Once A Year...

Once in a young lifetime one should be allowed to have as much sweetness as one can possibly want and hold.
~ Judith Olney

Or more to the point, once a year in a young lifetime, Halloween allows a child to have more candy then they could dream of.

Tonight is the night when neighborhoods will be filled with children running from house to house, yelling trick or treat, and getting enough candy to make them, their families and their pets sick for the next two months.

This is the final year of costumes in the Hinterlands. Bugaboo has hit the magic year and Mr. A hit it two years ago. I'm both sorry and not sorry to see it end. I'm sorry, becuase it means that the boys are getting older than I want them to be. I'm not sorry, because the chaos of finding just the right costume, getting them fed, walking around the neighborhood, is just more than I think it is worth sometimes for a bag of candy.

We'll still celebrate to a point. Maybe with special treats like I made this year. Bugaboo tapped me to make treats for his classroom, and after finding this recipe in a magazine at the ortho's office, this is what I came up with...



Isn't it cute? I hope the kids in Bugaboo's class enjoy them!

Have a safe and exciting Halloween!

Until later...

The Sword

Beauty is power; a smile is its sword.
~ Charles Reade

Today Bugaboo's sword is being sharpened. He's going in and getting his braces. He's a little apprehensive about this. I think Mr. A has been telling tales.

I can and I can't wait to see him with his braces. I think they're a right of passage, and I think that sight will serve as a reminder that he's not my little boy any more.

I've got Tylenol, Advil, pudding and soup at the ready.

He's at least looking forward to the pudding.

Until later...

Thursdays Are The New Fridays

At least this week...

I'm taking tomorrow off. I have to get a few things together for Bugaboo's camping expedition tomorrow night, and I haven't been able to find the time this week.

He also wants me to make a pan of brownies to take with him for the other scouts, so I'll be doing that too.

It's supposed to be a balmy 32 degrees out there tomorrow night. I wonder if I should look for some flannel pjs for him too?

Until later...

Season's Over!

Football is an honest game. It's true to life. It's a game about sharing. Football is a team game. So is life.
~ Joe Namath

Football season has come to a close. One last game, 700 billion hotdogs and brats served to hungry players and their families. It's over.

Bugaboo had a good final game. He played better in this last game then he'd played in the first game. And really, isn't that what the season is about? Improving enough at the end that you don't recognize where you were at the beginning? He had a good team to share this year's accomplishments with, and I'm grateful for that.

However...today was the first game X came and saw this year. I'd roll my eyes, but I do that to much already when it comes to him. After the game, I was congratulating Bugaboo on the different plays he'd done well on, and X had to tear him down a notch or two. Hello? It's the last game of the season. There's no need for that now.

That little drama and X's behavior at the banquet only served as a large reminder why I'm glad we're not together any longer.

I came home from the banquet after clean up and crashed. I was tired! I'm not going to do anything but sit today.

Until later...

Dessert

Life is unsure. Always eat your dessert first.
~ Anonymous

Tonight I have to make 3 pans of brownies for Bugaboo's End of Season Banquet. That's 3 rounds of timing brownies in the oven for 40 minutes. I figure I'll be done around 10.

I don't mind though, as baking is one of life's pleasures for me. I enjoy the measuring, the stirring, the opportunity to use my Kitchen-Aid mixer. Baking is more of a religion to me than it is something that has to be done.

I don't bake often for the family though. The monsters and I don't need the extra calories and most times, an extra pan of brownies just goes to waste around here.

So having an excuse to bake is a wonderful thing for me.

Tomorrow's set up, volunteer time behind the cooking lines and the tear down? Not so much.

Until later...

One Final Practice

Today is the final practice for Bugaboo's football season. I will not be sorry to see it end.

I'm not saying that it hasn't been good for Bugaboo, because it has. I'm just saying that the time commitment has been enough for a while, and I'll be glad to settle down into a slower winter season.

Bugaboo is ready for it to be over too. He's had a good time, but he's glad it is coming to a close.

So one final chance to get everything ready for Saturday's game as a last hurrah.

Until later...

Court of Honor

Sunday was Mr. A's Fall Court of Honor for Scouts. He isn't on the leadership team this six month period, so we didn't need to get there early for him to help cook.

This Court of Honor was also the first Troop activity that the Webelos have been invited to, in order to get them interested in bridging up from Cub Scouts. Bugaboo's Cub Den has seen a lot of dropping out over the years, mainly due to their leader, so it was nice to see a majority of the boys at COH taking a look.

Mr. A was excited about this COH, as he was due to receive seven merit badges. It did however cause some consternation with X, as Mr. A also had two baseball games on Sunday and had to choose between COH or baseball. Mr. A chose COH, but not without some serious pushing by X to pick baseball.

COH tends to be a roast of the Scouts by the Scoutmaster. Mr. A has yet to be roasted. Part of me thinks he's thankful, and part of me thinks that he'd like to be. It's nice to see the relationship that the Scouts have with their leadership. It is much more of a give and take relationship than you see at the Cub level.

To cap off the night, there was the Annual Parent-Scout Softball game. The parents have won the last six years, and added this year to their streak. Not without a lot of cheating by the parents...which just adds to the fun, as it is expected.

Did I mention we got our fundraising packets? Sigh.

Until later...

Big Fast Kids

When it comes to football, God is prejudiced - toward big, fast kids.
~ Chuck Mills

Bugaboo would agree to this quote today. He got thrown around the field yesterday.

The opposing center was much bigger, both in height and weight, and just threw Bugaboo around the field.

It didn't help that Bugaboo's team, for the first time this year, were harping on each other in the back field.

There were some punches thrown by both sides yesterday. Bugaboo's coach does NOT put up with that sort of behavior and all of the boys were read the riot act at the end of the game.

Bugaboo had possibly the worst game in his short football career and he was not happy.

My parents came over to watch Bugaboo play, and he wouldn't even look at them or say hello.

After the game, Bugaboo, Mr. A, their step mom and their little sister headed to watch the baseball game, which our team lost. I sure hope Bugaboo's attitude improved before they got to the stadium!

One more week of football.

Until later...

Aggressions

Football is, after all, a wonderful way to get rid of your aggressions without going to jail for it.
~ Heywood Hale Broun

Another week of football, another week of getting rid of aggressions. Today, Bugaboo's team played his best friend's team. And man, did that team have something to prove. They hadn't won a game yet, while Bugaboo's team was 1-1. The other team was pounding on Bugaboo's team.

But the boys were up to the challenge, and played very well. So did Bugaboo. I am really enjoying his transformation on the team. Watching him with the coaches, I can see him soaking up the praise, the direction when he's not doing things the best and just having that attention from a male figure. It's wonderful to see.

It was a tight game, but when all was said and done, Bugaboo's team won. 2-1 on the season!

Until later...

School Patrol

So Bugaboo got into the car yesterday, all smiles and happiness. Now, last year, this was a major deal. This year? Not so much. He's having a wonderful year, so I didn't think too much about the smiles.

We talked a little about his classes and what he had for lunch...the regular things that happen on a day to day basis.

Then he says "I'm a lieutenant!". Um...sorry? It appears that they voted for the patrol officers today, and he was voted as his class's lieutenant. Which is a great, great confidence booster for my child.

Last year, he constantly felt bullied. He felt he had no friends, that kids didn't like him, the whole gammot. But this year? He's got tons of friends, he's doing well in school and he's grown so much.

Which translates into the fact that kids like him and want to be with him, and look at him as someone who they'd be comfortable with as a leader. And so they voted him in as one of their patrol leaders. How awesome is that?

Today, at 2:45, I'll be in the school gym to watch this year's school patrol take their oath, get their badges, and then watch the new patrol leadership being sworn in. I'm not proud...much!

Until later...

What You Put In

It's not necessarily the amount of time you spend at practice that counts; it's what you put into the practice.
~ Eric Lindros

Bugaboo is getting tired of practices. The football program changed the way they do things this year for the fifth and sixth grade boys, so that they are more on par with how things will go for them once they start middle school ball.

What that means is for the first half of practice each night, the boys aren't split up into their teams, but rather split into groups based on what position they play most of the time and drilled. Bugaboo hates this part of practice. He loves being with his coach and his team, running plays and practicing for the games, but the drills? Not so much.

I've been trying to explain that this is just the way things are and that to get better, they need to run the drills, but what does a Nonnie know?

It seems that this is a common theme amoung the boys when I talk to other parents. We all agree that the drills are a good thing, the boys all agree that they aren't.

Some day Bugaboo will understand that you get out what you put into things, but right now? Not so much.

Until later...

Individual Commitment

Individual commitment to a group effort -- that is what makes a team work, a company work, a society work, a civilization work.
~ Vince Lombardi

Bugaboo is learning a lot about individual commitment this year in football. He's improved more than I can say over last year. He moves with the ball, he doesn't sit around after it has gotten out of his immediate area. He's motivated. And because he's motivated, he's giving the commitment needed on his end, to help the team win.

Yesterday, Bugaboo's team did win. We played an out of town team who just looked more like a team than we did. But that was before the game started. Once the whistle blew, our boys just went out there and refused to play without heart.

Bugaboo plays on the line, and on defense, he pushed himself through the offensive line time and time again. Sacking the quarterback, tying up the runner behind the line of scrimmage and generally introducing mayhem into the other team's back field with the J Twins.

He's got some work to do on offense. He takes his eyes away from his guy to watch the ball, and he needs to remember that he's on the line to stay with his guy, not to watch where the ball is. It'll come with time, and I'm guessing by the end of the season.

I was so proud of his efforts this week, and I told him more than once. This child of mine SOAKS up the compliments, so I make sure that he gets them when they are deserved. They make his day, and really, who doesn't have their day made by a good compliment?

The boys are all giving that individual commitment and making the team work. That's why Bugaboo's team is 1-1 on the season, and they're enjoying that record greatly. So's this Nonnie.

Until later...

Wobbly Spelling

My spelling is Wobbly. It's good spelling but it Wobbles, and the letters get in the wrong places.
~ A. A. Milne

With another school year started, the agony that is the spelling test has once again entered our lives.

Bugaboo has a spelling test every week. Most weeks there are 20 words, but this week there were only fourteen. I guess that was a gift from the teacher because it was the first test of the year and she wanted to ease the kids into the torture...or maybe that's the parents!

Four of the "words" were actually things related to the school. The name of the school (including the whole "Elementary School" bit), the name of the town we live in, the name of the principal and the name of Bugaboo's teacher. The other ten words were words "with long 'a' and long 'i'". Words like convey and hesitate.

As I go through the words with Bugaboo, I generally try to have him define them for me, hoping that will boost his vocabulary. When he can't, I give the easiest definition I can think of, but sometimes, the easiest isn't down at his level.

Bugaboo got his words on Monday. We had Monday night and Tuesday night to study for the pre-test on Wednesday. I didn't have high hopes for the possibility of success on the pre-test due to wobbly spelling, but figured it was a pre-test, so no big deal.

Bugaboo got in the car after school Wednesday and told me that if they get a 100% on their pre-test, they don't have to take the test on Friday. Well, that's an incentive we can work with! He didn't know how he did on the pre-test yet, so we still spent time studying that night.

Yesterday, he got in the car after school and was grinning from ear to ear. I asked what he was so happy about, and he said that he didn't have to take the test on Friday! Whoo-Hoo! That was a fist pumping moment for this Nonnie!

So Bugaboo and I have made a deal that we'll do our best on Monday and Tuesday nights to learn his words, so he has extra time to play the Wii the rest of the week instead of studying for the spelling test. Maybe it won't be so torturous this year.

Until later...

Collision Sport

Football isn't a contact sport, it's a collision sport. Dancing is a contact sport.
~ Duffy Daugherty

Yesterday was Bugaboo's first football game of the season. He has a wonderful coach...the same coach who spent so much time and energy as Mr. A's baseball coach this summer, so I feel confident that Bugaboo will learn a lot this year.

They had an okay outing for the first time. And while the coaches want to win, the focus this season isn't winning, but rather learning the fundamentals, which will give them a winning edge as they move on to school football.

Bugaboo's team is the Wildcats...they've got yellow jerseys with a blue wildcat on front. Their sponsors didn't want to have their name prominent on the jerseys, and it almost looks like they're part of the school teams.

It was a clear, sunny and cool day. Just the kind of day for fall football. By the time I got to the fields this morning, Bugaboo and his team were warming up and I didn't get a chance to say good morning to him.

Bugaboo got moved from left tackle to center today, and it was easy to see why. He's the biggest, both in height and weight on the team. He looks so big out on the field.

The boys had some troubles getting into the game at the start, but by the end of the game, you could see that their confidence level had improved and they were tackling much better.

Bugaboo got quite a few accolades thrown at him by the coaches during half time. "Watch Bug...see how he does it. That's the way we want you all to do it", and so on.

One one of the last plays of the game, two of our players ended up laying hurt on the field. I'm still not sure what exactly happened. Bugaboo was one of those players. It took a few minutes for the two players to get up off the field, and Bugaboo sat out the rest of the game. The coach said that it sounded like his neck snapped the wrong way when his body went another, and that Bugaboo seemed more scared than hurt.

I'm not one of those moms who rushes out to check on their kid when he gets hurt during a game. In fact, I didn't go over to Bugaboo until after the coaches talked to all of the boys after the game. X's wife however was right on top of him, and I could see that Bugaboo was getting upset with all of the attention. I might have gotten a sideways look or three from X's wife, but I know my child, and I know that he hates to have extra attention called to him.

When I finally talked to him, he said he was fine, just a little sore and didn't want anyone asking him any more...that's my boy! LOL!

So, the team might have lost, but I think Bugaboo built some confidence, he learned what it's like to be hit and he learned that he can take it. I'll take that kind of game over a win any day.

Until later...

Bugaboo's First Day

"Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world"
~ Albert Einstein

This quote is something that really personifies Bugaboo. His imagination is wonderful. He loves to create things...worlds for play, art, you name it. School on the other hand? Not so much.

Bugaboo isn't the child his brother is. He's more reserved, more shy and doesn't make friends as easily as Mr. A does. But he tries. He really does.

This year, he's the top of the school pyramid. He's the oldest class in school, which means that he's part of the School Patrol. He's the one seeing your precious Johnny and Jane across the busy street. He's the one sending people to the principal's office for infractions. I think it'll do him good to have this experience, even if it is a required part of school.

Bugaboo is starting to look like a young man too. He's almost as tall as I am, he's filling out across the shoulders, and he's at least six inches taller than any of his classmates. His face is losing that baby look that I've loved for so long and that saddens me, almost as much as it fascinates me.

He is the child that needs things just "so" and if they aren't, it can send him into a tailspin. He's had things planned for this day for a while, and I just smile when he double checks.

He's my baby who is entering his last year of elementary school. I didn't cry when he started kindergarten, because he wanted it so bad, but I think I'll cry just a little at the start of this year. He's growing up so fast.

So we're off to school in a little while. I'm hoping this year will meet, if not exceed, all of his expectations and desires.

Until later...

Braces Off, Braces On

So Mr. A got his braces off two weeks ago. He has beautiful teeth now. Bugaboo is the same age Mr. A was when he got his braces...

Which of course meant that when we went to the dentist yesterday, I asked them to give me an opinion on if he should have his first ortho consult or not.

The decision was that he should. Which isn't a bad thing, but it means I need to race to get those family pictures taken before we have metal in the familial mouth again.

Bugaboo seems a little apprehensive about the whole braces idea. I hope he'll warm up to it before the time comes for him to have them put on.

Oh, and it was a "Look Ma! No Cavities!" type of appointment too.

Until later...

A Mom Always Knows & Aren't I Civil?

We got home from school last night, and I realized that I didn't have any milk in the house. Now, that's not such a big deal, as none of us really like milk, but we were scheduled to have mashed potatoes for dinner. Since I'm such a gourmet, the instant mashed tators I'd bought needed milk instead of water to make. That meant I was off to the grocery store after giving the boys instructions to "Get Your Homework DONE!".

I wasn't gone ten minutes. I got back and Mr. A is on the phone with his dad, who had apparently called 3 times while I was gone. Three times!

Mr. A wanted to know if he could go out to dinner with his dad. Part of me wanted to tell him absolutely not, but that's the mean and petty part, so I told him I didn't care. I'm nothing if not gracious. Ha! Mr. A proceeded to tell his dad that was okay and hung up. I asked when his dad would be there, and Mr. A says that he just pulled in the drive. Hello?!?!?! It's a quarter after four in the afternoon.

Apparently, X wasn't sure how long it would take him to cross the bridge that separates his town from the rest of civilization now that it is closed except for one small lane that has to serve 50,000 commuters a day. The hour he gave himself as extra time was just that...extra time, which is why he was on my doorstep way before he was expected.

Mr. A hadn't even started getting ready for his ball game, so I went out to the car and invited X and his daughter into the house to wait. Mr. A is a teenager, so him getting ready could take 3 minutes to 30. They stood in the foyer like bumps and I kept having to brush past on my way to find whatever it was that Mr. A had lost, so I finally told them that they were more than welcome to go sit upstairs on the couch and wait. I'm not exactly sure which one of us was more surprised by my civility, but the invitation had been offered. X sat and watched me race around to help Mr. A, cook dinner and correct spelling all at the same time. I wanted to smack him and ask him to at least correct the spelling, but I didn't...see, civility!

So, they finally left for Mr. A's game and Bugaboo and I scarfed up our yummy instant potatoes before heading off to soccer. We had to cross the same bridge and had a little more trouble than X did, but we were still on time.

Bugaboo and his team won their game, and they were all happy. I raced him off the field as fast as I could to see if I couldn't catch the tail end of Mr. A's game.

Estimations were it would take 30 minutes to cross the bridge back to civilization, so I called X to tell him I didn't think we'd make it. It was already 7:10, and the ball field was at least 30 minutes from the OTHER side of the bridge. I was told that it was only the top of the second inning (in an hour and ten minutes????) and they were losing, so I said I'd see how quick we got across the bridge.

Well, we got across and I got us to the game by the top of the fourth. We walked up just as Mr. A made a spectacular catch in center field. The boys were all pumped because they'd managed to get ahead since I'd talked to X.

It came time for Mr. A to get up to bat and I walked up to where X and another of the dads were standing. I asked X if he'd been hit by a pitch yet. The answer was no and I informed them both that he'd get hit this time. The other dad just looked at me. I laughed and said that it was starting to appear that Mr. A didn't think it was a game if he hadn't gotten hit by a pitch at least once.

Mr. A took the first two balls, swung at the next, ducked down to miss getting hit for pitch four and was nailed in the head by pitch five. I just laughed. X looked at me and just shook his head. The other dad gave a shocked little laugh and said, "You weren't kidding, were you?" Um...No.

A mom always knows.

Until later...

One on One Time

This weekend Mr. A is going away with his Boy Scout Troop to do some Community Service. Each may the troop goes out to the Wisconsin Dells and takes care of things at the Easter Seals Camp. It's a good experience for him and for the troop.

With Mr. A being gone, that give Bugaboo and I some one on one time. We don't often get that time together, and I enjoy it when we do.

Bugaboo wants to go to the drive in to see Iron Man and 10000 BC. I wouldn't mind going, but once again, the CS check is late and it just isn't possible for us to go without it.

I'm hoping he'll be willing to sit at home watching movies and playing games. It'll give us time to just talk. Likely, he'll not be happy when I put the kabosh on his drive in desires...we'll have to see.

Until later...

Rain, Rain, Go Away

It's been raining for a week...okay, there've been intermingled spots of sunshine through the gloom, but it's seriously been raining longer than necessary.

Bugaboo snuck his soccer game in under the wire last night (they lost) before the rain started again and Mr. Attitude got his baseball practice in also. I missed Bugaboo's game, as it was my turn to cart Mr. Attitude to ball and sit and watch twelve 12-year-olds come together as a team.

Mr. Attitude had a tourney in the middle of April that Did. Not. Go. Well. Oh, my, but did the sight of that tourney make me wonder if we'd done the right thing putting Mr. Attitude into traveling ball this year. There was no pitching, precious little wood meeting cowhide and more errors than I want to think about. They received a arse-whooping the likes of which I haven't seen since Les Steckel was the Vikings coach.

Granted, the boys had one whole outside practice before the tourney. ONE. The Hinterlands have conspired against us mortals with the weather gods this year, and it has been one of the coldest and wettest springs I can remember in a while.

But last night watching these boys practice? They're now a team. There is chattering going on in the outfield...you know the whole "Play's at first!" and "Two outs!" kind of thing. There was chatter from the bench...the "Nice cut!" or "Now you've seen it!" thing.

I watched the boys split up into two teams and run a relay race against each other. It appears they have two sets of wheels. The coach split them up so each team had one set of wheels, and the wheels ran the anchor laps in this race. It both filled me with pride and set me to wondering, that Mr. Attitude is one of the wheels on this team. Man, watching him run is special, but can someone please tell me where in the heck he got the speed? As far as I can remember, his dad never had that kind of speed, and well...what I know about running comes from sitting on the couch and watching the Olympics. LOL!

As Mr. Attitude and I went home, the rain started again. And the radio weather came on to inform us that the rain would stop on Saturday...but we'd get snow first. Sigh.

Until later...

Just Once....

It's winter in the Hinterlands...and I mean it is winter! We've had some of the coldest weather I can remember in the past two weeks and almost no snow, which if I'm going to have cold, I want snow to go with it.

Since the boys began to roughhouse and play outside, I've not made it through a winter without having to buy another coat, or another pair of snowpants, or another hat, or another pair of gloves. Not one winter.

Apparently, this winter is no exception. Bugaboo came out of school yesterday with his jacket open. The Nonnie in me was getting ready to lecture about the fact that it was cold and he NEEDED to zip up, when he got in the car and said, "I need a new coat." Yes, the zipper had broken on his coat.

Now, some other mom might take her son to the fabric store, grab a new zipper and spend the evening ripping out the old one and putting in the new one. I'm not one of those moms. Bugaboo and I went up to a neighboring town and bought him the same jacket he started the winter with, albeit on clearance.

So, he'll go to school again today with a jacket that zips and I'll start dreaming those parental dreams of something lasting more than one season...It does happen, doesn't it?

Until later...