Day 1
As always, I explain these camp blogs are written so the boys and I can remember. I know they are tedious.
How has this summer gone by so quickly? It's Thursday afternoon as I write this and the boys left about an hour early today. I needed the time, but I feel a little sick inside that our second year of Mellie's Summer Camp of Excellence is over. Time...hard to comprehend.
Tuesday was a busy, busy day. It was our second annual cook-for-the-parents night. The first thing we did was make our crème brulee so that it would have time to cook and cool. While it was cooking, they made chocolate bowls. I bought all the right supplies for that including silicone cups. They were supposed to make popping the chocolate cups out so very simple. Turns out, not so much. Several of our cups collapsed, so while they watched a movie, I made them again in paper cups and they worked much, much better. Afterward, we went to the grocery and bought flowers and a few other items we needed. I wised up this year (live and learn) and bought most of the groceries the day before. We did go to the Amish market so they could pick out tomatoes. They did a stellar job; the tomatoes were delicious.
When we got home, we had lunch and then they arranged the flowers, set the table, chopped tomatoes, helped cook the meat and helped make baked meringues. By this time, I was so exhausted with their help that I turned a movie on for them and finished up the other details of dinner.
At each place was a laminated (how did I live happily before now without a laminator?)menu card/world's largest bookmark, a small pencil and a sheet to mark what each person wanted on their taco. We had beef, chicken, tomatoes, lettuce, sweet peppers, jalapeno peppers, cheese, sour cream, ranch dressing and black beans. For appetizers, we had guacamole, salsa, chips and virgin margaritas. I still can't believe I failed to get a picture of one of the margaritas. First of all, they were delicious and they were quite festive with a fancy straw, umbrella, lime slice, and the cup rimmed with turbinado sugar. Yummy! Everybody seemed to enjoy them.
Finally, the boys called everyone to the table. Chaos ensued as they took the order sheets and I tried to fix the tacos, but finally everyone was served and the boys led this blessing: "Full of joy and thankfulness, we say 'Thank you, Lord' from the bottom of our hearts. We look at the food prepared by loving hands, we look into the faces of those that love us and those who we love in return and we look to You, our Lord and Savior. All good gifts around us are sent from heaven above, and we will never forget who is our true provider. We thank you as you bless this food and bless this time together. Amen" Having a prayer written out for them helped them feel more confident in leading it. I think Fizzy might have shed a tear or two.
After dinner, the boys cleared the table and dessert was served. There were options....crème brulee, chocolate cups with caramel cookie crunch gelato, and baked meringues. They most loved serving the crème brulee because they got to torch the top. I loved that Marshall told Max he wanted "extra crunch" on his, knowing the more Max could torch the better. I was really impressed with the expertise they showed in torching, and they only needed a little help blowing out flaming sugar. Dinner was declared a success. Mellie collapsed...like, almost literally.
Day 2
Oh, glorious day. My nephew, Cole is house/dog sitting where there is a pool. I invited us to come spend the day. Cole is very gracious, so he would say I didn't exactly invite us, but I sort of did. We arrived at the pool around 10:15. I jokingly told Fizzy when he called to be sure I had put sunscreen on the boys (whatever) that Cole didn't know it, but I was planning on staying until 3:00. Cole laughed, assured me he was just hanging at the pool all day and I could stay as long as I wanted. I think we left around 4:15. It was a great day!!
Nunny came and hung out. Do'Do' came and helped Max practice diving off the board. He did not perfect it, but he got better and better with each try, but the main thing was, he never gave up. Simeon loved going off the board, although diving was not on his agenda. So, day 2 was peaceful, with a few little bumps in the road, but all-in-all it was a most relaxing and pleasant day. We came home, boys showered, I scrambled eggs, fried sausage and made toast. Simmy stayed to eat and Violet joined us too. I could enjoy another day just like that one.
Day 3
I think we all sort of started this day with a bit of dread. I know for sure that Max and I did. Simmy sort of takes life in stride, but Max marks moments, and he has all the feels about them. It was the last day of camp. Have I mentioned that I'm sad about that? Now, all my grandparent friends whose grandchildren live out of town, you can smack me when you see me for being such a big baby. I can only imagine how hard it is for y'all when you leave their homes or they yours after a visit. God bless you all.
We got off to a late start this morning because Mellie had a visitation to attend. As soon as Max arrived, we went to get Sim. Our first stop was the state museum. It is amazing. We only saw part of it, and I'm learning that Max is not as big a fan of formal museums as Simmy. While we were there watching a movie on Tennessee in the Civil War, a group of mentally challenged adults came and sat with us. I don't know where those who "supervise" were, but one of them, a rather large man, standing and rocking back and forth was inappropriately touching himself and then revealing his bare belly. It was very disconcerting. Simmy was engrossed in the movie and Max was looking at a display right by where we were sitting, so I don't think either of them noticed, but I was a bit dismayed by the whole thing. When the movie ended, we hastily left that area and perused a bit more of the museum then, of course, headed to the gift shop. I had already told them that, because it was our last day of this summer, I would buy them each a $10 or less souvenir at the museum. After much hemming and hawing, they ended up with a game of marbles, a game of tiddly winks, and a stuffed fox for Violet. Both seemed very happy with their purchases.
The museum was followed by our second annual lunch at the Hermitage Hotel. Service was much faster today than last year. Other than a napkin picked up off the floor a gazillion times, and one chin removed from a plate more times than that, they did very well. We had quite the lovely lunch together. It had been requested earlier that we get dessert at Cheesecake Factory following lunch because The Hermitage Hotel's desserts are not to our liking. So, we drove to Cheesecake Factory where the wait time was quite long, so we ordered one piece of cheesecake for Simmy to go with the promise of Mango Sorbet for Max when we got home. We had a near disaster when Mellie came to an abrupt halt in the driveway and the cheesecake went flying. Fortunately, only the whipped cream was damaged, well, and since we were in Fizzy's car, his umbrella has quite a bit of whipped cream on it, but it'll wash off next time he uses it.
A rousing game of Tiddly Winks and Max's dad picked him up early. Max never wants to go, but I teasingly told him it was all his fault because he's so fun to be with and his dad really wanted to spend time with him. That is exactly why Marshall picked him up. Sim and I played a few games of marbles before his dad collected him.
I failed in the picture-taking this week. We didn't write in journals. We didn't do our exploding artwork. But, Lord willing, we will have other days for other activities. While I learned as a mom that having children is like having your heart walking around outside your body, until I experienced it, I never quite understood what grandchildren can do to you. I know life will get in a routine when school starts. Right now, however, I'll just dwell in this bittersweet moment.
Thursday, July 25, 2019
Thursday, July 11, 2019
Week 3 ~ Service Week
It occurred to me that, perhaps, we all needed to do a little something for someone else, thus Service Week was born. It proved to be a good week at Mellie Camp. Again, I write these blogs to document camp for the boys, of course, my sharing it on FB belies my protests of understanding if you don't read it. Such a conundrum, or is it hypocrisy?
Day 1
Today, we decided to make lunches for those who are experiencing homelessness, but our first service project was to make the bed, then write cards for Fizzy. Fizzy is definitely a wonderful model of servant leadership in this family and deserves to be honored. One note said, "Fizzy I love you," and the other said, "we made your beb. I love you." Is there anything more precious than handwritten messages from one's grandchildren? Our next act of service was to replace the flapper in Fizzy's toilet. I explained about turning the water off at the wall, what a flapper does, how the chain needs to be the right length and presto, no more running toilet. Later in the day, when one sweet little granddaughter felt the need to use most of a roll of toilet paper to take care of her needs, it was Mellie to the rescue again with my handy plunger.
Then, we went to the store to buy supplies for our lunches. It was decided that we would make 6 and each boy could deliver 3. I was very concerned about fixing sandwiches made with meat and cheese and mayonnaise, so we did what I don't really like to do when I am fixing meals for those in need, and that is make peanut butter sandwiches. I figured the humbleness of PB&J would be better received than a sandwich which provided ptomaine poisoning. Nobody wants that.
Each boy got to pick the kind of chips, dessert, and drink that would go in the lunch and we also got fresh cherries and grapes. One of my sweet boys has great difficulty in making decisions and so we stood in the refrigerated section of the store for as long as I could stand as he pondered which kind of lemonade he wanted...for himself. Finally, I told him I was counting to 30 (I know, right? Why not 5?) and if he had not made a decision, I would make it for him. At 29 he decided, I returned the one not chosen to the refrigerator and he immediately began to moan that he had made the wrong choice. "Tough luck" was the most loving response I could come up with at that moment.
Finally, back home to put the lunches together. One little guy was struggling a bit pulling himself back together, but he did and enthusiastically packed his 3 lunches. I had each boy write a note to put in each lunch. I don't know what they ended up writing, but one boy on the first one wrote, "bless you, Bob," and I made him redo it. He was incensed that I was not planning on driving around until we found a man named Bob who needed a lunch.
Finding the first few folks was not terribly difficult, even in the heart of Green Hills. We delivered 5 of the meals, were growing weary of being in the car and so came home where one boy and I split the lunch we did not deliver. It was a pretty good PB&J with orange marmalade on it. I hope those who received a lunch thought so too.
We came home, ate lunch, did some art projects, one of which did not go well with one boy climbing under the table declaring himself a failure at art. I assured him it was a process, but he's more the type that wants to be at step 15 without working through steps 1-14. I understand that. 30 minutes of quiet time, where I may or may not have set the timer for 40 minutes instead. I didn't realize that 7 year olds had such a refined sense of timing and I did get a bit tickled when Simmy was convinced that something was wrong with the timer. I, perhaps, was not as forthcoming as I should have been about my duplicity, but I was reading a good book and I was tired!
Both boys and Violet ended up staying for supper, which, let me just say, was so awful that Fizzy suggested that I not even make an effort for Wednesday night. I eagerly took him up on that offer. I can do nothing for dinner quite easily. By the time everyone left, I was ready to hit the sofa with my good book. It was a good day.
Day 2
For the second year in a row, we restocked the pews at church. We talked a lot about how sometimes children don't realize how they can contribute to their church family, but that, in fact, they have much to offer. We stocked pews last year, and this year went a bit more smoothly. We stopped at Fresh Market to get snacks to fortify us after stocking the balcony. Once again, we went through which drink to buy. I am happy to report that a decision was made in a timely fashion with no buyer's remorse following. The snack was a bit trickier, so I gave him 2 options, he chose one and seemed quite happy with the decision. Progress!!
We arrived at church and visited a moment with "Miss" Nancy then hustled to the sanctuary to put out pens, cards, and to clean out the book racks. Let me just say, that balcony-sitters, are a good deal messier than those who sit downstairs. Balcony finished, or so I thought, and downstairs to have the snacks and hit the sanctuary. Max got himself a system which worked quite nicely. Simeon was putting the cards in the card racks and decided that he would shout each time he saw where a pen was needed. Nevermind that Max was on the other side of the room placing pens and would eventually get to it. If Simmy yelled "here!" once he yelled it 500 times. As we were finishing up, Max looked upstairs and said, "Melly, we only did one of the decks upstairs." What foolishness was this? Oh, shoot, he was right. So, back upstairs we went. The entire time boys wanted to know if they could drop pens off the balcony downstairs. I capitulated, because I, myself, wondered how far they could throw pens. I let them each throw one pen off the balcony as far as they could. Both boys were convinced that theirs made it to the stage. I have my doubts, but I was getting weary. Do you see a theme here. They asked if they could play tag in the sanctuary, I said, "yes, if you stay off the stage." About 5 minutes into the game, one ran up on the stage and did not come down immediately, so I declared it time to leave.
We went home to have lunch where our conversation took some turns. First of all, Max wanted to know how church family has ever helped him. I said that his church family prayed for him when he had his eye surgery and he was prayed for constantly when he was born. We talked about how he had to stay in the hospital because of complications. He wanted to know if Simmy had taken so long to be born and I said, '"no, Simmy came in a big hurry." Max expressed how Simmy burst how of his mama's belly and I just smiled. Let him think what he will, but Simeon asked THE question..."how do babies get out?" I'm not sure I've ever been so eager to play the grandmother card and replied, "that's something it's best for your parents to share with you." Yes, score one for grandparent deflection. Then, Max wanted to know what I think happens when someone dies. I told him that I was not sure exactly, but that I do believe we go into the presence of God, while I might not know exactly what that would be like. Simmy then relayed a story that Fizzy had told about someone who recently spoke at a conference about his near-death experience. It was a beautiful depiction of the peace I anticipate when the time comes for my departure. So, all in all, it was quite the deep lunch conversation.
Afterwards, we had a true 30 minute quiet/reading time, followed by making yarn dolls and charm necklaces.
Day 3
Today was flower-delivery day. We did this last year. It is more an act of kindness service to celebrate the boys turning 7. I try to do this each year, though I have fallen short a couple years. We had already bought vases at $Tree, so we were off to Trader Joe's to buy flowers. I gave them the limit of what they could spend and both boys picked out lovely bouquets. Because my house was being cleaned, I did not want to go home to fix the vases, so we arranged the flowers in the back of the car. Each vase had a note tied on it that said, "My name is (Simeon, Max). I turned 7 in the spring. I am doing acts of kindness to celebrate that birthday. I hope these flowers bless your day." Our first stop was the Daily's in Green Hills. One of the ladies we gave flowers to had received flowers from Max last year. She was so moved and told him that she had saved one of the roses. Isn't that so sweet? She had pressed and saved the rose. I explained to the boys that not everyone has a husband or child or grandchild to bring them flowers, and they may not have the extra money to go buy them for themselves. Most people like flowers.
Next we went to the Purple Cow. The cashier there was just basically overwhelmed and offered two or three times to pay Simeon for the flowers. Each time, he told her that he did not want money, he just wanted her to enjoy the flowers. Next we went to the Brentwood CVS because soon this will be the home clinic for Simmy's mom as a nurse practitioner. We decided that we would give flowers to the NP working today. Max, first of all gave flowers to the cashier in the front. She was stunned. He's a little shyer and I had to explain what was going on. She just had a big smile on her face. Then we went back to the Minute Clinic to see if the nurse on duty had a patient where we found a waiting patient vomiting in the trashcan outside the examining room. I immediately hustled the boys away from there. We found another cashier and gave her flowers as well. Flowers to someone taking orders at Chick-fil-a where we might have revived ourselves with frosted lemonades and then to the Urgent Care clinic where we gave out last two arrangements away.
We came home, filled water balloons...lots of water balloons and the boys proceeded to throw many of them up on the roof. Why? I don't know. But they had fun, got soaking wet, came in, put on pajamas, made things with melty beads. We ordered pizza, had lunch, made more melty bead things and started watching a movie. Parents came early to get them and now Fizzy and Mellie are going out to dinner...because, you know, Tuesday night's dinner.
It was a good week. I hope they learned a little of the importance of serving others and gained some pleasure in seeing the joy in people's faces as they surprised them with an unexpected kindness.
Day 1
Today, we decided to make lunches for those who are experiencing homelessness, but our first service project was to make the bed, then write cards for Fizzy. Fizzy is definitely a wonderful model of servant leadership in this family and deserves to be honored. One note said, "Fizzy I love you," and the other said, "we made your beb. I love you." Is there anything more precious than handwritten messages from one's grandchildren? Our next act of service was to replace the flapper in Fizzy's toilet. I explained about turning the water off at the wall, what a flapper does, how the chain needs to be the right length and presto, no more running toilet. Later in the day, when one sweet little granddaughter felt the need to use most of a roll of toilet paper to take care of her needs, it was Mellie to the rescue again with my handy plunger.
Then, we went to the store to buy supplies for our lunches. It was decided that we would make 6 and each boy could deliver 3. I was very concerned about fixing sandwiches made with meat and cheese and mayonnaise, so we did what I don't really like to do when I am fixing meals for those in need, and that is make peanut butter sandwiches. I figured the humbleness of PB&J would be better received than a sandwich which provided ptomaine poisoning. Nobody wants that.
Each boy got to pick the kind of chips, dessert, and drink that would go in the lunch and we also got fresh cherries and grapes. One of my sweet boys has great difficulty in making decisions and so we stood in the refrigerated section of the store for as long as I could stand as he pondered which kind of lemonade he wanted...for himself. Finally, I told him I was counting to 30 (I know, right? Why not 5?) and if he had not made a decision, I would make it for him. At 29 he decided, I returned the one not chosen to the refrigerator and he immediately began to moan that he had made the wrong choice. "Tough luck" was the most loving response I could come up with at that moment.
Finally, back home to put the lunches together. One little guy was struggling a bit pulling himself back together, but he did and enthusiastically packed his 3 lunches. I had each boy write a note to put in each lunch. I don't know what they ended up writing, but one boy on the first one wrote, "bless you, Bob," and I made him redo it. He was incensed that I was not planning on driving around until we found a man named Bob who needed a lunch.
Finding the first few folks was not terribly difficult, even in the heart of Green Hills. We delivered 5 of the meals, were growing weary of being in the car and so came home where one boy and I split the lunch we did not deliver. It was a pretty good PB&J with orange marmalade on it. I hope those who received a lunch thought so too.
We came home, ate lunch, did some art projects, one of which did not go well with one boy climbing under the table declaring himself a failure at art. I assured him it was a process, but he's more the type that wants to be at step 15 without working through steps 1-14. I understand that. 30 minutes of quiet time, where I may or may not have set the timer for 40 minutes instead. I didn't realize that 7 year olds had such a refined sense of timing and I did get a bit tickled when Simmy was convinced that something was wrong with the timer. I, perhaps, was not as forthcoming as I should have been about my duplicity, but I was reading a good book and I was tired!
Both boys and Violet ended up staying for supper, which, let me just say, was so awful that Fizzy suggested that I not even make an effort for Wednesday night. I eagerly took him up on that offer. I can do nothing for dinner quite easily. By the time everyone left, I was ready to hit the sofa with my good book. It was a good day.
Day 2
For the second year in a row, we restocked the pews at church. We talked a lot about how sometimes children don't realize how they can contribute to their church family, but that, in fact, they have much to offer. We stocked pews last year, and this year went a bit more smoothly. We stopped at Fresh Market to get snacks to fortify us after stocking the balcony. Once again, we went through which drink to buy. I am happy to report that a decision was made in a timely fashion with no buyer's remorse following. The snack was a bit trickier, so I gave him 2 options, he chose one and seemed quite happy with the decision. Progress!!
We arrived at church and visited a moment with "Miss" Nancy then hustled to the sanctuary to put out pens, cards, and to clean out the book racks. Let me just say, that balcony-sitters, are a good deal messier than those who sit downstairs. Balcony finished, or so I thought, and downstairs to have the snacks and hit the sanctuary. Max got himself a system which worked quite nicely. Simeon was putting the cards in the card racks and decided that he would shout each time he saw where a pen was needed. Nevermind that Max was on the other side of the room placing pens and would eventually get to it. If Simmy yelled "here!" once he yelled it 500 times. As we were finishing up, Max looked upstairs and said, "Melly, we only did one of the decks upstairs." What foolishness was this? Oh, shoot, he was right. So, back upstairs we went. The entire time boys wanted to know if they could drop pens off the balcony downstairs. I capitulated, because I, myself, wondered how far they could throw pens. I let them each throw one pen off the balcony as far as they could. Both boys were convinced that theirs made it to the stage. I have my doubts, but I was getting weary. Do you see a theme here. They asked if they could play tag in the sanctuary, I said, "yes, if you stay off the stage." About 5 minutes into the game, one ran up on the stage and did not come down immediately, so I declared it time to leave.
We went home to have lunch where our conversation took some turns. First of all, Max wanted to know how church family has ever helped him. I said that his church family prayed for him when he had his eye surgery and he was prayed for constantly when he was born. We talked about how he had to stay in the hospital because of complications. He wanted to know if Simmy had taken so long to be born and I said, '"no, Simmy came in a big hurry." Max expressed how Simmy burst how of his mama's belly and I just smiled. Let him think what he will, but Simeon asked THE question..."how do babies get out?" I'm not sure I've ever been so eager to play the grandmother card and replied, "that's something it's best for your parents to share with you." Yes, score one for grandparent deflection. Then, Max wanted to know what I think happens when someone dies. I told him that I was not sure exactly, but that I do believe we go into the presence of God, while I might not know exactly what that would be like. Simmy then relayed a story that Fizzy had told about someone who recently spoke at a conference about his near-death experience. It was a beautiful depiction of the peace I anticipate when the time comes for my departure. So, all in all, it was quite the deep lunch conversation.
Afterwards, we had a true 30 minute quiet/reading time, followed by making yarn dolls and charm necklaces.
Day 3
Today was flower-delivery day. We did this last year. It is more an act of kindness service to celebrate the boys turning 7. I try to do this each year, though I have fallen short a couple years. We had already bought vases at $Tree, so we were off to Trader Joe's to buy flowers. I gave them the limit of what they could spend and both boys picked out lovely bouquets. Because my house was being cleaned, I did not want to go home to fix the vases, so we arranged the flowers in the back of the car. Each vase had a note tied on it that said, "My name is (Simeon, Max). I turned 7 in the spring. I am doing acts of kindness to celebrate that birthday. I hope these flowers bless your day." Our first stop was the Daily's in Green Hills. One of the ladies we gave flowers to had received flowers from Max last year. She was so moved and told him that she had saved one of the roses. Isn't that so sweet? She had pressed and saved the rose. I explained to the boys that not everyone has a husband or child or grandchild to bring them flowers, and they may not have the extra money to go buy them for themselves. Most people like flowers.
Next we went to the Purple Cow. The cashier there was just basically overwhelmed and offered two or three times to pay Simeon for the flowers. Each time, he told her that he did not want money, he just wanted her to enjoy the flowers. Next we went to the Brentwood CVS because soon this will be the home clinic for Simmy's mom as a nurse practitioner. We decided that we would give flowers to the NP working today. Max, first of all gave flowers to the cashier in the front. She was stunned. He's a little shyer and I had to explain what was going on. She just had a big smile on her face. Then we went back to the Minute Clinic to see if the nurse on duty had a patient where we found a waiting patient vomiting in the trashcan outside the examining room. I immediately hustled the boys away from there. We found another cashier and gave her flowers as well. Flowers to someone taking orders at Chick-fil-a where we might have revived ourselves with frosted lemonades and then to the Urgent Care clinic where we gave out last two arrangements away.
We came home, filled water balloons...lots of water balloons and the boys proceeded to throw many of them up on the roof. Why? I don't know. But they had fun, got soaking wet, came in, put on pajamas, made things with melty beads. We ordered pizza, had lunch, made more melty bead things and started watching a movie. Parents came early to get them and now Fizzy and Mellie are going out to dinner...because, you know, Tuesday night's dinner.
It was a good week. I hope they learned a little of the importance of serving others and gained some pleasure in seeing the joy in people's faces as they surprised them with an unexpected kindness.
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