We had so much fun Trick-or-Treating the other night! It didn't feel like October at all, the weather was balmy. In fact, Michaela was wearing a Winnie the Pooh onesie and was complaining that she was about to die and had on a tank top underneath so her costume was unzipped to her waist and hanging off of her shoulders. Jake was whiny, complaining that his legs hurt and he wanted to go home. And Joey was upset because his bucket wasn't full, he wanted to keep going door to door all night long. I guess it really wasn't all that fun. The kids were cute though and got a lot of candy...that they went home and ate...and then complained about being sick. Joey was even hollering at Ed to come and help him from the bathroom, "Daddy, STICKY SPLAT!" I looked at Ed, confused. I had never heard this term before the other night. Apparently it is Joey-speak for diarrhea. Yummy.
After we got home, the kids handed out some candy. A little. We had about 5 groups of kids come by. It was really sort of depressing. The whole night really kinda sucked to be honest. I got on Facebook and saw posts from friends from my hometown who had kids in costumes, actually smiling! Trick-or-Treaters were lined up all down the sidewalk. *Sigh*
October has historically been a really tough month for me. Ever since Ed and I left Kansas. Maybe it even started that year. You know October is the month that it actually starts to FEEL like football season (sometimes) and then I start to miss the games. I miss the South vs. Central rivalry that my grandparents used to take me to, along with every other high school football game throughout the season. Every Friday night we would take the blankets and a thermos of hot chocolate to the stadium downtown... Then there's the World Series. I've never really liked to watch full baseball games but I sure loved eating ice cream and popcorn in Grandma and Grandpa's basement while the games were on. I miss the K-State football games, the occasional Chiefs game I used to go to, the Royals games, and even just sitting in a restaurant or bar on Sunday afternoon with like-minded fans. October makes me miss home.
This Halloween was another reminder that I'm not in Kansas anymore. Just like in recent years past, I wanted to go home. But then I have to think about what home has to offer...or not. The really big deterrent is that Ed has no job prospects there. That's more than a small problem. I have to remind myself that as much as I get frustrated with his job, it definitely pays the bills, kind of. My job wouldn't pay as much there. The government in Kansas is continuing to de-fund Education so my job may not even exist there much longer! The kids have had tremendous opportunities in Texas and Little Rock. Between gymnastics, soccer, Taekwondo, and the educational opportunities they have had...it couldn't be matched if we had stayed in a small town. They have a lot of life experience that I never knew as a kid.
There are certainly things we are missing out on having left "home". I have to remember all the positive experiences we have had since we left though. We have lived amazing places and had some great times with truly SPECIAL people. When I think of all the friends I would not have made if we had never left...it's worth the sad nostalgia that I feel in October. The experience, love, and friendships we have found along the way are so much more than the longing that my heart feels as the weather starts to cool down. So as I watch the World Series wind down, or the game-winning touchdown any given Friday, Saturday, or Sunday; the tear that slides down my cheek isn't so much for the loss or win of that particular game. It's a combination of the loss from my childhood and the wins I have found elsewhere as an adult. Sad and happy all rolled into one.
So much love in a single tear.
Thursday, November 3, 2016
Saturday, January 16, 2016
Hello From the Other Side
This past week we got to see a great example of Michaela's "other side". I talk a lot about how mouthy, crazy, and aggressive she is but she has an incredibly sweet heart when she let's it show.
I was at a training three days this week that took me to the opposite side of town and Jake had an awards program Wednesday morning. We decided I would leave early and take Joey to daycare so Ed could take Jake and Michaela to school then go back to Jake's assembly before going to work. Once he let Jake or of the car though, Michaela grinned and told him to go park. She said, "I know I'll be late for school and I might miss out on my field trip this week because of it, but it's worth it. I want to see him get his award." Of course Ed let her stay, how could he tell her no after that?!
Once the assembly started, Jake saw Ed in the crowd and waved. I'm so proud of Jake for all his hard work, by the way. The award he was receiving was for all As and Bs on his second quarter report card. Not so easy to do with his Tae Kwon do taking up so much time and energy. He is SO stinking smart and such a good student. He even does most of his homework without being asked! Love that kid to pieces. Anyway, they called his name and as he walked across the stage, he saw his sister waiting on the other side to take his picture and Ed said he just lit up like a Christmas tree! She took pictures and he asked his teacher to sit with Ed and Michaela the rest of the time.
Just in case you were thinking: wait a minute, Michaela? This can't be the same Michaela; after the awards were over several of the kids in Jake's grade came running up to say hi to her and give her hugs. The principal saw her and said, "hey girl, what are you doing?" And was happy to realize that Jake was her brother. She had to bask in her noteriety. This is a school of 600 kids and Michaela was only there 6 months last school year. She tends to make an impression quickly.
With all of her craziness and as frustrated as we get with her, it just doesn't even compare to how proud I am off the amazing young lady she is becoming. These little glimpses from the "other side" remind me what a truly wonderful person she is and I know that it will overshadow anything else she might do. I SO love that baby girl!
Wednesday, January 13, 2016
2.5 Years in a Nutshell
Wow, so I've fallen off the wagon here. Obviously I just had nothing interesting to write about for the last 2 and a half years...NOT! Jake and Michaela have both been taking Focalin for ADHD on school days only and their teachers can tell within an hour of the start of the day whether or not they forgot it that morning. Jake doesn't mind taking it, he wants to be able to sit still and he can tell when he doesn't have it, it makes him "wiggly". Michaela on the other hand, hates it. (Surprise.) Michaela started middle school this year--6th grade--so she has a lot more freedom and the teachers are less inclined to keep track of her and follow up with me about what she is doing. They also don't have to put up with her all day long so her little "quirks" are less annoying and not as urgent to fix for them. So we thought she was taking her meds each morning with much less fuss than before. Until my parents came to visit for Christmas.
We had a great visit with them over the holiday and they were going to take all three kids with them back to Kansas for a week so Ed and I could go to Memphis for New Year's Eve and the Liberty Bowl game (K-State vs. Arkansas, great game but we lost :( I had an AWESOME New Year!) so we had to take Joey's car seat out of Ed's car. That was when we found "the stash". Apparently, she has been stuffing her pills under Joey's car seat in the mornings. Not every morning, but several. I don't know why this surprised me but... So we had to have a talk with her about the cost of the medicine and the importance of taking the medicine we give her because if we take notes of her behavior or talk to her doctor about what is going on we are going under the assumption that she has the meds each day. If that isn't true, then we are giving inaccurate information to her doctor and that is a problem.
About 6 months after my last post, we started taking TaeKwonDo. By "we" I mean the bigs. They have done amazing in their classes and it has really been a great experience for them. I am SO glad that we went this route with them and I really think it has been a God-send for their behavior and self-control. They are still Jake and Michaela, no amount of pixie dust or magic words (or prayers!) will ever make them those kids that will sit at the dinner table and quietly eat their food without spilling drinks, kicking each other under the table, feeding vegetables to the animals, screaming how much they hate the food, or licking the dishes; but it has certainly helped! The instructors at our TKD gym have been amazing. They are like having another set of parents that will talk to them about problems at school, self-control, choices, behavior, etc. They take such good care of us, I don't even mind the small fortune it costs to keep them up to date with their classes and equipment each month! I keep telling the instructors I'm going to set up a cot in the gym because I'm practically paying rent. I'm also there so often it's ridiculous.
Due to the fact that I was spending five to six days a week at the TKD gym in increments of 1 to 3 hours at a time, I decided I might as well take class too. So I started taking classes in July. It has been AWESOME! Not only is it a great connection with the kids, it is an amazing workout. I've greatly increased my endurance and I've lost over 20 pounds! I am competing in tournaments with the kids, in fact we have one at the end of this month in Memphis. I'm hoping to place well and get some points. Michaela was the State and District champion in Combat Sparring (hitting people with a stick) last year so I have to give her some competition and motivate her to earn it in something else. I figure if I can be State champ in TWO events then she will be inclined to step it up a notch. ;)
It's so funny to imagine what new people to our gym must think when they come in. If I'm taking class, then there is a three-year-old running around--probably trying to hold up his too-big pants--playing on a tablet or new model cell phone, screaming at his 11-year-old sister and 9-year-old brother who are playing tag or hide and seek with him in the locker rooms. Every so often you hear someone scream and start crying for several minutes, and none of the adults in the other room even look in on it. Of course, it's just Ed and Angie's kids. One time our instructor started class with Joey in his arms. I really should probably pay them more.
So Joey has taken a few classes but he is not sold on the whole process yet. It usually goes something like "No, I don't want to take class tonight." Then five minutes after class starts he is screaming and crying that he wants to take class because he wants to wear his uniform. So we go to the locker room and put on the uniform only to come out and find "No, I don't want to take class. Take this off." Then he wants to wear the belt. The process repeats. I finally end up fighting a kicking and screaming kid that doesn't want to take class, doesn't want to wear his uniform, and doesn't want to put on the belt. I keep asking him, why are you crying, you aren't doing any of those things. I don't think he gets it.
Joey cracks me up. He talks so big from listening to Jake and Michaela I just can't get over the things he says coming out of that sweet little mouth. Last weekend we were watching the NFL preview show before the Chiefs vs. Texans playoff game (Chiefs, woot woot!) and he asked Ed, "What is this show? I like this." Ed told him what it was and the analysts were talking about the Chiefs season and how they started out 1 and 5 at the beginning. Joey says, "1 and 5, makes me laugh! Hahahaha!" And he continues watching the show like he was actually getting something out of which offense was expected to throw and who was likely going to be the big story of the game. Where does this kid get it? It's not like we are into sports (lol).
Anyway, so of course we are always running like crazy. But I'm learning some new tools to help me keep up with things. Hopefully I will be a little better about posting. Maybe this will keep me off Facebook some. I've noticed that I have a little bit of an addiction. I will scroll through all the new posts on my newsfeed and go back to the top and start again. I start to get frustrated when I refresh the news feed and only have two or three new posts to read. I keep thinking "Where are all my friends? What are they doing and why are they not posting about it? I need something new to read!" At that point I'm thinking I maybe need to log off and walk away. I don't think I'll be unplugging any time soon.
We had a great visit with them over the holiday and they were going to take all three kids with them back to Kansas for a week so Ed and I could go to Memphis for New Year's Eve and the Liberty Bowl game (K-State vs. Arkansas, great game but we lost :( I had an AWESOME New Year!) so we had to take Joey's car seat out of Ed's car. That was when we found "the stash". Apparently, she has been stuffing her pills under Joey's car seat in the mornings. Not every morning, but several. I don't know why this surprised me but... So we had to have a talk with her about the cost of the medicine and the importance of taking the medicine we give her because if we take notes of her behavior or talk to her doctor about what is going on we are going under the assumption that she has the meds each day. If that isn't true, then we are giving inaccurate information to her doctor and that is a problem.
About 6 months after my last post, we started taking TaeKwonDo. By "we" I mean the bigs. They have done amazing in their classes and it has really been a great experience for them. I am SO glad that we went this route with them and I really think it has been a God-send for their behavior and self-control. They are still Jake and Michaela, no amount of pixie dust or magic words (or prayers!) will ever make them those kids that will sit at the dinner table and quietly eat their food without spilling drinks, kicking each other under the table, feeding vegetables to the animals, screaming how much they hate the food, or licking the dishes; but it has certainly helped! The instructors at our TKD gym have been amazing. They are like having another set of parents that will talk to them about problems at school, self-control, choices, behavior, etc. They take such good care of us, I don't even mind the small fortune it costs to keep them up to date with their classes and equipment each month! I keep telling the instructors I'm going to set up a cot in the gym because I'm practically paying rent. I'm also there so often it's ridiculous.
Due to the fact that I was spending five to six days a week at the TKD gym in increments of 1 to 3 hours at a time, I decided I might as well take class too. So I started taking classes in July. It has been AWESOME! Not only is it a great connection with the kids, it is an amazing workout. I've greatly increased my endurance and I've lost over 20 pounds! I am competing in tournaments with the kids, in fact we have one at the end of this month in Memphis. I'm hoping to place well and get some points. Michaela was the State and District champion in Combat Sparring (hitting people with a stick) last year so I have to give her some competition and motivate her to earn it in something else. I figure if I can be State champ in TWO events then she will be inclined to step it up a notch. ;)
It's so funny to imagine what new people to our gym must think when they come in. If I'm taking class, then there is a three-year-old running around--probably trying to hold up his too-big pants--playing on a tablet or new model cell phone, screaming at his 11-year-old sister and 9-year-old brother who are playing tag or hide and seek with him in the locker rooms. Every so often you hear someone scream and start crying for several minutes, and none of the adults in the other room even look in on it. Of course, it's just Ed and Angie's kids. One time our instructor started class with Joey in his arms. I really should probably pay them more.
So Joey has taken a few classes but he is not sold on the whole process yet. It usually goes something like "No, I don't want to take class tonight." Then five minutes after class starts he is screaming and crying that he wants to take class because he wants to wear his uniform. So we go to the locker room and put on the uniform only to come out and find "No, I don't want to take class. Take this off." Then he wants to wear the belt. The process repeats. I finally end up fighting a kicking and screaming kid that doesn't want to take class, doesn't want to wear his uniform, and doesn't want to put on the belt. I keep asking him, why are you crying, you aren't doing any of those things. I don't think he gets it.
Joey cracks me up. He talks so big from listening to Jake and Michaela I just can't get over the things he says coming out of that sweet little mouth. Last weekend we were watching the NFL preview show before the Chiefs vs. Texans playoff game (Chiefs, woot woot!) and he asked Ed, "What is this show? I like this." Ed told him what it was and the analysts were talking about the Chiefs season and how they started out 1 and 5 at the beginning. Joey says, "1 and 5, makes me laugh! Hahahaha!" And he continues watching the show like he was actually getting something out of which offense was expected to throw and who was likely going to be the big story of the game. Where does this kid get it? It's not like we are into sports (lol).
Anyway, so of course we are always running like crazy. But I'm learning some new tools to help me keep up with things. Hopefully I will be a little better about posting. Maybe this will keep me off Facebook some. I've noticed that I have a little bit of an addiction. I will scroll through all the new posts on my newsfeed and go back to the top and start again. I start to get frustrated when I refresh the news feed and only have two or three new posts to read. I keep thinking "Where are all my friends? What are they doing and why are they not posting about it? I need something new to read!" At that point I'm thinking I maybe need to log off and walk away. I don't think I'll be unplugging any time soon.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)