Horseshoes and a Little Faith

Last weekend we attended the annual Horseshoe Tournament--a family reunion of sorts on Lance's mom's side of the family. We try to go every year and have a great time catching up with relatives and eating some super yummy food, including peanut cake, my favorite from the family recipes. Lance and I usually slide out of the horseshoeing part, as neither one of us really has the grit or desire to throw shoes for a couple of hours, usually in the hot sun and dirt. But this year Danner and Garrison both wanted us to be on a team with them. Danner picked Lance and Garrison picked me. Lance, as usual, was a great sport and did not need to be cajoled into competing. I had the care of Kestrel as my excuse, but it seems I could not pry her sweet little form away from my mother-in-law Corli or her sister Linda--they were enthralled with her! :) So after much convincing, I decided I would throw. Certain that we would qualify the first two rounds for double elimination, my mind kept telling me I would probably only need to endure this for at the most an hour. Yes, I had a bad attitude.
For the first round Garrison and I were teamed up with, of all people--Lance and Danner! I thought for sure that they would beat us, as Lance has the most horseshoe experience, but Lance was a little off on his throw, the 12 year old was really off, and the 9 year old was extremely lucky (as usual). So Garrison and I went on to the next round, which we lost 21-13. I was actually pretty shocked that we even scored that many points, as we were playing Donovan and Brittany, whose dad has been known to win the entire tournament. We needed to lose one more round to be eliminated. I thought to myself, again with the bad attitude, "Good, just one more round....hopefully this will be quick!"
But then something kind of magical happened. Garrison wanted this win, and he was convinced we could do it--really convinced. He took coaching from Norman, our competitor, and took his throws with grace and stealth. Garrison also had total faith in me. "Come on Mom, we need a ringer--you can do it!" His cheerleading was impeccable and spot on. His earnestness was heart-melting. And I thought, what the heck--go for it, put all my heart in it, and see what happens. And it happened--we scored point after point, and each of us even got a ringer! We didn't win--the score ended up 16-21....but we played with gusto. That night Garrison taught me that I need to try things I feel a little uncomfortable with and that it is always OK to have some faith in yourself.

Why Not Smile?

R.E.M. performs a song entitled "Why Not Smile?" It is easy to get wound up in negative things when you have a tough day, etc.... But many times this week I have been reminded that my little issues, whatever they may be, only pale in comparison to real suffering in the world. I am very fortunate. So, as a recovering pessimist, I struggle with keeping the good ol' attitude up. Thanks to those who make me smile every day....why not smile?

Makin' Stuff

Okay...I had a booth at our school bazaar, and it was quite fun! I did quite a bit of crocheting this summer (and even more frantically the last couple of weeks) and was able to sell a few of my wares this last weekend. People kept asking me "How do you have the time?"....well, to be honest, it is therapy for me. I crochet and it helps me empty my mind, similar to feelings I get when I pray with prayer beads....somehow the stress of the day melts away when you stitch and count. Plus, the great part is that now (hopefully) I have shared a tiny bit of my art with others and (hopefully) it will bring a little bit of joy to them. Anyway, it was pure fun. Danner helped me sell some goodies too, so it was fun to see him be a little salesman (2 for $5!!!--that's a bargain!).

Conference

I just got back from Seattle where I attending the International Reading Association's Regional conference. I went with Brenda Paxton, a teacher at our school. We had a great time, but of course I also learned so much! I usually leave conferences feeling extremely guilty about all of the amazing things that I could be doing, but this time I was a little more patient with myself and decided on figuring out two things that I could take back to school.
I heard a writer, Ralph Fletcher, speak about how we as a society have "hushed" boys and their writing...Boys writing is often not "nice", like girl's writing, and usually has spaceships, blasters, and images of war or violence....He believes, and I do too, that boys write to be social, to communicate with their friends, to fight virtual "monsters", to create worlds of fantasy, and to impress other boys....we shouldn't be afraid of this, but we should encourage boys to be imaginative!
I came home to many green pumpkins....the boys and Lance harvested them, but many of them are still not orange....any ideas about how green pumpkins taste? I am sure they would make some funny looking jack o lanterns.

Blogging

I never thought I would blog....but then I thought that it might be nice to share stuff that's going on for those people in my life that might care a bit (like my mom!)
In all the busy-ness of life, I have realized that I relish, religiously and jealously, the time that I spend reading with my children. It is the one sacred time that never gets missed, skipped, or pushed aside by other activities. It calms me, connects me, and brings me back to simplicity.
Isn't it amazing all of the great conversations that you can have over a good book? Or even a not so good one?