The H in Mr. H is for…

We took Big D and Miss M to Busch Stadium on Sunday for the Founders Day activities. (Of course, Mr. H tagged along.) The tickets were given to my husband at work. Admission included free concession items, clubhouse and dugout tours, discounted retail items, and fun for the kids at the Family Pavilion. The team was playing in Chicago that day, but we got to watch the game on the JumboTron.

His two bottom teeth came in a few weeks ago, and now he has a brand new smile!

Last week I made hotel reservations for a single night’s stay in Bloomington, Illinois in March. Why did I make reservations to stay in a small town for one night more than six months in advance? Because I will be attending the annual Hearts at Home National Conference again, and hotels in the area fill up early. In fact, I had very few choices when making reservations this year. However, it was better than last year when I waited until January to look into hotel rooms. I suppose I should make reservations for 2010 when we check out in March.

This will be my sixth year attending the Mom’s Conference, as I usually refer to it. It is such a wonderful experience that I recommend it to every mom who will listen. Not only are the workshops inspiring and informative, but I also enjoy the car rides with my sister-in-laws and girlfriends. Not to mention the lovely dinner out we routinely treat ourselves to. I look forward to this trip all year long.

Every mom I know who has been to the conference feels the same way I do upon returning. Being in the same room with thousands of other moms makes us feel more than validated in our positions as mothers. The workshops provide us with a renewed sense of purpose and energy in our jobs. I always find that I come home with a little more patience and at least a few practical parenting ideas. And it’s nice to have a break from my everyday routine once in a while, too.

If you are a mom, I highly suggest looking into any of the upcoming Hearts at Home conferences.

October 3-4, 2008 Grand Rapids, Michigan
November 7-8, 2008 Rochester, Minnesota
March 13-14, 2009 Bloomington, Illinois

If you don’t live close enough to drive to a conference, and hopping on a plane isn’t an option, you can also order a Home Conference Packet which gives you the conference via CD. Check out the Hearts at Home website for more information!

I spent a couple of hours in the Emergency Room yesterday. My little Banana had to get her head stitched up. She ran smack into the edge of the deck around my sister-in-law’s pool. It just happened to be forehead height, and she hit it hard. I didn’t know that foreheads could bleed so much!

It was a pretty deep cut, but I’m not sure I would have been so quick to go to the hospital if we hadn’t been at my sister-in-law’s. Being a nurse she could tell right away that it was going to need some stitches. It was sure nice of my daughter to split her head open at a nurse’s house. Check out her version of a Banana split. (Get it? The Banana split her head open? Ha!)

Looking back, I feel very self-centered about the events of our day seven years ago. We were in the process of looking for a bigger house. We had applied for and been approved for the adoption of our second child and decided we’d like to spread out. On the morning of Tuesday, September 11, 2001 we had an early appointment at a real estate office to put a contract on a house we had fallen in love with the night before. My husband, my four-year-old daughter and I were in the car. My daughter was clutching the Blue’s Clues videotape she planned to watch in the TV/VCR combo they kept at the real estate office while Mom and Dad signed their lives away.

We switched on the radio and we heard the DJ's saying that the president had been moved to an undisclosed location, but we had just missed the disclosure of the circumstances. We listened closely to try to get more information, but we still had no clue what was going on by the time we arrived at the office. When we walked in, every person in that office was gathered around that tiny TV/VCR combo. We knew that Blue’s Clues was out of the question. That was a given for my husband and me, but it was a tough lesson for a four-year-old little girl.

Our agent helped us through the paperwork, but we were in a daze, and feeling like the new house we so desired was no longer important. Considering what was happening in the world, I can only describe our real estate proceedings that morning as petty. I don’t know why we didn’t just give it up and go home, but we continued despite our reservations. We left and went immediately to my husband’s parent’s house, knowing we needed to be with family.

My husband decided that he would not be going in to work that day. My daughter was supposed to go to pre-school, and I didn’t want her to go either. I didn’t want her to be out of my arms, much less out of my sight. We spent the whole day with my in-laws glued to their television set, still in the daze that had begun early that morning. We stayed until well after dinner, just wanting to be with loved ones all day long.

Despite the daze, I remember some things. I remember calling my mom at work and hearing the anxiety in her voice as she talked about trying to get through to my grandma and other relatives out of state. I remember bawling while watching the members of Congress singing "God Bless America" on the steps of the Capitol building. I remember an overwhelming mix of emotions – confusion, fear, anger, sadness – and the realization that we have so little control over our lives. But I also remember hope for the future. I remember the beginning of a new and determined patriotism; one that I still see today, but that lacks the vigor it had seven years ago. Our memory of that day will keep our patriotism strong. As a country, we really must never forget.

If you call extra runny rice cereal real food. He took to the spoon really well.

But he's not so sure about the gushy stuff that was on it.

It's taken me longer than I thought to get a handle on things, but I think I'm close. The kids and I spent five days at the country house. We spent lots of time swimming in the lake and playing on the beach. Dad came out to be with us for a few days as well. He took the kids fishing, and they caught a few big ones.

We interrupt this highly neglected blog to inform you that the neglect will continue for at least another week. Getting the kids (and myself) ready for the school year to begin sort of consumed me this past week or so. I worked so hard to get ready because I planned one last summer escape for the kids and me before the first day of school next Monday. Tomorrow we leave for the "Country House" where we’ll spend five days with no television or computer. Gasp! Whatever shall we do? I think a stop at the Library before we head out is in order. Everyone could use a new book or two to bring along. Big D has been brushing up on his reading skills in preparation for the first grade. Games and puzzles are always a big part of any trip to the country for our family. C.B. especially enjoys putting puzzles together, and Miss M is quite good at Mexican Train Dominoes and Gin Rummy. The Banana will love the lake…if she can get over the fact that there are fish that live there. Last time we were there she mostly just played in the sand. Personally, I am picturing Mr. H napping at the beach while I watch the kids swim from my lounge chair strategically placed in the shallow water. We’ll see if that dream comes true or not.