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Jacob woke up bright and early this morning at 6:30 – dressed and ready to go.  He says he couldn't sleep because he was too excited.

What's the big occasion you ask?!

Field Day, of course. 

That wonderful day of outdoor fun and play!

What's funny is that my elementary school memories are mostly all centered around Field Day too. :)  But my field day was more like a track and field event…50 yard dash, long jump, etc.  And ribbons were given to winners – no wonder I loved it, it was competitive!

Me and Samuel went up to watch some of the events today…so we could document the "best" day of the year.

Caleb ready to be sprayed by the school counselor during the water games.  (Why mother's would send their little Kindergarten girls to school in bikinis is beyond me…but I digress.)

 

 

 

And my little trooper who goes wherever I go…

 

And one more…of Jacob dumping his head in a bucket of water (cracks me up).

Quick sidenote – I was exposed to the musical Bye-Bye Birdie in Middle School…our choir teacher was lazy and let us watch movies every week – I saw every musical known to man that year.  One particular song from that musical was engrained in my head and now I sing it as a lullaby to my kids…"I love you Samuel, oh yes I do…I love you Samuel and I'll be true-ue.  When you're not with me…I'm blue, Oh Samuel, I love you". 

Remember THIS post about our Eastern bluebirds that were building a nest in our birdhouse?!

Well, they stayed for a month and a half.  We watched them as we sat at our dinner table and ate every day…they would fly in, fly out, sit on the fence, and nosedive at us if we ever got close.  And then one day while the boys were weeding the back flowerbed, they heard little chirps…and saw momma and daddy flying in and out of the birdhouse with worms.  We had babies!  3 to be exact.  We tried to take pictures, but the angle was hard to get, and momma would chirp at us…she did not like us lifting the lid of the birdhouse (can anyone blame her?).  The baby birds were gray and white – very unlike their colorful parents.

And then all of the sudden this week while I was eating lunch, I saw one of the babies peering out of the hole…it's the first time they had been visible.  So I took this picture…

 

And then I went on with my day.  When the boys came home I happened to mention seeing the bird, and Jacob asked if he could go look.  I agreed.  And when he lifted the lid…they were gone!  No carnage is visible, so we have to assume that sometime that afternoon they were taught how to fly. 

And they haven't been back (that we've seen).  We miss our birds!  A month and a half of looking for them and watching them everyday makes them part of the family…this was better than having pets! 

We've heard stories of birds who come back to the same place every year to nest and lay their eggs…we sure hope it's true of our Eastern Bluebird friends!

Song Fest, despite its rocky beginnings last week, was a huge success.  We had two putting stations…each kid got 3 tries, and they could pick which prize they wanted to putt for – Fun Dip (close up) or a rubber ball (further back).  The only downside was that it was held in a big grassy, wet, field.  And I'm allergic to grass, mildew and mold, not to mention pollen and well…air.  So that was a little problematic.  But the kids themselves were SO fun…choir students from around the district.  It was estimated that there were 1900 kids there spaced out throughout the day – so I was BUSY all day.  Samuel came with me and have I told you that he is an angel?!  He hung out, ate snacks, watched, sat in my lap as I rolled golf balls back to each student and cheered them on.  A dad from church was chaperoning and volunteered to take him around the carnival for a change of pace.  That ended up being the only period of time that I was by myself without a volunteer, so it worked out perfect! 

There is something about interacting with children that I LOVE.  I loved being with kiddos all day…encouraging them, playing, laughing with them, seeing them get excited over little rubber balls from Oriental Trading!  There really is nothing like that…and despite the work and annoyance of putting it together (after it was cancelled) I am grateful for the opportunity it gave me to be with children.

 

 

Shelley – this one's for you…! (that's her son, Andrew)

 

Today did not start out well.  Arguments, misunderstandings, sad kids, frustrated parents.

Today I have more to do than there will be time for.

Today my eyes are swollen and red with allergies, my headache from yesterday persists, my hair is frizzy and my clothes don't fit.

Today I face piles of laundry, floors that are sticky, sheets that need changing, a kitchen that looks like a disaster area.

Today I need to pay the bills.

Today I am tired.  Let's face it – every day I am tired. 

Today I must make a good dinner because my family is starting to forget what that looks like. 

Today I just want to curl up with a book and make everything go away.

Today I will try very hard to change my attitude, because I know that my attitude will make today what it is.

A gathering such as this happened all over this country yesterday…

 

So why did ours feel especially special?

Well…if you knew how our Mother's Day gatherings were growing up you would probably celebrate right along with us!

My parents divorced when I was 9, my brothers 7 and 4 (going on 5).  We were young.  It was hard, as all divorces are.  Mother's Day is a holiday where the FATHER's take the children under their wing and help them pamper the mothers (the reverse is true of Father's Day which was also bad in our house – we'll get to that in June).  When we were young, Mother's Day cards and poems and gifts were still products of the schools we went to.  Like my own boys, we would come home for the weekend and proudly display our schoolmade wares much to our mother's delight.  But around Jr High, the teachers stopped taking ownership of Mother's Day and left us to our own devices.  This was BAD, very bad.  Because you see as teenagers we didn't know what day it was, much less what day of the YEAR it was.  We had not been properly trained in the art of Mother's Day.  We would often wake up around 10 on a Sunday morning, sometime in mid-May, and discover our mother crying in her bedroom, occasionally with the door locked.  Being the single mother of 3 teenagers is a thankless and unrewarded job.  Or some years my mom would decide NOT to wait for us to plan or organize anything and would tell us that she had made arrangements for all of us to dress up and go to brunch at the local hotel.  And we would whine, cry and pout the whole way there because it was keeping us from much more important things, like friends.  Heaven help us, it was bad.  Real bad.

And so events like this yesterday…where we all gather at my mom's house with gifts and flowers.  And where the innocent in-laws and soon to be in-laws make a delicious and abundant brunch for the mothers (thank you girls!).  And where we all lovingly praise the woman who gave us birth.  Well…first of all, it's a wonder she kept us around at all.  And second of all, it's wonderful that we can treat her as she should have been treated all along.

And so…even though moments like these happened in homes all over the country yesterday.  Ours had a touch of magic…of penitence…of forgiveness that made it all the more special.

We love you, Mom.

 

 

ps.  we've spent the last 10 years making up for all of those rotten M.Day's, and I think we've almost paid our dues (although mom insists it was never necessary, we know it really was)! 🙂

When I was pregnant with Jacob, I pondered a lot on what I thought motherhood was…the best way to care for the unborn, the ins and outs of labor and delivery, breastfeeding at its best, bathing, feeding, diapering, etc.  After all, I was having a BABY!  And I wanted to be prepared. 

But slowly over those first few months and years, the magnitude and responsibility of this role began to seep in to my soul…drop by drop.  And soon I realized that this mantle that I shouldered was consuming my thoughts and my decisions and my heart. 

What do I need to teach them?

How do I teach them?

How will they know that I love them?

How do I give them the gift of independence, despite that secret desire to keep them dependent?

What can I do to help them be successful, happy, caring, self-confident individuals?

All of this – and I just thought I was having a baby! 

It's true – a baby does change EVERYTHING.

To my three sons – thank you for giving me the gift of motherhood. 

  

We had such a fun weekend with family!  I love when family comes – and the boys especially love it.  Derek and my Dad and my Aunt Lisa rode together in the MS 150.  Participants raise money for the Multiple Sclerosis Society and ride 150 miles over two days.  This ride and charity are especially close to our hearts since Derek's dad, Verdi, and my cousin, Brooke, both live with this disease.

The ride is held on Saturday and Sunday, but Derek prefers to ride the Sunday portion on Friday.  This year he rode with two friends, Brian Z and Scott F, and they made great time and had a good ride.

My Aunt Lisa lives in Chicago and came to stay with us Friday night.  Her daughter (my cousin), Caroline, came to join us for dinner.  My Dad and Christy drove up from Austin.  We ate mexican food and enjoyed each other's company on Friday night.  The boys loved reading books to Lisa before bed. 

The three riders took off early Sat morning and rode together all 80 miles on Saturday.  Unfortunately, we were greeted by severe storms and rain at the Texas Motor Speedway.  So we waited for them in the tent while they rode to the finish line in the rain.  Not the ideal!  Derek got a flat tire about a mile from the finish too…and his two "partners" stayed with him.  They make a good team!

My cousin, Brooke, her husband, Don, and their sweet baby, Donny, drove up from Austin to cheer on the riders and give their support for this cause.  Brooke is battling bravely and is such a sweet and caring mother.  It was so fun to see these new parents!  I loved visiting with them as we waited for the soaked riders.

The Sunday ride ended up being cancelled because of the weather.  So Dad, Christy and Lisa came and spent the afternoon with us and we all had dinner together, with Mark and Anne too.

I have a really amazing family!  We are so blessed.

 

How many great aunts will jump on the trampline with you?!

 

Cute Cousin Caroline

 

Is your cousin's baby your 2nd cousin? 

 

Brooke, Don and Donny

 

The Riders – soaked and cold, but finished!

 

Derek and Samuel

 

Aunt Lisa (and Jacob) getting a peek at Donny

 

cousins!

 

The riders with Brooke

 

Papa C and Mimi with their boys

Samuel is making great strides at his effort to "find his voice".  We continue to have Kristin, his speech therapist, come to the house once a week.  Some sessions are better than others (he is 2 afterall), but he is really surprising us lately.

Just this week he is referring to himself as "Yam"(emphasis on the m) (Sam) – we laugh and call him "Ham, son of Noah".  But if you ask him his name he'll say it – a big accomplishment!

He said two words that I didn't even know he knew…"heaby" (heavy) and "peay" (play)

Lately Kristin has been bringing crafts for him to do – one week he got to make Fruit Loop bracelets.  Oh, boy, did he love that!  It was a task though to keep him from eating them!  And he insisted, this particular day, on wearing a hat.  A red U of U hat.  Backwards.  Go figure.  It was too cute to not take a picture.

 

 

I have been taking a parenting seminar from a Love and Logic consultant named Amy Egan.  Not only does she really know her stuff, but she is a remarkable and wise person and I have enjoyed getting to know her.  It is a 6-week program (once a week for 2 hours) based on the book, Parenting with Love and Logic by Foster Cline and Jim Fay. 

I love the approach that this parenting "style" gives – it encourages parents to give their kids LOTS of choices.  It seeks to give kids the control that they yearn for.  It uses empathy (something I'm having to really work on) with natural consequences.  It doesn't "rescue" children from sometimes painful consequences, but allows them to make mistakes and experience the pain of mistakes while they're young (when the consequences are minor).  It encourages you to not be a drill seargant (which I am very guilty of).  It encourages parents to give LOTS of compliments.  It encourages parents to not criticize, but to not swoop in and save the day either.

I believe that this is similar to how God parents us!  He gives us the ability to choose – agency at its finest!  He allows us to experience the natural consequences of our actions.  He doesn't save us from ourselves all the time!  He does extend empathy and mercy and love to us always – even in the midst of those bad choices! 

It's not a pefect system, of course.  It has its flaws.  And I certainly will NEVER be perfect at it.   My nature is not always the "love and logic" way.  But I really want to be better.  And I am enjoying the stretching process of becoming a better parent.  It has been a process of self-discovery.

On Monday, the school district decided to cancel the carnival portion of an event called "SongFest" for the choirs in the District.  Why?  Swine Flu, of course.  I had been working on our PTA's booth for this Carnival – a putting booth with prizes.  I admittedly, was not heart-broken.  I halted my work on this project, gratefully!  I have plenty of work to do for my Girls Camp meeting on Thursday night, namely finishing the script for the program, which I've been diligently working on every night.  "Ok, no big deal, I'll just go to the PTA Board Meeting on Tues night and we can decide what to do with the $200 in prizes that were purchased".  Which I did.  We decided to use them for another event.

This morning I get an e-mail saying the Carnival is back ON.  In 24 hours.  After I had cancelled my volunteers and scrapped my plans.

I am, needless to say, frustrated.  I could just say "No – we're not participating!".  But something in me does not allow for those kinds of responses – it's some weird hormone or gene or conscience thing. 

So – here I go – gathering everything I need, making signs, packing up the Suburban and Samuel for an all day adventure tomorrow.  And trying to finish my script.

And I will try very hard not to be hateful or grumpy.  And I will try very hard to smile – because after all, it is a carnival.