Giving Thanks with Our Families

This Thanksgiving was awesome! We have so much to be thankful for! Some new good things were going on with my family, and not so good new things were going on with Paul's but we still made it! Paul and his brother aren't getting along all that great (and well, I guess I should add that makes the sister-n-laws less than best friends either.) And, my dad is possibly getting back together with my ex-stepmom all the while my immediate family of four (my mom, dad, and sister as well as myself) got together for Thanksgiving for the first time since 1994. (My parents split up in September 1995.) And, well I hate to keep adding this part (mostly because Paul says everyone is sick of hearing about it:)), but this year honestly it has been easy to give thanks and also hard to give thanks. Wait. No. Maybe that isn't how to say it. Hmm.. Ok. Easy to give thanks. But, easy to feel sad? I don't know. You know what I am referring to right? The "D" word. Yuck. Mean old "d" word.

Okay..back to turkey and dressing! And, laughter. Kids playing, adults chatting, and just a relaxing good time.

For the first time (ever? not sure?) I hosted Thanksgiving at our home for my side of the family. I will (do I have to?) admit that in the hours JUST before everyone arrived I did get a tad stressed trying to make sure everything was ready on time. Can I say that nothing was canned? Everything was freshly homemade? Does that make that sound better? :) Trust me! I am the canned corn, canned greenbeans lady! But, not this day. So, it's alright I got a little stressed. As usual, Chef John Paul saved the day though! :) He is a great cook, but just likes the couch better. Thankfully, he stepped in and helped me finish up a few things. It didn't help that a few recipes were brand new to me and I bought those tin foil things to cook casseroles in and he says they were too deep so it made the cooking times off. Ok..I digress.

Anyway, the point is...I was proud that was the only time I got stressed. I didn't get so breathless cleaning the week before (I DID clean..but not breathlessly!:)) I did sit back and soak in the company instead of being so worried the whole time everyone and everything was taken care of. So maybe someone had to refill their own tea. Who cares? :) I behaved! Do you realize what a huge undertaking this is for me?

Oops! Looks like the boys didn't all behave though? :) Sword fights anyone? Tickle fights anyone?

And, another huge undertaking was the fact Paul, Steven, Malia, and myself all still got together under one roof to celebrate Thanksgiving with Paul's family at Gigi's. (Paul's dad's mom's house..how's that for apostrophes?) It was great to see John Michael and Bree, and the food was great, too. As always. It is a family tradition for Gigi to host Thanksgiving at her home. I guess this was like my 18th or so? Hmm...not sure..lost count.

This was all very fun and filling, but stay tuned! This all didn't even occur on the actual day of Thanksgiving. Instead this was on the Sunday before. Why you ask? Because that is tradition. Because another tradition occurs on Thanksgiving day. You'll have to stay tuned to find out just what that is.

All Good Things Must Come to An End...

Even soccer! We really did have a fun season with Jackson. I think that was mostly due to the fact we had a really caring coach. And, we had a great session with Preston as well. Mostly due to the fact that it was his first experience ever with any kind of sport so that makes it special all on its own.

Jackson's team met after their last game at Cici's Pizza to eat pizza and cookie cake and get their trophies that were so generously donated by a teammate's dad's workplace. While it was a madhouse at Cici's since other teams apparently had the same idea as us, it was still an enjoyable time.

As you can see Jax is loving his trophy...and Preston is loving the cookie cake. haha! Sometimes they are so predictable!

Jackson and his coach...

Jackson made lots of friends on his team, too. This little guy next to him was Landon. They had a boisterous relationship! haha! They were very active and hyper together, but still had tons of fun. We just had to make sure they stayed separated when it was time to pay attention.

Preston particpated in Parents and Tots soccer. The county doesn't supply trophies (much to my shock) even for the older kids like Jackson's team. I knew they didn't though for Preston's age since Jackson never got one at that age, and I toyed with how to handle that. Do I make it completely "even" and not get Preston a trophy myself since Jackson didn't get one when he was two or three? Or do I make the best decision to be "even" right now? Which would be to get Preston a trophy since obviously if I used the excuse "Jackson didn't get one either" he would have no clue what I was talking about. After a little thought and reflection over all that PRESTON (note I did not say Jackson) has been through this year with his brother's new diabetes, I felt strongly Preston did not need to feel left out. So, off to the trophy shop I went and found this adorable $5.00 trophy and had it personalized and engraved for Preston. I suppose he probably wished he had cookie cake and a party and that his coach (not mommy) presented him with the trophy (yes he does notice details already!)

But, the best we could do was have a small intimate celebration at Olive Garden.

I don't think he was too disappointed, do you?

In fact, he hugged and hugged his trophy. He constantly assured me he "wuved" it and even slept with it for about a week. Guess I scored a goal there, huh?

I will admit that you sign your kid up for these things and then the afternoon practices come when you skip their naps, rush to get dinner handled, which can mean fast food, or peanut butter and jelly sandwiches in the car and wonder to yourself "why did I sign up for this??" Or better...it is your weekend off where you could sleep in and there comes the sound of the alarm clock for a 9AM game. Don't worry! If your child isn't old enough for all this fun and excitement yet it will be here before you know it! :) Your time is coming! Anyway, my point is...do it. Sign them up. As annoying as it may seem. It really is great for your kids, and creates lots of memories. It is so fun to watch your children play sports, and it is also a great example to instill in them the importance of exercise.

So, soccer's done! But, stay tuned because baseball (and MAYBE t-ball..cross your fingers they let Preston slide by the age requirement just shy of 8 days) is next!

JDRF Fall Festival

The day after Halloween we got to put our costumes to work for one extra event, our local Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation's Fall Festival. We enjoyed carnival games, inflatables, crafts, playing video games (a first for my kids...and they loved it and picked right up on how to play) and good company.

I will say though that it wasn't exactly as I expected. I really thought it would involve more networking with parents and other children who were diabetic. I thought maybe Jax would wear a nametag or something, but it was just like any other fall event in any other place. The only difference was candy wasn't given as prizes (but food..even PIZZA! was served), and there were like four tables of drug companies advertising products.

My sentiments regarding this surprise are varied. First, I was happy that Jackson could feel normal. Second, I realized how badly "off" I still am with my grieving process. Or however I should explain it. Not really sure how. Let me try. I still feel the need to meet fellow parents of children with diabetes, compare stories, ask questions, have Jackson meet other diabetics, awkwardly saying "Jackson! He (she) has diabetes, too! Isn't that neat?" I noticed how I was like the yeah..the ONLY person there still in this spot. I wasn't sure how to feel about that. But, nevertheless it gave me lots to think about on the way home.

What do you think?

No Tricks Just Treats

Okay..how incredibly sad is it I just put up my Christmas trees yesterday and yet I am JUST NOW blogging about Halloween!? My perfectionist personality is cringing inside. It's okay though. I know I am behind. I enjoy blogging though and I want to keep it that way. Something for me I enjoy and not a burden. So, there. I am behind. I am sorry. But, hopefully you will still enjoy reading all about our Halloween night nonetheless!

I got to go trick or treating in the rain with the most adorable WallE and Buzz Lightyear you have ever seen! :) Every year they get their picture taken in front of these ghosts. How nice will it be to one year line all the years up and see how tall they were each year. Jackson is about to outgrow the ghosts!

This year was probably the most fun year yet. Jackson understood manners (a slight hangup last year), and Preston got the concept. That made it much more enjoyable for everyone despite the chilly rain. At least their costumes were warm. AND, Jackson didn't ask to eat along the way! I was so worried about that with the diabetes..giving shots in the dark on the side of the road and scanning calorie count books for carb content. (Those miniature packages aren't labeled you know!) But, he didn't even ask for any candy until much later, and what he did enjoy he tolerated just fine. Whew. Thankfully though he is not my candy eater.

My little Buzz Lightyear on the other hand is a totally different story. In fact just tonight (oh wait, AND this morning) we were arguing over smarties and starburst. He is STILL searching in his pumpkin daily for goodies. :) Jackson hasn't given it a second thought.

When I was a kid, I loved holidays. All of them. Valentines, 4th of July, anything that involved doing something out of the ordinary and making traditions and having something to look forward to. I know deep down the kid inside me is still there because I still feel that way. What a wonderful feeling to be able to share all these memorable times with two of the cutest little boys around...and well, the best husband anyone could ask for, too! That's just icing on the cake!

Not Quite Professional...

But not too shabby either! :) Recently I tried out my new camera to take some pictures of the boys marking Jackson's turning age five. I was wondering if I could do a decent enough job to spend less on professional pictures so many times a year so that I would instead hire a topnotch expensive (ahem..Jenn McPherson or Amy Jackson..there's my plugs:)) photographer instead like once a year and spend the same amount of money. While I do need better software to edit the pictures (really bad:)) they turned out pretty good. I was proud of them. But, let's be honest I love all pictures of my kids. :)

While I will admit I am in a bit of a rush right now (I JUST realized last night Christmas is 3 and 1/2 weeks away...apparently I have been sleeping or something!) posting these and probably didn't pick my top favorites that I am proud of I wanted to share a few of them with you here for those of you that aren't on facebook.

I love capturing their true personalities. While Jackson did such a great job for me, Preston did super good considering he is usually the one who notoriously refuses to look at the camera when we hire someone to do our pictures and also the fact that he came down with croup the next day. I was worried neither of them would do as well for me as they do for strangers behind the lens for some reason. But, I honestly think they did better for me.

They both look so happy in this last one. I look at pictures like this and think, "Hmm..they both look SO happy. Maybe I'm not such a bad moma after all." :)

More Birthday Fun...

Everyone knows how I love birthdays, and I always make a big deal out of them! :) Even though we had Jackson's party the Sunday before his actual birthday, we still always celebrate their true, actual birthday. That was what Jackson said all day long to people. "Today is my actual birthday." Hilarious!

He got to choose where we ate lunch...which I knew would be Frontera or Wongmorn's. AKA Longhorn's. :) And, he went with Wongmorn's. Of course, they just had to sing to him and bring out a treat! (ugh..which they ended up having to bring the treat after singing because by my asking how many carbs were in the ice cream and explaining why I was asking they thought he couldn't have it since they didn't know how many carbs...long story short...I was in tears and trying to hide it from Jackson because I hated that they sang THEN went back to get his ice cream. It hit me the wrong way for some reason. It was just one more thing that felt "different" than in the past. THANK goodness children are more resilient than us moms! He didn't care one bit!)

As you can see he was "king" for the day and got to wear a crown all day he decorated all by himself! (At preschool, this is what they did last year and you know me...homeschool class made a crown, too! :)) He really liked that especially because I let him stay up late making it (so Preston wouldn't be all sad he wasn't doing one yet.)

And, it turned out soccer was on the day of his birthday, so we got to still have a cupcake celebration with some friends like he would have done at preschool. We took pirate cupcakes to soccer, and the whole team enjoyed singing to Jackson and the yummy treat. And, then thankfully they would all run off the sugar high. :)

I am trying to stop feeling so adamant about doing every single thing with homeschooling that he would have experienced at preschool. So, far I DID manage NOT to do a Thanksgiving feast and invite over 20 kids to my house. Aren't you proud? (Wouldn't that person who thinks I am supermom also be proud..hahaha!?) It was hard not to do it though I will admit. And, my original plans were to do it. :) Instead, I opted to really focus on our family's festivities so they would be more enjoyable for us all. We have nearly 20 people coming to our house on Sunday for Thanksgiving for my side of the family, so I think they will still feel like we had a party. :) If my mom ends up coming it will be the first time since 1994 my entire family has had Thanksgiving together. Isn't that neat? That beats any preschool party. :)

Sometimes you just have to take time to enjoy what you do have around you instead of filling in what you think is missing I guess. :) I am learning....a little. :)

Not Just Any Pumpkin...

But, our family pumpkin!!!

For some reason carving our pumpkin each year is really important to me. This year we almost didn't have enough time to fit it in with all of the other fall fun festivities. But, I was bound and determined we would make the time. :)

It always has really just been Paul carving the pumpkin and me taking pictures. :) The boys at different points throughout the years have touched the seeds or the inside of the pumpkin. But, this year they actually could help! That was great!

Well, except for the fact that Preston hated it! He thought it was very yucky and the peer pressure from watching Jackson got the best of him and he did try it. But, then he was done.

He was probably okay watching from the sidelines mostly because he had a lollipop to keep him entertained. The boys were getting along wonderfully for the first half of the carving session. Then, as it happens daily Jackson starts aggravating Preston about something, and well Preston retaliates. This time it was with a lollipop. All it did was merely touch Jackson's shirt and as you can see he clutches to his arm like someone broke it! Hilarious. Well, sort of hilarious. At the time I am sure my blood pressure was rising. :) I do get tired of hearing them argue. But, when you look back at it later it is always funny.

But, they always still end up friends. That's what counts, right?

Most importantly, I love my traditions simply for the fact that I can line up the pictures from each year to see how the kids have grown. So, I have a picture of every year they have been born with the family pumpkin. Won't that be a neat post when I am fifty? :)