spring break (part one of two)

aaahhhhh....where to begin??  i'm feeling the post Florida fog today.  everyone is getting back to routine here in our household, but i'm waffling somewhere between now and then~ frequently picturing what we would have been doing last week at this time.  yes~ the time away, forced to be crammed in a van for over 38 hours all together as eight, was soooo necessary and good.  there were, as expected, highs and lows~ but the highs far outweighed the lows, and the funny moments and memories shared (like when there was "no room at the inn" for our crew, hotel after hotel near the Florida border at the end of a long day of travel.  yep~ last year it worked to just pick a hotel we liked when we felt like stopping...this year, it didn't!  next year, we pre-book!!) were worth every moment of planning, packing, every mile driven and dollar spent (US dollar, that is...yikes! :)).  it was real deal family bonding.  something i often feel is even more crucial with our larger family.  the week was perfectly delightfully hot.  it had a Caribbean feel to it even....daily we had the super hot sun but always a nice breeze to cool you enough to stay out in it...okay~ i won't go on and on about that. :) that would be cruel...

first stop~ McDonald's in Ohio.  AJ's post "hotcakes" contemplation...

first day by the pool~ time spent with this girl was a highlight for me.  we had lots of conversation, walks on the beach, and just fun hanging out.  she also had time to make two new friends at the resort, swim like crazy, and stay up late with the rest of us.

three ham bones~ nothing changes! :)

oh, the manatees...one of my favourite things about our Florida destination.  i heard someone refer to them as "giant baked potatoes" floating in the water....not far off, actually.  they aren't pretty, but so cute and laid back and fascinating...they love the warmer waters in the marina by our condo, so they gather to frolic and surface to blow air and entertain onlookers.  it is a sight to see...there is a mom and a calf (dark brown~ they lighten up later) in the picture below.  

late afternoon beach walk...bliss!

this guy read a whole book this week....so nice for me to see

a huge highlight for at least half of us was going to watch Team Canada play baseball against the Baltimore Orioles rookie team.  

Joelle met six school friends, all there to watch their other school friend, Tyler (#19), pitch three awesome innings.  he did great under intense pressure.  he had to have the biggest fan support there that day, and i can only imagine how nervous that made him feel.  

pretty cool event and super neat to see the inner workings of higher level baseball.  scouts intently watching with their radar speed guns measuring pitches, quiet note taking, head shaking, recording of player's activity on the field.  no popcorn or hotdogs or lighthearted conversation among these guys.  it was a whole different world and quite interesting to observe.

bumping into Roberto Alomar was kind of cool too.  Hudson got a picture with the former second base legend of the Toronto Blue Jays.  Hudson was carrying his ball glove and Roberto asked why he wasn't holding an Alomar glove!  it was funny...

this, my dear readers, is a horseshoe crab, which Adam later researched and informed me was closer to belonging to the arachnid family than the crab family...so, wanting to make my big brother proud (Joe~ aka the turtle catcher), i fearlessly clasped on to its hard shell exterior while AJ snapped the picture.  impressive, i know...

these feet...they were busy this week.

part two next week!  so glad to note the highlights here~ always fun to have and look back and remember where the kids were at and what vacations were like.  not too many years left with all of us together, i expect....sadly...
as i said to the kids on Monday morning, "don't be sad it's over, be glad it happened!"  wish it was my original quote, but it's not~ i heard it once and it stuck with me.  so true though...i'm completely glad it happened!

ofsaa, elbows and podiums

both of my girls competed at OFSAA last week, the all-Ontario tournament where highschool wrestlers who qualified in their region meet to face off~ the best in the province competing for the top six positions, and ultimately, the gold, silver and bronze medals. 

 

 

it is intense, fun, and a huge culmination of a long season of dedicated training, conditioning, and competing.  St. Clair Secondary School wrestlers travelled with a group of seven qualifiers and Jeff was giddy happy to accompany and offer coaching assistance to the head coach, not to mention taxi services and physiotherapy assessments when needed. 

 

 

sadly, the physio was needed by his very own daughter when Joelle dislocated her elbow in what ended up being the final match she was able to wrestle on that final day.  she was still in the running for bronze when she landed kind of freakishly and the injury occurred.  serious pain rattled her instantly.  she was a total trooper on that mat, most concerned about whether she'd be able to wrestle again next season. :) she handled her agony with unexpected grace and politeness, and the grit she had displayed through each match was evident as she persevered through the pain of joint dislocation.  a quick trip to ER, x-rays and a splinted sling all happened in time to allow her to return to the venue in time to step up on the podium and receive her ribbon for finishing sixth place.  sixth out of 31 girls in the province.  Hannah also finished in sixth place from 25 girls in her weight class.  both girls showed true courage and grace over the course of the tournament. 

 

 

i was proud of their growth and effort. we both were. OFSAA 2015 is in the books, and with no shortage of excitement at that!

 

 

 i'm happy to save the details here, and am thankful to tuck away another wrestling season that developed more character qualities in these two~ qualities that i believe are helping shape them for life...

a month of pics

we have a very excited ten year old (double digits!!!) drummer in the house...he's been banging away (behind two closed doors~ which has actually been very tolerable and even enjoyable)~ often emerging from the basement sweaty and with his shirt off.  we will see where this goes...i'd love to see him officially learn in time, but for now it is just fun and non-structured "i'm in a rock band" style play.

 

Valentines...

serious cuteness with these two tournament buddies...at a wrestling tournament in Brampton (followed by the snow storm of all snow storms that nearly stranded us in the middle of a monumental white out.  yuck.  so thankful to get home that night...)

 

a few days after getting his first drum kit, Hudson saw this guy playing in the hallway at the tournament we were attending. he was joined by a couple others on guitars.  Hudson sat there quietly soaking it all in.  it was so interesting to see how drawn he was to the group.  everytime i'd walk by the small group of musicians, i'd notice they were just jammin', no conversation, just music. 

 

back yard skating, early February before the skies let go of endless loads of snow...soon after this photo it seemed extra difficult to keep up on the "snow removal" efforts.  wow~ some good arm workouts though...

skating and hot cocoa.  a necessary pairing.



now, enough of the winter.  a little spring soon, perhaps?? :) 

self portrait

i'd say Hudson worked hard to nail the right shade of brown...

not bad, not bad...nice effort and detail buddy! :)

now playing...

two songs i'm especially loving these days...my kids feel the same and love when i blast them from our bluetooth speaker. 

the first is called Brother, by a favourite band of mine, Needtobreathe.  it just moves me.  on many levels.  too many to dive into here.  plus, these guys just have one of my favourite sounds in music today. 

the second is by Owl City and Britt Nicole, called You're Not Alone. 

in these days, weeks, months~ the songs actually are very much intertwined for me.  i'm so thankful for my earthly family and friends, yet eternally grateful for a God that meets me in the mess that sometimes seems to surround me/us in this fallen world.  i'm reminded that God is there, walking alongside us, never leaving us alone but lovingly picking us up when we falter, when we lose footing....just like a loving father does with a child.  the peace that brings to my every day is beyond words. 

 

"...i'll never wander on my own for i am yours until you call me home,

i close my eyes and i can hear you say 'you're not alone'...."

the weekend i felt like Lois

this past weekend had me replaying a certain scene in my head.  someone had shown me this clip over a year ago.  i forget who.  it was hysterically funny to me then, and after Sunday came to a close and i tucked the littlest cherubs into bed, i tracked down the clip to share with all of you.  in that moment, i felt as though i had a special connection with Lois and her state of mind.  maybe a few of you can relate as well! :) please don't tell me i'm the only one....

 

 

you know how i like to keep things real and honest in this tiny corner of cyber space, right?  well, Jeff had been away with the oldest two at a full weekend wrestling tournament.  basically, everything went quite smoothly while the other five of us were here on our own from Friday to Sunday.  there were fun moments with movies and popcorn and basketball and the McDonald's PlayPlace....but one thing struck me (again) in the period of those three days.  i'm in absolute awe of the number of times i hear "mom", "hey mom", "mom, guess what" "mom, look!" "mom, remember when..."and so on.  it is staggering.  really truly, no exaggeration, it is hundreds of times per day.  you have to believe me.  i did the rough math one day while driving to basketball.  and pleasssseeeeeee don't get me wrong.  it is wonderful.  even joyous.  it is the ultimate gift.  it is a direct sign of just how blessed i am.  i know all of this deep in my heart.  i love that they all have so much they want to tell me, report about, share, make up for my benefit (ahem...it rhymes with Flood-son), ask me, etc....  really truly i do.  because i know from experience that the opposite trend of not wanting to tell mom everything is just around the corner.  it's not even like they are toddlers anymore~ they are growing up soooo fast...i don't want to wish this time, these years, away.  and yes, i even see their chattiness as a direct correlation to the level of joy and security they feel in their daily lives.  they are boundlessly engaged in life and super interactive with me~ this is all reallllllyyyy gooooood...yet honestly, even still, i'm only human.  just one wee person with very real limitations...some days there is just only so much available sanity brain capacity to process and react to each little nugget of information.  each bit of utter ridiculousness. the very deep and not-so-deep questions.  the issues. the stories.  the full-of-beans conversations and topics they think up.  the things to see outside the window of our moving van....etc....i try hard, i really do.  some days i know i barely succeed. others i manage to be present and enthused in an adequate way....but on Sunday night, as i salvaged a shred of sanity during a hot bath in sheer silence, Lois and the clip above were on the forefront of my brain. 

 

there you have it.  that's real deal me.  the end. 

this makes me smile

AJ came home with this large piece of paper a few weeks back.  it most definitely made me smile.  some of the written information is true, some of it is brand new news to us, and some of it is a bit of a stretch of the truth :) (i mean, c'mon, do i look like i'd want to be the owner of two dogs?? and AJ's never seemed the least bit interested in soccer (baseball, basketball, wrestling??).  i think maybe the pressure to give an answer won out on that one...still, all of it is soooo cute.  oh, the "ww" above certain words refers to the words on the word wall that the kids in grade 1/2 are learning at school.  also, you can't see it well, but AJ's full first name actually has an "e" after the "y", which was added after.  sidenote~ he's starting to seem more interested in his given birth name and has finally mastered the spelling of it, i think.