Family Vacation Extravaganza!

My baby sister called me a year ago to tell me some thrilling news but her voice didn’t hold the excitement I felt it should have. A couple from their church invited my sister and her pastor husband (whose rapper name is Big Sexy but that’s not part of this story) on a two week cruise in the Mediterranean with 3-day stops in Venice and Paris. A DREAM vacation! I am pretty sure I was WAY more excited than she was about the cruise! I have taught Renaissance history… there are about 27 million places, buildings and works of art that I would kill to see. Well, maybe not kill, but close. Maim. Yeah. Maim.

My baby sister lamented, “I don’t think we should go because then we couldn’t come home to Arizona for Christmas next year.” I laughed loudly in her ear. A three week trip to Europe or Christmas with the cousins??? Seemed like a no-brainer to me. I felt like asking, “Are you dumb?” but I’m the nice sister, so I refrained. Then I remembered that we were going to Canada for Christmas and wouldn’t even be in Arizona. That encouraged her just a tad to consider the magnificent adventure at her finger tips.

The fervor had not returned in her voice. Still sounding forlorn she asked, “What would we do with the kids for three weeks?” HELLO!? You live in Maui. I WILL COME! Hence yesterday’s blog about Hana, the beach chair, returning joy and cat barf. So they went.

Knowing that we would be staying in my sister’s home, which is the parsonage twelve steps away from the church they pastor, (which consequently used to be the offices for a sugar cane plantation 50 or so years ago) I began to have visions of our own Crosby Family Vacation Extravaganza!  Whooo HOooooo! With some cousins thrown in! Party like it’s 1999.

Mr. Wallet and I discussed the opportunity and we enthusiastically presented it to the kids one night at dinner. Here is how it went down:

Me: (Can’t stop smiling!) Your Auntie and Uncle are going on a trip next November and have asked us to go over and take care of your cousins for two weeks. So we are all going to go and have a blast in Maui together!

(No one cheered.) (Maybe they didn’t hear me?)

Our 17 year old son: I don’t want to go. It is my last state band competition for high school.

(Again, I am weighing the alternatives: band or Maui?) (No brainer.)

Me: We could go the last two weeks so you could do the state competition and then go.

Our 17 year old son: I don’t want to go then either. That would mean I would have to have my 18th birthday in Maui.

(And the problem is?????) (I am pretty sure my mouth was hanging open.) (Well, that just saved us $600!)

Our 19 year old son: Yeah, I don’t want to go either. It would be hard for me to get my jobs covered and I’m driving bus for the homeless on Sundays.

(Since when did ministry come before self indulgence?) (KIDDING!) (Another $600 saved!)

The 12 year old Colombian princess: Do I get to go? 

(Didn’t I say FAMILY vacation?)

YES!!!! Her eyes lit up and a smile spread across her face. That’s my girl.

THEN a few months into the planning, Mr. Wallet counted his vacation days and decided he was going to save another $600 and stay home. What the heck? How can all these men be related to me? I live for vacations! My sons had free food, lodging and flights to Maui but turned them down. I just don’t get it. I am pretty sure when they are 40 they will regret the foolish decisions of their youth.

You guessed it… GIRLS TRIP! Nora and I are having a blast! She hasn’t flown on a BIG plane since she came to America six years ago, so of course she had to tell me all about them…. trays that come down out of the seat for your table… tiny bathrooms… free nuts! So many things to look forward to!

Oh, you know I’m posting pictures of facebook, snapchat and instagram and tagging my sons. BEST GIRLS TRIP EVER!

Goodbye Butterflies!

My grandmother gave me this butterfly quilt years and years ago…. probably 25 or 26 years past.  It was filled with that old fashioned batting that made the blanket hug you and keep you warmer than the average quilt.  At one time the colors were vibrant and cheery, the sweet soft pinks, turquoises and lavenders of the 40s.  The pea-green backing was less than my favorite color, but hey, it was on the back.  This quilt was well loved! Several times over the years, before it was completely shredded, I thought of re-doing the blanket stitch around each butterfly…. but that task never made it high enough on my daily to-do lists. So the butterflies slowly flew away as did the days of the quilt’s life.

It became my son’s favorite blanket that he used on his bed for years.  It was under a presentable comforter so I didn’t care how ratty it looked.  Then he went on a church camping trip and took it as his only blanket…. making us look worse than homeless people.  I tried to simply talk him down from using it, but NO!  This was the coziest quilt in the galaxy.  I waited to confiscate it until the dark of the night when it had fallen off his bed and he was snoring.  Hidden under my bed is where it remained for several years because I was not sure if I could throw away the quilt my grandmother handmade and gave to me.

Yesterday I was obviously low on nostalgic sensibilities.  The quilt came out from under our bed and I seriously took in each butterfly, analyzing if they were still redeemable.  Some had no wings.  At all.  The ones that did have wings also had holes that could not be repaired.  Rolling up the shabby blanket as I headed for the garbage can I realized that if I didn’t take a picture the memory of the butterfly quilt would fade.  Hence, the photo and the story written for posterity, so my grandchildren will know the tale of the pea-green, vintage quilt that they never got the pleasure to wrap up in.

Goodbye butterflies!  You served us well!

P.S. O.K., after writing this, I went and got it out of the garbage and cut out and saved a few of the butterflies.  I figure I could frame them for the laundry room or for my future sewing room.  I guess I have a bit more nostalgia today than yesterday.  Thankfully it wasn’t garbage pick-up day!

Many Prayers Later

Two days ago my first born son turned 15-years-old.  He is taller than me.  I’m not sure if I could take him anymore.  He has more muscles than Jack LaLanne. ……..Ok, no he doesn’t.  I just looked up Jack on google.  But my son has the potential of turning into the juicing giant.  Wasn’t it just a few months ago when my chubby, blonde little boy was yelling every word and stuttering because he was so excited about life???  Wasn’t he telling me, just weeks ago, that “Daddy take good care for you, Mom.”  Where have the years gone? 

Sadly, said son’s birthday happened to be on the busiest day of our week…. really, the ONLY day we all leave the house together.  I did make cupcakes and take them to co-op… like all good homeschooling moms.  He asked for vanilla cupcakes with vanilla icing.  WOW!  Go crazy!  I called him from Walmart to make sure I got the right kind.  Then I asked what kind of cupcake papers he wanted…. Dora… Mickey Mouse… Cars… Cinderella.  He said he didn’t care as long as the cake and icing were vanilla.  I bought purple.

And what gift did my 15-year-old ask for on his birthday?  Money to go on a missions trip to build houses in Mexico in October.  What kind of kid asks for missions trip money for his birthday?  Maybe the kind of kid who asks every Friday night if he can go downtown and feed homeless people.  Or the kind of kid who spent his summer vacation feeding men on skid row in Los Angeles.  He recently told his Dad that he didn’t think he was doing enough for others.  To which my wise husband replied, “You are doing WAY more than the average kid your age.”  My brilliant son retorted, “I’m not an average kid.”  SO TRUE!  I couldn’t be more proud of my 15-year-old son. 

However, (that always means the next words are important and contradictory in nature) this is my one in four children whom I have probably mentioned in more prayers than all the others.  Okay, that’s not true because my 17-year-old daughter went to Africa for three weeks this summer…. they might be tied.  His leadership ability has been obvious to me for many years…. I hoped and prayed it wouldn’t be for the dark side.  And his drive is unbelievable.  Even when he was nine, he would get up early and do all his chores and as much school work as he could…. before I stumbled out of my room to whip us some breakfast.  (For those who know me well, they are thinking “That’s nothing… she sleeps in.”  It’s true.  But still!)

We had a family gift opening for Aus… with little girls invited.  :o)  But he simply wanted $$ for missions, so no grand party was had.  Weird, I know.