"tragedy" turns into a fun evening

Kade has been playing basketball this past winter.  At first he didn't want to sign up so I really encouraged him to do it because after all, through the whole winter that is the only sport he can do at school.  Hockey is huge here and I know he'd be good at it, but we decided to not even start going down that road as we see some "hockey families" and how from November until March their life is all about hockey and we don't want that for our family.  So anyway, Kade has been having fun this winter with basketball and getting a little better than last year.  After the regular season is over they have so called "traveling teams" that continue practicing twice a week and then have some tournaments against other towns.  Somehow I assumed only the 4th graders and up get in the traveling teams until a friend of mine goes: "Congratulations, I saw Kade made the traveling team".  I was glad she told me because I would have no idea and Kade would probably end up getting bumped from the team.  Honestly, I thought even if there was a traveling team Kade wouldn't get picked because there were so many boys in basketball and they only picked 10.  But I guess he was good enough and he was so excited about it.  I'm just glad he gets to practice more so he will be able to get better.  They have 2 hour-and-a-half long practices every week which is great.  And since he's only in 3rd grade they only play in one tournament along with 4 other towns which I love because we don't have to spend many Saturdays traveling to different tournaments like the older grades do.

Anyway, that is my intro to our story last night.  Right around 5pm as the daycare kids were about to leave for home we had an accident.  The boys were downstairs in the basement, being boys and being a bit wild.  They like to go as fast as they can on little scooters and things and I'm surprised nothing ever happened.  Until last night.  All of a sudden I just hear a big cry from Kade, him holding his head and running upstairs.  Something about Kason running into his head with the bicycle while Kade was looking the other way.  My first reaction was he's being a little drama queen so I made him lie down for a bit.  He calmed down and came back to the kitchen saying his head really hurt so I had him put some frozen vegetable bag on it.  As he's doing it he noticed there's blood on it and right away I felt terrible for not checking it right away.  It was a tiny cut on the back of his head but it was bleeding pretty good.  We washed it and he held something on it and I thought it would be fine, but little while later it was bleeding again.  And so, I told him he had to miss the basketball practice that night because if he hit it again it might bleed even more.  And he started really crying then because he really didn't want to miss the basketball.  I was planning on taking Kason and Ani to the library after I dropped Kade off so I asked him if he wanted to come with us to the library.  Kade was quiet and then he goes in all seriousness: "But what if a book falls on my head?" :)  I had to laugh out loud at his comment which he did not appreciate but I told him he was just funny and I wasn't laughing at him.

But he was still upset about not going to basketball so I got an idea to cheer him up.  He got a Dairy Queen (ice cream place) certificate from someone a long time ago that he's been wanting to use and there was never a good time to go but I thought that would really cheer him up right now.  Ehren was working late so I let him know to come and meet us at DQ after we're done at the library.  And so we had our little family ice cream time together and it was great.  Even though as we sat down I told Ehren we must be crazy for going out for ice cream when it's like 10 below F but that is what people in Northern MN do I guess.  I don't even like ice cream that much so that is definitely not a treat for me, but seeing the kids get all excited to go to DQ was fun.  It doesn't take much sometime to make memories for the kids and they remember those times so well when we took the time to do something special for them.  I'm so glad I thought of it because seems like in our busyness we don't have enough of those times when it's just our family spending time together.  And it worked out great too because it was our "Tuesday family night" which we were going to move to Thursday because of Kade's basketball but it turned out we had a great family Tuesday after all.  And none of it would happen if Kade didn't get hurt. :)

warm winter

Winter is here and we've been having warmer weather than ever.  There were only a few really cold days but then the temps come back up which is so nice and we've been trying to enjoy it as much as we can.  I love this weather (around freezing) for running outside, but I haven't been able to go at all because early in the morning or after dinner it's too dark for me to go.  I wish I could take a lunch break and just go run outside for a bit.  

This last weekend we went to Ingrid's house to celebrate Clare's 4th birthday and we had a good time.  The cousins have so much fun when they get together, they're really cute.  After the cake and presents we headed across the street for some sledding.  Even though there wasn't a ton of snow, it worked great and their little but steep hill was a bit faster than what we're used to from TRF. :)  So Anika was really scared to go down and Kason had a couple bad wipe-outs which he did not like at all.  Towards the end we were finally able to get Ani to go down a few times and she did enjoy it.  Kade was trying to stand on his sled as if snowboarding which makes me think he would enjoy skiing or snowboarding.  It's too bad we're so far from the real mountains but I plan to take him at least to our tiny ski area.  Even that costs a lot of money and if all of us wanted to go skiing there we'd pay about $130 for one day.  I don't want to know how much we'd pay at a nice ski area in the mountains.  Even so, skiing is such a great sport and I hope to at least introduce our kids to it a little.  I've been discovering cross country skiing now since we live on the flattest land there is and I really enjoy it.  Sadly, we haven't had enough snow for me to go yet around our house so I hope it will still turn around and I'll be able to ski some on weekends.  Last year I finally bought all the equipment I need for it so I've been anxiously waiting for some good snow fall to get out there.  But, I am not too pessimistic about this winter yet because our winters and snow usually last until April so it has to come sometime. :)  It is funny how in Slovakia and many places in Europe right now have very cold temperatures and more snow than usual because it's like they stole it from us.  We're the ones always too cold with too much snow but I'm not complaining one bit. :)

Here's a few pictures and videos from this last week.  One video shows Kason crashing and even though it doesn't look very bad, he had a good scratch on his face from it. 

by our house - we had a few days of a lot of fog so we would
wake up to frost all over the trees.

all the cousins

Clare is 4!

singing "happy birthday"

Kason would pick up his sled and walk up the hill all by himself - so nice for the parents :)

    

he had a blast, except for when he crashed a couple times

33

One year older today.  It is funny how after 30, the years just kind of blend together.  When I'm asked how old I am I usually have to think for a minute "is it 31 or 32?"  I usually have to think of how old Ehren is and then I figure out my age :).  I know, you'd think I would go by the year I was born.  But really, the number of years don't matter to me much. Yet :).  It is interesting to see how now I'm one of the older people in groups when not that many years ago I was one of the youngest.  Now there is a new generation coming after ours and it is just different.  I probably have a very limited view of age groups, living in a small town and all, but I am pretty surprised at how different the younger or the so called "millennium" generation is.  I looked it up and it's funny that by my birth year I actually still belong to millenniums because I feel so much older than they are.  Or at least see life so differently than they do.  And again, it is from my very narrowed view of that generation that I come across daily.  First, I have to say this generation does not know what commitment means.  Whether it is commitment to jobs, church groups, friends, spouses, it is just sad how little that word means to most of the young generation.  I feel old in my attitude that when I sign up to do something or say I will be part of something I actually follow through and do what I committed to.  It also seems like younger and younger people keep having the attitude that they're entitled to everything they see around them.  They want a beautiful house before they even get married which took their parents years and years to get, brand new vehicles, big screen tvs, video games, and whatever anyone else is having around them.  And they can't wait, they have to have it now.  I'm a bit worried about our kids and what kind of life they will be getting into in their young adulthood.  I overheard someone telling a friend about his teenage kids:  "You know, it is really hard getting Christmas presents because all our kids want is stuff that's expensive like iphone, camera, laptop, ipad, etc."  And a lot of people actually do that, they max out their credit cards to make their kids happy.  Part of me thinks that pretty much starts up their attitude of getting whatever, right now.  But I sure hope I'm wrong.  I hope there are still sensible young people out there and kids that want to follow God more than anything else.  I guess all we can do is teach our own kids values from the Bible, even though Kade sometimes thinks it gives him the right to "correct" his friends' behavior.  On one hand I want to shush him and tell him to talk in love, but on the other hand I am tired of people in the US tip toeing around every politically incorrect area.  Someone needs to be the one spreading the truth, even if it's hard to hear.  And really, most people don't want to hear it.  Even I have a hard time with it because I hate any kind of conflict but then I'm always glad when someone else speaks up.  We need to be bolder and I hope the new generations will bring that because they will need to be bold, even bolder than we have to be at this time.

Well, that is enough of blabbing about how the world is ending. :)  Kason and Ani asked me if I was going to have a party for my birthday because that is the most import thing to them about anyone's birthday.  I told them there's no party, but we may have a yummy treat to kind of celebrate. :)  There are a few restaurants near us that give you free food on your birthday, but sadly I will have to do that on March 2nd since all my IDs say that is my birthday.  Oh well, at least I have 2 birthdays for a while.

My dad wrote a very nice e-mail to me for my birthday and it made me think about how I was just 16 when I first came to the States for a year.  I see that so differently now that I am a mom.  I think I'd be terrified to let any of our kids go so far at only 16.  But they did, they trusted me and God that I would be safe.  Only 4 years later they had to let me go again, their only daughter, and this time for good and again they trusted God.  It makes me cry when I think about it because in a way, you are losing your child.  Not only to a son-in-law but also to a country that is thousands of miles away.  And when I think that Kade will be 16 in just 8 short years, it scares me to think that he would leave.  And he might.  I joke sometimes that God will bring it upon me and one of my kids will leave me for a Slovak spouse (or something like that) because that's what I did to my parents. :)  And I pray I would have the strength they had to let me go.  They were so supportive and so great with letting me make my own decisions even though it was pulling their hearts apart and still does in many ways.  And it is something that will always be painful for me too, to be away from my family and country, no matter how many years will pass.  But I guess, it's just making the most of where I am at, where God led me.  To be available and willing and when I do, my own selfish desires seem so minor and so unimportant in the Big scheme of things.
    

no school day

It is Martin Luther King's Day today and so kids didn't have school.  Even though this weekend was so nice out and we had a lot of fun outside, it can get cold fast and so today was way too cold for kids to play outside.  They tried but even the tough 8 year old boys came inside after a little while because the wind was just too cold.  But we had plenty to do inside.  Ehren built a new wall in the basement to keep the kids out of the furnace and tools area and he put our old scrap sheetrock on it.  When I saw it up there Sunday night I go: "so it's ok for the kids to paint on this stuff since we'll take it off eventually?"  Even though I said kids, I think I really just meant myself :) and a little painting therapy for me.  I don't know why I like painting so much but it just does something to me.  I don't do it nearly enough to get better at it but I feel so much better after I do some painting.  The kids were excited to help me paint too and they did a pretty good job until they got bored with it.  Ehren got home and his first comment was: "I thought you were going to let the kids paint" :)  So now I'm thinking in the near future I will let the kids do whatever scribbles, art they want on another wall that's not showing on my pictures.  There is still plenty of space to do that but if someone comes over they will see our big wall art first :)  I was sure glad I had a lot of old paints left over from painting the kids bedrooms otherwise we would run out of our tiny kids' paint jars right away.  I have to say I'm very thankful for our basement and I even like the fact that it's not finished for now because the kids can ride their bikes or trikes and just burn off some energy when they can't go outside.  It is just a fun place for them to be and I'm glad we could brighten up their space down there with a bit of paint.

the wall you see coming down the stairs

our "sign-in" wall where we can have friends sign in that come to visit

Kade and Laadyn helped me paint this simple picture
on the other wall

our new train table from a garage sale, foam mats and tent
to keep the kids entertained

Ani loved skating and is getting better but not quite skating on her own

Kason didn't want to try skating at first but he
did pretty well and could stand up all by himself on
the ice right away without falling

Kade played hockey with friends
which he just loved

no more naps

And the dreaded day finally came when none of our kids need a nap.  I say dreaded because talking to some stay at home moms, nap time is just our little piece of Heaven.  A few months back Kason started really fighting taking naps, but then he eventually slept for 2 hours or so almost every day.  So I knew he still needed them and even about 2-3 weeks ago he still took naps every day with no problem.  And then after New Years sometime he just decided he's done with naps.  There was no fighting this time because I was thinking we would just gradually go to naps every other day and see how he is by the end of the day with no nap.  But, he was right.  He doesn't need them anymore at all.  The first whole week without naps went just fine, with no crabbiness in the evening or anything.  He is ready for bed by 8pm but it's like he didn't go thru any time of adjustment to sleeping less.  So it is still a bit of a shock to my system because all of a sudden the nap time is not so quiet.  If I'm lucky the 3 of them will quietly watch something for a little while, but most of the time Kason wants to play loud, especially if there is a sister and a cousin who will too.  So instead of Kason adjusting to his day without a nap, I think it is really me who's adjusting. :) Naptime has been my little break from the chaos and kids and I really coveted those moments.  But I know I just have to refocus more on the kids now during that time and that's not a bad thing.  It comes with our kids growing up so I need to embrace it.  And really, I do want to spend time with Anika and Kason during that time because next Fall Ani will be in school all day and Kason in preschool and I won't ever have time like this with both of them.  I just thought today about Kason going to preschool next year and how sad it makes me feel.  Our baby is growing up and he asks me almost every day when he can go to school.  He is pretty attached to me on one hand, but on the other he wants to follow his big brother and sister so bad.  There are some positives to not needing a nap anymore though :).  It is nice when we are busy over the weekend or on trips and we don't ever have to worry about Kason's nap.  Of course, there are times he may need to go to bed at 7pm but when you're up and about he'll be ok without a meltdown at everything because he missed his nap.  And that is a wonderful thing.  So I'm going to embrace this change and brainstorm some ideas of projects and activities I can do with the kiddos in the afternoon so they get to do something constructive and I get a little bit of time to myself.  

sofa table

I got an early birthday gift from Ehren - he built me a sofa table.  I can't stop looking at it, it looks just like I imagined it to.  I got an inspiration on Pinterest (of course) which led me to a blog with step-by-step instructions on how to do it.  So Ehren didn't have to come up with it on his own, but he did tweek it a little bit to make it look nicer because the original was showing a lot of the pressed wood surface and ours now shows more of the real wood which looks a lot better.  I spent some time staining it black so that the wood grain would still show thru and it's great.  I can't say enough about it, it's perfect.  I have to say Ehren did a great job with it and he's discovering that he really likes projects like that for which I'm really glad.  The whole project came to around $70 after Ehren got the extra decorative pieces but the cheapest bookshelf I found at Ikea that is very similar to this (but it is painted solid black) was $190 so we saved a lot of money and it is ours, it is so much more valuable when it is something we made ourselves.  Of course, this is leading to new projects now :), one that I've been thinking about for a while is a big dining room table.  I really want Ehren to build one but first I need to find enough of old wood we can use for the top.  So it may take a while for that but we do have a table there right now, the problem is that it only sits 6 people and if we have anyone over besides the 5 of us, we have to put someone in the kitchen or have 2 tables in the dining room.
So here are the pictures of the sofa table:

Ehren's job is finished

starting to stain - I got a bit high from it :)

finito!

In its place - stilll need to figure out what to put in all the bins,
but I'm sure we will fill it up.  The lamp is temporary, I want to find a nicer one for it.

another pinterest idea - easy kids paintings.  They loved it especially
Kade because he finally made something that looked cool, like he said.

I finally got to cross country ski with Audrey.  It was so much fun
and I could have kept going for hours.

Kason and Ani are sending us off

No kids

It came out of nowhere.  We needed someone to watch our kids for tonight and when we asked Ehren's parents, they had plans for going to the cabin this weekend.  And they just left, with our 3 kids and Emily!  I was so excited when they said they could take the kids with them, the whole 2 nights at home with no kids.  It has been so long since we just had a quiet alone time like this and both Ehren and I just couldn't wait for today to come. :)  I know, it sounds like we really don't like our kids but I think it is very healthy to spend some alone time as couples, even during those years when the kids are little.  I love doing stuff with our kids but when there is never a time for me doing something with just Ehren it shows on my relationship with him.  I wonder how many couples in their 40s-50s find themselves all of a sudden alone with their kids gone and not having anything in common with their spouse.  Not knowing what they could possibly do together because all they've ever done were things with their kids.  And I really don't want that to happen to us.  So here is to a really fun weekend for us, even though I want to do a lot of cleaning/organizing and Ehren has to go to work for a few hours on Saturday.  Oh, and did I mention I don't have to cook or feed anyone for 2 days?  Yes! :)

My 2 one-year-olds are taking their nap right now and the whole house is quiet.  I have all this time to clean, read, sit or do absolutely nothing and it is lovely. :) Time to enjoy this blessing and recharge.