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.
 

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.)

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!

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!

Where Does the Time Go?

The days seem to go by faster and faster. Some days I relish the idea and cannot wait for what's in store for the next. Other days I want to hold on to that moment, willing it to stay for awhile.

This morning, after taking the kids to the bus stop, I walked back with our neighbor's father and our neighbor's kid (the parents were both at work), The little girl is 3, and she has literally grown up before our eyes. I asked her if I could stick her in my pocket, to which she replied, "I'm too big." 

And then yesterday marked the 1-year anniversary since a friend of mine from high school's sister's 2-year old. suddenly died (did you follow that?). The dad of the little boy has been blogging for most of the year, trying to wrestle with his grief. All his posts bring me to tears, so be forewarned if you want to check it out here.

Anyway, I oftentimes find that I wrestle with feelings of longing. Longing to hold on to my kids a little tighter. Longing for the days when the kids were littler. Listen to me--my kids are only 8 and 5, but to me, I fell like those toddler years were so long ago. As kids grow up, they gain more independence, which, in the end is all we can ask for as parents. But with that independence comes needing me a little less.

I have a hard time accepting change. I don't know if I've always been that way (those who have known me longer may know the answer), but I think it's become even more prevalent since having kids. You are basically watching your children grow up right before your eyes.

And I don't know if it was kismet, but I received an email this morning from a website I wasn't familiar with. The company asked me to click a link to let it know if I still wanted to keep my videos on its site.

Videos?


I was intrigued. And I viewed the video, which I honestly have no memory of ever making, and I cried. Gosh, 2.5 years ago isn't a long time in the grand scheme of things, but look how young the kids look! The flood gates opened. You can tell how much Riley adores her brother. You can see how much Jeremy loves food and how we dressed him up like a girl. You can see how happy Casey makes my brother. And you can see just how much my parents love being grandparents.

Yes, I do believe I'll keep that video around for a bit. If only to remind me that life flies by in an instant.

Check it out here.

Riley's 8th Birthday Party

I realize it's been a few months, but we did have a birthday party for the birthday girl, oh, way back in mid-November. As parents, we wanted her to have fun and invite some friends, but we didn't want to go into debt in order to do so. Plus, the problem we have around here is that a lot of people do the same parties. Riley has been to several at the bowling alley and a bulk at this local chocolate shop. Not that there's anything wrong with having a party there, but we just wanted to do something different.

We finally settled on a roller blading/skating place. Riley originally didn't want it there, but we were able to convince her that it would be fun. She invited 10 of her friends (and one brother of hers), and we had the party the day after her actually birthday.

The kids seemed to have a fantastic time--some of them had never been on roller blades/skates before. So those girls took a bit longer to get out there. What I love about kids this age is that even if they've never met, they can immediately become friends and not hold any preconceived first notions about anyone. Girls were holding hands, trying to keep each other from falling; meanwhile Jeremy is zooming around the rink due to his many hours of actual ice skating.

About halfway through the party we met in a separate room for the kids to enjoy some Italian ice and open presents. The problem with that was that some of the girls needed to use the bathroom, which meant blading/skating over there and trying not to fall.

The other disappointing aspect was that Phil lost his jacket, which had his car keys and checkbook in the pocket! We had the entire staff looking around for it, they announced it over the PA (although I later joked that we were in Bear country, and who would willingly give back a Packer jacket), and about 45 minutes later it was located in another party room. I guess someone thought it belonged with their group, but we were just so thankful that it was found.

Riley had a fantastic time with all her friends, and since her party, she's been invited to two other birthday parties...both at the same place! And they were both for girls who had been at her party! The best part of all was that for the third straight year, we asked parents to not buy Riley any presents and instead to donate food to give to the local food pantry. Some parents did purchase gifts, but we ended up bringing 133 pounds of food to the food pantry! Riley was so proud to give the food, and when we brought it in, one of the volunteers gushed over her and told her what a wonderful thing she was doing. (To which Jeremy complaining: "Am I going to go have to do this for my party?")

Here are some pictures from her party. Enjoy!

Vacation Recap

Back in November, Phil and I celebrated our 10-year anniversary (Aug. 11) with our first kid-free vacation. It was actually our first real vacation, besides when we traveled to Boston for C+D's wedding. We were blessed to have both grandmas agree to watch the kids since we were going while they were in school, and off we went to beautiful St. Maarten.

We had an overnight layover in Philadelphia (which is funny in itself because in order to save money, we got a room with two queen beds instead of a king. So the vacation began with both of us sleeping in separate beds!). Bright and early the next morning we boarded the plane for the Caribbean. And let me tell you, the view from off the plane was amazing! We were actually the very last ones off the plane, and we disembarked on the actual runway. We walked down the stairs, and was it ever hot! It was about 3:30 pm when we arrived, and it was a stark contrast from the 20-degree temps when we left the States.


We found our bags and got in line for a taxi. We shared the ride with two other women, and the conversation was strained at times due the heavy accents. But we arrived at our resort about 4:30, went up to the room and gazed upon the beautiful ocean view.

We traveled to another island for one of the days--it's called Pinel Island--and it was beautiful. We also rented a car for a day and drove around the entire island, with a stop at one of the world's most beautiful beaches. We spent a majority of the day there, enjoying the weather and the waves. One of the highlights was a spur-of-the-moment dinner stop during the middle of the week. We had plans to go to this Italian place, only to arrive and find it closed. We walked down the street and came across this French restaurant, and when the hostess said she'd give us a free glass of champagne, I was sold! It was one of the most delicious meals both of us had ever eaten.


All in all, we had a fantastic time, and we spent every day in the water at some point. I was happy to get some sun and enjoy being "me" and not necessarily a "mom". It was a great way to reconnect and remember why we're together. We both agreed that the time we were gone was just the right amount. It was 6 days, 5 nights, and we both felt completely refreshed when we arrived back home.

There are a TON of pictures, and I didn't label them all, but here's a link to the photo album. I'll be happy to explain any of the pictures if you have questions. I already miss the scenery and wearing shorts. :)