Raising Joshua

That's My Boy!!!

2008-05-15T16:43:00.001-07:00

a 3.8!!!!!! he thought he was going to have a lower GPA and get a lower grade in math.

The Thinker

2008-02-26T09:38:00.000-08:00

Josh, the skater

2007-11-04T13:22:00.000-08:00

Musings: words 13 year olds shouldn't say

2007-09-24T09:21:00.000-07:00

Musings: words 13 year olds shouldn't say

Josh is increasing his vocabulary

2007-09-11T22:42:00.001-07:00

Josh playing airplane and tug-of-war with Zoe

He's a teen now

2007-04-30T06:53:00.000-07:00

Photos from Josh's Birthday

2007-04-25T20:48:00.001-07:00

Jam session taken 4/20

Texting

2006-12-30T20:41:00.000-08:00

Tim's been keeping track of who texts more, me or Josh. Below are the results from 12/25/06 to 12/30/06.

Tim Sargent says (8:36 PM):
Your messages - 568 in 30 days. Josh - 410 in 6 days. That gives you a 18.93/day average, and Josh a 68.33/day average.

Tymbr says (8:37 PM):
HOLY COW
can I blog that?
Tim Sargent says (8:37 PM):
Sure.
Don't forget to blog the Parent's Curse either - approximately 2:30 PM, December 30, 2006.

Yeah, Josh actually ASKED for the Parent's Curse today. Does that count?

{Annette}
Genius might be described as a supreme capacity for getting its possessors into trouble of all kinds.
- Samuel Butler

Every Parents Worst Nightmare

2006-12-06T18:00:00.000-08:00

Want to see me age 20 years and gain grey hair in a matter of a few heartbeats? Have my son go missing for a few hours.

The Crisis

I get off work at 3:30PM. I got home at 3:40PM. Josh doesn't have his key this week (it got left at a friend's over the weekend) and so I make it home, wait for him, then go get Joy. I waited until 4:15PM. Josh is usually home by 3:45/3:50. 4:15 has been the latest when he takes the bus. I left a way for him to get in the house, went to pick up Joy and kept calling home every few minutes to see if he was there. Panic begins to set in after I get Joy and call Tim to let him know that Josh isn't home and did he happen to mention if he was going somewhere after school? Tim confirms that my firstborn did NOT say anything about going to a friend's, or a game, nor has he received a call about any afterschool activities.

Josh didn't mention anything to anyone, and it's the middle of the week; so I was starting to really really worried. He ALWAYS calls. So much so that sometimes it's annoying, but after yesterday, I'll take the annoyance over the worry and dread and fear.

I called Tim again. He sugessted that I check the HS campus and see if he had stayed after for a game or something. I take the long way from Shute Park Library to Faith's HS campus, looking at every single bus stop on TV Highway to see if he was waiting, or walking or something. The only thing I didn't check was the Hillsboro Transit Center. And I was still calling home every few minutes.

So I get to the campus and go in. There's a basketball practice going on and I see a few of Josh's friends who are on the team, but not my boy. I call Tim again and he says he'll be home soon and suggests a few people to call. I negate him on a few people thinking that they live too far away, still under the impression that he would have either taken the bus from school and then the MAX, or else taken the school bus to the HS campus and then the bus and MAX home or gotten a ride. As soon as I got home I called the family that usually brings him home. They hadn't. The mom asked her son and he said he thought he heard something about him going home with another family. I called that family (actually one that Tim had mentioned) and got the answering machine. By the time I finished leaving a message I was in tears. It was about 5:00. I didn't know where Josh was for 1.5 hours. Not long, but a lifetime as I tried not to think about what could have happened to him in that hour and a half.

Next call was to the police. I was starting to really cry by then and had Tim call. The number is programmed into our phone from when I ran the daycare, no hunting required. He called and started the process for a missing person's report. The police said they would send someone out soon...

Josh walked in the door 15 minutes later to see me sitting on the couch crying. It was 5:15, I was an emotional wreck. First thing out of Josh's mouth was "I'm sorry I didn't call. I remembered as soon as we got in the car to come home." At that moment the mom of the family who had them called to let me know that her DH and kids were on their way to my house and that she thought Josh had called. I let her know that he had just walked in the door. I couldn't stop crying. The dad poked his head in and said it was his fault that he didn't remind Josh and apologized for the worry and Josh was still trying explain the chain of events.

The relief I felt, along with the "Do I ream him up one side and down the other?" feeling conflicted and I just sent him to his room for an indefinite period while I got sorted out. Tim and I talked about really getting him a cell phone so that we could call him when something like this happens. Hasn't been an issue because he ALWAYS calls, if just to check on when I am getting home. He's called late, but never NOT called.

Resolution

: A little while later I went upstairs and heard Josh in a nearly tearful voice talking to Tim. Later Tim said he had never seen Josh so contrite or remorseful. He seemed to really understand the worry he had put me through. A little while later Josh came in asking for his punishment. I told him I hadn't decided but a gf who called wanted me to smack him upside his head for forgetting. When I told him this he asked if I would. It would make him feel better he said. So I did. And then sent him on his way.

Josh the jokester

He came in and asked -- all smiles and charm -- "Mom, since I had you worried, can we go to the T-Mobile store after school tomorrow and get a cell phone?" I so wanted to throw something at him!

The thought of something happening to him scared me so much. I kept cool, calm, and collected until that second phone call and not getting any immediate reassurance that he was OK. I NEVER want to go through that again.

That boy ...

2006-11-13T09:37:00.000-08:00

Is going to be the death of me. He drives me crazy, he needs to be micromanaged to do his chores, which I tell you, is no fun. Makes a mom either want to tell him to go away so I can do it the right way or strangle him for being so obtuse.

This morning I got him up early to re-do some of his chores and in the middle he asks me why I didn't get him up last night. I told that I was pretty upset and didn't want to deal with it. Well, that and Joy was actually asleep by 9:30 so Tim and I had the chance to go to bed at a decent hour and I really, really, really, really did not want to deal with him. Snuggling and watching House took priority. I felt the Black mama thing coming on. Though, as Tim has pointed out more and more often, Josh might need another dose of that. The flip side is, when I do that, my heart does it's special thing and I end up (in my own eyes) looking like a wimp because I can't enforce what I just said without either having a conniption fit (a la Bill Cosby) or practically passing out because I can't breathe properly.

Anyway, I told him that I would put dishes away and any that were dirty he would hand-wash. I then realized that I couldn't supervise his hand washing of the dishes because I would be at work. So my poor hubby has to do it. Why is parenting such hard work?

After the doctor

2006-08-22T11:28:00.000-07:00

So, the advice nurse got back to me and said "We need to see him right away. Has he had any trouble breathing?" That's when I started to really worry. But he came out of his room, pulled a monkey face, and said (with his usual jocularity) that he felt fine, except for his "buttcheek" lips (and Hitch-like ear). So we dressed and skee-daddled to the doc, who said it could be a bug bite, but it could also be a *drumroll please* food allergy.

#1- food allergy - nuts. He's been eating a lot of peanut butter toast and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches lately.
#2 - shrimp and shellfish. My boy had TWO dinners last night. Chicken and dumplings at home and then shrimp kabobs at a friends house.

When I was pregnant with him, shrimp was one of the things that I couldn't eat. Every time I did, I got sick. I stopped after the second time. And for a long time after, any more than two pieces would make me sick. We have finally reached the point where I can cook and eat shrimp stir-fry, but I don't make it all that often cuz … good shrimp is spendy. So, Josh gets lots of Benadryl, if that doesn't help he has an Rx for Prednisone (sp?) but to use with caution and as a last resort.

If it's a bug bite, the doc suggested stripping his bed (done!). But I think we need to vacuum the thing. And maybe bleach it just to be sure.

On a side note: Josh has named his guitar "Theodore". Not Teddy, Theodore. And he can almost play a song on it.

{Annette}
Genius might be described as a supreme capacity for getting its possessors into trouble of all kinds.
- Samuel Butler

Let the trials begin!

2006-08-22T09:37:00.000-07:00

So, this morning I woke up cranky and sore and thought about going to the chiropractor. Not to be. Josh woke up this morning looking like Will Smith in Hitch in the food allergy scene. Yesterday he also woke up with a swollen lip, but we thought it was a bug bite since he sleeps with his window open and no screen. This morning … that ain't no bug bite! His lip is AT LEAST 1/4" out from his face. Measure 1/4" inch. Now put that where your lip is. See? It's HUGE on the human face. Protruding from the human face rather.

I took pictures, just in case the Benadryl I gave him takes the swelling down, I want his doctor to see what he looked like. And I am SORELY tempted to post them, though Tim said just crop to his lip and not totally embarrass my boy (this ranks up there with the pictures of little kids butt naked that used to be cute and are now against the law) … Tim says he looks like one of those African tribesmen who pierce their lips and they get HUGE.

So last night we had Josh wash all his bedding (in case it was bugs who had decided to take up residence in his bed) and he opted to sleep on the floor. That's why we were ALL surprised at how swollen he is this morning. His lip and his ear. I'll get worried if his ear starts to look like cauliflower. He did actually vacuum his floor this past weekend. I'm a little bit worried, a little bit amused, and … a lot mom, I guess. I want him to be ok, I can deal with a food allergy (he's been eating at his friend's houses a LOT the last few days), I can deal with it being a bug bite (just so long as we don't have to fumigate the house, and God forbid it's something like a centipede -- which I did find one day in Joy's room) … I just want things to get back to normal -- wait, is this it? =)

Now just waiting on the advice nurse to call back so I can make an appointment.

{Annette}
Genius might be described as a supreme capacity for getting its possessors into trouble of all kinds.
- Samuel Butler

12th Birthday Party

2006-06-30T12:30:00.000-07:00

I should have posted this ages ago ...
Here are the photos for Josh's 12th Birthday party

New Photos

2006-06-30T12:18:00.000-07:00

New photos posted at the photo gallery

2006-06-18T23:58:00.000-07:00

Josh is trying to raise funds to go on the annual Mexico Missions trip with our church this year. Some of you will receive this letter in the mail. If you are willing and able to contribute, please email me or Tim to get our mailing address.

Thank you so much for your support!

==================================================================================
Please check all that apply:

__ I would like to contribute financially with a gift of $_____.

__ I will pray for you during your time in Mexico.

Please make your checks payable to “Calvary Chapel Portland” and return with this form in the envelope provided. Your contributions are tax deductible if you do NOT write anything in the memo line. Please attach a post-it note to your check with my name on it so it will be credited to my account.

A day in the life

2006-06-08T00:19:00.000-07:00

Josh's most recent Court of Honor. His patrol presents a skit and then he is awarded a one year of service award.

Josh's Birthday Wish List

2006-05-08T00:10:00.000-07:00

· Chasing Vermeer & The Write 3 (book, I think).

· Books 1-6 of On The Run by Gordon Korman.

· How to Play Guitar book.

· Airwalk Skateboard.

· Harvest Moon A Wonderful Life (Gamecube video game).

· Sonic Battle Adventure for Two (Gamecube video game).

· Bass guitar amp.

· Hoot

· Starbucks gift card

· $Money$

Yes, he aims to become a bass guitarist…..can you picture him as part of an 80’s big hair band? J

Tim

Videoblog at the coast

2006-03-03T09:54:00.000-08:00

Lying & Cheating

2006-01-16T09:37:00.000-08:00

Lying Cheating little ….

Sigh why do they pick up on our bad habits? Josh has, until recently, been a fairly honest kid. But in the last two weeks we have caught him in at least two huge instances of lying. First, he lied about his age to get onto MySpace (at the suggestions of one of the girls from youth group!!!!) and also NeoPets (I didn’t know that one had an age restriction, bad mommy) and then he was caught cheating on an assignment at school. He got detention for that one. I still think it should have been lunch recess instead of morning, but I digress.

Did our conversation last night get through his thick skull? I let Tim lead so that I wouldn’t rip into him. But man, how much has he learned from me? Right now he blames peer pressure for both the cheating and the MySpace fiasco. We had to explain that COPPA was in place for a reason and that if he had asked first we probably would have let him get an account. Most sites have a “if you are under 13 you need parental permission” and MySpace’s minimum age allowed is 14. Though, I think there are other communites out there that cater to the tween crowd. MySpace has a “hook-up” section and you can look for just about any kind of person and orientation … a bit worrisome, but anyways.

AND HE KNOWS CHEATING IS WRONG!!! He came home looking sick about it. But yeah, never takes responsibility for his actions. He takes the punishment without blinking (in this case, no more internet access for an undetermined time) but almost never says “I’m sorry I did this. I won’t do it again. I know what I did was wrong.” Ok, so maybe he did learn that from me cry.

The kids have chosen Beauty & The Beast as this morning’s movie. I really should get in the shower.

Make Box Tops Your First Stop for the Holidays

2005-11-15T10:43:00.000-08:00

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2005-11-11T12:07:00.000-08:00

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Annette Sargent

"Women and cats will do as they please, and men and dogs should relax and get used to the idea." -Robert A. Heinlein
http://fun.mysurvey.com/join.cfm?r=1063840

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Subject: Bring Back Cheer to Holiday Shopping with Box Tops


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Scouting

2005-11-11T10:38:00.000-08:00

Josh has 3 things in the next three weeks. This weekend is Cape Disappointment (he's been doing a happy dance over this one for at least two weeks). He's actually looking forward to hiking 9 miles in the possible rain. Go figure.

Next weekend he has a leadership training. Usually they wait until the boys are 13, but Josh has really stepped up into the leadership aspect of Scouting. The Scoutmaster for his Troop invited him. WOW. Tim goes to all the meetings and came home and told me this last week. There's one other boy from his patrol going, and they were in the same Cub Scout den together.

Then, Thanksgiving weekend, he has ANOTHER camping trip. It's a toymaking workshop, or something like that. Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. I would think that he is well on his way to 25 nights of camping, if not more. That's a milestone he needs to meet for yet another patch.

Well, time to get back to work. Though I have some scanning to do from his last Court of Honor.

girls girls girls

2005-11-11T10:03:00.000-08:00

Part of me wants to run screaming and part of me wants to sit back and chuckle. My baby, now an 11.5 yr old boy bordering on puberty, is collecting email addresses of his female friends at an alarming rate. He doesn't even have to ask for them. They GIVE their "digits" to him. This week he has gotten 3. One from school, she plays NeoPets and she wanted him to add her to his friends list. This one seems kinda innocuous since he and half the neighborhood and one of our babysitters play it too.

The other two are from youth group and I swear I have never seen them at church before. I'm gonna have to keep an eye out. The thing that hit my radar is last night when I picked him up they waved enthusiastically, very enthusiastically as we pulled away.Yup, just confirmed it. The two girls do NOT play Neopets, they just gave him their email addresses. Aiya!!!!!

Cape Disappointment Historic District--Lewis and Clark Expedition: A National Register of Historic Places Travel Itinerary

2005-11-08T15:10:00.000-08:00

Cape Disappointment Historic District--Lewis and Clark Expedition: A National Register of Historic Places Travel Itinerary: "Cape Disappointment is a large headland forming the northern portion of the mouth of the Columbia River, as it opens to the Pacific Ocean. Most members of the Corps of Discovery arrived in this area where they were first able to glimpse the ocean on November 15, 1805, and set up a base camp near Chinook Point. However, Lewis and a small party of men had set out ahead of the rest of the group the day before and began scouting for a favorable site for a winter encampment. On November 17th, Lewis and his party returned from the area of Cape Disappointment and located Clark's base camp."

Josh's next camping trip ... this weekend. "This is the campout to attend if you want to work on the Lewis & Clark Silver Award! We'll be doing the hike for requirements 5 and 6 during this campout - a 9-mile round-trip hike to the Lewis & Clark Interpretive Center and the Cape Disappointment Lighthouse (cool!) (and, it's not straight up, like the Gorge hike was!).

This'll be tent camping and patrol cooking. But, for a Boy Scout camp it'll be positively plush - they have showers :-)"

The first day of school

2005-09-06T09:06:00.000-07:00

Well, Josh is off for the his first day of school. He screwed up a few weeks ago, hasn't finished a punishment I gave him, so we have yet to go school shopping. I told him that we would go after he finished, thinking that would spur him on .... Honestly, that boy finds more ways to distract himself. But, he did do his laundry. He chose to wear some of his rattiest clothes that still fit the dress code. At least he's comfortable, and fits the dress code.

After 2.5 days of cleaning the living area is starting to look livable (time to really, honestly, truly get my little black ass in gear with FlyLady), my kitchen is clean, and I am so happy to have a day off!!!!

Now, I am debating if I should also make this Joy's "first day of school". She already knows most of her letters, and informally I am teaching her their sounds. She knows quite a few numbers, and loves reading to her babies. She picked up more form the little bit of preschool that I did last year with the daycare than I thought. She never seemed to focus....

But, she also loves having her own workbook. I gave her one of Josh's old ones and she loves to practice her writing. She's been able to hold a pencil the correct way since 9 months old. I kid you not. She was watching Josh draw one day, picked up the pencil and perfectly mimicked him.

She now LOVES Sesame Street (as well as George Shrinks, and Mister Rogers has an amazingly calming effect on her) .. but I digress. I ordered a free trial of some curriculum called Brighter Vision, it's a workbook curriculum, so we'll try it and see. There's only one craft project, but I also subscribe to Mommy and Me to get new ideas. I'm looking forward to spending some quality time with her and working on her education. We have Muzzy and Sign language to work on to, both things that she is interested in (almost every day she asks me for a new sign). I gotta get a decent schedule down, that's the most important thing.

Ah well, she's eating breakfast and asking for Elmo, so I am going to get myself ready for the day. I can't believe that an hour and half has passed since I got up!!!!