Football, Golf, Hockey, Football, Parties and Some More Football

It's obvious that my absence from the blog-isphere is palpable every time I get too busy, but fear not I will always return eventually.  (My attempts at wit are quite palpable as well and I hope they don't wound you.)  Freddy has been keeping us hopping but it has been a fun few months.  Football and all kinds of other things made the time fly by.  I'm so used to being busy on weeknights that I have a very sad tale for you.  My mind has become slightly addled by it.  Tuesday evening this week I was driving home from work and I realized this very fact.  

The only way I can give you an accurate picture of what happened in my mind that night is to re-create my internal thoughts.  Stop reading now if my too-long stories bore you to tears, because I can assure that this will most likely drag on a bit too long for most sane people.  I had a pretty normal long day at work and left the office about 6pm.  I was headed north and flipping through the radio stations looking for tunes because NPR wasn't too interesting at that moment.  I was thinking about the creamy leek dish that I had gotten the ingredients for that day and what else I was going to make with it for dinner.  I then realized that Freddy was at practice until 9:30pm and that I had nothing else scheduled for the evening.  For some reason in my brain this was not okay.  I was thinking up errands to run, people to see and things to do...  When realistically I was all caught up on my social calendar, errands and most of the chores about the house.  I began to think that it was going to be such a boring night to be home with nothing to do!  I almost tweeted how boring Tuesday was, when I finally snapped out of it.  I'd been commenting for weeks that I needed more time at home because I'm so busy all the time, blah blah blah.  I finally got it and what did I do?  I regretted it!!  I thought, "What is wrong with me?"  You are supposed to enjoy down time.  I actually had to talk myself into thinking that one night... with 3 hours of nothing at home was okay.  I had to convince myself?!?  If I had remained in the earlier mind frame, I just might have gotten the riot act from my husband when I got home.  Instead of that unappealing sounding option, I thankfully got my wits back together, went home and warmed up leftovers with my hubby and relaxed on the couch.  Whew.

Now back to what has made me slightly addled.  September held the DALMAC, Mike's annual golf vacation with college buddies, a cooking divas trip to meet Tyler Florence,  exciting football games and two bridal showers.  October held more football, a 5k, Mike's first bow kill, homecoming, a MSU hockey game, a MSU football game, making apple cider and a birthday trip to the islands of Puerto Rico and Vieques.  November is almost half way though and we've already had the end of football, the beginning of hockey, a visit from Hilary and Lego Robotics.  And, really these are just the major events.

The great news is that we've really been enjoying every bit of it and especially having Freddy making us busy and having him enjoying our already busy lives.  We have really become a well oiled little family unit in the last month or so.  Freddy makes me laugh more than I laughed all year, and I laugh a lot!  He always knows when to cheer me up and it has been really fun to be a football mom for 3 months.  On to conquer hockey Mom-dom.

Auntie-Nephew Weekend 2010

Well I'm a couple of weeks behind, but it's because I've been so busy!  That means I have a lot to catch you up on!  Two weekends ago we had the annual Auntie-Nephew Weekend 2010.  We went to Freddy's football game in Charlotte on Friday and then we headed up to the ORV trails near Baldwin, MI with the dunebuggy and the jeep for Saturday and Sunday.  The crew that we headed up north with included the two nephews, Walker and Joe, myself, Mike and Freddy.

Friday, I picked up the boys after school shopping with Freddy and my mom in Birch Run.  We ran up to the high school because Freddy had to be dropped off for the first football game that evening in Charlotte.  Then Walker, Joey and I all stayed to help with the team dinner.  It's kind of funny, but I really am learning all kinds of new things about a sport I've known my entire life.  I never had a football playing brother, so I guess I just missed many of the things that go along with having a football player.  It's a very interesting learning experience.  I'm also learning all about the St. Johns community and school traditions.  We've lived in St. Johns for over 5 years and you miss out on a whole portion of the community activities and traditions without kids.  I knew that all along, but I guess it's just more fun than I thought it would be.

Let me give you an example.  For the team dinner we worked quickly to get the food all ready for the boys and coaches.  At the appointed time the team all filed in very seriously and silently.  I was very surprised at how quiet they were and then I was quickly informed to be extra quiet as well.  The captain gave the marching orders to the rest of the team as to how they would proceed through the line (seniors first, of course) and said a really heartfelt prayer.  Then the boys came single file through the line quiet and polite, each saying thank you as they got their food.  We gave them more water and they finished up eating.  Then another surprise!  I was quickly told that each player gives each of the Moms a hug after eating.  I stood with a huge smile, told each boy good luck and received about 40 hugs.  I loved it!

On we went to the football game.  It was fun.  St. Johns killed Charlotte 54-21.  Freddy even got to play!  He went in on defense in the 4th quarter.  He got tripped up his first play in and then came out to talk to the coach.  Then he went back in for the next play, where he was actually close to getting a tackle.  But instead of a tackle, he got a 15 yard personal penalty!  He followed the offensive player right out of bounds and apparently the referee thought he pushed the opposing player once out of bounds.  We don't tend to agree, but oh well, at least he got to get in the game.

Saturday morning we were up bright and early so that we could head up north and go offroading!  The boys were bright eyed and excited through the whole 2 1/2 hour drive.  We got to the trails about 11:30, unloaded and headed out.  We had so much fun.  The jeep was a lot to handle with the big tires, so Mike drove it pretty much the whole time and I drove the buggy with rotating passengers.  I had a lot of fun ripping around the corners and up and down the hills of sand.  I must say we all looked pretty sweet in our skull bandannas too!  I think people were jealous.

After a good long day of riding, we "kinda" broke the dunebuggy.  We had a leak and ran out of clutch fluid.  Mike was able to put most of the brake fluid in the clutch pedal so that it would work better, but that left us with no brakes.  Whoops!  Freddy, Walker and I headed out to the nearest service station to pick up more fluid and Mike and Joey headed back to the parking lot with the buggy.  It was evening by then and time to head to the cabin.  We loaded up the crew and vehicles and headed to the little cabin we had rented.  We all had showers (much needed), dinner, a little campfire and then we headed to bed.  

The next morning I made pancakes and the boys packed up the truck.  We all ate and then we decided to drive to Lake Michigan near Ludington to hit the beach.  Mike found this fantastic little beach where the boys found a geocache.  Then we swam in the frigid lake for a few hours and had a picnic lunch before heading home.  Freddy had football practice that we had to hurry back for or else I think we all would have liked to stay on the beach a few hours longer.

It was a wonderful weekend with the boys, we really enjoyed our time with them.  And for the record... Joey and Walker won the cow game, despite my best efforts to sabotage them. 

 

The New Adventures of Old Becki & Mike

Well, last week we started a new adventure with a new son from a new country.  We have been going non-stop ever since.  Freddy joined us from Finland on Wednesday, August 4th and will be staying with us for a whole year.  The only reason I have time to write in my blog is because I am starting my new hobby as a hockey/football mom tonight.  We are at the ice rink so Freddy can meet his coach and some of his new teammates.  He just walked past me and he was the size of the stay puft marshmallow man. 

Freddy has been settling in very well and has made friends fast.  It is what we expected from him because been talking with him since April, but still it was great to see it actually happening.  After arriving, the very next day he went to a football conditioning practice.  Then by Sunday night at midnight he was an official part of the St Johns football team and he started 2 a days.  We have officially tired him out which I thought would take a bit longer, but we did do a number on him.  

Thursday was a day for him to unpack and poke around the house while Mike and I were at work.  He got his bearings quickly and on Friday we picked up Walker at the farm for a full day of activities.  Walker gave him a complete tour of the farm that took almost an hour!  Walker left no equipment unexplained.  It was great!  Then we spent the rest of the day running errands with Walker, Sarah and CJ.  We went to the market, out to lunch and to Sam's in Lansing.  Friday night and Saturday were spent getting ready for the party Saturday night.  The welcome cookout was fantastic and Freddy got to meet many of our best friends and family.  It was a wonderful party into the wee hours of the morning.  Freddy slept in on Sunday and then Sunday night he headed off to football practice.  He said the first night/day of practice was pretty confusing, but today he said he actually knew where he was supposed to be running when they called out the play numbers.  Monday night we wanted to see if we could all ride together efficiently for the upcoming DALMAC, so we went on our 20 mile loop around Rainbow Lake.  It was a great ride and Freddy was feeling pretty good afterward, so he thought that it would be a good idea to meet up with the hockey team tonight.  It appears that he was wrong.  He is tired!!!  Good thing we have nothing planned tomorrow and Thursday.  I think he will need the evenings to recover a bit.

We have a fun weekend upcoming.  We will be at the pond for our annual community group campout.  Freddy has practice on Saturday and we are planning a longer bike ride for Sunday.  Maybe 40 - 60 miles.  We'll see what Freddy can do.  One thing is for certain... he will not be gaining any of that "American Weight" if he keeps this up!


The adventure continues...