Lots and Lots of Basketball

When it came time to sign kids up for basketball in November, I thought I would sign up to be Drew's coach, but only if they really needed me.  Well, they needed me.  I had tons of fun coaching Drew's 3/4 grade girls team!  It was fun to get to know the girls, help them become better basketball players, and hopefully better teammates.  We were not without our internal issues, which I guess every team has, but I think and hope I handled them OK and we were able to move on.  We had practices every Tuesday from 5-6:30, which meant I had to have all 4 kids with me until Paul could pick up the 3 younger ones when he got home at 6.  That was fun.  I'm sure there were many times the parents of my girls wondered just what the heck I thought I was doing.  I found that bribing Mason with babysitting money, and a bag full of fruit snacks and roll-ups helped, but it sure was nice when we saw daddy walk through the gym door so I could concentrate fully on my team.  The Yellow Jackets ended up with a record of 3-4.  Our last game we came back from down 5-12 in the 4th quarter to win it 15-13!  That was one exciting game.  We got blown out, we blew out a team, and one game was so awful I raged about it all day afterwards.  I tried to remind myself I was dealing with 9 year old girls but that didn't help much.  My competitive juices were flowing just a little to much that day.  Overall I had a great time and I hope to coach Drew's team again next season.  I mentioned to Paul that I will be able to coach my girls 8 years in a row now, won't that be fun?  I don't think I got a verbal answer, just a withering look.

 Drew had an awesome season.  She was the youngest and shortest on our team but she didn't let that stop her.  She started the season kind of slow, but ended it with a bang!  I would say she was one of our top 3 players in the end, and that's coming from a coach, not a mom.  She was much quicker than most girls out there and she would get the rebound and take off down the court in a fast break.  She missed more lay-ins than she made of course, but she ended the season with 14 points, 6 of those being vital to our comeback in the last game.  She played her heart out every time and it was so cool to watch her out there with that determined look on her face, not letting her size get her down.  I think she had fun and liked having me as a coach.  She said she did anyway.  I hope she sticks with basketball because she is pretty good.  Yeah!  Happy mom!

 

 This year was Mason's first time playing basketball.  He hit the court with all the gusto he possesses!  His practices were Thursdays from 5:30-7 so once again dad would come to the rescue after work and take the girls home.  I ended up with an hour to myself!  What luxury!  I think Mason had a great time playing.  He always had a smile on his face when he was on the court.  There were 2 games of his I had to miss because Drew's game was scheduled at the same time, but I was able to see quite a bit of his playing time.  Luckily I was at the game when he made his one and only basket of the season.  You would have thought he just won a gold medal!  He was jumping around and high-fiving teammates and they were hugging him.  It was awesome.  I was so thrilled for him.  Though I told him next time act like you've been there before ;)  He was great on defense and getting open for the pass, but not so good at catching the pass.  His mantra for the season was "Gecko hands" because geckos have sticky fingers and I was trying to get him to catch the ball with his sticky fingers too.  Not sure it worked, but that's something we can work on before next season.  He enjoyed basketball so much he is trying to convince us to put up a hoop in our driveway.  Once again, I'm a happy mom.  I love that my kids love something I love too.  I had so much fun this season, even though there were so many Saturdays taken up and so many fend-for-yourself dinner nights.  It was just two months and it was a great time.  We celebrated the end of the season as a family at Mr Fultano's pizza.  I gave the girls on my team a certificate and a basketball key chain they can attach to their backpacks.  I wasn't in to the whole after season party.  Mason has a party this Saturday where he will receive his first trophy.  I am so proud of both Drew and Mason and their willingness to work hard and have fun, and also grateful for Paul, Darcy, and Bree and their willingness to be so flexible and in the case of the girls, turned into gym rats for 2 months.  Next up for Mason is Farm (coach pitch) baseball.  He should technically still be in T-Ball for one more year but he is so much older and bigger than T-Ball players that I convinced them to let him play Farm.  I'm secretly hoping he doesn't like that ball heading straight toward him and he is done after this season.  We'll see. 

 

 

Bree is 3!

 Bree turned 3 on January 31st.  Its hard to believe my baby is such a big girl now.  There is nothing baby about her anymore.  She is potty trained during the day and mostly at night, and she is now trying to give up naps, much to my chagrin.  She has wonderful manners and a true concern for everyone's well-being in our family.  She has a smile that lights up the room and also attitude that she throws around at will.  She is my Sweet Cheeks and I love her dearly, though I know her independent streak is going to test that love in the future :)  That's what makes her so fun I guess!  This year she wanted a Nemo birthday, and started talking about it probably the day after Christmas when I was dumb enough to mention her birthday was next.  We searched the stores for Nemo but I guess his time is passed.  There was nothing to be found.  So I unwillingly convinced her to have a Rapunzel party.  I don't get into all the princess stuff, nor do I want my girls believing they are princesses, but Bree seems to like the stuff and its everywhere so we went with a Rapunzel/Nemo party.  I think we were all happy when it was over so we didn't have to hear about it anymore.  I have never seen anyone so excited for a birthday before!

 Things got pretty silly quickly as you can tell by this picture of Paul.

 This picture of Mason with a princess hat on can be used as blackmail material later on I think.

 Like I said, things got pretty silly.

 And even sillier.

 Mason decided to go his dad 2 further by blowing one out his mouth and 2 out of his nose.  Pretty impressive trick!

 All the kids attacked me at once.  We had a pretty good party I think.

Bree got a Little Mermaid toy, Nemo book, different paints, and unicorn Stompeez which she doesn't weigh enough to activate unless she really stomps but she loves them and that's what matters!  We are so thankful for our Breezy and the sweet spirit she brings to our family.  What a great kid!

Holidays 2012

Thanksgiving 2012 was spent with Paul's side of the family this year.  We had a delicious dinner and great visiting at Aunt Carmen's house.  This nice little set-up was right by the big people table so I was actually able to sit with the adults this year instead of in the kitchen catering to my childrens' needs.  Thanks Aunt Carmen!

A week after Thanksgiving we set out to get a big Christmas tree.  We were thinking maybe 13 feet but we ended up with an 18 footer!  The lady at the tree farm said we took the prize, its the biggest tree ever taken from their farm.  We had a heck of a time carrying it up the hill to the car.  We had plenty of people on the road point to our car and laugh at the huge tree on the top.  I guess we do look a bit like the Griswolds!  It was a chore getting the tree in the house.  We had to take a section of the front porch railing down so we could shove it straight through the front door and into the living room.  Once there, Paul got under the tree and I used a 2x4 to help push it up to standing.  It was big!  Bigger than we needed and we will never go that big again, but it was fun to try once.  Here it is on Christmas morning all decorated with gifts underneath:

And here is how Paul took it down on the 27th:

 

Christmas eve we had our family program which was a bit different this year since Drew was able to play a few songs on the piano for us.  I loved it!  I love having the piano in the house and Drew is competent at it so it was a fun addition this year.  The kids acted out the nativity scene while Paul read from the scriptures and we sang songs.  Poor Breezy had a double ear infection she went to the doctor for that morning and her meds hadn't kicked in very well yet so she was pretty miserable all day.  Thankfully she was functioning Christmas morning.

 

 

Drew, Mason, and Darcy all got Lego projects from Santa this year.  Drew was ecstatic when she saw hers, Mason was OK with his though he really wanted the Black Beard pirate ship (but the Black Pearl was on clearance and Santa went with it instead), Darcy opened hers and said with a stricken look on her face, "but I asked Santa for a Dream Light."  Good thing mom bought Dream Lights for all 4 kids so Darcy was eventually happy.  Bree got a Little People princess castle and a necklace and bracelets she wears constantly.  As hard as I try to dissuade her, I think she is going to be a girly-girl.  Everyone had a great Christmas and got lots of new fun stuff to play with.  At least I hope that's how they felt.  Later that day we drove to my parents' house and had dinner with my side of the family.  We had a slumber party at Aunt Sammy's, where Mason promptly lost his brand new watch, and we had lunch with Paul's family on the 26th.  We came home, I tried my hardest not to take down Christmas that evening, and by about noon on the 27th I was about to go insane so I took everything down.  I think my family would like it if I left Christmas decorations up just a bit longer but the mess and chaos of it all just drives me crazy and I have to get rid of it.  Sorry guys.

New Year's Eve day we were treated to snow!  I don't remember it being in the forecast but we weren't complaining!  Darcy liked hanging out on the trampoline.  Drew and Mason built a wall to hide behind while they threw snowballs at me, and Bree was having fun just walking around.  That evening we all stayed up till 9pm to watch the ball drop in Times Square on CNN and then 5 of us went to bed.  I woke up to fireworks at midnight but was so tired I fell right back to sleep.  Happy New Year!  New Year's Day I, of course, watched a lot of football and ate lots of Chex Mix and drank lots of Dr. Pepper.  I was in my happy place.  So goodbye 2012, you were a decent year for our family, and here's to 2013 and the hopes that we will be blessed with health and happiness!

Labels

I have debated writing this post for a month now, but I would have never come to the realizations I have, or arrived at this point if an astute friend had kept silent, so I will write away and deal with repercussions later, though I have faith in my fellow man (woman) and I believe nothing much will change. 

January 1st 2011 we started potty training Darcy.  She picked up on the peeing part very well.  The poop was a nightmare.  She refused to poop on the toilet and instead held it in so she was totally constipated and runny "stuff" that could get around the big log (excuse my language here but there is a point) ended up in her pants CONSTANTLY.  I was wiping her butt at least 5 times a day.  This went on for 645 days to be exact.  That means I was up to my elbows in poop about 3200 times in the past 2 years, and that doesn't include Bree and her messes.  There were times when I was pounding walls and screaming for Darcy to poop, I had visions of running away, we gave rewards, took things away, yelled, coddled, enemas, laxatives, pull-up, underpants, diapers, you name it.  Paul even promised me a convertible if she wasn't trained by the end of this year.  The guys at work told him he was crazy but he told them I would much rather have her potty trained then have a convertible.  He was right.  I had hit my limit so many times its a wonder I (and Darcy) survived to tell the tale.  So the point of the story is that we knew a long time ago that Darcy had some issues.  I thought it was mostly potty training.  Oh, and then of course how she would absolutely freak out every time I left the room or an adult looked at her or something wasn't just right and it set her off.  I was full of anxiety over her anxiety and it was a difficult stretch we went through.

In July, during swimming lessons, I was talking to a friend about Darcy's obvious anxiety and she gave me a book, "The Highly Sensitive Child," and my world changed from that day on.  It was the biggest eye-opener!  Not only did Darcy exhibit almost every single trait of a highly sensitive person, but so did I!  After the first few pages I was crying in relief that I was not the quirky, abnormal social outcast I had always thought I was.  Well, I still am, its just that there are many others out there just like me.  If you happen to read on my 100 things about me list, take a look at numbers 29, 30, 33, 34, 46, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56 etc. and everything in between!  Not only did I realize I am highly sensitive, I am also a raging introvert.  Lucky me!  In a nutshell, that means I like to be alone.  I like to live inside my head.  I have one or two good friends that I like to have meaningful conversations with, I can't stand meaningless chit-chat.  I would much rather be home curled up in my bed reading a book than at a dinner party.  I work better alone than in groups.  I have always known this, I just didn't realize that there are so many others out there like this too, and that its OK to be me!  I don't have to apologize for cringing when I hear the words Fabulous Friday or Girls' Night Out. Its just not my thing.  And I bet there are MANY out there who feel the same way but go through the motions anyway.  I find "going through the motions" exhausting.  I get anxious before hand about preparing myself for an event and then I am so stressed trying to be polite and sociable that by the end I am just done.  Now this is not to say that every single time you see me out I am in the throes of agony, it just means that my cozy bed is shining like a beacon in front of me, as my end reward for getting through whatever it is I am attempting.  Now, I know this can sound like an excuse, or even a crutch to use as a reason to avoid social situations, and I can see that but I also say, "so what?"  So what if I don't want to sit in a room full of people making crafts?  Does that make me less of a person?  So what if I choose to attend sporting events where even though I am with a million people, I am essentially anonymous and don't have to carry on a conversation with anyone?  So what if I prefer to live in my books and find insight and companionship in their conversations and not my own?  I am a fully functioning human being, though I function a bit different than others.  I took the Meyers-Briggs personality test and came away ISTJ, which is only 10% of the population.  So yah, I am not in a large company of people but hey, that's how I like it!  George Washington was also in introvert just like me.  My joke when I went to Utah a month ago was that when I went to lunch by myself it was the best company I had had in a long time!  I have no problem seeing movies or eating in restaurants alone.  I actually prefer it.  So its a wonder I got married to tell you the truth.  Paul has been the best.  Somehow, even before my big labeling epiphany this last month or so, he knew these things about me and actually chose to spend eternity dealing with me!  How's that for self punishment ;)  There are plenty of times when he hasn't totally understood just how awful it would be if I was forced to join a certain event, but there are even more times when he has worked with me and we have found acceptable compromises which work for our family.  I have no doubt most people, family included, don't always understand, but we have learned at this point to do what is best for us.  That doesn't mean I never stretch myself and participate in uncomfortable situations, I do . . . all the time.  It just means that we don't do them as often as some would like I guess.  So anyway, that's me.  A highly sensitive introvert and proud of it.  Its up to me to take this information and try to adjust myself in order to function in society, but I am also not at all looking to "cure" myself of the personality I have been blessed with.  If I am judged in ignorance because of it, then so be it.

So labels.  I hate to label my kids but since I have had my eyes opened to who I am, I have also been keenly observing my children.  We had Darcy seeing a child psychologist over the summer.  My initial reason was to get help with the potty training but once I read the book, I included her anxiety and sensitivity issues too.  We were led to the most wonderful psychologist through a chain of events and I know we were sent there by Heavenly Father.  She had red hair just like Darcy!  She specializes in highly sensitive kids because she, too, is highly sensitive.  She was awesome.  Any one who knows my Darcy knows she has issues.  But if you have seen her lately you would hardly recognize her as the same kid.  Somehow her doctor was able to help her through her anxiety and get a hold on it.  I'm not saying its no longer there, just that she has tools now to deal with it and bring herself back from the edge and not end up in a puddle on the floor anymore.  She is functioning very well at preschool, when in March when I signed her up I was sure there was no way she would be able to cope.  Our family is supportive of her sensitivity issues, unlike mine growing up where they would tell me I must have asbergers syndrome and chase me around the room with a wooden spoon.  I am determined that Darcy have a fully supportive and loving home base because I know what it was like not to, and I know what it is like out in the real world where extroverts rule and expect everyone to be one to be a success.  I know I can't protect her from everything challening in her life, nor do I want to, but I do want to give her the skills and self confidence to deal with it in a healthy way.  It took me 39 years to figure it out.  If she can figure it out at 4 then she is worlds ahead of me.  When I got home from my recent trip to Utah Darcy was "cured."  Since that trip, and I have no idea what the magic switch was, Darcy has kept her pants clean and now poops on the toilet.  Its still a struggle but I can't express how proud and in awe I am of this little girl.  She has made amazing strides and has completely turned her life around and gained so much control.  She is such an example to me and a HUGE blessing in my life.  Oh, and if I must label her she is a highly sensitive introvert just like me.  Sorry Darce, but I know you will move mountains in your life!

Drew is also an introvert.  Her teacher asked me if she has friends because at recess she prefers to play hop-scotch alone or walks around the perimeter of play without joining in.  She has friends, she just prefers to be alone.  She likes to read, she is creative, she is an amazing friend to those she is close with, and she is a lot like me.  She came home from school last year distraught because she was nice to a girl and played with her at recess one day and the next day the girl wanted to play with her again.  Drew didn't know how to tell her she didn't want to play everyday with her.  Its something she will face her entire life, and get judged for, but hopefully I can help her through it and help her to have enough self-confidence to not let that stuff bother her.  Lucky for her she has a mom who has been there.  Now its up to me to remember and help her the best way I can.

Mason I believe is kind of both highly sensitive and also more of an extrovert.  He seems comfortable in groups of people and I think he functions just fine.  Almost too well coming from an introverted mom who likes quiet.  (Darcy's psychologist was astounded that I had 4 kids.  Uh yah, me too)  He is also sensitive.   Not quite to the degree Darcy is but now that I know what to look for, he exhibits many of the same traits.  He is a very cautious guy when it comes to new situations and he takes his time to evaluate before he acts.  But when he decides to act, watch out.  I can help him with the sensitive part but I don't know what the heck to do with the extroverted part :)

Bree is only 2 so its a bit difficult to tell at this point, but I'm betting that she is not highly sensitive.  As for the intro/extrovert part, I'm not sure there either.  I am inclined to lean on the extrovert side but we shall see.

Now my point isn't to find labels and use them as excuses for my children.  I guess my point is to "figure out" just who my kids are so I can be the best parent I can to my kids.  If I can give them some self realizations while they are young, I can hopefully help them to be well adjusted and functioning adults.  Isn't that what we all want for our kids?

Halloween 2012

 Halloween!  My favorite holiday!  One, because it happens during fall, my favorite time of year, and two, because its just my family involved.  No family drama, except for the drama I inadvertently create.  I think the kids really love this holiday too.  Until Christmas rolls around and then that is their favorite holiday.  I am sticking with Halloween though.  This year Paul brought out the big guns and sawed his way through the tops of the pumpkins instead of using the little hand-held carvers.  Genius!  We were pulling out guts in no time!

 Mason had a difficult time cleaning and carving his pumpkin this year because if his cast.  I think I ended up doing it all but he still claimed it as his.  Darcy had fun scooping the guts but Bree seems to be a bit of a scaredy cat and didn't want anything to do with it.  She watched us all work on ours instead.

 The finished product!  I don't know why Mason insisted on the silly face in this picture.  Maybe he didn't want us to mistake him for a pumpkin since he has two holes in his face from missing teeth too.

 Bree brought Nemo back to life this year.  I think all 3 of the girls wore this costume.  I will be sad next year when I realize it will never be worn again.  Its just too cute.

 Mason as Captain America.  Remember he chose a red cast to match his costume but we were able to cover it completely with the sleeve and glove, which was fortunate since it was a bit wet at times that night.

 Drew was the spider queen again this year.  We'll have to come up with something new next year.

 We bought Darcy a Minnie Mouse costume and then she found this spider costume in a bag of old costumes.  She wouldn't take it off.  She even wore it to her preschool party.  She's about the cutest spider I've ever seen!

 The crew ready to beg for candy.

 Here they are knocking on doors.  Boy were they surprised when Santa Claus opened the door and handed out candy canes!  Isn't he supposed to be in the North Pole right now making toys?

Here is Mason with his candy haul.  We got quite a bit at trunk-or-treat and then knocking on doors.  My policy is they can eat whatever they want whenever they want, as long as they still eat their 3 meals a day.  I don't know that I've ever heard of anyone dying from a candy overdose and my kids regulate it very well so I don't worry about it.  We end up sending about half of it to work with Paul anyway to share with co-workers.  They get the gross stuff like lemon heads and twizzlers.  So now its on to the wonderful holidays of Thanksgiving and Christmas, and all the lovely family drama they are sure to drum up.  Its the most wonderful time of the year!

Mason's New Accessory

 So to pick up where I left off on my last post, I had been home from Utah for two hours Monday morning and in the middle of my Jillian Michael's Body Revolution work-out, when I got a call from the grade school.  Thank heaven for small miracles - those work-outs are hard!  The secretary was calling to let me know that Mason was complaining of a sore arm after a fall at recess.  So I got redressed and threw the girls in the car to check on my baby.  I walked into the nurse's office and saw Mase for the first time in 4 days.  The poor little guy's eyes filled with huge tears that rolled down his face when he saw me.  My poor sweetheart.  I asked him how it happened (slipping off the wet monkey bars) and if it still hurt.  He said no until I made him swish his arm in the air and then he said ow.  He said it felt like a million bees stinging him.  The nurse and I didn't like the way his arm looked like it had a dent in it so I took him to urgent care.  Luckily it was a slow day there so we were in and out in record time.  The diagnosis was a broken radius bone in the right arm.  Since the pediatrician there doesn't do casts, we had an appointment for Wednesday in Portland to get his cast done.  That meant 2 whole days of just a splint and sling.  I kept him home from school Tuesday and Wednesday because I figured he would inevitably bump his arm at school and hurt himself even worse.  Those were long days of sitting around for my active Mason.  Oh, he did manage to pull out a tooth Monday also, along with mommy coming home and the broken arm which all contributed to that being "the best day ever!"  I will never understand little boys.

Wednesday we took him to the pediatric doc to get his cast.  There were a million colors to choose from and I was trying to convince him to go with orange or black but he chose red so it would match his Captain America Halloween costume.  The doctor was pretty funny and she said he couldn't do anything he considered fun for the 3 weeks he has to have a cast.  He can help with laundry though, she specifically said so.  She also told him to eat lots of ice cream and broccoli - together, to help his bones heal.  He didn't know what to make of the crazy doctor.  We made sure to stop at Safeway to stock up on ice cream on the way home.  I asked him if I could sign the cast or did he want to keep it clean.  He said he wanted to keep it clean but if the kids "who are fans of mine" want to sign it at school he will let them.  Gee thanks.  I talked him into letting me sign it this morning and I signed it right on the palm where he will be sure to see it any time he does anything with that hand.  I also sent him to school with a black Sharpie so I expect it to be full of names when he gets home today.  Unfortunately he broke his right arm which will cause some problems but he should heal up in no time.  I think he sees this as an adventure and I hope the novelty doesn't wear off too soon for him or its going to be tough to keep him inactive for 3 weeks.  I'm very thankful it wasn't worse than it was and he is taking it all so well.  This is our first broken bone to deal with as parents and it hasn't been as traumatic as I thought it would be . . . knock on wood.

My Weekend

Last Thursday I flew to Salt Lake City, alone, to visit with family, see a football game, and have some Tiff time.  My wonderful Aunt Debbie passed away after a 9 year battle with a brain tumor and the main reason for my trip was to attend her memorial service.  Aunt Debbie was the best!  She was beautiful both inside and out.  She had long, thick, straight, black hair that was the envy of all us little girls with curly blonde hair.  If there was one word to describe her is was peaceful.  Every time she entered a room she brought a sense of peace with her.  Though we lived far apart and I hadn't seen her in years as an adult, I will always have wonderful memories of her and she will be sorely missed by the entire family.  Her service was nice, with lots of family together and lots of love expressed for her.  I enjoyed spending time with my cousins again, though the circumstances were not the best.  The service was on Friday evening and then Saturday 20 of us family members all went to the OSU-BYU football game.  They just happened to be in town on the same weekend as the service, and since my cousins grew up in Utah but vacationed every summer in Corvallis, they all wanted to go to the game.  They were all dressed in both OSU and BYU gear, but I think by the end of the game they had all realized they were rooting for BYU.  Too bad their team lost!  It was a great game in a great stadium with great atmosphere.  OSU is a bunch of backwoods hicks I discoverd.  After the game we did some more visiting and then I stayed with my best BYU bud (except for Jodi of course ;)) till I flew home on Monday morning.  It was nice to get to spend time with Nat and be Tiffiny again and not Mom.  I think it was Friday morning when I was talking to Paul and he said he was already sick of his name (dad) being said.  Welcome to my world!  There are times when if I hear the word mom just one more time I will scream!  Paul did an amazing job with the kids, more than surviving the weekend.  I came home to a clean house, clean kids, and stories of their adventure catching a mouse in the house.  Glad I missed that one.  I felt rejuvinated and ready to get back into potty training and life in general when 2 hours after I got home I received a call from the school.  But that's a story for the next post.