Football

Sherwood is a very different little community. It boasts a top 10 spot according to Family Circle of places for families to live. Number 18 in the nation, according to Forbes. All these accolades, Sherwood received after we decided to move here. Everyday I live here, I love it more and more. Lake Oswego will always be home for me, but Sherwood will be my children's home. They will ride their bikes down the sidewalks, go to the football games and get donuts on the way home from the library. These kids are lucky little ducks to live in such a neat place. And guess what, football is free here....

Yes I said free. Well, kind of... You have to sell your five entertainment books and sell $75 worth of car wash tickets. So if you are an adept fundraiser, it's free. You have to supply a practice jersey and some cleats and socks, then you are good to go. They do an equipment check out every year, so everything gets recycled. We had 9 teams from 3 to 8th grade this year. Every single one of them made it to the playoffs. Not only does each team have at least 5 coaches, but then there is the team parents and all the people behind the scenes that coordinate it all. Can you say AWESOME!! Christian has been begging us to let him play football, and like it or not, he just doesn't have a natural ability towards sports. What he lacks in talent, he makes up for in confidence. He loves it. It's hard work though. 5 days a week of practice in August and then 3 days a week of 2 hours of practice and a game every Saturday. Needless to say, our lives in the fall, revolve around football. With the season winding down, only one more playoff game to go, we are thinking about what to do next year. Do we let him play or not?

We've been riding the fence of, he's not very good and it's a huge time commitment. He's never going to be Steve Young so what is the point right?...I know we are such bad parents, but really, he has to try really hard to accomplish even a little bit of what the other players can do. Then we repented of our short sightedness and realized that football was teaching him really important life lessons. He doesn't have to be the best, but he can learn, that with hard work, he can improve, be part of a team, connect with his peers, do something that he might not be gifted at, but grow to be better. I guess in my own little world, I really fall into the trap of doing only things that I am good at and struggling to get rid of the things that I suck at. Weakness made into strengths is hard. I don't shout for joy when I have a weakness that I have to work on. Christian is going to play football next year. He may get better, or he could stay the same, but he will learn that he doesn't have to be the best at something to enjoy the process. I'm learning everyday how to be a good parent, and he taught me a valuable lesson this year.

Tackling That Pesky Pile

Really, you all have one. Somewhere on a shelf or a counter is that precarious pile of stuff that seems to grow with each passing day. Ours is a corner counter that was meant for the telephone, the kind in the old days, that didn't need electricity. Since I don't even own a phone that has a cord, it was of no use to me. It became the haven for mail, screwdrivers, matches, homework, missing library books, random CD's, hats, ties, recipes and various plugs. Seeing that it was about to topple over, I tackled that bad boy today while watching Grey's Anatomy online. Bills opened (which, recently, has become my responsibility again) and sorted, homework filed in the kids folders, garbage thrown away and a random package of SweetTarts devoured in the process. Who says being organized doesn't have it's rewards? :)

I Bought a Brain Today

Am I the only mother in the world who struggles with short term memory loss? I know I am not alone! Since when is it my job to keep everyone in check when it comes to homework folders, sports and dance practices, appointments for various things and do it all in my brain? Before kids, I could keep volumes of info stored in my head and never wrote anything down, from phone numbers to directions. Now there is some sort of delay button that has been switched to the permanent ON position. Never do I forget to do something, honestly. It just so happens that I remember late...like hours or days late. In a moment of clarity, while basking in the glow of Target's aisles, I happened upon a white board that was sectioned with days of the week and a list on one side.
Never again will I hear the excuse, you never told me about that. Or I thought that was next week...NO! Mama's brain will now be hanging on the wall for everyone to see. Stop asking me...go look at the board!

Big News, Short Post

So I still have to write a little over 1000 words tonight, but first the news....are you ready? Just be patient. It's coming... So today I was bemoaning my life. This wasn't normal bemoaning. This was at the end of my rope and just throwing my hands up in the air and saying " To Hell With It!" kind of bemoaning. If your still not clear, it was 2 1/2 years worth of I give up. I'd had it. Reached the end of my patience with just letting life happen to me. I was going to do it my way, and was sick of waiting around for God to get his act in gear. Come Hell or High Water, something was about to change. And in that moment, I received a direct order from God (think vacuum canister, sent from the bank to the drive thru in a sucking motion, kind of order.) Ok, so little me, followed the order and made a call. I knew, even before I made this call, what was going to happen. It came to me.

So it is the end of a very long day with the end result being that I think we just found a house. This means moving during the holidays. But this also means it will be our house and I can paint it and I can live in it for years and have my rocker on my front porch and my kids can ride their bikes to school. BIG STINKIN FREAKIN NEWS!!!!! Even though we are going through a bankruptcy, even though we signed a lease, even though that means giving up the country life...I could very well have a house and papers signed within days...PEOPLE! It's not a fancy house. It's not a big house. But it's perfect for us for years to come. Best of all, it's still in Sherwood, same school, same ward.

What I realized is, is that I had choices and I better make them. The minute I did, God pointed me in a completely different direction, but the point is I had the guts to make those choices. And he finally gave me the reward I had longed for even though the choices I was making were not the right ones...he showed me the right one, and then blessed me for having the guts to choose...humbled....

Go ahead and cry with me if you want...I think I just might be doing it for days...

Morning Person?

My two last children couldn't look more different. They are almost identical in wieght despite the fact that there is almost 3 years between their births. One has straight hair, one curly. One is skinny, one chubby. An area that they are as different as night and day is the fact that one cannot stay awake past 8:30 to save his life and the other would gladly hang out with you until midnight. The difference is not naps. They both don't nap. One is a morning person. He is up at the crack o dawn. He is always the first one dressed, fed and asking questions a million miles a minute. Evan, on the other hand would sleep in until 10 if you let him. He'll even be transferred from his own bed to mine and still remain in a slumber. And how can you resist cuddling up to those cheeks and that curly head? If I crawl back into bed after my kids go to school, this is why. How can you resist this little snuggle bug?

Winco Parking Lot Peril

So last night, as my dear husband and I laid in bed with the laptop open, I thought back to my Dave Ramsey day last Saturday. He exclaimed that their is always a "nerd" and a "free spirit" when it comes to money management. Usually the nerd is the penny pincher though and the free spirit is the spender. This is not the case with Patrick and I. Frugal is my middle name. Without Patrick, I would never have any fun. But I can't stand crunching numbers for endless hours. My attention span is 15 minutes tops. You may ask, why am I blogging about this. Well Monday wouldn't have gone as smoothly if it weren't for that 15 minutes spent scouring over the budget while I went over my to do list for the week. At 10:48 I said no more...by 10:55 I had the covers over my head and wasn't paying attention. I got it. I knew what needed to be paid, how much was left over and I was done I tell you.
So this morning, as I rose with the sun in my face, I knew I could conquer the millions of little things that I needed to do because I had a plan. Part of this plan was going to Winco. I haven't been in months but it was time to stock up on things and no one does this better than Winco. Braving the crowded aisles, getting overwhelmed at the selection of bulk items, bagging 193.00 worth of groceries was quite a chore. My two little helpers were not angels, but the fruit leather I bribe them with always seems to do the trick. As I precariously pushed my cart to the car, the bananas dropped and I rolled over a few. Did I curse under my breath? Maybe, but I am not telling! Picking up mushed banana, corralling 2 kids across a parking lot, loading van that has oodles more space than the Tahoe, were all done in stride with the sun on my face and sporting a Cheryl Tiegs hair cut from the early 80's.(think windswept waves)(this picture is deceiving because there are 2 rows of paper bags, 25lbs of sugar, 20lbs of dog food, and a mammoth amount of kitty litter tucked under the seats.) My hair was even blowing in the wind. After the 10 minutes it took to get 2 anxious boys into the car and the groceries all placed in their proper position so that even the most treacherous corner would not yield smashed bread and broken chips, I started the car. No sooner did I turn my key, than a nice old lady in a brand new Prius drove into the space next to me. She flung her door open, hitting my aging van and hurried away. Granted, my car is old and probably has so many dings in it that this new one would never be noticed. But she could see me. Maybe a mouthed sorry or an oops? NO! Not a word. As I was pulling out, I noticed that her nice new red Prius was parked over the line on my side and their was enough room on the other side to park a large motorcycle....nice. This is what I don't like about Winco. The lure of cheap food makes people driven to search out a bargain. No smiles, no service, just get in, navigate the chaos, and get out...hurry, hurry, hurry! I really like Fred Meyer. Service with a smile. But alas, all that budget talk at 10:30 at night made me rethink and change to Winco to save a dime or two. Sigh...even the Costco lady that checks your receipt gives you a little sharpie smiley face. Never underestimate the power of a smile.

Sunday Scribbles

As you can tell in the right hand corner, I joined NaBloPoMo which means I will be blogging everyday this month. Sorry for the onslaught of meaningless words that will invade your blog list this month but I figure that it will keep me in check on completing my novel this month. NaNoWrimo, for those of you that aren't in the know, means I will write a 50,000 word novel in the month of November. Today, 1711 words. After finding my inspiration, a song by Rascal Flatts, I then sat in my sun room and wrote. Nothing like getting baked by the sun in November to make you happy, right?! Granted, I probably could have written more, but I have a mountain of laundry on my bed that needs to be folded, (which I never do, but this is two weeks of laundry to fold...insanity I know) and another pillow to make for tomorrow.

You may ask, " What? Making pillows for what?" Well I was the Team Mom for Anderson's soccer team and am in charge of the team party as well as the coaches gift at the end of the season. We just happened to have 2 extra team shirts that I have made into pillows. They have a little pocket in the back, made with the leftover fabric, to place the gift card to Red Robin. I need to make one more. Then tomorrow, after a trip to Costco to pick up the cake, we will be gorging on pizza and passing out trophies to each of our little soccer stars. Granted they don't keep score, but Anderson scored at least 3 to 4 goals each game and that is all he cares about. I'm sure it will get more competitive the older he gets.

The kids had The Great Candy Exchange while I wrote. Not only did I make out with a bundle of goodies that no one else wanted, but the kids learned how to get trade with their brothers and sisters without blood loss.

Now I have to figure out what to make for dinner that doesn't require me to think or be in the kitchen for more than 20 minutes...I know...I set my goals high!