First Weekend of 2009

The boys and I had a good time this weekend. Not only did we have a blast ice skating at my good friend daughter Isabella's sixth birthday party, but I also got to spend some quality time with Ethan hangin at my favorite all you can eat sushi joint and watching the Chargers kick some Colts bootie!

The ice skating was good ol' wholesome family fun. I wasn't going to attempt skating at first...my last memories of ice skating involve me and a wall. But when I saw Bren out there without me, hangin on to the wall, I just had to go. I am so glad I did! The freezing, not-so-fun party turned into a blast for me and the boys. Brenden has already asked to go again.

After skating, we dropped Brennie at his dad's because he didn't want to go with us to sushi. That time spent at dinner with Ethan, Kel and our friend La Nitta was one of a few times recently where Ethan just seemed so grown up. He will be 10 soon and he is definitely his own little person. He hung out with us just like one of the pals and had all you can eat sushi and coke. I didn't have to ask him to behave, I didn't have to give him any looks about manners, we just had a great time eating together. And he ate EVERYTHING we ate - green muscles, all the raw fish, wasabi and ginger. It was truly a special dinner just because I can see the relationship between me and my son evolving and it feels wonderful!! We even had time for a brief photo shoot. ;)

Officially old?

Ethan just texted me from the other room with "Merry Christmas. Goodnight."

Yes, I said ETHAN JUST TEXTED ME.

My oldest son now owns a cell phone, given to him for Christmas by his dad.

Does this make me old, officially?

I Love You So...

One of the gifts I gave to Brenden this year is a book called "I Love You So..." by Marianne Richmond.

I'm a big fat dork, and I started crying when I read it to Brenden tonight.

Here it is.

"I love you.

How much?

SO much.

How much is 'so'?

WAY, WAY MORE than you know...

I love you as BRILLIANT as each sparkling star,

and as WAY OUT as space, I love you THAT far.

I love you as GIGANTIC as a great lion's roar,

and as DEEP as the ocean, I love you MUCH more.

'That IS a lot,' you say, 'but HOW did it start?

WHERE did love come from to be in your heart?'

YOU put it there, really, when you and I met.

And I knew for certain WITHOUT you I'd fret.

From MY HEAD to my TOES, I was feeling inside

a devotion for you SO DEEP and SO WIDE.

And now it's ENORMOUS and wonderfully real

and hard to describe HOW MUCH I feel!

I love you as AWESOME as a thundery sky, and as SOARING as mountains,

I love you THAT high.

I love you as SILLY as a puppy dog's kiss,

and as QUIET as midnight, I love you like THIS.

'Do you love me EVERY day?' you ask with doubting awe,

'or does love go UP 'N DOWN like a teetering see-saw?'

I love you as STEADY as the earth rounds the sun,

though SOME days of life are the FARTHEST from fun.

'Like when you feel MAD?' you ask with distress,

'cause I've BROKEN the rules or made a BIG mess?

Or, when I'm UNKIND, and your feelings are BLUE,

do you love me ALTHOUGH I do what I do?'

I love you being NICE, and when you're CRANKY, too.

I love you without liking the NAUGHTY things you do.

My 'love you' DOESN'T change like the temper of the days.

It's a CERTAIN kind of thing in many DIFFERENT ways.

You're my SWEETIE, my dear, my SMILE and laughter.

You're my PLAYMATE for always, and my JOY ever after.

Hanging out WITH YOU is where I want to be...

eating ice cream sundaes or watching the TV.

UNDER your umbrella, behind you on a bike.

BY you and BESIDE you is what I REALLY like.

'Do you love me just AS MUCH when I'm FAR away from home?

Is your loving still THE SAME in distant lands I roam?'

I love you NEAR or FAR. I love you HIGH or LOW.

My love is there with you WHEREVER you may go.

'Even when I'm SICK...and I can't get out of bed?

Do you love me better HEALTHY than with fever in my head?'

I love you sick or able.

You're ALWAYS you to me, the ONE I LOVE forevermore.

Undeniably.

I CAN'T IMAGINE life before YOU came along...

me there singing senseless, no MEANING to my song.

Call it MEANT TO BE or simply blessed fate, you fill my heart WITH LOVE...

and for THAT I celebrate.

'I love you.

How much?

SO much.

How much is 'so'?

WAY, WAY MORE than you know..."

When I first read it, I thought of how much I love Ethan and Brenden and how my love for them never ends, despite all the tough tumbles and stumbles we go through together.

But this unconditional love she talks about also sounds like the love I have for my sister, for my best friends, for my mom and dad, the love my best friend Brooke feels for her husband Ryan and her puppies, and the love that God has for all of us.

Nathaniel, Benjamin and Avery

The kids and I were talking a couple days ago and the subject of names came up. I told Ethan that I wanted to name him Nathaniel and I told Brenden that I wanted to name him Benjamin. To my dismay, their dad nixed both names, so we ended up with Ethan and Brenden. Sometimes I still think that I should have pushed harder for the name Ben. Anyway, Ethan told me that he doesn't like the name Nathaniel (or the name Ethan for that matter...he wants his name to be Jordan), but Brenden did like the name Ben. :)

I also told the boys that if either one of them would have been a girl, they would have been named Avery. They thought that was weird. hehe.
Maybe someday I'll have a girl and name her Avery...

No, just kidding, GOTCHYA! ;)

Thankful

My sister and I have officially "hosted" Thanksgiving for the past 7 or 8 years. Back then, our mom passed down a special family tradition. Each year we cook the basics, but we always find new and exciting recipes to try. Some things are staples, of course, like mom's pumpkin pie and sweet potatoes (yum!) and I do believe the clam dip is becoming one as well. Other than that, we experiment. We always have at least two appetizers, then soup follows, then the main course, and finally dessert. We make EVERYTHING from scratch...even the caramel (ok ok this year we didn't make the ice cream or the whipped cream). But there is no skimping here. And we don't try to make our food low fat or with less calories - no way. On Thanksgiving we're all about fresh, fattening and full of flavor. This year's menu looked like:

Appetizers
Crab Cakes with Red Chili Mayonnaise
Clam Dip with Sourdough

Soup
Roasted Pumpkin Soup with Mushrooms and Chives (I couldn't find any pumpkins however, so this ended up being squash soup - not your everyday squash but some that looked sorta like pumpkins so I figured what the heck)

Salad
Romaine with Cranberries, Oranges and Goat Cheese

Main Course
Porcini-Rubbed Turkey with Shitake-Madeira Gravy
Artichoke, Sausage and Parmesan Cheese Stuffing
Chive and Garlic Mashed Potatoes
Haricots Verts with Herb Butter
Maple Glazed Carrots
Sweet Potatoes
Cranberry Sauce

Dessert
Pumpkin Pie
Apple Tart with Caramel Sauce
Vanilla Bean Ice Cream

This year, the food was truly a group effort. Kellie, Richie (my bro) and I along with our sous chef Ethan really knocked it out. We listened to music and cooked pretty much all day Wednesday and then most of Thursday. Kellie and Richie made the crab cakes. I wasn't happy with that selection as an appetizer because we made them a few years back and they weren't that good. This year though, this recipe, these cooks, these crab cakes were AMAZING. They were so damn good. Really, everything was delicious!

So of course I was extremely thankful for the fabulous fare, but on top of it, I was and am so extremely thankful for the beautiful family and wonderful friends I am blessed with. Ethan said it best when he read a Thanksgiving prayer:

Heavenly Father, on Thanksgiving Day
We bow our hearts to You and pray.
We give You thanks for all You've done
Especially for the gift of Jesus, Your Son.
For beauty in nature, Your glory we see
For joy and health, friends and family,
For daily provision, Your mercy and care
These are the blessings You graciously share.
So today we offer this response of praise
With a promise to follow You all of our days.
We pray in Jesus name, Amen.

A couple pics to follow - my flash drive is currently MIA.

Speeches and Enunciating

Tonight Ethan practiced his "valedictorian" speech for his "graduation" from the "Apple Valley One Room School House" tomorrow. For three weeks, everyone in the fourth grade has pretended to be part of the Apple Valley Schoolhouse in the 1850s. It has been really neat. Ethan's alias is Robbie Smith. His teacher is now Miss White. They wear old style clothing and carry their books in pillowcases. The three weeks is coming to an end so the other night, he had to write (OK, I helped him a little) a valedictorian speech. Yesterday he found out that his was one of six out of the entire fourth grade that would be part of the graduation ceremony. So yes, folks, Ethan will give the first speech of his life tomorrow morning. Drumroll please....:

"Good morning fellow classmates, staff and parents. Thank you for attending our graduation. The teachers and students have worked very hard. We have learned much about reading, spelling, writing and mathematics.

Much has happened this year. I remember the time when I brought an apple to my teacher Miss White. When she took a bite of it, a worm popped out! Boy did she scream to the heavens! She ran out of our one room school house faster than a speeding horse! I also remember how we all came together to mourn the passing of Farmer Brown's beloved cow, Bessy. We are more than a schoolhouse, we are a community.

As graduates entering our community, I believe we can work together to bring peace back to our country. President Pierce did us wrong by signing the Kansas Nebraska Act. Now, we are graduates. We can do our part to make a difference.

Thank you for coming."

Video camera's ready!

So while Ethan did his work, Brenden did his. Of course it took me saying "focus focus focus" to both boys, but that's how it always is. Anyway, Brenden had to write the words he missed on the day's spelling test three times each and in a sentence. When we got to the word "would" I explained to him that the word isn't the "wood" that's is like the wood of a tree. Instead, I said, it's like "Would you like to go to the movies?" So not to cheat, he came up with his own sentence: "Would you like to go to the park? (hehe) When he was writing out the sentence, he came up to me and said how do you spell "jya?" I replied HUH? What are you talking about Brenden?! and he said YOU KNOW, JYA!! WHAAAAAT? says me! Finally, he says YOU KNOW, LIKE WOULDJYA LIKE TO GO TO THE PARK? HAAAAAAAAHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

I guess I should start enunciating.

Ok, good night. :)

Mission Inn Run: New Family Tradition?

On November 9th, the boys and I, along with my niece Sarah, participated in the 31st Annual Mission Inn Run. It was awesome. I had a blast and the boys did awesome. It was fun to be a part of something with my family that so many other families were participating in. There was a great sense of community. Everyone had a smile on their face. Well, except for the really tired runners - haha.

I did the 10k. My family gathered on one of the corners and cheered for me each time I passed. Ethan ran down the street to watch for me and then ran up with me when I finally came by. Both the boys waved and yelled "MAMA! GO MAMA!" every time I saw them. During the last mile, I was running up toward my family and Brenden yelled out while Ethan ran up near me. The lady next to me said "Aw, that must be really inspirational." She was right. It was such a good feeling to have all the people that I love, the people who genuinely care about me, there to watch me reach my goal of running my first 10k, without stopping, in less than an hour. It was wonderful. And I finished without even feeling tired. I was only happy. So happy.

The kid's races were fun too. They were SO proud of themselves and I was SO proud of them too. Brenden and Sarah completed a 1/2k while Ethan did the 1k. As soon as the kids took off during the 1k (fast I might add!), a bunch of the parents (including myself) took off down the side street to meet them at the pass. It was so funny! I tried to run to get ahead of Ethan to take a good picture of him but he was too quick! Aunt Jay got one though!!!


Brenden and Sarah were quick too! Ok, well Sarah wasn't so quick but she is a lovely little tea party type of girl and she did FABULOUSLY considering that. Her mom Jocelyn ran with her the entire time convincing her not to give up!

I had done something similar a couple of days before, yelling at ALL the kids not to give up when they came down to the track for a "trial run". Since they had never run in a race before, I wanted them to experience the run so that they would get a feel for how far they had to go. They did well, but wanted to walk some, and I kept yelling across the field "DON'T GIVE UP!!!"

After the kids' races, they got their medals, we looked at the list of names and times, and then headed for a family lunch at our mexican restaurant. :)

I do believe (and genuinely hope) that this will become a new family tradition for us. Even Kel said that maybe she'll do the 1 mile run next year - hehe. It was terrific!