Thursday, September 19, 2013

Flag Football

My ten year-old son decided he wanted to play flag football this year.  My 9 year-old daughter wanted to play as well, except when my husband went to sign them up, he was told it was only for boys.  We will just say that the person that was saying that was wrong.  My son has two girls on his team.  Oh well, my daughter is in a theater class instead.  I am sure she will enjoy that much more than running up and down trying to get a flag off someone's waist.

Before his first game 

He had his first game on September 11, 2013.  He was a bit confused about everything since he had never played before and they had only had one practice previously.  They let him be the center for a few plays.  Then he played on special teams for a kickoff.  He also played as defensive end at times. 


During his first game
Last night he had his second game.  It was the third game for his team.  He was running a fever on Monday and couldn't make it to the game.  Well, he could have and wanted to, but I didn't allow him to go to his game, since his fever had been as high as 101 degrees less than 12 hours before.  I wasn't able to go to the game, because my van has decided not to run and all six of us don't fit in the car, unless I wedge myself on the floor between the front and back seats.  It is an Aveo Hatchback.  It isn't very comfortable!  If you know what those are, you would know that even a small person wouldn't be very comfortable on the floor!  
Play action during the first game

 He seems to be catching on very quickly to the whole flag football game.  Last night, he had the ball kicked to him on the kickoff.  He gained a few yards before his tag was pulled off of him.  He also got the flag from the other team.  I was very proud of him.  I just wish I could have been there.  Our minivan is going to be getting fixed soon, thankfully!  I don't know that I want to miss many more games, seeing that the season is so short.   His season started on September 11 and playoffs start after October 7. 
Last photo from his first game

I have always loved sports.  When I was a youngster, my dad coached my brother's football team.  I would go out and practice with them.  I am so excited that my son is starting to play!  Maybe he will want to start watching football games or other sports with me, we shall see!?!

Wednesday, September 18, 2013

5K for a Good Cause

My children and husband trained for a 5K while I was at the tail end of my training for a half marathon.  The Monday following my half marathon, one of our friends told us about a 5K for a good cause.  A young boy from our area has bone cancer.  This run was to help raise money for his medical treatment.  This was the perfect race!

We showed up on Friday night, September 6, to run a 5K.  It ended up being 3.4 miles, but hey, that is all right.  It was an overcast evening.  It was pretty windy, knocked down a lot of their signs for the event.  The child's favorite colors are yellow, lime green and turquoise blue.  They asked us to wear those colors if possible.  We all had something that color, except for my husband.



We enjoyed the race.  My two daughters and I went together and my husband and two sons went together.  My daughter and I ran and walked the race, as I pushed my toddler in the jogger.  She enjoys the time in her jogger.   It was wonderful to get to do this with my family, even if we didn't finish together.  I was so proud of all of my children for putting in the time to train for the 5K and to follow through.



There was a nice turnout at the event.  I always hope that there will be good turnout for a benefit.  We saw one of our friends from our previous Ward we went to before we moved.  My daughter was baptized the same day as hers.  It was nice to see her again.  We plan to continue training to run another 5K when it is available.

Tuesday, September 10, 2013

Who?

I enjoy doing family history work.  I hadn't done it in several years.  When my mother came for a visit last May, she reintroduced me to the joys of family history work (genealogy). 

Tonight, my daughter asked me if we have any ancestors that came from other countries.  I laughed a little, and said yes.  I guess that as a child, it is a common assumption that everyone was just here.  It is a different concept to think that you have ancestors that traveled here in boats or on planes. 

She asked me on whose side of the family the people from another country came from, and who it was.  I told her that both sides of the family had people that came from other countries.  The most recent was a great-grandfather on my husband's side.  He came from either Hungary or Czechoslovakia.  On my side, it would be great-great grandfather that came over from Ireland. 

I think it is interesting to children to know where their ancestors came from.  My daughter really enjoyed doing family history work when my mom was here.  I need to take the time in my day to start doing it again, and allowing her to do it.  It gets quite addicting.  The best part of family history work is learning about the people. 

I have ancestors that came over on the Mayflower.  One of those ancestors was said to have been the first to face capital punishment in our country.  He shot a fellow that was stealing on his land.  He paid for the fellow to be treated, but the person didn't take care of the wound.  He got gangrene or another infection and died.  This is the story I have heard in the past.  There are other stories out there about how the murder took place.

We have been up to Plymouth, Massachusetts, and visited the Plymouth Plantation.  It is an amazing place to visit.  The plantation is set back in the days of when the Mayflower landed.  The people on the plantation act as if they are the person that came over on the Mayflower.  It is a wonderful place to visit.   It is an education for sure! 

There is a lot of family history work to be done on my mother-in-law's side of the family.  There is not much of a history, on her father's side, passed her great-grandfather.  I am hoping that at some point, we are able to get a good lead on where to look next!  Until then, I am going to stick to my side of the family and look for leads on that side every so often.

Wednesday, September 4, 2013

One Thing I Always Said I Would NEVER Do As A Mother...

I have been a mother for almost 10 1/2 years now.  It is hard for me to believe sometimes.  I have learned a lot since I became a mother, but I started planning for motherhood long before that day ever came.

I vowed that I would never be the parent that would say, "My child would NEVER do that."  Lets face it, we were all kids once.  Did you NEVER do "that?"  I can honestly say that I was not the perfect child.  I know, I know, anyone that knows me would find that hard to believe, but it is true.  How could I say "My child would NEVER do that..." when it is very likely that I, or someone I knew as a child, did "that?"





If you tell me that one of my children did "that," my child will be confronted with the information I have been given.  My child will be questioned on the issue and I will respond to you.  I will let you know what my child has said, and if necessary, my child will apologize and the appropriate punishment will be given.  If my child tells me that he/she did not do "that," then there seems to be a problem.  This is when I will want to have a meeting with the person/people that said my child did "that."

In this current age of social media, there is one thing I will not do.  I will not discuss issues that should not be discussed via instant messages, tweets, e-mail or Facebook messages.  No matter how well you read, you can't read the tone of a word on a page.  I have seen, way too often, where a huge misunderstanding has started because the "tone" of the written word was misread.

I would like to think that I am raising the perfect children.  I am going to be honest, I live with them, I see what they do, I know they are not perfect.  I will be the first person to admit it.  They are not perfect, perhaps because they do not have perfect parents.

I have always taught my children that if someone hits them, they have the right to hit back.  It is called self-defense.  They also know that if they do the hitting first, they will get in trouble.  I am not going to raise a bully, if I can help it, but neither am I going to raise a child that will be bullied, if I can help it.

I would always watch out for my younger siblings.  If someone was hurting them, that person would usually end up hurt, if the person was close to my age.  For instance, one time I was walking home from school and a girl was attempting to drown my sister in a snow bank.  The girl that was hurting my sister learned a lesson that day, a painful lesson, but a lesson nonetheless.  You do not try to drown my sister in a snow bank!


There was a boy that got new boxing gloves for his birthday.  He thought it would be fun(ny) to try those out on my brother who is 4 years younger than me.  The boxing glove boy was 1 year younger than me.  He was giving my brother a good beating.  I came out and saw it and told him to knock it off.  The boy, thinking he was all tough, thought it would be wise to stop beating on my little brother only to "box" with me.  Boxing gloves were put on, and the boy learned a lesson that day, a painful lesson, but a lesson nonetheless.  You don't beat on children that are a lot younger than you!


I'm not saying those are the only fights I was ever in, I was in more, but those are the ones that come to mind.  Neither am I saying that if you say my child did something, you are going to get it.  I do want to know if my child is accused of doing something, whether it happened or not, so it can be taken care of.  Just know, that as a mother, you will never hear me say, "My child would NEVER do that!"


Tuesday, September 3, 2013

Sometimes You Just Have to Let It Go

Last night, as I was getting ready to go to sleep, my husband and I started a conversation.  I don't know really how it went, since I was really tired, but I do know that in the end, it was said "Sometimes you just have to let go." 

We were talking about water-skiing by that point.  When I was 17, that was my first and only attempt at water-skiing.  I was up at Bear Lake visiting some family friends.  Perhaps it is believed that it would be common sense that once you get pulled over, you just let go of the tow rope.  To me, it didn't become common sense for a little while.  It actually didn't become common sense until I realized that if I didn't let go, I was probably going to drown.

My husband admitted that he had done the same thing.  I wonder how many other people have not realized to let go of the rope until they had to decide between drowning and getting left behind.  I thought that being left behind would be the better option.  I wasn't sure if they would notice I wasn't still back there on the rope or not.

The choice to let go is not always easy.  It is not a good idea to drown in a bad choice but it is sometimes not easy, or just not fun, to let it go.  I can honestly say that I have had those moments when I had to choose between drowning in a bad choice and just letting go.  In the end, although it was not always easy, I would choose to let it go. 

It is wonderful to know that we have the opportunity to correct mistakes that we have made.  I am grateful for a Savior who died for us, each one of us, so that we could return to our Heavenly Father.  Through Him, repentance is made possible.  We just need to make that decision to let it go.  Don't hold on to the past.  Allow yourself to forgive yourself and others.  It is healing to be able to let things go and to move on.  Don't drown when all you have to do is let go and get your head back above the water.