Carl and the Bed

So I just found out that Carl has been sleeping on his floor beside his bed all week long. Carl has the T-style bunk beds in his room and he loves to curl up on the vent (under his window, between the wall and bottom bunk) with a blanket and his pillow to read. I have always thought that was so cute, but this is something completely different. Carl does use a blanket on top, but he is sleeping directly on the carpet with stuffed animals as pillows while his normal pillows are on his empty bed.
OK, so you may think I am a mean mom for forcing my child into his very own bed! When my mom moved in, I offered the queen size bed to Carl because he seemed so reluctant to sleep in his bunk bed. By the way, he never sleeps on the top bunk anyway. Carl actually cried because I wanted to take away his "special" bed! And yet, he continues to sleep on the floor.
Mom, Carl, and I spent a week in St. Louis with my brother and his family. Carl was suppose to sleep in his sleeping bag on Nathan's floor. Carl refused. I said he could sleep on the floor with Grandma and me, but he wound up sleeping with me in my niece's single bed all week long! And yes, he took up most of the bed. I had to keep reminding him that I was being nice and sharing my bed! (Auntie Lisa and Carl had similar "discussions" during Christmas break.)
I love my son and all his little quirks, even sleeping on his bedroom floor when there are two very good beds in his room!

Carl the reader!

On Wednesday morning, Mom and Brian left to go work at the Bishop's storehouse in Atlanta. I slept in until 9 am (boy am I going to have to change my schedule in three weeks!). Carl did not come and wake me up. By 9:30, I was concerned because Carl had still not come out of his room, so I hobbled across the house to his room. I knocked and then opened the door, and Carl was sitting on his bed reading "Percy Jackson: the Titan's Curse". He was almost finished with the book that he had just started the day before. Carl finished the book in TWO days. I have found only one problem: Carl wants to tell me all about the book while he is reading it and I am reading them after him. Part of helping Carl to be a better reader is discuss the books with him. I think we have read the books in the wrong order. I should have read the books first!
I love that Carl is such a good reader. I love to talk about books with him and to read with him as well. We try to have reading time every night. We found a collection of books where they take classic books, such as Dickens's "Great Expectations" and "Mutiny on the H.M.S. Bounty" and simplify them into books for children. Carl and I have really enjoyed reading them together!

Our newest adventure

Another title might be: the most expensive Sprite ever! Mom, Carl, and I went to the free children's movie at Mall of Georgia with my sister, Victoria, her two daughters, and friends. Afterwards, Mom, Carl, and I went to the gas station to fill my sister's van with gas. The QT station had fountain drinks for $.49. I took Carl in and we got drinks for the three of us. As I was walking out with Carl and two drinks in my hand, I was paying more attention to the people and vehicles as it was very busy. I kicked the sign at the door way (to advertise food inside). I was wearing "Crocs" as well, and a hook in the sign hooked in one of the holes of my shoe. I did not realize this, I just knew my foot was stuck. When I yanked it to free it, my left foot came down hard again the cement. My foot really hurt, but I was able to drive home. I put ice on my big toe. When Brian came home, he decided it was broken and we needed to go to the doctor. Brian took me to the local First Care and they took X-rays. Sure enough, I fractured my left big toe. So, after two doctor's visits, Brian declared the Sprite costing $300.49.
I am now back in my "boot" for at least three weeks while my fracture heals. I broke the exact same bone in the same toe three years ago on my younger sister's leg while playing on the beach. That time I wound up having surgery to remove a bit that broke off and did not heal back.
This time around, everything should heal just fine!

May 14th: Blast Off

Brian and I have always wanted to see a shuttle launch. When I checked the NASA launch schedule during the winter, there was a launch in July. As we began to plan our summer, I checked the schedule again and the July launch had moved to September. I then realized that Atlantis was launching on May 14th. We decided to go as it was a furlough day for us. We found a camp site in Orlando, drove down Thursday night, and then spent the day on Coco Beach.

The experience was incredible. Atlantis was set to launch at 2:20pm. Around 2pm everyone began to get out of the water and by 2:15, the beach was quite in anticipation. Brian was on the phone with his father (who was watching on TV). Mom and I heard the rumble of the engines, and then all of a sudden, this is what we saw:

I was not expecting to feel emotional over seeing the shuttle launch, but I had tears of joy. Carl liked it, and we hope that he will remember this special experience. Brian and I already want to go back to the launch in September.

We also spent Saturday in Orlando, not at Disney World. We went and saw the LDS Orlando Temple and then went to Bok Botanical Gardens.

So, if anyone has ever wanted to see a shuttle launch, we say: Go for it, we will see you in September!