16th tooth...whew!

On Monday, December 19, Adam went to visit the orthodontist.  He has been going for some time now.  He has very crowded teeth, and she has been watching his dental developments.  On this visit, she pointed out that he has 4 teeth where the adult teeth are coming in over, or to the side of  the baby teeth.  I had no idea this was happening.  I guess at a certain age, I just stopped checking the boys teeth on a regular basis.  I know they brush, I know they floss, I know they got all their baby teeth, and I stopped.

After that visit, I started calling different offices and checking on their appointment dates, and how much it is to have baby teeth removed.  Adam was having a hard time with the whole idea of this.  He had 2 baby teeth removed, to make room, a couple of years ago.  He felt like the Dr. lied to him.  They said it would not hurt, he said it hurt.  They said the teeth had not been removed, when in fact, they had.  Mike and I decided that since he was a bit flustered about all of this it might be better to go with an oral surgeon and let Adam "take a little nap" while this is being done.  However, with oral surgery, comes a higher cost! 

Friday, December 23rd, Adam came to me and showed me he had lost a tooth!  He only had 5 to lose yet, and I was really hoping it was not the 1 tooth that was not to be removed by the oral surgeon.  I was very elated to find, in deed, it was one of the teeth that was to be removed.  Now we are down to 3 that need to come out.

Total of 4 more teeth to come out now.

15th tooth

On Friday, December 9, I was talking on the phone when Adam came up and plopped his tooth in front of me.  I had no idea that he even had a loose tooth!  I guess we are getting to end of this road.  5 more teeth to go!

14th Tooth

Mike and I did not do many of the fictitious holiday characters with our boys.  Well, we only did 1.  We did the tooth fairy, although we did not it very well.

Adam had a loose tooth that had been bothering him. On November 2, he came to me, with the tooth in his hand.

I was so glad that he was able to get the tooth out.  I knew it had been bothering him, so now he would have some relief.  I made a mental note that the "tooth fairy" needed to make a visit to his room after he goes to bed.

The evening continued and life happened and I went to bed....with out doing my tooth fairy duties.  At about 12:30 I woke up and suddenly remembered the tooth.  I grabbed my phone, went to my purse and grabbed a dollar, then I went to Adam's room to make the switch.  Then I went back to bed.  I had no sooner got cozy, but I had the thought..."What if I didn't grab a dollar, what if I grabbed a 5, a 10 or a 20!  Ugh...so I got up, grabbed my phone again and went back to his room to double check.  Yes, it was a dollar.  Now I could sleep.

When Adam got up in the morning I asked if he got anything from the tooth fairy.  His response was, "I didn't check"  My first thought was, I did all of that in the middle of the night, because he usually checks first thing, and this is the time that he does not check.  Oh my!

Later that day, I was out running some errands with Adam.  I asked again, "did you get anything from the tooth fairy?"  He said, "Yes, and mom, I know about the tooth fairy.  The only thing is...I can't figure out if it is you or dad."

I guess there is a little mystery still left in the fun we have.  We will only be able to do this for 6 more teeth.

He's a Winner

Our area has a local summer fair.  I have gone to this fair for most of my life.  I have often gone through the exhibit building, and admired all the lovely crafts, baking, and woodworking that people submit.  I have always thought, "Wow! It must be nice to be so talented!" Never even thinking to try to submit something, because I always assumed others things were way better than mine, without even trying.

This year, however, Lana said she was going to have Grace bake some cookies.  I started thinking...Maybe Adam would like to try something.  We looked into how to enter items, and we made a plan. Adam picked a recipe.  I got the items we needed in order to make the bars.

The items were to be  turned in on Monday morning.  So, Sunday afternoon Adam got to work.

I 

I had to work that day, but my mom agreed to take the food items in and get them submitted.  Monday evening Matt and Lana took their kids to the fair.  It wasn't long and I got a call saying that Adam won a ribbon.  He got 3rd place.  

I think he was pretty pleased.

He even got a small monetary reward.

This is his first ribbon.  He is very proud of it.

And he is already thinking of what he should make next year.

Big Day

Earlier this week, we had an evening that was full of, "Wow, this is where we are in life?" moments.

For some time now, I have been telling Adam that he might want to consider that he might need to start shaving.  He was really resistant (Unlike his brother who started shaving when you could barely see anything)  Not sure what clicked, but one evening he decided it was time.

It's hard for me to believe that we are already going down this road.

That very same day, Austin got his DMV book to start studying for his learners permit.  As he was studying I had to think, again, "I can't believe we are here already."

The boys are growing and I have to let that happen.

13th Tooth

A while back Adam mentioned that he had a loose tooth.  He never makes much of a fuss about his loose teeth, so I don't think I have heard much about it since that first mention.

This evening we were eating dinner with my parents.  Adam finished and walked away from the table.  That was fine.  The kids and do their thing, while we adults sit and talk around the table.  After a while Adam comes to me with a was of toilet paper in his mouth and something in his hand.  He hands me a tooth.  I was surprised, but then remembered he had a loose one. 

All I have is change in my wallet.  I hope he is okay with the tooth fairy give change instead of bills.

Beach Vacation 2016

In the cold of winter, we Kiser women sat down and started looking for beach houses.  It seemed at that point that the week we chose would be a long ways off.  However, it really did not take long for the last week of July to come.

On Sunday July 24 we headed to the beach.  It didn't take us long to head to the beach.

Adam made several "seats" in the sand. 

I loved seeing that he still loved to play in the sand.

On Monday we celebrated Adam's 13th Birthday.  He had thought we were staying in a hotel, so he kept telling me that we could have birthday "glop." That is marshmallows, pretzels, and other things that are thrown in a bag to make a sort of trail mix.  Then he found out that we had a house.  He decided on Chocolate cake, with Chocolate icing, and Chocolate chips.  He also wanted Oreos, we left them on the side (as not everyone loves Oreos, and it already had a lot of chocolate!) 

I got a quick snap shot of my 13 year old!

One day we got a paddle board and we all had turns on it.

Adam gave the experience a thumbs up!

I tend to err on the side of caution.  If I were a flavor of  ice cream I would be vanilla--not overly exciting.  However every now and then you need some sprinkles on that vanilla ice cream.  I got my sprinkles and got on that board.

Austin was able to stand.  I don't know how!  But he did!

 And he had a great victory pose!

Mike got on the board too.  He went out way further than I was comfortable with.  It was really easy to get out and not realize how far you were.  But, he came back in safely, thank goodness!

Mom and Dad were at the beach.  We got a really cute picture of them.

On Tuesday, we had family pictures done.  For being taken by us, they are not too bad!

The boys.

Our family picture.

The whole Kiser family.

 A rare picture of just Mike and I.

My guys! 

On Friday, Carol was going deep sea fishing with Eamon.  She invited Austin to come along.

Austin eagerly got out of bed at an early hour to head out to the boat. 

He even caught a few fish!

Someone took a picture of the 3 on the boat.  Austin, Carol, and Eamon.

There was one day that Lana, Mom, Grace and I were out in the ocean.  We saw lots of fish popping on the water.  We saw dolphins out in the ocean, and thought that was really neat.  Before long, we saw a dolphin come within 10 ft of us to grab some breakfast.  The fish exploded out of the water and went swimming in all directions.  What an experience!

I didn't get too many pictures because I did not take my phone to the beach due to the sand and water.  I gathered a few from other people.  I hope these are enough to help the boys remember the wonderful time we had.

We spent a lot of time in the ocean, sand and at the pool.  In the evenings, we played a lot of games, and laughed a lot.  We had a fantastic week.  We all came home rested, relaxed, and ready to to sleep in our own beds again.

Adam's Summer

Summer is a great time to do things that are a little out of the norm, a little educational, and a lot of FUN!!

There were several camps this summer that Adam went to that taught him a great deal and he had a great time doing them.

The last week of June Adam went to our local Technical Center and had a week of learning about Carpentry.  He made several small projects like a tic-tac-toe, and a pusher (so fingers did not get cut off in the saw).  Then they did a bigger project.  They framed a small house.

I do not know anything about framing, but I think it looks great!

Earlier in July, Adam went to Highland Retreat for a week.  He always has a good time there.  He went with a good friend from school.  However, in his cabin he met another boy, who goes to his school.  So far, he and this new friend have not had classes together.  But it could  be that they could see each other at lunch, even if they don't have classes together next year.  It's always great to have more friends!

This past week, Adam went to an enrichment week that is put on by our local school system.  You get to choose a fun class that  you would like to explore further.  Adam chose a class called "Flip, Morph, Distort."  He got to take his picture and ....

put it through several different filters. Then he took the same picture and did an over lay of his name.

Then he took a picture and did some photo shop to it.  

I'm not exactly sure how he did this, but I think it looks great.

I am so pleased that our local area provides these opportunities to explore different interests.

I kind of wish that programs like these were offered when I was growing up.

Baptism

Shortly after Easter, there was an announcement in our church bulletin that they were planning a baptism class.  On the way home from church that day, I asked the boys if either of them were interested in being baptized.  Adam right away spoke up and said he was!

When I got home I sent a message to Pastor Deb.  He was added to the list.  

Adam went to the class in May.  

Usually our church does baptisms at the church camp out in June.  We had some conflicts that weekend and we were not going to be able to make it.  Another factor, that I thought was very sweet, Adam really wanted my Dad to be at his baptism.  My Dad cannot be in large crowds, so the church baptism was out.  We decided it would work well to have a private ceremony.

We planned to have the ceremony at Riven Rock on June 28th at 6:30.  

This  has to be one of my favorite pictures.  

 

The weather was perfect!  I was worried since we had been having a lot of rain, but it worked out perfectly!

We invited all 4 pastors from our church, my parents, Carol, Lana (Grace and Glen), Mike's Parents were able to make it, and we invited Trey Loker who is Adam's church mentor (He also brought his 2 youngest girls). It was small but meaningful.

Pastor Deb had a beautiful bowl that she used to pour the water into Pastor Duane's hands.  After the baptism she handed the bowl to Adam.  Apparently, the day that they met for their class, the kids got to each pick out a bowl to use for their own baptism.  Then they got to keep the bowl.

 

How meaningful and special to have this bowl that was used for his baptism.

When I got baptized we planted a tree to symbolize us taking root in Christ and growing and flourishing in him.  I think about that when I see trees being planted.  I wanted Adam to have something like that, but not a tree (I don't do plants).  I talked to Adam and we decided to have Ice Cream sundaes, and I would link the Sundaes to his baptism.

This is how it was linked:

We are having ice cream sundaes after Adam's baptism.  Yes, it is a good to thing celebrate, but it can also correlate to his life with Christ.

Ice cream is cool and creamy.  It is soothing and refreshing.  There are so many times when you will need to rely on God, and it my not always feel cool and creamy at first, but in the end you know He was there taking care of you.  And THAT is very soothing and refreshing.

Fruit is naturally sweet and healthy.  It is good for your body and yummy to eat.  Your walk with Christ is also good for your body.  It allows you to hand your stresses in life over to Him, which makes it so much easier on your body.

Chocolate Syrup is NOT a natural thing.  However it is, again, very sweet and yummy.  It is an added bonus.  Choosing a life with Christ is also an added bonus.  It is a choice, but  you will find your life is sweeter and more full of "flavor" with Christ in  your life.

Nuts are optional on your sundae.  However, they are not optional in life.  Sometimes your life just gets plain nutty!  Trust in God and He will truly help you through these crazy times.

Whipped Cream is a creamy extra that goes on top.  In good times, God is the whipped cream.  Sometimes it is hard to see in the bad times, but in those times He is also the whipped cream.
 Mike and I got Adam a study Bible.  This will be something that he will probably use more as he gets older, but it will be there for him when he is ready.  Trey got him an adventure Bible.  This Bible is written in comic book style.  Adam started reading this Bible immediately.  Carol got him a bracelet that said something like "stand strong". 

It was not a traditional baptism, but it was meaningful and special. 

Hard Working Man

Several months ago, Austin was talking to his friend Jacob about his summer plans.  Jacob said he was going to be working for his grandparents.  Austin was wishing he could get a job.  But he is not able to drive, and a lot of places won't hire kids who are not 16.  Last Saturday Jacob was at our place, and he asked if Austin could start working with him.  Austin was so excited!  

Jacob's grandparents have a wooded area that they want cleared.  The boys are moving rocks and sticks.  They end up burning the sticks.  (I really don't know what they are doing with the rocks).  It is very physical labor.

Austin already had a morning program that he was doing, but he worked it out to go to work right after the program.  He was able to get an idea of what he needed to do, and he got a few hours in ;)

I think even just working a few hours really took a toll on Austin.

There were several afternoons that I found Austin like this.  Then I was taking him to work on Friday and he showed me that he had a poison ivy rash all over his arms.

I am very proud of him for being willing to work and earn some money this summer. 

The crab apple tree stump

We finally got the tree cleaned up out of our yard. The stump was the only thing left.  What were we to do with that?

Then someone had a great idea...Let's built a fire pit there, and roast marshmallows.

Ok....sounds good to me.

This tree stump has provided us with several evenings of s'mores and hotdogs. 

When life gives you lemons, make lemonade (or s'mores, in our case ;) )

Crab Apple Tree

There is a philosophical question that asks, "If a tree falls in the woods, and no was is there, does it make a sound?"

 

Interestingly, we lived this on a small scale this past week.

 

Last Saturday, Mike and I were talking about this one tree in our yard.  Some of the branches seemed to have died, but others seems to be thriving.  We were trying to decide should we chop it down, or let it be.  We decided that we would leave it, and let Adam continue to chop on the dead branches.

 

On Monday, Austin was looking out the deck doors and said, "The tree fell over!"  He did not see if fall over, it was already down.  But we had heard nothing. We have no idea if it fell down while we were home or not.

I guess the tree was maybe a little worse than we thought.

We started chopping it into smaller, more manageable pieces yesterday.  Dad came with his truck, he and Austin filled the truck.  Mike and I were out most of the morning, and Adam had been with Mamaw. 

When we got home, Adam went right to work, chopping that tree!  He worked on it for several hours once he started.

Until I got home and was able to get a few pictures, Austin had already been working on the tree for several hours.  Once Adam started, Austin stepped back and supervised a bit.  At that point he had already gotten 4 blisters on his hands.  I'd say that the blisters were proof he had done his part.

It will seem odd to not have this tree in our yard.  I have taken some really neat pictures of the boys in this tree, but apparently it was not healthy.  Although the tree is down, it is still providing hours of entertainment for the boys.

Sandy Bottom

One day this past week, Adam's science class went on a field trip to Sandy Bottom to study the water there.  He is still at the age that he enjoys me going on the field trips as well, so I joined them.

They were looking to see how clear the water was.  They filled a really tall tube with water and then drained the water until they could see the marking on the bottom of the tube. 

Here, Adam is draining the water.  He is waiting for the girl to say that she can see the marking, then he would turn off the drain tube.

They wanted to see the velocity of the water.  The kids got a partner, then they each went to their own line.  One line got a ping pong ball, they released the ball and timed how long it took to get to the partner.

Adam is listening to instructions, he is in the ping pong release side.

Another station was to find macroinvertabrates. 2 kids are are working up the bottom of the stream.  2 kids are holding the net, catching what the others have worked up.

Then they carry the net out of the water, and look too see what they caught.

I love this picture of all the kids hunkered over the net, looking to see what critters they caught.

Then they went back in the water, and switched places.

Adam was excited to be a "dancer" and work up the bottom.

Since I know that this phase of Adam will come to end at some point (probably sooner rather than later)...

I had to get a picture of Adam and myself on this trip.

NYC

Several months ago, Austin started talking about a friend of his.  He called his friend "Miller."
I thought,  "What an interesting first name to give a child."  It took a while, but it came out that Miller's first name is Jacob.  Apparently, Jacob was a common name the year that he was born, so friends at school have taken to calling the Jacobs by their last name.

Several months ago, I got a call from  Jacob Miller's mother.  She was thinking ahead to his birthday in April.  She wanted to take him to NYC and wondered if Austin and I would like to join them.  We thought that sounded like a lot of fun.  Plus, they were wanting to do some things that we did not get to do when we were there last July.

Yesterday, was the day that we had been planning for.  We got on the bus at 4:45am.  Luckily, we were able to sleep a little on the way.  We got dropped of in NYC around 11am.  We thought we would go and do some of the things that were a little farther away from our bus stop first.  We got taxi and went to battery park. (At this point the weather was a bit drizzly, but our cab driver assured us that by 2 it would be clear and a lovely day.  Looking back he was exactly right!  At 2 it had quit raining, and was a really nice day weather wise.)  We wanted to see the Statue of Liberty, but really did not want to spend so many hours on the tour, plus that would have been another ticket to buy.  We went to battery park and we got a decent view of the Statue.  It would have been better if the weather had been more clear, but Austin and I had the Statue of Liberty experience in July, so we were fine with this choice.

After the Statue, we wanted to go see the Freedom tower.  It was a reasonable walk from one area to another, so off we went.

Jacob's mother, Bobby Jo, and I thought we should have at least one picture of the boys together.  They were not excited about that, but humored us.

There is the Freedom Tower.  I think it is such a beautiful building.

Near the Freedom Tower, there is a wall memorial about 9/11.  It has different scenes from the horrific terror attack that NYC had experienced 14 years ago. There was a really interesting man that was cleaning the memorial.  He would answer questions, and tell facts that few people knew about.

This was not the boys first choice of a place to visit, because it is "depressing," but we thought that this is a part of the boys life history, one day they may appreciate that they had been taken here.

Then we went to site where the twin towers had stood.  They have a really nice memorial there.  They have names of those who lost their lives along the edge,

a double waterfall fountain is in the center.

When we were at the fountain, we were able to get a really great view of the Freedom Tower.  It is just amazing.

We were fairly close to the Brooklyn Bridge.  So, we headed over there to see that.  Since we are not there day in and day out, we decided to take a short stroll of on the bridge.  The boys got bored with that, so we had to cut it short, but at least we got a good look at the first pillar.  (It was a bit unnerving to walk on this path and have traffic flying on both sides of the dividers.  I guess New Yorkers gets used to it!)

Several years prior to ever going to New York, someone told me that we should visit Little China, and Little Italy.  We had wanted to eat in Little Italy, but in order to get there we had to walk through Little China.  It truly was like tiny replication of what I imagine those countries to be like. 

After lunch, Jacob and Austin wanted so true Italian Gelato.  I thought, "Well, we might as well make the most of this experience."

After lunch, we headed to Central Park.  We weren't sure what we should see (Central Park is a very big area).  This guy started talking to us about bike tours.  It was a tour guide that has a 2 seat carriage on the back.  The tour guide tells you things about the park, that would not know otherwise.  Plus, we got to see a lot of more the park this way.

Jacob and Austin got a carriage, and Bobby Jo and I got another.  The tour guides stayed together so that we would be able to experience this with our boys. 

One of the first thing they pointed out was the building with 2 towers in the background.  That building is the building they used in the movie Ghostbusters.

The bridge in the background here is the bridge they used in the spider-man movie.

Then we went by the fountain that was used in the beginning of the show Friends.

Then we were taken to another area in the park, where there is a memorial for John Lennon from the Beattles.  It is just a short distance from the apartment building where he had lived.

Had to get a picture of Trump tower in case he would be our next president.

There is a Christmas movie called Elf.  In that movie there is a snowball fight scene.  This bridge is where the snowball fight took place.

One of the things the boys really wanted to do was to go to the top of the Empire State Building.  We bought tickets prior to our trip that allowed us to go to the 86nd floor and the 102nd floor and not have to wait in lines.  The only condition was that the boys wanted to see the city at night.  So, this was the last thing we did.

This is the view of the 86th floor.

And the 102nd.

Shortly after we did this we headed back to our bus to come home.  

It was a busy day.  But it was filled with experiences that I hope Austin will remember to many years to come.