Back to work Monday

What a busy weekend!
Thanks to everyone who came and celebrated Joe's birthday. He was really surprised and very happy to see you all. Now if only he could get all that work done at the farm he was planning to do yesterday. he he. I will upload some photos as soon as I get them off my camera.
Sports update: Claire's team won their soccer match on Saturday 6 to 0. Joe said the the orange team worked really well together and Claire scored 2 goals! Way to go big girl. Thanks to Aunt Annie who filled in as "Soccer Mom" and made sure the snacks were delivered and the player was on time.
Brendan's team lost to Lakeview 0 to 12. It was hard to watch Brendan fumble as the quarterback. But I was glad to see how well he handled what could have been too much for him. The team never gave up, pouted or yelled at each other. They had great spirit and tried until the final seconds. (Maybe because with no working scoreboard, they didn't know what the clock was.) Afterwards the congratulated the other team's players as we were walking off the field. The parent's of Lakeview were very impressed and thanked us. The team was a class act. On Brendan's last possession he carried the ball for the longest drive of his offense, about 22 yards. I'm glad he ended on a high note.
Ok everyone, have a great week. Thanks for checking in.

Soccer Success!

Ok..... Maybe it wasn't Mia Hamm level play, but Claire rocked the soccer field on Saturday morning. Her team won 6 to 2 but the highlight was when she was part of one of the goals. She really had the fire for a few minutes.  Claire is not really, well, in to a sport for a super long time. Shortly after the half, she was pretty spent. She was content to talk to her friends, make some new ones and enjoy the morning - watching. This is a new sport experience for me, but it was easier than I thought to amp it down. It was nice to sit back and watch those crazy parents get all worked up over a game... a. game.  Nothing more. Oh sure, a few encouraging words of support were sent out on my part. "Good job big girl. Way to stick in there. Get on up there. go orange!" But it was nice to have a more relaxed child. When retelling the story of the game to her dad on his business trip, her first comment was, "I loved snack. It was go-gurt." She had some great exercise and we flew across town to Brendan's football game at the stadium in time to see the very last play. drat. He had fun too. Their record is 0-0 and 2. double drat.

These pictures are really stinking small. I'm pretty sure blogger doesn't like my Mac. If you could see them bigger you would notice her sweet new pink shin guards and matching socks (which kind of clash with the orange jersey but we're not pointing that out). You would see the gazelle-like gate and the sheer determination on her face as she's running down the field ready to pounce. Ok, that may have been over-kill, but you have to give her props. 

This Saturday, the 27th she will take on another team in her quest for soccer dominance. 9:00 am is the start time at Line Street school for anyone with the wherewithal to enjoy fall soccer played by some super cute 1st and 2nd graders. 

I wasn't lovin' it.

I've been thinking back to my days slinging fries under the golden arches a little melancholy these days. True, at the time, they were some long days of working 5 days a week and going to school the other 2 so I could pay for college, but there may have been some lessons learned that I still use today. The basic retail thoughts of customer first were ingrained in everything we did as a polyester wearing drive thru workers. From filling out my first application with all the pertinent information and sweating through my first interview (in the lobby). Being told to park as far as possible from the entrance, leaving the best spots for customers. By arriving 15 minutes early for every shift to make sure we were ready to work when we were suppose to. We were taught to treat people (and that means kids too) with respect and kindness. We learned how to really count back change, on the fly and with everyone looking at you. We learned to prioritize and multi-task. Don't get me started on how much cleaning we did. When you know someone else is coming behind you to critique your work, you really get the glass steak-free. Many of these things are so common sense, but it's amazing how uncommon that kind of sense is. Without this job I would have never been able to pay for college. As my bills came due, I could write the check and it left me with little or no student loans to hang over my head after I graduated. True, Lansing Community College is not the upper crust of academia, but they helped me get an internship at the Lansing Journal which helped me work at the Tri-County Citizen and then on to the Saginaw News.

The funny thing is... the entire time I worked at McDonald's everyone there, including myself, was looking to find a "real" job. Now that I've been out in the work force for what the Social Security Office deems long enough to get some benefits, (but not enough to live on) I realize the importance and value of every job. I am now grateful for my time there and the valuable experience and work ethic I have today. It is good to have a job where you don't come home smelling like a Big Mac and Supersize Fry.

Back in the Hospital

I'm sorry to say that on Saturday Joe's dad, Rich, went back into the hospital. He is suffering from low blood pressure and probably needs a pacemaker but he can't have surgery until he is off some of the blood thinners he is taking for his blood clot. Please keep him and Luann in your thoughts this week. We are pretty sure everything is going to be ok, he just needs to get on the other side of this and have time to heal. Thank you for the kind thoughts and prayers.

Home from the hospital

For those of you who did not get Laura's email: Joe's dad is home from Covenant Hospital. Thank goodness! He was tired of the food and the fussing. Now he is in the comfort of his own home where his own wife can give him lots of GOOD food and fussing. He has developed a blood clot in his good foot and that means even more medication on top of his anti-biotics, steroids and other make you better drugs. He has a great attitude and will be ready to run races soon.

The First and Hopefully, Last

Finally Reese was allowed go to school like everyone else! He was very ready to get into the building with his big sister leading the way. Dad had the day off and they made it really special. He had a great time with his classmates and he is already telling me the rules of school. Tonight he said from now on he "must always say excuse me when he burps." I said, "Don't I always tell you to say excuse me?" But he thinks it's "better when I'm at home because Brendan laughs." How can a Mom  compete with that? His job was cleaning up and turning the radio on when it was clean up time. He can't wait to go back again tomorrow.

As far as Brendan is concerned, he hopes he NEVER has to go back to the surgery center again.

The nurses and staff were wonderful and tried to make this as easy as possible. It was quick and almost totally painless, but he had more fear this time than ever before. It may have been easier with a 15 month old, they don't know to be afraid. He was given a Magic Tree House Book as a gift and started reading it in the recovery room. I think we may have been in there about 3 chapters and we were bounced with our post-op instructions. He was in school by 11:15 am telling his friends about his crazy morning. I strongly advised against much football today, but I'm sure my idea of "just hanging out on the sidelines tonight" were taken under advisement and quickly forgotten. There are only 3 days until the first game against Ovid Elsie and now is not the time to be a slacker. Maybe his coaches can keep him down for the evening. Obviously my boys can listen to authority, just not mine.

Sniff. What? I can't hear you.

Does this allergy season seem a little rougher than normal? Everyone in my house is sniffin' and coughing and noses are in need of serious tissue. Maybe today's rains will help the pollen counts drop, but then I hear the mold is going up. Thank goodness for the allergy medicine in the cabinet, or we would all be a red eyed weeping mess.
The 6 month appointments in Saginaw are over and the verdicts are: Reese has fully functioning tubes and Claire's ears seem to have straightened themselves out, now Brendan is having trouble again. The ENT (Dr. Letson) wants to put his tubes back in for the 3rd time. There isn't an infection, just so much fluid he can't hear out of his left ear. Letson has been our Dr. for almost 8 years and I trust his judgement. He's not one quick to operate, even if it's minimally invasive. But this has promted us to figure out why an 8 year old hasn't outgrown a young person's problem. Dr. actually said 85% off children outgrow this problem my his age. Allergy testing is the verdict.
The kids have been told they can't have pets because 1. their dad is allergic and 2. I think they are too. Now we will find out for sure whether it's a certain tree, pet dander, grass or spores making the poor kid gush fluid. This will be our first time with an allergist and as anyone would be, I'm not thrilled about it. The images I've seen on-line are frightening and I will spare you the link. shudder! So say a small prayer on Wednesday morning. It may be our 8th surgery on the six ears, but it's nice to have some help from above to make sure things go smoothly.

First Day of School

The first day of school photo made it! Whew. It's kind of like the first day itself, a little blurry, a little frazzled and definitely cute! Claire's problem with first grade? We really don't play much, we have real work to do. Dang. That's why kindergarten rocks little girl. But she has been working so hard on her reading, it will be amazing when it clicks and she has the confidence to read more than Dick and Jane. That's not a dig on the series. Everyone starts somewhere and she's learned a great base of words, it's just more fun to read something with a little more girl power in it. 

When she can pick the titles and read me a big girl story there's no stopping this child with her amazing imagination and her killer story telling ability. Her songs are her most wonderful talent. Every verse is funnier than the first and sung to her own quirky melody. Claire is a light that draws others to her and she is so excited about this big new school year. Watch out Mrs. Stasa, this year's going to rock with Claire flair!

Scrimmage Day

Here's my favorite and scariest photo from scrimmage day on Aug. 23. Brendan worked hard to get a spot as the back up quarter back and I didn't breathe until he was on the sidelines again. I don't want to be one of those moms who scream their heads off on the from the bleachers (and Lori promised she won't LET me be) but I can see how a person can get carried away. This kid was going to sack my baby! Hello! Huge stress. That was really his job and when Brendan's on defense it's his job to bring down their cute little QB but, dang. It's not easy to watch with out screaming "Get off my son, you monster!" Ok, that would be dramatic. It's also frowned upon to yell. "Take that OE! We just scored on your hole riddled defense." Not good form either.

I'm trying to get my first day of school pictures to load, but not having much success. Stay tuned....