A Mom Like Me

I can be a good mom, a loving mom, a supportive mom, and sometimes an embarrassing mom (by choice, of course, I didn't realize how fun it was to embarrass your children).  Yet, I must admit the title of "cool mom" is a bit elusive and is not attained as frequently as I would like to think.

However, the first weekend after school got out for the summer I pulled the ultimate "cool mom" move and grabbed hold of the title for a day.

I achieved this honor by presenting my girls with TAYLOR SWIFT CONCERT TICKETS for the opening show of her world tour in Omaha, NE.

You must first understand that both Paige and Taryn are both HUGE fans...especially, Taryn.  Since she was 5, Taryn has known all the words to many of her songs.   Check this out!

So the thought of seeing Taylor in person was almost too much to handle.  In fact, Taryn came up to me a few days before the concert and said with much sincerity, arms spread wide in front of her punctuating every word... "I just can't believe that a Mom, like you, and a girl, like me, get to do something like this."  Oh yeah ... a mom, like me.  I'm creeping up in the coolness factor.

We were headed to the concert with our friends Candace, Kylie and Katie.  Concert clothes were picked out and coordinated between Taryn and Katie days beforehand.  The two of them hijacked our phones and started taking pictures of outfits and texting them back and forth days before the concert.  (Yes they are 7!)

The night before the concert we stayed in downtown Omaha.  We walked around Old Town and even took a Cinderella carriage ride over the brick paved streets.  (Once we got started being cool moms we just couldn't stop ourselves.)  However, the most fun of that night came in the form of a huge silver slide built into the side of a hill.  We just happened to walk past the park and saw adults and kids a like sailing down.  Too. Much. Fun.  Especially after some random people handed us a wax paper to slide down on.  Yes, even Candace and I gave that a try.  Aren't we cool?  (Either that or embarrassing as we whooped it up, but I'm sticking with cool.)

As the concert approached, we got ourselves decked out...(note the coordinated outfits and hair flowers)

They were just a little excited!

And ready to rock out!

Then I have to include this picture of Paige and Taryn -- because would you please look at that smile!!  Paige just got her braces off the week before.

We walked to the Qwest Center:

And waited for the concert to begin.

And then the moment Taylor arrived on stage -- it was almost too much!

There she was!  For Real!  Singing her heart out.  It was awesome!  The costumes, the sets, the dancing, and, of course, the music!  The highlight of the night was when she stepped into a floating balcony and floated right past us!

Too cool!

One month in...

So, it's already February!!  I figure this is a good time to look at the list of items that I was inspired to commit to at the beginning of the 2011.  As we began the new year my resolutions seemed to fall into 2 categories....some big picture attitude and outlook adjustments, and some very tiny, but hopefully attainable items that will make me feel more on top of things.  

Here are three very small organizational things I am trying to commit to.

1. Put my hair-dryer away each morning.  I don't know why it is such a bother for me to throw it in the drawer when I am done with it.  It's like I'd rather spend the rest of the day tripping over the cord.  So far I'm doing pretty good on this one! Yeah me!
2. Go to bed with a clean kitchen sink.  I know how it kills some people to go to bed with dirty dishes.  Never been much of a problem for me.  However, I do think I would start the day feeling more on top of things, if I wasn't greeted by a sink full of dishes.  I'm not doing too bad here either for 2011.
3. Get up and shower before I get the kids up each morning.  I've been in the habit of showering after they head off to school, but I'm finding this wastes a lot of my day.  I know I just need to get up earlier.  Moderate success here -- it is just too hard to leave the warmth of my bed on these frigid mornings.

Now for some of my bigger picture items.  (It's actually good that I am reclaiming these a month into the year lest I forget what I determined to do.)

1. Celebrate the small victories -- such as each time I choose to smile at my kids and let something pass rather than over react.  I know I'm not going to respond with patience all the time, but I'll keep trying and celebrate each moment I do.
2. Start concentrating on what I can do for someone else (my husband, my kids, my friends) rather than what I wish they were doing for me.  In other words -- stop looking at what I can get and rather what I can give.
3. At least once a day -- actually look at my children while they are talking to me and give them my full attention.  (Again -- small goal..."once a day".  Am I pathetic?)
4. Don't let self-doubt keep me from trying something new.
5. Become a better listener.   I was watching a training video at the beginning of the year and it talked about how people who are bad listeners are so anxious to make their own point that they are usually just waiting for their turn to talk rather than listening to the one they are with and are actually having a conversation with themselves in their own head.  Sadly, I thought..."I do that."  So again with the small goal...I would like to be more self-aware and catch myself during one of those internal conversations and turn it off and really listen. 
6. Embrace our hectic life-style.  Life is simply busy, it's where we are at right now and it's what we have chosen.  So rather than complain I'm choosing to enjoy!
7. Accept the unpredictable.  Never plan to have a regular schedule or accomplish something on a regular basis.
8. Live a life "full of grace and truth."  No small task here.  I pray that with God's help each passing year will bring me closer to living this out.

So there you have the big and the small of it.  My recipe for a few steps in becoming the more attentive, content, organized, happy Jen!

November and December 2010

I am officially sick of posting pictures of our year -- I have procrastinated this post for quite some time, but now it's a matter of finishing what I started -- I can't do a year in pictures and leave out the last two months.  And there certainly were some fun memories to remember.

November

Carter turned 10.  We had a sleepover party planned complete with all the right snacks...CocaCola in little bottles, the barrel of cheese balls, Big Texas Cinamon rolls for breakfast, but then Cal and the girls got the stomach flu.  Carter was quite dissappointed we had to put the sleepover on hold, but we improvised and went to Pizza Ranch and County Fair instead.  The boys redeemed all their game tickets for these groovy glasses.  I bagged up the snacks and told the boys we were giving them a sleepover in a bag.  I brought a can opener and they drank their cokes in the car toasting "Carter and the boys".  It turned out O.K.

On to Thanksgiving:

After last Thanksgivings fiasco which you can read about here, I must say I appreciated the big table and letg room at the Fruited Plain Cafe!

Not the best picture of mom, but I had to include a picture of the men at work in their aprons.

Taryn shared parts of her 1st grade Thanksgiving book with us.

Not to be upstaged, Laremy shared a reading as well.

There's something I don't see everyday -- Carter doing dishes -- maybe I need an industrial sized dishwasher.

And to throw in one more sports photo...November also included school basketball for Paige.



December

December began with the annual Christmas Tree Hunt.

We always go to the same tree farm and every year I take pictures of the kids in the same three snowmen.  This year, I guess Paige was too old...I'm down to 2 snowmen.

Christmas Day provided sun and a fresh layer of snow.



 The entire DeJong clan gathered at our home for a Christmas Celebration.  It was a wonderful day.  Except crazy Aunt Jen (that would be me) made everyone take lots of pictures.  It has been a while since the entire group has been together and I wanted to capture it!

 Grandma and the Grandkids and 1 Great-grandchild.

 The whole gang!

 Mom and kids

And just a couple of photos from the Schelhaas Family Christmas...

I'm not even going to try to explain...

Let me explain...

I think I got a little carried away with my Happy New Year post.  I included sooo many pictures that I can no longer get a draft to load so that I can edit it.  So it only goes through October -- I'll be adding November and December in a separate post. 

And I really did start this post on New Years Day.  Now I remember why I don't scrap book or the like.  It takes A LOT of time to sort through a year of pictures, decide which ones to use and download them all.

But I'm glad a did it.  I now have actually put to use some of the thousands of pictures I took this past year.

2010 -- a good year!

Happy New Year

I had hoped to give our Christmas Greetings to all our friends and family via my blog, as I did last year, but well...that just didn't happen.  So let me take a moment to say, I hope you all had a wonderful season, celebrating our Savior's birth.

And now, on this, the first day of 2011, I have decided to take a look back at the past year with pictures from each month.  Since I don't scrap book and don't even print our digital pictures anymore, I figure this is the one place I can maybe successfully document a snapshot of our life.

2010 A Year In Pictures

January

January found us going to basketball tournaments almost every weekend for our 3rd grade son.  It also found Cal and I trying to figure out how to take an "action" photo with our new camera...a task we are yet to master.  Carter's team did really well. 

Carter especially likes trophies!

February

February found us sitting at volleyball tournaments almost every Saturday for our 6th grade daughter. Paige has proclaimed that she would just die if she couldn't play volleyball.  Certainly a love of hers.  Again -- we had so much fun watching her.  I must admit I have discovered my own inner crazy woman when I sit and watch my kids play sports -- I am not sure exactly what possesses me to yell so excitedly from the stands over an elementary school game.

March

Taryn turns 6 with a Barbie/Nail Party!

Goofy Girls!

Hey!  Look at that -- Hannah Montanna got an American Girl Doll for her birthday!



April

Paige turns 12 and we were actually still able to surprise her with a gift...

She got an I-pod Touch which I overheard her tell a friend the day before that her parents would never buy her that... ha!

A few good friends helped Paige celebrate with a sleepover and a picnic in the backyard on an unseasonably warm  April 1st. (Not sure it was warm enough for tank tops -- but whatever!)

May



Middle School Marching Band at the Tulip Fesitval in Orange City.

June

Summer brings more games to watch (and many other things worth photographing)

Softball for Paige...

Baseball for Carter...

What do you suppose they are planning?

Good old-fashioned summer fun for Taryn

Poor Taryn had to sit and watch a LOT of games -- but we allowed her to have some of her own fun with cousin Corrie!

A family shower at The Fruited Plain for Mia, my sister-in-law to be.

Canada Fishing trip.  After a day on the boat -- Carter kept right on fishing.

Not bad Cal.

The rest of the men.

Father's Day -- lucky man, lucky kids!

Nothing says summer like the neighborhood Lemonade stand!

They were ambitious kids...grossing over $20.00 for 4 hours work.  Their angle was to charge .$50 a cup and then when the customer handed them a dollar, they would look at them with all their kid cuteness and ask if they wanted their change.  Those poor customers -- what could they say?

July

Celebrating the 4th at Okoboji!

Uncle Brent giving Paige a taste of her own medicine.

Later in July we had a college friend reunion of sorts -- meeting up with 8 families in the Twin Cities.

They ate only half of the $8 bag of cotton candy!  I think we spent more on food than tickets.

It wasn't a homerun that got her so excited...it was the fact that a boy in our group got on the jumbo screen playing his air guitar ...too cute!

We then headed to a lake cabin for the remainder of the weekend. 

Paige -- the scream heard around the lake!

July also included a week with Grandpa & Grandma in Sioux Center where all three also attended theatre camp.

Paige - Playing the part of Rose in Sleeping Beauty

Carter -- a henchman (rather fitting)

Taryn -- a sweet sheep.



August

A trip to the zoo with G'pa and G'ma and Corrie.

The baby camel got the sippy cup!

Carter takes such good care of his cousin.

This bear just makes me laugh -- so I thought I'd include it.

A camping trip to Lewis & Clark State Park in Yankton, SD

Fishing again.

The good old Palamino!

September

School Starts!

Starting First Grade.

(I make my kids hold up the number of fingers of the grade they are in -- or I will never keep it all straight.)

Starting 4th Grade.

Starting 7th Grade.

A trip to the Apple Orchard with friends.

I'm not sure they are supposed to climb the trees.

Or eat the apples in the field -- but I like to live dangerously.

The kitty was the highlight for Taryn.

Fall also brought football games.

Soaked but happy after winning the championship in a downpour.

And 7th Grade School Volleyball...



October

The highlight of this month was my brother's wedding -- I have so many pictures of this special event (200 to be exact), but I narrowed it down to 18 that I wanted to include here, but I fear I am running out of space.  So I am putting out 5 here and to see more click here.

And I would be remiss if I didn't include a picture of the highlight of Carter's year...

That would be a 15 pound Salmon that Carter caught by himself in the Missouri River. 

It was such a big fish in it's species that he was awarded the Trophy Fish Award from the State.  (Dad's a little jealous!)