Fun with 10 year old boys: Zach's bday party

Finally, my boy gets to have his long awaited sleepover. We were supposed to have had this last weekend, but circumstances demanded a postponement. Zach and his two best buddies have had a wonderful Harry Potter party. We've had a lot of imaginative play, and they've had a movie marathon. Alec went to bed at 8 p.m., and the big boys have been eating (and eating, and eating, and eating) and giggling and tooting and giggling and talking everything Harry Potter while watching the newest movie together. Tyler and Zach M. are sweet, smart, wonderful boys. I'm so glad Zach has these guys in his life! Above: Zach and his Rosie.

The t-shirts I made for the boys.

Watch out. The wizards are at work.

Alec, the cutest little brother ever.

A happy, happy Zach.

Zach M. casting a spell.

Zach and Tyler.

A proud momma with her sweet, wonderful, amazing 10 year old boy.

Happy birthday, Zach!

A Woman to Remember

This is what I wrote for Mom's funeral. Of course, there was no way that I could have made it through a reading of it, but our friend and minister Todd McRay read it for me:

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Mom loved kids. She loved her family. She loved her man. She loved the Lord. Our mother was not perfect, but her imperfections made her the amazing woman that she was. She was proud, but her pride was for her family. She was just a little bit vain, but her vanity was tempered with humility. She enjoyed her regular trips to the beauty shop. She liked having pretty hair and pretty nails, but she also loved digging in her flower beds. She would often get her nails glossy and perfect only to happily destroy them by working in the yard. She had an unapologetic love for chocolate. We had a candy drawer in our house that was always filled with the good stuff, and it was as much for her as it was for us. She often had a Butterfinger Blast from Sonic as her supper on a hot summer night.

She was just a bit greedy when it came to spending time with her grandsons. When the boys were babies, I was often pushed aside while she rolled around on the floor with them. She had a wonderful lust for reading and a passion for teaching children to read. Books and magazines were always close at hand in our house. Her bible was worn from heavy use. While she was, quite possibly, the least lazy person I've ever known, she did love sitting on the couch and watching old movies on TV. A rainy day was the only excuse she needed for a John Wayne or Doris Day movie marathon.

She had a bit of a temper and her wrath was often sparked when one of us tracked mud through the house. Her wrath often found mischievous outlets, such as her tendency to dump ice cold water on Jimbo when he failed to get up and ready for school on time.

She was generous with her smiles, generous with her hugs, and generous with her love. No, she wasn't perfect, but she was pretty amazing.

As children, we knew our home was open to friends. It wasn't unusual for our family of four to grow to five or six at supper time. It wasn't odd to find an extra head on a pillow at night. It wasn't abnormal to have an extra passenger in the car on the way to a football or basketball game.

She took joy in her family and in her friends. She took joy in her students and, later, in her grandsons. She fought the evil disease of Alzheimer's for so many years. The disease stole pieces of her from us over the years. It managed to take memories from her, but it cannot steal our memories of her. Let's remember her as the woman we loved: a woman who loved kids, loved her family, loved her man, and loved the Lord.

Forget-me-not

My mother passed away on April 5, 2011. She was 63 years old. I'm mourning her loss but rejoicing in her new residence in heaven. My heart is so heavy for my sweet daddy though. They were high school sweethearts, married at 20 years of age, and together for 43 years. He said, "We were together for a long time, but it sure wasn't long enough."

la fête (party!)

It's that time of year again in the Bishop household: birthdays. Mike's birthday is March 21. Alec's is April 1, and Zach's is April 1o. We have some sort of birthday cake/cupcake/pie in our fridge for weeks at this time of year.

My baby boy turned 6 yesterday. What a sweet little man my Alec Michael has become in the past year. He has mastered the art of being a kindergartener. He's reading and writing. He's adding and subtracting. He played basketball, and is now playing t-ball. He is learning to tie his shoes, and he's desperate to lose his first tooth. He loves to tell knock-knock jokes, but not as much as he loves to push his older brother's buttons. He has this weird little thing about bare feet and NEVER wants to be without socks. He almost climbed into the bathtub with his socks on tonight. He has the sweetest little dimple beside his mouth, and he has the longest eyelashes surrounding beautiful blue eyes. He's extremely affectionate and extremely aware of the role that God plays in his life. His prayers are thoughtful and heartfelt. He discusses heaven as though he's already been there, and he always, ALWAYS, makes us laugh.

We celebrated his birthday yesterday with a special lunch at school. Mike was even able to have the afternoon off, and he joined us for a lovely school lunch and birthday cupcakes with Alec's class.

We also had a birthday bash at Chuck E Cheese yesterday. Alec loved every minute it of it. The best part of the party was when he danced with Chuck E Cheese, though my second favorite moment was watching him try to grab tickets in the Ticket Grabber. He ended up having a couple of big tickets get caught in his crown which was very exciting.

Today we took the boys to the zoo and rounded out our Celebration of Alec. The weather was perfect for a zoo trip. Alec has always been a cat fan, so our first stop was Cat Canyon.The bears are always my faves. Caught these two playing in their river.

My baby boy is skipping and jumping right into his 6th year. I pray God's blessings on him!