Nothing like a back seat driver. 

Especially a 3 year old back seat driver.

At 1 am.  On a Snow covered back country road.

As we slip slided around the roads approaching my parents the other night, I seriously thought we might end up in a ditch and all the while my 3 year old was WIDE awake and chattering non stop about all the snow.  He kept saying, “Dad, don’t get in an accident.  We wouldn’t want to get in an accident and die dad.” 

Over and over. 

Truthfully, it provided a little comic relief to Scott and I as the conditions were less than ideal.

Thankfully, we made it safely.  And my dad greeted us with his plow and tractor.  At 2 am.  He was out plowing the driveway.  My three old thought he was out to give him a tractor ride.  We figured, “Why not.  It wasn’t like he was asleep.”  Besides, how often do you get the opportunity for a 2 am tractor ride in the snow. 

The snow was gorgeous and we had a wonderful day on Wednesday.  My poor mom had to work, so I offered to bake the pies.  I baked while my Dad and Scott played in the snow with the kids.  All day. 

Then, the only thing that could make playing in 8 inches of snow at your grandparents EVEN MORE FUN, was the addition of 4 cousins and an uncle. 

Thanksgiving was a low key relaxing day.  We did a photo opp for Grandma’s Christmas card.  They went sledding again.  They did crafts and my grandparents came for a visit.   Then we ate our feast, enjoyed those pies and ended it all with watching the Steelers/Ravens game.  It was an ALMOST perfect day.  (darn that painful loss to our rival)

It was a wonderful visit.  Full of family and fun and snuggles, beautiful snow and yummy food.  I am grateful, so very grateful for my family and the opportunity to spend a few days with them.

The thing that we most fell in love with when we first saw our new house was the back yard.  We loved, LOVED the big, private back yard.

Clearly, it was not the fall when we had our love at first sight experience.

We spent the entire day tackling that beloved backyard.

Thankfully, we also made time for a little fun in the leaves.

Leaves can provide a great back drop for some smiley pictures.

Believe it or not, we actually did put the camera away and got to work.

Done and Done.

Hooray!

As a mom, there are several roles I play in the lives of my children.  One of my favorite roles is that of cheer leader.  I truly enjoy watching them compete/perform in whatever activity they are involved in and cheering them on as they do so.  Yes, that’s right.  I am that Mom you hear above the crowd cheering and squealing. 

This fall my son began a new sport.  After years of wanting to try martial arts, he started Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.   This past weekend, he competed in his first tournament.  

There is a steep learning curve for mommas when their children begin new sports. Especially sports in which they have little to no experience.  I have learned to rely heavily on Mom’s who have gone before me for key pieces of information like “What is that move my kid just did out there?” Jiu Jitsu is a lot like wrestling, with several key differences.  At least there are enough similarities, that could help this former wrestlers girlfriend as she watched her son out on the mat. 

For his first three matches, there was a coach from his gym watching him.  And since the coaches are all professionals in the sport, I actually found myself trying to stay quiet (talk about a new experience), so he could hear them and not me.   Since the things they said would actually help him as he sought to avoid a choke and come out on top.   I’d interject an occasional “Keep fighting buddy!” when it seemed quiet.  But, during his last match the coaches were all watching other matches so Scott and I screamed with all we had.   It’s kind of funny if you listen to the video as all 5 of us are cheering.  There was a point in the match where he was on top in a mount (Momma learned a few terms during this tournament) and what he really needed was a coach to tell him what to do.  At one point my husband or I yelled, “Do a move you know how to do.”  hahahaha…. profound wisdom from the sidelines.  I felt powerless having no clue how to instruct him, but wanting to encourage him as he was doing his best out there. 

I was crazy proud of him.  He fought hard in all 4 matches.  He gave it all he got and never gave up.  I was  impressed with how physically demanding it is to grapple.  What an amazing sport!  I think he and we as parents learned lots by watching our first tournament.  And we are all looking forward to his next one. 

He was super excited that their team took first at the tournament.

This wasn’t the first time my oldest daughter played the part of Super Girl for Halloween.  4 years ago she had the same role.

2009

2013

She tells me that when she’s 11 she plans to be Super Girl again… guess we are on an every 4 year rotation with this role. 

She’s been wiggling that tooth for weeks now… hoping and hoping it was ready to pull.  I could see the tip of the new one peeking through behind it so I figured it was time for it to come out.

Daddy always does the honors round here, so she sweetly begged Daddy to pull it this morning before leaving for work. 

Part way in Scott realized that maybe that tooth wasn’t as ready to come out as we thought.  But, she was determined and truly didn’t flinch once.  I was crazy impressed as it took a lot of pulling and wiggling.  She never wavered in her resolve and we realized something about our third born child this morning.

When she sets her mind to something, she goes after it.  She has much more mental strength and toughness than we realized… truly more than I saw from her older two siblings when their teeth had to come out.

Our baby girl is growing up!