Fifth Birthday

May 29, 2014

Dear Hudson,

Today you turned five years old, and this birthday was truly transformative.  This year, I looked at you and saw a boy.  Not a baby, or a toddler, or even a preschooler.  Now, you are a big boy, and when I look at you I realize how wonderfully you have grown into yourself this year.  Being Hudson has been so good for you.

You are five.  You are fantastic.

For the first time ever,  you requested a friend party, and I was all too happy to oblige.  Since bowling parties seemed to be all the rage for the preschool set, we organized a bowling birthday party for both friends and family.  It was perfect for you!  While I was nervous about how you'd handle the responsibility of playing host, I couldn't have been prouder of your behavior.  You greeted your guests, secured them drinks, snacks, and seats, and basically blew us all away with your maturity and simple joy at hosting.  I always knew you had it in you, but this time you just glowed with happiness.

Soon you will be a kindergartner, and I hope you will rise to that challenge as you have all others.  You read chapter books now, with the sweetest reading voice I've ever heard.  You enjoy quiet playtime like never before, though you'd still rather have company.  You desperately wanted to attend church at your preschool, and now we go there regularly.  We finally got you and your sister a puppy, and you have become an expert dog whisperer with little Claire.  You never cease to surprise me.

Being your mother has been the most magical experience of my life.  From your happy birth, through your laid-back baby times, to watching you explore your expanding world, it has been an honor to guide you.  I thank God every day for entrusting me with this boy.  You reward me with boundless love, witty humor, and blessed quiet snuggles.

Yes, Hudson, you are growing up handsomely as always.  There is vast potential within you, and I cannot wait to see how it grows and blossoms and expands. 

Happy birthday, my boy.

All my love.

Mom  

Eighth Birthday

March 25, 2014

Dear Ava,

Today you turned eight years old, and I realized—for the first time, really—how complex you are becoming within yourself and the world.  I looked at you, at your sweet face and tall, lanky form, and simply marveled. Here is my little girl, growing lovelier before my eyes.  Here is my best friend, knowing exactly when to take my hand.  Here is my old soul, teaching me more about life than I ever thought possible.  

You are eight.  You are enchanting.

This year, you opted to focus on a friend party, which we’ll host next week.  Although I think you missed having that big family shin-dig on your birthday, I know you are transitioning to a more sociable sense of self, and I support that expanding part of your life.  You have always had a captivating personality, and even as your vulnerabilities emerge, I know that you have a solid understanding of who you are and who you want to be.  At your core, you’ll always be my sweet, strong Ava B.    

You still love playing Barbies and reading books, and your sense of fashion is continually evolving.  I love how you prioritize homework each night, and that you’ve stuck with dance classes for almost a whole year now.  You’re contemplating playing softball soon, and your imagination is as wonderful as ever.  There’s nothing more magical to me than watching you in the playroom, creating worlds and characters and bits of fairy-tale.  You love anything Frozen right now, and hearing you hum or sing aloud melts my heart.  Recently, Hudson cut his finger, and you held him in your lap and told him silly stories until he stopped crying.   

As your mother, I love that your sweet, sassy core has never changed.  Your sense of self is so assured, so strong.  Yet each year, new facets of your personality emerge, little surprises that make each day special.  You value family and faith above all else, but you’re not afraid to question the world.  You are independent, yet still the girl who likes to know she is appreciated, understood, and loved. 

Yes, Ava, you are growing up exquisitely  Eight years have passed in a beautiful kaleidoscope of treasured memories, and I know that you will always make me proud to be your mother.  In return, I hope that I can always show you how much you are loved.  Deeply.  Truly.  Unhaltingly. 

Happy eighth birthday, my lovely lady.

All my love,
Mom

Currently I am....

appreciating all the snow days and 2-hour delays we’ve been getting during this crazy winter weather.  Although some have been complaining about the distractions and inevitable make-up time later this school year, I’ve simply been thankful for the extra time to rest during my most recent UC flare-up. 

reading The Enemy by Charlie Higson (yes, that would be a sorta zombie book).  My reading habits have changed slightly since becoming a middle school teacher, but I’ve been enjoying my trip into YA fiction. 

listening to a lot of Katy Perry lately.  Ava got Prism for Christmas, and we’ve been rocking it at the house quite a bit.  I didn’t want to like "Roar," but I really do.

tasting kale.  In an effort to increase my overall health, I’ve been attempting to eat healthier, and kale is something I can easily incorporate into my daily diet.  I’ve added it to salads, smoothies, even omelets.  Easy peasy!

learning that life moves in subtle waves, and I seem to be riding one of those transitional whitecaps this year.  I can’t exactly explain (and maybe it’s just my general health woes), but I feel decidedly different, and I’m trying to just roll with it.

noticing the precious piles of laundry that I’ve been folding, and how they reveal the true goodness of my life.  A pretty pile of little girl clothes, all sparkly and sweet.  A rough-and-tumble stack of little boy long-sleeved T-shirts that feature superheroes and Adventure Time.  Even a big overflowing wad of adult men’s socks.  I am blessed.

anticipating the mid-season return of The Walking Dead.  I still can’t believe some former students got me stuck on this series, but I am avid.

working hard every single day at school, even during those delayed days.  After teaching high school for nine years, it’s not easy to switch gears and masterfully educate seventh graders.  It is a challenge every day.

making an effort to read with each child, each day.  Ava has been devouring chapter books on her own, but I still like to try and read with her a little bit.  Also, Hudson has suddenly exploded on the reading front and has surprised us with his abilities.  His new Leap Pad Ultra has a lot to do with it, but he can now read nearly at Ava’s level.  I love that they can both read to me now!

watching lots of red carpets and awards shows.  It’s that time of year, and even the kids enjoy discussing the dresses as much as I do.

accepting that I will always have ulcerative colitis, that it will always catch me off guard, that steroids will always steal my vanity from me, but that I will always bounce back eventually.

organizing an impressive amount of license renewal materials.  If only a teaching license was good for—oh, I don’t know—forever?

planning a cool new pirate-themed bedroom for Hudson.

loving my Zumba classes as much as ever and hoping to get back into a routine.

buying two matching black bookcases for the playroom.  Each kid gets one to decorate just perfectly.

finishing up our tax paperwork and hoping for a big return.

embracing the cold, because it doesn’t seem to be going anywhere.

daring (at the same time) to plan for spring, for warmth, for health.

A Thrill of Hope

I sat gazing at the Christmas tree, its blinking lights symbolic of the war within me. BLINK. I absolutely love Christmas; it’s my favorite time of the year.  BLINK.  I suffer from ulcerative colitis; it cares not about holidays.  BLINK.  There’s nothing more magical and spiritual than celebrating our Savior’s birth.  BLINK.  Christmas with colitis?  BLINK.

O Holy night, the stars are brightly shining

I played Monopoly with my daughter and read books to my son.  We snuggled on the couch and watched our favorite movies together.  I tried to pretend that I didn’t know what was coming, but I had been through it too many times to deny it.  After I tucked my little loves into bed, I let it wash over me.  The disappointment, the despair, the tears that could do nothing to thwart yet another UC flare-up.

It is the night of our dear Savior's birth

In sixteen years, I’ve never asked WHY ME?  Not once.  Yet this Christmas I’ve never come so close to screaming those words aloud.  At the last second, I managed instead a strangled WHY NOW?

Long lay the world in sin and error pining

I wrapped gifts with Christmas music playing softly in the background and clung to my faith more tightly than ever.  I counted my blessings.  I reminded myself that I still had life, still had possibilities, even if my hope was fading.  I couldn’t cure my disorder, but there were medicines that could curb its symptoms.  Sure, the steroids might trigger the dreaded and bloated moon face, might add pounds to my weak body, might grow hair in unwanted places and flavor food with the taste of metal.  So what? I was alive.  I was happy. 

'Til He appeared and the soul felt its worth

I’ve always known this was my cross to bear, and for sixteen years I’ve borne it bravely.  I just never realized that I had yet to truly accept that this cross would be a lifelong struggle, or to realize that it might get worse as I aged, rather than better.

A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices

Then I heard the song drifting through my holiday-laden house, and I truly listened.  Then my tears—bitter, desperate, despairing—turned to ones of hope.  He was born and died for me.  He would help carry my burden.  All I had to do was let Him.

For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn

I am the first one to admit I get caught up in the holiday hype.  I will also throw myself the most lavish pity party when another UC flare-up visits me.  I am selfish, flawed, and often wayward.  I always say I know the real reason for the season, but I never really felt it in such a raw way until this year.

Fall on your knees

My hope did waver this year; it was a thin thread amongst my candy canes, winter  boots, and mounting depression.  I was angry about my health issues.  I was frustrated.  I was hopeless.  Yes, I loved my family and counted my blessings, but I was still lost.  It wasn’t until a simple song reached out to me, and He found me again.  That was my holy night, and I hope it gives me strength in the battle to come.  No, I know it will.

 

"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."

Snow Days Are...

 

Making magical memories where siblings (equal) best friends.

Letting imaginations run wild as backyard blankets of snow become unexplored kingdoms.

Discovering an untold wealth of creativity cloaked in the simplicity of white snow and colored water.

Whittling the world down to the beautiful confines of two children and endless smiles.

Yeah, all that & more.

Welcome, December!

But first, my sincere apologies to November.  That was such a busy, busy month that I never even considered blogging.  I had two weddings (one of which I was photographer!) and an Indy bachelorette party scheduled, plus several other minor events.  Every weekend was a flurry of activity, and I barely managed to keep up with both my personal and professional obligations.  Still, I was more than happy to share a wedding day with one of my favorite brides ever, and it was a pleasure to process all the photos from that happy celebration.

 

Isn't she lovely?

Of course, December has arrived beautifully, and today we're enjoying our first official snow day.  Hence the first real chance to update with a post. Honestly, I know I've likely missed so many wonderful opportunities to include, but I think it would just be easier to start from today.  Except for Hudson's Christmas program.  It was too sweet to overlook. 

 

He makes me smile.

Here's a few snapshots of our fun in the snow from earlier today.  From Saint Nick (who stopped by this morning with stockings full of goodies) to wrapping Christmas gifts, we've been filled with holiday cheer.  So as I watch snow blanket the backyard and prepare to start some taco soup, I am planning to return soon with regularly scheduled blogging at its best.

 

 

Happy December!

Autumn Activities

In the interest of time laziness, here are some quick recaps of our recent autumn activities:

Huntingburg Herbstfest



 

Holiday World Halloween Weekends

 

Mesker Park's Boo at the Zoo

 

 

October-Blessed

Yes, I could shamefully explain how and why I have managed to disappear from blogging for almost three months.  I could hem and haw about what we've been up to lately, and how I'm still trying to adjust to being back on a school-schedule.  Sure, I might explain that I've switched from teaching high school English to middle school Language Arts, and how that transition has monopolized much of my extra time.  Or how my colitis flare-up is finally settling down and allowing me to live like a normal human.

 

Instead, how about let's focus on the beauty of October?  KThanks.

 

 

 

No one says it better than Anne Shirley.  Seriously, though, it feels good to be back online and sharing life's little moments, especially during this awe-inspiring time of year.  We're currently on fall break (love those perks of a teacher's schedule!) and taking time to enjoy the year's last warmth before the breath of winter blows into us.  And yeah, I'll try to stick to a better blogging schedule from now on, friends.

 

 

Cheers,  

Insta-Summer

Well, we've hit that panicky end-of-summer point, where our fun time is quickly coming to a close.  We're torn between totally lounging at home and soaking up those last lazy summery days, or filling our remaining schedule with play dates and other activities.  It's always a toss-up, but this year we're essentially combining the two.  In fact, we've even managed to squeeze some back-to-school shopping (gah!) in there as well.

 

In the meantime, here's some insta-shots of what's been keeping us busy lately.

 

 

Besides catching a few games at the League Stadium, we also paused to enjoy the amenities at the nearby park.  I'm still a little skittish there, recalling when Ava broke both wrists on the monkey bars last year, but I tried not to let that stop our fun.

 

 

Of course, we've made excellent use of our Holiday World season passes.  This year, I think we did a nice job spreading ourselves around all the various attractions and swimming areas.  Never a boring day there!

 

Both kids enjoy the Jasper Riverwalk and its playground area, so anytime we're in Jasper with some extra time, we try to stop there for a bit.  That always gets a few smiles.  Plus, while in that part of town, we've also stopped at the theatre to catch some good movies: Despicable Me 2 and Turbo.

 

These shots (above and below) are from the Fourth of July.  We had a fun, family-filled independence day, sprinkled with all the traditional events: a cook-out, swimming, catching fireflies at dusk, sparklers, a fireworks show, and smores to finish out the night.

 

Our most recent stop was CMoE, another favorite of ours (below).  It was a beautiful day in Evansville, and although I was in favor of visiting the zoo, I was out-voted by everyone else.  We spent a few enjoyable hours there in between eating at Steak 'n Shake and shopping for school shoes at Shoe Carnival.

 

Although we're in that tricky transitional time before our lives switch into school mode, it's nonetheless been a lovely summer with a stretch of beautiful weather.  Here's to focusing on life's simple pleasures (sleeping in, Popsicles in the backyard, taking a walk in the evening) as we finish out these last few days of our summer break.

 

Enjoy!

Holy Sink Surprise, Batman!

(This is the last post that still pertains to our Destin trip.  After a four-day technology conference last week, I managed to snag a wicked virus on my personal laptop.  I’ve since had it completely retooled by a professional, and I’m ready to get back on the blog train.  I’ve got a lot piled up, so brace yourself for an onslaught of end-of-summer posts.)

We had been in the minivan for fourteen hours (minus a few bathroom breaks, a fantastic brunch at Cracker Barrel, and a quick late afternoon nosh at Wendy’s).  Miraculously, the kids had been unbelievably well-behaved in their car seats.  They played their Leap Pads.  They colored.  They watched DVD’s.  They were—in a word—good. 

We needed that.  We really, really needed that.

Because there was something ominous waiting for us at home.  We could never have predicted it, nor prepared for it.  Our house had been waiting for us for a week now, ceiling fans motionless, air conditioner turned off, with the slight musky odor of an unlived-in building pervading the air. 

After fourteen hours on the road, we were exhausted.  Our dirty clothes were shoved into suitcases.  Sand littered the bottom of the van.  Our Florida tans had turned our skin slightly crinkly.  We wanted our own beds, a long sleep, and the chance to reclaim our normalcy. 

It was almost 9 PM when we finally pulled into the driveway.  Both kids were unbuckled and on the front porch before I could blink.  Yeah, they were ready to be home.  Once inside, they ran around happily while Erik carried in our stuff.  I wanted to take baths, but Hudson was starving and requested scrambled eggs and toast.  After a cursory glance at our fridge and pantry, I was amazed that we actually had eggs and bread. 

I instructed him to wash his hands in the bathroom, and I began to make a quick late supper.  Thank God my little man chose the left sink for his hand-washing, because the right-side sink held nothing but trouble for us, though we didn’t know it yet.

I made scrambled eggs and toast.  I sat with my son at the kitchen table and let the tranquility of home settle around me.  I chose not to remember the scuttling sounds I’d heard in our attic before departing for our trip.  We had assumed it was a nest of mice (though with all those annoying feral cats that our neighbors feed and encourage, it’s a wonder any mice could survive our neighborhood).  I just wanted to finish up this meal, complete baths, and go to bed.

Then I went into the bathroom.  I saw Hudson had left his hand towel strewn across the sink.  I went to pick it up.  I noticed a dark blur in the right-side sink.  I let my brain process that, and then I screamed. 

This is what I saw:

 

 

It wasn’t hanging upside-down.  No, it was curled in a ball in the middle of the drain.  It wasn’t moving, and I didn’t care if it was dead or alive.  It was a bat.  In my house.  In my sink.  I knew instantly that it had come from the attic, and that I had been hearing its little wings beat instead of baby mice those last few weeks.  I had hoped that by ignoring the problem it would go away, but instead it had ruined my homecoming from Destin.  Fabulous.

Erik took the news less well than I did.  He was ready to bolt from the house to the nearest hotel and pay for one more night away from home.  But once I settled down, I knew I wasn’t leaving yet.  This was my home, and I wanted to sleep here. Plus, I thought the bat was dead.  While Erik spouted statistics about rabies and shots, I got a couple of big spoons and a Ziploc bag.  How hard could it be to dispose of a dead bat?

It stank. Badly.  It had to be dead, right?  I secured my Ziploc bag inside an old plastic pitcher and held both spoons steadily in my hands.  I was moving in for a scoop-style method and felt pretty BA that I was handling this situation better than my husband.  Then I actually touched the thing, and it HISSED at me!

It was ALIVE!  In my sink!  In my house!

I flew from the bathroom, the spoons clattering to the floor behind me.  I slammed the door shut and informed my family that I wasn’t sure we should be sleeping in the house.  What if there were more upstairs?  After some speculation, we discussed our options and then called my parents.  It was nearly 10 PM by now, and we needed somewhere to crash. 

Still no baths.  Still in our fourteen-hour-traveling-clothes.  Still thankful my parents live less than five minutes away.

 --------------------------------------------------

So that really happened.  We had arrived home on a Saturday night, which meant that the next day was a Sunday, and it was impossible to get ahold of any reputable pest-control people.  Luckily, my dad knew a guy who ended up giving us quite the 411 on our little bat situation.  (1) Most pest control businesses won’t mess with bats.  (2) This guy had already been contacted by several of our neighbors, who had also had bat problems.  (3) Apparently a nearby church had similar bat problems and did a sweep of their bats, sending them out into our neighborhood to find alternative housing.  (4) My next-door-neighbor had recently purged nearly fifty bats from his chimney.  (5) In the end, my own father had to use a special tool to remove our single bat from our bathroom sink.  I’m not sure what he did with it afterwards, and I’m still not sure I want to know.

Here’s something you don’t realize when you have a bat in your house.  That bat itself isn’t really the problem.  It can be removed and forgotten rather easily, but it’s the lingering threat of additional bats that really wreaks havoc on the mind.  How many bats were actually in our attic?  Could there be more lurking away, just waiting to appear in our bedrooms in the middle of the night?  You’d be surprised how little we slept during the next week or so, waiting to hear those similar tell-tale signs of bat wings fluttering up in the attic.  We even went so far as to find the actual hole where our bat had escaped into our bedroom and then down into our bathroom.  How did we know?  There were tiny bat turds underneath the hole.  Eek!  So far, nothing new has surfaced, but I’m not sure I’ve had a full night’s rest since finding our sink surprise, and I’m not sure I’ll ever fully recover from the shock of it.    

Destin Wrap-Up

Well, as you can see, we had a fantastic time in Destin, Florida. 

This was the kids' second time to see the ocean (we spent one day on Daytona Beach last year during our Disney trip), but it was really their first opportunity to experience the beach lifestyle for an extended period of time.  Although a week-long trip with young children is never the easiest kind of vacation, it was certainly worth it.  We made wonderful memories and got to spend time with Erik's family in a relaxing getaway.

I even got to check-mark some very important items off my summer to-do list: Get a tan.  Read some books.  Renew my spirit.  Check and mark!

 

Best of all, the kids got to play with their little cousin Cy, whom they both adore.  Thank you, Smiths, for a great experience!

 

Fun Festivities

Sometimes, when I travel, my natural instincts are to pack as much fun as possible into every single moment.  I will peruse guides and pamphlets, looking for just the right combination of activities for our family.  Although in Destin I did briefly consider visiting the local aquarium, taking a cruise on a pirate ship, and a few other more pricey interests, I will say that luckily we opted out of those options.  Instead, we focused more on relaxing on the beach and swimming with the kiddos at their leisure.  Anything else we did was just icing on the cake for us.  And that, I believe, made all the difference!

One thing we knew we wanted to do was putt-putt.  Both Ava and Hudson enjoy this, and there happened to be a really cool place called The Track just minutes from our resort.  It had two courses: The Island Course (think lots of fun water features) and The Mountain Course (plenty of cool caves to keep off the heat).  We played the first option after dinner one evening, then went back the next day after lunch to play the other one.  Since no one else in our travel party wanted to putt-putt, this gave us a nice opportunity to spend time together just the four of us.  Plus, it was a beautiful space to get our golfin' on.       

 

Of course, my favorite moments were those spent at restaurants around the Destin area!  If you know me at all, you're surely aware of my deep love of food. It's always fun to try out new places, as well as revisit familiar beloved chains.  We did a little bit of both during our vacation.  For the kids, this meant a lot of chicken tenders and French fries; neither one of them is a very adventurous eater.  Although I would have liked for them to branch out a bit, especially try some seafood, I had to remind myself that they are seven and four.  If chicken tenders and French fries keep them happy, then so be it.  Plus, we did visit a Mexican and a pizza place, so at least that forced them to try a few new options. 

 

(On a good note: now that we're home, we're back on the healthy train and eating good combinations of food again, so no harm, no foul.)     

 

 

Just for my own sake, here's a list of some of the yummy places we ate.  This is one of those areas that may bore others, but these are the details I enjoy reviewing long after the trip has ended. 

 

Merlin's Pizza (as delivery on our first night there)

Hog's Breath (great atmosphere and BBQ food)

Joe's Crab Shack (always a favorite!)

Shakes (best ice cream and shakes)

Pepito's Mexican (delicious cheese dip!)

TGIF's (Erik's pick, but at least the kids got slushies)

Outback (can't go wrong here)

McDonald's (a quick lunch with the kids)

The Mellow Mushroom (Hudson's favorite!)

Fudpucker's (Ava's favorite!) 

Silver Shells

 

(If you've been reading this blog recently, you might have put two and two together and realized that YES, I did travel to Florida while suffering from a colitis flare-up.  Holy cow?!?  It was certainly a frightening prospect, but I plunged ahead and actually managed quite well.  Without going into specifics, the first half of the week was touch-and-go (with lots of breaks), but by the second half my meds had really kicked in, and I was nearly back to normal.  While it's never easy for me to attempt these things with my condition flaring, I'm glad I did in this case.  We had a great time, and I felt like less of a victim and more of a normal mom on a trip with her family.  So I at least wanted to acknowledge the miracle of that situation before plunging ahead with more chipper details.)

First up: our resort, Silver Shells Beach Resort and Spa.  My in-laws planned this trip and graciously invited us along, so we had none of the usual vacation stressors and instead simply reaped all of the benefits.  Not a bad little deal. ;)  Our resort was right on the beach with a private area for guests only, so it was never crowded and felt very lush.  We had glass walls in our bedrooms with full views of the ocean, plus a lovely balcony with rockers, chairs, and tables.  We were on the eleventh floor, which of course the kids loved.  There was also a magnificent swimming pool; both Ava and Hudson actually preferred spending time there.

Now, much as this vacation was luxurious and decadent, it nonetheless required some kiddo consideration.  It took us a couple of days to create a schedule that would work for us in terms of keeping the kids rested and happy.  Most days, we ended up having breakfast, then swimming in the ocean or pool in the morning.  We usually came back to the resort for a light lunch (although we did go out for lunch a couple of times), followed by a rest/nap as needed.  Ava had more energy and often returned to swim in the afternoon, but Hudson was usually wiped out and spent most of his early afternoons watching TV, playing on his Leap Pad, or taking a nap.  Erik and I traded duties between overseeing these activities, and that worked out really well for us.   

 

Once our swimmers returned in the later afternoon, we took our showers and got ready for our evening festivities.  This always included eating out (my favorite!), plus other fun stuff like shopping, exploring, and playing putt-putt.  More on that later.