Tag Archives: raising sons

Visiting West Point for the very first time

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We arrived at the Admissions Office at 8 am on Friday.

Since that time we have learned a lot of impressive things about West Point.

I am honored that my son is even considering this place.

West Point has a nobility about it that I haven’t felt at other universities.

Having not grown up in a military family, it’s strange walking around in a camouflage-colored campus where people all walk the same and salute each other.

General Patton with Quote

This beautiful print is available through a talented USNA and USMA mom. Check it out here!

I’m not saying I don’t like it, it’s just a whole new culture. You don’t see any dread locks in anyone’s hair or piercings or tattoos, no facial hair either. It’s a very clean-cut campus body.

West Point info we learned:

4,400 students attend

7 to 1 student/teacher ratio – This is less than in elementary school!

81% graduation in four years

Upon graduation cadets commit to five years of service in the Army – this is a very serious commitment

It’s estimated that a West Point education is worth $448,000.

Robert E. Lee, Ulysses S. Grant, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Omar Bradley, Norman Schwarzkopf are just some of the notable graduates

Wake up time: 5:00, not 5:01, not 5:15.

It’s not pretty if you don’t wake up on time.

If Nathan goes there, it should be a VERY interesting considering time to see how he does with that.

Considering how much prodding his brothers do to get him up at 7 am, I wonder how he will adjust.

Your room stays clean. Impeccably clean.

I mean so clean not even a hair should be on the ground.

You don’t want a hair on the ground or a dust bunny or anything out of place. It’s not pretty. You will walk the plain (a large flat field on campus) or worse.

When we were walking around the campus, Mark was impressed with how many cadets called him, “sir” as he passed them by.

I only heard some cuss word while on campus.

When we visited another university, the cuss words were flying all over the place. I’m not saying they don’t use them (wouldn’t that be nice, though), it was such a totally different atmosphere.

I’m praising the Lord that I brought my trusty long undies as I was able to handle the chilly temp thanks to the layers of clothing. I wasn’t exactly working it but sometimes you have to forgo high fashion, you know what I mean?

I have cried at least six times but not in an embarrassing way. One time, yesterday morning, the lieutenant mentioned something about saying good-bye to your family and I almost lost it.

I drew a deep breath, getting ready to let loose of a few years but immediately Nathan looked over at me (he knows me pretty well) and I knew I had to try and get myself together. I sucked the tears back in and waited until Mark and I were together to let a few fall from my eyes.

We are awaiting news on his eye exam and physical so he hasn’t been officially accepted yet.

Nothing is a done deal yet.

My sugar boy and me. I'm not a flyer btw.

My sugar boy and me. I’m not a flyer btw.

However, I have to accept is this – I have to accept and yield God’s will for my son’s life whether it’s at West Point or somewhere else.

The Lord and not me, determine my precious boy’s future. We are earnestly praying and if I get ahead of myself, I’m a wreck but if I stay in the moment, I can handle things. It is obvious the Lord is using this experience to make us lean into Him more and more.

We pick Nate up at 1 pm and we’ll learn more about his overnight time with a cadet. Check back for more details as we continue on this incredible journey.

If you like the picture posted in this blog, check out this talented artist’s prints. She’s a USNA and a future USMA mom!

Sometimes it pays to listen to a 13 year old

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p1000563It was Isaac’s 5th grade Christmas band concert.

Last year I took my mom to the big event and we were late.

It is not a good thing to be late for Isaac’s special events. He has a wonderful memory when it comes to those types of things.

He’s kind of like me, his mother, with stuff like that.

We take things personally and our feelings get hurt easily.

Instead of running a quick errand at the mall, Mom and I decided we weren’t going to chance it and instead determined to be there on time. We were quite proud of ourselves when we stepped into the gym where the concert was last time and only four other people were there.

p1000567We puffed with pride and I eagerly told Mom to smile as I clicked away at the camera to pass the time away until everybody arrived.

I wanted to capture this moment to show Isaac how we were at the concert WAY ahead of all the other moms and dads and grandparents.

Since it looked like we had a lot of time and perhaps everyone else was just running late, I took a series of photos of my mom posing for the camera.

Here she is waving at the camera, showing Isaac that she had a front row seat to the Christmas concert.

We were acting silly and feeling very good about our punctuality until my middle OS Aaron noticed us in the gym. He was on his way to attend Isaac’s concert as well and he spotted us in the gym.

Aaron 8th grade picThat’s when my oh so wise 13-year-old Aaron informed us that we were in the wrong place.

The concert was in the new auditorium.

I insisted that Aaron was wrong but he didn’t relent.

Skeptically Mom and I and the other four women made our way to the auditorium.

We opened the thick auditorium doors and noticed the throng of people! We were hardly the first people to arrive in fact, if Aaron hadn’t found us, we could easily still be sitting there!

P1000579

We got to hear him play! So sweet!

We still got a pretty decent seat and Isaac was pleased to see us in the right place, right on time! Whew!

I’m learning there are sometimes when it’s best to heed your kids’ advice instead of the other way around 😉

It’s a guy thing, sign of the military life to come

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Foreshadowing of my life to come

Five and a half years later, I discover my blog post. I had long forgotten about it. West Point wasn’t on the horizon when I first wrote this. Nate had graduated from West Point and is in the middle of Ranger School. WOW!

My blog post on December 28, 2007-

I don’t get it and I guess I never will.

While driving to see family in South Carolina, Nate spotted a sign to a store I would have easily overlooked.

“Dad, can we go there?” he inquired and all the guy heads perked up with the mere mention of the store Nathan wanted to visit

Delk’s Army-Navy Surplus

No pretty store window dressing, no eye-catching fashions or thumping music –

just an Army issue green sign which read Military Supplies.

It’s a guy thing I guess because I didn’t have the same reaction as my DH and OS did as we parked our van.

My boys and husband practically skipped into the store, it’s true, you NEVER, EVER skip into a military store but it sounds funny!).

This was probably one of the few stores I have ever entered in my life where I was almost completely sure I wasn’t going to spend any money.

Everything you might ever possibly need regarding the military was there.

We’re talking K-Rations, camo pants, gas masks, resin replica assault rifles which my three OS really wanted, hand grenade candle holders (they wouldn’t match my decor) and more. Parachute jackets, ammo boxes, metal helmets, you get the picture.

The entire store was basically covered in brown, green or black.  I couldn’t find one pretty thing in the building!  This was really man’s land.

Only upon exhaustive searching, did I discover one teeny spot of thin, pink piece of nylon rope which made me feel only a little bit better.

My husband and sons were fascinated, I was ready to go.

We walked down the aisles and when we spotted the plastic military shields for $25, it was almost more than they could handle. I guess the girl equivalent would be like going to Archivers, a scrapbooking store.

I felt like quite a good wife and mom venturing into a place like that but I know that they have gone into candle stores and boutiques humoring me.

In a way, I actually found Delks Army-Navy Surplus store quite interesting but not so much so that I have to go back anytime soon.

As I looked at the sign, I noticed a typo. Can you spot it?

Too bad I didn’t have a machine gun to shoot in an apostrophe. At least now I know where I can get one!

Questions: Have you ever looked back on your children’s interests and seen the signs of their future vocation? If you have younger kids, do you see indication of your children’s future profession in their current obsessions and activities? It’s fun looking forward and backward!

Christmas menu – my little restaurant

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Cheesin’

My husband designed this chalkboard for my kitchen.

I love to write and do fancy things with doodling and stuff.

I pretend I own a restaurant and scribble away.

It’s fun playing house even though I am a homeowner.

I guess it reminds me of my dollhouse when I re-arranged the furniture and whiled away the hours playing make-believe.

The little girl in me hasn’t left, I suppose. This was my Christmas menu and you have no idea how much fun I had putting this on my chalkboard.

Shrimp

Blue cheese

Ham

Orange and onion salad

Sweet potato casserole

Homemade lemonade

Fresh bread

Baby Jesus cake (I’ve included a link but ours didn’t look like this!)

Chocolate chip cheesecake

Sometimes these little touches make things more festive!

Question: What do you do to make the holidays special?