To Have a Child is to Have Your Heart Walking Around Outside Your Body Forever

Ever noticed how this saying is so true, but even truer on some days?  Not only are they our heart, they are our pain, joy, happiness and sorrow.  What they feel, we feel.  What they laugh at, we laugh at (well, unless they are laughing at me, then I have to act mad).  When they hurt, we cry, even if they don't. 

I know this will seem trivial to some, however, when you have a child with a dream, small as it is, if he doesn't even get a chance at it, it breaks your heart.  Yes, mine actually hurts right now and I have tears running down my face. . .

Brayton's dream is to run the football at practice or in a game (think back to being that young and your dreams seem huge to you at the time because you really don't have much to dream about at that age).  Last fall in football, there were so many kids out, that the boys were divided up to offense and defense and they pretty much played one position.  Brayton was on defense on the line, so it was not a lot of action for him.

So far, they have only had 2 practices for spring football and the games have been cancelled.  The first practice, he did get to carry the ball.  He cried about it going to bed that night because he fumbled it.  I told him not to worry about it, but after I tucked him in, gave him a kiss and reassured him again, I spoke to Chris in the kitchen.  He told me the whole story.  Yes, he fumbled the ball, but the coach (a grown man who is also a father) had to call out that he thought they could get through all of practice without a fumble.  UGH. 

Tonight was practice #2.  The coaches kids (there are 2) played the whole time in prime positions and Brayton was told he could get out there in the one offensive position, but only because ______ was gone from practice tonight.  After practice Bray practically begs Chris to help him get to carry the ball (we are the parents and we should be able to help, but the politics here in the sports is UNREAL and I HATE politics!!!   UGH ~ again!), but all he can tell him is to keep trying and go and play his best.  I want to scream "WHAT FOR???!  WE AREN'T THE ONES IN CHARGE AND HE WON'T GET TO PLAY", but a quitters attitude is not what we want our kids to have, so we keep cheering them on.

I don't have a skirt and pom-poms, but a cheerleader I am (and Chris is even better at it, despite his sex).  I cheer because I have the slightest hope that one day they'll need someone and Bray can run in and prove what they've been missing out on.  I cheer because I don't want him (or Taite) to have to learn about the injustices in life that are frustrating like this.  I cheer because I'm his mom, damn it, and he's pretty damn great!

(Please note, I don't feel this way only for Brayton, it just so happens that he has this coach and situation, but Taite does not ~ we do lots of cheering for Taite too) :~)

My Cup Runneth Over. . .

Tonight I am struck by the overwhelming feeling of "blessings".  I know that shouldn't really be a feeling.  I was reading my SIL's blog and was relieved  not surprised to find I'm not the only one who feels that at some point my blessings will come to an end.  Like when I've had too much "good stuff" come my way.  In reality though, you can't tell me you haven't thought of that!  In fact, my husband has lived with this weight on his shoulders for years.  It all began when his mom got sick with cancer when he was a 9th grader and was told "if you go to church, your mom will get better".  What a horrible thing to tell someone whose loved one is sick?  We don't have control of that!  I digress. . .

We are blessed.  I have no other way to describe us.  We have a beautiful house, a couple jobs, great, healthy kids, a loving family and a fabulous marriage.  Why???  Why are we so blessed and others struggle?  Are unemployed?  Spend hours and days in the hospital with their sick children?  Can't find a partner in life?  It just doesn't seem fair.  Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to say that I want my situation to change.  I would rather like others to be as blessed as we are.  I don't know the answer to this.  Well, I do have a thought ~ our success (financially and emotionally mostly goes to my husband who refuses to fail. . . at anything). 

Tonight, in particular, there are a few things that remind me of our blessings. 
This afternoon, the boys spent outside playing with friends & neighbors.  They shot hoops, played a football style game with the basketball and just got along (a 6th grader, 5th grader and 2 x 3rd graders).  ***sigh***
Brayton has his best friend staying overnight and he couldn't have a better buddy.  We shared good laughs and he recommended the movie we watched tonight.  ***sigh***
We are able to go out to eat as a treat and even get dessert (the mini blizzards at DQ are the perfect size) :~)
I know none of these seem like much, but I'm reluctant to take any of these for granted. 

I also received a letter from my grandma today.  We can actually feel the love she sends our way in her letters.  To know that love is there, despite our lack of regular calls or letters, is heartwarming.  (yep, brings tears to my eyes too)

It's one of those times when I just want to freeze it so I can revisit it with the other times in my life I've felt this very same way.  Wouldn't you like to as well?  I'd love to compare them.  What's changed?  What's the same?  Do my more recent "perfect moments" out perform the prior?  Just a thought. 

On the same note, last weekend we watched Get Low, the movie.  Brayton didn't like it, but the rest of us did and I highly recommend it.  There were some funny parts, but best of all, it had a great story. 

So, anyway, enough reflective stuff, I'm tired and have a big day of flooring shopping tomorrow.  Love you, sweet dreams and I pray you have a cup that runneth over.

Just stuff

This weekend we did nothing.  Didn't have football games Saturday morning (too much rain, so wet fields), didn't have friends over (the kids) and didn't really go anywhere.  Well, I take that back.  On Sunday afternoon, Chris and I ventured downstairs to see how the mud was drying on the walls.  On Friday, they were not able to do much because it was like 85% humidity and the mud was not drying as hoped.  Well, by Sunday afternoon, it was drying and it had shrunken in lots of places!  Like long seams that ran the length of the room ~ lots!  We ran to Home Depot to get some shrink-free spackle (Chris also had a hole for the light by the bar too low).  We lounged around for the rest of the weekend ~ did you know they had a special on Nat Geo (that's what they call it ~ apparently people are too lazy to say "National Geographic") about shark men.  It's a crew of about 20 who hunt sharks, catch them and do research on the ones they catch.  It's really very cool and I had no idea there is so little known about the white sharks breeding habits, growth, etc. 

Anyway, here are the pictures of where the basement was at late yesterday (today the ceiling has the texture on it, but the walls got more mud and will probably be texturized tomorrow).

The living room with the bathroom door on the right and the spare bedroom door in the middle of the pic

 Looking into the movie room

 The movie room

 Chris standing outside my sewing room door and at the bottom of the steps (that's the door that's open and the only door downstairs)

 My sewing room

 Looking into the bathroom, the closet is on the right and the toilet will be on the other side of that

 Another shot of the living room, looking at the door to the patio out in back below the deck

 I'm sure you can see why we are so excited to get this done!  It will add a lot of living/running around room!

Tonight I was over at one of my favorite blogs ~ IC.  Infarrantly Creative is one of those blogs that I check daily.  I feel like I'm friends with Beckie even though I've only communicated with her through emails.  I take that back. . . I found this recipe from Facebook and Beckie had posted it because it's what she was making :~)  http://hoosierhomemade.com/chicken-n-noodles/  I started by making a half a recipe (this calls for a whole chicken and two bags of noodles) since I had some shredded chicken in the freezer already about 2 cups worth and using one bag of noodles.  The directions say to boil the chicken with onion and spices in when you are done, you'll have chicken broth that you use to cook your noodles (which you also keep).  Since my chicken was frozen, I threw my noodles in with bullion, water, chicken/fish seasoning, onions, the frozen chicken and noodles to cook.  It smelled heavenly, believe me!  It smelled so good that when everything was cooked, I couldn't throw away the "soup".  So, we modified the recipe and rolled with it.  I added the cream of chicken soup to the mix and it was yummy!  Okay, there are improvements to be made ~ do NOT measure the water for the noodles (in this case 2 qts) and add the correct amount of bullion for that amount of water AND add chicken seasoning.  I just kind of dumped in some of the chicken/fish seasoning and that combined with the bullion was salty and spicy.  We tried to figure out why it was spicy and it had to have been from the chicken/fish spices though it didn't list pepper in the ingredients but it did list "spices" which I love when they do that. . . everything that was swept up from the floor??  hehe

 To get the creative, recipe modifying juices flowing. . .  :~)

 Now, we have a zero waste wish at our house.  Our desire to not throw away food and waste food is the goal.  It doesn't always happen, but it does create some unique recipes that are not always bad (Taite used a leftover brat in Hamburger Helper hehe).  Well, we had some veggie dip left over from Bray's birthday party and I have a recipe from this book that uses a carton of dip for biscuits.
(2 cups buttermilk baking mix, 8 oz of French onion dip ~ I've used many different ones, and 1/4 cup of milk) Easy peasy!!  The only problem ~ I had no Bisquick AND the recipes I found online to make my own all started out with 10 cups of flour!  Um, nope, didn't have that much time, nor did I want to make that much.  

 So, I turned to my other fav cookbook for biscuits.  This recipe I've shared with you before ~ the Dilly Drop Biscuits (2 cups flour, 1 tbsp. baking powder, 1/2 - 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp dried dill weed, 1 tsp onion powder, 1/3 cup veg. oil and 1 cup milk).  I know you've heard the saying that "a recipe is only a starting point", so I took that thought and ran with it.

 Here are my ingredients:  milk, flour, salt, baking powder and dip.  I made the Dilly Drop Biscuits without the dill weed, onion powder, oil and only used 1/4 cup milk with the dip.  They turned out super!

 It looked a little dry and I thought about adding more milk, but they really didn't need it.  The only thing that I skimped on was the salt and they could've used a little more in here ~ Taite just put his biscuit in his soup and it all evened out :~)  Overall, tonight's supper was very good (going by all the compliments I got from the "boys") and just proves you don't have to have everything on hand that a recipe calls for!



Facebook problems? No, not really.

I have a confession.  I don't always check Facebook and when I do, I'm not really interested in the drama in others' lives or their latest complaint or whine ~ I am looking for updated blog postings on the crafty websites I "Like".  Chris asked me the other day if he should be concerned about me being on FB all the time (he reads all of those articles about problems FB can cause).  It may cause problems for us, but definitely not how he is thinking.  I have no old boyfriends or past situations I am yearning for ~ it's all the redone furniture or homemade and finished furniture I desire!  Here are some of the recent finds from my blog-stalking:

http://www.theidearoom.net/2011/04/diy-spring-paper-flowers.html 
She actually took a chunk of grass out of her garden to put in the cute pink pail before she put in her flowers!
After a day of rain and snow, this makes me happy!!!

Infarrantly Creative is having a giveaway of one of these:
http://www.infarrantlycreative.net/2011/04/the-original-scrapbox-sewing-box-giveaway.html

This is actually a sewing room in a box!  Yep, the little box on the left is what this sewing display will fold up to ~ unfortunately, Chris suggested I did not need a big sewing room if I got one of these.  NOT what I was thinking at all!! :~)

I have been admiring this display for some time now.  You see, she shows how to change the decorations for each season and I'm drooling every time I see it with new pieces!  http://todaysfabulousfinds.blogspot.com/2011/04/easter-egg-hunt-vignette.html

I dream of one day coming up with stuff like this so effortlessly.  You have to check out her ability to make numerous items with paint sticks.  Yes, you did read that correctly ~ paint sticks!!  In fact, that wooden box in this picture that looks antique and dark wood ~ really just cut up paint sticks!!!  Wow ~ the talent!!

These are just a few of the sites I have to check out.  There you have it, my love affair with these women and their skills!  Their decorations, humor and sometimes recipes.  I love it all!  In fact, I have a stash of stuff in the garage just waiting for the basement to be done so I can paint some new wooden pieces (heirloom white or a black????) and create some of my one decorative "scenes".

No pictures, just Chicken Chit Chat ~ LMAO!!!

Okay, so tonight I am just "winging" the post.  I don't have any pictures to share (there will be others later), but I feel the "need" to share with you!  So, I'm just going to "chat" but when we were growing up, we had a game called Chicken Chit Chat (I really hope that my mom didn't sell this at a garage sale because it would almost be an antique ~ they now have 'Flip the Flop' and other games similar to 'Chicken Chit Chat').  It really is irrelevant how you play, the title to this blog just made me laugh, so I'm sharing it and there!

Onto my Chit Chat. . .

Today I came home from work and I was slightly behind the boys so they were already home.  I had decided to set up shop in our "sitting room" (think formal dining room space in a house for people who are not "formal dining room people") and as I am relishing in my comfy glider, Brayton comes in to share with me that he asked Grandma if she would like to go to Pasta Night. WHAT??!!  The other day Brayton had mentioned going to Pasta Night at the Dunes Club house and I tried to explain to him that we don't have a membership and the only time we can go is if we are with Grandma & Grandpa. . .  Long story short, Bray had tried to get ahold of Jane to ask her if she wanted to go to Pasta Night, but she wasn't answering her phone, so he called Grandpa who is in western South Dakota on business.  Bray basically told Grandpa that Grandma wasn't answering her phone and he wanted to go to Pasta Night!!!  UGH!!!  Anyway, the boys and I went to Pasta Night with Jane (Tom was out of town and Chris is trying a gluten free diet for his digestive system) and we all had fun!  :)  hehe

Brayton's iPod Touch needs a case and he's blaming me for not having one because I don't take the time to search with him and find one.  I looked online for one to buy and I've looked for one to make (sewing pattern), but still I have nothing.  Let me know if you had ideas.  I told Bray I would find something for him while he is in bed and the best so far (I think) is a material that is similar to jelly sandals (remember? they were big in the 80's and made a small comeback a couple years ago) that material is now made into a case for iPods.  I should dislike it for other reasons, but you don't really want to hear about my unfortunate event while walking beans as a kid ~ it's got a lot of blood, fainting (not of who you would think) and later, scarring of the foot. . .

Just last night I was at Taite's football practice and I was able to check out some friends' remodeling project.  It's not going well, but in our discussion of the "end result", Shari mentioned she wants to get rid of their kitchen table, which I was just thinking how much I LOVED it!!!  I told her to NOT post it on CL until she had contacted me about it first!!  How much is this table my style??? 

Taite is already a teenager and I have no idea how to parent now.  I'm not enjoying the sassy confidence.  So that usually means he is mad at me and I'm doing a lot of complaining and I hate it.  Last night he went to bed and wasn't talking to me out of frustration and anger.  I am proud to say that this morning he did give me a real hug and was even joking around with me.  Otherwise, my first reaction is to buy him something and I know that is NOT a good idea, nor the kind of parent I want to be.  We'll muddle through this and hopefully he won't give up completely on me.

Our basement project is coming along.  This week the mudders are here.  The problem we have is that we had the heat off so the furnace wouldn't suck up any sheetrock dust, but the mud isn't drying without the heat on!  Oops!  Last night Chris turned the heat on in the basement only and found out (remember we have all the basement sheetrocked now. . .) the HVAC guys didn't do the zones correctly (they were the first sub in the order of things to come and get their work done) and the heat was blowing out downstairs and in Taite's room!  Of course it would be in his room because he's the one who is always hot and who refuses to wear more than a t-shirt and shorts to school even on a day like today when it's 45 and rainy and windy.  The guy is coming from the HVAC company today to fix the problem, but I don't think he's prepared for how the basement looks now (he was last here when the walls weren't even framed in).  Oh well, he'll have to figure it out.  It seems like we are close to the end until we think about all the decisions and stuff that has to be done yet:  paint colors, cabinets ordered, flooring decided, blah, blah, blah so, with that I'd better get some things done and checked off my to-do list!  Ta-ta!!

 

One BIG weekend!

My mom, dad, sister and her two kids came to visit us last weekend!!  It was such a wonderful weekend despite the chaos of 2 birthday parties!  :D  They arrived Thursday night, Brayton's friend birthday was Friday night and Saturday was his family party.  I survived Friday night's party (just barely ~ Chris just kept saying "I don't do well at these" so he didn't participate much) and Josey was in heaven!  She was the hit of the party (the boys thought she was cool) AND she found a boyfriend!  She had to be able to see Joey at all times and she even followed him around!  It was so cute, but of course, I didn't get any pictures of it!

 The kids were at the bar waiting for the cupcakes to be lit (Bray wanted white cupcakes with white frosting ~ easy enough)

 Josey is on the left, also at the bar ~ just like the boys!  Joey (the object of her affections) is in the white hat

 Josey helping pass out presents

 Brayton got a moustache with one of his gifts.  It was definitely the hit of things!  And he enjoyed playing the part of a guy with a moustache.

 The plan was to have the boys play football out back.  That sounds good until they found un-broken paint balls, the neighbor boys came out and the boys from the party went chasing to their yard and the kids from the party didn't listen to me yelling at them to knock it off!  Good times.

 Josey wearing Taite's backpack

 Brayton's family party was extended due to our house not having much space for sleeping.  The boys graciously gave up their beds for grandma & grandpa and Steph so they slept on our air mattresses in the unfinished basement.  They were not pleased to have to sleep down there. . . (the taper & mudder starts tomorrow at 7 am, so this is a temp. situation)  With this said, some of our guests came for the day (Ken, Rick, Hiddy, Carmen & Tyson) and came earlier than the planned 3 pm start time ~ this just extended Bray's birthday party :~)  Good thing I'd bought 2 angel food cakes because we had one at lunch and one at supper.  Everything worked out as if it was planned that way ~ haha.  The sun finally came out and it turned into a beautiful day (it started out cloudy and crappy)

 Korbin relaxing on the table while Bray opens presents.

 9 candles. . .

 and 3 girlfriends. . . so frustrating to try and blow out those last 3 candles!

 He still can't get rid of those flames ;~)

 Brayton had a list of friends from the Dunes that he wanted to invite to his party, but I narrowed it down to Lori and her kids (their family includes most of the friends he wanted to invite).  They are watching Bray open his presents (soooo thrilling!).

 Grandma's having a much better time watching (note the beer in her hand. . . ) LOL

 Brayton wanted cash for his birthday so he could buy an iPod Touch.  Well, I knew that he'd bug us to go get an iPod Touch ASAP after he had his money, so I bought one and played "Let's Make a Deal".  I offered him the wrapped package I had (his iPod Touch in a large Cool Whip container) for all the money he'd gotten for his birthday.  I SOO wish I'd have had my camera to get the expressions on the boys' faces (the ones on the couch)!  They were very interested to see what he would do! 

 He thought he'd been had!  Just a Cool Whip container?! 

 Josey decided she would open it up since Brayton didn't want it

 "It's a IPOD!" (she exclaimed this as her mom and grandma both have one so she really knew what it was)

 How many girlfriends are on cake #2????

 None!

Our evening on Saturday night ended with not one but two trips to the basement because of the warning sirens going off!  It was earlier in the night when Mapleton, IA was hit hard by a tornado so we willingly went to the basement for our safety!

 Creating creatures with "Jaw Bonz" ~ some building things he got from Grandma Jane.  She sells them at her truck stop and I'm sure they are a big hit as these 3 played for awhile building and re-building things!

 Taite & Josey's creation:

Tonight was the 2nd night for Brayton's spring football practice and despite being late from playing games on his iPod and having a crabby start, he had a super practice!  Coach Reinhardt even singled him out to say what an awesome practice he had!!  He was in a much better mood when he came home!  The games start this weekend and are every Saturday (except for Easter weekend) through May 21st for both boys if you are in the area :D