Frank turned five at the beginning of the month. (now last month)

five.  amazing.  he is five going on 45.  he is delightful and crazy.  He is imaginative and loud.  He is a perfectionist and can't stand to make mistakes.

He loves to be in control.  He makes up games and great stories, and he makes me laugh.

He has a sweetness to him that melts my heart.  He encourages his brother and loves to help him say new words and to climb up onto high places.  He still loves to be cuddled and hold hands.  He also loves to shoot people and things with his imaginary guns.

He is obsessed with loving the bad guys in star wars.  Darth Vader was his favorite for the longest time, but after we said that he could be Vader for Halloween because, after all, Darth Vader was redeemed in the end, he has gradually lost interest.  He has since realized that Emperor Palpatine is always bad and Never gets redeemed, and now he has surfaced into all the conversations and action down on the floor with the legos.

He is one minute petting the dog sweetly and the next minute, kicking him.  His favorite foods are mac n' cheese, cereal, homemade waffles and pancakes, and candy of every kind.  He will eat fried rice, he hates tomato sauce and all vegetables with the exceptions of the carrot and corn.

As i meet other moms from school and mother's day out i often hear this phrase, "Oh!  Your Frank's mom! I've heard so much about him."  I am never sure if this is a good thing or a bad thing.

He loves Jesus and can tell a good Bible story when looking at the pictures in his Bible.  He is a terrible liar because his face always reveals his guilt, and he always ends up telling the truth.  He still loves to sing and dance crazy, and is wild about dressing up in costumes.  He never stops talking...he is talking to me continuously about his lego men while i try to write this post.  

He is my firstborn,  he is my one of my greatest challenges and absolutely one of my greatest joys in this world.  I am so thankful for Frank.  he took two laid back, quiet people and turned our world upside down, and we are all the better for him.

So.

I have already written but am still adding pictures to the posts i wrote about my sweet boys on their birthdays.  I have observed many a friend writing thoughtful posts about their children on their birthdays, and I have taken note of the wisdom in this.  There is no better time to reflect on your sweet ones and what they mean to you than on their birthdays.

So i did that.  but i also really wanted to include their pictures....but i also had BSF tonight, which required that all of my free time on monday and tuesday would be dedicated to my weekly Bible study cramming sessions.  these would not exist if i would just start my lessons sooner, but that is just how it is.  so anyway, there are therefore no pictures of sweet ford's birthday on my computer yet.
to tell the truth, i actually have most of frank's birthday post completed, but i felt it would be strange to post frank's birthday post on ford's birthday. 

so instead, i will discuss Movies.

we have lucked out in our movie watching lately and thought i should share.
i also fully expect and hope that you would share good movie recommendations with me.

Note: (to see if we are movie compatible) i do accept violence, cursing, and brief nudity in movies.  I don't love them by any means, but they won't make me turn the movie off.  I do not, however, accept any violence towards women, and i really hate prison movies - especially violence related to prison living - those get turned off right away.)

Here are some that we liked over the past 4 - 5 months in no particular order:

-The Road.  michael accidentally rented two post-apocalyptic movies back to back.  this was by far superior to The Book of Eli, with Denzel (though i did enjoy the reverence to the Bible in that one).  The Road has Viggo Mortenson and it is so disturbing in so many ways.  It feels real, and makes you want to start hoarding canned goods and fuel.  After studying Isaiah in BSF, I have been amazed at how much this movie reminds me of what the actual apocalypse might be like for people who don't know the Lord.  pretty heavy, but worth watching.  

-The Secret in Their Eyes. it is in Spanish and it is terrific.  one of those movies that you forget you are reading subtitles


-Harry Brown.  michael caine kickin' some young dudes' ass.  violent and british and good.


-Rocket Science.  it is a strange indie comedy.  i recommend it not because it is the best movie i have ever seen, but because we watched it in bed late at night on the computer and we both stayed wide awake with fascination.  for sure one of us usually falls asleep in 10 minutes or less.


-Bound for Glory.  david carradine plays Woody Guthrie.  I probably should read a book about Woody Guthrie's life, but until that time comes, I was glad to see the movie about someone whose music i so admire. 

-Predators.  i don't actually recommend this movie.  i just wanted you to know that i watched this sequel or third or fourth or whatever number of predator this was.  i am that good of a wife.  


others that i have seen and loved since that last list so long ago:
 Shutter Island
Rebecca 
Good Hair
Lonesome Dove
The Young Victoria
True Stories. michael had the idea one night to go back and re-watch this one.  i am so glad he did.  it was like re-watching Harold and Maude again, it felt good.  
Pressure Cooker


and lastly, on the PBS American Experience website, you must check out the one on the Civilian Conservation Corps.  My grandfather was a part of this organization, so that is why i watched it, but it was a really great documentary.  It reminded me of the great things we are capable of, and how God can use people and ideas to really bless a nation.  If you ever go hiking and notice steps on your trail or stones that mark your way, it is very possible that these are the guys who put them there.


it is late, but i am about to watch Coal Miner's Daughter the movie about Loretta Lynn's life.  I heard her interview on Fresh Air and was hooked.  It was one of the few times I could not turn off the radio.  I made my kids be quiet when they came in the kitchen, and i think i even made dinner late, just so i could finish listening to the show.  She seems like the real deal.
 

did you worry?

did you begin to say: "she must have quit."  or "I wonder if everything is okay?"

well, i appreciate your concern - or maybe you didn't notice at all that i have not been keeping up here.
the truth be told, it is just plain hard these days to maintain my writing frenzy of the past.

you see, i have some issues...

1.  frank no longer naps.  nap time was my quiet time, the time when i was best able to sit and reflect and be creative.  now it has been replaced, i am not exactly sure what i have replaced it with, but i know it is not reflective, creative time.

2.  from october 31 through january 1 the calloways have some crazy amounts of celebrating and planning of celebrations that go on including halloween, frank's birhtday, thanksgiving, ford's birthday, Jesus' birthday, and then new year's....not that i count new year's - it is the lamest of holidays.  maybe it is better in other countries?
anyway, all this involves multiple trips back and forth to kansas, which is delightful and precious to me, however, it does not lead to reflective, creative time.

3.  photo management.  i always bring it up, but i feel i have a problem.  and it leads to a lack of wanting to be on the computer.  when i sit down at my computer, the first thought i have is, "i need to deal with the pictures."  which then makes me think, "i would rather go to my basement and hang out for a while than to sit and delete photos from the computer."  I have a block.  No matter how many ways i back up the pictures, i always feel like i won't see them ever again if i delete them from the laptop.  i know it is stupid, but i'm sentimental like that.  i want all the photos i have ever taken of my children readily accessible at any minute.  my wish for a present this year is for someone to sit with me and develop a photo system where i can have all of my photos safe and secure and easily accessible, but not overfilling my laptop's memory.  any takers?  you do have to travel to arkansas, though, so keep that in mind before you all jump in at once.  

4.  and this is probably not related at all, but we are expecting another calloway in june.  now most of you know this already, so i am not saying that this is a big news flash, but i will say that it had caused me a bit of lethargy in the evenings throughout october and november that was detracting me from photo management and telling you about my oh so, but really not so, exciting life.

now all that said, i have throughout this time had regular ideas about things i could be writing about, and i really don't know where to begin.  so...let's just pick a place and go.