Ben's Home!

 

Ben is home!!! Weekend’s gonna go down in history as the fastest one ever. 😂 He landed just after 7pm, and by 10pm he was home.

Here’s our non-stop agenda while he’s with us:

• Sunday at 7am — we’ll hit the NAS Oceana Air Show with the Ericksen’s (yes, that means 3 hours there, 3 back). 

• Monday — trek to the Pentagon & the 9/11 Pentagon Memorial, then race back for the Weird Al concert in Richmond. 

• Then the wrap-up: we’ll leave at 6:30am Tuesday morning for Ben’s flight home.

We’re squeezing every second we can with him! These two little boys are like barnacles on his legs already. Poor Ben — I hope he gets some rest when he gets back to Provo!

 

Best Grandparents!

I love getting surprise pictures and text from Grandma and Papa. The met up with Ben last night for a little catch up and pizza. I love that they go out of their way to see Ben and make sure he feels so loved! It makes my mom heart soar!

 

Andrew and the Police

When the high school calls, it is never good. NEVER. Nothing fun, nothing pleasant—just pure, heart-dropping, stomach-sinking dread. And today was no exception.

I got a call from Andrew’s school… from the police officer assigned to the campus. Always a fantastic way to start the morning.

He tells me Andrew was caught—on camera, of course—doing donuts and burnouts in the school parking lot before class. Full Fast & Furious: Homeroom Drift. And because Andrew had a passenger with him, the officer informed me this wasn’t just “boys being boys,” oh no… this fell under reckless driving and reckless endangerment.

He very politely let me know he could write Andrew a ticket.
He could take his license.
And the school could issue him a referral.

Fantastic. Absolutely fantastic. Just what every mom wants to hear on a day where Dad is out of town. Of course he is. This kind of stuff only happens when Dad is gone—it’s like the universe sees him leave and immediately whispers, “Release the chaos.”

So I text Andrew:

Me: Andrew, the police just called me.
Andrew: Yeah… I got a story for you.
Me: You’re on camera. And the extra ding is you had another person in your car. They can take your license for this.
Andrew: Yeah, I lost a bet. This isn’t good.
Me: Andrew. They. Can. Take. Your. License.
Andrew: Yeah, that’s… not great.
Me: Who was in the car with you? They’re calling parents too.
Andrew: I don’t really wanna give him up. He’s a friend. I’m not sure the best strategy here.
Me: Andrew, he’s on camera. You don’t need to tell me, but you cannot do stupid stuff like this.
Andrew: Yeah, I know. It was a screw-up. Won’t happen again.
Me: There are cameras everywhere, and burnouts are reckless driving.
Andrew: Yeah.

I called Christopher, thinking he’d help me strategize or at least share in my stress. Instead, he was far more upset about the wear on our tires than the fact that Andrew was out there doing burnouts on school property like he was auditioning for Fast & Furious: PTA Edition.

This kid loves engines, motors, speed, horsepower—you name it. If it goes fast, he’s obsessed with it. But does he really have to express that passion on school property, at 8am, with cameras pointed at every square inch of the parking lot?!?!

Seriously. Love this boy, but my blood pressure cannot keep up with his hobbies.

Anything Stella does is Perfection to Xander

Even if he was only pretending to be comfy, lying in the church parking lot with his head resting on the curb — it didn’t matter. They stayed like that, giggling and being their goofy, adorable selves for a solid 10 minutes before I finally had to call them back inside. These two are just the sweetest little friends! 💛

Best Aunts Awards!

Chris, Ligaya, and Shelley are always so good to invite Ben over when they are in town. I just love how they go out of their way to show him love and kindness. Ligaya was in town for the weekend and invited Ben over for dinner and to watch a movie. Shelley was visiting her in-laws and invited Ben to come play games for Ava's birthday dinner. It's so nice having family so close to love on my boy!! (And they get bonus points for pictures!)

Tag Day!

Tag day is a huge fundraiser for our Marching Band. It always is draining, exhausting, fun, hot, sticky, and an absolute blast. This year I was riding shotgun with Lacy, and assigned 6 kids, of which only 3 showed up. Andrew was assigned with Kathryn and all his friends. He totally scored the best car! They actually won the best photo contest for their clicking of the heels photo. We raised over $10,000 on the day and money will keep rolling in as the weeks go on. Not going to lie, I totally went home and slept for 4 hours. After a varsity football game concessions, 6am donut runs, and a hot sticky day running around the streets of Stafford - it was well earned!