The Thrill of Victory - The Agony of Defeat

Bet you can't guess which team won the soccer camp "World Cup Finals".
Or maybe you can...

The Hazards Of Being A Soccer Mom

Today I walked 10 minutes down the street to pick up the boys from soccer camp.

I hung out at camp for about 20 minutes while the grown ups chatted and the boys gathered up their gear.

I walked 15 minutes down the road home (the kids were tired).

And I'm freaking sunburned!


I survived a week in Disneyland without even getting a tan, but walking 3 blocks from home and back and I'm scorched! I obviously don't get out much...

Soccer Mom

The boys are in soccer camp this week. When I went in to wake Rascal this morning, a process that is usually met with a blanket pulled over his head and the vow "I'm going to sleep forever!!", and I told him "gotta get up for soccer camp!" he bolted upright in bed and said:

"Mom! You mean it? I get to go to soccer camp TWO DAYS IN A ROW?!"

I apparently forgot to explain to Rascal that it was a week long summer camp.

"Yes silly. You get to go to soccer camp FIVE days in a row."

He immediately hopped up on top of his bed and started dancing a booty shakin' "I'm going to soccer camp! I'm going to soccer camp!! I'm going to soccer caaammmmmppppp!!!"

This is our first experience with soccer and I think the boys are having a blast, but it's hard to tell when I first come to pick them up. Today they failed to eat or drink ANYTHING in their lunch boxes at snack time (seriously, nothing was touched - not even the juice box) and when I picked them up at noon they were a mess, crying, overreacting to everything ("When I try to balance the ball on my arm like this it just keeps rolling off! Wahhhh!!!") and insisting that I carry them home (as if!).

They are going to camp with a few different friends so it is a really fun experience. We travel so far out of our home area for school during the year that we really don't have any neighborhood activities or friends. It's nice to be able to stroll the 3+ blocks with the family dog to get the kids at pick up time instead of driving the 30 minutes each way like we do for school. I don't regret making the choices we have for the boys and their education, but I am definitely more aware of the need (and my desire) to be more involved locally - especially with the cost of gas what it is today.

Perhaps we'll attempt to get our money's worth out of the soccer shin guards and sign them up in the fall for some of our local programs. I've avoided being "a soccer mom" for so long that it seems strange to even consider falling into that stereotype!

Funny Now. At The Time? Not So Much.

Rascal had a case of "the barfies" yesterday. He went out with Tonester to have a little one on one time, came back home crying and ran to the bathroom where he got sick. 7 times (he counted, not me). I think he was car sick or just clearing out some sinus drip junk because he seemed instantly relieved physically - emotionally not so much.

Rascal has this little game that he goes through whenever he has any sort of ailment - whether it's the barfies, the hiccups or a mosquito bite. We sit and cuddle, I stroke his worried head and he starts his script:

"Do you still love me when I have the barfies?"
"Yes, I still love you when you have the barfies."
"Will you still love me if I barf on my bed?"
"Of course, I will still love you if you barf on your bed."

And then he comes up with all sorts of wacky stuff that's very reminiscent of the scene in The Jerk when Steve Martin has his break down and is picking up all sorts of stuff saying "and that's all I need..."

"Will you still love me if I barf on this remote?"
"Yes, I will still love you if you barf on the remote. Try not to though, ok?"
"Will you still love me if I barf all over the mirror on the wall?"
"Yes, I will still love you if you barf on the mirror on the wall. You'll need extra love then because I'm sure you'll be possessed if you can get barf way up on that mirror."
"Will you still love me if I barf on Domino's head?"
"Well, now that you mention it..."

And then I told him the true tale of "The Great Barfies Fest 2005".

Rascal was about 1.5 and Domino almost 3. Rascal had been throwing up that night and that morning. I was on the phone with the pediatrician and I had him on my hip, with his head leaning over my shoulder in a sickly baby lump.

Suddenly, he started to get sick down my back. AT THE EXACT SAME TIME I heard Domino start shrieking from the back of the house. I threw down the phone, raced down the hall with Rascal, barf covering my back and the hall floor as we ran, to find Domino standing in a pile of his own yuck. I bent down to soothe Domino, who launched on my feet, and Rascal turned his head and launched down my front and onto Domino's head. I started laughing, because it was that or completely freak out and sob, and then threw us all into the shower where the barf fest continued.

Telling the story to Rascal and Domino last night evoked laughs that I have never seen or heard before. Belly busting boy laughs. They delighted in the gross factor and the sound effects. They begged me tell the story over and over. Each time I made the noises louder and increased the yuck factor. I was like my own Farrelly Brothers comedy.

And when the laughter subsided I said:

"So yes Rascal. I will still love you if you barf on Domino's head."

Digging A Hole

My mom likes to repeatedly remind me of a time I completely mortified her at the grocery store when I was little and said something VERY un-"pc". Hearing her tell the tale today, I feel complete empathy and I cringe each time she tells it.

Well - there is this wonderful thing called karma. And it comes in the form of grandkids.

I took the kids to McDonalds today. We go once a week after hitting the farmers market. We pick up some organic fruits and veggies with our reusable bag, then fill up on hydrogenated fats and landfill toys for lunch. It's my ying-yang, gotta keep balanced mentality.

We were sitting there eating when a very old man came in and sat directly across from us. Not only was he old, he wasn't looking too good. Seriously. And of course - nothing gets by my 2 kids...

Rascal started it off in a volume that I'm sure even the people in the drive through could hear...

"Mom. That man looks sick."

"No, he doesn't. Let's just focus on eating our lunches."

"Yes, he does Mom. He looks really sick."

"Rascal, he just looks like he's lived longer than us. Focus on your lunch."

"Mom. He looks really really really sick. I think he needs to go to the doctor."

"Maybe he's on his way there. Eat."

"Mom, is that man going to die? He looks like he's going to die."

"Ooh! Look at the happy meal bag! Over here! Look! Look! Cartoons! Toys! Lemonade! Drink some lemonade!"

"Mom, is that man going to die right now?"

"No. He's not. Please stop talking about the man. It's not polite."

"I think he looks really sick and that he should go to the hospital."

Domino chimed in. "Yeah, he's totally going to die right now."

I can only hope that the man's hearing isn't what it used to be.

They Blinded Me With Science

I wish my kids were more "outdoory". If it weren't for the water slide, I think my kids would be content staying inside all summer long. In the scorching heat we've had the past week or so, I'm totally fine with hunkering down inside with the A/C. Problem is - what to do all day that doesn't involve tv, the kids computer (it's officially dead), Leapsters and constantly trying to hurt each other with their new "Kung Fu Panda moves"?

I picked up a beginners science kit from the Scholastic book fair at Domino's school just before summer break and we put it to good use. It was a simple kit that involved water and colored tablets. For $20 we killed about 2 hours. A little on the pricey side, but I felt like I was stimulating their brains and they didn't try to "wushu finger" each other during the process.

I wondered if I was having more fun than they were...

love and live in the moment

Forgive me for making a slight detour from my typical lighterhearted "mommy blog" for a moment, but something happened recently that I need to talk about.

Recently, a friend of mine's family was murdered. Yes, the FAMILY was murdered. Husband and two sons, driving home from a BBQ next door to my sister-in-law's, were murdered in an act of road rage or just a case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

I saw the widow and daughter today and I can't even imagine her pain. She is holding it together in such a graceful and powerful manner. She is fighting a battle with the SF city District Attorney to seek the death penalty. She is holding together her remaining family of daughter and son and being strong for them all while in the middle of a horrific nightmare. She is taking the high road and battling a war on behalf of her husband and two sons - and the community as a whole.

I hugged her and felt helpless. She briefly talked about taking her son off of life support, about breaking the news to her daughter, about collapsing in a pile of dirty laundry just to get their smells again. It was all so horrible and unimaginable. It was like hearing someone tell of a dreadfully sad movie but I couldn't wrap my brain around THIS IS REAL.

At one point, she grabbed my arm and said "You have a beautiful family. Embrace every day with them." There was no "you never know when it will end" or negativity in her words - just a feeling of love and live in the moment.

There is no real point to this blog entry other than to serve as my reminder to be present, be grateful and love like there's no tomorrow.

And perhaps if you're religious you will say a few prayers on behalf of the Bologna family and hug your family a little tighter today.

It Wasn't All Bad...

Because my post about my trip to Disneyland seemed whiny and ungrateful - this photo shows that we did have fun. The evenings were the best part of our trip.