Mom's Reflections...

I have tried really hard to take the wisdom of those before me to heart.
Especially, "enjoy the children because they grow up all too quickly."
It is true they do grow up quickly and I have found the more children I have the faster they grow up. It wasn't too long ago I looked at my middles and wondered where the preschool/toddler days went. I realized the addition of baby after baby left me with blurry memories. Now I am losing those very same days with my youngest. The olders are bigger and busier and I find myself in this fight against time to gain time with each of them while they are at this very moment. Then there is the struggle with my own selfish nature of just wanting a quiet moment for myself, a nap, a moment to stop and truly look around. There are times when I get the chance to stop and take a deep breath and I realize my surroundings have changed. It is no longer summer, the leaves are falling off the trees and then I blink and I am running for hats and scarves because of the bite in the air.

Lately, I have been savoring the sweetness of Little Princess. Her desire to comfort and serve others. She loves giving back rubs and scratches. She is learning new domestic arts, which she really enjoys.
Savoring the preciousness of Flutter Nutter. He is quick to say thank you without prompting, flatter his momma with no prompting, just the pure love and joy in his heart, and his innocent honesty when he is reflecting on things.
Hockey Player has been renicknamed this year around the house. I affectionately call him "Man-Child" and/or "Mowgli". If you can't remember where these names come from, take sometime to review Jungle Book. In the blink of an eye, Hockey Player has grown. He is no longer a boy, but not quite a man. He is clipping those apron strings from mom and gently sending me packing. He does still dote on me in his own ways. But he is becoming a man. He even has hairy toes now! That sends me in shock...I remember those precious little baby feet, the ones I kissed and tickled. Now they are strong feet, feet with a purpose and destination. In them, I see strength and manliness and my momma's heart aches with the truth, the days with this man-child are numbered and quickly passing.
Fun Mom leaves me all twisted with joy and anxiety. Her aunt once said, God made babies and little children, cute and adorable so we would continue to care for them and enjoy them. (Even if they flushed hot wheels and animal figurines down the toilet...my addition) But God, also made them to grow up and in that process allowed them to become annoying and irritating enough that as parents we didn't mind clipping some of those apron strings and giving them a good positive shove out of the nest. I am enjoying walking alongside Fun Mom during these years. The conversations we are able to have. We are moving away from the time where everything I say she just takes in and accepts. She asks questions, she reflects, she ponders, she makes observations. There are more and more adult conversations between us. There are the moments when "the littles", as the younger siblings are called, provide humor to us, that only the two of us get and we can look at one another in amusement and smile. A special time, where we are both enjoying their innocence and yet sharing in the private joke. The beginnings of a friendship, that I hope and pray survives the coming years to the time when we are mostly past the role of mothering and daughtering. In the midst of these precious moments, she does something so shocking to my system I am reminded, she too is growing up. Another apron string has broken and the struggle for independence and adulthood is still enduring and I have to let go just a little bit more.
Then there is Daddy's Buddy. He has had a tough autumn. Lots of changes in this boy. No longer little. Impatient to be like his big brother Hockey Player. Slicing those strings with mom with great warrior-likeness to only come running back for a brief moment or two. Even those moments are getting farther apart. He has lost his first tooth and for him that means he has arrived to Big Kid status. He has his own personal struggles. Ones we are learning alongside with him about and how to help him overcome them. Part of that overcoming involves in our interaction with him. He responds best when he is spoken to as an adult. Everything is very mature and grown-upishness with him. This Christmas he keeps making plans to fill everyone's stockings, even though Santa does it. He is planning and organizing when all will get done. He has taken over the responsibility to make sure Christmas happens. Decorations, check; menu, check; presents, check; calendar countdown, check and so on.
It seems all too quickly, I have only one little one left in my nest, Flutter Nutter, and he is very content to stay little. You might even say he has Peter Pan syndrome. The others are all leaping from the nest and trying to soar. How does a momma stop to even sleep when she knows very well, that the time is coming when one by one her little ones are going to take off soaring and if she even blinks, she will miss it?

Geminid Meteor Shower

Ever so slowly I am reading through our astronomy book by Jeannie Fulbright. Last night at the hockey rink while Daddy's Buddy was going through drills, Little Princess, Hockey Player and I read about comets, meteors, and asteroids. At the end of the chapter is a chart giving approximate dates for meteor showers throughout the year. Instructions to go to a website were also included. Thanks to technology, I did a quick internet search and discovered that very night there was to be a meteor shower. Now it will continue for a few more days...till the 16th, if I remember correctly. But God's timing is perfect, because we didn't have to be up at a certain time this morning. With excited kids who asked if they could sleep in, we made our plans.
If you get a chance to head out in the cold, cold night this week, do so!
Hockey Player, Little Princess, Fun Mom and I headed out just after midnight to escape the city lights. It took us a while to position ourselves in the right direction. Hockey Player wasn't able to keep his eyes open long enough. One of the disadvantages of having had a game earlier in the evening, and a tournament the past weekend. He was pooped. The girls and I weren't disappointed. Beautiful !
We opted to head home before the shower peaked, but sleep was calling. We were blessed with the opportunity to watch the shower as we headed home.

It appeared to me the shower was coming from the south. Though one of the employees at the observatory said to keep our eyes towards the northeast. ?? ?? But the best vantage point was just looking straight up! If only it wasn't so cold, I would have reclined on the ground, instead of hovering in the suburban with my face pressed to the glass. I did eventually roll the windows down and stick my head out the window while the motor and heat were running. When the clouds thinned, we could see the meteors traveling through the sky, with one or two suddenly falling towards the earth as a shooting star! It was breath taking.

Unless Hockey Player begs to try again this week, we won't head out again. Sleep is crucial for this momma to function. But definitely worth the loss of sleep last night.

Thanks for the heads up dear friends,

apparently someone accessed my blog and entered a bunch of jibberish on my blog.
I have since cleaned it up and changed my passwords. I am leaning more and more towards the advice of my husband on passwords. Living in the tech world he has a bit of insight on the best ways to choose and develope passwords. However, it will make it more difficult for me to remember them. Guess I won't need to do Sudoku and Crosswords to keep my mind sharp, just memorizing passwords that I gotta keep changing will do that. LOL! !

It worked!

Grandma's Stories are on my IPOD! !
Takes 1 hour to put each cassette onto my computer.... 2 down, ? ? to go !
But they will be saved.
Can't wait to suprise the kids.
First Sleep!

So excited about Grandma's Stories!

There's been a lot of discussion over the last year or two among the children. Who gets the latest tape of Grandma's Stories first? The competition is great. During the fall and winter months, Grandma Stories are a bedtime ritual. They gotta have them on before the lights are out.
(sidenote: Grandma's Stories are recordings of Grandma Mac and sometimes Grandpa Mac reading books to the children.)
My two youngest guys share a room and they can never agree to what they will listen to at night. Grandma's Stories or Bible verses for Cubbies/Sparkies. Over the last 2-3 weeks I have been researching on how to transfer these recordings onto my computer and, then, eventually onto the ipods/mp3 players. If that could be done, then maybe MP3/Ipods would eliminate some of the competition/rivalry over who gets Grandma's Stories first. I declared Thanksgiving weekend as the time to attempt this project. My first attempt bombed! Not the right kind of cords. However, while waiting in line to pay at the Black Friday Sales, early in the morning, BODO discovered the cord I needed. He may have been sleepy to start with, but he did wake up in the hustle and bustle of deal finding. He did GOOD! The cord is just what we needed. And now I have Grandma's stories on my computer. They have even synced to my Itunes... Next to see if I can load onto my IPod!

Getting the Most Bang for our Dollar!

Big O Daddy O and I hit the Black Friday sales again today.
Yep, I am still up at midnight.
I never went to bed last night. I finally climbed under the covers just before 6 this morning, just in time to hear Flutter Nutter crying out for me. So glad, I hadn't closed my eyes yet. Got everything taken care of and back into the covers just after 6. Woke around 11 to deal with sibling issues and to discover Fun Mom still asleep. (WHAT? ? ?) Kicked her out of bed, rolled over to snooze till noon. Hence, I can't sleep.
This year we dreaded heading out to shop. The lines seemed longer. It was cold. Sleep was calling us. But...the deals were good and MOST IMPORTANTLY, the kiddos were all snug in their beds asleep. We brought Fun Mom up to our room to sleep, so she'd hear the crew if they were to awaken. We were able to slip back into the house around 5:30 am. (We left at 4.) I threw blankets over the packages by my side of the bed. Those little sneaks can't rustle bags right under this sleeping momma's head. :) The best part, we are pretty much done. The sales didn't match up to our shopping list for one of the kiddos. Seems there is at least one each year. We did manage to even pick up a few birthday presents.
Back to my title, before BODO took his pre-shopping nap this morning, we hit Walgreens at midnight. I had my list, my coupons and ad ! BODO was my shopping partner. He did his own transactions. Bargain shopper in training, he was. He did great job, at least until he started to try and add things to his cart. He was thinking get it all done. We ended up with lots of Jingle Cash when were done. Then I told him he could add things to the cart not on the list ! Lots of stocking stuffers and then some. Best part is we still have lots of Jingle Cash. Can't wait for next week to use them for more Jingle Cash. :) Since, I was in bargain mode, my brain switched over to the Dillons ad. We knew what we were going to be buying. We knew how much it would cost.... And we have a trip planned and we know where we will eat when on the road. So we headed on into Dillons to make the most of the Gift Card deal + Fuel Rewards. typically gift cards are worth twice the fuel points at the pump. Right now, they are worth 4X the dollar value of the gift cards in fuel rewards. We knew how much and where, so we spent our Christmas money on gift cards, got the fuel rewards and then in turn hit the stores! We'll do the same when we head on down the road.
I must say BODO wasn't super thrilled with the detours and being out instead of sleeping. But once he did the math, all was good.

Return to Hockey !

Hockey season is upon us this year. It will be double the fun and double the craziness. Daddy's Buddy is now a Hockey Player TOoO! He has let me know that he does not want to be known as Daddy's Buddy on my blog. So until I come up with a new nickname that I just love and think fits this guy of mine, Daddy's Buddy he remains. (Good thing he doesn't get on the computer and read the blog yet...) I may have to rename Hockey Player and hand down his nickname....but it just doesn't feel right.
Hockey season started with a bang and an injury! First game, first 30 minutes and Hockey Player was down. But not for long. Sat out to catch his breath and then back on the ice he went. Big O Daddy O wouldn't let Mom check out Hockey Player. He is a Warrior after all. (Aren't all boys!) A mistake that BODO won't make again. Took his skates off between 2 games, and it was a challenge getting that skate back on for the second game. AND Hockey Player played the second game. The next day (Monday) we discover he needs one of these:

2 weeks in a cast. 2 weeks in a boot. Easy return to the ice to condition the ankle. (Not really...there is no take it easy with this kid.) He overdid it and had to sit out the next week. Miss yet another set of games/tournaments. Back on the ice. Taping. Icing after games. Elevate it during the day during school (beautiful that we homeschool, the couch was his new workstation!) The ankle weathered the week with just a little puffiness. So good, because it was hard to see these disappointed eyes.

This boy loves hockey. Can't get his attention, say a hockey term or just hockey. Boom back on planet earth he returns and he is looking to see where the action is. :) He now has a team of moms that worry about him. Just what every hockey player wants! But hey, he is back on the ice now...

This weekend both boys participated in the Kansas Cup. A wonderful hockey mom shared her pictures with me. So I have these of Hockey Player. I am waiting for the Bestest Aunt Sharon to pass on the pictures she took to me, so I can share memorable moments of both boys. So pictured above is getting back to business ! His serious expression his the only sign of how glad this boy is to be back on the ice. Feet, pucks and sticks belong on the ice. Ice does not belong on the body. :) First tournament back and it feels oh so good to end with one of these team pictures:

and one of these pictures of pure triumph and joy!

And yes, he did receive a pretty awesome check this weekend. Fortunately, Mom looked to check on one of the kiddos and missed it. To hear Big-O-Daddy-O tell it, makes the momma sick and she gets a lump in her throat. All of his new moms checked in with me to make sure he was okay. I just keep saying thank you Lord for preventing me from seeing it. So good to know he has a crew to watch out for him. He may not like it, but it is comforting and encouraging to this mom. He got back in the game and finished up. I was able to watch the Championship game later without as much angst and enjoy watching him have fun.

When asked later by BODO about the check, "It didn't hurt a lot, but it didn't hurt a little." In contrast, when he was checked and broke his ankle, "It didn't hurt at all." So it was a harder check, just like everyone said, the second time around. He did get back in the game. His chest was sore and his chin scraped up, but all is good and that is hockey for you! A checking clinic is on the horizon. Never been so intent on signing up for a clinic as I am this time.

I am hoping, maybe Daddy's Buddy finds a different sport he likes. I am grateful Flutter Nutter isn't too interested in playing sports. He is just interested in girls and computer games. For now, I will just go along for the ride and look forward to when i can see the Aunt Sharon's pictures of the boys.