I have a few things to share ...... (ha!..you might want to make sure you have awhile to read this)
I'm going to start with Connor's
birthday party on Sunday and then go back to the rest of the weekend. We had the family over for a birthday party on Sunday. Like always we had a blast and Connor was spoiled. We are so fortunate to have such an amazing family. The problem now is finding a
place for all of this new stuff he got! ;) Here are some pictures from the day. The morning started out crazy - as I was making the cake two of my frosting bags burst and were unusable for the rest of the cake, so I was pretty frustrated and had a few not so nice words to share! Connor came up to see the cake as I was almost done and said, "Mommy, that is really good, that looks awesome!". My frustration and anger were gone in a second. Nolan loved it as well, as you can see in the picture. We got a picture with everyone that was at the party, and even a 4 generations picture with Great-grandpa
Skala.
Connor was so awesome with Jacob while he was opening his presents. Jacob wanted to open every one and would sit for only about 10 seconds after we told him "No, this is Connor's present." Connor would say to us, "It's
OK if he opens that one". It was unbelievable for a 5 year old -he was so patient about it. Wow, did he get some cool things - clothes, puzzles, games, snow cone maker, scooter, Wall-E robot, jackets,
Nerf gun, money, air hockey game (Papa John and
Yaya found it at a rummage sale- it rocks). I don't know who has more fun with the game Perfection, the
Nerf gun, or the air hockey game - mommy, daddy or Connor. It's fun for everyone at our house lately! I even rode on his scooter last night. We were so excited to make snow cones last night, but came to find out we were missing a piece (we'll be getting another one!)
Four generations
OK, back to Friday night. We listened to the Huskies football game on the radio and listened to
Mattey do the half time show. Here is a picture of the boys listening to him...they thought it was pretty cool. They seriously sat there staring and listened to the radio (the radio is the silver thing hanging under the cupboard).
At about 3 in the morning on Saturday Connor came quietly to my side of the bed and said with tears in his eyes, "Mommy, I had an accident." So I got out of bed, telling him no problem we'll get things cleaned up so he could get back to sleep. He hasn't had an accident in forever. As he got out of the tub and was putting on his clean pj's he got teary eyed and leaned into me like he was all embarrassed and whispered, "But mom....I'm 5". He was all concerned that he was 5 and shouldn't be having accidents at the age of 5. I gave him a huge hug and said that it's not a big deal and I know I had accidents way past the age of 5 when I was sleeping - sometimes we just can't control it. That made him smile a little bit. He felt so bad. Needless to say we got everything cleaned up and he was right back in bed snuggled up with his
Spiderman blanket.
Saturday morning we were jamming to the new CD that grandma and grandpa gave Connor for his birthday and the song "I'm coming up so you better get this party started..." was on. Connor is just singing and dancing and yells at me from the living room, "Mom, you better get out here the party's
started!"
On a more serious note - I'm finally writing about something that I wanted to write about this summer, but didn't get to it and didn't know exactly what I wanted to say - however in the past few days there have been a few things that have really made me think about it.....hopefully I'll do something about it.
This summer I got an email from a friend from college, who lost his son in 2007. He sent me some pictures and a copy of a letter that they sent out to the staff at his son's old school. Here are some of the messages that he shared in this letter that really touched me.
"Promise yourself that you will talk health, happiness, and prosperity as often as possible. Promise yourself to make all your friends know there is something in them that is special and that you value. Promise to think only of the best, to work only for the best, and to expect only the best in yourself and others. Promise to be just as enthusiastic about the success of others as you are about your own. Promise yourself to be so strong that nothing can disturb your peace of mind. Promise to forget the mistakes of the past and press on to greater achievements in the future. Promise to wear a cheerful appearance at all times and give every person you meet a smile. Promise to give so much time to improving yourself that you have no time to criticize others. Promise to be too large for worry, too noble for anger, too strong for fear, and too happy to permit trouble to press on you. Promise to hug your loved ones a little tighter, you just never know."
How incredible are those words? They really hit me when I read them and wanted to post them this summer, but like I said I got too busy - ironic isn't it?
Then Saturday afternoon/night we were invited to a family friend wedding. The father of this family passed away unexpectedly two years ago around this time. They had a picture of the dad up on the alter, the mom and son lit a candle by the picture before the ceremony, and the bride was walked down the aisle by her brother and godfather with tears in her eyes. During the dance, they did the mother - son(groom) dance and you know everyone was thinking to themselves how hard it has to be for the bride right now. When the dance was over the DJ called up the mother of the bride and brought out a pair of shoes and a jacket. The mother put on these big brown shoes and jacket two sizes too big for her and the DJ went on to say that the mom wanted to surprise the bride. The shoes and jacket were the father's and the DJ asked the bride to come on the dance floor and for the next couple of minutes be in the arms and shoes of her dad. (There was not a dry eye in the room I don't think). The song they played was "I Saw Her First" and was a song that the when the dad was alive heard at another wedding he was at and told the mom he thought it was a good father - daughter dance. The mom said she couldn't remember the song and searched forever on the
internet for the lyrics. She finally found it and decided she wanted to do this. It was so incredibly sad, yet so touching. Again, you just never know and it's so important that your loved ones know how you feel about them.
Then yet another sign. I was reading my friend Wendy's blog and it was about a girl, Ella, that some of us have gotten to know through her caring bridge site who has been fighting
DIPG, a rare brain tumor. The tumor is back and the family has some incredibly tough decisions to make right now. They have been through a tough journey thus far. In her blog, Wendy talked about hugging our littles one a little longer and tighter tonight.
Sunday night Connor climbs in bed and says to me again, "Mommy, I really wish I could stay young for a long time".
God must really be trying to tell me to slow down, cherish what I have. Sooooo....all that said and done I've just been thinking lately about how easily I get wrapped up in the "probably not so important things in life". Who cares if the kitchen floor is clean, or the sink is empty, or the toys are all over the place. My goal is to enjoy and appreciate the little things in life more and to appreciate the chaos of our life right now. I am going to get on the ground and play with the boys more, no more saying "just a minute" or "let me quickly do this first".......
Here are a few more great quotes:
"Life is not measured by the breaths we take, but the moments that take our breath away".
"Live with intention. Walk to the edge. Listen hard. Practice wellness. Play with abandon. Laugh. Choose with no regret. Continue to Learn. Appreciate your friends. Do what you love. Live as if this is all there is!"
"Life is a dream- realize it. Life is Love- enjoy it. Life is a song- sing it. Life is an adventure- dare it."
"The biggest mistake I made (as a parent) is the one that most of us make. I did not live in the moment enough. This is particularly clear now that the moment is gone, captured only in photographs. There is one picture of my three children sitting in the grass on a quilt in the shadow of the swing set on a summer day, ages six, four, and one. And I wish I could remember what we ate, and what we talked about, and how they sounded, and how they looked when they slept that night. I wish I had not been in such a hurry to get on to the next thing; dinner, bath, book, bed. I wish I had treasured the doing a little more and the getting it done a little less."
- Anna Quindlen
Needless to say I picked the boys up yesterday and today from daycare and when we got home we played outside forever, riding bike, blowing bubbles, playing soccer, laughing, singing......loved it!
I know, kind of a somber ending to the blog entry......
