Consistency

I shared this story with a few friends and then thought, I should blog it because hopefully my children will read this someday. Someday when they are parents and will understand that I am not being “mean”. I am being consistent to teach them that every action has a consequence or a reaction.

Max’s reaction the other night proved that the method to my madness is working.

Every night Max makes himself a chocolate malt. Every night he leaves the Magic Bullet on the counter when he is done. I remind him, he puts it away most of the time. I was tired of reminding. I was tired of putting it away for him.

So, I told him, “the next time you leave this on the counter, I am throwing it away. Got it?”

“Yep, I got it”.

He put it away for almost a week.

Then he left it out and I didn’t remind him, I put it in a different cupboard without telling him.

He went to make his malt and didn’t find the Magic Bullet where it was supposed to be. He didn’t ask, he didn’t whine or pout, he simply scooped ice cream into a bowl and left the kitchen after putting everything away because he knew that he shouldn't ask me because he was the reason the Magic Bullet wasn’t where it was supposed to be.

Summer Fun

School is OUT..time to plan some fun. My kids could drive me INSANE during the summer when they were younger. My friend Karol had a great suggestion, a SUMMER FUN list.

Here's how it works. We sat down and each kid picked 5 things they wanted to do over summer vacation. They have to get creative because one had to be free, one big ticket and three minimum expense.

The RULES...they couldn't ask "when" the things would happen. I would surprise them when their behavior was good or if they showed kindness to one another but I didn't do it every time they were good..gotta keep them guessing. After we did the activity, it was crossed off.

IF they were naughty. Fighting, bickering...a random thing would get crossed off the list. I would say, "you just lost #4". I would go to the list and count down 4 of the activities left and cross it off. You want to see behavior change...cross something off the list.

I'm kind of sad that we don't do a list anymore. Max is enrolled in a summer enrichment program and is gone from 8-5 everyday. We fit fun things in as time allows now but I wanted to share our old list.

So, what you need...a poster board, some markers and your imagination. We hung ours on the back of the basement door. HAVE FUN!

1. Picnic at Minnehaha Falls
2. Horse Track on buck night
3. Train downtown to the library
4. Movie at cheap theater
5. Valley Fair
6. Floor picnic and movie night at home
7. Waterpark
8. Long Bike Ride around town
9. Breakfast at the Farmers Market
10. First run movie

Cousins

A rare photo where they are all looking and smiling makes me happy:)

Wheaties Box

I've told you all about my kids and their Miracles for Mitch fundraising and today they got their ultimate trophy...a Wheaties box with their photo!

Hockey 3 on 3

As you know my son is a hockey player. He likes to have parties where we "do" something so he came up with a 3 on 3 hockey tournament 2 years ago. He requested we do it again this year because it was so much fun.

We use street sticks and a tennis ball. Both can be purchased at any sporting good store.

The age range was from 3-50 and I was surprised at how competitive everyone could be. We play first to 3 points or if it's taking a long time, first goal wins the game and the winners advance. If it's a really TIGHT game, the team has to win by 2 and they have to win by 2 for the championship. First face off of the day

We have 8 teams of 3 and a couple of the teams have 4 because they get one of the little kids. We have a bracket system set up and it's single elimination. Looks something like this:

Team 8 vs Team 1..game 1
Team 7 vs Team 2..game 2
Team 6 vs Team 3..game 3
Team 5 vs Team 4..game 4

Winner game 1 vs Winner game 3..game 5
Winner game 2 vs Winner game 4..game 6

Championship game is the winners of Game 5 and 6

I ordered 3 trophies from the local trophy place (bowling alley in our case). And, had cups of candy for 2nd place.

I served only concession food: Nachos with cheese, Pretzels with Cheese, Pizza, Hot Dogs, Popcorn and Chocolate Chip cookies.

I made a cake out of Ding Dongs because they look closest to hockey pucks.

Did you know that in MN I could NOT find hockey decorations?! Nope, not one decoration and I don't order decorations because I like to see the quality. Luckily, we plan ahead so when we went to Wild Games, my son and nephew went around and collected the hard plastic beer cups and I ran them through the dish washer and TaDa, we had "hockey" decorations to go with the plain red plates and napkins. Red and Green balloons and streamers finished the outside. And, I made these simple print outs from Microsoft Word and a color printer for the inside.

I also made the invitations on Microsoft word. Nothing fancy. They have hockey clip art, put some clip art on the page and the basic information and you're ready to go.

The kids had fun decorating our driveway to look like an ice rink and they even put up partical boards (they leaned them on my bushes to keep the puck in play) with sponsors spray painted on them.

I was told by many that this was the best party I've ever thrown!

Baseball Party

Baseball Tournament...Almost everyone played, ages ranged from 2-50. You have to kind of have an idea of who is coming so you can make the teams so you know what size shirts to buy.

I bought Hane's t-shirts at Walmart 5 for $5 and tie dyed them either RED or BLUE.

We walked to the local park and played 3 innings with a wiffle ball and bat. Everyone had a blast.

I served Popcorn (made microwave popcorn that morning and bought small popcorn bags..I used a laundry basket to hold the bags), Peanuts (bought a large bag and put them into snack size baggies) and Cracker Jacks at the game along with Gatorade and Water.

When we got home we had hot dogs, brats and chips. I made baseball sugar cookies and baseball decorated cupcakes.

Bleeding, Hurt or Dangerous?

I was lucky enough to have a practice son for the years before I was ready to be a full-time Mom. My nephew Dylan stayed with me most Friday nights starting when he was very little. I got to spend lots of time with him, playing, making cookies, snuggling and then I'd get to send him home to his Mom and collapse on the couch.

Dylan is a wonderful kid, always was. Very easy going, gentle, very smart and just plain lovable. Dylan was 2 1/2 when I got pregnant with Max. He watched all those baby birthing shows on TLC with me. He went with to the ultra sound. He helped me decorate the nursery. One of my favorite memories of that time was him laying in Max's crib when the nursery was done and saying, "This baby is going to LOVE this room". He loved Max before he met him.

They were good buddies and then Max turned 2.

I've told you what a beast Max was. How naughty he was. Well Max would get into it with Dylan. Dylan would run to me and say, "Max did this" or "Max did that". It was typically something like Max took a toy away and I'd say, "You're bigger, take it back" and then Max would come running in to tell on Dylan. Finally one day I snapped and I came up with Bleeding, Hurt or Dangerous.

Dylan came running in to tell me something Max had done or was doing and I held up my hand, stopped him from speaking and asked, "Are either of you bleeding"?

Dylan looked bewildered..."no", he said.

"Are either one of you hurt"? I asked.

"No", repeated Dylan.

"Anyone doing anything dangerous"?

He shook his head no.

I said, "Well unless one of you are bleeding, hurt or in danger or doing something dangerous, I don't want to hear about it. You two need to figure it out".

That became my new rule. If you aren't Bleeding, Hurt or Dangerous..figure it out.

All my nieces and nephews know my rule so tattling at my house doesn't happen much. Or if it does, it starts with, "Someone is going to get hurt...."

Miracles For Mitch

Four years ago my son Max spotted a sign at the gym for a kid triathlon and he was ALL over that idea. I signed him up, he trained his little 9 year old butt off and I missed it. Yes, it was one of those days on the calendar that was split with another day and I misread it as being the following week. Luckily, my friend Annie was the one who made me realize my error before the "big" day. PANIC..what the heck was I going to do?? My little guy was training hard and I missed it. It's not like they have triathlons every weekend.

Annie to the rescue.

She found Miracles of Mitch Triathlon, Kids Running For Kids Who Can't. It was 2 weeks away and close to home. I signed Max up and told him that we were doing a bigger and better triathlon, not knowing ANYthing other than what the website told me. He quickly went door to door and asked family and friends for donations since it was also a fundraiser for cancer and he raised $670 the first year.

We (Max, Claire and myself) showed up on that early Saturday morning, it was drizzling and cold and we had no idea what to expect because as all of you know, doing a triathlon or even running a 5K is NOT something I would EVER do. Max has exposed me to the world of people who run for fun, I still don't get it but I support it;). What I didn't expect was for our lives to be forever changed.

The first thing they do when you arrive is to write the name of the kid you are running for on the back of your leg. Max ran for Buzz, a boy his age with Leukemia.

Ready, set..time for the grand entrance into the park, each age group is represented and enter starting with the 7 year olds and ending with the 17 year olds all wearing their swim caps. In the front of this procession are the Miracle All Stars. The kids with cancer who the kids are running for. Smiling faces, some still bald from chemo and waving. Claire and I stood there clapping with tears running down our faces. They have one of those All Stars speak to the group before the triathlon starts. It's nothing profound, it's just a little about them and a high five shout out to the kids basically.

Flash forward another year and Claire was listening to the All Star speak. She had passed on doing it because she doesn't like swimming in a lake but helped her brother raise money. Claire is also her Mother's child and can't wrap her brain around those that run for fun.

This All Star was finally in remission and she was competing in the triathlon. Claire looked at me with tears in her eyes and said, "If she can beat cancer and do this, I can beat the lake and do it too".

The next year she did it with her brother. She didn't seem to "enjoy" it but she enjoyed being part of something so amazing. Max always finishes with a smile, high fives the next handful of runners and then asks where his butter burger that Culver's donates is at;)

This year was Claire's second time and she enjoyed herself and finished with a smile and was also asking for food when she finished.

Together they raised $1246. They have a family total of $4266 over the four years of participation.

This year I had the pleasure of standing next to one of the All Star parents while waiting for our racers to pass us (her son won't be able to do it until 2012 due to his treatment but her nephew was running) and we chatted a bit.

This short conversation gave me that knock upside the head that I needed. It put life back into perspective. I get so busy with our lives that I forget to be thankful, truly thankful. I don't have to worry if they'll be here next year. I don't have to worry about what treatment is doing to their bodies. I just get to celebrate what amazing kids they are or be irriatated at them for not listening when they should or eating what I cook. I get to be proud of them for their generosity and compassion for others. I get to hug them every single day.

So, thank you to the Miracles for Mitch foundation for changing our lives and continuing to remind us that you should take nothing for granted and hug your kids as often as you can.

At the finish line after the triathlon

With their Medals for finishing and Mitchie Award because of the money they raised