Unfamiliar Morning

"Home is where you can say anything you like, because nobody listens to you anyway."

Good Morning...It definitely is an unfamiliar morning.
Our 2 oldest sons are at camp this week. We drove them to Ingleside on Fathers Day. I truly miss them. Not only because it's nice to have a built-in babysitter when I need or want to run out somewhere, but because they are an important part of my day.
Brandon was very excited. He really enjoys Tourettes camp. This is his 3rd summer there. He was a little upset last week because he thought he might have to go back on his medication. His meds make him so tired and he puts on a lot of weight too. He started rubbing his tongue across his teeth - and couldn't stop, even when it hurt and started bleeding. He took one of his pills and slept an extra 4 hours that morning. So he is at camp without his pills. He doesn't want to be so tired that he can't enjoy camp. He is doing whatever he can to control this "tic" on his own.
Ethan was a little nervous about camp. I think he'll make great friendships and have so much fun that the week is going to fly by for him. It will be nice for him to talk to others that understand more about OCD. I can talk to him about it, but I think it'll help him to talk to someone more his age too.
Campers and Counselors come from all over the world for this camp. England, Australia,... I find it amazing that we live less than an hour away. What a blessing. I hope our children continue to go and enjoy the camp and end up working there someday.
Last night there was a tornado warning where their camp is. I'm the type that believes that "no news is good news" so I'm going to believe that they are fine. I stayed glued to my laptop until the warning was over. I prayed while I watched the little red spot on the map move away from them.
The other part that makes this a different type of morning - Jakey is sleeping. In his crib. Since the day he was born (10 months, 3 days ago) he has slept with me at some point during the night. Not last night. Did I wake up with a smile on my face thankful for the full night sleep? No. I had to quickly get up and check to see if he was ok. Which he was. Which he still is. Still sleeping in his crib right now.
Jakey is now pulling himself up to standing, shaking his head no and "bobbling" it up and down for yes. He is eating mostly table food that we cut up into teeny tiny pieces. Those who know me know that I am a little freaked out about choking. Brandon, our oldest, choked on a grape when he was about 4 years old. To this day, I do not allow grapes in my home. My friends joke about how my children treat grapes like "drugs" when they come to their home and see them. They let out a surprised "You have grapes?!" And then gobble them up.
So I have 2 Noah quotes for this week. The day before the boys went to camp we attempted the impossible. A family photo. We got a picture with all 9 of us, but since Sarah was "in charge" we didn't get one with just our children. Sarah wouldn't let go of Daddy. But that gave us a different idea. We got a picture of Tom with our 3 daughters and one with me and our 4 sons. That worked. Of course, we had to do a little bribing to keep everyone smiling. We agreed to take them out to eat. This is very rare. Our children used to love going to Old Country Buffet - and with picky children, it's a great place. So we took them there after. It's changed a bit - for the better. And really wasn't as expensive as we had feared it would be. At one point Tom kept calling our son Ethan "Noah." I said (while pointing to each child and in a somewhat joking manner) "Tom I don't understand why you do that. Ethan looks like an Ethan and Noah looks like a Noah." Then Noah pointed at Brandon and said "And Brandon looks like an idiot." Ok. Not nice, but quick for an 8 yr old. A little later our children were eating their desserts and Ethan said "Is it hot in here?" Noah quickly said "No. It's just me." Where does he get this? Must be from being the 3rd boy.
Well, it's getting familiar again. Cats are meowing to be fed, Sarah needs a diaper change, dog needs to go out, children are hungry, and there is a request for Dora to be put on.
But first, I feel the need to go peek in on Jakey again :o)