Sartell Hockey Tournament

The Wildcats won their first game today!!! Hooray! We will be playing the next one this afternoon at 3:30pm. Still do not know who we are playing yet, but we fear it may be Farmington....when we left the arena this morning, they were already clobbering the other team within the first 5 minutes of the game. OK, off to swimming for the younger boys before lunch.

Decluttering

Today seemed like a blur of a lot of stuff done, yet at the same time nothing done. How is that possible? I began the morning in my garage at 8am, after dropping the kids off at school. Our garage is double deep, double wide, big enough for 4 regular sized vehicles. You'd think that would be plenty roomy for us, yet both of our vehicles remain subjected to the outside cold and snow, and have not seen the inside of the garage in over a year.

A few times each year, I spend hours cleaning it, decluttering, and organizing...only to have it immediately filled up again before I can even get my truck inside. It is though the empty space seems to call out to the rest of the family "Fill me up with more stuff!", and Presto! New stuff magically appears.

This winter season, it has been the uncountable boxes from the new Christmas lights. The light show was great, and I really don't mind parking outside. But I have already broken down a garage full of boxes twice earlier this season, and I just really do not feel like doing it again. But time presses on, and the pile is getting bigger (I did not think that to be possible), and there are things I do need from my garage. To find my ice skates yesterday, I had to climb over the perilously stacked mountains of cardboard....and then back again. So today was the day.

I began breaking down boxes, and soon realized that within each box were another 2-4 smaller boxes! Good grief! This seemingly insurmountable task as it was, was now at least three times larger!!! With my baby crying, Laura in tears(I still don't know why...she is too stubborn to tell me), and having no fun at all, I was able to get perhaps half of the task out to the curb. That was 3 cardboard piles about 3 feet by 3 feet stacked each. Our recycle guy is not going to like us today!

I spent the rest of the afternoon preparing for the Cookie Meeting tonight. I could never be a teacher. This lesson planning stuff is too much pressure for a perfectionist! I was worried that I had planned too many activities to fit into 90 minutes. It actually turned out wonderfully....I kept the girls on task, engaged by the many different things we did, and well behaved! We accomplished everything on my list, had snack, and I held the following parents meeting on time! This was quite impressive...especially since I neither had a watch nor clock in the room. Yay! Go me!

Bob took Michael and the neighbor boys to their late night hockey practice. They will be gone til about 11pm, so I am taking this opportunity to finally get the tree and Christmas decorations down while Tubby is happily playing on the floor. He just woke up from a nice nap he took while I was at the meeting, so hopefully I will have time to make some good progress. Oh! And I also put out another two boxes of clothes for donation pick up tomorrow. It feels so good to declutter!

From Skating Basics to High-Tech Needs

To her pure excitement and joy, Laura got to try her new skates today! I spent the rest of yesterday afternoon looking up arenas with open skate times during the day. It was surprisingly difficult to find Wednesdays open for some reason. But I had promised her yesterday that I would take her today, and far be it from me to not follow through with a promise I made to her.....I would be much too frightened facing her wrath!

After picking up Crispy from the bus stop, and Michael from band at school, we drove out to the Hopkins arena which was about 35 minutes away. I had figured out the timing wrong in my head....but it was to our advantage, so we got to make a lunch stop at Arby's before skating. Such a treat since all we have near Waconia for fast food is McDonald's~gross.

At the ice arena, we pretty much had the whole rink to ourselves. We only had to share the ice with one other boy and his dad. This made it easier for Laura with her skating "walker".....she didn't have to try to contend with a bunch of other skaters whizzing around her, causing her to lose balance. She did great, and after only about 10 minutes of help from me, she was able to move the walker on her own, and to get back up when she would fall. Her little legs made it 30 whole minutes before getting tired enough to need a break.

Crispy and Michael practiced skating the length of the rink, and doing some stick handling with the pucks on the rink. Crispy is now consistently using both legs to skate, and spends most of his time upright instead of flat on his back. I tried playing some pond hockey with Michael, but Thomas was not being very cooperative this afternoon, and he spent most of the time crying like a baby (which I suppose is appropriate since he IS a baby). I did my best to entertain him by pushing him around the rink in his car seat, but there was only so much that my back could take bending over at that funny angle. All in all, it was a successful outing, but perhaps I could get Grandma to meet us there once a week to hold the baby?

When we got home this afternoon, the cable-computer-phone all went out right as all the kids got home from school. My goodness, you would think the world had ended. It was still out when Bob came home from work, and there was no way to contact Mediacom, since their entire system was down. We all had to spend a "torturous" evening without these down-time luxuries, which led to some fights, but eventually good creative play. I would have normally been excited with this lack of technology, but this time, it even made me crabby. Jonny and Alex both had homework due that required online work and I had a project to do involving the Internet. Yes, I must be a glutton for punishment, as I have volunteered to be Melissa's girl scout cookie mom again this year. My presentation to the group is tomorrow night, and the only way I can do things is at the last minute. Everything returned at 9:30pm....too late for any of us to get anything we needed to done. We are going to all be scrambling tomorrow! Sometimes I really miss the good-old days before our dependence on computers. It is really shocking how much we use and need them.....but the advantages~like keeping in touch with those so far away, and online shopping~ are awesome!

Homeschool Perks

There are so many benefits of homeschooling, that often I really wish all of my kids were home. Sleeping in every morning, working at your own pace, taking breaks WHENEVER you want to, sitting around in your jammies all day if you so desire, eating oreos while doing a math lesson, watching NHL while completing your grammar assignment, only spending 2-3 hours on school per day instead of wasting pretty much all of your waking hours in an enclosed building with no windows, and the list could go on and on forever.

Homeschooling a smart kid is even better....we can be so casual and lax about things because no matter what we choose to do instead, Michael figures out a way to get his schooling done. Today, we had a great day bumming around Waconia. We had some boring errands to do (the post office and getting new tabs for the truck AGAIN when our first ones would not adhere to the license plate....I even had to pay $9.50 to replace their crappy first set). We also had some fun things on our list. The first was visiting the Sports Locker which is selling their entire product line at 50% off to make room for their new clothing only business. When you have a couple of kids who need expensive hockey gear, 50% off is MUCH appreciated. We made out like bandits, and saved $250 on things that the boys actually needed. Michael got to splurge on a new, way-cool hockey stick. To my untrained eye, all the sticks look the same to me....but he really knows his stuff, and was extremely excited to get his first intermediate level stick which he used in his game later this evening. He got a bargain at $85.....you can do the math to figure the original price tag! Laura found some cute little girlie ice skates, and begged to go skating the rest of the day. She refused to get out of the car once home....she said she was going to wait there until we left "to go to hockey". Unfortunately, we were too busy the rest of the day to go anywhere.

We finished our fun afternoon with lunch at one of the local restaurants downtown. We decided it was to celebrate our birthdays, since all 5 of us have birthdays so close together. We were pretty much the only people in the restaurant at 1:30, so it was really nice....and Thomas actually slept in the car seat the whole time, so there was no stress!

This evening, things cranked up a few notches. We were so busy with activities in every direction, that it took 4 different adults to get everyone to where they needed to go. We had a hockey game, Alex in after school activities, then a return later for Pep Band, and Jonny started Basketball. All of these things overlapped on one end or another. I was able to see Jonny during his last 20 minutes of Basketball. This is his first attempt at it, and he did really well! His height makes him an awesome rebound asset. Perhaps he is going to finally find his niche here.

Tomorrow, there is nothing on the calendar except for an after school play date for Jonny & Melissa. That will give Michael and I some time to catch up on some of the schooling we kind of blew off today. And that's OK, because today was a really nice time, and it was great enjoying the company of my kids.

My Baby's Gone Mad

We have touted Thomas as being the best baby ever since the day of his birth. And up to this point, he really has been : so easy going, sweet, patient, calm. But now I am afraid I have turned him into a monster : cries, screams, crazy, won't tolerate sleeping or being alone. He seems to be (quite frighteningly) following in his big sister Laura's spoiled footsteps.


It all started shortly before Halloween when Tubby got his first bad sickness and ear infections. Previously to that, he had been sleeping through the night since before 2 months of age! The first sickness led to another, followed by another, then another, and so on. This poor kid (and Laura too) has not had a break for months now. This latest illness with the croup, and now very odd sounding cough (somewhere between croup and asthma), has really been the worst for him. Because of it all,he is in the habit of sleeping with me throughout the night, and it seems so cruel to put him in his bed and make him scream for an hour to put himself to sleep when he is sick and feeling lousy. I have just been waiting for a break in the illness parade, but none has come.


This dependency overnight has spilled over to our daytime hours as he is in the "stranger anxiety" stage. Every time I leave the room, he screams and cries, regardless of how many other loving people are still in the room with him. Most times, it is not good enough for me to just be in the room with him...he thinks we need to be attached at the hip. I figured at least I could take down the Christmas tree if he were sitting on the floor next to me....but no....I was moving from box to box too much for his comfort, putting things away. Last night as I was making dinner, he was sitting on the floor, and had grabbed my shoe laces, one from each shoe in each hand, so that I could not possibly move away from him. He has turned into quite the manipulative little munchkin.


Of course, the solution is so easy according to Bob...just put him in his crib and let him cry. But as the Mommy, it just insn't that simple when he is reaching for me with all of his might and the sadness is oozing from his eyes. He is DEPENDING on me to make him feel OK with his unknown world. How can I let him down? He is just a little baby after all!

Jonny's Cub Scout den is becoming my weekly escape....tonight I was thrilled to leave the baby behind, and sit in an hour long meeting doing nothing. Sure, there was still screaming, noise, yelling, and annoyances surrounding me everywhere....but all of that was tolerable since they were not coming from my own little monster lurking for me back at home.

Another Teenager!!!

Happy Birthday to Michael.....he is 13......officially a teenager. Now we have two in our house! Having had a few years of experience, Bob & I agree that the "pre-teen-bad-attitude"years are much more frightening than the actual teenage ones. In fact, we already made Jonny PROMISE us that he would not succumb to this stage, but despite his best intentions, time seems to be preying on him. We are very happy for Michael to have reached teenager status....we love you, Michael!

The sleepover gang was still asleep this morning when Crispy & I left for hockey at 10:30. Apparently they had made it past 2:30 am before crashing for the rest of the night. While we were gone, Bob took the boys to the massive sledding hill at the entrance of town. This thing is huge! It is the size of a small mountain, taking at least 5 minutes to climb it from it's base, formed by the intentionally deposited excavation dirt from the renovated park and new developments around here (and there are a TON). According to the kids, it is "awesome", "scary", and "fun". Here is a picture taken from the top:

I prepared Michael's favorite meal for lunch.....grilled cheese and tomato soup...that was just perfect after a morning of sledding and a cold hockey arena. We followed that up with a very yummy Hockey Ice Cream Cake from Dairy Queen and mint Oreos....yummy, yummy! While they waited for their ride to arrive, the boys played some game with a Dora soccer ball, which was very upsetting to Laura~but when she resolutely went downstairs to reclaim it, she ended up playing and giggling with them all!

JAM & Jellies restarted this evening for the kids at church...they will be working on an Easter program. Melissa got to pretend to be an innkeeper today, and Jonny played an apparently funny Abedenigo. Michael opened his birthday presents while munching on a few mini bagels (our dinner) in the 20 minute time block we had between church and his own hockey practice. He now has enough of his own pieces to go paintballing with his friends. He's psyched! But his best surprise present was a tiny pine cone from Great-Uncle Rich....ask him about it sometime...I don't have the room to explain it here.

I am going outside to videotape Bob's Christmas Light Show with my new video camera....tonight is the last night, and we are all going to miss it(but it WILL be nice to turn on the lights in the Library and in the girls' room at night again!). If the recording turns out well, Bob is going to enter it into an online contest. We made it into our local newspaper last week, so the next obvious step would be to go national! Wish him luck!

Good Times, Good Friends

On the eve of Michael's birthday, it is impossible to not think about how much he has grown in what seems like such a short amount of time. Long gone are the easy days of snacking on chocolate milk and goldfish crackers while riding in a Little Tykes Cozy Coupe car down the hill to the park. No more dressing up in superman pjs and 'flying' around the house with his cape flapping behind him. No more bedtime stories and silly little songs. Now his days are filled with hockey and listening to music on his Zune in between calls on his cell phone from his friends.

Michael began his birthday weekend celebrations very appropriately with nothing other than a hockey game in Minnetonka. The game was a bit disappointing, but Grandma & Grandpa C came to watch which made it special. Grandpa took over baby duty, and did 'funny-walk' with Tubby during the entire game to keep him occupied and happy. After the game, we met up with Michael's 3 good friends from good old New Brighton, and brought them back to our house for a sleepover. It is very nice that Michael has maintained these special friendships even though we have been gone for 4-1/2 years!

The boys have been busy sharing music on their Zunes and ipods, playing Guitar Hero and other various video games, teasing each other(sometimes not very nicely), and laughing about silly things that do not seem to make any sense. I tried talking them into going to a movie or going to the water park, but they seem to just want to hang out with each other...which is just fine. They did finally agree to go out and sled in the dark in the backyard and they all came back in one piece each.....most of them even avoided the killer tree that is unable to be seen in the darkness! Before they tucked themselves into bed, I drove them into the cul-de-sac to see the light show. They were quite impressed...it was fun to hear their comments... "Oh, Snap!" "Wow!" "Amazing!""How did he do that?""That one really Rocks!""There's no way he can make it better next year!".....yeah, you wanna bet? Bob's already got plans!

Off to bed I go, long before my birthday boy and his friends. It is so nice to see him happy, and having a good time with some really good friends(minus the unprovoked attacks against his younger brother). Even though he will continue to change and grow, along with his interests and activities, I will never become tired of watching him smile and doing things that make him truly feel happy about being himself. That's what all of us desire for our kids, right?

Time Flies

Yesterday was a whirlwind, as the kids went back to school after the long Christmas break. The house is now once again littered with school papers, boots, mittens, and empty snack wrappers. It is always with misgivings with which I send them back to school, having enjoyed their time at home, yet feeling it is always much too short. There are always so many more games to play, toys to make believe with, sledding to do, or cookies to bake. The time just flies by.

This afternoon, we took the opportunity of the slightly warmer weather and bundled up to play in our backyard. For the first time, Thomas joined us also. We all took turns pulling him around in his little penguin sled which he seemed to enjoy. However, he was not a fan of the ice cold blowing wind and snow in his face. Since he cried both inside and outside all day today, I decided he may as well stay out with the rest of us so that at least we could have some fun regardless of his current psychotic mood he has been in lately.

The kids pulled out all of our sleds, and got creative with riding down the hill on other things as well....the still inflated inner tubes from the summer pool two years ago were a hit! The snow was slick and packed down making a super fast track just perfect for little sleds and tubes. Even Laura was getting the hang of it this time, and had figured out how to trudge back up the hill all by herself. The school kids met us in the back upon their return home...they thought the "note" I had written all over our front door with chalk was a fun idea, and now Melissa would like me to write a note daily. After an hour, the wind had sufficiently chilled us, and we all needed a good dose of hot cocoa before our( imaginary )dinner that we never got around to having.

Jonny and I were the lucky ones tonight to leave the house for another Timberwolves game with his Cub Scout den. It is always a nice treat to do something special with him as it seems so often that life passes by so quickly that we breeze right over him. It was also simply nice to get out of the house and away from the noise for a little while. Poor Alex was stuck with the crying baby for over an hour as Daddy just couldn't quite get home early enough....usually it is Jonny who is the Baby-babysitter! (Hopefully Alex will recover from the mental strain and stress quickly!) I definitely had guilt leaving the baby crying, the house an after-school mess, and no hopes of any dinner in sight, but it sure was great to spend that time instead actually playing with my kids. Dinner and dishes and messes will come and go on a daily basis....but my kids are growing up so fast, and I need to grasp every opportunity to share in their childhood that I can.

After Christmas Shopping Spree

The kids made out like bandits again this year for Christmas. This year worked out well, as they did not seem to get quite as much in excess as normal. That is, until today....

Part of what kept all the presents under control were the gift cards and cash that many of the kids received in lieu of toys. This has been especially good for the older boys who have very specific wants in very specific stores. After burning holes through their pockets for a week now, we took this last vacation day and headed to Target.

Target had been pretty well picked over from the Christmas gift-giving season, but what remained was pure bargain heaven! The kids each had close to $100 to spend(Yikes!), and were loving the opportunity to walk up and down the aisles without restraint. I tried my best to bite my tongue when they would pick out something really "stupid" and a waste of money.....this was their chance, after all, to make their own decisions. Because of the sales, some of my *wiser* shoppers were able to buy some really cool things that would have been too expensive normally. Poor Laura was probably the most enthusiastic shopper of them all as she grabbed every remaining Dora item off of the shelves....bummer for her was that she had the least amount of money, and obviously no concept of it!

Upon arriving back home, the kids brought all of their toys up to the big bedroom to open and play with. It made for a very peaceful and relaxing evening, as they were all so busy with their post-holiday finds. Jonny bought a new video game, Alex, some computer stuff, Laura got a really neat Dora talking playhouse for just $30, Crispy bought some more beloved Pokemon figures (because 325 of them just isn't enough), and Tubby found a toy train. The *bestest* deal we got was Butterscotch, the Fur Real pony that was 50% off. This pony is big enough to sit on, and the head, ears, eyes, and tail actually move very realistically to sound and light. I had been so skeptical of this thing....even when displayed in the stores, it was cute, but not impressive, and certainly not worth the $$$$$. But once we set it up at home, it was solely responsive to us....and not to all the other noise found in a crowded store.....and we discovered that it was extremely cool! It responds so well, that it is impossible to just walk by it without giving it a pat and some words of endearment as though it were really alive. Melissa spent the rest of the evening going on many "adventures" with her new pony, "Roy".

All in all, the kids accomplished what they wished for out of the experience....spending their gift money and buying new toys with which they got to play with immediately. And after an hour and a half in the toy aisle, 3 carts full to the brim, and the biggest Target bill I have ever seen in my life, I benefited from watching my kids experience pure joy and satisfaction with THEIR purchases that THEY made on their own.....(even the "stupid" ones!)

Happy New Year!!!

Happy New Year!!!

We celebrated with a nice lunch at Grandma & Grandpa C's house, in between two hockey practices, on this cold start to 2008. The girls enjoyed playing with their twin cousins(this picture was taken at Christmas), while the rest of us played an intense game of Balderdash. Nothing like a competitive game to start off the New Year on the right foot in all of our family relations. It was nice to be able to play this typically "adult" game with our older sons this year, whose definitions fit right in with the rest of ours.

Though Thomas is still sick and whiny, his breathing has gotten so much better. Thank goodness the changes a day makes. Laura is still doing well, and eating like a horse(a side effect of her medication)! She is looking for hearty foods like chicken, cheeses, and other meats. This is quite a difference for my girl who is typically happy to live on chips and chocolate milk. We finally drove home after prying their little eyes from Sesame Street....it was so funny how all of my kids were just mesmerized by this show. They all refused to leave (except Laura who was ready to go as soon as her cousins left), until the show was over. I guess we just never watch it, as our tv is usually tuned to Nickelodeon only. Can't beat a classic like Sesame Street!