Basketball...A Lesson For Us All

Way back in January, we stepped onto the basketball court with Jacob. He wanted to try it out with some of his buddies and we were really excited to see him play. We forgot one thing - Jacob has never seen a basketball game, let alone played!

So, it was a hard thing to watch on that first Saturday in January. Jacob wasn't alone in his basketball skills, but you could see the joy in his eyes as he rushed off the court to sit on the bench every other quarter. We still cheered the team on despite their inexperience. The score? 36 to 11. Yeah, we needed some work.

Coach Jim was the best. So patient and should be considered for sainthood. I could never do that job! There was a lot of improvement over the following 3 months. But, Jacob grew to hate it and it showed. Frustrating wasn't the word for it, but he was consistent on one thing - running back to the bench to sit and talk for the quarter he sat out! Urgh!

Finally a couple Fridays ago we had our last game. A night game, which was a first and it was to be followed by pizza. We finally found out what motivated Jacob! He played his best game and we left the gym smiling - for real this time! AND he is playing every night in our driveway. Sometimes it takes a real long journey to get where you want to go. Lesson learned.

Irish...If Only For A Day

After living in Elmhurst for nearly 9 months now, I have begun to pick up on a few things. Like, many people have grown up here and are now raising their children here...a good thing - shows it's a great place to live. The other thing is that there are a whole heck of a lot of Irish people here...another good thing. If you've ever met a true Irishmen, then you know they are a lot of fun! Because of the vast amount of Irish-Americans, Elmhurst holds a parade that just so happens to be the second largest in the state for St. Patty's Day.

But, as we found out, it's not just the parade, after all, we are dealing with fun Irish peeps here. It's an entire day of activites to celebrate this very special day. So, we started the day off with a brunch at a friends house before the parade.

Now, being Dutch (aka ultra conservative), I kind of expected a few breakfast casseroles, coffee cake and strong coffee. Nope, this was an Irish brunch. Lesly had the biggest spread ever, severly effecting peoples choices of what they gave up for Lent, which for me and most of the other women was sweets. Then I went for the coffee. We Dutch, take it black, but if you want to have a little fun, you add some cream. Wanna get crazy, make it hazelnut. But, next to this coffee pot here? You guessed it, Baileys. Which I first thought to be chocolate milk. Good thing my kids don't care for that cause I would have poured them a big stiff drink. Anyway, next to the Baileys were the mimosas, and across from the mimosas was the bloody mary bar. It was then that I felt the 2% of Irish in me coming through. Yes, parties can be more than ham on buns with potato salad!

Let's not get too carried away, we did have a parade to go to, so we had a bit of fun and sat on Spring Road. Then we started looking around. Hmmm, were we back in Europe? Is drinking on the street legal? Apparently if you are Irish and at the Elmhurst parade. Tom was a bit disspointed that all he had was coffee. The kids didn't seem to notice and we went home with a boat load of candy.

A breather and then on to the next party, where I have never seen so much corned beef and cabbage! A night of great fun trying to pack away all 30 pounds of meat! We rolled home just in time for bed. And as we laid there, we were thankful for our great Dutch heritage, but pretty impressed with being Irish... just for the day!

Pancake Day!

There are some English things that we just can't give up - tea, biscuits, curry, and our favorite British holiday - Pancake Day!! The boys decided that they wanted to celebrate just the same way that they did back in the UK and hold some pancake races. What this entails is running with a pancake in a frying pan. You must flip and run and if you drop it, you go back to the beginning. We wanted a good race, so we needed more people. Aka, we needed a pancake party.

So, we invited our friends the Arnetts and Kennedys. Both whom have never celebrated Pancake Day and had never heard of it. We had a total of 9 boys and 1 girl (poor Ella!). We headed out to the back garden and started the chaos, I mean races! The first couple went well, but after that everyone was running with metal pan and pancakes were flying everywhere. What can I say, I wasn't meant to be a teacher, so rallying 10 children didn't go so well. But, the kids thought it was great! And the best part was the pancake dinner after. I think we went through about 50 pancakes, 1 lb of bacon and 1 lb of sausage links. With that many boys I better double up next year!

It was so great to share a new tradition! Who knows, it may just catch on...watch out for a pancake race near you next year!

Jacob and Jack during the first race

Shea vs. Will

Boys on Skis!

Last weekend, the boys and I left poor Tom behind with his calculator and balance sheets and we headed to Michigan. Our overnight stop was at the Dupins, which was so much fun as the boys played with the girls...trading DS games! Whatever quiets them down so I could catch up with Chad and Sara! Early to bed for all since we had to leave at 6am to get to ski school on time. And the 6am wake up call was brutal, but we made it to Crystal just in time!

Ok, I'm not a skier and didn't realize how much time it takes to get everyone ready. I was sweating trying to get boots and skis for everyone. And, of course, as we crossed the parking lot to ski school you could spot us from a mile away. I was carrying Jeb, who's ski boots didn't fit, two pairs of skis, a backpack, and a bag full of winter boots. We didn't fit the mold of a "skiing family," but we finally got everyone where they needed to be before Sara and I met up in the lodge.

It's pretty wierd to sit and relax not knowing where your children are in the sea of skiers just outside the window of the lodge. In fact, I'm not sure if we ever relaxed. We ended up searching for our kids. Jeb, was pretty easy to find - surrounded by 2 instructors obeying his every command, even to be picked up. Some things don't change. I spotted Aiden by his huge smile as he snowplowed down the medium hill. He had managed to ski ahead of his class and had an instructor to himself (good value for money is what I thought!). But, I couldn't spot Jacob. So, I headed to the chairlift and as I looked up the big hill, I saw him coming down. It was like seeing him walk for the first time. Jacob doesn't always look too natural at sports, but he was so comfortable sking down the hill and even managed a wave as he passed me by. It was the highlight of the day.

Oh, not to worry, there were lowlights to. I will document them to ensure my boys will read this one day and know how terrible they were in the car. The dinner stop was at McDonalds - with Jeb saying the meal was disgusting and throwing it on the floor (really?! A Happy Meal?!). After answering a billion questions of Jeb and Aiden, I finally heard Jacob from the back - "I have to go to the bathroom soooo bad!" Really, after he told me he went at the end of ski school...clearly a lie. We were in the middle of downtown Grand Rapids, with no where to go. Out came the water bottle. Unfortunetely he was a first time user - we had laundry to do when we got home. And lastly, I decided to get a car wash only to be stuck in the car wash for a half hour after driving 2 hours. I wasn't too happy.

I'll take the good with the bad, cause it all adds up to fun. There is nothing like being Queen of my house and taking my princes out of their kingdom for a few days.

Blizzard of 2011!!!

It's now classified as the third worst blizzard in Chicago's history, but to us, it was the first real snow for our boys in three years.

Tom was in heaven, having to snow blow the drive twice at night and twice in the morning. But the real fun happened when we opened the kitchen door that leads to the side yard. Drifts that were taller than Jeb greeted us. In a flash, the boys were in their snow gear and out the door. Snowforts and snow tunnels were dug, snowangels were created and getting stuck was the common theme for Jeb whose legs were just to short to trudge through the snow. The highlight for the boys was daddy lifting them up to the rooftop (and breaking the picnic table while doing so) and then jumping off the roof into the huge drifts below. I was more than a bit worried, but it actually looked like fun and the boys loved it! I have made them promise NEVER to do it again. Especially in the summer!

It all reminded me of snowstorms when I was little. We had a lot of fun. And then we looked out to see the newspaper. Tom decided that if the paper could make it's way to our house, then he could make his way into work. Bummer. So I took over digging tunnels in addition to my normal duty of making hot cocoa. Here's to winter...and may it be over soon!

Building forts in the drifts

The surprise behind the door

Jacob's jump

Aiden's jump!

Bahama Mama!

When in a new city, it becomes a must to say yes to everything that you are invited to. This is purely to meet as many people as possible with the hopes to create an inner circle of new friends. I never thought that I'd be invited to a girls weekend...in the Bahamas. But, I had to listen to my own advise and Tom was 100% behind me. So, off I went with 13 other moms for a girls weekend away.

The airport shuttle picked me up at 3:00 am on Thursday and we were on the plane by 6:00. I looked out my window 4 hours later to see beautiful blue waters and white sandy beaches. I was pumped! I turned to talk to my friend and looked out again to see clouds, right as we were descending. Nassau was covered. Just our luck!

We made the most of it and the next day it was partly cloudy. No one got sun except for me - I can manage to get burned in the cloudiest weather. I knew it was bad when a little old lady informed me of my burn in the elevator. But, upon close inspection, I determined it's what the Dutch call "a tan." With full sun the next day, SPF 50 became my new best friend.

The weekend was great. I was well aware of being the new girl, always feeling bad for the person who had to sit next to me at the pool for the day. But, by the end of the weekend it was very comfortable. And, best of all, I was relaxed!

On Sunday night, I was picked up by 4 handsome boys, whom I was more than excited to see. They even seemed happy to see me. I think we are at the point of appreciating each other once again! Yep, a weekend away is great for everyone. When's the next one??

Boring? No. Chaotic? Maybe.

I have to admit, I have been feeling a little bored with life lately. We did live a pretty exciting life up until 6 months ago and I just can't seem to get over it. But, maybe I still am living the exciting life, just not in the same category before. You know, I do have 3 boys and something is bound to happen...like it did just ten minutes ago.

Just a normal night of getting ready for bed. Aiden was overtired, Jeb was overhyper and Jacob was involved with lego building when he should have been getting ready. I finally managed to get some pjs on Jeb and just tucked him in when I rounded the corner to the bathroom to witness a crazy sight. Now, this could go many ways considering the scene of the crime was the bathroom and there were two boys in it. Funny though, it could have happened anywhere, but thank goodness it was in the privacy of my own home.

Anyway, I rounded the corner to see Aiden full out punching Jacob in the face. Aiden does this when he is tired. He is Jeckyll and Hyde. The beautiful blonde haired, blue eyed boy can be sweet as ever when he has had enough sleep, but watch out if he hasn't gotten his 12 hours! This resulted in a right hook to Jacob's face, followed by a sound of a pin dropping. Everyone was stunned. And then we heard it from Jacob, "He knocked my tooth out!" You've got to be kidding me. But, yes, there was a bloody space where Jacob's semi-wobbly tooth once stood. Aiden was horrified, Jacob was bawling, and I, well I had to leave the room cause it was too funny!

Once I gained my composure I sent Aiden off to his room, located the tooth and finally calmed Jacob down. We walked into Aiden's room to get an apology and Aiden said, "I will never punch anyone again." Sometimes I wonder how I will ever correct a bad behavior, but in this situation it has worked in my favor. At least it stayed in the family. It's a win-win for all. Aiden learns his lesson, Jacob gets some cash, and I didn't have to do much parenting to stop a bully.

Mothers of boys, call me for parenting advice anytime...we are such great examples!