Father's Day 2014

Was blessed by my family with a wonderful Father's Day this year.  They even handled the fact that I accidentally took away a gift option when I went and bought us a new camera for our upcoming vacation.  The shirt I am wearing as well as some other clothes were their thoughtful and tasteful gifts and I enjoyed a meal out as well.

Yes.  I got all the boys to sit and take a picture with me...even if they are not all smiling.



Our day ended at the movies to watch How to Train Your Dragon 2, which was a fun movie.  While it scared Jude a little due to the Alpha Dragons, he managed it well and we got home late enough that they all went straight to bed.

Some Artwork from Jude

Just because I am impressed and I love that he was thinking of himself as a knight defending a castle :)

A triple-header Saturday

Game 2 for Jaden's team in the tournament and they fought to a 3-3 tie.  We had miserable weather again as it was around 35-40 degrees outside and we had a solid drizzle of rain going for the whole game.  Jaden did have an assist during the game and once again the boys pulled the result out in the final minutes of the game with a score in the last minute to tie it up.

At the exact same slot, inside thankfully, Jacob's team played Game 1 of their tournament.  Unfortunately, they were routed 8-1.  I think the picture actually says a lot as I think the boys were frustrated...but unfortunately, this has pretty much been their lot all season as all the teams they play against are just a class above them.

Game 3 for the day was indoors thankfully as Jaden played with his town team in a 6-2 victory over the other Mendon-Upton Boys U12 team.  Which means that next week's game against them one more time will determine who places second and who places third in the league.

Quite busy are we right now...stay tuned for another triple-header tomorrow.

Soccer in New England

Don't let the small amount of sunshine in the photos fool you...today Jaden had the first game of the NEFC tournament in Taunton, MA.  It was only ~30 degrees for the game and that was before wind chill.  After wind chill, it was closer to 10 degrees.  Completely miserable for the players and all of us stuck on the sideline watching.

However, it was really nice to see Jaden's team actually play a game together, not give up after they were down 0-1 and to put 2 into the back of the net during the last 4 minutes of the game to win 2-1.

Even better, Jaden scored both goals!

MVP!  MVP!

Movie Night Out

We went to see the Lego Movie as a family last night.  It was a fun, and family friendly movie that had all of us laughing.  It is not many movies anymore where Mom, Dad, and all three of the boys will all enjoy the same picture...so for that alone, it was a success.  Everything is Awesome!  

Shoulder Injury

Last Friday I injured my shoulder in a soccer game.  Yes, the third injury so far in soccer...beginning to wonder if I shouldn't play.

I got knocked off my feet and fell on the shoulder and it hurt even with just running when I tried to shake it off...so, Saturday morning I went to the ER and they took a quick look.  "Mild AC Joint Separation" was what they said...and I am supposed to keep my arm in a sling to give it rest and use ibuprofen and ice regularly.

I am hoping I am not down long as the bigger issue is that my workouts are not happening right now which is very frustrating since I am in that transformation contest and felt I was doing fairly well...but...there isn't much to be done about that for now...so, pray for quick healing and no lingering issues.

Day off during boys Winter Vacation

Despite living here for many years, we had never gone to the Aquarium until this week.  I took a day off of work and we went down to spend a long afternoon of checking out the exhibits, the animals and watching an IMAX film.  The boys got to touch Manta Rays, watch little penguins feeding and playing as the leaped in and out of the water and learn a little bit about some of the large number of species that are housed at the Aquarium.  I think Kristen got the biggest kick out of watching one of the penguins swimming in fast circles and jumping out of the water like a dolphin.

100 Days

Ever wonder what you will look like when you are 106 years old?  Apparently as part of the 100 Days event at school on Feb 11, the kids in Jude's class were able to get a picture of themselves aged 100 years.  This was the result.

I think it is absolutely hilarious that he happened to wear sweats that day...which will likely be his attire when he is 106 as well...so it made it more realistic :)

Apparently to make it as real as possible, they caught him in the act of yelling at all the 6 year old whipper-snappers that were running around him!

Snow Day

The weatherman got it right this time and as our town essentially shut down and the boys had a day at home. I took the opportunity to make the boys day by letting them have ice cream sundaes for lunch.


Why?

Because I am crazy.
Because I thought it would be a fun memory.
Because I forgot that they would largely be stuck inside for the afternoon bouncing off walls.
Because I am dad...for good and for bad.

Maybe it will buy some good behavior going forward?

Jude's Super Bowl Day

No, this is not an ad for Lego...though I am sure this post couldn't be any worse than most of the commercials that did air this year for the Super Bowl yesterday...but instead, just a quick post to remind myself of how amazing Jude is.  

Maybe my expectations aren't high enough, but based on the behavior we deal with so often right now, it is not a surprise to me where my expectations are...

Of course, it is in those moments that something comes along and surprises us right....Jude was not interested in playing with his brothers today (even though we had 50 degree weather outside in February).  Jude was not interested in watching the Super Bowl when it did come on....no, he decides to build this police van (which was one of his birthday presents this year) and he does it...on his own.  I really thought it would have to be a daddy/son project...or at least have one of his brothers do a large portion of the project for him...

He did an amazing job.  

Oh if the behavior could only improve and surprise me as much too.

Night Terrors

I am not sure what you think of when terror comes to mind, but for Kristen and I over the last year+, I think the first thing that comes to mind is "Night Terrors".

"A night terror, sleep terror or pavor nocturnus is a parasomnia disorder, causing feelings of terror or dread, and typically occurring in the first few hours of sleep during stage 3 or 4 non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep" - wikipedia

A very clinical type definition, but it is something else entirely to live through.  This is not to be confused with a nightmare...it is a very different animal and if you have never experienced it, you most likely will not understand the true dread that we have experienced the numerous times this has happened with Jude over the last year.

For us, we have seen when Jude is especially tired, and generally when he in on a particular medication, these episodes can happen.  He will appear to wake up in a cold sweat, trembling and frightened...always calling out for Mom or Dad to help him.  We of course wake up and rush to him, but are very much helpless to do much but hold him until it passes and there are few things I have experienced that are quite so humbling, scary and that can make you feel quite as powerless as watching a child experience pain, terror, or any other thing...to be there in that moment with them and yet still have no ability to comfort, to make the experience better or to lessen the dread and terror that they are experiencing.  It has brought Kristen and I to tears as we have sat with him.

We are incredibly fortunate that he doesn't remember the episodes in the morning but we are always tired from lack of sleep and generally worn out as our nerves are frayed and our emotional tanks are dry.  On one hand, these episodes remind us how little control we truly have and how thankful we are to have our faith that can carry us through, but on the other hand, I rail against having us go through it at all.  I do pray that we are able to find a way to manage his hives and keep him from experiencing these episodes from the medication.  

Jacob's Winter Concert

Ah...the Winter Concert Season continued with a second night in a row of activity as we went to Jacob's concert tonight.  The school did a nice job with getting the various grades in to the auditorium, and back out so that all 1st through 4th grade all came in, did their thing and left....AND it didn't seem like an interminable amount of time.  That is well done.

Jacob's grade did both singing and recorders and treated us to 5 total songs:
Get Up, Get Up, Get Up!
Golf BAG Boogie
Hot Cross Buns
Merrily We Roll Along
Secret Agent

Here was a small section of one of them that I captured:
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10203037369760245&l=973292633294218322

It may be tough to see him, but Jacob was in the front row, sixth from the left.
Great job Jacob!

Jaden's Winter Concert

Tonight was Jaden's Winter Concert at Miscoe Hill Middle School.  While it is certainly entertaining just getting Jaden to dress up, it was equally entertaining, in a different way, to listen to the Chorus and the Concert Band play.

It was a decidedly shorter event this year, and was disappointed that they didn't really give any opportunities for each of the sections so that you could hear them alone...but overall it was probably good for all the poor parents and our sore bums from sitting on the hard wooden bleachers for the hour plus that we were there for already.

If interested, take a peek here at Jaden and the band:

Transformation

Every year amidst the normal cycle of New Year's goals and plans that we all tend to make for ourselves, I have noticed that alot of the same things come up year after year...

Improve my physical conditioning

Improve my spiritual maturity

Improve my parenting

Improve my mind

Become a better husband, worker, and on and on it goes.  

It always comes back to becoming a better version of me...the me I wish I was but am not yet.

There is some serious mental gymnastics that you could go through that are part of the human condition within this cycle and part of me wants to throw my hands up at it...to even mock myself for participating in it.  I know that there is not something inherently different about this year than last year that will make these changes last.  But...despite that, there is something awesome and amazing and liberating about the cycle of time that God has created that enable these pauses...these resets...these arbitrary new beginnings that we can choose to take advantage of if we want to.

And with that, I choose to and I will do my best that change habits and patterns that will enable the better me to become a reality rather than an unfulfilled wish.

I guess by writing this down, hopefully I will hold myself more accountable to completing it...but one of the ways I choose to do this is by completing a workout program starting today that will complete at the beginning of April.  It will be tons of work...and if I put that work in, I know that I will be in a better place...so, pray that I can stick to it and not only do it for me, but as a good example to my children.

Jude's Birthday Party

We were crazy enough to let Jude invite 3 other 6 year-old boys over for a birthday party and sleep-over celebration.  He was quite excited and had a fantastic time.  We thought that they would relax with a movie after hanging out for awhile...but no movie, show or anything else would sway them from the consistent tackling and rough-housing that we were in for all night.

Luckily, no damage was done and eventually they did fall asleep, but Mom and Dad were exhausted and happy for pickup time to arrive the next morning.

I think I may be re-thinking the cost of the big party places :)

New Year's Letter

from http://www.hdwallpaperstop.com/clock-creative-wallpapers/

A gauntlet was thrown down by a friend regarding "upping our game" for our letter and I took that challenge and had one small bit of inspiration and off I went, thinking..."No problem.  This is going to be fun and so neat."  Yes, in my head I thought I was neat...different post entirely.  Anyway, to say this simply.  Creating the song lyrics and a video were WAY more time consuming and WAY more difficult than I really was expecting and at some point...now...I had to cut my losses and admit defeat.

So, everyone is getting the letter, as planned (a CD cover/insert) and it still directs them to this page...

This is the partial video...it really wasn't good (maybe it was bad enough to be good?...but, know that an awful lot of effort went into creating it for your enjoyment and I got lost in the messy middle of the project.

We do love you all and wish you a Happy New Year and we will resume our normally scheduled (which means late) Christmas / New Year's letter next year.  (Yes, I am planning on the fact that it will be late ;) )