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.

GUN FOR COCO'S TRIP

We got Coco up at the 4:30 am wake up time. She got dressed, bags packed and we loaded up the car for the airport. The group going on the Thailand mission trip was to meet at the airport at 6 am.

I went with Coco up to the counter and we checked her bag and got the boarding passes all the way to Bangkok. Just before the group went to clear security they gathered for prayer. Coco made one last check of her back pack and noticed a bulge in one of the pockets. She had not put anything in that pocket so she investigated further. When she opened it there it was. The gun. It was not some plastic squirt gun. It was James' cowboy revolver. It had a long silver barrel and a big white bone handle. Although it was plastic the silver barrel and the bone handled toy looked very much like the real thing at the airport. Cindy realized that now they needed to smuggle the contra ban out the airport. She slipped it into a friend's bag. We prayed with the group and off they went to clear security. It was only after we got outside of the airport that I was told what had just happened. James had "pranked" Coco by sending her off with one of his toys. It would not have been funny for the authorities to discover the toy gun. Cindy and I got into the car just thankful that none of us had ended up in the county jail. We were also glad that Coco got off in spite of her little brother's prank.

Woman!

The other day Cindy went to James' school to pay for his lunches. When she got to the lunch room and told one lady she wanted to pay for James Lyons' lunches she lit up and called all of the other ladies out to meet "James' Mom". They told her how much they loved James. He apparently provides some good entertainment. He is probably at his best at lunch because James loves to eat. The ladies ask Cindy if she had ever seen "the chicken dance". Cindy responded that she had not. So they proceeded to demonstrate that because James loves chicken so much, when that is what they are serving he does this celebratory jig.

They also went on to ask if she knew that James had a girlfriend. She was aware of this since notes are regularly exchanged and brought home in his back pack. They told her that lately he had been buying ice cream. And he even buys ice cream for his "girlfriend". And he calls her "WOMAN!" and then gives her the present.

James is at least two heads shorter than his WOMAN. His confidence level is off the charts. He has no insecurities to get him down. He does not care that the girl he likes is two heads taller or that she might reject him. I never had such confidence when in Jr. High School. I was too shy to talk to the girl two heads taller than me no matter how pretty she was or how much I liked her. I was too worried about being too unlikeable.

What a great thing to have this kind of moxie in Jr. High. We are however doing what we can to discourage the budding romance. We feel like he would be better served by math and reading.

That's My Car

The other night James and I were on our way to see "Hotels for Dogs". As we stopped at a light this white mustang convertible with the top down pulled up beside us. James had been pretty occupied with his drawing but he popped his head up and declared, "THAT'S MY CAR". What do you mean James. "THAT'S MY CAR". I asked him if he meant the car beside us. He insisted again, "THAT'S MY CAR". "DIAL 911 THEY GOT MY CAR". This little guy has great taste in cars. In his mind "his car" would not be the boring minivan, sedan or vanilla Taurus his Mom and Dad drive. His car would be a cool Mustang convertible. Well, to him the world is his and all of his dreams can be as true as ever.

The pain of haircuts and the joy of grooming.

Well, it was time. The haircut could not be put off one more day. Now haircuts have never been an easy thing with James. When he was very little he would scream so loud and so hysterically Cindy and I worried that the neighbors would call the police. There is something about the cut hair falling on his neck that makes him hate haircuts. This has gotten better over time but it is still not easy and without protests. Cindy called me in to sit on the bed and just be in the room while she got the scissors going. Double teaming seems to help the whole thing. And so after yet one more less than enjoyable haircut James was done, bathed and back to his joyful self. He was profuse with thank you's. It is always kind of funny because he combs his hair and thanks his Mom and says, "I got my hair back". Feeling very dapper with a new hair cut and a fresh bath he often stands in front of the mirror to comb and pose. We usually get a few muscle man poses with the guns in full display. "I got my hair back." He is glad to have that over with for a while.

His overflowing euphoria about the finished hair cut put him in a grooming mood. After his hair was good and combed he gathered all of his stuffed animals and combed their hair one at a time until everyone in the room was ready for the paparazzi.

James Lyons "High St. Baptist Church"

"Hi, I'm James Lyons, pastor's son, High Street Baptist Church" We had a new receptionist the other day at the church office when Cindy and James dropped by. Always looking for something to explore James found the phone in the fax room with the headset. Immediately he put the head set on and went to work answering the phone. Thankfully it was mostly pretend and since there were no calls routed to that desk. All was well, or so I thought. I went on with my work and then later walked back through. I began to listen and then he gestured to me. Dad, "mean guys". "Where?" I asked. His response, "Means guys here, I call police." I didn't think much of it but happened to notice him actually dialing. I got there just in time. He whispered as he punched the buttons, 9-1-1 but before he hit the second 1 ... I grabbed the phone.

"James, do not call 911. The police do not like it when we "pretend" and call them", I scolded. I know this is a necessary warning.

A few Sundays ago, the house was full of the kids and some guests for lunch. James was in my bedroom watching tv. I went to check on him and saw that one of his favorite movies was on, Home Alone. He loves the pranks, the "mean guys" and the police. No worries, he was quite occupied so I went back to our guests. A few minutes later the phone rang. It was the 911 operator and she asked if someone had called about an emergency. Cindy assured her that all was well and that nobody... and then she paused and looked me. Well, maybe somebody did dial. It was James. Profuse with apologies to the operator we went back to talk to James. When I asked him if he had in fact called 911, I realized by the look in his eye and the hessitation that he had. I we had a little talk followed by a few minutes in the thinking chair.

Once again we had our 911 lecture after the church office near missed call. Life is never boring.

Shrek is cleaning James' room

It was a few minutes before our small group arrived last Sunday. With the family in a mad dash to put everything in order we heard the sound of a vacuum cleaner going in James' room. We thought that James had gotten in gear to help. Little did we know that it was actually Shrek cleaning his room. Why "just clean" when you can do so much more like pretending to be this amazing cartoon character and get the job done with gusto. Never a dull moment. We love it and the little guy that keeps things mixed up for us.