are the slackers who don't know how lucky they are to be in school. So that kept me very busy on top of everything else. Happy to have summer here.

     Jon-Erik has been living in his own apartment with 1-2 other guys since January. It's fun when he drops by for a visit. He stopped by yesterday and said six words that are music to my ears, "Want to give me a haircut?" How about YES!!! I would love to. Let's go. Right now. Aside from the actual haircut, there are so many other nice things about this little ritual that goes way back for us. With just a few exceptions, I've always cut my kid's hair. When they were younger, they hated it. They thought it took SOOOOO long. "Are you done yet?!?" (Hey, I'm not a professional. I go at my own pace. Precision takes time.)

"Owww, you're digging!" 

"Hold your head straight or I'm going to take a chunk out and you're not going to like that."

"Sit tall like a giraffe, please. Almost done." 

"Just have to blend it."

"This is taking SOOOO long!!"

"We're almost done."

"Just think of how much money we're saving."

Sometimes I would threaten to take them to a real barber and for some reason that WAS a threat. I don't know why. I would have thought it would've been a treat for how much they complained about the job I was doing.

But now, it's different. They ask me for haircuts instead of the other way around and we get to talk and laugh and it's fun. I occasionally have to remind them to hold still or sit straight or explain that I'm almost done. So, when Jon-Erik asked me for a haircut yesterday, the haircut was the bonus, but the time we got to spend together was the real treat.  We tried out some different "looks" along the way to help build up my haircutting portfolio.

Shmansome! I'm a sucker for short hair.