Resolutions

I love this time of year. A time to reflect on the previous year, and start to think about the near Year. Last year was pretty good! I made a conscientious effort to garden organically. We did pretty well! We got back on track with our compost pile. I signed up for the gym and I'm seeing improvements by the mile (literally!).

I'm looking forward to the new year. I would like to focus on the three R's: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. I think we can make improvements on the waste we generate. I would like to shop at consignments shops where possible for clothes in my new size. Small things like that.

I also want to spend more time with the kids on phoenemic awareness. Both of them seem to struggle with vowel sounds and it's showing in Morgan's spelling. It can only help Dylan as he progresses through Kindergarten. I'd also like them to eat more vegetables, but I'll settle for loads of ketchup now.

And now for me, personally. I would like to complete a triathalon this year. Not an iron man! They have "mini" triathalons where you swim 2 miles, bike for 10 and run for 3 miles. I've proven that I can do everything inside, I just need to get outside in the spring and do some trial runs so to speak. Do you think Santa could bring me a really, really nice Trekk bike from the consignment shop? :o)

My other thought along the line of the outdoor training is to try to include Mike & the kids. They love to ride bikes on trails, who has to tell them it's part of Mommy's training? I also wanted to start hiking the Appalachian trail this year with them, but I never got around to getting mace and the thought of hiking with just Diesel as protection from the bears stopped me. Can we add mace to my Christmas wish list? Honestly, it's for bear protection!

One last wish. I wish for continued good health for my "extended" family. We beat Dad's prostate cancer, my wish is that we have a healthy year for everyone. I love and appreciate my family! Here's to some kind of trip this spring with my parents and our RV's.

Cheers.

Friends

Dylan has some very cool friends. From all over the country. The bad thing is he hasn't "met" most of them. He's seen almost all of their pictures! He's received birthday gift exchange presents. Christmas cards. How does he know all of these people? He's only 6....

Well, it's my fault. I met a group of people when I was pregnant with Dylan. A due date tracker thingey led me to a group of people due the same month and year that Dylan was. I finally logged on and chatted when I was diagnosed with gestiational diabetes and had loads of questions. The fun and crazy thing is, we all still talk. We've moved to a private forum where we are free to post pictures, video clips, etc. Quite a few of us have even met in person! But enough about "my" friends.

Today, Dylan received a post card from Oregon from his friend. He loved it. We read the card "Hi Dylan. From Calvin". We looked at the mountain on the front. Dylan decided the brown spot at the top would be Cal's house. ;o) We went to my "board" and found pictures of Cal. We talked about how he and Cal do many of the same things... play legos, cars, plant gardens. Dylan has decided he wants a piano for Christmas thanks to Cal's recital picture! I told him they were both very spirited toddlers, and his Mommy and I had many stories to share. I also told him that I am brought to tears that these babies that were born around the same time can now send post cards to eachother.

I love my friends. Dylan loves his friends too!

Dear Santa

My children have been okay this year. Not great, but not horrid either. They have some pretty lofty wishes. Isn't that what wishes are all about? I hope you can bring them at least one thing on their list. My princess pine said she really wants 4 of the things on her list - including the iPod, a sleigh bell from your sleigh. My littlest one really really really wants a remote control helicopter. If you bring that, please put some magic dust on the dog as well so he won't chase it and eat it.

Conversation

Morgan: "Mom!"
Me:
Morgan: "Mooommmmm!"
Me:
Morgan: "Mmmmmoooooommmmmm!"
Me: "What Morgan?"
Morgan: "ha ha ha... stuck with it"

I hate second grade.

Christmas Traditions

It started the year we celebrated Christmas at my Mom's house. They live in Maine and it gets awfuly cold there in December. We needed something for our little kids to do! We found a gingerbread kit and thought hey - here's something fun! Sure - when your kids are 3 and 5, it equals 20 minutes of set up time, 5 minutes max of play time and another 20 minutes of clean up time. Sigh. But I like making them, so the tradition has continued. This year they are 6 and 8 and really had the hang of it. They waited patiently for the 30 minutes that it took for the pieces to "glue" together. We piped on the icing and a decorating they went! For 30 blissful minutes, there was not an argument to be heard. I think I like this tradition.

Sisters

I have so many great memories of my sister growing up. Well, of my brother too, but we'll save Fred for another post. I remember driving home from Maine in her Jeep when we were in our late teens. We always seemed to have fun. We still do, we just don't get to see as much of eachother. Something about being on opposite sides of the country.

I am so happy Di flew out after my Dad's surgery. It was comforting to have her around.... to help with... stuff. Mom, dogs, Dad, and my kids. Dylan's birthday conveniently happened the week everyone was around. Hey - a reason to have cake 2 days before the Thanksgiving feast! Yeah! :o)

Di's gift to my kids was an archery set. Bales of hay appeared (thanks Mike!), including the chia-bale that was still around from Halloween, growing Chia-grass everywhere. Hmmm... I do have to snap a picture of the Chia-bale. Anyway, I was thrilled to have her be able to spend a very chilly hour with my kids showing them how to shoot into a target spray painted on the bales. I feel like I need to say that we don't live in a trailer park... we just didn't want to waste targets at first! Di has been through archery with her boys at the scout camp and came loaded with instructions (and patience!). I had forgotten the correct stance. Morgan did amazingly well. As did Dylan. Hey - why wouldn't they? They may have a different last name, but like their Auntie, they are Vogels.

I am so thrilled that my kids could spend some one-on-one time with their Auntie. I'm sure they will remember it for a very long time!

My run today

4 miles in 43 minutes - including a half mile warm up of walk/jog.

Proud Mom Moments

One dark and stormy night. No, not the typical cliche-like story beginning. It was our Friday night horseback riding night. It was dark (oh, I hate winter and the shorter daylight hours). Fierce storms were in the area. It was freaky-warm for the 1st of December. My truck said it was 70. It should have been 40. The local radio station said the main county road we were on was closed due to a tree down. The local radio station was interrupted by the National Weather Service storm alerts. Beep! Severe thunderstorms and cloud rotations noted. Beep!

Little 8 year old next to me with big eyes, "Mom! Does that mean tornadoes?".

Me: "Yes, but it's one county away in New York".

Morgan: "Phew. Because that's really scary. Maybe we should go home".

No need to tell an 8 year old that tornadoes don't worry about county or state lines. We detoured on a few back roads and high fived eachother to "girl-power" when we recognized where we ended up and ended up only being a few minutes late. We tacked up her horse in record time and into the ring she went. I picked up my knitting and chatted with a few of the parents.

About half way through the lesson we heard a few pitter patters of rain on the steel roof. Seconds later the skies opened up to a torrent of rain. The sound was instantly deafening in the ring. The 4 other horses didn't like it. Morgan's horse Jimmy really didn't like it. He reared up then bolted. Without thinking, Morgan reigned him in. He tried to rear up again and Morgan once again reigned him in. Quite a scene for a Mom to watch. A tiny little girl on a big, startled horse. She handled him beautifully. The instructor Kim grabbed Jimmy's halter and helped Morgan quiet him down. While the rain continued it's deafening downpour, Kim walked Morgan and Jimmy around the ring while the other horses (almost all with their ears back) walked quietly as well. The other 8 year old girl decided it was too much and asked to leave her lesson. Morgan - much to my surprise, wanted to stay. She was near tears after the incident, but calmed down with her horse in the time that Kim walked them around. After what seemed like an eternity (but was probably only 10 minutes) the worst of the rain ended and Morgan was back on her own in the ring. She even smiled and got Jimmy up into a posting trot. The lesson ended on a great note. So did our night.

Family

Well, I guess I thought if I didn't post about it, it wasn't really happening. A great way to deal with things, huh? My Dad finally had his surgery for prostate cancer last week. One week later I am happy to say he's well on the road to recovery. Bounced out of the hospital after 2 days. Surely a testament to his great health. I said to my sister who arrived on Sunday that I don't think I ever remember my Dad being sick. Oh, I'm sure he was. But he usually retreated to his bedroom and emerged a day later raring to go. It was hard to see him in the recovery room with monitors and IV's and such. Foggy from the anesthesia, he was still Dad. Worried about my Mom, also wondering about me driving back to NJ at night. I can still tell he's not 100%, although the good NJ pizza certainly helped bring back his appetite. He spent Thanksgiving day browsing sale flyers, but did not ask once if we were going to head out at 5am for Black Friday sales. Nope, we are spending a nice morning in our pajamas. I think that's what Black Friday should be all about. My sister flew back after a few whirlwind days to her family. The kids got to spend a lot of time with her and while they missed their cousins, they did enjoy getting lots of attention from their Auntie Di.

Today, the day after Thanksgiving, I am especially thankful to have spent this holiday with my family. I love you guys.