Kaelin's 3rd Birthday

Really she turned 10 a couple of weeks ago, but she says today is her 3rd birthday because she's had 3 semi-celebrations this year.  This is just the way she prefers it.  3 days that are mostly about her.  :)

Tonight the grandparents came over and M and A came back over and she had 3 friends over after school.  We fixed hair and makeup, then had some pizza with Hawaiian Punch in cute little pink wine glasses.  They wore leis and lip gloss and bracelets.  They played Wii, played outside (til it rained) and then played Catch Phrase and then Wii some more.  All in all, she has good friends.  They all 3 seem like very well mannered, sweet girls.  I think she enjoyed her party.  And the cake, was cute.  The grocery store did a pretty good job with my request over the phone.

I know

These are sometimes some of the sweetest words your toddler can say.  I was driving Jaemin from speech to daycare and I said "mommy needs to tell you something.". Then I said "mommy loves you.". He just sweetly said "I know.". I am so glad he's confident in my love for him.

Reasons why

you can be okay when your kid doesn't get to play when they should.  I'm not a spiteful, overly competitive parent, but when I see my kid, who has always played key positions as a starter, suddenly standing on the sidelines so that the newly paid coaches can play the kids that have $$, have older brothers that make them think the younger brother could be a clone of said older brother or the kid is a teacher/coaches kid, it kind of makes you go hmmmm.....after you get over the initial anger of the politics of middle school football.  This was my reality check that it's alive and well, so I'm left with find humoring in it after nothing left else to do.

A.  While other parents are complaining about their kids who have never been injured at younger competitions, getting hurt now, I can revel in the fact that if my child isn't playing he can't end up like his teammates either.

B.  He will have a body that still functions in high school, while some kids will have broken down parts from multiple injuries at younger ages.

C.  Less grass stains to get out.

D.  His weaker ankles can rest (kind of a cheat since it's another injury related reason, but oh well.

E.  When they get their butts handed to them like they did today I can honestly say my kid had not part of it.  There may not be an i in team, but if you have the same favorites  in the game day after day, there's never going to be a u in it either.

So, here's to more losses until hopefully they learn to play to the kids' potentials instead of politics in a public school.  These coaches have a lot to learn abut communication.  Those poor boys were running in and out because they had no idea where they were supposed to be or go because they get mixed signals from the coaches.

Not sure what happened....I'm losing my mind apparently

I could have sworn I posted the pictures from our visit with my brother and my nephew, but I don't see them anywhere.  I must have dreamed I did it already.  You know how sometimes as you go to bed you have a to-do list running through your head?  I probably did that and then dreamed I did it.  Who knows.  The last two weeks were sort of a blur with all the family visits and school starting.  But, it was a nice visit.  Even my dad came in from Florida, so E could have all of his grandparents from our side here for his birthday.

Lulls

I've lulled in my posts.  Sometimes I regret it because this IS my diary for me and my family.  But, because I know others read it, I do tend to hold back just a bit.  Even when things are going well or I'm just content (which is usually the reason for lulls) I just don't want to jinx anything.  Nor do I want to seem like a whiner because I may have had a bad day; hoping things will be better the next and knowing my life is still better than some people who may be dealing with the worst life can offer.  I guess right now aside from a few normal discontentments a parent may encounter I'm in that content stage.  You know, you're kids are healthy, you and your spouse are all reasonably well, you're paying your bills, so life must be okay.  That's mostly my philosophy anyways.  As long as we're always reasonably well and we can pay our bills life is pretty good.  I don't need to be wealthy to be happy or cut down my neighbor to be happy, I can just be happy.  Too many Americans need to step on one another financially and socially in order to feel that contented feeling and it's very sad.  I think it's been the destruction of this country.  Sad, but I do believe social darwinism has been around for a very long time and is in no threat of stopping.

So, for me.  I'll continue to try and attempt to show my kids what's really important in life and allow them to enjoy their lives as they've been handed to them by God.  Kinda like I told Cole one night as he was a little disappointed to have no classes this year with his closest friends.  Sometimes, even if life isn't perfect and you're not totally happy, faking your way through a little can eventually get you to believing your life really is fine the way it is.  I realize this doesn't capture all lives, but for his situation and some others it's true.  He's been a pretty happy kid this school year so far (though it's VERY new), so maybe we're onto something.

Here's to everyone else's happiness.

Full School Swing

And here they are:  10th, 7th, 4th and 1st grades.  Hoping for a really great school year for them all.

Happy Birthdays

While tonight was not Kaelin's official birthday party, my brother got to come home and be here for her birthday so we did a combo birthday for E, my nephew (I finally got to meet him, YAY) and Kaelin.  B's her Godfather, so I really wanted him to be able to be here with her.  She'll get her friend party later.  Lois let us use her pool again and the kids had a great time and the weather was SO nice.  They always have fun at Lois' house.  Then we went back to our house for the cake and ice cream for the 10 and 2 year olds.  Loved meeting my nephew last night and seeing him again today.  He's really, really cute!





The goggles were Ethan's idea.




Something's wrong with this picture.

And afterward at our house.