WONDERING……..

There are times when you just reflect and wonder; wonder how you are doing as a parent, wonder what the kids will be like in another 5-8 years, wonder how you could do better…..tonight was one of those nights.  I was making dinner and had just got done talking to my niece and I couldn't help but wonder how my kids perceive how I am doing as a parent.  I think about how I think I am doing often but it never occurred to me that they may have a completely different opinion.  Raelynn was in the living room working on her book report and Coop was across from her playing games on the computer when he was suppose to be practice his sight words.  I turned dinner down low and walked into the living room and asked them both for their attention.  I sat down between them and I asked them.  I asked them how they thought I was doing.  I told them I wanted the truth, what could I do better or what do I do that they just don't get, anything.  Coop just looked at me and said I did fine and there was nothing I should do different.  I was sure his answer was strictly to please me so he could get back to his game.  Raelynn's response though made me laugh.  "Well you could buy us more candy and you could let us sleep in more on school days but really Mom, face it, you are like a really good Mom.  Even when you don't let us do stuff you tell us why and it makes sense, which, really just makes us madder but yea, you're pretty good a the Mom thing."  I told them that forever I would ask them this question from time to time because I tell them what I expect of them, they need to be able to tell me what they expect of me.  Raelynn patted my head and said, "Yea Yea Mom just keep reading your books and googling and you'll do fine."  Her sarcasm was hilarious but right on.  I will keep reading and watching and learning and asking and listening and wondering how I'm doing but I am just glad I can ask those who matter most how they think I am doing!

Coop celebrates the 100th Day of School!

Coop's self portrait!  Maybe the big ear jokes are going a little too far, hahahaha!

Coop and Raelynn LOVE some late Christmas presents!  McDonald, KS celebrates 125 years!

 The last couple weeks have been packed hence the reason the blog has not been updated.  The week started fun for the kids though.  Monday they didn't have school so they spent the day with Aunt Bonnie and of course had so much fun.  I, on the other hand, had a meeting every night.  Monday and Tuesday night were meetings about the school carnival, Thursday night was our CCF Board Meeting and Friday was suppose to be our Family Meeting Night (our once a month meeting to discuss family matters :) ) but friends that we don't usually get to spend time with invited us over for dinner.  They have a son that went to daycare with Coop and Coop was so excited to spend the evening with them.  They are an amazingly strong family that has fought many battles and always came out on top.  They are an inspiration and it was a super enjoyable evening!  Then Saturday I had a short radio interview, Raelynn had a cheer clinic and I met with a friend to discuss our Disney Vacation!  This past week just continued the late nights with a CCF meeting on Monday night, fundraiser on Tuesday and then PTO, Coop's first soccer practice on Wednesday and then Raelynn cheered at a high school game on Friday.

The boys had fun too.  At half time they got to go down and shoot a basket for a bag of chips.  Unfortunately Coop didn't make it but he still got the chips so he didn't mind!

The CCF Fundraiser was one we have every month.  It's called CCF Cook's Night Off.  Once a month a participating restaurant donates money back to CCF from their sales during a given night.  This week was at Freddy's and they were amazing.  Their staff went out of their way to make it a success.  They even let the kids go back and make their own Sundays.  It wasn't just our kids either it was all the kids.  They worked so hard, were so kind and simply went over the top.  I was so happy with the turn out and even happier with the staff.  Simply amazing service!!!

Saturday followed with Coop's soccer game, which surprisingly went really well and then he spent the afternoon playing with one of his buddies why Raelynn worked on her science project.  Oh yes, Raelynn chose to do a science project this year.  I am so proud of her for taking the initiative to do it and then following through with it but I knew nothing about how to do a science project.  At Raelynn's school the 5th Graders participate in the science fair but it is open to all grades.  Raelynn wanted to do it last year but was not quite as committed as she was this year.  Her original choice this year was a complicated solar system that moved and lit up, etc.  I finally convinced her to scale it back a little for her first year since we had no idea what we were doing.  She agreed and decided to do an experiment on Super Sized Salt!  It took 6 days to grow the salt crystals and then she was ready to write her report and put her board together.  She had it all in her mind and did such a great job.  It will be fun to see how it compares with the other experiments to know what she did really well and what she could do better.  More than anything I was just so proud that she chose to do it and worked very hard on it.  Anyway it definitely kept her busy this weekend and now she has moved her focus on to her book report that is due next Monday.  The book is read and the report is started so once again we are moving towards completion.  I want the kids to learn early not to procrastinate and thankfully Raelynn also does not like procrastination.  Coop on the other hand may be a little harder to convince :)

Sunday we went to church and then back back home to get some goodies ready for the Super Bowl.  We joined some friends to watch the game and I, and my 2 dedicated children, were the only Bronco fans.  Needless to say, I took a little heat but it was a fun night as always.  Today started nice and early as I had to be at the school at 6am to make sure I was able to get the kids signed up for Boys and Girls Club over Spring Break.  By 5pm today they had already called off school for tomorrow due to the projected snow.  This always cracks me up because when I was a kid I don't ever remember them canceling school based on a weather forecast when the sun was shining.  Anyway, so as any working mother, I am very grateful for a flexible job and understanding boss.  I am not sure even now what our day will look like tomorrow but I am sure at least part of the day will be a "work from home" type of day!  Snow days and sick days have always been a challenge for me because I feel pulled between work and my family.  There is no way to ever express how grateful I am to Tom for always making sure family comes first and just makes days like tomorrow make me want to work even harder for him! Just another blessing in my life.

So tonight as I was putting Raelynn to bed she said, "Mom do you know Mr. Adam reads the blog?"  Mr. Adam is Raelynn's staff at Boys and Girls Club.  This guy is amazing!  He has patience and understanding that cannot be taught but is just within some people.  Raelynn adores him, respects him and will miss him so much when he leaves.  Anyway, she said Mr. Adam wanted to know why he never made the blog!  I burst out laughing and Raelynn did too.  When I started the blog I started it to keep family and friends up to date on how Coop was doing, then it developed into a Journal for the kids as I have the blog printed into a book for each of them every year, and then at some point the blog got linked to the CCF website and my FB account, again just to keep family and friends in touch.  Now the blog has become a place for shout outs!  Heeheeheehee, so at Raelynn't request I am giving a shout out to Mr. Adam and Mr. Adam I sure hope you choose to read this post!  Hahahaha!  Our family loves you!  Thank you for all you do for my kids and so many others as well.  We are grateful for you every day!