Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Little Girl

Sometimes I find myself looking at my little girl and realize she's not so little. She's now eight, and has become such a beautiful, insightful and emotional girl. I gaze at her in wonderment because she has her whole life ahead of her and has so much potential. The world is out there for her to explore, she can strive for so many awesome things and can be successful in whatever she does.

Reading at J's hockey practice.

And then I blink and realize that in a few years, she may hate both myself and Phil just for being her parents.

I know these next few years are going to be tough; I remember how difficult being a teenage girl can be. I was not always full of the best behavior, both at home at at school (one time my basketball coach reamed me out for rolling my eyes at her). There are snippets now of Riley dealing with her emotions, and although we've yet to hear the "I hate you," we do get plenty of "it's not fair." I keep reminding her that life is not fair, which is something I know my parents told me.
Such a beautiful girl.


When my grandfather passed away on Dec. 6, I asked both kids to write something to put in the casket. I explained that they could write whatever they wanted. Riley helped Jeremy with his, in which he wrote:


Dear Great Grandpa,
I want to be with you for Christmas.
Love, Jeremy

Jeremy's letter.


Seriously, these kids amaze me. But Riley's, my goodness, it completely took my breath away.





She wrote:
He will always be with you in your heart. He will always remember all of us. He will especially remember that you were very kind to him. He will remember that in all the days when we were young. He will remember all of your birthdays and your parties. But before he even left he wanted to say goodbye but you were not there.
Love, Riley
 
Wow.

And to top it off, after the funeral, we came home and Phil and I were emotionally spent. The kids went upstairs, and Jeremy came down to get his crayons. No big deal, right? They both come down about 15 minutes later, and Jeremy hands me a card and Riley hands one to Phil. They both read:


Dear Mom and Dad.
Thank you for all that you do, from soccer, hockey, softball and T-ball. I hope $10 will do.
Love, Jeremy and Riley


Wow.


We simply told both kids that they didn't need to do that, and that all we need is for them to do their best. We said that we would continue to do this stuff for them as long as they did that. And what does Jeremy say?

"It's OK, Mom. It's Riley's money."

The kids are two of the best things that have ever happened to me. I hope they know that.
 

Friday, February 10, 2012

Joke TIme

I wanted to capture this because it is hilarious.

Tonight Phil was enjoying some Laffy Taffy, which always has jokes on it. So he read one of the jokes tonight.

"What do you call a clam that doesn't share?"

Jeremy's answer: A not-sharing clam.

I couldn't stop laughing.

(The real answer is shell-fish. But I personally like Jeremy's answer better.)

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Funny 2012

I wanted to capture some funny things the kids have been saying lately.

From Riley:

A few weeks ago, Jeremy had hockey practice on Sunday afternoon from 1-3, and Riley had indoor soccer from 11-12. So Phil took Riley, and I took Jeremy. It just so happened that it was a Packer playoff game day. And because of this, Jeremy and I took the long way home after practice, stopped for some food and arrived home at a leisurely time. I had texted Phil beforehand to let him know that I would be a little late.

So the boy and I arrive home, and Riley was practically in tears! She was worried about us! And why? Because Phil had been acting crazy during the game. She said he was throwing his hat, getting angry and punching the pillows on the couch.

She said she told him it was just a game, to which he replied, "NO IT'S NOT!"

Nice, huh?

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On a lighter note, the other night the kids were playing this game called Hulabaloo. Basically there are these different felt-shaped colorful pieces that you scatter on the floor, and then there's a disk that you push. The disk gives commands, such as step on a yellow or find a square. 

One of the commands was to take baby steps to a piece. Next thing I know I hear both kids walking normally but saying, "Wah, wah" like a baby. Guess that's their way of taking baby steps!

Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Family Picture

Every year I ask both parents what they want for Christmas. Usually it's practical stuff, such as items for the kitchen, clothes or even books. This year all Dad wanted was a picture of all of us wearing hockey jerseys. And since C+D are now in Chicago, we could wait until the fall to take the picture. And all Mom really wanted was for me to make Christmas cards out of the picture.

For those of you lucky enough to receive one of these cards, I hope you enjoyed it. We took the pictures the day that Phil and I left for vacation. We set the camera on a timer and took the picture. I ended up cropping off the table in the bottom of the pictures. For those who didn't get a chance to see it, here are the two pictures from the shoot:

Our family.
The "fighting" picture.

We all had such a good time, and I forget whose idea it was to do a "fighting" picture. The one on Derek's camera came out better, but I have it saved on the other computer.

I love that my Dad had enough jerseys that none of us were wearing the same team. Jeremy is actually wearing his own jersey, and I was able to snag a Jeremy Roenick jersey. Dad has on the Penguins, Phil's kicking it old school with the Nordiques, Mom has the Devils, Derek is in the Senators, Riley has the Sabres and Casey has the Oiler's third jersey.


If this doesn't represent our family, I don't know what does!