New Year, New Focus

My troops headed back to school this morning.  My Coach, too.  I miss them all, already.  Crazy, right?  But I do.  It's quiet.  And things haven't gotten increasingly messy in the last three hours.

I'll adjust.  Although I really could have my husband home ALL OF THE TIME.  I know some wives think they'd go crazy.  But not this one.  There is more than enough work around here for TWO parents on any given day.  I love his company, his teasing, his smile, his HELP, his tender and patient parenting of our kiddos.

My sweet parents gave me a fabulous NEW IPAD for Christmas.  Wow.  I honestly had no words.  You know how that happens sometimes?  You sit.  You stare.  Your mind can't grasp that YES IT IS AN IPAD and YES IT'S FOR ME.

Although I honestly haven't really gotten to use it since then.  I let the kids play on it during the day (Have you SEEN the game, "Dumb Ways to Die"?  Ugh.) and then after bedtime I'd fix some tea and snuggle with a blanket on the couch and grab it and . . . dead.  Every time.  Finally, this past weekend, I took two seconds to put a pass code on it.  Thinking THAT would do the trick.  At least they would have to ask and NOW it wouldn't be dead when I sat down in the evening with it.

No, not dead.  Locked.  From excessive attempts to figure out the passcode.

I know.  First world probs.  I'm not complaining.  The whole thing was quite humorous.

One thing I've wanted to do, however, is download a new book for the new year.  (I'm taking suggestions.)  Then I saw my nightstand and the almost-finished four books sitting there.  Books I got the gist of but didn't persevere until the end.  And the mother in me?  Decided that I should finish those before I move on.  My theme for this year?  Letting go.  But maybe in letting go, we also have to complete some things in order to move on.  So I'm making the theme to FINISH what I've started (oh dear heavens that means the mending pile on my sewing machine), so I can LET GO and move on.

Little Man is sleeping in his own bed, now.  So there's that.  He's been on a foam mat in the girls room since Summer.  Or before.  What is WITH my kids and their crazy sleeping habits?  Or is it just that the Coach and I are so tired we are happy for them to just SLEEP wherever it is?  Might be.

Started a new session of boot camp this morning.  Determined to continue the Weight Watchers Simply Filling program - it's divine.  No tracking.  Healthy food.  Wiggle room for being human.  I'm in love.

We have nine basketball games this week.  Invention Fair coming up.  Presidential Tea.  Homecoming (not in that order).  Science Fair for a few.  And this week?  Nine basketball games.  Oh yeah.

And saying NO to everything else.  That I can.  Which won't, I suppose, include the two dentist appointments and a doctor's appointment this week.  But what I CAN say no to.  That's where I'm headed.

Not surprisingly, finishing these books has really revealed some treasures.  Turns out that there are some great ENDINGS that I had missed.  Like this one from "The Cure" by Lynch, McNicol and Thrall:

"The quality of your life is based on trusting this:  Where you are right now is the perfect place for you, or the God of all goodness and power would not allow you to be there."

Perfect place for me.  Right now.

Even if it means basketball and homework and herding the troops here and there while trying to maintain some sense of home, order, family time, and consistent dinners at the actual table.

I'll take it.

Happy Monday!

Christmas Break and a New Year

I have such grand ideas of what Christmas Break will be like.

(I know, I know.  When will I ever learn?)

Movies and hot chocolate and baking and Christmas lights and board games. . . you get the idea.

We've done some of that.  We have.

Being a teacher/coach's wife, all of the extra evenings and weekends and planning/grading time at home, are but a distant memory when my Coach is home for TWO WEEKS at Christmas.

But we spend it catching up on what he wasn't here for during football season and the first half of basketball season.  Never mind that he's had practice most days.

Carpet cleaning, repairs around the house (and trips to Lowe's), cleaning grout, sealing granite and working on the mess in the garage.  The yard, the cars, organizing paper work and cleaning out closets.  Great fun.

EVEN if we didn't have anything extra that has to be done, dealing with the kids is a FULL TIME JOB in and of itself… for the bigs, can I go, do, get, watch, have over??  For the littles, learning to work things out and get along and play together and enjoy one another.  OK.  All of us need more of that.

It's been a good break.  It has.  Family.  Laughter.  Sweet times together. And we've gotten SO MUCH done. I'm grateful.

Even if looking at the calendar for next week makes me sweat.

This is a season.  For the Coach and I?  A busy one.  I know we won't EVER, again, have all eight at our beloved school, together, each day.  In four short years?  We will have three in college.  Lord willing.

I know this.  But it doesn't make it any easier to keep up right NOW.

In this New Year?  Lord, help me to continue to learn to allow You to lead me.  Every moment.  Everyday.  To let some things go (and I don't mean the living room - which right now is a frightful sight).  To hold tightly to others (like sweet moments with my family).

To hold tightly to YOU.

Now if I can just remember to order decaf next time I take Daughter (#2) to Starbucks at 4:30 in the afternoon.

Happy 2014 to each of you.  With my gratefulness for you and the blessing you are to me and to my troops.  With my prayers that in this coming year, you will know Christ more fully.  And most of all?  That you and I will understand that HIS righteousness is completely sufficient and if you are IN Christ, it is YOURS.  Thank you, Jesus!

I honestly have no idea. . .

A few posts have drifted through my mind in the last month.  Month.  How has it been a whole month since I last wrote?  Sigh.

We got beat in that second week of football playoffs and basketball has hit full force.  I'm not sure if I'm just old, or tired, or cranky, or all three. . . but I'm not handling basketball season as well as I expected.  It's busier than it's ever been (with five playing) and some weeks we've had as many as nine games.  I love watching my troops play (I do!), but I'm much less tolerant than I imagined of the officials, opposing fans, and just the schedule in general.  Yikes.

Maybe all of that wouldn't be so bad, if I were more on top of things at home.  But I'm not.  We finally got the Christmas cards ready to mail (after they sat on the desk for 5 days) last night.  The gifts aren't all bought.  Not even close.  The baking list is still just a list.  And we are hoping to take a quick trip to our favorite Christmas spot this weekend with the grandparents.

I don't have to mention (do I?) all that needs to be done?

Along with games tonight and tomorrow night.

Mostly, I just feel like crawling back into bed.  And I find myself evaluating what really matters and what are we REALLY spending our time on (yes, too many Hallmark Christmas movies, I'm sure!), and what we might need to let go.

We had TWO snow days, recently - loved having my troops home - got absolutely nothing done - but on the first day out of school we loaded the troops up in Daughter's (#2) and Grandmother's 4 wheel drive cars and went to see the new Disney movie, Frozen.

Loved it.

I keep thinking about "Let it Go."



Let the excessiveness of Christmas go.

Let the tons of gifts go (we're doing ONE for each of the troops).

Let the ideas of a perfectly cleaned home and perfectly wrapped gifts and perfectly prepared goodies and perfectly EARLY Christmas cards and perfectly hand-made thoughtful teacher gifts for 38. . .

GO.

Let the expectations of my troops - asking them to quit being kids who are learning, and thinking they should be grown, fully understanding, mature adults (even when I'm not). . .

GO.

Let those expectations of how everyone should behave (including myself!), how things should look, what should get done. . .

GO.

It's not physically possible to accomplish it all.  It's not.

And letting it go (I'm working on it, at least!), leaves room for other things.  A minute on my blog with a second cup of coffee while the list sits.

Decorating the house for Christmas (even minimally).

Running the Turkey Trot with my Coach on Thanksgiving morn.

Spending Thanksgiving with the Coach's HUGE family.

Celebrating Son's (#1) EIGHTEENTH birthday and Daughter's (#5) TWELFTH.  Yikes.

Gathering lots of eggs!

Completing countless projects for school, with the bigs taking finals this week.

Enjoying Christmas parties with sweet friends.

Going on mission field trips with my girls - preforming the nativity at nursing homes, delivering gifts, singing at the mall.

A wedding of two of the coach's former students.

Sleepovers (even on school nights - gasp!) for my girls.

Friends of the bigs - coming and going - coming and going.  With brownies and muffins always here to share.

Afternoon coffee dates with my Coach on snow days and Sundays, when the weekends are full.

A matinee of "A Christmas Carol".  Lovely.

Visiting sweet friends in the hospital and welcoming new babies.

Making gifts for "Faith Friends" and "Secret Sisters" and countless trips to Hobby Lobby with my girls.

Celebrating our 19th anniversary with the younger kids' Christmas Program at school and watching my biggest big boy play the role of Rabbi Simeon.  I didn't even cry.

And you know what?  Just the day to day cooking, cleaning, baking, washing, folding, ironing.  It's a blessing, too.  Each of my troops fills my heart.  I love them so dearly.  Even with all of the mess.

Times up for now.  Washer repairman coming this morning, bundt cake to make for Christmas Eve and put in the freezer, and Son's (#4) basketball game, along with dinner, homework, and Christmas parties GALORE, tomorrow.

If I don't get it done before next Tuesday. . . and what are the chances??  Let me go ahead and say. . .

MERRY CHRISTMAS Dear Ones.

May your hearts be filled with the knowledge of our Savior and the PEACE He brings to our souls.

~Mrs. Troop

Meanwhile at the Coach's house. . .

This morning we had a rare moment.  The Coach and I were both awake and still in bed.  At the same time.  I know, right?  He usually gets up at 5.  And I . . . don't.  Get up at 5.  Ugh.

As I came to consciousness and realized he was STILL THERE, I rolled over and noticed he was staring at the ceiling.

"What are you thinking about?" I asked him.

"How to stop Davis."  He answered.  (Our opponent for this week's football game, of course.)

Almost like, "Duh.  What else would I be thinking about?"  And honestly if I hadn't just been waking up, I wouldn't have even asked.  Only half asleep would I wonder what he's thinking about.

I get it.  I do.

After 19 years and fewer trips to the 2nd week of playoffs, it's a big deal.

Most people probably realize that being married to a football coach requires a lot of time in the practice and game sense.

What they may not realize is that during football season, my precious man eats, sleeps, and breathes football.  He watches film, diagrams plays, jots notes on film, the laptop, his ipad, and countless sheets of paper.

He gets up at five everyday to watch more film.  Even on Saturday.

Even when we don't get home from games until midnight.  He's up and back at it 5 hours later.

I'm not complaining.

I'm tired, but I'm not complaining.

I've grown to love football, too.  I've managed to become a screaming, jumping, crazy, maniacal fan in the four years MY boy has been out there playing with the Varsity.  I'm the embarrassment of the Coach's family - all who sit calmly no matter what the bad call or interception or last minute hail mary pass for a touchdown. And yes, it's OK if they act like I'm not related.

But when preparing for the week's game IS our life here at the troops. . . it's a big deal.

Of course my preparations are different.  I'm thinking who is riding with us to the game (one time I accidentally ended up with more kids than seats - oops!)?  How far away is it and how early do we need to leave?  Will we eat dinner before we leave or on the way?  Do I have directions or an address and have I saved them on my phone (sometimes you just have to find the right highway exit and look for the lights!)  Do I have enough cash to get umpteen kids into the game and are the stadium seats and blankets in the van from last week?  Will everyone need hats/gloves/coats?  Will the Coach be able to ride home with us or will he be taking the bus back to school (This is huge because it means I either have help putting the kids to bed at 11:30. . . or I don't.)?

So you can see it's what we do.  And it's a lot of work for my man.  And our troops.

It's a lot of fun, too.

And although I'm eversograteful for the character it's developed in my husband and sons (with many more years to come, Lord willing), it's great fun to win, too.

I'm pretty sure my character has grown in a negative sense.  As I may or may not have screamed "ARE YOU KIDDING ME???" at a call or two last Friday.

I'm not proud of this, of course.

But I sure am proud of my Crusaders.

GO BIG BLUE!

(Here's to hoping that basketball season leaves more time for writing?  HA!)

Reaching new lows. . . every single day.

Some weeks I'm not sure how we keep on keeping on over here.  I know we have soverymuch to be grateful for.  And I am.  But OH the mess and OH the drama of . . . well. . . I guess that would be human beings.  I may have eight kids, but I'm sure your kids have drama, too.  (Please say yes.)

Last week Little Man got sick early Monday morning.  On the carpet.  Which is fine, because here enters "handy dandy steam cleaner".  But obviously that wasn't on my agenda for the day.  Duh.  I don't really mind setting aside my "list" and snuggling with a sweet 6 year old.  But it doesn't take long to get behind.

He spent a day resting and was back at school Tuesday. Wednesday, two of the kids had eye appointments and one had piano.  And I may have baked 14 dozen cookies for our Fall Festival bake sale at school.  Thursday WAS the Fall Festival and that is some serious fun.  And I was tired.  We ended up with a group of football guys watching the OU game here, two girls spending the night, and I'm pretty sure more kids actually slept here, but who is counting (The house was a wreck so the kids just blended in.)?  Friday we were out of school.  The football guys had breakfast, one of my girlies had a birthday party, we had lunch with Granddad, and our last regular season home football game/senior night.  That was quite possibly the windiest game I've attended in 19 years.  The fact that it was miserable weather made it easier to not get emotional about my first-born graduating from high school, though.  So there's that.

Saturday, Granddad came to help Son (#3) built a hen house (it's getting colder) and the three little girls had basketball games.  Thanks to Granddad bringing bagels, everyone actually got breakfast - ha!  After the 1st game, daughter (#7) threw up all over the driveway upon arriving home.  So she was tucked in bed for the day with essential oils.  Another daughter also felt puny and spent the day resting.  The Coach and Son (#1) had film with the football team and then came home to work in the yard.  The hen house was finished, the house was cleaned up, the leaves and yard finished, and the Coach and I snuck out for a date night - in spite of it all. Which ended up being helpful in more ways than one because we were also out of milk.

Yesterday was quieter - with two home from church, Christmas movies galore on the Hallmark Channel, and lots of homework for the big kids.

But about 9:30 last night?  Another girlie started throwing up.  Right about the time I remembered that Little Man brought "Buzzy the Bee" home from school on Thursday and he was supposed to read books with him and take pictures at the places we went and fill out his "favorites".

Oh.  And he had snacks for his class this week, too.  (And no, the snack basket hadn't even made it out of the van, yet.  Sigh.)

So I not only do NOT have my act together, I've managed to reach new lows at the troops.  Poor Little Man.  Think I can get fired from "Kindergarten Mom"?  At least we didn't LOSE Buzzy (it could happen).  We just lost the Coach's phone.  But I found it.  After he left this morning.

I realize that none of this is a big deal and none of it is long-term and we really are blessed beyond my understanding.  With healthy (most of the time) kids whom we love and enjoy and who love us, too.  That's no small thing and I am grateful.  But those moments when being a mom of eight feels overwhelming?  Are becoming more and more frequent.  Just ask Buzzy.

If you need me, I'll just be hanging here with stomach virus round 3.

Happy Monday!

This and That

In no particular order (because that would take too much energy - ha!):

Our FIRST eight eggs from our chickens!  

 Sweet and FUN surprise from a sis-in-law.  How cute is that?

 Beans and Cornbread. 

Field Trip with Daughter (#6) to the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum.

Beautiful Fall weekend at the Farm House.

Field Trip to the Pumpkin Patch with Little Man.

Quick visit with our amazing Chelle!  OH how we miss her!

That's all I have time for, today.  1/2 day at school, lunch with grandparents, PT for Son (#3), eye doctor. . .  and on it goes.  Blessed.

Happy Wednesday!

And I thought I'd be better at it. . .

As a follow up to Tuesday's post, I don't suppose life is ever quite as you imagine it will be.

Sometimes it's horribly different.

Sometimes a wonderful surprise.

But it's impossible to anticipate what it will really be like.  Even tomorrow!  Things often completely change without our permission.  Think "surprise" ACL surgery for Son (#3) 6 weeks ago.  Ugh.

Before the Coach and I had a family of our own, I think we exuded confidence.  We "knew" a lot of information about parenting.  Books, seminars, classes, and most of all?  We had amazing parents in our own lives who we had learned from.  And maybe our own share of pride.  Yikes.

Turns out it was more complicated than it seemed.  (Yes, you can laugh.  I am!)

I remember when Son #1 was born. . . we walked in the door to our little house with him when he was a mere 4 hours old.  All 5.5 pounds of him.  Just the three of us.  Sat down.  Looked at each other.  Then, "What in the WORLD do we do now?"

Ha!

It was rough.  The nursing, the recovery, the lack of sleep.  I thought putting him on a schedule would be easy.  Um.  No.  I thought (later on ), teaching him "no" and to fall asleep in his bed would be a cinch.  Not so much.

I was grateful we'd done it, though, when we discovered we were expecting #2 when our little boy was 6 months old.  Ha!

I can laugh about it, now, but it was hard.  I wouldn't change it.  But it wasn't easy.

And you know what?  I wasn't that good at it, either.  I had vicious and relentless nausea.  I was exhausted (some things never change - ha!).  I couldn't gain weight (what a joke!) and I did NOT glow.  Unless "green" is glowing.

Turns out. . . becoming a mom does NOT make you instantly unselfish.  Is spite of the cute little Pinterest graphics that declare that it does.

A selfish, spoiled, self-centered, girl who really likes clean and quiet and her own personal space will not instantly morph into a fabulous mother.

Well, at least I didn't.

I wouldn't change the process.  I wouldn't pretend it's over.  And I'm eversograteful to be a momma and have my troops to show me so much about myself that I wouldn't have known otherwise.

But I've honestly had SO much to learn.

And still do.

Of course the kids ARE the thing, here.  It's our job to raise independent kids who can THINK (what an amazing concept - ha!) and make wise choices when they leave our nest.

But this doesn't happen by default.  They don't learn by being left to themselves.  They learn by being guided and taught and reminded, and allowed to fail.  Ugh.  Never mind that they are eight very different, very unique personalities.  Some of which clash with my own personality in glaring and painful ways.

Somewhere in the teaching and training and correcting and disciplining and loving and returning again and again to how little we actually KNOW about this whole process. . . we've been changed WAY more than our kids.

The Coach and I are better parents then we were 18 years ago.  In some ways.  In others. . . we've relaxed a lot (I have been much more easy going with Little Man - for better AND worse).  We laugh a LOT more.  I hope that never changes.

And in the process, we love each other AND our troops in ways I never thought possible.

Maybe the key has been the realization that we aren't good at it at all.  But that our Lord IS fully able to work in and through us and in the lives of our kiddos.  In spite of us.

They don't really need sufficient parents, anyway.  They need to know their sufficient GOD.