Loving Spring Break

With the passing of hockey season, and a break from school. I am resting a whole lot.
I have been thoroughly astonished at how tired I have been. 3 hour naps are becoming the norm for my afternoons. Unbelievable. I had no idea if I stopped running like the hockey/homeschool mom I am that I would conk out like this.
So I have slept and slept.
I had a moms' night out with chocolate cake and shopping.
I have cleaned house.
I have put a few things on ebay.
I have planted potatoes and onion and got my strawberries ready to go.
I have dug up some day lilies. More to dig up. I know, it is better to do it in the fall, but that is when we are in school and before you know it, I have no idea where they are exactly because they have all died back.
Laundry and more laundry!
And I went garage sale shopping this morning. Fun Mom was not pleased, she was unable to awake. Her internal teen alarm was set for later wake time much to her dismay. But she did like the treasures I brought home for her.
My 2 favorite memories so far of the week are: Last night, to get Flutter Nutter to go to bed, I said, "Go to bed, or no Nike stuff from garage sales for you!" LOL, it worked. Straight to bed.
Tonight, "Get your showers taken and you can have ice cream for dinner!" It worked as well. Showers were done and done well in record time! Can't make a habit of that one, but hey, every once in a while....
Set up the tent in the boys' bedroom for them to sleep in, just for them to change their minds and climb into their beds.
One more day of Spring Break... Gonna enjoy every minute of it!

Playlist....

I have revamped my playlist with a little suprise for my kiddos.
Anyone guess which song is just for them! ? !

Another Girls' Night Out...

Tonight, I was whisked away with parting words that warned the children....
"Be good! If I get a call, there will be 5 moms on this porch. None of us will be happy, because we had our night interrupted."
I wasn't driving!
It worked.
No calls.
No texts, till I started texting to check up on them.

So what do 5 Moms do when they go out ?
Well this wild bunch goes to Bella Luna Cafe.
AND they drink WATER!
The waiter takes very good care of us.
Some might even say, he was "adorable!"
But we gotta watch the time.
Cause this bunch is crazy and they have a few stops to make.
On the list:
Children's Ibuprofen
Return/Exchange at Claire's
Justice for Girls.... there is a 2.99 sale (mentioned in post below) and we have 5, count them 5 coupons. One for each of us! ! ! And I have a return to do!

Well, the cafe is by the stores, and it just makes practical sense to get these little errands out of the way. Why drive all the way back there tomorrow or Friday?

Oh, by the way, we are out on a Wednesday! Definitely wild on our part, because we normally save girls night out for Friday nights. Never Saturday night, cause we gotta be able to get up for church! But, hey, it is Spring Break!

I even managed to get a picture of my 4 partners in wildness! I couldn't be in the photo, ah that really is too bad. But there wasn't anyone out in the parking lot to help us out. Hello! it's Spring Break, where is everybody?

So we stayed long enough to close the store 30 minutes later than the sales people wanted. So what do moms do when they don't want to go home on a Wednesday night? They go to Target to get Ibuprofen and walk around checking the endcaps for Clearance! Then they stop at Sonic for me to get a drink, and then we go for a .2 mile run in a neighborhood far away from their own. The whole time thinking the 2 who went home should be out running with us!

Back to my place where Fun Mom has decided we have definitely lost our minds and its time for us to go to Sunnyville. We just told her she was "adorable." Then we amazed her by demonstrating our ability to walk like bears! All in all, I think she learned a very important life lesson. Grown ups know how to laugh and have fun too!! Maybe next time she will join us.

Justice deals starting at $1.80 ! !

For an awesome printable coupon click
JUSTICE
40% OFF in store or online.
Right now they have clearance items marked down to 2.99. Making them $1.80 and up.
Perfect for early back to school shopping, fall birthdays and Christmas presents.

I even found some great bath items for $0.99, after the coupon $0.59. Perfect for using in "Spa" birthday bags for my girls' friends or my little neices.

I love a smooth sweet talker..

A week ago, we had swim lessons.
We could have had the lessons outside for all the rain coming down.
It was too bad I didn't check the weather before getting ready for the day.
I usually work with the natural wave in my hair on most days. However, this particular morning I decided to straighten. ? ? ? I know, what a waste on a rainy day.

So after lessons, the rain was really coming down and I told the kids to stay in the doorway. I would bring the truck up to the front of the Y.

Almost to the truck, I hear something and it is Flutter Nutter.
Me: What are you doing?
FN: I wanted to come with you?
Me: But I am getting wet!
FN: So am I.
Me: But my hair is getting wet!
FN: So is mine.
(He just doesn't get it, I am a girl! I straightened my hair! Now I have to stand in the rain longer to get him situated in the carseat and shut the door. )
So we get all situated and...
Me: My hair is a mess! (I will admit it, I whined through the whole statement.)
FN: Mommy, I wuv you even if your hair is messy.
Me: I love you too.
How could I be upset anymore about my hair. I had my little man, who loved me no matter what. He was so happy to go with me in the rain to the truck!

Another Quoteable...

Courtesy of Daddy's Buddy
"Sleeping is booooring."
MOM: What!?! How can you say that when you are busy with all your dreams?
DB: I never dream Star Wars, the Clone Wars.
Mom: Sorry, now go to bed.

Powerful Lessons learned and much Joy!

Hockey season is over!
It has been a great ride. There have been lots of lessons. I have enjoyed watching the young men on my son's team grow in maturity, character and in skill.
Some will say winning isn't everything.
Others will say winning may not be everything but it is the goal and a lot better than losing.
It is hard to not become too involved as a parent.
I will be the first to say that maybe Sarah Palin has nothing on this Hockey Mom! :)
But I will say, as a parent you want your child to do well. You don't want him disappointed. You want every game to be referreed fair and every team to play with integrity and good sportsmanship.
But that doesn't happen always.
So what do you do...

This year I have spent a lot of time on the sidelines hollering, yelling and praying. Praying for my son to do his best. For God to see his faithfulness. For my son, to give all he has, so he can't say he left the ice not doing his best. I have watched my son this year and this afternoon, I realized in my heart, he is not a little boy anymore. He is becoming a young man. He is growing in wisdom, stature, integrity and faith, but still a boy at heart.

So with tears in my eyes as I recount this weekend....
We have spent the season, one win short, one point short and it has been frustrating. Kids and parents wanted this championship this weekend so bad. It came down to the last game. Tulsa had 3 wins.
We had to win to tie. The tie breaker would be the number of points of scored.
This was a tough game. Kansas City hadn't won in this tournament. They wanted the win just as bad we did. At this point, they wanted at least this one win.

Our team amazed me this weekend. We had the fewest penalties ever this weekend. I would dare guess our penalty box visits were fewer for the whole weekend than in any one game we had through the season. These boys were playing the game.

The referees were another story.

Here are a few of the quotes:

During game 2 to our coach:
Ref says: Not counting the goal (our goal, they decided against it) and I am not counting the trip on the other team.
Coach: So you are saying the other team tripped our guy.
Ref: Yes and I am not giving the penalty.

During game 3:
At this level no checking is allowed.
KC Player sent our player, who had the puck on his stick, into the boards. Really hard. Imagine his parents watching him being slammed into the wall. No penalty called. Ref looked at our guys and said: PLAY FAIR!
And maybe that was the gentle reminder to not retaliate. But I don't think so. I think he forgot to look the other direction and say to the other team.

Again during game 3:
In the last 3 minutes the Ref address both teams and coaches and says: Alright, these last 3 minutes I am going to call a fair game.

?? ! ?? ! ?? Isn't that what a referee is suppose to do. Does he realize what he just said?

The score has been 1-0 since the first period. KC has the 1.

In the last 3 minutes, our kids played their hearts out. They did not earn a penalty box visit. We pulled our goalie. KC lost 2 players to the penalty box. It was 6 on 3 and 13 seconds left in the game and we score. The game is tied much to the ref's disappointment. We could tell it pained him to award the goal. Now we go into 5 minute overtime. First to score wins.

Noone quite knows how the puck got past KC's goalie. I believe the Lord allowed it to. Not that I think he takes sides in sporting events. But he does wipe out nations. He does set rulers upon thrones and removes them at his discretion. I believe there are times he chooses to honor those who are doing right at the moment they are choosing what is right. Other times he chooses to show honor upon them in heaven for all eternity. He knows the tender hearts of children who give it all and try to do right only for an adult to play favorites and try to manipulate the outcome to suit the adult's interests, instead of letting the kids be kids and play it out fair.
Never has a victory seemed so sweet as to be the mom and watch my son enjoy a job well done with his teammates and taste victory.

Blessed are the Feet....

To those who have prayed for us on this trip, thank you very much.
Hockey Player was Divinely Protected on Saturday afternoon.

I really like the verse from Romans 10:15
How beautiful are the feet of those that bring good news.

I love baby feet. I marvel over my children's feet how they grow and change. The difference in them now compared to when they were wee babies. I wrinkle my nose and try to not gag as they aren't quite so sweet smelling as they are getting older. But they are beautiful, for they carry my children to me and to others. Feet taking a beating. They can affect how a person feels overall. Tend need lots of protection and TLC.

A teammate unintentionally stepped on Hockey Player's bare foot.
Not a big deal unless of course the teammate is wearing sharp ice hockey skates.
A little to the left, a little to the right and our story would be different.
But as I started out with, Hockey Player's foor was Divinely protected by our Precious Lord.

FYI: I am not posting pics of the injury, was not a pic I could bring myself to take.

I can say this all calmly, but let me go back to the moment I heard.
Big O Daddy O: breathlessly asks, "Where are the bandaides? Hockey Player is cut. So and so stepped on it with his skate."
Me: I begin digging for bandaid. But my expressions is of alarm. A week and a half ago one of the team mates received 2 stitches for a gash to his leg. BODO tried to reassure me.
BODO: "It's not like cut to the bone or anything."
Me: I was undone. I had to go myself. BODO wasn't stopping this momma from seeing her boy.
BODO: following and saying, "It's not that big of a deal. Just a scrape really."
Me: I'll take care of it.
By the time I hit the rink doors, BODO was so far behind, I think he resigned himself to the fact this momma was going to take residence in the locker to take care of her boy's foot.

I got in there and there is a couple of bloody paper towels on the floor. He has another towel wadded up on his foot.
BODO was right, it wasn't too bad. There was no bone. It was more like a scrape, but more than a scrape. The blade shaved a chunk of skin off.

I then begin to do, what I know needs to be done. I send BODO to look for ointment. I clean it, hockey rink floors aren't the cleanest. Hockey players have to be really careful about staph infections. Skates and gloves can be really difficult to clean, dry out and disinfect.
BODO finds the ointment. We bandage him as best as we can till we can get to the hotel.

We clean it again and rebandage it again at the hotel. I didn't let him sleep with socks, to help it air out and form some sort of a scab. We start the process over in the morning. He was one tough cookie. He skated the first game as if there was nothing wrong with his foot. At one point, I saw BODO with him, which is very unusual. I knew something was wrong. The bandaid had slipped, or so he though. But only 3 minutes left in the game so it would have to wait.

Off the ice, another cleansing and it burned. Poor guy. But this time BODO carried him out of the rink to the lobby/concessions area to hang with the guys and left his foot air out. The "team medic" went and got him "new skin" but not before the next game started. So after all was done with the skating, more disinfectant and cleaning. And "new skin" painted on. HP, asks "how long is it going to sting?"
Poor guy.
Rides home with no sock or shoe.
His foot looks 10 times better. There is no redness and puffiness.
I can only give God the glory. Don't know how the blade missed more of the foot or the other toe, other than by Divine guidance. God's healing of his foot so quickly.