Sunday, September 11, 2016

Sorry. This One's Mostly About My Kids. The Grandparents Might Enjoy It. TToT Time!

And with the close of today, another birthday season is behind us. In less than three weeks, three of our boys have birthdays. Cuckoo turned 7, Phoenix turned 18, and today Giant turned 14. We've eaten so much cake. So much ice cream. They've blown out so many imaginary candles (because not once did I remember to buy them). They've opened gifts and had friends over and had a day off of doing chores. All a birthday should be at our house.

I am thankful for the good health of my children, that they made it to these ages and these milestones, and they've done it so marvelously.

(That's three!)

4. Star and many of his classmates were Confirmed this week. (For you non-Catholics, Confirmation is the third and final Sacrament of Initiation into the Catholic Church. The first two Sacraments are made when they are young, with their parents and Godparents making the promises. Confirmation is the one the teens themselves choose to do, to make the promises and proclaim their beliefs, after a year of lessons and prayer and discussion. It's a super big deal.) It was a teary affair, for sure.

5. Even though we have 5 kids playing sports, it is the easiest sports schedule we've had since our oldest started playing. Three kids on the same team is a large part of that. :) Our weekends actually have free time for us to hang out and do yard work!

6. The high school soccer teams are playing well. They won their games on Saturday pretty handily. Now, if only we could get ONE Saturday game that doesn't include pouring down rain. They've had three Saturday games, and all three have had storms and/or torrential downpours. (In order to turn this into a thankful...at least the rain wasn't a cold rain. It's been plenty warm.)

7. Cuckoo is having a great time playing his first ever season on a real team. In his soccer game this weekend, he scored twice, then made some awesome blocks when playing goalkeeper. He has decided he wants to be a keeper, thus ensuring I will die from a heart attack. My heart can barely take it with Star being a keeper. It will be way worse in 8 years when Cuckoo is in high school. (Thankfully, though, Cuckoo changes his mind faster than he changes socks, so there is still a chance I won't have to suffer through watching another of my boys flinging himself in front of a charging player intent on kicking the ball my baby is trying to catch.)

8. Turken had his first football game this weekend. Seeing as how in a list of kids on his team, smallest to biggest, he is the penultimate, the coaches weren't expecting a lot out of him in the way of blocking or tackling. Little did they know, he has been trying to take out three teenagers his entire life. While the force he can produce won't budge a 15 year old, it will stop a third grader in his tracks. In this one game, he single-handedly tackled 5 boys, all behind the line of scrimmage.

9. This is the first time in 8 years that Buttercup isn't playing soccer. She was expecting to miss it, especially when the games started. Thankfully, she isn't missing it one itty bitty bit. She's getting to do all the things she couldn't do when she was practicing every day of the week. She is a tutor for and organization called School on Wheels, which provides help for kids who are homeless. She is on the speech team, and she is a co-leader of the Mock Trial group. She is also teaching ERE (Sunday school) to 2nd and 3rd graders at our parish. It's amazing how much time a person has when she's not playing a high school sport! :)

10. Ok, enough bragging about my kids. When did this blog turn into a brag sheet? I'll talk about someone else's kid for this one. (I love the kids my kids have befriended.) Star and Giant had some friends over, and they were playing a version of flashlight tag in the yard where, in order to tag someone, the person who is "It" had to throw a ball and hit someone else with it. (Mind you, it was pitch-black dark outside when they were playing, and these friends aren't exactly familiar with the terrain.) There was a chase, and the kid being chased slipped and fell on the wet grass. The boy who was It ran up to him and asked, "Are you hurt?" It was only after the boy lying on the grass muttered "no" that he threw the ball and tagged him. Such thoughtful boys. ;)

Wow! I did it! For the first time in weeks I got a thankful post done!

Tell me. What happy things have happened in your life while I've been gone?

Have a lovely day!

Ten Things of Thankful


 Your hosts


23 comments:

  1. You have an 18 year old---a recognized by the state adult. How you doing with that? Spoiler alert---it is such a joy to see your child move successfully to adulthood and to relate to them on a more equal playing field.
    5 kids playing sports. Can not fathom. Just can not! How many hours do you need in a day?!

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    1. I do, indeed. I'm not as emotional about the age (except for the registering for the draft thing!) as I am about the senior part. This weekend is senior night at the last home soccer game. The thought that I will very soon be watching him play soccer for the very last time, after 11 years of watching him play soccer, is getting to me big time. However, I am looking forward to adult relationships with my kids. I know it will be fun.
      Ha! Thankfully, three of the 5 play for the same team, so it's really like only having three kids play. Except for the unbelievable amount of laundry. :)

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  2. happy birthday to everyone that celebrated-congratulation to Star and getting confirmed. As always your week sounds very busy with games and sports - my son is on the HS JV soccer team and he is a goalie so i do understand - all their games are scheduled after school so we are not committed to Saturdays yet - but i have a feeling that will be short-lived; have a great week!:)

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    1. Thank you!
      I saw that post about him being on the soccer team! Good for him! Having a goalie is so stressful. Fun, but stressful.

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  3. I love reading about your kids. I love it that you have more free time too. That rocks. They grow up too fast and then they are gone doing their thing. It's a good thing. You and your husband have given them a strong foundation to build on.

    Have a fabulous day. ☺

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    1. Thanks, Sandee.
      Having more free time is the best. I'm loving it.
      I mostly know they will not only be fine, but thrive on their own. They will, right? ;)

      Delete
  4. That a parent can be thankful for each and every one of their children is equal to ten thankful all on it's own. You lead busy lives, yet each person is important and finds their own place to shine. I love what Buttercup is doing this year. Maybe all kids need a year of community service involvement. You have much to be proud of and rightly so, and it takes actively involved parents to make that happen. I love the pretend candles, your children will grow up understanding that life isn't always perfect and it isn't about the stuff, it's about the magic they can create if they are happy! :-)

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    1. I love that our schools require community service. To make it better, a certain number of their hours must be fulfilled by doing service for homeless, elderly, or other people in serious need. To make it even BETTER, they keep track of hours kids do over and above the required amount. Kids who reach certain numbers of hours receive recognition at graduation. It is highly encouraged to go out and do Jesus' work.

      Living here, the kids don't have much choice to learn that stuff isn't important to happiness. :)

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  5. Love hearing about what your crew is into. Really happy that Buttercup is finding joy in doing things she wasn't able to do when playing soccer. Gotta love positive opportunities. And what a great program she's involved with!
    I kind of love that you forgot candles every single time because that is the one thing I never remember for birthdays! My daughter has taken to reminding me now. What would I do without her...?
    Confirmation is a huge and wonderful big deal. Congratulations to all of you!

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    1. School on Wheels is a great organization, and she loves working with them.
      Ha! My kids know that if they need something, they darn well better write it down or it won't be done. :)

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  6. We have a kids' birthday season at our house, too, and it was always a busy time. Glad you survived birthday season at your house! Happy birthday to Cuckoo, Phoenix, and Giant. Congrats to Star, and kudos to Buttercup and Turken.

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    1. Birthday season wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't also soccer season. My word, they had some nerve being born the time of year they were eventually going to be playing their favorite sport. ;)
      Thank you!

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  7. Well done you for getting your thankfuls done, and what wonderful ones they are. I'm MOST pleased to hear about the sport schedule which gives you back some free time at weekends. That's HUGE and something you'll really enjoy. Buttercup's help with the school on wheels sounds fabulous - what a wonderful resource for your community :)

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    1. I could get used to this open time on the weekends. :)
      School on Wheels is a great organization, and she loves working with them.

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  8. Still a number of years to keep the mini-van, no? (visual of the old thing circus joke of a thousand people climbing out of a small car (or a giant SUV thing)

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    1. Ha! WE are most definitely the clown car when all the kids have to drive in my mini-van. (Did I ever mention here that we got a mini-van? The 12-passenger is now relegated to trips to Ohio, vacation, and the few activities we do that everyone rides in the same vehicle together.)

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  9. You have bragging rights, for sure. Good for Buttercup, expanding her horizons and growing in beautiful, giving ways. And how about you? What are you doing while everyone's at school? I've been absent from the TTot quite a bit lately, but hopefully with the new season coming, we'll meet up regularly.

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    1. I miss all of my TToT and other blog friends. Seems most of us have been away quite a bit.
      I'm super busy doing things around the house, still helping out at the crisis pregnancy center, reading to some first graders who are having trouble learning how to read, and doing the occasional Bible time at a local preschool. This year I have also added subbing at my kids' elementary school and becoming a volunteer for Safe Families. So, nothing much. :)

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  10. Never underestimate the strength of a kid with four older siblings.
    That Buttercup. She's a peach :)
    If you have a heart attack and die watching Cuckoo be a soccer goalie, I will provide candles for your kids' future birthday parties. And Pop Tarts.

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    1. Never. You can pick them out of every classroom. :)
      Ain't she though?
      Well, thanks a bunch. You can be the mom they always pined for. ;)

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  11. Your kids are always so busy doing so many fun things, from the sound of it, but I agree that a day free from chore responsibility makes for one excellent birthday.
    :-)

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  12. This post made me smile so much Christine. Absolutely brag about those wonderful babies of yours. You should hear me go on about my grandbabies! :D Yay, yay, yay for Confirmations!! That part made my heart sing! So much to be thankful for. - For the past few days I've been under the weather so I've been thankful for modern medicine and my wonderful comfy bed, and of course, Netflix. :)

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