B's Birthday Party

Before I had children, experienced moms would tell me about the behavior of boys, including such "joys" as wrestling, burping, fighting, farting, screaming -- You get the picture! With that said, I am not sure what I expected when I invited 7 year old boys over to help Brendan celebrate his birthday this Saturday.

The day actually started with this first realization: a flat tire on our van!

We called Triple A and eventually had to have the van towed to the shop because they could not loosen the spare underneath. Then, I had to have a mom who was dropping her son off stay at the house while I went to get the van during the party! oops-

As the boys arrived, they immediately begin their sports repertoire. They played football, basketball, baseball, a little soccer, and anything other sport they could imagine. All of that made them hungry, so they devoured some pizza and snacks.

At the table is where the fun really began. One of the boys burped loudly; the rest of them started giggling and began their own burping. Trying to be the responsible mom, I cautioned them from burping. What resulted was a symphony of other bodily noises that I would have gladly traded to get the burps back. They were making fart noises executing the instruments of their hands, arms, armpits, and even legs!

I finally surrendered and just laughed, realizing that I had no other choice! The rest of the party was fun- We had brownies and ice cream, threw water balloons, and just had silly fun! Brendan was thrilled and had a great party!

I realized that sometimes you just have to let boys be boys. The crazy things they do just make them who they are, and I wouldn't want to change a thing about my boys.

Marble Watch

I have been asked by a few of you about Brendan's marble incident. Have I seen the marble yet?

(CAUTION: This is not for the faint of heart!)

Daily, since Thursday, I have Brendan tell me when he needs to "go." When he is finished, I have to do things I hate mentioning involving a zip loc bag, some fishing in the potty, and some mild squishing! YUCK! So far my trips have yielded nothing but a queasy stomach!

It was a fairly heavy marble, so it may sink before I begin my quest, so I will just keep watching. . .

Wild Nights by Joyce Carol Oates

This morning I finished another book entitled Wild Nights by Joyce Carol Oates. The concept, where the author delved into the psyche of five famous authors, captivated me immediately.

Oates details stories about Poe, Dickinson, Twain, James, and Hemingway detailing their innermost thoughts and fears leading to their demise. She tackled the daunting task of attempting to imitate the prose of these iconic authors. I did feel that she mostly captured the essence of each author; admittedly, I would imagine how impossible it would be to imitate the genius of Poe!

The book was depressing, however, as it unfolds and delivers a message of how utterly alone most of these authors felt in their lives. The book ends with the suicide of Hemingway; I found his story the most disturbing of all five! I do like her style of using a short story for each author to capture the story.

Quick thoughts:

On a scale of 1 to 5, (1 being "Hated It" - 5 being "Loved It") I would give this a 3+. It was good yet depressing.

Would I recommend it? As an English teacher, I liked reading about the authors, so YES!

Would I read it again? Potentially I would read the stories isolated, but not as a whole.

Until next book. . .

Not yet Tiger Woods

Andrew has always loved to golf. This summer he asked us if he could play in a tournament, so we obliged him and signed him up for a Future PGA tour tournament at Vitense! Yesterday, the big day arrived, and I gathered my three boys and we headed to Madison to watch Andrew play.

When we arrived, one thing was obvious: these kids were serious! They had fancy golf bags, golf gloves -- for both hands sometimes-, golf visors, the proper polo shirt with belted khakis, and a look of steely determination. Not only did they look professional, but they played it as well. We got to the driving range, and the boy who was next to Andrew was driving the ball about 200 yards. (I also think he was about 13 or so.) For those of you non-golfers, hitting 200 yards would be exciting for an adult. Andrew can drive the ball about 125 or so. Andrew's eyes expressed fear, a trepidation of what was to follow. Yet neither of us verbally acknowledged this.

As he began play, I was relieved. While the kids looked awesome, they were also fallible. Tee shots were hitting the woods and dropping, balls were errantly flying everywhere, putts were lipping the cup, etc. However, so were Andrew's. He started with a 6, 7, 6 on Par Three holes. He was bummed.

At this time, I would be remiss if I didn't mention Andrew's superlative raucous coaches in the background. If you have ever been a spectator in golf, you know that any time a player is hitting the ball, the spectators need to be silent. Tell that to my 7 year old and 3 year old who were noisily rummaging through my backpack for treats and kicking the gravel on the path. At one point Evan actually was rolling down the fairway laughing to himself all the way. Here is Evan being a coach on the side of the green-- where he wasn't even allowed to be!

Ultimately, Andrew turned everything around and began posting 4's and 5's. As this happened his confidence bolstered. You could visibly see the spring in his step return and the slight smile he has appear on lips. If you have the highest score on a hole, you get to tee off first. Andrew was able to do that a few times at the end, and he was so visibly proud!

His tournament culminated on the final hole of play. He earned his first Birdie! (If you don't golf, a birdie is one shot under par.) Essentially, he got the ball in the hole in two shots! He was thrilled. Here is his follow through on that awesome drive.

He ended the tournament by posting a 46 overall score. That put him in the middle of the pack of golfers, but I don't think he cared much. He spent a morning doing what he loved, and he proved to himself that he can play with kids older than him. (His division was 11 and under. Only he and one other boy were 8 years old. The rest were older!) I am a proud mom today~

Thoughts about Brendan on His Birthday Today

Since even before Brendan was born, he has caused me much worry. In utero, doctors diagnosed a kidney disorder. When he was three, Brendan was hospitalized for asthma in the ICU. When B was four years old, he had surgery on his kidney. (He also developed a fixation on death at this time! Scary!) When he was five, Brendan completely flubbed his kindergarten screening, making me question my decision to send him. And yesterday, he swallows a marble!

Yet for all this worry, Brendan has given my life so much fun and laughter. I can't believe that 7 years ago today he was brought into my life. In some ways I am startled that he is seven already! However, in most ways I can't remember my life without my Brendan. Here are some of my thoughts about Brendan over the years that illustrate how uniquely "Brendan" he is.

As a baby, Brendan always demonstrated a strong potential to be a bass singer. He had, and still has, a fairly deep and sonorous voice for a young kid. Watching old home movies makes me laugh as I listen to how deep his voice sounded even as a baby.

When Brendan went to preschool at age three, his teacher's name was Mrs. Domachowski. I remember him leaving preschool everyday, and we would get to the outside door, and he would realize he didn't say bye to her. He would raise his hand in a wave without looking back, and he would yell, "Bye Domachowski!" It made both her and I smile!

Brendan has such a silly side. He loves being the center of attention -- when he is in the right mood to be. Having fun for him is just a way of life. I remember one time we had the whole family over to our home for a dinner. Someone was talking about Grandma Dilley, and Brendan, who was about three, said, "She's still alive?!" We laughed and told him she was in the next room. He walked out there and looked at her in disbelief!

Brendan is quite a golfer. He just had a lesson last week, and the instructor was commenting on his natural ability to swing a club! Actually, Brendan loves all types of sports: basketball, golf, soccer, football, baseball, and anything else that resembles a sport.

Brendan has enriched our family with his optimism and silliness. He has a tender heart that I will do my best to protect until that is out of my control. I love his lingering desire to be with mom. I know that at some point he won't need to cuddle with his mother, but I cherish the moments that we do still share together. I love him with my whole heart. Brendan would respond with a sheepish grin if I told him that, and that response would be simply Brendan.

He swallowed what?

Today we were driving to swimming lessons when I heard words I never wanted to hear: "Mom, I think I swallowed something I shouldn't have." What??

To set the scene, Brendan always has something in his month. The oral fixation of a baby never seemed to go away for him. Even at his baseball tournament last weekend, I could see him chewing on his glove between plays.

As we drove the mere two blocks to swimming tonight, he found a marble/ ball in the car and had it in his mouth. All of the sudden I hear him scream so loud. I turned around and he screamed again and then told me he had swallowed something. I know he was scared to admit what it was, but he soon told me it was a marble. I asked him what color the marble was because we have those Magnetix, and he said Silver. Now, I am worried a little.

He keeps apologizing for swallowing it, and you could see that he was scared. Otherwise, he wasn't having any pain, so as a true mom of three boys I send him off to swimming lessons.

After swimming, I am starting to feel worried. What if it was a Magnetix? What is it will cause a blockage? Panic. . .Panic. . . So, I call the doctor. After a series of questions, the doctor assures me that the situation seems to be under control, seeing the B is not under distress, and he only swallowed one round object! The doctor gave me warning signs to look for, and we were back in action and off to a baseball game.

As of now, he is sleeping soundly and seems to be fine. The doctor assures me to watch the potty for evidence of my marble later this week. Keep B in your thoughts and prayers while we wait, and help us ensure that he is fine. (I truly think he is a-ok at this point!)

Stay posted for tomorrow morning's posting because tomorrow is B's birthday, and I was going to write a little about him! These things just seem to happen to Brendan.

The Chaos of Wednesday

When I wake up in the morning, I immediately begin reviewing our day's schedule. This morning as I woke up, I begrudgingly realized that it is Wednesday!

I hate Wednesdays!

Wednesdays are the busiest day of the week at our house. We run from one activity to another with just a little bit of down time in the afternoon. Let me give you a taste of my day!

6:00 - I usually wake up and exercise. Today I was too sleepy from staying up to watch 27 Dresses last night!
6:30- Evan and Brendan wake up.
7:00 Andrew gets up.
7:30- Breakfast
9:00 Andrew and Brendan have basketball camp for an hour.
9:30- During Andrew and Brendan's basketball camp, Evan has swimming lessons. Luckily, they are in the same building.
10:00- Andrew and Brendan have story time at the local library.
11:00- We usually go bowling with the boys' blue cards at the local alley. (I will talk about the blue cards sometime soon!)
12:00- Lunch and then we rest for a little while.
4:00 Andrew and Brendan have swimming lessons.
5:15: Dinner!
6:00 We leave for Andrew and Brendan's baseball game in Windsor.
8:00- We get home, boys get showered, we read books, and bed!!!!
9:00- I collapse!

My only solace from Wednesday is that tomorrow is Thursday, and we only have three commitments on Thursday. I will admit that the upside to being so busy is that the boys do not have time to argue as much. Gotta love that! Enjoy your Wednesday!