They Grow Up So Fast

My children are growing up so fast. This morning Jansen and Carlie headed out on their first road trip…alone. They have both been missing their friends in St Anthony and finally decided to go. They had a rough time getting out the door. We had been looking for Jansen’s ipod connector for the last few days. I was right proud of myself for finding it right before they left….in the depths of the recliner. No seriously, it was crazy that I ever found it even though I am the queen of finding everything around here. I was so relieved to have found it but then started to twitch a little when Jansen said, “I can’t find my wallet mom.” Really? No wallet….no trip. At first Jansen got rather frustrated and was heading into his freakout mode but then something switched and he actually started looking….I mean really looking for it! And guess what? My 16 year old son who can never find anything without my help found his wallet camouflaged under the truck seat belt! Then I knew he was ready to handle the road trip responsibly. I did send Carlie with extra money though in case he lost his wallet while traveling;)

Jansen and Carlie aren’t the only ones growing up. Will has become a little entrepreneur. The other day we were in Verizon upgrading Jansen’s “not phone” that had gracefully rolled into the Schallenberger’s pond. Will mentioned to the salesman Mario that he was trying to convince me to buy him a phone too. I replied he would have to earn the money himself. Will told Mario that all he knew how to do was make duct tape stuff. Well of course both Mario and Anna were intrigued….and thus started Will’s lucrative duct tape business. At first I thought the salespeople were just egging Will on and trying to get me to buy him a phone but Will and I both realized they were serious! Anna gave him the measurements of her phone to make sure the purse would be big enough. He made a duct tape wallet for Mario and a handbag with a braided strap complete with an embellished flower for Anna.

Will diligently worked on his duct tape masterpieces and cashed in today when he sold them to Mario and Anna for $5 a piece. He even threw in a duct tape rose pen for all the Verizon customers to use. Had I been thinking, we should have made him business cards and unfortunately we forgot to take pictures before he sold them. Well, this afternoon Will was telling the Kimzeys about his business transaction and Cole decided he would like to buy one as well. So out came all the duct tape supplies again and I’m sure Cole will be happy with his grey and yellow duct tape wallet! As for me, I can handle all the different colors of duct tape “fabric” lying around because that means Will is one step closer to becoming an independent businessman! I am so very proud of him. Oh they grow up so fast!

And we're only one month away from Kristen starting Kindergarten!