HOMEBODY

I am not typically what I would call a homebody. I can only stand about one day a week at home all day. I love that one day, but then I feel like I have to get out and see people and do something. The older I get though, I am enjoying those days at home more and more.
Since Mom's death I have found it even more needed. Sometimes I need to just grieve or cry, other times I just need the whole day to engage my brain with what needs to be done around the house. I find being there without interuption helps me process whatever is going on in my life. Today I spent the day at home in my pajamas. I happened to read Terra's blog and had to laugh. Even after your kids are older and at school all day, there are days when it is just good to stay home in your PJ's. My kids will be home in an hour and the real busyness of the day will start. I will get dressed and they will never be the wiser. Not that they would care. They love a good pajama day themselves.
Maybe it is because our craziest part of the day starts at 4 and goes till 10, that I feel a need for a day at home in the quiet. Just me and my Lord and being able to listen to His still small voice. Try it if you can. You might like it.

Luke's first wrestling match

Now the rest of the story..... Luke had his first wrestling match today. It was really fun and he enjoyed it. No tears and he won both his matches. I know, he will eventually lose more than once and we might have tears but it was good to start on a positive note. I realized quickly though that Emily will probably always be the videographer because I move around to much during wrestling matches. Even ones that involve 8 year olds.

Wrestling

I am a big fan of wrestling. I am not a fan of WWF wrestling. I like high school wrestling. Pete was a wrestler and I loved watching him. My brother Ken was a wrestler too and I have a few memories of that time. Tonight my baby boy Luke went to his first wrestling practice. He is eight. I have mixed emotions about eight year olds wrestling. I have been to enough Little Guy wrestling to see lots of little boys crying as they come off the mat. No mother wants to see his boy crying, but we must give it a whirl.
It was nothing but pure joy talking to him after practice tonight. He had to tell it all, and then every few minutes adding more detail or something he had forgotten. Everything from the team t shirts, to the wrestling shoes, to the warmup and slapping yourself all over to get ready. Then about practicing your stance and when the meets will be and if you win you get to go to Polson to wrestle. All the while a smile and tired contentment. Even drifting off to sleep adding one more tidbit as not to forget a single thing. I laughed and smiled and felt peaceful and proud inside. Ask me next weekend after his first meet how I feel inside. When the rubber hits the road, or might we say, the shoes hit the mat, the truth will be told of a mothers feeling about her little boy wrestling. Really, I can't wait. I am almost as excited as Luke and I will probably be more likely to cry than him. To be continued.....

We had such a good time for Luke's birthday. Our good friends the Flores' and the Klaudts were with us to celebrate. We went swimming, then back to the house for tacos, a treasure hunt and cake, then watched Horton Hears a Who. We ended about 10pm with Luke having a melt down from "too much birthday". He was asleep almost immediately upon his head hitting the pillow. He had a wonderful time.

Luke's Birthday

Ping Pong

Tonight we were playing ping pong, or table tennis, if you want to be technical about it. We have the table that Pete and his brothers grew up using. The kids used it quite a bit at first and then it kind of stood in the corner.
In the last week or so it has made a resurgence and the kids have enjoyed challenging each other and us (Pete and I).
Tonight I was playing Luke. We were not keeping score. We were just trying to see how many times we could get it back and forth without it hitting the ground. Our highest was 25. Then I played Rebekah a game and also Pete. It was a hoot and just plain fun.
It brought back memories of my cousins that I love so much. They had this big house with a huge living room. There was plenty of room to run around the table and play a game of around the world. Everyone would line up on both sides of the table. The person who served would hit the ball and run to the end of the line on the other side of the table. The receiving person would hit it back and run to the opposite line. When someone got out, the rest would continue until only two were left. This was the most challenging and fun part. You still had to run around the table receiving the ball and hitting it back. It was quite crazy and tiring, but I don't remember anyone getting hurt too badly and we loved it. There is a whole lot of love surrounding those memories. We enjoyed each other so much and loved challenging each other as much as possible. I hope our kids and their cousins have a chance to do that together, whether it is with ping pong of some other fun game. I hope they enjoy each other immensely and challenge each other in numerous ways. That they laugh and get tired and sweaty and make wonderful memories. Di