Yet Another year I won't be getting Mother of the Year

A couple of years ago, there was a group meeting at my church called "Women with a Heart". The guest speaker for the inaugural meeting was set to be "The Young Mother of the Year." Please excuse me while I fall off the pew and laugh hysterically! I am sorry, but is there really someone out there who would accept that title?

This week I have had a long talk with God about all the plans that I had when I first started on this adventure. I had every intention of being patient, energetic, fun, efficient (especially efficient), pleasant, a good cook, an expert player of games, most spirited cheerleader, etc. You get the idea. Well, apparently I needed some humbling, because lately I haven't felt like any of those things. In fact I feel like my life has become a wild horse and I am no longer holding the reigns. In fact I feel like I have fallen off, but my foot is stuck in the stirrup therefore dragging me behind it and I am helpless to do anything but hold on and hope for the best. Does anyone else out there ever feel that way? Most days I am lucky if I have checked my kids backpack on the way out the door just in time to find out I was supposed to send Chocolate syrup for a sundae party. Oh well, looks like no one is having chocolate syrup on their Sundae today. Not to mention that science fair project that Kurt and I totally aced! Never thought I would do that, but who do they think does these things anyway. What happens to the kids whose parents won't or can't make 5 trips to Wal-Mart trying to find the right thermometer only to bail out on the original project at the last minute and recycle an old project making it new and improved? So much for efficiency. I had high hopes for myself, but alas, I am learning that everyday is not going to be perfect and we are not the Cleavers.

And while we're on the topic of television moms, I would like to say Carol Brady was a LOSER! That's right, a loser. She had no job, and yet she had a full time housekeeper and cook. What the heck? Why on earth did she need Alice? No wonder she was so cheerful and put together all the time!

All that to say, sadly I am sure I will never get mother of the year, but Thank God he is loving and forgiving and tells us "his Grace is sufficient" and oddly enough it seems a great relief to my kids that I am not perfect and probably never will be. I am learning that everything doesn't have to be perfect, that God's strength is perfected in my weakness and what my children are learning from that is more valuable than any expertly crafted science fair project and gourmet home-cooked meals will ever teach them.

Hope this finds you all doing great!
Bev

Here Kitty Kitty. . .

This post has been a long time coming as the actual event nearly put me and Cameron in an institution or perhaps the parents Hall of Fame (ahem Shame). See that sweet little face snuggling the kitty up there? Well let me explain the look of terror you see in the Kitty's eyes.

One Saturday afternoon, as I was leisurely cleaning the house(that always puts me in a great mood :( ), Cameron comes in from the garage screaming like he has lost a limb. Since we were still nursing his dislocated elbow, I just knew we were headed back to the ER. Kurt was not home so I was going to have to TRY and be the calm one. I ran to see what has happened and while Cameron appeared to be in one piece, he was still screaming in such a way that my heart seriously stopped. When I finally got him calmed down, he explained that he had been playing with Kurt's tools and accidentally dropped a screwdriver on the stray baby kitten we had brought home just two days earlier to nurse its injured leg. Whew. I mean how bad could a little screwdriver hurt, right? I thought something terrible had happened. Cameron kept saying through tears, "You're going to kill me. I am so sorry." Okay Chill out kid. I am sure it is okay.

So I head out to the garage to check on baby kitty. Upon first glance the kitty looked fine. No big deal, right? Wellll. . .upon closer inspection, I realize it was the electric screwdriver and maybe, just maybe, Cameron didn't drop it as the screwdriver was at the kitten's side. I bent down and pulled the screwdriver and well, it was stuck. To say I was freaking out, would be an understatement. Now you need to understand that crisis are not my thing, AT ALL. I jumped back and tried to gather myself because I was not sure I could get the thing out of the kitten without throwing up. I cried. I prayed. And then with some of the best parenting I have ever done, I ran in the house and confronted my crying son. "What have you done? Are you freaking crazy?? Oh my gosh. You need professional help!" (yes people I said it.) He's crying. I'm crying. He said, "I know. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to. I wasn't trying to hurt it. I didn't think it would work."

Afraid of what I might do, I put Cameron in his room and went back to the kitten with resolve, determined to remove the object that had impaled this poor, defenseless animal. I grabbed the screwdriver and pulled. It came out more easily than I had expected. Now at this point, Jackson has heard me screaming at his brother and has come to see what all the hub bub is about. Now is where some more good parenting comes in. I asked Jackson to pick up the kitten and have a look at it. (He has no idea what has been going on.) The kitten was fine. There were no open wounds oozing with blood or guts. (Thankfully. And don't judge me. I told you I don't do blood.)

Now you need to know that Cameron thought he had impaled the kitten too. So, we had to take the kitten in to show him that it was okay. During my tirade I had managed to ground him for the rest of his life from pretty much everything but breathing air. (Kurt keeps saying I tend to overreact, but I don't see it :)

We have managed to get over this unfortunate accident and it would appear that little boys are curious and do some really crazy things for reasons that even they don't understand. Cameron and Ben 10 (kitty) have become great friends and all is well that ends well, right?

Here's to many more years of great parenting moments and learning as I go.

Later.
B

If I were on a sitcom. . .

Have you ever had one of those days. . .or months where you seriously start to wonder if your life is a pilot for a sitcom? Welll, I am having one of those months and it got me to thinking, if I were on a sitcom what would it be. I think that I would be a modern day Lucille Ball (which she can be so annoying, but always had a way of getting herself into such hilarious situations). For example, last week, while trying to take some initiative with car care (Kurt was so proud) I decided to run my car through the automatic car wash. They had added these new doors to the car wash that read "Doors open automatically." O.K. Whatever. I drive in and the car wash does its thing. The last cycle is completed and I wait. . . for the "door to open automatically". It doesn't. I pull forward and back up. Still nothing. Have I told you that I hate enclosed spaces. I seriously start to feel like I might hyperventilate. I call my friend Rachel and tell her I am stuck in the car wash and being the super supportive friend that she is, she laughs. . hysterically! Thank you Rachel. She then suggests that I blow the horn, which I do and she laughs even more. So while I continue blowing the horn Kurt calls. "Hey honey, what are you doing?" I say, "Well I am freaking out! I am stuck in the car wash and have been in here for about 5 minutes!" He laughs. So not funny. Did you hear the part where I said I am FREAKING out?

My knight in shining armor says that he will come to my rescue, but it will take him about 10 minutes to get there. I continue honking the horn. Still nothing. Where is that dang attendant? Finally, and for no apparent reason, the door lifts and I have been set free, but as you can imagine, by now I am more than a little irritated. I tell my friend Rachel (still on the phone supporting me) to start praying because I am going to find the car wash attendant and I am sure this will shock some of you, but sometimes I find it difficult to act Christ-like :) I find him standing outside next to the car wash, probably laughing his head off, tell him about my peril in the carwash, with all the sweetness I could muster, which wasn't much to which he replies, "Well, did the door finally open and let you out?"

Oh the things that ran through my head at that moment, "No, I am merely a figment of your imagination" or "No, I just rammed my Tahoe through the stupid thing and here I am!" Of course it did you precious silly man. Then, he offers me a token for a free car wash for my trouble. Are you kidding me??

Oh the fun my friends and family have at my expense. At the end of the day I went to pick up my boys from school and my friend Jenny met me in the hall singing "At the Carwash".

Stay tuned for more stories of mayhem, with new tales developing daily!

Hope you have a good one!

B

Husky Homecoming 2008

Last night we had basketball homecoming at Northfield (a little over the top I admit, but fun all the same). As fifth grade ball players, Jackson and all his buddies were recognized. They looked so cool.


Here are the boys and girls 5th grade ball players. It is so nice to see them all dressed up.






This is Cameron and his buddy Sarah Roberts who were 2nd grade class representatives. I know I am partial, but I think they looked so precious! (I would date him, if I wasn't his mother of course!)

We had a great time. I cannot believe that this will be Jackson's last year in elementary school. We will be reaching many milestones this year. It is bittersweet to see my boys growing up so quickly, but they are growing up to become such fine young men. I know that God has got great things in store for their futures. I cannot wait to see how he will use these precious gifts he has blessed us with.

I Am Really Losing my Touch.

Well, there will be no pictures for this post because I have really become a slacker. Gone are the days where I annoy my family greatly by taking 200 pictures of every event. To be perfectly honest, I have really wanted to soak up the moments with my kids and Kurt, and therefore have come out from behind the camera, to instead enjoy memories where the mental picture may sometimes be even better than the story the picture would have told anyway.

So, here goes. . .the Northfield Huskies defeated, the unbeaten for 7 years, Woodland Park Panthers!! Go Huskies!

I know it is no secret that we are a sports loving family (which by the way many of my childhood friends find hilarious because I was not competitive and would have never sacrificed physical harm to win anything), that is, until I had two boys. I love to watch them play any sport, but our current sport is Basketball. Our school league basketball can be very competitive and as crazy as it seems sometimes we love it. I cheered for the East Sparta Broncos as a little girl and when we are getting ready to go to Jackson's games, it sometimes feels like yesterday I was pulling my hair into pigtails and putting on my knee socks and saddle oxfords to get ready for the big game. I still love it!

This week we were playing the Woodland Park Panthers (a.k.a. the evil dynasty). This school is twice the size of Northfield and every other school in the county and has been undefeated for 7 years! Jackson and his group of friends have had one goal since they started playing; beat Woodland Park. This was their year. It was the kind of moment every little boy dreams of. . . we were down by 10 points at the half. Our boys came out of the locker room hungry and ready to play. We slowly began creeping back and by the middle of the 4th quarter we were down by 1. You could sense our boys starting to get excited as they realized the momentum had swung and they were about to take the lead for the first time in the game. We took the lead and the gym was literally shaking with noise.

With 3 seconds remaining, we had a 1 point lead and a player on the free throw line. Jackson was standing at half court with a teammate and they were literally jumping up and down with excitement at what was about to happen. The final seconds ticked off the clock and our boys went wild(and maybe I did too, just a tiny little bit). It was so much fun and I can still see their little faces and all the excitement they felt. It was like a moment out of the movies they have all watched and dreamed of their whole young lives.

After the game, the boys and girls teams and cheerleaders all went to McDonalds to celebrate. I pity the people who were in there hoping for a relaxing late night supper or cup of coffee, because we took the place by storm. Jackson and his buddies were cheering so loudly you could probably hear them from wherever you are reading this. I will not need a picture to remember the image of their little faces and the sound of their voices singing "Celebration" as they enjoyed victory.

Lesson learned: Dare to Dream. . . ."for all you know tomorrow, the dream that you wish will come true."

Hope this finds you all dreaming!
Bev

Please stand by. . .

We are experiencing extreme busyness, and while I have much to say, regrettably I do not have time to say it! I am eager to post some really cute pictures soon and update on all the boys have been doing.

Stand by for updates in the very near future!

Fall "Break"

Imagine, if you will, the cartoon violin music you hear setting a peaceful nature scene when a Bugs Bunny cartoon opens. That is the music I hear when I think about the beginning of our Fall Break.

We went camping with some of our friends at Defeated Creek in Carthage, TN and let me just start by saying, this is one of the most beautiful places you will ever visit. Also, before some of you freak out at the thought of me camping, let me put your mind at ease by telling you that we were in Kurt’s brother’s beautiful camper, complete with a fully functioning bathroom and electricity.

We had a great time as a family. We have gotten so busy that it was wonderful to pull away from everything for a few days and just enjoy one another and God’s creation. We hiked for several miles. Jackson loved every second of it. Cameron was quite a trooper considering the steepness of our climb. Kurt practically had to drag him straight up for a ½ mile. Imagine our trip down. Can you believe I only fell once? And Jackson, by the way, gets really silly when those endorphins kick in and boy did they kick in. This is when he gets what I like to call . . . diarrhea of the mouth. (and he also gets really loud!) We were seriously disturbing the peace!!



Afterwards, we rode bikes for miles. They have the most wonderful bike trails at Defeated Creek. At one point on the trail, we traveled over a precious little bridge and around a sharp curve to see the most beautiful gold and orange Sugar Maple sitting on the edge of a very still, blue lake. I am not exaggerating when I tell you it brought tears to my eyes and my heart was so full of amazement at the beauty of God’s creation there are not adequate words to describe it.




The boys swam in the lake and played for about an hour.



At this point I was ready for a nap and this is the point where we put the BREAK in Fall BREAK. Jackson had begged all day to go to the outdoor basketball court and shoot. Meanwhile, the little guys were playing on the playground directly behind us, when Cameron’s friend Dylan came over and very calmly said, “Cameron is crying and he thinks he broke his arm.” I took off in a dead run for the slide and I didn’t even need .5 seconds to see that we had trouble. I, being the calm and rational first responder that I am, immediately screamed frantically for Kurt as I was beginning to feel sick. As Cameron laid helplessly in the dirt and sand, I was unable to help him because he couldn’t be moved. His elbow was dislocated and was already blue and swollen and I was terrified that even touching him would cause him incredible pain. Thankfully, I married a rational man who is calm in emergencies. To make a long story short, we spent the rest of the evening in the ER taking care of Cameron. I won’t even tell you how agonizing it was to hear him scream when they “replaced” the dislocation.

In any event, his is doing better and loving all the attention his is getting for his injury. During the ER visit, I promised him any number of things he has been wanting such as a new Webkinz and all the Mt. Dew he could drink and he is holding me to it.

So. . .that is the story of our Fall “BREAK”. I will never hear that phrase the same way again. And for the record, we truly did have a wonderful time up to that point.

Bev