Celebrating Lucy

Lucy, ready to come home from the hospital, March 2007

Lucy, ready to rock out to her new iPod, March 2015

This weekend marked our Lucy's 8th birthday. We've enjoyed watching her grow from a tiny baby into a sweet, tender-hearted girl in what feels like just mere minutes. As most parents can attest to, "time flies" and all of a sudden their little ones are no longer so little. While Lucy is still "little" (don't tell her I said that!) it is amazing to me to watch her personality grow; her sense of humor coming out when she is finally comfortable and has warmed up. It's takes her awhile to do that, to get comfortable around new people, but once she does she is silly and loves you with her whole heart. She is sensitive and good to her friends. She loves her big brother enormously; this I hope she continues to hold dear to her their whole lives. What a great team! She loves animals and books and music and dance. She loves baking cookies with me, loves watching her brother navigate through Minecraft worlds, loves reading and kayaking with her dad. Honestly, she's a pretty great kid!

This weekend we had a birthday party for her at our  house. (her idea, I was totally committed to taking her and her friends OUT to bounce, or play, or paint, or skate...)  She wanted an art party so we made our plans and had 11 of her friends join us for painting, sand art, yarn sculpture and scratch art fun. And of course cake! It was another joy to watch her play with her sweet friends that afternoon. These girls are so great and I loved listening to them talk about their creations. The paintings were on framed canvas with acrylic paints. Animals, monograms, fireworks, rainbows, and sunsets were featured on their paintings. Beautiful!  Her friends gave her wonderful gifts with the best homemade cards! We ate "big yellow cake with pink frosting, 'Lucy' in cursive with white frosting and white flowers and candles" along with ice cream. They giggled, they told knock-knock jokes, they sang and just enjoyed being together. A great day for being 8!

In our family, the birthday person gets to choose The Birthday Dinner plan. Adam chooses something different every year, but it is often someplace for seafood. Lucy, however almost always sticks to Noodles & Co. for mac and cheese, and always with family invited. This year, like with her party, she wanted to stick close to home. She wanted to invite her grandma and she wanted her Godparents. And she wanted BREAKFAST. Her plan was lovely: Butterbraid coffee cakes, fresh fruit and yogurt dip, mini muffins, bacon and sausage, and scrambled eggs. Great plan, quick and easy to prepare for mom, and who doesn't love breakfast for dinner???  What a great night with her friends and some of her family together! I am so thankful to God for placing her in our care, thankful for her friends and our family, thankful for Michael's art supply coupons, and for Mark and helped me bring this little girl into the world. Love you honey. Happy Birthday Lucy!

Top Ten Movies I Want My Kids to See

There are great movies being made everyday that I will enjoy taking my kids to see. But there are loads !!!! of movies out there that they would never, ever choose to watch on their own, that I think every kid should see. There are a few on this list that we have shown them recently, but this is the work in progress list...in no particular order.

10. Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971)
9. The Ghost and Mr. Chicken (1966)
8. Chitty, Chitty, Bang, Bang (1968)

7. The Incredible Mr. Limpet (1964)
6. Singin' in the Rain (1952)
5. The NeverEnding Story (1984)
4. The Princess Bride (1987)
3. Harvey (1950)
2. The Love Bug (1968)
1. Oh, God! (1977)
There are too many others to list here that are "must see's": Star Wars series, Ghostbusters, Bad News Bears, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, Benji, Pete's Dragon, the original Tron.....a long list for sure. Maybe you're looking for something new to try with your kids. What are your family-friendly favs that I shouls add to my list??

Quiet.

They went back to school this morning and the house is quiet. Last night I did everything I could do to make the morning rush go a little more smoothly. The laundry was done, they had their clothes laid out, backpacks were cleaned then filled with folders and library books ready to return. Can you hear the washer and dryer? the kids arguing about putting their clothes away?  shouts of "I can't find that book!" I had shopped for lunch supplies and we found all the hats and mittens we knew we would need for the cold snap that came overnight. Can you hear the sounds of groceries being put away in pantry and cupboards? the slamming of closet doors and complaints of lost mittens? After a slight delay getting the van to go (the doors were frozen shut! Hello winter temps at last!), we were off and they were on their way back to school after two weeks of a really wonderful Christmas break. Hear the sounds of an ice scraper on my windshield, the beeping of a partially open/closed van door that is frozen!?

And now...it's quiet here. I know many moms are super happy about the words "back to school" after a long Christmas break. And I admit I am super eager to be able to clean a room and have it stay clean for the day. I've read the Facebook posts since Christmas Day; so many complaints of the mess, the kids fighting with each other, the lines for returns, the "I'm bored Mom" complaints amidst piles of gifts received just a few days before. But I have to say that even though I experienced some of this myself, (didn't I just comment about wanting a clean room??) I really enjoyed having them home with me. Hearing their laughter as they played, listening to the girl sing to herself, listening to the boy's constant "would you rather" questions, ("would you rather be in a car with a bunch of girls that love you and hate each other, or hate YOU and love each other?"), listening to her reading Ralph S. Mouse, listening to his loud music and efforts to train the dog to roll over. And now it's quiet.

I'll enjoy the quiet a bit for sure. And I will most likely treat myself to a manicure this week, watch some DVRd shows, crush some candy, and other things for myself. But I will also be really happy to meet them at the bus stop and hear the stories of their first week back after so long away from school. Quiet gone again...thank goodness.

Becoming the Stay At Home Mom

     I had taken a medical leave from my job teaching 4th grade in order to care for my dad. He had been diagnosed with Stage 4 lung cancer and needed all around care as he received treatments and neared the end of his life. I taught elementary school for 12 years in the same school district that we live in. After my dad passed on, there was his home and estate to attend to out of state, and I was devastated by his death. So I did not return to teaching that school year. During that precious time with my dad, we had many talks about the past and the future and my ideas about what I thought my life ahead would be like quickly began to change. My priorities became more clear, and the things I had focused on each and every moment of my dad while at work in the schools began to change. As many in the teaching profession can tell you, it's not been a good place to be lately. I felt the focus (kids) was being lost to data, scores, paperwork and meetings. My free time was less nourishing to my soul because I wasn't able to let go of thoughts of work and it's pressures. When I was home, my head was at school. When I was at school, my thoughts were about all that I wasn't getting done at home and all I was missing with my kids and my husband. I was feeling----lost.
    So after much discussion and praying, we decided that after 12 years of teaching, I would quit my job and become a....."Stay At Home Mom".  It was a great decision. But not an easy decision. And since that time, not an easy transition. It's been two years since my dad died and I am still trying to figure out this new "hat" I am wearing. The "mom walks you to the bus" hat. The "oh you don't work so you can volunteer for this right?" hat. The "I'm going to get myself organized" hat. The "wait for the kids at the school flagpole with the other  moms" hat.  Lots of new hats.
     The best part of being home is definitely being able to give myself to my kids. It is a total blessing to have this weight off of my shoulders and I am grateful each and every day for my husband's job allowing us the financial freedom to be able to do it. I am not unaware of so many friends that wish they could do the same. But this new hat is taking some getting used to for sure.

racing through the weekend

This weekend was one of those weekends that just wipes you out. There was so much planned, activities with our family...as well as things unplanned that I just feel so grateful for today, Monday, so I can stop.  Don't get me wrong, I had a fantastic time with my family this weekend, but I am really wiped out from racing through it all!

Starting with Friday: The kids had no school due to a Teacher Institute Day. I decided to take them to the zoo! It was such an odd experience to be at Brookfield during winter weather without other people there. We usually go at night for the Holiday Lights at Christmas, but this was amazing and I highly recommend it to everyone. We parked the van and I was car number 12. Yep, that's it. 12 cars in the parking lot!  There were times we just didn't see ANYONE else and walked through exhibit houses without anyone else except zookeepers who were only too happy to talk to my kids and I about the animals. We were also able to observe animals playing in the snow, wrestling with each other, and chasing prey through their environment. Watching the wolves run together as a pack was downright creepy and amazing!   We were able to take our time and never once got pushed, shoved, or had to wait in line to see something we wanted to see. And we took all the time we wanted at each exhibit. The QUIET was so strange and very good. We were also able to spend time with a newborn giraffe and wait quietly for another to have her  baby. No baby came yet, but was expected to deliver by yesterday. Watch the news!

Saturday brought Adam's STEM class at NIU. He spent the morning constructing a Popsicle stick bridge with a team. Next time, they will break the bridges to find out how  much weight each can support. They had to use a variety of engineering skills to build the strongest bridge. He's so excited to see what happens to it!

Late that afternoon, Mark took us to Johnson's Mound in Elburn to join a forest preserve program. They showed us how to tap maple trees using a spiel to collect the sap used to make maple syrup  It was a beautiful sunny day and we enjoyed spending it outside. But we really enjoyed watching them cook the sap over the campfire and then sampling the syrup! Yum! The newspaper was there. Here's the article from the Chronicle and picture about the whole program. You can see Adam's coat sleeve! :)

Saturday came to a close with delivering Girl Scout Cookies (which means a chance to catch up with the neighbors) and finding that our oven has finally bit the dust! So our yummy dinner get put into the fridge and a pizza was order quickly.

Sunday was  Adam's big District Pinewood Derby race in Oswego. He was Grand Champion from our pack, beating over 140 cars. Sunday's race wasn't as successful and he didn't place at all. But he had a great time and it was exciting to participate in a different race. He did get a participation trophy because going to district is a big deal! AND it all took place in my old junior high building...Traughber Junior High. Very surreal for me!

We wrapped up our Sunday by shopping for a new stove. And a miracle happened...we fell into a deal! Not just a good sale, but a ridiculous, once in a lifetime, too good to be true, can't pass it up, "make you an offer you can't refuse" deal. So we took it. And now my kitchen will feel like a new one. Can't wait to bake!  But for now, I need to rest a little. It's been a busy weekend and I need to slow down from the race.

play dates--the big switcheroo

This week both of my kids have had friends over to play after school.  On Thursday  Lucy was able to bring two little girls home on the bus with her, twins in fact. I enjoyed having them over and everyone had a great time the whole visit.  Friday, Adam had a friend from class come home on the bus too. He stayed the afternoon, had dinner with us, then we took him home. Everyone had a great time on this visit as well. All the kids gave me a great insight to my own children and  how they "play" at different ages. I just completely had an incorrect vision as to how each of these days were going to go!

I thought for sure the three little 5 year olds would be quietly playing dolls or dress up and doing what they do. I thought the boys would be out of control wildness, aggressively enacting some sort of military operation. ABSOLUTELY NOT. :)   I couldn't have been more wrong. Let me repeat that I enjoyed having ALL of these kids together and I will have them over again in a heart beat! But....such a different experience than I had anticipated.

The girls DID play dress up and dolls and kitchen, but they did it with absolutely every single piece of dress up taken out of the closet for close inspection first. They chose every single doll and put them into families laid out on the bed and floor. They took out every single stuffed animal and toy horse and led them into a giant animal toy parade. ALL AT THE SAME TIME. This all took place in her bedroom, then continued on into the playroom where a full on 7 course meal of plastic food was created and served in the toy kitchen. In between these activities, there was My Little Pony video watching and a game of "catch the cat". All done while singing of course. It was beautiful bedlam.

The boys were a different story. They came in and went straight to Adam's room where they discuss the finer points of Minecraft and what they needed to do to create the best world. They came down for cookies, ate them quickly and quietly-all business- then retreated for some Tom and Jerry on TV while talking about how they can set up "chat" on their iPods with each other. (not that I was listening in...)  Moving on---Legos, Furby, general silliness and laughter, but all in his room,  the family room or the playroom. There were no battles, shooting sounds or even ONE farting armpit!!  (do I sound disappointed?)  At dinner, they took a booth by themselves and invited Lucy to sit with them at the "kids table". They ate while they played and laughed and talked more about the best apps and homework. (Minecraft and Angry Bird BTW, and homework stinks-they have it now that the the big Immigration research project is done) And then moved on to planning the next time they could get together, but this time a sleep over so they would have more time.

I enjoyed ALL of these friends and loved how these siblings included each other and were kind to each other while they each had their own friends over. I loved that they all cleaned up after and were polite to the parents! What a great week these kids have had together. Can't wait to have them all over again!!

pinning with purpose

Like many millions of others, I've gotten on the Pinterest bandwagon. I admit, it's the biggest danger to losing time. I can sit down in my kitchen in front of my computer and "just check for one thing" on Pinterest. Two hours later I've realized I've lost the morning "pinning" great ideas. Many of you know that I have a leave of absence from school this year when my Dad came to live with us. Dad passed in November and I have some free time now. It's a GIFT! --and another blog topic---

    I've decided to use part of my time to actually "pin with purpose".  When I'm on Pinterest I am choosing to actually (gasp) use the pins and try them out. I started with Christmas. Before the holiday, I invited the local ladies in my family to bring a Pinterest Christmas ornament idea and supplies. I had cocktails and snacks and we each created about 5 different ornaments for our family trees, all inspired from an idea we found on Pinterest. Here's some of mine....

   I'm a bit sick of the "quick and easy" meals I've had to prepare during the week while working and getting kids to after school activities on time. So Pinterest to the rescue! So far I've tried:  mashed cauliflower, Olive Garden Toscana soup, honey roasted carrots, Philly Cheesteak sloppy joes, cranberry BBQ meatballs, peanut butter and apple crescents, Paula Dean potato soup and tonight I am trying Pizza Casserole.   I've linked to all of these sources so if you want to try them you can find 'em! Now I have the luxury of time to actually plan, shop, and prepare new meals for my family. Most of them have actually been successful!! 

Philly Cheesesteak Sloppy Joe, I skipped the sauce and just used a thin slice of Provolone cheese...YUM!

   I've also started planning our summer travel plans using Pinterest, as well as projects in my garden and home reno. With purpose, not random "oooh I like this" feelings. I ask myself if I could actually do this in my own home...if the answer is "yes" or "possibly" then I Pin it. 

    My son recently turned 9  and begged for a science party. Pinterest and STEM of NIU to the rescue! What a fun party for these guys!!!

    So I've enjoyed using Pinterest lately but it's also proved to me that I really was just ready to try new things with my new time. This is just one area that I've had fun with lately. This time that I have right now is definitely a luxury, a gift and something I never thought I would have. Earlier in the week, I was volunteering in my daughter's kindergarten class with her amazing teacher (yet another blog) and she said it to me just perfectly..."You know you're are finally getting to be one of the moms you've been jealous of all the years you were teaaching. All that time you watched someone else take care of your kids after school, and now you get to have those glimpses into their school day, and be there for them when they get home.  Now I AM jealous of YOU!"  Wow. I think I'll "pin" that quote!!!

ballerina dreams

Lucy has recently completed a ballet class taught by a wonderful young woman named Miss Jenny. She has really enjoyed her time there, twirling and learning and wearing pink tutus. Some of her favorite things! Her class at Dreams Dance Academy has been good for her. She learned that sometimes it will be hard and she will have to work at it. It is not "just twirling and looking cute" although she does that just fine! :)  I'm excited for her as she tries something new and fun for her. Last night was her last class for this session and she was allowed to bring a friend. There ended up being several girls from her kindergarten class at this night and it was crazy giggly! When the class was over there was the promise of McDonald's for all and off we went. Walking in with another mom from class, all the girls piled themselves into one booth! More giggles and lots of  pink and sparkles! Both Lucy and her friend quickly fell asleep on the way home, not even making it out of the main road before closing their eyes. I say falling asleep dreaming of ballerina poses isn't a bad way to end an evening.

the Santa party

Every year our dear friends, The Reilley's, invited us over for their annual Santa Party. It started as a get together for the daycare kids and their parents--maybe about 6-10 families. Over the years, the Reilley's have grown this event (yes-I've said it...it's an EVENT) to include other of their friends, family and of course now that our kids our older....school-aged friends and their families. It's an event that we look forward to every year and really is a permanent part of getting our Christmas on!
  This year was no exception.  Here's the drill. The adults all plan to bring some sort of appetizer or dessert. This is great because then Katie and Rob do not have any cooking to do. They can circulate and chat, snack and visit with everyone. As it should be! While Katie and Rob also have beverages out to share, the adults usually bring a little "cheer" along with them to share with others.
  As for the kids, Katie thought ahead about this too. Happy kids mean happy adults. We feed them first with some fun pasta, fresh fruit, crackers, chicken strips, and a juice box. They are happy, fed, and they move on to play with each other. This frees up the adults to enjoy their adult beverage of choice, and catch up with each other. This year the first chat I walked into was a very intense conversation about tech options in our homes. Bundling, cable, Dish, wireless, streaming, home phone/no home phone, ....it was really something.
  Anyway, the kids play, the adults play, everyone eats. Just a note...there was a moment of silence held this year as our friends, the Sears family, were unable to be with us due to sick kiddos.. We missed them...and their Cookie Crumbs cookies. Actually, it was unusual for us this year too as Lucy was saying she didn't feel well either. No fever, vomiting or ANY symptoms at all, just tired...so we went because it's tradition. Mistake! She was asleep on Daddy before Santa even showed up. Wait, I didn't talk about Santa yet! It's a Santa party....so......
   Katie's dad, Bob, is Santa. He has the beard and the belly and the bag. We all sneak a wrapped gift for our kids into the Santa bag hidden in the garage, and Santa makes his appearance every year to pass out presents that make our children smile. Even though Lucy was tired and cuddled up with Mark on the sofa, she was the FIRST to see Santa. She spied him peeking through the window and her eyes have never been bigger!! She was so excited and sat straight up "Look! It's Santa!! He's really here! Daddy! Mama! Santa!" Priceless reaction that only someone so young and believing can have. I wish I could bottle that innocence and bring it out when I needed to feel great about the world again.  Santa comes in  ringing his bells and the kids go cuckoo! They surrounded him at his feet and we all laughed at how perfectly still, quiet, on their bottoms, angelic they all were waiting for Santa to speak. Awesome. Every year Santa greets the children and before he does any presents he asks the kids to sing a song with him. I think this is my favorite part. They all believe for that moment, even the bigger kids who may have questions in their heads about him being "real", they all love this moment, and it's pure Christmas. Thanks Mr. Praeger!
   Of course, this moment is shaken up a bit later as Santa has passed out all of his gifts and he's counting down to allow them to rip the paper open!  An interesting thing happened this year. Adam will be 9 years old in just a couple of weeks. He's on the border of whether he believes or not, hearing stories on the playground, bus and lunchroom. He hasn't quite asked us yet if Santa is real. When he does, I plan to share this letter I found as I feel it really says what I want him to know. Santa passed out all the gifts and asked if everyone had a gift. Adam started looking around and then realized that he DIDN'T have a gift. He looked quickly around and Santa was starting to count...he had a bit of shock, and hurt, and "oh no" on his face as he turned to look at me. Of course, I asked Santa if he could look in his bag again and of course there was  gift for Adam there way at the bottom. He thanked Santa then turned to me and said " I was nervous there for a minute, I thought I wasn't getting a gift. That meant I was too naughty this year!"  We left soon after to take Lucy home to bed. In the car on the way home Mark asked him about that moment. He said, "Dad, at first I was really sad and thought Santa wasn't going to give me anything. After he gave me my present I realized something. The elves made MY gift first. First gift IN the bag, last gift OUT of the bag. I was just at the TOP of the list this year...not the bottom!"
   And in truth, that's the best of it.  Last year was so different than this year--for him and for all of us. What a different a year can make. What a difference a DAY can make. Things change and kids grow and people leave us. Babies are born, new friends come into our lives and Santa is there every year--to make our eyes wide and to invite us to sing with him. Thank you Reilley's! Thank you Santa!

Reilley's Santa Party 2010

This year! 2012

apples and trees

All my life I've been told that I look just like my mother, that my mannerisms and facial expressions are so much like her. People I don't even know come up to us when we're out together and comment "well there's no question whose daughter YOU are!" I take that as a compliment in that my mother is lovely and kind. 

Recently though, I've been able to find more similarities between my dad and I because I was blessed to have him with us at our home. Over the summer as I traveled east to his home in PA, we had a lot of time to talk and reminisce and muse about the future. Being diagnosed with cancer contributed to his musings; he knew his time was shorter than we all planned it to be. He knew that he didn't have a lot of time to do and see all he wanted to.So we talked, rambled, looked deeply at things. We watched for little joys in the day; like the deer that wandered into his yard daily and the hummingbird that flew to his new feeder moments after we hung it up. We looked at the kids playing in the yard and marveled at their creativity and intelligence at work. We laughed together at old pictures and knew how important it is to take those pictures to save the stories that we might forget later on. I save those moments too. I write them down and cherish the stories. We walked around the lake near his house. One day we went together, another day with my own kids, and it was bittersweet to me that we wouldn't continue to do this with him. I will continue to take my kids to the forest preserves, lakes, camping, hiking and show them the beauty of outdoors...but it will be without my dad walking with us. He knew it was important to teach kids about the names of animals and trees. To notice the difference in bird calls and leaf patterns and fish that you catch (and release). Mark and I will keep that going. 

As a teacher, I know the importance of education. But I know that and feel it in my bones because my dad taught it to me. He wanted us all to do our best and get an education. He saved and worked hard to make sure we had our shot to go to college. I blew my opportunity from him and disappointed him to the heart, I'm very sure of that. But I worked hard later and graduated from college because I WANTED it. And I know he was proud of that later. I know he was proud of ME. I'm glad he saw me graduate and do something with my education. I'm glad he knew it worked out in the end and I learned from my mistakes. Because we're both pretty stubborn. If there is an idea in our heads, we aren't going to let it go lightly. It really is impossible not to look at my own kids and how we parent them, when going through all the old pictures and hearing the stories from my aunts about Dad's childhood and growing up. As we planned his memorial, the stories flowed, as they often do, and Dad's sisters told stories of how he picked on them, defended them, got into trouble, saved the day, worked and was lazy. I loved watching their faces as they told the stories. He was protective of his sisters, like Adam to Lucy, but also tormented them because that's his right as the brother! Love it!
                                                         My dad died on November 9, 2012.
 One month before his 67th birthday. I was there, alonge with his sisters and our immediate family, when he left this life and walked home with Jesus. I watched the light leave his eyes, and the pain leave his face. I remembered every single time I knew I disappointed him and a few times I managed to make him proud. I know that he wanted to do much, much more with us, but our time and God's time runs very differently. Dad told me that I shouldn't wait forever to do the things I really can do now. He told me to love and hold on to my kids, to respect and care for my husband, to be a strong wife and mother. He told me to be sensitive to them and be careful with my words. Words can hurt. So I'm trying Dad. I'm trying to do that. So that I can be what you modeled for us, and learn from your mistakes too. People often use the phrase "apples and trees" -usually while rolling our eyes a bit- to compare children to their parents. I hope I CAN follow what Dad told me. Because it would be an honor to have someone say "apples and trees" when they look at me, and think of my dad. He was a good man, strong parent and I feel confident that on his walk Home, he was told "well done my good and faithful servant". Miss you Dad.

.

May Top 10 List

Top 10 Reasons I Love Being Their Mom
(in no particular order)
1. The sound of their laughter is infectious.
2. I had to work to get them, that makes my motherhood earned and a reward even more than usual.
3. dandelion bouquets
4. I'm always the most important person in their life...along with their dad.
5. made up songs about me
6. I see myself  in their eyes, their toes, their imaginative stories, and the way they play together.
7. dress up in costumes and perform shows for me
8. shmoodling
9. When someone gives them something they really do appreciate it.
10. They have love in their heart for Jesus.

from where I'm sitting

There have been several Facebook posts floating around all with a similar theme. They tell you to look around "from where you are sitting" and name 10 things that you see, or list the CDs currently in your player, or last 5 songs played on your iPod, or books on your nightstand. The intent, I THINK, is to give others a snapshot into your life currently. Your interests at this moment. So tonight, while I've been grumbling over getting dinner on the table while supervising homework and helping to find the "right" show 'n tell item, I thought I would get some perspective on my life "from where I'm sitting."

1. On the kitchen counter is  a homemade birthday cake with crooked letters and smeared frosting. I turned 42 years old yesterday. Mark and the kids waited until I left for work, then baked me a cake. They love me, and I loved having a birthday cake!
2. There are dirty dishes on the counter waiting to be washed and put away. I cooked for my family tonight and although I was grumbling at the time because there was so much else going on at the same time; I enjoyed having us all sitting at the table together and hearing their stories. It won't be long and the kids will be in and out on their own schedules....not at the dinner table with us.
3. The refrigerator is covered with photos of friends and family I love the most, artwork by the kids, and magnets that make us smile. I think a family fridge can tell you a lot about a person. But maybe that's another blog.
4. My dogs. Sophie is curled up on the kitchen rug and won't leave my side. She's waiting for me to either go upstairs to watch Glee in bed, or get to the couch to watch Glee. Either way....she is ready to snuggle up and is getting impatient.
5. I can see my husband at the computer in the other room. It's POSSIBLE that he's working, but chances are he's playing darts online or watching something Blackhawks related. :)
6. I see a large pile of school papers that the kids have brought home this week already. Just like in my own classroom, teachers are doing end of year assessments, projects, and work that was on bulletins boards came down to spruce them up for Open House with new stuff. Some I will keep, like a few writing pieces, others will make their way into the trash without being seen by the kids who brought them home.
7. From where I'm sitting I can also hear the guns at the shooting range nearby. By now I am mostly used to this sound, after 15 years here it's commonplace. But after a long winter with the windows and doors closed, it's much more noticeable now that they are open and I can hear it. It's one sound I never thought I would have to explain to my kids.
8. Here I can also see a pretty pot of flowers that a new friend gave to me for my birthday. I'm thankful for her and glad we've become friends. And I'm eager to get into the garden!!
9. I can see my cell phone...and it's making me want to play Words with Friends. But I have laundry to do.
and number 10.....
I hear the dryer and the washing machine chiming so it  must be time for me to get back to the laundry for sure. I am glad I have family around me to care for, but wish there wasn't so much to wash and fold. :)

Anyway...it had been awhile since writing and I was feeling overwhelmed with my to-do list at home. Rather than flip out, I wanted to get perspective and look at things from where I'm sitting with a positive attitude. So there you go. Until next time...

bravery

While visiting Sea World recently, Adam was amazed at all of the rides and people. He enjoyed watching it all and taking it all in, just as we did. But being in a crowded place like this, (and the airport, the city, the Riverwalk etc. ALL crowded places) it had me in SuperhyperoverprotectivenervousMom-mode. I was constantly watching that other adults weren't too close to the kids, that they weren't too far from us, that they weren't out of our sight for a minute. Then he saw the Atlantis.

 

He wanted to go on that ride so badly. And Mark was willing to go on it with him. My heart was walking away from me to take a horrifying dive through the sky and into a lake while held in place by a little seatbelt. But he was being "big" and he was feeling brave. And I decided that since Mark was going with him I could be be brave too. And off they went.

Adam's bravery paid off and he had a fantastic ride! My bravery paid off because I was able to let him go try something he wanted to do. Bravery requires faith and a deep breath.

common courtesy please (and thank you)

So on my mind today are some experiences that I've had out in the general public that haven't been very good. We've done quite a bit of eating out in restaurants, special programs for the kids, staying in hotels and in just being "out and about" this summer. I'm feeling particularly frustrated today at the lack of common courtesy and respect for others. (Disclaimer: if you haven't figured it out yet, this blog entry is going to be me venting and griping for awhile. Please disregard if  you're in a really happy place right now.) Today I took the kids to the movies for a $1 early special. The theater was filled with summer camp kids. We had to sit way in front because apparently the entire theater was being reserved for the camp kids. Only about 1/2 of the seats were filled and the movie was going to begin shortly. The kids were running and talking. They were out of their seats unsupervised by their leaders and totally knocked me over as we were coming into the theater. Leaving the show, they all came barreling out and knocked over my daughter. Both times I approached one of the counselors and was granted a blank stare and a mouth hanging open. Not only did they not "get it" they certainly didn't do anything about it. The people working at the counters don't even look at you when you approach to pay or order. My Facebook friends know that I've griped about my library experience this week as well. The mamas hung out at the coffee bar while the older kids participated in a program, but they let their little ones run laps and use the library furniture as ramps and jungle gyms. Last weekend we were traveling out of town and stopped for dinner at Friday's. Four young women all hanging out at the hostess station continued their chat with cell phones out while we stood in front of them waiting to be seated. Not busy in the restaurant. Just getting ignored. One takes us to a table that although is cleared of dishes, was clearly just used and covered in food, napkins and water. Lots of other empty tables and even a booth, but she tells us to "just wait here while I get this cleared off.".  A few minutes later we're greeted by a waitress who is either trying to sell us the frequent Friday's card or paying attention to the next table's conversation while standing at our table. Staying at a hotel, the Coach of a team that was also staying there, served as an EXCELLENT role model as he yelled across the entire breakfast room of other guests and made no attempt to quiet his players the night before while they played ball in the hallways.

I guess my thought is this: Whatever happened to common courtesy????  Why aren't parents teaching their kids how to behave in public places? Why are public places considered "anything goes" for behavior and language? Why don't waiters and waitresses act like their customers matter? AND....how about some manners? Is i really too much to ask for?

I'm not just wearing my teacher pants. I'm not just wearing my mom hat. I'm just trying to instill good values in my children and would like to be out in the world without having to put them in earmuffs!! Please. Thank you.