Cindy and I were asleep in our beds when an unexpected caller rang the phone at a few minutes to midnight. Unexpected late night calls always have a way of jolting you awake with a curious concern and a kind of searching for why someone would be calling so late. Your mind races through the limited possibilities. The caller was our neighbor’s daughter. She called because our 13 year old son James was at her house. We were shocked. How could that be true? It was a dark and cool fall evening. The doors were locked, the alarm was on, his two sisters were laying down in the living room under blankets watching TV and James had been properly tucked in bed hours before. How could he possibly be at the neighbor’s house.
I got up to go get him. His sister went outside to look for evidence of his escape. Sure enough there was one of his small chairs under the flower box that was outside his window.
The window had been carefully closed after he left. His bed was made with a strategic lump of pillows in the corner. When I brought him back home I asked what the lump of pillows were doing in the corner of his bed and he enthusiastically said, “It’s James.”
James had carefully thought out and executed his plan for a late night excursion to some of his favorite people’s house, the Wilson’s. He had gotten dressed, made his bed, arranged the pillows to fool us that he was still there. He quietly opened the window. Silently lifted his small blue chair through the window and dropped it below the plant box to make his escape easier. He crawled through the window and then carefully pulled down the glass to make the window appear closed and undisturbed. And then off he went barefoot walking into the dark night, through the neighborhood his friend’s house in the middle of the night.
Needless to say by the time we had him back in bed Cindy and I were still in shock. We had moved into new territory. Our escape artist has gained new savvy and skill and our efforts to keep tabs on him just got a bit more intense. Thank God for the way He watches out for him. Cindy has often said that he must angels watching over him. I know the name of one angel that night. It was our most wonderful neighbor Ashley. She has always been so kind, patient and generous with James. She was an angel watching over him that night. Thank you Ashley.
Saturday, October 3, 2009
Hard at Work
This summer I lost all of my yard help. All of the kids have jobs and schedules and so the cheap lawn labor has gone. It has fallen back on me. But then there was one more kid in the house who showed some interest. I decided that it might be time for him to try. Now before you look at the pictures and think I have lost my sense of safety, let me assure you I was always a step away from this budding professional. He tired after a few rounds and so I think the yard work is still going to be mine.
Indiana James
James is never bored. He always doing something or pretending to be someone. His life ambition is to be a police man. He loves "spy gear", hand cuffs, walkie talkies, guns, swords and nerf guns. Here is one of my favorites moments that I call - Indiana James.
Lake Day with the Wilsons
One of the highlights of summer was going to the lake with our dear friends and neighbors, the Wilson's. I am so amazed that James is fearless when it comes to the lake. He loves the tubing and insisted on jumping in the lake the swim. I did learn that when swimming in the lake with James even I need a life jacket. When he got scared he came holding on to me not realizing that I needed to keep my head above water to breath also.
Dad coherced Summer Walk
It was one of the few days that all the kids were together for a summer day in Branson. I decided it was time to put down the computers, phones and turn off the TV and do something together. My plan was a walk. The cries of protest came from every child but I insisted we would enjoy it once we got out there. We began the walk through the up and down hills of the subdivision. James protested constantly. He does not love walking. With my best efforts to inspire I led the group down the hill to look at the golf course and the fountain. After we got down there we realized, we now had a long walk UPHILL back to the house. After making half way, I could take the groans and moans from little James (and his siblings) no more. We sat down on the side of the road and called Mom to come get us.
The Big Birthday
It has been a long time since I have updated this blog. It is not so much because James has not provided more stories to report, just kind of got out of the routine.
Well it has been a good summer with some great moments. First of all James turned 13. And so now we have a teenager. It is an interesting combination of teenage attitude, desire to be independent and yet there is this developmental lag that combines for some interesting challenges.
He talks constantly and is convinced that the problem is not that his speech is unclear but that his listeners just don't get it. As the vocabulary and understanding grows so does the complexity of the game of charades and "guess what word this is". The great thing is that every time we finally "get it" there is a great shared sense of accomplishment and fulfillment for both him and us.
I will post a few pictures in the succeeding posts with an explanation. Most 0f the shots are pretty understandable. Here he is at the big 13th birthday.
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