Camp Week

So much to blog about - I'll probably have to break this up into smaller posts.

This past week was probably the highlight of my entire year, which is going to sound really awful when I tell you why. 2/3 of my family was gone all week long and I LOVED it! It was the week of Jr. Boys camp and Ben and David were camping. Hoping to have Ben enjoy a better camp experience than he did last year, Paul went as one of the counselors. And then Will ended up working at camp (more on that later) that week. So it was just Sam and me all week long.

It was so fantastic to not have to break up any arguments, cook, or be constantly cleaning. When I did do some tidying up - it stayed that way! I rented a bunch of movies and got through 4 of the 6 I got. I got to stay up late every night and watched "My Name is Earl." That show cracks me up so much, but it is totally inappropriate for children, so I never get to watch it - which is not necessarily a bad thing. I would love to have another week like that!

I had no idea how much Sam could talk until this week. He's just a little jabbermouth. I did my bi-monthly shopping on Tuesday and oh, the energy of this kid! I was completely worn out by day's end, but he was still going, like the Energizer Bunny! Evidently, I've had no idea just how much Will, Ben, and David help out with him. I also found that he's a bit demanding. I think that's fairly typical for 2 yr olds, but it was just something that had escaped my notice until now. He was not willing to "wait" as I would tell him for whatever it was that he needed. I hope that has more to do with being two, anyway. If not, raising him might be a little more of a challenge than I was anticipating!

The guys all had a great week up at camp. Paul didn't have any seizures, which was my main concern. Ben had a good week, even. He was bothered when some kids were asking him how old he was and then when they found out, wanting to know why he was a jr. boys camp instead of jr. high. I think Paul was a little appalled at how mean some of the kids up there were - not our church's cabin, but there were enough incidents that had him really shaking his head. And then they have tornado sirens go off on Thursday night during Chapel. That freaked David out, naturally. But nothing happened. They got all the boys in the basement and the danger passed.

Now, about Will: He wasn't supposed to have a job this summer! Paul needs his help on the basement. But for the past 3 summers, Will has wanted to try out at camp for a job. They assign kids weeks to work based on their experience, maturity, and work ethic. I think I explained all this in an earlier post. Our pastor all but assured us that Will would not get any weeks to work because he hasn't been baptized which does indicate a heart condition. Plus, he'd never tried out before and this year they had a record number of teens trying out for positions. So we let him go to Water and Work week, knowing that he wouldn't get any weeks, but this way he could still have the experience of trying out. And Paul would have him around to help on the house. So, I go to pick up Will last week from getting back from Water and Work week and he tells me, "I got 3 weeks!" What?!? Evidently, he impressed them enough with his working abilities!

One of the weeks he got was Jr. Boys. We were so confident that he would be home this last week, that Paul already had a list of tasks he wanted Will to work on while he was gone with Ben and David. I was planning on Will watching Sam for me so I could go to the Home School conference, which was this past Friday and Saturday. So I had to put in an emergency, "help!" call to my folks because I had to get to the conference for at least one day.

This will be good for Will. He's washing pots and pans (which cracks me up because he thinks I'm being terribly unfair when I ask him to wash the dishes here at home!). Maybe it's different when you get paid to do it. In addition to getting paid, the camp will also take $75 off his Sr. High camp cost, for which I am thankful. Will will be gone for all but one week of July. He didn't sign up for anything in August because of football practice.

I just had to laugh last week after getting Will from church after the try-out week at camp. He was SO tired and only wanted to go to bed. But he couldn't because of the softball games (once again, an ordeal for poor me - have I mentioned just how much I dislike the final games and picnic of the softball season? If so, it bears repeating!) He wailed, "I only got 8 hours of sleep every night!" Oh, to be so put upon that I would only ever get 8 hours of sleep a night...

So, that's the report on this last week. Now we're all back together - for two weeks, anyway, until Will goes back up. As I tackle this ceiling-high pile of laundry my men brought back, I keep telling myself, "It's a good thing, it's a good thing!" If I say it long enough, maybe I'll eventually believe it?!