Sports-free Sunday!

Having a day free of sporting events NEVER happens around here.  Today it did!  It is a beautiful Sunday afternoon.  We spent the morning out in the yard removing a tree and seeding the new area.  Everyone pitched in.  The kids were troopers, as usual.  They are always willing to pitch in to help with yard work.  Today's project led to a mud fight, which then ended with Maison crying after CJ pegged her the back with a mud ball while she wasn't looking.  Pretty typical!  He's always looking for a cheap shot and she is his usual victim. It makes me so mad.  It is making her tough though.
While today is free of sports, Carson had a football game and Knox played soccer yesterday.  Maison's games were cancelled.  She was furious!  She is so competitive and into soccer.  She told me yesterday she couldn't believe she was going all weekend without a game.

Below are some photos from the last few weeks.  

The Color Run was so much fun!   The whole family managed to get through it and have a blast!

 Rippers team picture!

 Evidence of  a nice afternoon

Much Needed Perspective...

This little story sent to me from a friend at work.  I read it this summer and cried.  I reread it today and cried again.  Such an important message that we all forget from time to time.  I know for certain that I have said many times that "I need to be needed."  While it requires a lot of work, elicits frustration and many times body aches, it is so rewarding to be needed by my little people.  Time is moving faster with each passing day.  I know late night "travelers" will soon sleep so peacefully they will cease to visit.  I am dreading the day my daughter believes her friends know more than I do.  I am experiencing the shrugs from public displays of affection and forced to wait for hugs at home from Carson.  They grow up too fast and need me less with each passing year.  I know a mother forever holds a special place in her children's heart, as my mom does in mine, I just hope that will be enough to satisfy that hole left in mine when they out grow me.

Posted on February 27, 2014

“Mommy, Somebody Needs You.”

by Megan Minneman Morton

Ever since we brought our new daughter home, her older brothers have been the first to tell me when she is crying, whimpering, or smelling a little suspicious.  “Somebody needs you,” they say.  I have no idea how this little saying started, but at first it sort of annoyed me.  I could be enjoying a quick shower… “Mommy, somebody needs you.  The baby is crying.”  Or, sitting down for a second, quite aware that the baby was beginning to stir from a nap…. “Mama, somebody needs you!”  Okay!  I get it already!  And not to mention that the newborn’s needs pale in comparison to the needs of 2 little boys.  Somebody always needs a snack, a band-aid, a different sock, ice cubes in their water, a NEW Paw Patrol, a stream of snot wiped, a hug, a story, a kiss.  Some days never seem to end, and the monotony of being “needed” can really take its toll. Then, it all started to hit me, they need ME.  Not anybody else.  Not a single other person in the whole world.  They need their Mommy.

The sooner I can accept that being Mommy means that I never go off the clock, the sooner I can find peace in this crazy stage of life.   That ‘Mommy’ is my duty, privilege and honor. I am ready to be there when somebody needs me, all day and all night.  Mommy means I just put the baby back down after her 4am feeding when a 3-year-old has a nightmare.  Mommy means I am surviving on coffee and toddler leftovers.  Mommy means my husband and I haven’t had a real conversation in weeks.  Mommy means I put their needs before my own, without a thought.  Mommy means that my body is full of aches and my heart is full of love.

I am sure there will come a day when no one needs me.  My babies will all be long gone and consumed with their own lives.  I may sit alone in some assisted living facility watching my body fade away.  No one will need me then.  I may even be a burden.  Sure, they will come visit, but my arms will no longer be their home.  My kisses no longer their cure.  There will be no more tiny boots to wipe the slush from or seat belts to be buckled.  I will have read my last bedtime story, 7 times in a row.  I will no longer enforce time outs.  There will be no more bags to pack and unpack or snack cups to fill.  I am sure my heart will yearn to hear those tiny voices calling out to me, “Mommy, somebody needs you!”

So for now, I find beauty in the peaceful 4am feedings in our cozy little nursery.  We are perched above the naked oak trees in our own lavender nest.  We watch the silent snow fall and a bunny scampering across its perfect white canvas.  It’s just me and my little baby, the neighborhood is dark and still.  We alone are up to watch the pale moon rise and the shadows dance along the nursery wall.  She and I are the only ones to hear the barn owl hooting in the distance.  We snuggle together under a blanket and I rock her back to sleep.  It’s 4am and I am exhausted and frustrated, but it’s okay, she needs me.  Just me.  And maybe, I need her too.  Because she makes me Mommy.  Some day she will sleep through the night.  Some day I will sit in my wheelchair, my arms empty, dreaming of those quiet nights in the nursery.  When she needed me and we were the only two people in the world.

Can I enjoy being needed?  Sometimes, sure, but often it is tiring.  Exhausting.  But, it isn’t meant to be enjoyed every moment.  It is a duty.  God made me their Mom.  It is a position I yearned for long before I would ever understand it.  Over a 3 day weekend my husband couldn’t believe how many times our boys kept saying, “Mommy.  Mommy.  Mommy”!  “Are they always like this?” he asked not able to hide his terror, and sympathy.  “Yep.  All day, everyday.  That’s my job.”  And I have to admit that it is the toughest job I have ever had.  In a previous life I was a restaurant manager for a high volume and very popular chain in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida.  A Saturday night at 7:30pm with the expo window overflowing with dishes, a 2 hour wait, and the electricity inexplicably going out has got nothing on a Tuesday, 5:00pm at the Morton house.  And let me tell ya, South Florida diners are some of the toughest to please.  But, they are a cake walk compared to sleep-deprived toddlers with low blood sugar.

Once upon a time, I had time.  For myself.  Now, my toe nails need some love.  My bra fits a little differently.  My curling iron might not even work anymore, I don’t know.  I can’t take a shower without an audience.  I’ve started using eye cream.  I don’t get carded any more.  My proof of motherhood.  Proof that somebody needs me.  That right now, somebody always needs me.  Like last night…

At 3am I hear the little footsteps entering my room.  I lay still, barely breathing.  Maybe he will retreat to his room.  Yeah right.

“Mommy.”

“Mommy.”  A little louder.

“Yes”.  I barely whisper.

He pauses, his giant eyes flashing in the dim light.

“I love you.”

And just like that, he is gone.  Scampered back to his room.  But, his words still hang in the cool night air.  If I could reach out and snatch them, I would grab his words and hug them to my chest.  His soft voice whispering the best sentence in the world.  I love you.  A smile curls across my lips and I slowly exhale, almost afraid to blow the memory away.  I drift back to sleep and let his words settle into my heart.

One day that little boy will be a big man.  There will no longer be any sweet words whispered to me in the wee hours.  Just the whir of the sound machine and the snoring husband.  I will sleep peacefully through the night, never a worry of a sick child or a crying baby.  It will be but a memory.  These years of being needed are exhausting, yet fleeting.  I have to stop dreaming of “one day” when things will be easier.  Because, the truth is, it may get easier, but it will never be better than today.  Today, when I am covered in toddler snot and spit up.  Today, when I savor those chubby little arms around my neck.  Today is perfect.  “One day” I will get pedicures and showers alone.  “One day” I will get myself back.  But, today I give myself away, and I am tired, and dirty and loved SO much, and I gotta go.  Somebody needs me.

It has been a long time...where did summer go?

There is so much to share about our adventures since June.  We had a fantastically fast summer!  Baseball season finished up in early July.  All three of the kids had great seasons.  It was a lot of hot days and nights in the dirt, but everyone had fun and developed their game.  The kids and I went to Montana the first of July to visit the Kerr's.  It was a beautiful trip!  Jeremy traveled a lot for work and had to stay home to be in the office and bond with little Olive.  :)

School started incredibly early this year.  Knox started preschool 3 days a week. Maison began 3rd grade.  Carson started 5th.  He also goes to the middle school every other day for Prealgebra.  He is really loving it.  I began my new job at the high school.  Olive learned to survive the day without  us.  She currently weighs 61 pounds loves people, digging, chewing and eating. She is such a happy pup.  When she wags her tail her whole rear end shakes...so cute!

As we enter the fall sport season, Knox has started soccer.  While he was really nervous at his first practice, his first game was today and he hustled his tail off. After the game he said, "That girl that scored all the goals used her hands to push and you aren't supposed to use your hands in soccer. She cheated!"  So funny!  Maison is playing on 2 select teams this year and working as hard as ever.  I am so proud of her work ethic, good attitude and love of competition. Her hard work has payed off and she was named Captain of one of her teams! Carson is QB on the football team again and plays Safety on defense.  He is convinced he will be an NFL player some day.  Jeremy is coaching football and LOVES it!  We both thoroughly enjoy watching the kids develop the spirit of competition and desire to do their best.  

We are so lucky!  

Spring News!

Officially summer hasn't started yet, even though we have been out of school for about 3 weeks.  So, this is a perfect time to reflect on the excitement of latest season.  Spring was busy!  All three kids were playing baseball.  I coached Maison.  Jeremy is helping coach Carson.  Mr. Knox is rockin' out another year with the Rawlings Tigers.  Maison also played spring soccer for WC.  Carson and Jeremy were on a flag football team too.  It was crazy!  The worst part about being so busy, besides living out of your car, eating on the go, and washing countless uniforms, is missing different games.  With so much going on, it is impossible to see everyone do everything, so there is a lot of divide and conquer, and I hate missing the kids games.  Jeremy typically takes Carson, while I take Maison and Knox.  We do the best we can to be at as much as we can, but it gets nutty from time to time.  Luckily Knox is a great sports fan.  He requires only a little plot of dirt to entertain himself for hours.  He LOVES driving his trucks and digging in the dirt, which is a good thing.  There is a lot of dirt during baseball season.

Maison quit gymnastics this spring.  It was a very difficult decision, but one she will not regret.  While she is a great little gymnast, I don't think her long legs could make it around those bars without dragging on the floor for much longer.  The Spring Fling was her last meet.  She got 3rd All Around.  She was always a top competitor.  Maison did get very emotional at the awards ceremony and telling her coach good-bye.  It was so difficult to watch.  Seeing her let go of something she was so good at and loves so much was extremely difficult.  Jeremy and I were left second guessing ourselves numerous times.  But, since making the decision, she has not complained of missing gymnastics once.  I will miss the thrill of the meets, but it frees up so much time in our schedule.


We also closed out another school  year.  Carson finished 4th grade with great grades and a new favorite teacher.  She is amazing!  I am truly thankful for her influence on him.  I pray we are lucky enough to have her again.  Maison wrapped up 2nd grade with equally good grades and loving school as much as ever! She started playing soccer at recess every day and loves the chance to be competitive at school.  She is very much into the "Sporty Girl" scene.  When the last week of school rolled around all sorts of special events filled my calendar.  I suffered major mom guilt though as event after event I could not attend.  I missed track meets, wax museums, poetry cafe, field trips, award ceremonies and field days.  The end of school is really hard on working moms.  I hate it!  But, I am so proud of my kids for their maturity and understanding during those times.  Their performance continues to exceed my hopes and expectations.  They both can be real stinkers at home, but at school they rock!  I am so proud to be their mother!  Both of them set numerous grade level PE records this year with Carson breaking the school record in the triple jump at the District Track Meet.  I missed all that, along with the academic celebrations.

March Madness!

My Blue Angels...While we only won one game, they improved so much!  I was so proud of them!  All of the girls are 2nd graders and we played in the 3rd grade league.  Next year we will be a tough team.  

What a great experience...for me.  I love those little angels.

Welcome Home!

We made it back to Ft. Walton Beach this Spring Break.  We have been there 3 times and really know our way around.  I love it there!  The kids do too.  Jeremy would like to see other places instead of the same ones, but right now with young kids I think it is perfect.  

 Knox on his ropes course

 Digging huge holes is our favorite past time at the beach.  This year we dug deep enough that Carson actually standing in that hole when we buried him.  He is standing up, buried to his chest.  He was knee deep in water and struggled to get out.  

 The weather was colder this year, which seemed fitting with the winter we have had.  The kids still played in the ocean, but I didn't go deeper than my knees.  Knox was really scared of all the jellyfish washing up. The heated pool was amazing, but the hot tub, even better!

 Cuties!

Carson and Masion braved this extreme ropes course.  It was amazingly high.  They were both scared, but muscled through it.  

Mimi and Poppa came along this year.  

We had some lengthy Uno games, braved some major rain, and enjoyed the sun and sand!

Another great trip to the beach...

Lights! Camera! Action!

So...Maison was the MVP of her class last week.  Instead of doing the typical poster, she wanted to make a video. For the last few weeks she has been obsessed with making all sorts of little videos.  She keeps saying she is going to post them on You Tube, but I won't let that happen.  So, this seemed like a great chance to take her movie making skills public. Her teacher agreed to the change, so Maison went to work.  She planned it all out, assigned our roles, and took charge.  We had fun helping her make her movie debut.  Enjoy!

I also had to add to our video collection with a quick glimpse of Maison's most recent gymnastics meet.  

She did great!

If You Build It--They Will Come

 Cold Friday night entertainment...Tent in the living room!  Old fashioned fun still works on occasion!  They ate dinner in their tent and watched a movie.  So sweet to see them all cuddled up together.

 Knox LOVES to cook!  He is always on his stool beside me at the stove.  It is fun to have someone else in the kitchen with you.  I have to admit I have baked more since he has taken an interest in cooking, because it is one more thing we can do together.  His favorite recipe is chocolate chip cookies, but he like baking banana bread too.  He will assist with any recipe I let him though.

Maison Kay Turns 8!

That's my Girl!

Every birthday with each child I say I can't believe it.  And, I mean it.  Maison is eight...WOW!  Where did the time go?  

When I think of this little bundle of energy, there are a few pieces of that contradictory personality that have remained constant and true for her entire life. She is intense.  As a newborn she cried with an intensity that made the nurses in the hospital ask if I had done illegal drugs while I was pregnant.  At 3 she taught herself to ride her bike without training wheels.  Now she has very intense phases of obsessions.  For example, we just survived a major round of germaphobia that resulted in bleeding hands and ridiculously intense lines of thought about the passing of germs from one surface to another.  Maison has always been busy.  She walked really early, continues to be the worst sleeper in the family, and hops from one task to the next leaving a wake of disaster in her path.  She is happy.  Maison had a smile as a baby that truly stopped strangers in their tracks.  While it is now more reserved in public, there is an inner sparkle in those dimples that still melts my heart.  Maison is ornery.  If she think she can get away with pushing the boundaries, she will probably try it.  She is brutally honest too, so she will come clean later, but there isn't much that would surprise me with her.  Maison is particular.  She likes certain things certain ways, and you can't change her mind.  Ever!  I learned that as a baby when I tried every Num-Num known to man to find one she liked.  That attitude continues today in her clothes and food.  Even in her taste in boys...

As a baby I would rock her and tell her that I have loved her so hard.  I still mean it.  I love her with every bit of me, even when it isn't easy.  I always will.  I know we have a long rough road ahead of us.  I know it won't be easy.  Loving her hard will be what gets us through.  I know when we meet again on the other side of growing up, I am going to love the woman she is.  I can't wait to meet her.  

But...I will happily wait a good 10 years for her to get here.  Until then I will savor every day with my beautiful little girl.

Wonderful Life!

It is the time of year for feeling blessed and thankful. It is also the time of year for complete craziness! Between errands to accomplish all your Christmas plans and kids too hyped up on sugar and Santa, December is full of long days and harried nights. Even with all the extra activity and responsibilities, I love Christmas time! We try and fill our down time with traditions we all enjoy. Gingerbread houses, sugar cookies, and painting ornaments are a yearly favorite. It gives purpose to their creativity and they love to show off their work. I admit, if does make life a little difficult for me. Those activities are messy, but I love spending creative time with them. It is good for the soul, I think. My collection of ornaments are priceless too. Knox's ornaments are my favorites. He has only participated the last 2 years and has made a black dog bone (3 years old) and a black reindeer (4 years old). The happy little kid LOVES black! They really add a festive sparkle to the tree. :) Carson and Maison have started making some pretty ornaments, but love looking back at ones from years before. I do too. This year's December marathon was complicated with Jeremy's out of town work schedule. While he isn't the most helpful around the house, an extra driver always comes in handy. The kids and I ran ourselves ragged getting to practices, school functions and getting shopping done. We are adjusting to this new life of him being gone a lot. Of course we miss him, but it isn't quite as scary anymore. Actually, I might just be too tired to care anymore. With bad weather plaguing December, visits from the grandparents have been cancelled and this looks like the first Christmas we will spend without seeing anyone. We are still 3 days out and it is a little lonely. I miss family gatherings so much, especially at Christmas, but Jeremy's work schedule makes it hard to go anywhere right now. Our hearts will be on the other side of the state for sure this year. I gave each of the kids $20 this year to do their shopping and endured a few hours at the Dollar Tree, Five Below and Target to mark everyone off their list. It was so much fun though. They were so excited and thoughtful in their shopping. Knox was the funniest. He bought my mom a squirt bottle for her hair. He bought me a bottle of shower cleaner. Poppa he got a car cleaning brush. It is funny how their little minds work. For the most part they were right on. Carson was very financially savvy in his approach to shopping. Maison was extremely thoughtful and sweet. When we got home they wrapped all their treasures and are so excited to give them. They are in the spirit of the season for sure. Update: It is well past Christmas now. But, it was a wonderful day! The kids were thrilled with their gifts. Carson worked a deal with Santa to trade his Kindle Fire for a new generation Ipod Touch. Maison asked for and received her own Kindle Fire in a cool black case with rockin' pink headphones. Knox got his sandbox. It is built and waiting for nice weather in the garage. Jeremy got me a nice surprise...a pretty silver diamond bangle bracelet. He got the short end of the stick with some odds and ends like an alarm clock, Atari, and Chiefs shirt. The kids excitedly delivered their gifts to everyone. We all got a great laugh out of it. So fun!
 Christmas break ended a week later than expected due to very snowy weather-12inches. We LOVED the extra time at home and used it to rest, sled, and enjoy our time together. The bad part was the bitter cold. We didn't get to really enjoy the snow because it was below or near zero for days. Being big snow fans, we loved every minute of the winter weather adventure!
We rang in the New Year with some new friends. First we ran by a house party of a friend of Maison's. Then we met the Brecht's for dinner and conversation. We ALL made it to midnight. The kids committed to some much needed resolutions, that have since been forgotten, I am sure. It is just amazing how fast time flies when you are having fun. With our busy schedule, I feel like I blink and a month has gone by. I pray 2014 continues to bless us with health, happiness, and opportunity.

We LOVE Phelps and his tricks!

Gingerbread houses are always a mess! But fun for everyone, except Mom! :)

Wrapping special presents for everyone!  He was so funny!

First ice skating adventure...ended with Raegan getting 3 stitches. :(

Sugar cookies! YUM!

Phelp's Christmas Eve grand finale before returning to the North Pole.  

Merry Christmas!

Christmas morning...

We love our Grandma's!

Pa and Poppa too!

Brothers having fun in the snow.

WE LOVE DUB!