Roll With It

It's fun picking Chandler up from work, watching him come out of the office doors dressed in a collared shirt and slacks, sporting a suave half-smile. At sixteen years old, Chandler is the youngest drafter the architecture firm has ever hired - the next oldest up from him is about twenty-three.

Chandler works every other day just a regular nine-to-five job. Then, he's on the high-school campus with the days in between. During the space in the evenings where he is home, he's either writing music or catching up with his online schoolwork. He's very busy these days but I love seeing him learn more responsibility.

With his full schedule, it's rare to be able to pull him away to engage with the family very much. The other day, I came through the door hauling groceries into the house - I glanced over at Chandler at the kitchen table (who was busy as usual writing music on his laptop) I glanced down at the large package of toilet paper rolls I had just set by the bathroom. I had a brilliant idea.... I couldn't restrain the urge to seize an opportunity to have a little fun. 

I filled my arms with rolls of toilet paper and crouched behind the counter. Then, when I got a good view of Chandler's head, I chucked a roll at him. 

I missed. 

He smiled because he knew exactly what I was up to. I chucked a second roll and he reflexively caught it. He smiled again because he knew my attempts were thwarted. I opened rapid fire and he deflected every shot until I was completely out of ammo.

But now, surrounding his work-space was a pile of toilet paper rolls. He had all of them and I had none. He began firing back as I ducked and dodged... but mostly got hit. I sighed, acting defeated as I gathered all the rolls into a bag and  walked toward the living room, "Well, I better go put these away" I stepped around the corner out of his view.  

I waited until I knew he was focused on his work again (although, I'm pretty sure he knows me well enough to have anticipated my return). Nevertheless, when the time was right, I jumped out from the corner and threw one last roll squarely at his head! "Ha ha! Gotcha!" 

We both laughed and I was grateful I was able to steal his time for some light-hearted playing. Spontaneous moments like these make the best memories!

Where'd the wisdom go?

This is the face of a sixteen-year-old kid who is NOT AT ALL excited to get his wisdom teeth pulled.



I was excited though because I wanted to see how Chandler would act when he was loopy in the post-op.





The Dr's. Office had a wall with quotes with crazy things said by other patients coming out of anesthesia. I figured Chandler would say some pretty funny stuff so I had my camera all ready.


It felt a little long waiting...
......
...


This is the face of a mom having way too much fun making selfies with the writing on the wall.

Finally, when the surgery was over, we got some video footage of Chandler as he was waking up... and he certainly WAS loopy. I'm glad he was on the happy end of loopiness because the teenage girl who left the office before us was an emotional mess, screaming and crying.

Chandler wasn't emotional at all. He wasn't angry or aggressive either.  He was just fascinated with the after-effect sensations of a completely numb face and fuzzy finger-tips.




I discovered that Chandler can out-swear any sailor... even a drunk sailor. I have never heard him use so much colorful language in such a short span of time in all my life!
Every other word was *f* *a*  and  *s*.

I couldn't help but wonder how conscious he was of it. I tried a couple of times to correct him.  It lasted less than two seconds after his apology, "Oh, sorry about that....*bleep * bleep *bleepidy bleep*"


Remember the photo I took before his surgery? This one...

Well... This is the face of a sixteen-year-old kid having way too much fun knowing he can totally get away with his little potty mouth in front of mom and blame it on the sedation drug.

The drug wore off shortly after being home and he was back to his old self  - censored but grumpy. He'll cheer up soon though. He gets all the ice cream and movies he wants for the next couple of days. What teenage kid couldn't be happy with that???

Okay...well...

...I had a good day though.

Sweet Sixteen

Chandler turned 16 yesterday! It's hard to believe he's growing up so fast. 

I love him more and more every day. He's such a good kid and he's incredibly gifted.

I'm amazed at how fast he picks up on things, especially with computer software and writing music. He really does have a photographic memory. 

He landed his first job a couple days ago too.  

He's starting next week as a drafter at an architecture firm. 

I'm very excited for him because I know he's going to be awesome!

My friend, Suzanne, made Chandler his own little cake. :)

The Sound of Music

Eight months ago, all my kids started taking music lessons for the first time. I let them each choose which instrument they wanted to play most: Miriam and Micah chose violin, Kaylee chose piano, and Chandler chose EDM (electronic dance music). 

Dale is Miriam and Micah's violin teacher. He's such a happy guy and so comfortable for the kids to talk to, they really like him. He says that Miriam is a natural and learns faster than most of his students. Micah enjoys violin but a couple of weeks ago has started to learn to use it as a fiddle. Dale says that fiddling is harder but it really seems that this is where Micah has much more interest. 

Kaylee's piano teacher, Ann, is the sweetest lady, full of praise and encouragement- Kaylee loves her. I've been impressed with how quickly Kaylee is moving through her lessons these past eight months - she's already in her third piano book! She sounds so awesome!

Chandler has always loved music and with a wide variety of interest. His greatest passion is writing his own music though, especially EDM. His webpage is https://soundcloud.com/chandlerrawlins 

I'm pretty sure he's destined for stardom. 

Fifteen Years Ago Today

Fifteen years ago, today, my life was changed forever in the most beautiful way! I gave birth to my very first child and it was an experience I'll never forget.  The whole concept of time, the earth and the universe, seemed to stand still in our world as my husband and I held in our arms the wonder of human creation connected with the powers of heaven.  What took us most by surprise was the intense pure love we felt for this tiny human life.  In awe we pondered, "If we as imperfect mortal parents feel the smallest fraction of love for our children... What must it be like compared to our  Father-in-Heaven?  Imagine the love of a perfect immortal and all powerful God must have for us!" Nothing is more Divine, more close to heaven, than that of becoming a mother or a father!

 It's hard to believe that my little guy could ever grow up so fast. Now he's taller than me by almost half a foot and has me beat by 25 lbs! It's crazy!  When we wrestle, we have to be careful.  After a few bruised ribs of mine, he's learned to be a little more gentle as he easily picks me up and throws me on the couch.  My, my how have the tables turned!  I remember when I used to play the "tossing games" with him.  Of course, I never bruised any of his ribs.  His weakness is that he's extremely ticklish... and well... that's my weakness too but if I tag him just right, the wrestling match is over and I still reign!!

My love for Chandler is different for him than what I felt when he was a newborn.  I believe it is more refined.  It has been tested and tried.  He is my first-born and I've made a lot of mistakes. He's incredibly strong-willed.  (Not unlike his mother. ha ha.) I push and he pulls.... I pull and he pushes.  I've stumbled and bumbled along my way as I've approached every new stage of his life. Each stage was a new one for me too.  So many times, sitting at his bedside apologizing for my behavior, explaining my desires and discussing how we are growing up together.  So many humbling moments on my knees praying to God, "How do I do this?"
So many more to come....

He has always had a fun sense of humor and he has become more entertaining through the years. He has this uncanny ability to do impersonations and quote funny lines verbatim which has caused me to roll on the floor laughing so hard that it hurts.

He also has a tender spiritual side that comes out every once in a while.  I most often discover this side of him in the playlists he shares with me.  The other morning I went for my weekly hike up the Y and decided to listen to his music.  The song, Broken Circle by, Second Suspense, started to play as I surveyed the gorgeous scenery of this valley I love so much.  I looked for my home, for the Temple, and gazed down at BYU's campus.  With the music and the view, the feeling in my heart was magical.

Speaking of BYU... that's another thing I absolutely love about Chandler.  I don't think there's a football fan who gets more excited for every season than him.  He has the whole thing predicted in full color on a spreadsheet.  Check this out!  This is serious stuff!
Sorry opposing teams, it looks like it's straight losses for you guys and a winning National Championship for the Cougars!

Happy Birthday to my first born!  When you came into my life, I never wanted you to grow old.  I wanted to keep you young and hold you forever in my arms.  But now I'm seeing how fun it is to watch you grow and become a man.  I'm seeing how great it is to have you hold me in your arms. (Even if it's because I've just been tackled and my body is twistedly stuck as you've pinned me to the floor.)  It's still "in your arms" and I'll take it.  ;)

You are full of passion and excitement for life.  You are awesome!  I love you more than ever!  You're a good, good son and I'm proud to call you mine.

-Alicia (aka - MOM)