10 Simple Things

The school year has started for us, and MAN has it started.

Evan's been in either football camp or practice for the last 3 weeks, even though school just started 2 days ago.  No one signed up to be Grace's Junior High Cheerleading coach, so I put in my application...AND I got hired.  Yippee.  Yikes.  Oh boy!

I've worried about Evan's first year in Junior High, getting his locker open each time he tries, getting to class on time, and even how he handles leaving the house in the morning at 7:15, and not getting home till around 6pm at night after practice.

For Grace, Junior High is already old hat.  She's navigated the hallways and made it to class on time (even with time to talk to friends), figured out how to get through the lunch line the quickest, and how to look cool just about every minute of the day, despite having P.E. first period.  She's eager to start Cheer next week, and start tumbling classes the week after that.

I've filled up the van with gas twice in the last week.  It's gonna be a long year.

But, Evan brought home an interesting assignment for English tonight.  He had 10 questions he had to answer, in paragraph form, and then use it as a speech tomorrow.   He could write the answers in any order, and he had to add details.

These were the questions.  I thought I'd try my hand at the assignment as well.

1.  What is your name?
2.  What is your favorite color and why?
3.  What is your favorite food?
4.  What is your most memorable experience?
5.  Who is the most encouraging person you know, or the most encouraging experience you've had in the last year?
6.  What do you want to get out of this class this year?
7.  What is the most valuable lesson you've learned in the last year?
8.  What are your hobbies?
9.  What is your favorite book or movie?
10.  What is the quality you most admire.

     Hi, my name is Lorie Yoder.  I am a wife, mother, sister, daughter, granddaughter and employee.  My favorite color is too hard to pinpoint to one, so I'll list my favorites:  aqua, kelly green, red, gold, and chocolate brown.  I love ALL those colors because they most resemble what I have in my life.  They make me feel calm and comfortable, and they are what I most often pick to wear, or use in my home.  My favorite food isn't just one thing...it's a TYPE of food.  I could eat anything Mexican and be quite happy and satisfied.  It's also the food I like to make the most because it's usually the easiest to make.  I'm all about ease in the kitchen!  The quality I most admire in people is a sense of humor.  People who have this quality are the people I most gravitate to.  I laugh ALOT.  My husband makes me laugh, my kids, and my co-workers.  Nothing makes you feel better than laughing, and I hear it keeps you young, so why not do it more often?
     The most encouraging experience I had in the last year was when I had someone offer me a job.  A job I didn't even know existed until my friend offered it to me and said they thought I would do a good job.  I LOVE this job, and am so glad I decided to pursue it.  It's the perfect mix for me.  In my spare time I like to work on crafts, scrapbook, read, and watch movies.  My favorite books, well, there are too many to list, but my favorite authors are:  Diane Chamberlain, Anita Shreve, Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child, Kate Morton, Kristin Hannah, Jude Devearux, and many more.  I like all movies.  Action, comedy, drama, suspense and mystery.  I have to supply my habit by having a membership to Netflix.
     The most valuable lesson I've learned in the last year is to watch EVERYTHING my kids do.  Time has FLOWN in the last year, and I feel like if I don't watch more closely, I will miss all the important things.  They have grown so smart, so funny, and so strong in their faith, and I am so proud of them.  My most treasured memory this year...going on vacation with our good friends.  We had an absolute blast, and we'll talk about the memories we made for years to come.  I'm so glad we made it happen.
     As far as what I want to get out of this class...well, I'm just glad I'm done with classes!  School seems like so long ago, but I'm reliving it through my kids, and even through the teachers they have that used to be my teachers.

Wow.  I haven't had an "assignment" like this for awhile.  I hope Evan does well in class tomorrow when he gives his speech.  He did a great job writing it.

How would you tell your story?

Stillness

The other day in Sunday School we talked about stillness.

Quietness.  Finding the time to quiet down/power down and listen.

We talked about how we (those who grew up in the last generation without cell phones, smart phones, ipods, wii's, etc.) have eased ourselves into this generation's "plugged in-ness" and find it hard to find "quiet" anymore.

We talked about how HARD it must be for our kids who are NEVER away from technology.

Where is their quiet?

Our kid's quiet comes from us FORCING them to get away from their electronics whether it is a punishment or just to BE AWAY.  I'm sure we're on the more conservative side of this.

They HATE it, but too bad.  I think it's rude when kids are with other kids, and they all have their heads down, texting people who AREN'T EVEN IN THE ROOM WITH THEM.  It drives me crazy.

This week, Grace is grounded from her ipod.  It usually breaks her, so we find it's her best punishment.

That being said, last night, while weeding the garden, I listened to my children jump on the trampoline and play games together for at least an hour, without a fight.

It made me smile inside to hear them.  It reminded me of when my sister and I would play for HOURS outside during the summer.  Tetherball, in our playhouse, riding bikes, tennis against the barn, etc.  We didn't have the electronics pulling us away, and it makes me so sad for my kids.

Last night, I FELT God in the quiet of my weeding, in the happiness of my children.

It was a stillness that I don't feel often, that I need to make a point to FEEL more often.

Where is your stillness?

So NOT my thing

So, Grace started track on Friday this past week.

She spent the night at her friend's house, so I didn't see her till Saturday, and she cracked me up with her tales of woe.

Her body HURT so bad, could I push her to a standing position from the couch.  I'm pretty sure I heard "Help me Mamma!"  A couple times, if not more this weekend.

Her legs COULDN'T BEND, could I help her up.

Hilarious.  The girl had me in stitches the whole weekend.

Apparently track practice is a whole lot different than cheerleading practice.

Works different muscles or something.  :-)

So, today it shocked me when she told us at lunch that she was gonna go running down our road today.

Yeah, if I haven't already said, we live on a 2 mile (or more, I'm not really sure) stretch of dirt road that no one other than the 6 of us who live on it, use.  So, it's pretty safe to run down, or walk, or ride bike.

I told her I would walk with her.  NOT RUN.  WALK.  I HATE running.  I mean literally, HATE running.

So, I walked while she ran up ahead of me.

Rudy and I walked, in the sunshine (hello again...it's been awhile sun...), and in the crisp almost spring air.

Well, Rudy would sometimes walk beside me, most mostly run ahead and turn around and wait for me, then run ahead again.  He was SO HAPPY we were taking him for a walk.

Crazy dog.

It was so great to see the blue sky and clouds again.  It really has been the most depressing winter.

As you can see, Grace lapped me...but that's ok.  I was happy being outside, listening to my tunes, and taking a walk.

And for as much as my 13 year old can exasperate me, she can also bring me to my knees frequently with laughter.  She really is quite funny.

Oh, and she loves getting her picture taken, when its HER idea.

 I can't tell you how much the sunshine did for my soul today.

I WILL be able to make it until warmer weather...I hope.

I'm itching to get my hands in the soil.  Hopefully in a week and a half when it's spring break, I can at least get my flower beds cleaned out and ready.

I'm crossing my fingers!

Hope you enjoyed the sun today.

Trying something new

How often do we try something new?

Something that might scare us a little...something we weren't planning on.

For me, it was a new job this year.

For Grace, it was a new sport.  One she never contemplated doing.

You know, the first year of junior high is bad enough.  New building, new kids, new teachers, harder subjects.  It's rough.

Then you throw sports into the mix.  The competition, the tryouts, the disappointment.

Up until this point, Grace has played softball, basketball, volleyball, and gymnastics.

So, when Junior High volleyball tryouts came around, she just took it as second nature that she would be on the team.  I mean, she played for two years, and was on a traveling team, WHY wouldn't she make it.

Add other girls from the two other elementary's that join into our Junior High, and only a team of 13 girls, and someone is gonna be heartbroken.

Unfortunately, Grace wasn't picked.  The competition is THAT good, and our High School boasts a State competing team almost every year.

She was heartbroken, but not quite down for the count.

She missed the first round of cheerleading tryouts, due to volleyball tryouts, but made it for the winter season, boys basketball.

She tried out, and made the squad, and now it's become her favorite.

AND, she's GOOD at it.

She's made new friends, and come out of her shell a little bit.

She tried something new, and succeeded, and decided that along with track this spring, Cheer will be her sport.

I'm proud of her, and we tell her that weekly when another game comes around.

Good for you Grace!  Season well done!

You are so brave!

Our kids have always been in athletics.

We've suggested, but not pushed, (or tried not to.)   We've allowed them to pick the sports they wanted to try.

So, over the years there has been gymnastics, t-ball, coach pitch softball, basketball, volleyball, fast-pitch softball, baseball, and more basketball.  Whew.

The driving to practices/games is somewhat overwhelming and exhausting...but I think we're finally getting down to the nitty gritty.

They've chosen the sports that make their hearts go pitter-patter.

This past December, Grace joined a travel volleyball league.  She plays on Sundays, which is sometimes exhausting.

Last Sunday, she played two different schools, 3 games a piece.  It was a long day for bleacher butt.

Tomorrow she will play 12 games (4 different teams.)

She's actually pretty good.  For being a 6th grader, she has the height (right now...family history is not in her favor) and she's usually a setter.  Her two best friends (who are twins) are also on the team, which, in her mind, just makes it the best thing ever.

Grace has always had the natural ability to play all the sports she's tried, but sometimes lacks the drive.  She's working on this and doing better.  Helps when we've narrowed it down to pretty much one sport that she LOVES.

Do you think it was bad of me that when she told me she wasn't going to play fast-pitch softball for her last year, I was overwhelmingly excited? 

Me neither.

For Evan, he's just going through the motions. 

As a 5th grader, he's not yet shown a true "love" for any sport.  He's played Upwards basketball, coach pitch softball, and baseball.  

A couple weeks ago, he started 5th grade basketball, not for love of the game, necessarily, but for the two coaches, and his notoriety in the school yearbook (true story...no joke.)

He plays the B team, which is fine for him, but the other night when he had his first game, he was quite on display.

Not knowing what to expect since he hadn't played basketball for 2 years, I was surprised to see he was a closet "street-fighting" basketball hustler.

He stole the ball from the other team at least 5 times, and either drove it down the court himself, or passed it off.  (His confidence with shooting is not there at all....didn't attempt it once during the game.)  However, his arms were flying, and he came out of the night with the "best defender" title from his coach.

It looked like ugly street fighting on the court.  

Sometimes it wasn't pretty.

My parents and Brent and I were laughing because we were remembering all the tales from my dad's brother's growing up on how my dad was always "overguarding" them like Evan was doing.  They used to say that my dad guarded them like "white on rice."

Hilarious.

Gotta say, though, Evan got the job done, and the beating our team took that night wasn't as bad as the team that played before them.

While this isn't Evan's true love, he gives basketball his all, and told me he really would like to try cross country running next year as a 6th grader.  I think he'll be really good at it since he runs EVERYWHERE. 

So, while my kids are involved in sports, I don't think they are better than those who don't. But I think it teaches them something about being on a team and working with others.   

I really like what our Principal tells the kids whenever she does announcements and reveals the scores from the games.  She tells them that she is so proud of each and every one of them just for going out and being on the team.  She tells them they are brave, and whether they win or lose, it's about having fun, and doing your best.

So, wish us luck as we pack it in for the day tomorrow at a gym two towns over.  

And don't be afraid to let your kids play sports, if they don't already.  It's good for them, burns a lot of energy, and brings a smile to everyone's face.

Holdin' it together

A random comment at supper got me thinking.

How many times as a mother have I been scared out of my mind?

You see, we were talking about the little bump on Grace's forehead.  The one she's had all her life, but which we really haven't noticed till maybe the last year.  It's not a huge bump, and if she had bangs, it would totally be covered up, but it's just something a little more pronounced on one side.

Brent made the comment that maybe it was from when she fell out of her high chair when she was 9 months old.

Oh yeah, you heard me.  She scared the willies out of me.

It reminded me that there have been so many times (maybe more than there should've been) that my kids have been hurt pretty bad, and to be strong for them, I had to hold my fear in check.

When Grace was 9 months old, she had a habit of standing up in her high chair, even while strapped in.  One time, while both our heads were turned, she preceded to do it and fall out of her highchair and onto the hardwood floor of the kitchen.

I felt like the worst mother in the world, and being my first child, I thought I had ruined her.  She was undaunted, however, and did it again a couple days later.  (The standing up, NOT the falling.)

Then, when she was 3, she was playing with an exercise band which just so happened to be hanging around the door handle of the stairway door.  It had a wooden block on it, and somehow, she snapped it, and it came back and hit her square on the chin.  She was 3, Evan was 2, and she was bleeding quite a lot.  I held it together long enough to cover her chin, and call Brent to meet us in the emergency room.
Brave trouper that she was, she never cried a bit.  She got 3 stitches I think and today, you can't even see the place where it happened on her chin.

I had several years in between her and Evan's exploits.

When Evan was in kindergarten I got a call at home.  He had gotten hurt on the playground, and I should probably come in and get him, and take him to the doctor to see if he needed stitches.
First of all, this is NOT the call you want to get, ever.
I flew into school (breaking all the speed limits, I'm sure) and saw the very deep cut in his bottom lip.
Since doctors LOVE their lunch hours, and this happened over lunch hour, we had to wait about an hour to be seen.
To say he was terrified was an understatement, and I was shaking as well.  It took the nurse and I and God to hold him down long enough for the doctor to numb his lip and put in only one stitch.  We were all sweating from the exertion of the act.
We were not home even an hour before that little sucker ripped out the one stitch it took the doctor 20 minutes to put in.  I coulda creamed him.  The next day, you couldn't even tell he had a cut in his lip!

He did give me 4 years reprieve, though before he did something like that again.
Last Friday, which I later learned was the 13th (go figure), didn't turn out quite as I had hoped.  We had a 2 hour delay due to snow, which was great, and at 9:45 the kids and I headed into school.
I was delivering papers to the teachers, to be passed out before the end of the day, and I had just turned into Grace and Evan's hallway.  I was heading to Evan's classroom, when I saw him and his teacher heading toward me.  Only Evan's teacher had his hand to the back of Evan's head, and they both looked pretty serious and concerned.  As they got closer, his teacher said to me, he's had an accident.  My heart literally stopped I think.  I saw blood on the back of his shirt collar, and on Evan's hand.  I immediately forgot about the papers in my hand, and followed them down to the nurse's office.  Being the efficient nurse that she is, she took things under hand and got all of us under control.  I ran to my room and called the doctor and asked to be seen, not knowing what she would do.  We left, with his head wrapped commando-style, and headed the 5 miles to the doctor.  The 10 minute ride seemed as long as an hour.

We were seen right away and an hour later, we left with 5 stitches in the back of his head, just under his hair where no one could see.  He wanted to go back to school, so we did, and arrived just in time for him to have lunch.  He later told me the girls swarmed him and wanted to make sure he was ok.    Little stud.  :-)

I'm due for a couple years reprieve again, right.  Or maybe a lifetime would suffice.
I just can't handle the fear that goes along with wondering if your child will be ok, and trying to hold yourself in check all at the same time.  How do people who don't have God in their lives, get through it?  I don't know, and can't imagine.  He's the rock you cling to, praying the whole time for the sake of your child, or your friend, or your family member, or even yourself.
Thank heaven he's in my life.  Thank heaven he's healed my children over and over and over again.
Thank heaven he gives me strength as a mother, because believe me, I need it!

I'm sorry

I'm sorry.  My content hasn't been the greatest lately.

I've been struggling with what to write, dealing with the new van issues on what we thought was a bad deal, but which has now been fixed, and all the Christmas last minute stuff which you all are dealing with as well.  I'm trying to get through the last couple weeks of school with the kids acting like crazy circus animals cause they are just as ready to get out as we are.

The kids did allow me, one day on the way to the library after school, to stop at the local apple orchard and take their picture for our Christmas cards.

This place has the best old truck sitting outside.  I've used it for pictures when the kids pick their pumpkins, as a back drop for their yearly pictures when they were little, and now for this.  It's a GREAT truck.

They weren't crazy about the scarves.  Oh well...it's Christmas, it's cold, WEAR THEM!

I think they turned out pretty well.  They've already been sent out.  At least that is done.

So, today, I'll be following my "LAST MINUTE CRAZY LIST" to the "T".  I'll be finishing up the gifts I make for all the kindergartners every year.  I'll finish up my mom's gift, and write the "family" story that we need to write for the family Christmas we have tomorrow.  I'll make my layered jello salad, and get my freezer corn ready to eat.  I'll pick up Grace from a sleepover, take Evan to a birthday party, and take all the stuff back to the Library.  I'll probably have to do several loads of laundry, and get supper ready to.

I'm eagerly anticipating the fact that there are only 3 more days left of school this week before break.  And I have high hopes for Christmas break that I will get many more things accomplished.

My last wish, though, before Christmas, that we at least get SOME snow.  It feels more like Christmas that way.  Up until yesterday, our temps soared back up to the mid 50's and we were getting rain every day.  It's December, it probably should feel like it.

So, I'll stop complaining and listing all that I have to do.
Have a happy Saturday.  I know I will.

Housing a Tween

Grace has inherited her decorating ADD from me.

She gets it honest.

Often she will say, "Can we change my room around today?" And while I would LOVE to every time she asks, we're honestly running out of ways her room can go.

However, for awhile now, we've been talking about changing the color.

She asked about it this weekend, and since Menards was running a sale on paint, I said, "Sure, why not!"

Her room has been purple for about 3 years now. It's also in the last 6 years we've lived here been green, and then blue.

We like to change things up around here!

This is the purple BEFORE.

It was purpley (sp?). Really purple. It was ok for awhile. But she was kinda growing out of it.







She'll be 12 in January. Yikes!







Her tastes are evolving quite rapidly. It's all about Paris, and fashion, and movie stars.







I guess I can remember what that was like oh, so long ago.







Since her bedding is adorable, and full of colors, we decided to stick with a color that matched that.







Shy Turquoise from Dutch Boy was what we came up with.


It was a pretty quick project. I trimmed out the walls, and she used the roller. Evan played in his room with Lego's the whole time.







Worked for us.







This is how it turned out. Some walls look darker than others since there was an abundance of light when I took the pictures.





(bedspread...Meijer, Paris window art...me, purple rug...Target)







I have to say, I love all the details in her room.




Even the poster wall, that I remember drove my mom nuts. It's making me feel the same way...but after all, it IS her room.







I like it. She likes it. That's all that matters, right?!

Comedy of Errors...aka...Disaster from the Get-Go

Last night we went over to our friend's house for a cookout and swimming, and basically a last HURRAH before school started today.

We had a great time! (Thanks guys!) And we got home a little late. One hour later than school time bedtime as a matter of fact. Not a great start to the school year...but we knew the kids would probably sleep hard with all the swimming they did.

We came home and the kids immediately went to bed, with promises from them that there would be no talking, and they would get right to sleep.

I packed our lunches, set my alarm, and went to bed. I had planned on canning pizza sauce, but decided I didn't want to be up till midnight the night before school started.

Fast forward to today.

I woke up, not with my alarm (found out later the alarm was set right, but the clock was set wrong...) but by my internal clock.....ONE HOUR BEFORE I HAD TO LEAVE FOR SCHOOL!

To say I freaked out is an understatement.

"Holy CRAP, get the kids out of bed!" I yelled to Brent, while I dashed to the bathroom for my 10 second shower.

I hurried as fast as I could (praise the Lord my children can get their own breakfast and dress themselves at this age!) and ate my breakfast and had my coffee while getting ready.

I kept having these hot flashes, and told Evan to get the extra fan from the bathroom upstairs...I was overheating, thinking the whole time, what is wrong with me, early menopause at age 37? Good grief!

We miraculously made it to school on time, but didn't have time for any extra things before we left. No first day of school picture in our regular place on the porch, no time for me to fill out school paperwork like I planned, no leisurely time to read my book over breakfast. I had a splitting headache, and the day had just begun.

Today was also the first day for the kindergartners to stay ALL DAY everyday for Kindergarten. THIS was a big change for many of them. They could barely last till lunch at 11:00am without breaking down for a snack. The wonderful teacher I work with whipped out extra slices of watermelon for everyone before morning recess.

After my 25 minute lunch (Oh, that's right, I have to claim 30 minutes on my time card each day, but really only get 20-25 minutes to eat. We'll not talk about that now...) I had to corral 44 kindergartners out on the playground by myself. Oh yeah. Thrill of my day.

It went ok, thankfully.

Oh, my headache was still raging by the way. Lasted the entire dang day.

Since there were no specials like Library, Gym, Art, or Computer today, there was no time to check email, or even sit down for a minute. My bladder was made of steel I believe.

At 2:50 I took the walkers and bus riders (did the kindergartners multiply since 8:00am?) down the hall to get on the bus. To say the first day getting on the bus is chaos is a little bit of an understatement. We got them where they needed to go, though, and I ran back to my room to finally check emails.

3:30 came quickly enough, and it was time to go home and start supper, mow, fill out that tedious school paperwork, pack lunches, can pizza sauce, OH, and write this little 'ol post.

I did take the kid's annual first day pictures....but it was at 5pm, and not 7am like we had originally planned.

Grace refused to hold up 6 fingers to display the year in school she is. Too cool I guess.

Bless Evan for stickin' with me!

I can't believe they are this old already. This is Grace's last year with me at school. Next year she moves over to the high school where the junior high is.

After today's theatrics, I'm just hoping for a calm day tomorrow.

I have checked and double checked the alarm.

5:30am will come way too soon!