'Member the MASH game?

I had inspiration to play again (thanks Jess!). Here are my results (click on the image to see bigger)!

Oh, that's why.

Jackson's been collecting rocks. And I do mean a lot of rocks. Rocks from the road, rocks from the yard, rocks from landscapes near and far. A lot of rocks. Rocks that end up in the washing machine making a TON of noise, rocks in shoes that make it hard to walk (but you need them 'cause you don't have pockets) and rocks in *hold your breath* my bed. Yes, my bed.

He also spends a lot of time describing rocks- he's studying up. He managed to score a few during a Science Museum visit on Saturday and carried them around... arranging, re-arranging and telling us stories about the rocks. As it goes, Jackson managed to get a VERY SPECIAL rock, as he described it to us:

"This one is granite and you can make counters from it. This one is quartz and sometimes you can make necklaces out of it. And this one, it's special. It's a confusement stone. You look at it and it makes you super confused."

I took one look and realized, he's right. I was definitely in a state of confusement.

Lunchtime dangers.

School's back in. That means uber petri-dish, kids sliming each other and (inevitably) good old fashioned sickness. So I wasn't completely surprised to recieve a call from the school nurse on Friday afternoon confirming Jackson had a temperature. Running about 101, he needed to come home. However, by the time I got to school it had returned to about 99. Hmm.. the nurse was perplexed but I decided to bring him home just in case- really thinking about other kids getting sick, etc.

So I notice he's suddely feeling 'much better' in the car on the way home. We arrive home and he's bopping around the house, happy as a clam and I'm thinking this is highly suspicious. As we dig into conversation I start to unravel the mystery.... Jackson was (in fact) not really sick in a traditional sense.

It turns out there was an 'eating contest' at lunch, whereby he packed in 6 garlic breadsticks, 13 carrots and a carton of milk. It's no wonder the kid's body was running a temp- it was REJECTING the full-fledged food assault!

Good times.

Game after game this fall... we're inside at hockey, we're outside (double) for football. I can only say: I love it. So, considering we have 8 gabillion photos of Tyler out in the world capturing his every thumb twitch by photo, it makes sense to get some of Jackson out here, too! These photos are from this week's game- Jackson played center (usually the guy in the middle of it all). You'll see:
- His fantastic 'hutting' skillz
- Blocking is fun...and is a lot like 'power hugging'
- Chatting with your peeps is best of all.
Enjoy.

The man with the *mega* green thumb.

You'd never know by a look at his rugged, manly exterior but my Dad is a rock star when it comes to plants, gardens and flowers. Seriously. He grows crazy vegetables and flowers each year- much more than he personally needs so he can share them with others. Sooo... it was natural that when I dropped by the other night for a visit that we ventured 'out back' to check out this year's goods. Amazing- seriously amazing. As a nice cap to the evening, I caught this cute picture of him with his marigolds. And yes, I've termed them marigolds on steriods because NOBODY grows those flowers quite that big!

Heck Yeah!!

Two rounds with Rocky, anyone?

Oh the drama of it all. First he falls out of the hammock last weekend, starting the black eye. On Tuesday he decides doing a flip in the house (on flat carpet) is an oustanding idea. During the miracle fete, he re-injures the said black eye (again). Then, in the midst of a tied-up crazy second grade football game he pulls out a bloody (quite loose) front tooth. My Lord, Sylvester Stallone has NOTHING on this kid.

She's a rockstar.

I'm talking Auntie Mae, inherited (gladly) from Matt's side of the gang. She is 95 1/2 years old and still a rockstar every day, all day. Saucy, sassy and best dressed all describe her to a tee. She has been a part of our family since Matt and I met- and part of his family for so much longer.



Mae is a huge fan of MN sports, specifically the Vikings and Twins. As in - DON'T FREAKING CALL OR TALK WHEN THEY'RE ON. Seriously. She's a woman with standards and nothing will stand in the way of her and her men. She knows all their stats (I pray I have the wherewithall she does at 60, much less 95) and how many kids, where they lived, if they were recently divorced. You name it, she's on it.



So, we hooked her up. Thanks to a great friend, we secured killer seats at at Twins game, a goodie bag to make any sports fan green with envy, her name on the billboard and amazingly, that was just the beginning. The best part? Brad Radke signed a photo of her and a game ball. Some chicks have all the luck. :-) So, today- cheers to Maisy!

It ain't over yet.

We snuck in another day on and near the water today.... we hit the jet ski, the boys tubed, we ate/toured our way through Prescott Daze and Jackson took advantage of Auntie Dee's new hammock. What you can't see here? He wound up with rope burn from tangling in it and has a black eye after it trapped his arms as he was wriggling around in it... and landed on his head! Either way, he struck this pose before and after... so my conclusion is that the hammock was a hit. Literally.

Back to school!

Hi ho, hi ho. It's off to school they go. Here are a few snapshots of our cherubs on the first day.

You are my sunshine.

If you know me, you know I love sunflowers. I was so happy this spring when my Dad gave me the gift of giant sunflower seeds. I was thrilled. So, I went about caring for them, babying them and tending them. I planted them everywhere. Off the front porch, in my gardens, along the fence. And, because I wanted to see them when I arrived home I also planted them on the front corners of our driveway.

This flower has endured. Unfortunately my love did not protect all of my flowers. In fact, several met ill fates. Tyler mowed one day with reckless abandon, managing to manicure the lawn beautifully and wipe out a whole row of babies in one swoop. Another incident included a power-hungry young man with a weed whipper. The list goes on, with a wake of non-existent flowers.

The bright side of the story? Today's photo represents a lovely flower that is just starting to bloom, complete with a buddy dragon fly. It is a survivor and reminds my of my Dad constantly.

p.s. I know this post is ridiculous and makes me sound like a crazy old woman gardener. Know what? I doooonnnnn't care! *\O/*

Snipers!

Bleh! I'm ready to head home from the office. During a meeting today we noticed rooftop activity... in the form of snipers. Real live snipers with guns and gun tripods. All compliments of the locos who are all stirred up with the RNC in town.

I have seen more ugliness from this town since the politicians arrived- it's time for them to go home so our casserole-sharing state can return to it's roots of finding the best mushroom soup.

So we say goodbye, to the summer.

We kissed summer goodbye today with yet another water celebration. This time, the Red Wing waterpark. Packed with kids, families and interestingly- a lot of tattoos.

Naturally, this is time to reminisce on the days we jam-packed with activities to soak up the sun, summer and all it has to offer. I think this summer brought about change. Change in our kids. For Jackson, courage. Tyler, confidence. I wouldn't trade these days for anything and look forward to those yet to come. I say that yet take full exception: any day but tomorrow at 7 AM when I need to roll these amazing beings out of bed to be functional in their respective learning institutions.

It's strange to officially wind down the season we spend months and months waiting for, especially in Minnesota. The sun sets now too fast and the air is beginning to become slightly brisk in the mornings. From here on out, Carpe Diem! I think the best is yet to come as fall knocks at the door.

Mommy dearest.

Once upon a time there was a poor boy named Jackson. He had the most horrible parents, especially his mother. She made him do awful things - like pick up dishes after dinner, brush his teeth morning and night and *GASP* clean his room. He offered on many occasions to simply move to the neighbor's. Surely there he would find solace in a loving neighbor mother who was much nicer, kinder and not nearly as demanding as his horrid mother. Funny thing is, I think she'd still make him clean his room... and I'm positive she'd pull the camera out to snap a photo like this after she found most of the contents of the room shoved under the bed. Poor, poor Jackson.

The Great Minnesota Get Together.

You've got it, the fair. We finally caved and hit the fair; with no less than thousands of other people looking to take advantage of a beautiful late summer Minnesota day.

Our visit was much shorter than usual, as Matt observed within the first 10 minutes "I don't think more than 5% of the people here are aware that there are other people within a foot of them when they (a) stop, (b) make sudden turns or (c) turn around and run into you." That said, we still made a good dent in all things fair, especially food. If I were really on the ball I'd list out: pork chop on a stick, home made lemonade, bull bites, cheese curds (round 1), soda, foot long hot dog smothered with onions, mini donuts, waffle sandwich (which turned out to be two eggo waffles with ice cream wedged inside- amazingly good, I might add), cheese curds (round 2, followed by a stomach ache for Matt later), orange/ice cream float, malts from the dairy building and the BEST: Pina Colada Hawaiian Shaved ice. There were also the token visits to the snake gallery, midway, machinery hill, DNR building, grandstand... you name it, we hoofed it.

The after report goes something like this: we all have fair food hangovers. Pray for us; but mostly for sanity that we don't do this again next year. The 364 days in between quickly erase the memory of aching feet and tummies!

The gap is very..... wide.

Today we bit the bullet and dove head first into all things 'back to school.' It was during our venture today that I realized how very different my kids are. Before I go too much further, I will say this:

- Yes, I realize they are 7 years apart in age.
- Nearly 14 and 7 creates a spread of interest and priorities.

Despite this, I'll admit we really had fun.

On one hand I had my clothes horse. He wanted to go into every dark, smelly, loud store there was. In there, he'd find treasured items that look a lot like what you find at target- but much more expensive. And, the more tears, rips and wear... well, the better! On the other hand, I had my lego horse. Can't wear them to school, can't bring them to school and they certainly won't help a child write and prepare for a test. Nonetheless, they were very important and critical to the back to school list.

So, we split the difference. I anticipated Jackson would have zero interest in shopping, so I did his online a couple weeks back. We visited lego land, hopped him up with goods and went to the dark smelly stores for Tyler.

In the end, we came home with less bags that one would anticipate carrying after dropping the money we did- and I wondered how jeans are so expensive. Then I realized what was really happening. Despite all my hard work and dissertations as a teen of how I would never put MY kid on a budget and never restrict what MY kid could buy, I've become my mother! Lord help us all, I think this means I'm growing up.

Your manicure will show your age.

That is, according to Jackson. While playing in the dirt this weekend he had some majorly wicked nails. Fingernails and toenails. So, naturally, I confirmed they'd need to be cut and cleaned - there's nothing worse than mega-dirty nails on the boy!

Fast forward: as I am snipping away and he says "Ahh. Mom. Come ooooooooon. Now I look like a grown up. You're taking away the part that made me look like a child."

I kept snipping and laughed quite hard (inside). Clean nails = old. Funny.

It's Mah Birtttthhhhhddddaaaaayyy!

You know me and you know I celebrate my birthday. Not a little, more like a lot. Ok, a lot. A lot lot. In fact, I probably fall into the category of the most annoying birthday celebraters ever and I don't apologize for it... not even for a nano second.

The roots of my celebration are historic and as time would have it, this mayhem all started with my mother, who embraced the word 'celebrate.' She did amazing motherly things to bring the special feeling to the occasion. From home made cakes (seriously elaborate) to counting down days to my birthday (we had 12 day countdowns.. that eventually became birthday months), organizing friends for surprises and more - every birthday I had from then forward have been major occasions to celebrate. Why stop now?

So, today is no exception. I have decided to publish a scribe related to my thoughts on birthdays:
- I will celebrate this day until the age of 105, when I anticipate I may no longer wish to celebrate.
- I will parade around like queen for a day. I deserve it and my family puts up with it (for now, anyway).
- I will demand hugs and walks in the park with boys who'd rather not. And, better yet, I will get them because it's my birthday.
- I'll always have a great cake because a great cake IS a birthday.
- I'll always call, hear and share this day with my family because (a) it's the day we were all introduced and (b) a day we should always celebrate our connection.
- I will not, under any circumstance, work on my birthday.

In light of my now published freak-happy-birthday-admittance (assuming you're not writing me into the looney bin), I'll share a couple experiences from today.

SCENE ONE
We were in the car making our way to Tyler's football scrimmages today. We're driving and I prodded Jackson...'Hey, have anything special to say today?' He looked puzzled, then guilty, then curious. Then he started the list:
"Good morning?" - (no)
"Thank you?" - (no- but nice - wonder what that was for?)
"I'm sorry?" - (no- but funny, guilt is good around here apparently!)
"Buenos Dias?" - (no- but good Spanish)
"I didn't mean it." - (no, but what didn't you mean? Nevermind, he says.)
"I love you." - (warmer, and close)
"I really love you?" - (that got him off the hook)
"Happy......"
"Oh, birthday!"

I was entirely entertained at the Pavlov's dog response related to 'do you have anything to say?'

SCENE TWO
We're at Tyler's hockey game this afternoon. As I'm departing, a friend says Happy Birthday!! Another friend mentions it's also her husband's birthday. We exchange pleasantries, birthday wishes and laugh on the way out. Then, on the way to the car I hear Jackson grumble.

Under his breath I hear him say "Birthday stealer."

I guess the Leo in me rubs off on others, too. I might need to amend my scribe to include something like 'it's sort of ok to share a birthay.' I'll consider it. But, until next time I'll just hug my birthday Grinch boy.

Second grade Football

Jackson's in the thick of it - it's football time. Thanks to cousin Bruce, who's playing at Moorhead State in Kentucky- he decided to suit up and hit the deck. At his age, it's straight flag (a disappointment there is no tackling) but he seems to be enjoying the couple of practices they've had so far. I, on the other hand, am also enjoying the practices by listening to the coaches. They are Dads, just like other sports, but it's interesting- we hear a lot from the sidelines. So, I'm sharing my top three favorite lines of the night:

3) Situation: Boys can't run straight from one line to the other. They keep bunching up like fish. Verbal fix: "Let's try not to run like drunken sailors. Pick a spot on the opposing line and run straight to it." This is especially funny to me, as I'm pretty sure Jackson doesn't know what a drunken sailor is.

2)Situation: Boys are getting lined up to run a 'offensive/defensive play.' One of the boys pipes up with "And if there is anyone who gets injured my Mom always has supplies with her. See her over there? She'll fix you up in no time.' Verbal fix: "If you're bleeding it's ok- it's football.' Visual? Many boys with their mouthes agape.

1) Situation: Boys trying to figure out handoffs, what direction, how, but mostly how to get the ball from one set of hands to another. Verbal fix: "Hand off the football like you mean it. Hand it off like a loaf of bread, not a baby!

Bravery, 5 cents!

With summer's end looming just out of reach, we're working to cram as much in as possible yet this summer. Take today, for example. We finally hit Valleyfair. Most days Matt would claim 'allergic to the place' however we were able to con him into joining us for an evening at amusement-jiggle-your-insides-central.

If you know Jackson, you know he's often been the guy dipping his toe into the water instead of running full speed and figuring it out later. As time has progressed, so has his outlook... but he's cautious. BUT tonight we had a massive win. The kid went on EVERY ride we lined up for- including the corkscrew (and HUGE roller coasters, which he LOVED). And, we had an exchange that a person can only have with Jackson.

< - - The scene: we have climbed into our bucket seats on the corkscrew for his first ride ever. He is nervous and can't stop chattering.- - >

J: Mom, is this really safe?
Me: Yes, it has to be or they wouldn't be able to run it.
J: Do people ever fall out?
Me: Not that I know of- and certainly not us. We're all set.
J: Ok.
.... long pause.....
J: Here's the deal. If I fall out of this thing and die, at least you'll be my witness. Let's get this party started!!

And, while all this is happening... Tyler was on the mighty axe using some of super-I'm-an-awesome-Romeo-guy lines:
Tyler to girl seated next to him: Hey, you have really pretty eyes.
Girl (creeped out by the guy sitting next to here): Uh, it's dark out here.
Tyler: Ok. Yeah.

Good times, good times.

Shark week, it's not...

National Geographic it appears to be. I'm feeling like I should open the doors to a big 'ole ark in the back yard! Who can resist this little guy? He still has siblings running around our yard- we couldn't catch them after we found their nest in our front yard under a tree. You'd be pleased to know they were relocated safely(which took a lot if you know my history with rabbits) and tucked in with special words from Jackson this evening to the tune of "Stay right there unless something big comes by- then run suuuuper fast!" Now, a pair of peacocks, anyone?

We have Twins!!

Gotcha with the headline, ay? Take a peek at our new pets/housemates/buddies/marathon training partners/peeps/homeslices.... ah, you get the picture. Now I have to find a way to keep the lid slightly open so they can make a break for it. All the handling and love might just make them faint.

Like father, like son.

Wow, what a striking family resemblence!

Deep thoughts.

Ok, another night and I'm cleaning. Scrubbing toilets- and yes, ultra-amazing fun. Along comes Mr. Sassy, sauntering into the bathroom for yet another riveting dialogue that goes something like:

J: Mama, what ya doing?
Me: Scrubbing the toilet.
J: Hmmm. I see the water is still blue.
Me: Yep- still blue.
J: How many flushes HAS it been? I thought Dad said it'd be blue for like 500 flushes.
Me: Maybe we haven't flushed 500 yet, I'm not sure. Why?
J: Because it shouldn't be blue anymore. We've flushed a whole bunch- I was in here the other day flushing and flushing. And, when I look at it now, it's just not natural.

I think to myself: he's actually right. Then I wondered if anyone else in the whole wide world thinks about toilet water this much.

No worries, he's ALLLLL mine.

I was chatting it up with Jackson tonight when we arrived at the topic of muscles. As in "Hey Mom, have you moved a muscle yet?" as I was summoned to review a lego war taking place (NO WAY!) on our steps. After careful review of why Darth Sidius and Luke Skywalker COULD be in their positions, we went back to muscles. Our dialogue went something like this:

Jackson: "So, you did move a muscle?"
Me: "Yes, I'm here now at the steps. That proves I've moved muscles."
Jackson: "Well, then. How many muscles DO you have?"
Me: "Enough to move."
Jackson: "No, really. How many muscles are in your body?"
Me: "Hmmm. I'm not sure but I could look it up."
Jackson: "Don't worry. Just go to howmanymusclesinyourbody.com. I'm sure they'll know."

Silly me. I knew he was my kid all along.

And, while Rip Van Winkle slept...

His brother was having a BLAST with his pal, Parker tubing on the river. Literally. These little boys are bananas for tubing, having spent serious chunks of time flying around atop the water this past weekend. I heard phrases like "it was so cool, I flew like a skipping stone" and "I did like three face plants- yeah!"

Thursday alone was over 2+ hours of tube time... so I say thank goodness for a patient Uncle Frankie, Auntie Dee and a group of folks who don't get sea sick. 'Cause that'd be really ugly.....

I got my baby back...baby back.. baby back..

So long silence, Ty's home. In one piece but a bit cranky and overtired, but home. We picked his lovely self up Sunday, when they had their last 'tournament' game play. As you can see from the photo, he's MORE THAN HAPPY to stand for a mom photo op.... :-) Since coming home mid-day Saturday, he's not been awake much- basically a couple hours Saturday afternoon and after he woke up at 1 PM yesterday. Maybe I should go to this camp too... then I'd actually have an excuse for my desire to sleeeeeeeeeeep!

Sounds of silence.

With Tyler at hockey camp and Jackson opting to hang with Auntie Dee and Uncle Frank a couple evenings, we actually had something resembling silence. Because it's been a while, I looked up the definition and here's what I got:

1. absence of any sound or noise; stillness.
2. the state or fact of being silent; muteness.
3. absence or omission of mention, comment, or expressed concern: the conspicuous silence of our newspapers on local graft.

Yep it's true, we experienced silence. It's official.... and I don't like it. I'm used to this place hopping, bustling at every moment and hunting down noise from boys I can't identify. But, fear not. I talk enough for 10 people on any given day and I'm confident Matt feels like nothing changed at all.

Hogwartz, here he comes.

Yesterday's events centered on getting Tyler situated for a week of physical hockey fun; he's at Shattuck St. Mary's hockey camp this week. Moving him into the dorms feels so strange... but more strange (I'd bet) was watching full grown adults smuggle a mini fridge in for he and his roomie (hey, we had one and I KNOW they'll be thirsty). To Jackson's sheer delight, he is housed in the traditional dorms on campus- which he refers to as Hogwartz. Indeed, they share striking similarities!

Anyhow, Tyler loves this camp because of it's rigor (although he comes home unbelievably physically exhausted) and diversity. After the first scrimmage last night he learned he has team mates from Florida, Canada and Italy (not a ton of English spoken but as Tyler says "Hockey's universal"). Updates to come throughout the week - either way, we know he'll have a blast.

At any rate, here's a list of my top 5 things to do while he's away:

5) Go through his closet and re-arange the less than stellar space.
4) Let Jackson in Tyler's room. Activities will likely include investigation of all the 'off limits' stuff, watching a movie, jumping on (and then sleeping in) his bed.
3) Try not to text him more than once a day unless texted first.
2) Get rid of t-shirts, socks and underwear that should have been retired MONTHS ago!
1) Miss him like crazy and celebrate the independent young man he's become.

Sweet fear of PJs.

Tyler has a sweetie. He would probably rather die than know I've published anything remotely related to his super-covert-private existence, but since he won't read this I can say whatever I like. A few weeks of magical texting and seeing each other at church.... so, not a total shocker when he asked to hang with her on Friday night at her house. But, new territory for us. We've allowed the group stuff - like movies, hanging at bonfires. So, we plodded to her house- met her Mom, checked the supervision situation, met sisters and Tyler settled in for the evening. The deal was an 11 PM pick up. Following are the texts from the pick up:

(H) 10:55 PM: Heya, I'm in the driveway. See you in a few.
(H) 11:04 PM: Elllllllo?
(H) 11:10 PM: Hey, kid, I'm in the driveway. C'mon out.
(H) 11:18 PM: Hey buddy. It will be reeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaalllllly embarassing if I come to the door in my jammies. But, I'm not afraid to- see you at the door?
11:19 PM Tyler jogs to the car.

Things I've learned from this: Tyler has a good, healthy fear of my PJs and I'm pretty sure I've seen a glimpse into the future.

We are, in fact, alive.

We're just making our way back into life after the most amazing week together at the lake. *sigh*

The most peaceful place on earth.

Let the mindfulness begin.

Happy Independence Day!

Wow, what a weekend. We managed to eventually make it to the water and had a SERIOUS blast with Auntie Dee & Uncle Frank, Auntie Mae and our pals, the Sampson's. We ate, watched fireworks, played on the water endlessly and it's safe to say everyone's officially wiped after the weekend. As we enjoyed ourselves, my thoughts turned to those who made our country what it is today and continue to defend in these hard times. Husbands, Fathers, Mothers and Daughters. Members of our family, yours and others we all know. How appreciative are we for your hard work, sacrifice and dedication; we celebrate you!

I'm also grateful for a safe weekend and that of our family. There was an unfortunate accident not too far away- on the water. The police vigil and activity on the water haunts me... especially thinking a family headed to the river to enjoy a holiday on the water will now mourn the loss of a mother, who was found after a day long search this morning.

So, I say this: celebrate those who protect us from afar and your family who is near, each and every day. And, please do pray for a family who will need extra strength in the coming weeks.

From the top of the world.

I see this a couple times a week from my office and realized the other day that I should try a picture.... Jackson's always wondering what it looks like from 'up there.' Then I think: just wait until the Foshay is done with it's transformation to the new fancy-pantsy W hotel. I totally wonder why people will pay for a hotel room with peeps like us having a view down and in. Swanky? Yeah. Private? No way!

Survivor? Prolly not.

Looks like a guy from survivor, talks like a guy who may have seen a 3 second clip at sometime in his life of survior and walks like a guy.... well, who needs water shoes. And, if you look close- it's really fruit by the foot wrapped around his head. Good times, good times.

Seven... and hostaged by a Storm Trooper.

In celebrating Jackson's birthday last week, we took a surprise field trip to the Science Museum of Minnesota- who is featuring the traveling Star Wars exhibit. Needless to say, Jackson's been eyeing this opportunity up for close to 4 months and initially hearing about it. So, we started out early with Auntie Dee and Jackson's pal, Parker in hand. BOY, did we see a LOT of Star Wars. A LOT. Between the iMax, the exhibits on robots, real artifacts from Star Wars and pod racers the boys went bananas - literally. We closed the day down after many many hours.... then went home to recover! Some photos of our adventure:

Our baby is 7!

Wow, where does the time go? Just seven short years ago we added our baby to the family. In so many ways it seems like just yesterday- and in others it seems like he's always been here with us. Either way, Happy Birthday to Jackson. Our shooting star, gremlin in the cookie jar, curious, courageous, patient, spritely boy. Our lives would be so, so dull without you. You help us see the world in ways we'd never have thought otherwise- and that includes form under tables, the tops of bleachers and everywhere in between. Happy birthday, baby!

And, we're off!

In anticipation of the day ahead, this photo says it all. Summer is here, squarely plopped into our laps - now if only the weather will hold. Today's festivities include:
(1) Karate
(3) Baseball games (tournament time, baby!)
(2) Lacrosse games

I look forward to recapping the day. Who knows if we'll still be upright!