Tidbits of July

In no particular order, or with any relevant connections...just like the photos.
4th of July- What a dismal day. Every year since Christian was born we've gone to the neighborhood parade with our bikes all decorated and stayed for the picnic and games. This year I just didn't have it in me. The weather was so grey and drizzly. Ugh. We did head off for the fireworks and had a wonderful (and mostly dry) view. Unfortunately I had forgotten that Ashi was less than impressed with Fireworks. He spent the whole time holding the blanket in two clenched fists over his face (while I covered his ears). He wasn't visibly upset or anything. just, "I doan yike it". It was kind of sad. We did manage to get him to look at a few, "look at the big one, do you see the pretty Ashi?" "I no yike the pretty."
Then on the drive home he sat in a strange almost catatonic state, mumbling in monotone, "Yook at the big one mom. Yook at the big one." Over and over and over. I think he's scarred for life. He's sometimes very insistent, "I do it myself!" Somehow he consistently gets everything on backward. How does that work exactly?
The other day driving home I was struck by how well he's speaking these days. For being 2 1/2 with only 16 months of English exposure, he has no delays- that's for sure. From the backseat he told me, "There is a bird up on the hill." Not only a bona fide sentence, but a very detailed thought too. When I ask him things like, if he wants me to put him in the backpack, instead of simply "no", he'll say "I don't want you to put me in the back pack." Some days I find so much sand in Ashi's hair I have to drain the tub half way through the bath. Hence the new doo rag. Luckily the last month or so his hair has been easy as pie to comb. It's finally long enough to hang onto. See? Grammy was asking him if he wanted it cut, "No, doan cut my hair." We have a new routine. I have given up ever combing that whole head at once. Now we do 5-10 handfuls each bath. He gets to point to the next place on his head I comb, and we count them until we're done. It's so healthy it's combing through smooth as butter. Well, very tightly curled sand filled butter at least.
I now own a minivan. Yes, I have crossed over to the dark side. I blame it entirely on my friends and all those kids they have. I can't drive a carpool in the Accord anymore. Now if I can just get my hands on another set of flames for it, it might be easier to swallow. Nah, my life is over now. Good thing I'm not trying to cruise the

strip on Friday nights.
Ever since Christian could talk he has called Grammy and Papa's house simply Grammy's house. For some reason Ashi calls it Papa's house. Since Papa has been gone at work he has told me several times, "Papa is in Ayaska on his tugboat. Go get him mom." Wouldn't it be nice if we could buddy.

The other night Christian asked me about Santa, yes in July. Apparently one of the kids at school told him about where the presents come from at their house. Honestly I thought Christian knew. I'd been avoiding his questions about Santa for a few years now. Always turning it around, asking him what he thought, telling him how fun it is to think about Santa bringing him surprises, yada yada. Well, I flat out am not gonna lie to him- so I told him. And I think he was a little bummed. Understandably.

We've been going to a different church this summer. Cornwall is doing their kids camp with a focus on Ethiopia. The kids are learning about Ethiopia, learning some Amharic, raising money for a project... Christian of course is cool because his brother is Ethiopian, which is equivalent to being a rockstar at the moment. He's getting really competitive about their fundraising efforts. The boys are competing against the girls and I won't be surprised if he completely empties his piggy bank over the summer trying to "win". I'm starting to wonder if he has a little girlfriend there he's trying to impress.
Two weeks ago when Christian brought his Bible to church Ashi insisted on bringing his too. The next week when he'd forgotten his he had such a fit. He whined all the way and came unglued several times, "I want my Bible, I need my Bible." It was pretty cute. He didn't believe me that we'd be able to find another in his classroom. At least one of my kids still thinks I know a thing or two. This one's going to be fun at 13.
My mom keeps stealing Christian from me, or trying to at least. One time she made the mistake of trying to justify it with some lame comment about how I could get some stuff done without him underfoot. Ha! You want to be helpful you can take the Tornado for a night, not my sweet, helpful, compliant boy. Christian actually contributes around the house. So that little conversation guilted her into a night with the Ashi boy. I think Christian told me at least 15 times how nice it was to have a night "off" from his little brother. It was just...peaceful. And now it's his turn to head down to Grammy's house for some horseback riding and another night "off". And Ashi and I will have a very wonderful evening tomorrow without that stinky big brother getting in the way :)