Saturday, October 24, 2015

TToT Week 123. Of Course I'm Going to Mention Soccer!

It's our home soccer tournament this weekend, so it's pretty weird that I'm at home typing my post. In years past, we've had 4 kids playing, 4 games each, plus at least 6 volunteer slots to work. We would pack up the van and be gone from 7am to 7pm both Saturday and Sunday.

Not so anymore. Only two kids are playing, since the three oldest are high school players now. In fact, all three of them are working the tournament for at least 8 hours each, making some cash.

As usually happens when the schedule opens up, other things fill it. Our church is having a big dinner tonight, and tomorrow Buttercup and Star will be going to paintball/Mass/dinner with about 40 other kids from the Archdiocese. For the rest of us, Mass at 9:00 or 5:00 and a 2nd grade parent meeting afterwards, our weekend is packed full.

And I'm thankful for it, dagnabbit!

But also, I'm thankful for...

1. High school soccer is over. While it is fun to watch, and the kids love playing, it takes up so, so, so much time. I rarely got to see the kids except before they left for school and before they went to bed. This week, they've been getting home about 30 minutes after the rest of us, and it's been so nice to see them and have dinner together every night.

2. We have had beautiful fall weather this week. Temperatures in the low 70s and sun every day. Add in the leaves all putting their gorgeous colorful coats on, and being outside has been most delightful.

3. I get to give away a book to a lucky reader, thanks to the author and blog friend. Take a look and enter the contest here. I'll be drawing a winner on Wednesday.

4. It took forever, but I finally got the Disney photos downloaded. Since my day was shot anyway, I went ahead and backed up a bunch of other photos on my computer. Only 6 months of photos to go before I'm all caught up. And then I'll worry about printing them.

5. After the big putting down of the foot, things are still going well for the boys. And me, since my blood pressure is lowered dramatically when I don't have to walk by a trashed bathroom 10 times each day.

6. On Thursday I went on a tour and signed up to volunteer at St. Elizabeth's, a crisis pregnancy center near downtown Indy. It is a marvelous place that counsels women regardless of whether they choose to make an adoption plan or parent their children. There is a parenting support group, parties for the families, help with physical needs, and many other services. I'll be there one morning a week to do whatever needs done, from putting layettes together, to decorating for a holiday, to weeding the flower beds, to organizing donations.

7. Since St. Elizabeth's is so close to downtown, I'll be able to take the opportunity to have lunch with Bryan every once in a while. I'm sure it will be bizarre at first, meeting him in the middle of the day, but we're looking forward to it.

8. It was a good 4+ year run, but my Kindle finally bit the dust. (We'll just gloss over the fact that it happened when I sat down on the flight to Florida, leaving me with nothing to read on the plane.) The thankful part is that I have an iPad with both a Kindle app and a library app. An iPad isn't my favorite way to read an ebook, but I'm not about to spend money on a new kindle when I have something perfectly acceptable to use. Once I got to Florida, I was able to read to my heart's content, and I've been reading quite a bit since then, too.

9. The soccer "academy" that Turken is in always has a big Halloween practice where everyone comes dressed in costume to play. Despite my pleas for Turken to choose a costume all week, it wasn't until 2 hours before practice that he finally decided what he wanted to be. He's been reading the Harry Potter series, so Harry Potter he would be. Thankfully, we already had plenty of bits from the older kids to put together a convincing costume.

10. I'm just thankful to be living the life I'm living. I'm thankful for Bryan and my family and the opportunities we have.

So, how has your week been? Let me hear about the good things.

Have a lovely day!




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34 comments:

  1. I'm still trying to wrap my head around the paintball/Mass activity! (I did see the "/" there, but I still never would have thought I would read "paintball" and "Mass" together! :-)

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    1. Ha! You aren't the only one, it seems. After they did the paintball thing, they were transported to a local church, where the priest (who actually paintballed with them) said a Mass for just the 40 or so kids in attendance. They then went outside for a bonfire and dinner. :)

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  2. Sounds like volunteering at St. Elizabeth's will be interesting and will make good use of your many skills and talents

    Great that you can sometimes meet up with Bryan for lunch - sounds like a date, so get yourself dolled up girl! :)

    Turken sounds just like many kids who wait until the very last minute before doing what they should have done a week or more before. I'm glad you managed to sort out a costume for him.

    My week seems to have been a constant battle with blocked toilets, leaking soap dispensers and running taps, but I'm thankful that I do at least have a job.

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    1. It's been on my mind a lot lately that I need to take charge of my time, or it will be eaten up by things I'm not excited to do. Volunteering at St. E's makes me happy.

      Funny how kids from the same parents can be so very different. Turken is a last minute kid, but Giant is not, by any means. One of the hardest parts of parenting so many kids is figuring out what works best for each kid, 'cause one size most certainly does not fit all!

      I really hope your coming week has far fewer blocked toilets.

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  3. I know there are many good things this week, but the one bad thing has overshadowed everything else. It will take time to get past our loss of Little Bit.

    Have a fabulous day and I'm glad putting your food down got results. ☺

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    1. I am so sorry to hear about Little Bit. It will take a while for the pain to ease up some. It's ok to mourn.

      Thank you. :)

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  4. I love being a fly on your chicken coop wall and catching up with the news and activities of your family. Sounds like a wonderful volunteer experience with the lunch perk with Bryan. I can see your days are filled, even though there are no children home with you on a daily basis. Being busy and crazy is the adrenaline rush we need to keep going. Have an eventful and busy week.

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    1. I'm really looking forward to volunteering there, and it will give me the excuse to go downtown to meet Bryan. Win/win as far as I can see!

      The days are filled, but not to an excess. I'm getting used to the quiet house and the ability to do errands without helpers.

      Thank you!

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  5. Paintball mass sounds AWESOME. And I love, love, LOVE your #10. Most best of all :D
    (as to your busy-ness? wow...you thought you wouldn't know what to do with yourself once your chickies were all at school. HA!)

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    1. Ha! Paintball and THEN Mass. :) I love #10, too. :)

      Really, my days while the kids are at school are quiet and mostly boring. It's once school is over that the crazy begins! But at least I'm well-rested for it. :)

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  6. What a wonderful family you have. I love reading your posts. Always so positive. I had 2 kids (well I stll actually have the...they're just not kids anymore) that played sports year round, so I understand the relief when there's finally some down time.

    It's been a week of huge ups & downs. I got a job, after being unemployed for a year (HUGE UP). I got to spend lots of time with my granddaughter (another huge up). Unfortunately, a very huge down too. One of my daughter's best friend passed away. Only 32 years old. I have spent th last few days watching my daughter deal with her devastating grief and not being able to do anything to alleviate it, except cry with her. As mothers, we want to shield our children from heart ache, but sometimes it's just not possible. So I'm thankful for my family and the bounties we sometimes take for granted.

    I just totally rambled on this comment. Sorry about that ☺

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    1. Thank you, Diana! I love that my kids enjoy playing sports, and I so enjoy watching them play, but man, it is tiring! The down time is marvelous.

      I am so sorry to hear about your daughter's friend. That is just tragic. I'll keep your daughter and her friend's family in my prayers.

      Congratulations on landing that job!

      And so you know, rambling is always welcome. :)

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  9. Props to you for raising all those wonderful kids and going to all their soccer games! I can imagine you must be so relieved when the season is over. We have an organization here called Grace Initiatives which sounds very similar to St. Elizabeth. It sounds like a wonderful charity and it is so sweet of you to donate your time and skill to their efforts. I'm sure you will end up making quite a difference in the lives of young mothers and children.

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    1. While I do enjoy watching their games, and I know they love playing, it is nice to have a break and just relax at home.

      It is a wonderful charity doing some wonderful work. Saying I'm pro-life is one thing, but I have to be pro-life in action, too, or it doesn't really mean much.

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  10. …we're enjoying similar weather.
    You'll surely enjoy the volunteer work, so much variety, so many different people, so many problems needing solving. (I won't say anything more than, 'you're a natural for the kind of environment you describe).
    Halloween!?! next thing you'll be doing is telling us about Christmas shopping! ayiie where is my Burlap Bag of Denial?!!

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    1. Glad to hear it. Hope that great weather stretches on out for weeks and weeks more.

      You are spot on. I get bored with things easily, so variety is the best kind of work for me!

      Ha! Time is moving fast, I know. I'm not a fan, but denial will only make it worse, my friend!

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  11. Paintball Mass sounds interesting... James would love this LOL ! sounds like a lovely week and a great commitment at St. Elizabeth have fun with Bryan at lunch when you can meet him...:) have a great week.

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    1. Ha! When I wrote it, it never crossed my mind that it sounded like paintball and Mass were together! :) Consecutive activities!

      I'm looking forward to having lunch with him, for sure.

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  12. You might take your Kindle in to the Barnes and Noble store. I hear they do repair them for free...I also heard that if you hold down the "on" button, you can get a reboot, and it works, but for mine, it is now a constant process to get it to charge. Glad you are enjoying the teen years, it can be a challenge.

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    1. Seriously? That would be nice!

      I tried the reboot a couple of times. No luck. Thanks for the ideas, though!

      Teens most certainly have their challenging moments. Fortunately, we are in a pretty good phase right now.

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  13. I have the kindle app on my phone and read my kindle books there. I'll admit I get pretty annoyed if someone calls when I'm reading though, since phonecalls close the book up on me.

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    1. Ha! That would annoy me, too. I haven't tried reading a book on my phone. My phone is about 4 years old, and small, so I'm thinking reading a book on it wouldn't be much fun.

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  14. Sounds like you have had an exciting week! Halloween practice for Turken sounds both novel and great for the kidsAmish we had Halloween here.

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    1. An exciting weekend at least! :)

      This is the 4th or 5th year that they've had a Halloween practice. The kids and coaches have a blast with it.

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  15. Paintball plus Mass...now there's one I haven't heard before! But I love that the archdiocese is doing events like that for young people - it's so important to keep them active and engaged with the church. I love the St. Elizabeth's services - not quite the same, but in the same vein as the Mary's Shelter Zilla and I volunteer for. Any help for women in these circumstances is good help.
    Have a great week!

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    1. The kids had loads of fun last night. After paintball, they were transported to church, where a Mass was said just for them, then they headed outside for dinner around a bonfire. My kids were hesitant to go until they heard so many kids from other churches talking about it at school. I love that our area has such a strong Catholic presence, so the parishes can pool their resources to do big, fun events for lots of kids.

      It's pretty pointless to be pro-life without actually doing things to promote life. Glad to hear you and Zilla volunteer for a similar place. They do such wonderful things for women.

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  16. I whole-heartedly support the lunch date plan. It really does something wonderful for the relationship to carve out a little special time.

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    1. The kids take up almost all of our evening and weekend time, so this will be a great way for the two of us to get some time to ourselves. We're looking forward to it. :)

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  17. I think we were in Florida at the same time (WEEP) although we flew in, went to Legoland, and then to Anna Maria Island for the week and only went to Magic Kingdom the day we flew home (Saturday the 17th) and didn't do it right. I wish I'd have caught up with you there.
    "They" may replace your Kindle. I had something similar with an old iPod and they gave me the newest of the newest greatest, free....

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    1. We were! I read your question on FB about which Orlando attraction to visit as I was packing to leave. I wish we could have gotten together!

      We've had Kindles break before, and they were good about replacing it the first year. After 4, I'm thinking they will simply give me a discount on a new one. I'll be calling to see, though.

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    2. Your first two thankfuls are on my list as well. Great minds... :)
      I'm spoiled by living in a small town, because David's office is exactly one mile from our house, and we usually have lunch once a week or so. In fact, I have been known to text him on stressful mornings and ask him to run by the convenience store and bring me a big ol' diet coke, and it only takes him about 15 minutes to do the whole errand.

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  18. I clicked on your link in #5. Those signs made me laugh. So funny. Thank you for sharing those. Yes, it is any sign of improvement a mother hopes to see. Perfection may be hoped for, but is just not realistic. Your kids will get a laugh from seeing their signs when they have kids of their own. I'm glad you've been able to have dinner together as a family lately. It's a good time to catch up on what happened in their lives that day!

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Thank you for taking the time to tell me what you're thinking!