Origami Owl

No, it isn't folded paper! It is my first attempt at direct sales (home parties.) and so far it is going really well. We all know this is normally not my cup of tea, at all, but something really just felt right about this opportunity.

Origami Owl was founded in 2011 by a 14 year old girl who took $300 she made by babysitting and bought some generic lockets and sold them to make money to buy her first car. They caught on, so it quickly developed into what it is today, which is a social locket jewelry company - and we just had our one millionth order!!

School's Out For the Summer!

I am so excited that it's summer break! The boys were a little crazy that first week, but it's partially my fault (and, lesson learned) because I took vacation from work and planned a Jackson/Delaney birthday party, so it was a lot of routine messing-with-ness.  

We have a lot of excitement planned for the summer so far. We have already gone to the museum and the zoo, Kings Island and Lazer Kraze. We've signed up for the library's summer reading program and are well on our way to 20 books already. (They've gotten the prize for 5 books read. We signed up last week.)  We will be staying on top of our schooling - Jackson is going to be practicing math and reading comprehension, Parker will work on his cutting skills and his letters and writing. We will all be doing science experiments. Want to come over for them?

Merry Christmas, 2012!

This year, we had 2 more babies. Delaney cannot be bothered to stop eating and sleeping, but Bella was ready for fun!

These are my carpool kiddos. I take all 5 to school everyday. I love having cousins so close!

My first niece and nephew are all grown up now!

Jackson got his dirt bike!

They're not in time out and they aren't posed. Parker got the 3DS and Jackson got a tablet, they are both loving life!!

Delaney's favorite thing - pacis!

Why are we the lucky ones?

I have been emailing back and forth with a lot of moms over the past week and realized the link to my blog is in my email signature. I clicked it and realized I didn't post about the holidays. (I will in a sec, I promise). But, the last post I did was my "Be the Good" post. I just read it and sobbed.

This past Monday, our community suffered the loss of a wonderful little girl, Sammy Reagan. She was 12 years old and in sixth grade at Columbia. Here is what our district newsletter had to say:


Sammy Reagan 2000-2013
     Sammy Reagan was a happy, vivacious 12-year old who always had a smile on her face. On Monday, Jan. 21, Sammy tragically lost her life in a car accident on I-275. She was the daughter of Jill and Bill Reagan, sister to her twin Jack, and younger brother Brian. Sammy was a sixth grader at Columbia Elementary.
     Counselors and Psychologists were on hand at Columbia Elementary Tuesday, Jan. 22, to help students and staff members. Safe rooms were set up for students to have a quiet place to talk and mourn. In an early morning announcement Principal Shelley Detmer-Bogaert told students about Sammy’s death. “I know this news makes all of us very sad and that is okay. Sammy was a wonderful young lady and we will miss her.” She asked students to take good care of each other and to “be kinder than is necessary.”
     Sammy loved to play soccer and ski. While a student at South Lebanon Elementary she was student council president.
     “Sammy just brought sunshine everywhere she went,” teacher Mike Luke said. “She was a rare student.” Mr. Luke said he will miss Sammy very much. They were often joking around and teasing each other. “I’m just jealous that Jesus is hanging out with her now and not me.”
     Another one of Sammy’s teachers, Jessica Collett, described Sammy as “a bright light in the classroom. She loved learning and persevered at everything.”
Everyone who talked about Sammy said how happy she was. “She was friendly with everyone,” Mrs. Collett

So, reading my blog post from last month, reading about how Sandy Hook was the saddest thing I've ever dealt with as a parent, well, it's not. Not any more. This is. She's one of ours. (Not saying the 18 kids that died in CT wasn't sad, it was, of course. This is just right here. I can touch this. I can walk thru my sons' school and see the pain.)

On Monday, the kids didn't have school because of MLK day. I'm sure Sammy's family was just out running errands, having fun, hanging out. The kids and I do that all the time.I know for sure the Reagans did not plan to come home with one less child forever.

I literally cannot imagine the pain. How do you go on? How do you clean out her room? Her toys? What do you tell her brothers? What about all the things she will never do? Start high school? Learn to drive? Get married? She will never have babies.

Our community is covered in orange ribbons. (Orange was Sammy's favorite color.) The neigborhood where the Reagans live is full of kids. EVERYONE knew Sammy. There is not a single house in the subdivision without an orange bow on the mailbox. Kids wore orange to school today. (After a little argument with the principal about a notice from the PTO asking people to wear orange. He asked us to retract the email, saying it could be disrespectful, blah blah blah. Really, there were parents who contacted him, concerned because their kids don't know Sammy, they little, and wouldn't understand. So, they didn't want to explain the situation. Couldn't you just tell them it's orange shirt day?! So, now it isn't a school sponsored thing, but I was there for lunch today and over half the kids were wearing orange. It made my heart happy.) I'm stating right now, if something tragic happens to anyone I love, everyone has the right to do anything they think will make our family feel better. That's all we were trying to do with the "wear orange for Sammy" day.

I came home from lunch duty and see on Facebook, a little girl that has been battling cancer and thought she was clean, well, she has a spot on her lung again and it is cancer. They cannot give her more chemo, her little body cannot handle it. Their last hope is an experimental drug. Why did this happen to Gabby?

Anyway, reading the last blog post and dealing with this loss in our community, it's made me have an enormous amount of anxiety. Why are we the lucky ones? Why have we never had to deal with the sadness of losing a child? I have friends who try and try to even have babies and cannot get pregnant. People who have babies and they have devestating illnesses. People who tragically lose their babies in school shootings or car accidents. It makes me nervous that it could happen... I know we can't live in a bubble, I know we can't protect them from everything. All I can do is love my children more than life itself. More than the air I breathe. Tell them I love them everyday, and kiss them every chance I get, even when they're "too cool". I will be the best mom I can be, and hope for the best.

And, I will mourn with the Reagan family today, and I will keep all these families who aren't as lucky in my thoughts. But, why is it about luck? I don't have the answers, for sure.

Be the Good

I have had the most stressful Mommy week of my Mommy life.

Tuesday, Delaney had a doctor's appointment (6 month check up, everything is good.) On the way home, Children's Hospital called and moved up Parker's dental work. to Wednesday. (Yes, less than 24 hours from then.) Ok, no problem, less time to stress and worry. And, I felt like it would be ok because it was 12-12-12, I have a numbers thing, it will be fine.

6 AM, we get up, get everyone going, drop Jackson and Delaney at my parents' house and head downtown. we got there and everything was going well, then the dentist says "30% of the time, this cocktail doesn't work and we have to go a different route." WHAT? I'm giving my kid all these drugs that may not even work? Great...

As Parker's conscious sedation medicine was working, he was so, so funny - he is going to be a blast in college I'm sure. As he was drifting off, they told Ben to go out "to the bathroom". Then me. As I started to leave, Parker fully woke up and said, "No, I'm going. I'm going too!"

So, we get him calmed back down and I go out. About 45 minutes later, the dentist comes out and gets us, they're done. She tells us it got a little complicated, Parker woke up in the end and they had to hold him down to finish. He ended up with 2 baby root canals because he's so small they can't pull the teeth. They had to hold him down... he was covered in sweat and still, 5 days later, has petichiea on his face from them holding so tightly.

When we got home, Parker and I laid down to rest and the school called. I missed the call, but it was the counselor, Jackson was in the office crying. Rewind to Monday - Jackson had a sub. She didn't follow the procedure and give him a warning for talking, she just put him on yellow. He hasn't been on yellow since Kindergarten, so he was in hysterics. (He is such a people pleaser, he doesn't deal well with being "bad.") Well, Mrs. m fell and broke her wrist on Wednesday at school and had to leave, they sub they got... Monday Meanie. Yep.

When he saw her, he just lost it. Crying and crying. The counselor let him call me to calm him down and I missed the call. I called her back and got her voice mail. Left a message and she called him back. He just said "Hi, Mom *sob*" I calmed him down and asked what was wrong. "I just miss you!" I told him I'd be home with him that night and I loved him and he was fine.

Thursday, sad again. He was just so upset. He's never actually crying about school - he loves school and his friends and his teacher. So, I dropped him off and he was still sad, I told him I'd come for lunch so he had something to look forward to.

Parker usually gets out of school at 11:15, Jackson's lunch is at 11:45. I was going to get Parker, take him home to Ben, go back for lunch. Well, at 11, the phone rang. The school. This time it's Parker. "Hi, Mrs. Anderson. Can you please come get Parker? He just threw up." When I got there, I decided to just get them both.

Friday morning, Jackson had an appointment with an orthopaedist at Children's for his hip. We were in the waiting room and he was talking to his uncle, Hunter (Uncle Awesome). I was looking through my phone and saw a post asking where another friend's son went to school. I though, hmm, how random. I had no idea what was going on.

We go in for the appointment, spend about 45 minutes talking to this specialist to learn Jackson is very active. He doesn't have a majillion illness that could cause hip pain, not dysplasia, not arthritis, not anything of significance.  Basically, he is so active he has injured himself. The cure? Stop. Rest. (Uh, ok, did you SEE my son bouncing all over the room while we talked? This is going to be a long recovery.) The plan is to rest and come back in 4 months. He's allowed to still live his life and can start spring soccer, but he is supposed to take it easy. Don't bounce and flip and fall from the car, just get down and walk calmly. This is super hard for Jackson to understand, he's very busy, he is in a constant state of motion.

As we are waiting for lunch, I found out what happened in Connecticut.20 innocent children, born in 2005 and 2006, and 6 teachers and educators murdered in the second worst school shooting in America's history. Jackson was born in 2005. I literally cannot imagine the sadness.

What I thought was the most stressful Mommy week ever just changed entirely. I will take the stress I thought I had over the grief and tragedy the Newtown community is suffering. My condolences go out to them.

I haven't really ever been THIS bothered by anything in my parental life. I'm not sure if it's because I have had such a personally challenging and stressful week and this is just a reminder to be grateful. Last night, President Obama preempted the football game with a press conference to offer his support to the families and community. I was at work so we had the game on with the sound.  He read each victims name. I tried so hard to fight it back but I couldn't it's really hard to pour beers and smile when you're hearing all these names and just thinking about the what ifs.

One little girl in particular had her birthday last week, December 11. I wonder if she had her party yet? Did she get to take treats to school for her birthday? I bet her party would have been Saturday. I bet all these parents have already bought gifts for their kids. I bet they're under their trees and how do you handle that? How do you clean out their room or empty their desk or locker? How do you tell their siblings?

the story of Victoria, the teacher who said her class was in gym but really they were stashed in cabinets? She's the epitome of a hero. She died but her students lived. The custodian who ran through the halls warning of the danger? I don't know his or her name, but I guarantee they saved lots of lives. Little Jessica? She died covering her brother, but he lived.

My friend Erin posted on her facebook that her good friend had a baby over the weekend and his dad posted his picture and said, "8 pounds of hope for the future." and he's right.

My family has been doing Random Acts of Christmas Kindness, and we're going to keep it up all though the year - maybe not a thing a day, but we're doing it. I will have to come up with a cute acronym but I've decided we're living by the "be the change you want to see in the world" mantra and we will just have to keep plugging away everyday - eventually the good will outweigh the bad. Or at least I will naively believe that to keep myself sane.

We cannot live in a bubble, we cannot live in fear. We need to keep going with our lives and remember those that died. And those that risked their lives to save others. We need to Be the Good. (Maybe that's my new saying. If this is your picture, let me know, I'll give you credit. But I'm stealing it. I'm making shirts. I'm living by this saying. Be the good. There is good in the world. We are good.)






I have so much more to say, but I have to run, I have to run car pool now and maintain my composure. 

RACK has begun!

Merry Christmas!

The boys' school is collecting items for victims of Hurricane Sandy. This was a perfect opportunity to help the boys get into the RACK mindset - anything they say or do at school is, of course, accepted and followed without question.  They say donate things to hurricane relief, they do it.

One of the things on the "requested" list was gently used jammies and blankets, neither of which we are in short supply of in this house!  The other day, I went to school with a literal garbage bag full of warm, cozy pajamas and blankets for kids in need.

The boys are eager to see what we will do next. On tap so far, we have donate books to the local summer library, adopt a family who need some specific items for their holiday list (thanks for the hook up, Ashley!), cookies for the firefighters, cards for the elderly, quarters on the bouncy ball machines, a care package for a soldier (thanks Marissa for that hook up). We will donate clothes and toys, coats for kids, headbands to Children's cancer patients... I have so many ideas but with my life being hectic enough, sometimes I bite off more than I can chew. This Random Acts of Christmas Kindness is something I REALLY want to do, so hopefully I can get it done.

I guess I should back up and save the new readers some effort. RACK stands for Random Acts of Christmas Kindness. I did not think of the acronym myself, I saw it on Pintrest and borrowed it. (Most of my awesome ideas come from Pintrest, then I add my flair.)

This has been a roller coaster year for our family - we added a new baby, which is wonderful, but also an added expense, of course. I didn't get paid for my maternity leave, so we are still catching up on bills from that. Normally, I shop all year long so I can have a Christmas tree overflowing with gifts, but, the lack of income for part of the year put a damper on that. I know my kids will be happy with whatever is under the tree on Christmas morning, and I also know we are blessed with the family and friends we have, who would never, ever let our kids go without.

I have made the conscious decision to drastically reduce our carnival Christmas. There will be plenty for everyone, but in relation to what they're used to, it may seem small. I want my kids to grow up knowing Christmas is about family and friends and love and helping others. I do not want them growing up to be entitled brats. We live in a mixed socio-economic area - some kids at their school live in $4 million homes, and some live in a trailer or the local motel.

I really want our family to be reminded that sometimes it is far better to give than to receive. I found a lot of quotes that seemed fitting so I want to post them here in case I need a reference for next year, or in case you need ideas for your own RACK.

The degree of loving is measured by the degree of giving -Edwin Louis Cole

When you learn, teach.When you get, give.-Maya Angelou

 

We make a living by what we get. We make a life by what we give. -Winston Churchill

 

It's not how much we give but how much love we put into giving.” ― Mother Theresa

 

If you have any ideas for RACK, please comment them here. Or, if you have received one of our RACKs, please leave a comment! We hope it brightened your day.

 

We are Thankful!

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Seriously, one of the best, least stressful holidays I can remember. We got up and got ready, went to Granny and Papa's (my parents) house. We hung out with them and ate Thanksgiving lunch around 11:30. We left there and headed to a picture perfect photo session with my good friend (and also our photographer) Jen. I cannot wait to get those pictures!

Then, off to Nana's (Ben's mom's) house for dinner there. Everyone was well behaved and ate a ton of food. We left there and I came home to change clothes. Then, it was off to Black Friday shopping with Mimi (Ben's step mom, Misty) - we got some of the most awesome deals and had the most fun I can remember on Black Friday!

I am so thankful for well-behaved, healthy, happy kids, a wonderful family, and the greatest life I could have imagined.