Back to the Grind

To say it's been a long seven months is an understatement.  In the beginning of January, Adam went to the doctor for a sore hip.  What was originally sore turned into excruciating pain in between appointments, culminating in hip surgery at the end of March.  At that point he was told he'd probably be off work for the rest of the summer.

I think in our heads we assumed that meant worst case scenario instead of best case scenario.  After being off of his hip for months either on crutches or a cane, he finally was allowed to go back to work on light duty at the end of June and begin physical therapy in July.  Finally, mercifully, he was cleared to return to full duty in August.

*****

It's so hard to be a police officer these days.  Just before this whole process began, disillusionment had started to set in for Adam.  The grind of night shifts, being disrespected more times that not and a constant stream of media attention made Adam question whether he'd chosen the right profession.  I said it a number of times that this injury couldn't have come at a better time for him.  It allowed him to step back and evaluate, work a light duty "office" job for a few months, and realize he was where he's supposed to be.  That's not to say he went back to work enjoying the night shift or isn't going to be frustrated at the public perception of what he does, but at least he's content with the path he chose.

*****

I mentioned when I wrote about this back in March, that I thought this process would make us stronger.  I think we can safely say that's true.  I learned  I can handle things myself, Adam learned he can let me do things once in a while.  I gained new appreciation for the things he does for our family all the time, he appreciated me for doing these things while he couldn't.  It also gave me a unique perspective into what like will be like when he retires (much earlier than me).  Most notably, we'll need to find more shows we both like to watch during the summer months.  If that's our only problem, I think we'll ease into retirement quite well together.  It helps when you marry your best friend. 

Tuesdays with Mama

We lost our Tuesday/Thursday summer sitter for July due to vacation and volleyball camp.  Since I have plenty of time built up, I decided to take off every Tuesday in July.  It's a win-win situation really, I don't lose my time and we don't have to pay daycare for an extra day each week.  Oh and of course it gives me some bonding time with my sweet babies. 

We're on Tuesday #2 now, and the weather forecast this morning was cloudy in the morning and 50% chance of rain in the afternoon.  I don't usually make the forecast a part of my posts, but it's important here because Tuesday #1 was a rain out and I have all these grand plans of fun things to do with the kiddos - of course all of them are outdoor activities.  

I decided to not let the weather get the best of us this day, and took the kids to the Binder Park Zoo in the morning.  It was cloudy and a little misty, but you can't really go wrong with a trip to the zoo.  The kids always have fun on the train - we found out this time that the engine is neither a 'steamie' nor a diesel, it's a Ford gasoline engine.  New to the zoo this year is the American black bear exhibit - it's quite well done and the bears were actually wandering about close to the viewing area.  You can see Mya below doing her best bear impression.

Of course the highlight of any zoo visit is feeding the giraffes lettuce, or as the kids like to say - salad. The good thing about going in the morning on an otherwise drizzly day is that we didn't have to compete for giraffe time.  We could hang out and watch them and not feel like we had to get out of the way for other kids.

Of course as I sit here and write this, the sun is bursting through the clouds and the 50% chance of rain has been reduced to 0%.  Here's to hoping the next two Tuesdays turn out much like this afternoon so we can pack more fun into these Tuesdays with Mama. 

Mya Turns 4!

Our sweet little Mya turns 4 today.  Where did these years go?  I can still feel her bitty newborn self in my arms.  We celebrated her birthday last weekend in conjunction with Father's Day with all our Michigan family.  It was a beautiful day for our beautiful girl.

Given her age, it's not hard to guess the theme Mya wanted for her party - Frozen!  This mama loves that movie and had no problem planning and decorating for the day.  Mya helped me with the party set up on Saturday, getting out all the decorations and exclaiming over each piece I set out.  We had Elsa and Anna centerpieces, a wintery "Happy Birthday" pennant garland and I used pink snow flake wrapping paper as table runners.

The menu had a Frozen theme, too.  We had "Frost Bite" marshmallow pops, "Kristoff's Ice" Jell-O cubes, "Coronation" Caesar salad, "Sven Snacks" of pretzels, carrots and cheeses, "We finish each other's sandwiches" from Jimmy John's and "Elsa's Icy Punch" to drink.  I get carried away with these things.  I blame Pinterest for all the ideas.

Since we were only having family over, I decided just to do two small activities with the kids.  Of course they were Frozen-themed too.  The kids (even Mason) all got to decorate their own crowns, though Mason didn't want to pose with his since he didn't want me to go showing everyone.  (He knows me so well!)  I did get a picture eventually, but will respect his wishes and not share it.

I made princess wands for all three of them (Mason's is a "magic wand" though) with Frozen color ribbon to wave around while wearing their crowns.  And lastly we had a rousing "watch out for my butt" water balloon fight.  Oh, Olaf - you're so good for comic relief.

After games it was time for Mya to blow out the "4" candle on her cupcake.  We also sang to Megan for her birthday and all the dads for Father's Day.  We're equal opportunity celebrators!  Lastly was the all important present opening ceremony.  Our gift to Mya was a Frozen bike.  She hopped right on and owned it.  I just love the determined look she has in the picture of her on the bike.  That's our Mya in a nutshell - Ms. Independent determined to do everything on her own.

I can't wait to see what the next year has in store for our little princess.  No doubt it will be a memorable one! 

Another Season in the Books

Another soccer season has mercifully come to a close.  In spite of my constant anxiety during games, it really was fun to watch them play (when they actually played).  Mya was much more timid than I expected her to be throughout the season.  One game she came over to the sidelines and told us that she was nervous.  I'm not certain she actually knew what that meant, but we kept cheering her on anyway. A crying pouty face was just as common as a hug from her friend, Averie.  In spite of her nerves and pouts, she was always really excited for soccer practices and games.  That's a win in my books!

I can't say that Mason had as much fun as it seemed Mya was having.  With a few games left to go he announced he wanted to play baseball next year instead.  I never thought I'd say this, but I hope he sticks to soccer.  His final game of the year was by far his best game in three seasons.  In spite of the opposing team having a bunch of Pelé spawn, he held his own.  These three pictures below perfectly sum up the year and his final game.  The first picture, he finds himself somehow alone with the ball and actually kicks it!  Yeah!  But he kicks it directly to a kid from the other team and promptly cringes as  he's certain the ball is going to be kicked right back at his head (picture two).  Seeing that we were completely overmatched by the mini-Pelé's, I told Mason the best thing he could do was get in the way of the other team.  So in picture three, he's doing just that.  Sometimes he does follow direction!  Yes, the other kid really is dribbling around Mason.  I'm not kidding, that kid scored several times with high shots from midfield.

It may have only been six short weeks (and one weekend was a rain out), but it was a fun and tiring six weeks.  Just think, the fall season is just a short summer away.  This soccer mama can't wait!

Soccer Momming

Soccer momming | verb | bringing one's children to soccer practices and games

I created this word, I suppose because Adam and I like turning nouns into verbs.  But also because it makes the fact that I've turned into a soccer mom just a little more funny.  Most of you who know me know that soccer and hockey are my least two favorite sports.  A whole lot of running/skating and not a lot of scoring.  I rather watch golf or tennis or baseball any day over soccer and hockey.  

Yet Adam and I found ourselves in a pickle last spring when we received a note home about spring soccer through the Wattles Park Men's Club.  We asked Mason if he'd like to be on a soccer team, as we always ask him if he wants to take part in the activities we learn about through school.  Thus far he'd said no to art classes, science camps and everything else.  I thought this would be the same, but instead he shrugged his shoulders and said "sure."  And so the soccer momming began. 

This is Mason's third season, and after two seasons of being the cheerleading sister, Mya decided she wanted to join a league of preschoolers.  Lucky for us, one of her best friends from daycare is on her team.

Now, another thing anyone who knows me knows is that I'm kind of competitive and I love sports.  Watching sports, cheering on my sports, but I'm not very good at sports.  Unfortunately for my kids, they got my unsportyness (yes, another new word - I'm full of these things).  Fortunately, they didn't get my competitiveness so they don't really care that they're not the best.  

Still, it's a lot of fun to watch them.  They both usually run on the outskirts of the pack of kids that actually have the ball.  Sometimes they watch the ball, sometimes they wave to us on the sidelines.  Sometimes they get themselves caught in the net because they're playing goalie and are bored.  Sometimes they just stare off into the distance.  

That's me on the sidelines cheering/yelling/pleading/soccer momming for them to kick the ball.  Just kick it, please.  Just once per game is all I ask.     

Birdwatchers

At the closing on our new house last May, the previous owners told us about a few of the springtime happenings around the house we'd just missed.  The azaleas blooming in the front yard and the robin babies underneath the back deck were the two things I knew I'd be excited about this year.

The azaleas bloomed splendidly - basically the first color other than green in the neighborhood.

But their color couldn't compare to our excitement when we saw a bird nest on the support beam under our deck.  We'd peek at it through the slats in the deck every couple of days.  The mama robin sat there ever vigilant so we never were able to see the eggs.

This past weekend Mason came running to tell us there were babies in the nest so we all took turns looking through the deck slats, trying to count the babies.  There were three itty bitty babies in the nest!  From then on every time we went outside we took another look.  Just two days after spying the babies, Mya exclaimed, "The babies are gone!"  Sure enough, babies and mama were gone.

Now I'm not an avian biology expert, but I'm fairly certain those babies wouldn't have been able to fly yet.  I scoped out the ground below the nest and found no trace of the robin family.  Obviously something had climbed up the support beam and gotten to those babies, but of course I didn't have the heart to tell the kids.  Thankfully, Mya came up with a good reason they must be gone - surely the mama and babies went to visit their grandma.  I'd like to believe her ending too.    

My First Marathon

I'm not one to brag about my accomplishments, but after the workout I had this weekend I figured it was worth mentioning.  I built up my stamina and calluses over the past few weekends on the front yard and decided this is the weekend I'd finally do it.  I'd get that backyard raked once and for all. 

Now I know this is the part where the runners out there will probably beg to differ with me, but I'm not kidding when I say it felt like I ran a marathon.  I spent 6 hours with minimal water and lunch breaks doing the spring hard rake on our backyard.  Throughout the entire day I kept thinking that I wanted to quit.  I'd just finish this section and throw in the towel.  But I'd pause, survey the yard and tell myself just to get it done.  It was the same feeling I used to have about running track.  Break up the race into manageable sections and just get each section done one at a time.  One step in front of the other, one leaf pile at a time. 

And when I was done, I was so proud and yet so mentally and physically tired.  I came in the house, nearly burst into tears as I collapsed on the ground and then hit the showers.  See - just like running a marathon.  Okay, okay runners, I know it really wasn't the same but a lot of the feelings were the same. 

I will be happy to go back to my support role for spring yardwork next year - helping to carry out the lawn furniture and weed the gardens, even raking a little here and there between herding the children.  But at least I can say that I did it this once.  And so I will proudly slap this 0.4 (acres that is) bumper sticker on my car, I mean blog.  It was a long hard race, but somehow I made it through.