Happy 7th Birthday, Caroline!

Happy 7th Birthday to Caroline today!  
(Caroline, see how I changed the font to PINK to write you an extra girly message? If I knew how to add music to this blog, I'd be playing the song "Sweet Caroline" by Neil Diamond for you too.)

Strangers are always saying things like, "Cherish these moments" and "Oh, doesn't the time go quickly!"  Generally, I don't feel like the days go quickly at all.  Often, I find that Caroline helps make the days seem much, much longer.  For example, she extended her birthday by over an hour when she woke me up at 5:45am this morning to tell me that it was her birthday. Then, she woke up her brother at 6am to play a super loud game of puppy in the hallway (lots of barking that echoes well in the hall). Ben, as always, was genuinely thrilled to be given attention his big sister, especially on her birthday.

We all absolutely love Caroline, but I can't say I really understand her.  Her personality is:

Spunky

(her actual sneakers)

Free-spirited

(her actual dress)

Unpredictable

(she has selected sushi for her birthday dinner.....and I am so glad it's not hot dogs)

Creative

(actual pancake Caroline made for Ben)

I am so very curious to see what she will end up doing with all her energy, intensity, and leadership qualities. I just hope I can survive the journey.  Happy Birthday to my Sweet Caroline!

Goodbye JoePa!!

Like many thousands of Penn Staters, it was a surprisingly emotional week watching and reading all the press coverage of Joe Paterno's final days and funeral.  The pictures of him with his family touched me the most.  And, like many other thousands of Penn Staters, I never actually got to meet JoePa or speak to him, but I still feel his loss. There have been so many words written about him this week, I can't possibly add anything that hasn't been said.  But, even without knowing him, somehow he was the heart of my Penn State experience.  And, I am so grateful for all the wonderful memories.

I would like to share a photo I took standing on the field of Beaver Stadium on November 18, 1995.  It was the Michigan vs. Penn State game (the "Snow Bowl").  I took this picture with a film camera without a zoom lens, so I was very lucky to be this close.  Here is JoePa talking to the captains just before leading the team out of the tunnel onto Beaver Field.  For those Penn Staters out there, it's the tunnel under the student endzone.  

Scott went into the attic and pulled out an old program to identify the players in the photo with JoePa.
From left to right:  #22 Brian Milne, JoePa, #31 Freddie Scott, #27 Justin Williams, #38 Jon Wittman, and #89 Eric Clair.  (Does anybody recognize the player standing behind Freddie Scott?)

Now in full disclosure, I wasn't really supposed to be standing on the field before the game. Although I had already graduated, I returned to PSU for this game to stand on the field at halftime with the rest of the Varsity fencing team since we had won the National Championship in 1995.  I had been mailed a field pass for halftime, but I didn't really know where the rest of the fencers were.  Soooo.....I decided I should really take a look around the field before the game to see if they were.............meeting on the field........(I still can't believe field personnel believed that excuse).  I'll never forget how loud the cheers sound when standing on the field.  Deafening!

Since I obviously didn't find the fencing team before the game, my coach didn't know that I had made it to the game (I was driving up from North Carolina), and my coach didn't give my name to the announcer for halftime.  Thus, I was the only fencer whose name wasn't announced at halftime.  I'm sure I looked like a schmuck standing there.....but it was so worth it to be on the field to watch the team tear out of the tunnel before the game.

And the game!! What a game!!!  You can read about it HERE -- it's ranked as #9 on the all time best games at Beaver Stadium.  Thanks for all the memories, JoePa!

And for nostalgia's sake:  There's me, on the field, not getting announced! 

(I'm in the middle of the picture, turned around without a hat)

Kids Today

1)  Caroline came home with her birthday book from the library at her school a few days ago.  The school has a program where the parents purchase a book for the elementary school library for a birthday, and then the child gets to be the first person to take it out AND design a permanent bookplate for the book.  The book she picked (from a list provided by the librarian) is called the M.O.M., Mom Operating Manual, which is an amusing take on how kids can keep their moms happy.

And.......THIS is the picture she drew for the inside.  What do you think it looks like?

Caroline told me the bubbles on the left are balloons, and Dad is kissing Mom (see the arrows pointing to "CC" and "Scott").

First, I am curious why Caroline and I are now on a first name basis.

Second, I'm wondering what exactly Scott and I are doing in this picture.

Third, I am worried that I know EXACTLY what we are doing, and probably so does Caroline after a little um.... unexpected..... visit that occurred on Christmas Eve.  That is a hilarious story, which I'm not going to share here since I know that my parents read this blog.  (Hi Mom....Hi Dad).  I'll only say that sometimes things that happen in sit-coms really do happen in real life.

2) Last Saturday, we spent a consider amount of time helping Ben clean his room.  I am wondering why we bothered since this is what his room looks this morning:

Ben just asked me "Why did you take a picture of my room, Mom?"  I told him that I just wanted to share how well he disperses Legos over his carpet.  He didn't buy it.  Now, Ben wants to "put me in jail" for sharing this picture.  I suggested cleaning up his room and then I'll post before and after pictures, and that I would comment extensively on his amazing cleaning abilities.  He thought about it, but he's not interested.  However, he has stopped hanging on my arm while I type.  Instead, he has taken my noise-deadening headphones and a pencil so he could play "party rocker" and is now singing at the top of his lungs. There's never a dull moment here.

Party Rocker Ben

3)  Also in the "never a dull moment here" category is a little morning trauma Abby suffered on Wednesday when she realized that we accidentally bought her BOY sneakers at Target.  For the record, ABBY picked her own sneakers out from the GIRLS section at Target back in December and has been happily wearing them for about four weeks.  However, when she was putting her shoes before school on Wednesday, she noticed that the label on the tongue of the shoe read BOYS.  Naturally that led to tears and hysteria and emphatic cries of "I'm never wearing these again!!!!"  But it was gym day at school and those are her only sneakers that fit, so she immediately had to put them on and catch the bus. So, now I have to decide whether to buy her another pair of sneakers, GIRL ones, or to tell her to suck it up.....I'm probably going to cave on this one because I don't think I would have wanted BOY sneakers in third grade either.

So if you were wondering how we were doing, we're fine just fine.  Typical crazy things going on combined with girl scout events, planning cookie booths, a little snow last weekend, one gigantic report on dredged material, groundwater reports to validate, a certain birthday to plan, etc., etc.

Last weekend (Yes, they were outside in their PJs around 7:15 am building a snowman).

The temperature read 20 deg F.

 

Updates

1)  News Flash:  The wacky wall walker finally fell off the wall!  Ben came running into the kitchen, holding the amazingly sticky thing, and said, "GUESS WHAT? IT FELL OFF THE WALL AND IT IS STILL STICKY!  THWAP!!"  That THWAP sound is the sound of the wacky wall walker adhering to my kitchen ceiling before I could rip the damn thing carefully extract this amazing toy out of Ben's hand.  Scott judiciously moved it from the kitchen ceiling to the bathroom ceiling, where we have commenced stick experiment #2. The total number of walk walker days for location #1 = 90 days.  Pretty amazing stuff.  Sadly, I cannot reach the slime trail that this delightful toy left on my wall in the stairwell, but I'm sure we'll paint over it in 10 years or so.

2) Guess what??!!  I was assigned my very first lacrosse game for the season today.  I know you were probably on pins and needles waiting like I have been.  It's a college game on March 24th, and I get to be the HEAD UMPIRE for the first time ever for an NCAA game.  So, I think that is pretty cool.  Let's all keep our fingers crossed for a controversy-free game.

3) Guess what else??!!  I think Caroline might have used her self-vested powers to marry Ben and Abby yesterday.  It was quiet upstairs, waaaaay too quiet.  Then, Ben, Abby, and Caroline came trooping downstairs in their Sunday finest, giggling hysterically.  Ben was wearing his tuxedo (which we have really gotten a surprising amount of use out of).  There were some solemn words and some dancing, and now, I am pretty sure they are married.  (Ben does understand that he isn't really married to Abby.  I think.)

The Happy Couple.... 

4)  Abby sewed a button collage in Girl Scouts. She wanted me to blog about it for her. She might need to start her own blog soon since she is constantly saying, "You should blog about that, Mom."  So apparently, my blog mission has shifted from Searching for CC to family historian and storyteller. I'm not quite sure how to feel about that.  It is a cute button collage, though.

5) Lastly, lest you were ever concerned that the kids are lacking in sufficient Legos to keep themselves busy on a rainy day....Ben, Abby, and Caroline decided to consolidate all the Lego heads today. We're all set on mini-figures.

Bitten

Well, I've been bitten by the lacrosse bug.  I knew it was coming....It happens every January.

First, my new US Lacrosse and NCAA Lacrosse rules books came in the mail, shiny and smelling of printer ink.  I ripped open the envelope, riffled through the books, and read the pages listing all the rule changes.  (While some sports like baseball seem like they have been around forever, women's lacrosse is a relatively new sport and it's still evolving. Lots of big changes this year!)  

Since the rule book has arrived, I've been considering that I'm now another year older than the players I'll be umpiring, so I need to get off my duff and do more speedwork, which means running intervals. This year I am giving myself an extra pat on the back for starting in December. I'm not a huge fan of running intervals, especially on the treadmill (which I find truly horrible). But, if I daydream I'm tearing down the field to call a fast break while I'm doing them, they really aren't so bad.  Also, sometimes it is fun to RUN AS FAST AS YOU CAN.  When was the last time you tried doing that?  Go give it a try sometime.  Liberating!  

Then finally it was convention time. Yesterday, I attended US Lacrosse Convention and spent the entire day listening to presentations and watching video about calling the game.  It might sound tedious to you, but after eight hours yesterday I was sorry I had to leave. It's really an amazing opportunity to hear the top officials in the game -- women with 20 and 30 years experience -- presenting video of games they called last year, and talking about what they did wrong and what they did right. And, more importantly, how they are thinking in the moment while they are umpiring and what mental dialog they are having while watching the game.  Seriously inspiring.

So, now I'm fired up.  SERIOUSLY fired up to get on the field.  On tiny problem, I don't have my season schedule yet, so I can't start the countdown yet.......but it's coming!!  In the meantime, RAISE YOUR GAME, people.  I am.

    

Where's CC?

Well....I think I've finally recovered from all the Christmas festivities.  We've put away 97% of all the Christmas decorations and lights (a few stragglers from the kitchen still need to make it into the attic), and it has taken a week of a mostly "regular" schedule to feel remotely interested in writing a blog post.  

It was a busy Christmas break -- jam-packed with fun family-filled Christmas events, Abby's 9th birthday (NINE!!!), and New Year's Eve celebration with the Wright family.  All of these wonderful holiday moments were interspersed with almost constant cleaning and cooking, so I must admit that I felt weary by the time the kids returned back to school on January 3rd.  

Ben was off for a total of 17 days.  For the most part, I thoroughly enjoyed his cheerful company.  We had a lot of battles and read a lot of stories. But since he likes to sit on my lap while I type, his presence makes it both difficult to concentrate and impossible to write coherently since he keeps moving the mouse to different parts of the screen. I can't fully blame Ben, though. Mostly, I was too busy to write, either physically or just mentally.  

I did take some time and draft a detailed list of New Year's resolutions filled with metrics for evaluation, but I will reveal those resolutions in a few months after I see how well I'm doing.  So far, so good!  Don't get too excited, though, they are mostly exercise, reading, and hobby-related personal goals.  As Scott would say, the "core mission" related to Searching For CC.  Sadly, no juicy personal habits to break in 2012.  I will bore you to tears when I finally share just how many miles I would like to run in 2012.   

Here is a short highlight reel from the holidays:

Santa Ben

Abby looking WAY too grown up.  Doesn't this look older than 9?

Caroline and Aunt Trish

Ben having some kind of battle

(battles comprised >80% of Ben's Christmas break)

Christmas Eve Festivities with Parents

An Actual Photo of Me!  And I don't even look that deranged!

Side Trip to Bethlehem, PA

(I just like how this photo turned out)