Mongoose Mayhem

I know 11 year old boys get embarrassed easily but is he GORGEOUS or what!?

I may be slightly biased but I could stare at Jimmy all day. The cutest freckles, sweet smile, good teeth (no brace$ needed), great hair, still gives us hugs.

He even asked me if I'd like him to vacuum today! Because my back has been really bothering me this past week. No strings, just volunteered.

Hmmm. He was gone all weekend with Scouts (as NASA) - maybe he missed me ;)

Whatever the case, it's good.


PS He made the NA choker he is wearing.

Mike is really excited to finally try a new sport this season. His soccer team decided to mix things up during the cold weather months by forming a basketball team at the YMCA. Mike is #11, which is weird to me since he's always been #17, and he's sitting next to his teammate, neighbor, and friend Noah.

The team shot shows Mike on the far left shooting the ball. He actually made a basket too. I wish I had a picture of his face - it was priceless. His jaw dropped in complete shock as he turned to look at Jim and I. I laughed out loud because he was so amazed. After that he really got into the game and made many attempts compared to his less aggressive first quarter contribution.

And they won. They walloped the team in their first game too so the coach shared today that he's moving them up from rec to competitive.

When children are born you can see the visible links to your DNA. The hair color, "your" nose, and so on. But as they grow, you get to have a peek into the personality traits that point in your direction.

This photo of Mike makes me smile because, although he is nearly the spitting image of Jim, he is mine in other ways.

He is reading the latest Goosebumps, a books series with a scary twist. He adores these and will read through a few of them, in a few days. Luckily, it is a large series and we find these at the used book store. Right now, he hardly looks at other genres.

So, it was with macabre pleasure that I found Mike intensely focused, sucked into the thrill of horror. I grabbed my latest vampire novel and snuggled up next to him...

Couldn't find Jimmy the other morning. Wasn't in his bed and wasn't on Mike's bottom bunk. Hmmm. I had come from downstairs so I knew he wasn't there either.

Starting to get a little nervous, I decided to make sure Mike was accounted for in his bed. Yes, thank goodness. I still had one! But strangely he appeared to be bent in half since his feet were in his face.

Nope, those were Jimmy's feet. In Mike's bed!? I thought they couldn't stand each other. Smirk.

The old armoire just didn't work well. A built-in would cost $900 minimum. But I hated how everyone had to sit on the one couch to see the TV, since the TV had to face straight forward in the nook. So, after five years of nagging, Jim relented and listened to my idea. He even admitted it was too bad it had taken this long to get around to it.

Now the TV angles into the living room so that all the seating can enjoy the view! We plunked a sheet of cut maple onto the old base (drilled it on), I stained the visible surfaces and trim pieces. Made a curtain that matches my "coffee table" (an earlier project) thanks to leftover decor fabric, which hangs on a curtain rod hidden underneath the front trim piece. We removed the old base doors so you just pull back the curtain and access the stereo, cd, movies and Wii/Xbox games. Even the Wii fit board is tucked in there! Viola! Recycled and cheap, but perfect :)

As usual for north Texas, we went from nice enough to swim (New Years Day) to freezin' off our bahookies.