Christmas Traditions

One of our traditions is cutting down our Christmas tree. The boys love doing this. Why? Because it is our family tradition and an adventure that we all do together. And putting up the Christmas tree has a 'magical' feel that we love at Christmas time. After we pick out our tree and cut it and haul it back to the barn to be shaken, we all sit around a picnic table drinking hot chocolate. We live in Michigan and some years it is unseasonably warm (50 degrees) and some years it is snowy and cold. But it doesn't matter because what matters to us is that we are doing this together - going on an adventure.

It was a tradition my mother started after the divorce when I was a kid. We lived in Cincinnati and to cut down your own tree you had to drive about an hour north. My mom packed up my brothers, the dog and me and we headed north. When we got there it really felt like an adventure for us - especially doing it without a 'man' to help. To me it felt like the four of us could accomplish anything as long as we were working together. After we got the tree secured to the roof of our car, we would begin our drive home. The first year, we stopped at a McDonald's for lunch and every year after that my brothers and I insisted we stop at the same McDonalds...."because it's tradition" we would inform my mom.

My husband, boys and I have other traditions we do together as a family during this Christmas season - some more meaningful to the season than this. But somehow this is always the most memorable tradition to me.

What's your favorite tradition?

the sacrificial mom strikes again

It's a little embarrassing but for my 9 y/o son, i am learning the 'Thriller' dance with him. Now that is sacrifice. Look for us on youtube (if we ever learn it all!).

the sacrificial mom

I 'got' to see the re-release of Toy Story and Toy Story 2 in a 3-D double feature this week....twice. It was only going to be in theaters for two weeks. I promised the boys we would go. But on Sunday, our planned day to see this big ticket movie, one of my boys was sick - with mono. So I only took the two older boys promising the sickie that I would take him one day during the week while he was home from school anyway. So on Tuesday, I picked him up from school early (mono isn't as debilitating in a 9 y/o) and went and sat thru three hours of two movies-I-have-probably-seen-at-least-a-dozen-times-each.....again! I'm telling you, that is sacrificial love for you. The kind of sacrifice only a mother's love is willing to give.

I was looking forward to seeing the movies....once. They are definitely in my top favorite kid's movies - Pixar does it right! But twice in one week is just a little much. Although I did enjoy hearing each boy laugh during the movie - that makes it all worth it!

What's with the squirrels?

I have had so many squirrels run out in front of my car lately. Is it because its fall and they are all in "gathering" mode right now? I don't know but I think the squirrel population is going to go down soon since they keep running out in front of traffic.

I am always thinking, "Do I swerve to avoid it or hope it gets out of the way?" I don't want to hit the thing but its not worth causing an accident either. Jay has noticed them too and he would be traumatized if I hit one! (I'm not kidding.) So for now I guess I will do my best to avoid them.

And I thought we had dodged a bullet....er a button.

With boys ages 14, 12 and 9 I really thought I had avoided having a child get a small object stuck in his nose or ear. But today my 12 y/o let me check that off my parenting list. I was about to eat my lunch when I hear his panicked voice from downstairs saying, "Mom, I got a button stuck in my ear!" Then he says, "Am I going to die?"

I assured Jay that as far as I know, no one has died from getting a button stuck in his/her ear. At the same time I am wondering if my afternoon is going to be spent at the dr's office or urgent care to get it out. But fortunately it wasn't lodge too far in and Dr. Mom was able to extract it with a pair of tweezers.

Jay promised to never stick a button in his ear again. Glad to hear it!

Another note to self....

I'm not a big fan of Nicholas Sparks novels. I just listened to one while I was making a road trip. I chose it because nothing looked better at the Cracker Barrel but now I wish I had chosen the Bourne novel they had. Anything has to be better and more exciting that listening to the thoughts of the same man, who falls in love with the same woman who ends up tragically dying that are in every novel he writes!

Note to self....

Stephen King is not my cup of tea! I know you're wondering why I even have to make a mental note of this. If you know me, then you know I am not into horror movies, like Cujo, Carrie, The Shinning. But did you know that Stephen King wrote the Shawshank Redemption, The Green Mile and Stand By Me. Those are the kinds of Stephen King movies I may want to avoid. I really like the Shawshank Redemption but seeing The Green Mile was quite disturbing for me.

A couple of weeks ago James rented Stand By Me for us to watch. I wasn't really in the Stand By Me mood but I sat with my hubby and watched with him. He kept saying things like, "I don't remember this part." I would say, "You don't remember the leeches!?!" and "You don't remember the pie eating contest!?!" It is not a calm, happy-ending movie and I didn't remember that there were serveral emotionally wrenching scenes. I think each boy was weeping/wailing at some point in the movie. Although Vern's face when he was running on the train bridge was quite amusing!

My sweet boy

Jay has this crush on a girl who was in his class. He was talking about her last night so I asked him what it is about her that he likes. He said, "Her pretty face, the way she helps me in school, her curly hair.....oh but sometimes her pretty face makes me nervous."

He is just the sweetest boy I know!

Have some McCrack

So I go into McDonald's with my kids after their last day of school for the year to 'celebrate'. Now, McDonald's is not my favorite place to go for lunch and I often refuse, especially since seeing the documentary Super Size Me. (If you haven't seen it and like McD's, don't see it or you will never want to consume fast food again.) So the boys realized it was a treat. We walk in and the place is packed and there is someone walking around giving away small iced mochas - their new 'McCafe' drink for the summer.

I am not much of a coffee drinker but I did try one of their hot lattes once when I needed a little pick-me-up. My bff, Rhonda, raves about them. This experience was very funny and I won't go into it now but....I threw the thing out after only a few sips because it tasted something like gasoline and according to my kids who were in the car, it smelled much worse.

So as this employee (another rant I could go on but that would make this post super long) offers me a free iced mocha (or 'Frappe' as McD's is calling them), I am thinking I should say no because I don't like McD's coffee drinks but for some reason I say - "Okay, sure, I'll give it a try." I blame it on the whipped cream loaded on top. I'm a sucker for whipped cream.

I think they put some kind of addictive substance in these drinks because it is all I can think about the past couple of weeks. I found some coupons for free ones in the paper and I felt like I struck gold and have used them all up. I heard an ad for these iced coffees on the radio and there was a little disclaimer at the end that said something about not all restaurants are participating and this is for a limited time only. What do you mean a limited time only!!! You cannot take my McCrack away from me! They are like drug dealers who offer you some free stuff to try, knowing that once you try it you'll be hooked. And it worked! I'm hooked! Don't you dare discontinue to offer my "legal, addictive stimulant"* without consulting me first McDude!

My husband is a little worried about me and this whole McCrack....um, I mean McCafe thing. I don't think he has anything to worry about. I could stop at any time I want to. I just don't want to.

*from You've Got Mail

recent pics of the fam

Here are my boys. They just keep growing. Sam is taller than me now. (that's not saying much!)
James took Jay to see the Lion King again. Jay loves/hates the hyenas. Jay loves to get dressed up in his suit! Don't they look handsome?

Luke is losing his teeth. I can't believe my baby is growing up so fast!

Jay has his first baseball game of the season tonight. He is psyched!

Maybe you notice there are no pics of me. That's because I am the designated family photographer. No one else thinks to pick up the camera and take a picture of me. I'll work on that. Actually I have a lot of pictures of Jay and Luke but few of James and Sam. At 14, Sam is not all that keen on having his picture taken.

I used to scrapbook. Its not that I've made a conscious decision not to anymore - I just haven't put any photos in a scrapbook in about 3-4 years now. I also switched to digital this past year and I don't print them either. This is a project I want to work on this summer. I may not take the time to scrapbook but I do want to have the photos printed and in a book for us to enjoy.

I hope you enjoy these!

Could you vote for Susan?

BELIEVE IN THE RUN Sponsored by Visit NIKE USA

Could you take a minute to vote for Susan? If she gets the most votes she gets a free trip to Hawaii.
Thanks!
Laura

Future writers?

Family Pride - by Luke
There’s my aunt a uncle who teach me spanish.
My omie and opie who teach me to be polite.
My grandparent’s who like golf.
My grammy and pop pop teach me about nature.



Mama Cat - by Sam
I’ve had a lot of experiences with animals, but there is one I’ll never forget. It began in March of 2004. My brothers and I were in our backyard playing tag or something when I came across a small cat, almost tripping over it. The cat was mostly a dull, darkish gray. Its stomach was snowy white, and it had bits of black here and there. It was a tabby, so it had stripes. It was a thin cat, so it looked a little smaller than most cats. My brothers and I stopped whatever we were doing and went over to pet the cat, but the cat hurried away as though I had pulled its tail. However, for the next couple months, I would notice the cat hanging around our house. On one particular day, while I was eating lunch on our back porch with my mother and brothers, the cat leaped up onto the porch and started to nibble on our food. My mother shooed it away.

Two months later, the cat gave birth to only one kitten. I came home from school and found the kitten in a little box in our garage. The kitten was about the size of a mouse (I wasn’t surprised that my mother thought it was a mouse when she first saw it). Its fur was a grayish color, like its mother. Its eyes were barely open, and it continually made these squeaking sounds. I could hold it in one hand and felt its razor-sharp claws digging into the palm of my hand. My father was gone on business at the time, and when he found out about the kitten, he said both the cat and the kitten had better be gone by the time he got home, which was two weeks away.

We started out feeding the cat tuna, but its stomach hated that the way people hate Jerry Springer, so we switched to buying cat food at Meijer. Meanwhile, the kitten could open its eyes complete-ly, and could take millimeter-length steps on my hand. Two weeks passed and we still hadn’t found a home for the cat. The day my father returned was a stormy one. Rain was coming down sideways, thunder was so loud our house shook, and some kind of storm watch or warning was issued every two minutes. And it the midst of all the lousy weather, and the fact that my father’s flight would probably be delayed, we gave the cat away to an old friend. It was so hard to give up the cat and kitten, but we knew they were in good hands.

And for my birthday....

...my wonderful husband got me an amazing surprise. While we were out to dinner for my birthday, our friend/neighbor came over and hung portraits of the boys that James had taken, unbeknownst to me. They are absolutely beautiful. And I was totally surprised. And the boys were totally excited to be in on the surprise.

I don't have the photos on my computer yet but you can go to www.brettmaxwellphoto.com to see them. Scroll down about halfway to "birthday portraits" and you will see my three handsome men.

Thank you James, Sam, Jay and Luke!

Happy Birthday with Ruff Ruffman!

For Jay's birthday he wanted a "Fetch" party. "Fetch with Ruff Ruffman" is a show on PBS that Jay LOVES! Jay dressed as "Ruff" and we had a few activities that a contestant might participate in on the show.
Like a scavenger hunt....

a science experiment (blowing up a balloon without using your own breath)...

and creating the image of Ruff out of duck tape.

And here are a few of the creations.

The part that touched me the most were the gifts his friends gave him. A few of the kids got him some sensory toys because they know he uses things like that in school. They all know Jay has a kind of autism and really love him and accept him exactly as he is - which is really not hard to do because the boy is so fun! All in all it was a great party - very creative and everyone had a good time - including the birthday boy!

Another One Bites the Dust

Yesterday our sweet boy Jay came down with something. He spent all day in bed. And for those of you who don't know Jay - this is highly unusual. Jay is always moving and imagining and enthusiastic. But yesterday, and today, he just layed still and quiet all day with glassy eyes and flushed cheeks. I hope he starts to perk up tomorrow.

I usually kind of like it when one of the kids (or James) is home sick. I can just clear my schedule and take time to care for them, read to them, make them chicken soup and jello and usually catch up on laundry. That's how it was today. But I didn't like seeing my boy all wiped out on the couch.

Sadly, for Jay, today is his 12th birthday. He got quite a few calls from family wishing him a Happy Birthday. He took each call and mumbled a few answers to their questions and then said he thought he'd better go. He was all bummed out that he didn't get to bring treats to school 'on' his birthday. But I promised him the first day back he will. Thankfully he's having a party with friends for his birthday next weekend. Something for him to look forward to.

Happy Birthday Jaybird! We love you!

Quote of the Day

James: "So you're having Fruit Loops for breakfast today..."

Jay: "Well, my toast fell on the ground and I tried to wash it off but then in got soggy. So I decided to have Fruit Loops."

James: "Gotcha!"

the fears of motherhood

*WARNING*

*The following is not to be read by the squeamish*

So one my biggest motherhood fears came true last night.........Luke vomited in the middle of the night. (I warned you!) I think this is what all parents dread. Dealing with puke.

Luke comes into our room around 1:45am and says, "Mom, I just threw up in my room." I think I wasn't fully awake and my husband repeated it to me. At which point it sunk it and I jumped out of bed and began pushing Luke toward our bathroom. He threw up again on the floor in our bathroom....and then again in the toilet.

But what gets me is what plays in my mind as this occurs and I am cleaning up. First I thought of my mother and I soooo appreciate her! I really can't remember specific instances where she had to deal with this but I do remember her holding back my hair while I was leaning over the toilet. She was a saint!

Then I thought "How am I going to clean this up off the carpet?" That thought dominated my foggy mind for a while. I began thinking of custodians at schools who get called in on a regular basis to clean up puke - of other people's kids! I figure they have a plan for how to clean this up. I wish I knew their secrets.

Then as I am in awe of all the places this stuff has splattered, I begin wondering: When one of Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt's kids throw up in the middle of the night, who cleans it up? Do they take care of the task themselves or do they have live-in help who they wake up in the middle of the night to care for it?

So this morning Luke climbs into bed with us. He begins saying how glad he was that he didn't "barf" at school - that would be embarrassing. (although his father and I were thinking that puking at school didn't sound like such a bad idea to us!) So then he proceeds to tell us about the kids who have barfed at school - because this kind of thing is etched in the minds of all elementary school kids. He tells of of one kids who wasn't looking too good - "all sweaty and red like someone had just punched him in the stomach." He can also tell us exactly where it happened in each instance - like on the carpet in the music room or on the floor by the blackboard. He had us in stitches laughing and was so confused as to why we were finding this so funny.

But if we didn't laugh about it, we'd cry!

the challenges of motherhood

Well, for some time now I have been telling myself that I would post more regularly and let my reader (I think there's only one person who reads my blog now - thanks mom!) see more deeply into my heart and life. The area I have been putting off writing about is my boys. My husband and I have three boys ages 14, 11 (12 on 2/2) and 8. They are the joy of our lives. And they have stretched and challenged us more than we ever imagined they could.

First off, let me tell you that I LOVE being a mom. Before I had children I was not all that enthused about being a mom but once I had our oldest my heart was totally taken. I love the challenge of raising children to be responsible, caring adults and I love the privilege of watching them grow and develop and mature. My boys are so precious to me. I am honored to have the role of mother in their lives.

The most challenging part of being a mother for me (other than potty-training - those experiences still give me nightmares!) is the fact that my two oldest boys have a form of autism called Asperger's Syndrome. Oh, I have learned so much by the experience of raising children with special needs. And my heart goes out to all parents out there who are. This experience has really opened my eyes to so many things. First, that there is a grief process that parents go through as they are raising children with special needs. When we are expecting our children we have hopes and dreams that we aren't even aware of and when we discover that our children have disabilites, we have to let go of some or many of these hopes and dreams. And of course there is often a feeling of guilt that we are grieving over our children - but I've learned to just accept the grief and allow it to work through me so I can get to the other side - acceptance and hope and cherishing the life God has given us.

There is so much more I have learned but I think I'll save it for other posts. I am hoping to write a little about each of my boys in the next week - maybe even have them write about themselves as well. They have blessed my life so richly and I hope they will bless yours as well.

Can you say "BRRRRRRRRRR!"?

... WIND CHILL ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 1 PM EST FRIDAY...
WIND CHILLS OF 15 TO 20 BELOW WILL CONTINUE TONIGHT AND INTO FRIDAY MORNING.
A WIND CHILL ADVISORY MEANS THAT VERY COLD AIR TEMPERATURES... OR A COMBINATION OF COLD AIR TEMPERATURES AND WIND... WILL LEAD TO FROSTBITE OR HYPOTHERMIA IF PRECAUTIONS ARE NOT TAKEN. IF YOU MUST VENTURE OUTDOORS... MAKE SURE YOU WEAR A HAT AND GLOVES.

so many books, so little time!

Here's a meme of books you may have read from Ben's blog. Thought I'd kick off the New Year with it. If anyone chooses to do this on your blog, please let me know. I am always looking for good recommendations.

1) Look at the list and bold those you have read.
2) Italicize those you intend to read.
3) Mark in a different color the books you LOVE
4) Reprint this list in your blog.

1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen - twice
2 The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien 1 1/2 of the 3
3 Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
4 Harry Potter series - JK Rowling
5 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee - in highschool
6 The Bible
7 Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
8 Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell - in highschool I think
9 His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
10 Great Expectations - Charles Dickens - hs (in highschool)
11 Little Women - Louisa M Alcott - 2 or 3 times now
12 Tess of the D’Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
13 Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
14 Complete Works of Shakespeare - a few in hs
15 Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier
16 The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien
17 Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks
18 Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger - hs
19 The Time Traveller’s Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
20 Middlemarch - George Eliot
21 Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell
22 The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald - hs
23 Bleak House - Charles Dickens
24 War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy
25 The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
26 Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh
27 Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky - I've read about 1/3
28 Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
29 Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
30 The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame
31 Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy
32 David Copperfield - Charles Dickens
33 Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis - I've read 3 of them
34 Emma - Jane Austen
35 Persuasion - Jane Austen
36 The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - CS Lewis
37 The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
38 Captain Corelli’s Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres
39 Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
40 Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne
41 Animal Farm - George Orwell - hs
42 The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown - a few chapters
43 One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
44 A Prayer for Owen Meany - John Irving
45 The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
46 Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery - the entire series
47 Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy
48 The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret Atwood
49 Lord of the Flies - William Golding
50 Atonement - Ian McEwan
51 Life of Pi - Yann Martel
52 Dune - Frank Herbert
53 Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons
54 Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen - currently reading
55 A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
56 The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
57 A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens
58 Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon
60 Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
61 Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck - hs
62 Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
63 The Secret History - Donna Tartt
64 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
65 Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas - I can't remember for sure - maybe in college
66 On The Road - Jack Kerouac
67 Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy
68 Bridget Jones’s Diary - Helen Fielding
69 Midnight’s Children - Salman Rushdie
70 Moby Dick - Herman Melville
71 Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens
72 Dracula - Bram Stoker
73 The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett - teacher read to class in elementary school
74 Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson
75 Ulysses - James Joyce
76 The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath
77 Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
78 Germinal - Emile Zola
79 Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray
80 Possession - AS Byatt
81 A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens
82 Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
83 The Color Purple - Alice Walker
84 The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
85 Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert
86 A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
87 Charlotte’s Web - EB White - mom read it to me as a child and I read it to my boys
88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom
89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
90 The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton
91 Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad - I think in hs
92 The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery - I think I read it in French in hs
93 The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
94 Watership Down - Richard Adams
95 A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
96 A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute
97 The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas
98 Hamlet - William Shakespeare
99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl
100 Les Miserables - Victor Hugo