Family of Five

This idea comes from another blog (link posted on lift sidebar) called "MckMama's.  Let it ALL hang out.  What DIDN'T you do today?  What would you NEVER dream of doing---and NEVER confess it to hundreds of people on a blog???

I would NEVER tell my children that "I think mommy might be getting sick so I don't want to share my yucky germs with you" just so that I didn't have to share my really delicious frappucino germ ridden drink with them.  Nope....not me!

I would NEVER tell my daughter that she had to finish off the abc (already been chewed) chicken nugget because she shouldn't waste things (and then proceed to eat the whole nugget myself).  Nope....not me!

And lastly....I would NEVER make cookies "just for the kids" and let my been-outside-all-day-filthy daughter plop down on the kitchen counter and decorate them with at least 3/4 cup each a little icing "just for mommy" so that I could eat half a dozen a few of them.  Nope....not me!

How about you....what things would you NEVER dream of doing?

It was….well…..it was CRAZY!!!  Like nothing I’ve ever experienced before.  We were all so nervous, but the night before the race Autism Speaks put on a dinner for the 40 or so racers.  After the “here’s what’s going on” presentation, each racer stood up and introduced themselves and kind of told why they were racing for Autism Speaks.  Most of the racers had children or close family with autism.  One man (who had his wife and two young sons with him at dinner) stood up and said “I have two boys, ages 4 and 6 with autism, but I am running this race for my wife.  She can’t actually run it, but she does more than a marathon every day with our boys.”

Another girl stood up with her younger brother and explained how she was running the race for him, and how much harder it was for him to just adjust to coming on a small trip than it was for her to run 26 miles.  Trisha (Jaxon’s mom) stood up for our team.  She explained that her son had been diagnosed at 20 months, and spoke about the progress he had made.  Then she started crying, and spoke about how she couldn’t have gotten through all of it without the support of all of her friends and family.  Of course there were tears all around.

Honestly….the next day when I got tired I thought of those people.  A girl in front of me (and there were MANY people in front of me!) had a shirt on that said “I am running for those who cannot run”.  I thought of that over and over again.  Sure…I was tired.  Sure, it was REALLY cold.  Sure, my back had seized up.  Sure, I couldn’t feel my fingers.  Sure, I kept slipping on Gatorade and banana peels….but by that afternoon I would be done with my voluntary hardship.  These other families had a lifetime of “running” ahead of them.  I could keep on putting one foot in front of the other for a few hours.

So….we did it.  My sister-in-law got her “personal best”….and I did too! (mine was just finishing!)  Our team had a few knew injuries but everyone finished and overall we survived.  We limped around Chicago for a while and hopped on planes and headed home Tuesday to the scary land of reality.  Wednesday (yesterday?) morning I had surgery (to repair that dumb umbilical hernia) so I’ve been laying around since then.  It’s pretty sore….but I have to say that I keep thinking how TEMPORARY it is.  I really think my perspective is changed for good.  Marathons last a few hours….post-op pain a few days….but real races are much longer. 

Before I left I wrote on my fancy new memo board;

“And let us run with endurance the race which is set before us, looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith.  Hebrews 12: 1-2”.

I had written that for inspiration to get through running 26.2 miles of Chicago streets.  And while that scripture did help me finish my race, I think that now…I do have a better understanding of why He gave us these words in the first place. 

We can’t always  choose the races we are going to run….but we can choose how we are going to finish them. 

At the Autism Speaks dinner...

 And us looking our VERY best when it was done!

Just a note....Tylenol #3 works just as well on calf cramps1 as it does on post -surgical abdomens!

Tired.  The word of the day is tired.  You know that kind of muscle numbing tired....where you want so badly to be in your bed but you can't make your legs lift you up from the computer desk?  Tired.

Why?  Well....let's think about it.

Went to bed around 12:15 because I had to get the cupcakes finished for Ethan's birthday party.

Up at 5:45.  Did quiet time, made a lunch, bagged cupcakes and put them in freezer, put chicken in sink to thaw, wrote out 5 thank-you notes, went to basement to printout mandatory form for marathon that has to be in by 10am tomorrow, got kids up, got kids dressed, fed kids while quizzing on spelling words and memory verses, stripped guest bed and threw sheets in wash, emptied dishwasher, fed chinchilla, got kids hair and teeth brushed and left for school.

Picked up other 4 carpoolers, reprimanded Carolyn for throwing water bottle at other mother, get to school WITHOUT a tardy (despite REALLY long train), deposited 6 of the kids in their classes, took Carolyn with me to deliver fundraising stuff to other kindergarten mom, loaded Carolyn back in car and drove to preschool.

Arrange after school playdates for both boys, reprimand Carolyn for throwing a monkey at my head because she didn't want it, sat in car for 5 minutes and filled out marathon form, took Carolyn in, delivered thank-you notes, met with Preschool director and planned activities for child care for the Young Life banquet on Monday and went home.

Threw sheets in dryer, stripped Bennett's bed and threw that in wash, refilled sink to continue thawing chicken, opened windows in the house for fresh air, went for a 3 mile run.

Returned home, cut up chicken and put in marinade, cleaned sink, quick shower and left.

Went to Barrett's office to fax marathon form, went to Walmart, called place where we're having Ethan's party to confirm, called Parents as Teachers to schedule Carolyn's appointment, home to unload groceries.

Unload and put away groceries, put Bennett's sheets in dryer and load of clothes in wash, bake 2 dozen cupcakes and a pan of brownies, made guest bed, chat with my mom, help friend load clothes racks and tables into her car leave to pick up Carolyn.

Pick up Carolyn, listen to teacher explain why she had to sit in timeout for throwing cup at another girl, come home, put clothes in dryer, read Carolyn a story, put her to bed, make Bennett's bed, frost brownies, call restaurant who is donating supplies for our school carnival to confirm, divvy up all the "prizes" that the kindergarten class has received for the carnival, make a pile of third grade prizes for carnival, cleaned up mess, ate almsot half a bowl of cereal and my mom came over.

Left for meeting with financial advisor, made phone calls to set up Ethan's "surpise" birthday visitor, went to meeting, come home.

Say hello to the two extra boys, bag other cupcakes and put in freezer, visit with my mom for a few minutes, set up Wii for Ethan and his friend, wake Carolyn up, fold laundry, let chinchilla out for "supervised visit" with Bennett and friend, get dinner started, get Ethan and friend OFF of the Wii, catch chinchilla and return her to cage, send boys outside, greet spouse, finish dinner, put food on table, feed 7 of us, send one boy home, clean part of kitchen, encourage boys to pick the pumpkins and jalapenos in garden, send other boy home with jalapenos, determine what children desire to be for Halloween, bathe Ethan and Carolyn, dress Carolyn, put away the rest of the laundry, sort out Carolyn's clothes that are too small, finish cleaning kitchen, read Ethan a story and put him in bed, encourage Bennett to finish homework, put Bennett to bed.

Straighten up house, clean around chinchilla and feed her, write out and address a few birthday cards, shower, return some emails, convince Carolyn that she MUST sleep, throw another load of laundry in, start dishwasher, get coffee maker ready for morning, shut windows.

Now here I sit.  Wondering if Carolyn will stop yelling and go to sleep.  I guess that no one else cares about these details....but somehow, seeing them in black and white makes me realize that maybe......just maybe.....it's ok if I'm tired. 

Not ok to go to sleep necessarily.....but ok that I'm tired.

Last week my kindergartner came home from school and told me that his class had put on a play.  Apparently, they had acted out the story of "Ten Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed" and Ethan GOT TO BE THE DOCTOR!!!!!!!!  

He was SO excited!  He recited every line that he had to say in the play. 

"No more monkeys jumping on the bed!"

And then......"No more monkeys jumping on the bed!"

Then, after the mommy called the doctor again...."No more monkeys jumping on the bed!"

That was repeated a few more times, and then after all the little classmates monkeys were sufficiently injured from falling off of abovementioned bed.....his line was "THAT'S what you get for jumping on the bed!

And then, according to my oscar-winner-to-be......"We had a group bow so everyone could clap and clap for us!"

He's a star, I tell ya.  A star.

But.....since I was unable to get any photos of this amazing off-broadway debut (because for SOME reason obnoxious parents were not invited).....I included an other picture of my monkey doctor.

This is him in his "special tree" with his potential wife and sister-in-law to be.  I'm sure they will appreciate his acting prowress as much as his mother does.  If not....they may have to see the monkey doctor himself!

As I've learned so far through my son's first season in tackle football.....8 and 9 year olds like to be tough.  They get out there in their pads and helmets and their voices drop a little lower....they smack each other on the back of the helmet....they make noises like "UUGGHH UGGGH" (reminds me of Tim the Toolman)....they do a lot of fist pumping... and they begin referring to each other by their last names only.   They are ROUGH and TOUGH.

But....they are also sweet precious 8 and 9 year olds.  They quickly help each other up after they knock each other down.  They break into uncontrolable laughter when one of the coaches uses a ---not so child-friendly word.  They wave at their moms during games (but not during practices--that's NOT cool). 

It's so funny and interesting and sweet to watch these boys tread on the edge of becoming big bad teenagers.  A little disconcerting...but mostly sweet.

Last night I drove Bennett and his friend Will to football practice.  Now....these guys have been buddies since they were 2.  They are in 3rd grade together, carpool together, share babysitters, and do most sports/activities/birthday parties etc together.  In other words---they are serious buds.

Anyway.....in the car last night Bennett says (out of the blue) to his friend:

"Will?  I'm probably going to have to hit you tonight." (said in a totally friendly sweet voice)

Will: "Why?  Because I tackled you so hard last night?" (said as a simple question.  no competition in his voice at all)

Bennett: "Yeah.  And 'cause you tackled me so many times." (very matter of fact)

Will: "That's OK, Bennett....I understand."

Then nothing more was said about it.  There wasn't any animosity or cometition or joking with this exchange.  They were serious.  Tough yet friendly.  Rough yet sweet.  Manly yet boyish.

Here they are together at a game.  Sticking together.  Always. 

I guess I'm glad that at least they warn each other before they go all freaky-testosterone-smackdown-nutty on each other.  That's something to be grateful for.....I think.

I may be married to one and be raising two of 'em....but boys are still kind of a mystery to me.  A cute mystery, though.