Sibling Dates

Good Thursday morning!

The Gallery has moved on to a different Spring Break event. Camping pictures are SO OVER! Brad's birthday party photos from Sunday take the spotlight today.

RANDOMNESS #1 - For anyone wondering how Roxie's doctor's appointment went yesterday, I am happy/sad to say there was no pin removal. I am happy, because I did NOT want to see any more pins removed from my baby. I am sad because she is sad. Instead of a six to eight week recovery, our doctor has told us we are looking at a ten to 12 week recovery.

Looking at the X-ray, the bone fragment is much, much closer to the desired destination, but there is still a tiny little crack where it should fit like a puzzle piece... in four to six more weeks.

Her pin removal is going to happen just days, perhaps hours, before volleyball/basketball tryouts. But she is running and starting to do her drills with her left hand, so she'll be ready in that regard. She's nervous and a little high-strung. (I don't know where she gets that from!)

RANDOMNESS #2 - Fun fact for you... They've started putting fiber in Fruit Loops. Is nothing sacred any more? I fully expect to see fish oil listed as one of the main ingredients in Captain Crunch with Crunch Berries in the very near future. It's a travesty, I tell you.

RANDOMNESS #3 - On the way to school this morning, Roxie asked me the "question of the day."

"If you could change one thing on your body, what would it be?"

Geez! What a way to start the day! I thought a minute or two, and then I mentioned one of my 32 problem areas. I then went on to give her a talk about not dwelling on the problems, accentuating the good stuff, being happy with the way God made you, being content in all areas of your life and taking care of what you've got.

Today is pretty much shot because I will now be totally focused on the "problem area" I mentioned... no matter how hard I try to think of other things. And I was all set to focus on my shoulders all day... because that's one of the things the Body Pump instructor keeps telling us will be marvelous very, very soon.

I didn't mention my pre-baby body because I didn't want to scare Roxie into deciding NOT to have children one day. One of the few things I'm living for these days is the hope and dream of nine grandchildren. (That's right. I said nine.)

RANDOMNESS #4 - I bought a 12-ounce Diet Coke. (I'm a Diet Dr. Pepper drinker, but I didn't want to deviate from the recipe by using a Pepper.) I have chicken and a cup of ketchup. I'm trying this week's recipe tonight. There will be a pictorial in the morning.

Blog Linkage - I have a few links for you to check this week.

1. If you want to try some exciting new recipes, click on eighteen25 under My Blog List. They've listed some of their favorite food blogs and recipes. Let me know if you try anything new.

2. Keep up with www.andersonfamilycrew.blogspot.com. Within the next few days, they will be adding a new child to their home... Elsa from Ethiopia. It could be any day now. This cute, young mom of four has three little boys and a little girl, and her blog is a lot of fun on any given day. However, this is going to be a pretty exciting event as this little girl meets her new family for the first time. I can't wait.

3. If you're old friends with Jeff and Sara Phillips, click on The Phillips Home under My Blog List to see what they've been up to recently in their new home in Canada. It's always fun to see Jeff, Sara and the kiddos in their new environment, and catch up with them and their ministry there.

Sibling Dates

This is one of the transition traditions I talk about from time to time. Mikie and I have diligently "dated" our three kids since they were two and three years-old. Now, at 20, 17 and 14, we continue to "date" them one-on-one as often as possible. We have seen definite benefits from the one-on-one time over the years even though it has not always been easy.

Sibling dates are for your older teens. As with most things in life, Austin never really thought about taking Roxie out one-on-one on his own. I had to "plant" the idea.

We started small. When Austin started driving, he would take Roxie out to shop for Josh's Christmas gift. He would then take Josh out to shop for Roxie's Christmas gift. I suggested adding a Starbucks coffee drink or milkshake to the outing.

From there, we went to the movies. Mike and I dropped out of the mix, and Austin drove Josh and Roxie to the movies where the three of them enjoyed that time together. (Roxie has said her favorite thing is to go to the movies and sit in between her big brothers. It is the MOST fun.)

Okay. Let's take it a little further. JSU is playing football at 1:00 p.m. Saturday afternoon. We drop Josh off at a mid-way point, and he spends the night with Austin in the dorm, hangs out with him and his friends AND stays up all night playing X-Box and watching movies with his brother. He LOVES it!

Once again, all of these things have been instigated by me or Mikie, and I was beginning to wonder if the siblings would ever suggest something on their own.

Wonder of wonders, it was Josh who began the instigating. He came in from school a couple of weeks ago, and without checking with me, went straight to Roxie and asked her if she wanted to grab a milkshake after dinner for their dessert. She happily agreed and off they went.

Josh also called and asked Austin to go to a concert with him last weekend. (Of course, he had asked several friends before he called Austin, and they all had other plans.) But Austin readily agreed, and the two of them had a great time.

I think if it is at all possible, sibling dates should be encouraged during this "older-teen" time of their lives. Everyone is going in different directions. You don't know where in the United States (or in another country) your brothers and sisters will end up as they graduate from college, get jobs, marry, etc.

In many ways, no one will ever know you better than your brother and sister. (This can be good or bad.) It's a special relationship.

DISCLAIMER - A sibling date can also go downhill VERY, VERY fast. Most siblings don't have a filter with each other. They can quickly and LOUDLY voice their opinion, and not really care they are in public.

I always tell them as they are walking out the door, "Be sweet to each other... even if it kills you."

And I always ask them upon their return if they behaved. Austin once answered this question by saying, "We were in Hoover... and we didn't see anyone we knew."

All I can say is I hope they didn't see anyone I KNEW!

Sibling dates... It can be a good thing!

Have a great Thursday. I will be posting Weekend Happenings first thing Friday morning, more pics and more RANDOMNESS.

Take care, and I'll talk to you tomorrow.

Sincerely,

The Enchanting Belinda