Good Sport

If there is one thing that I know about my little man is that Jack Jack is not a competitive person. He doesn't strive to be the winner all the time and he doesn't get upset when he loses. It is just not in his nature. Something that I think he honestly gets from me! Both he and I enjoy the experience of the game and the fun of it. We look at it as an opportunity to be with our friends and just be in the moment.

But over the years, we have tried Jackson in a number of sports in hopes of him finding one that he would take too or find his niche. Also, its hard not to feel the pressure of friends and neighbors pushing their kids into sports. And I can honestly admit I have felt that over the years. So we tried soccer at the age of 3. And yes we said later he was a little too young since all he did was pick daisies and watch the trains go by. We tried baseball at the age of 5, which turned out to be his least favorite. We had games two nights a week and it became very demanding for a school week. Even for me and daddy, it was too much to ask of a 5 year old to put on his game face every Tuesdays and Thursdays for 3 months straight. Eventually his favorite part about baseball was dancing in the outfield and making everyone laugh.

So this year, we tried flag football. We felt like he was old enough to understand the plays and safer than real tackle football (which mommy felt he was not ready for!). Also secretly his daddy was elated that he was playing his favorite sport! Martin even signed up to be the assistant coach and was excited and eager to take him to every practice and game despite our recent wacky weather. Ironically, we were the Steelers and Jack Jack was mighty number 62. Our season lasted 2 months and ended this past Saturday with a pizza party and trophies. AND we can now officially say that this time around Jackson really enjoyed himself. I am not saying that he turned out to be a C.J Spiller or Eli Manning but he held is own and grew into his own little player and teammate. There were trial and tribulations at first. At the beginning of the season, you could tell that this had the potential of being another soccer or baseball experience. The first practice he came home in tears because "it was confusing and hard to run straight with boys still coming at you" and "daddy didn't like the way he ran." So we had to practice for a couple of weeks on how to run and stay straight. But as practices and games went on he became better...even almost scoring twice. He found his favorite position was center. He liked hiking the ball and being able to block the other team's players from the quarterback. And most of all he enjoyed being with his friends and making new ones. He liked getting out on the field and just running. He also enjoyed watching his teammates score and make good plays.

Like I said earlier I didn't have hopes this season of him winning the Heisman but what I wanted for Jackson was to have a good time, learn how to be a good teammate and sport, and to find something that he enjoyed. As we were riding home yesterday, he asked eagerly could we sign him up again and when did the next season start...this made his mommy and daddy smile!

Game Time!

This year's Super Bowl flew under the radar considering mommy was recovering from one of her girls' weekends and daddy's favorite team, the NY Giants, weren't in it. So needless to say we weren't real passionate about either team and the thought of having to host something big was out of the question. So we played it low key and made homemade pizzas instead. Daddy made the dough in our bread maker that we pull out once a year and Jack Jack and P picked out their favorite ingredients: cheese, cheese, and more cheese. I got to make my favorite artichoke, calamata olives, and goat cheese pizza. Jack Jack liked spreading the tomato sauce and adding the pepperonis. P like sprinkling the cheese and watching the dough rise in the oven. And daddy liked tossing the dough in the air....he is a natural! And mommy liked eating it!

Pretty Terrific

Since the day he was born, I knew Jack Jack was pretty terrific. A terrific boy with a great sense of humor and adventure. A terrific boy with an amazing zest for life and a sense of curiosity that constantly keeps you on your toes. A terrific boy who at times is very emotional about his family and his friends. And on most days a terrific boy that is very helpful especially with his little sister.

This week his teacher recognized him as being pretty terrific too. He was chosen to receive the Terrific Kid Award for this month for his 1st grade class. To celebrate his achievement, he had to bring in three of his favorite things to share with the class, have a parent come eat lunch with him, and for another parent to come and read to the class. He was also asked to bring in his favorite music but we both agreed that Guns-n-Roses' "Paradise City" was inappropriate for a first grade classroom. So in lieu of the music, we sent in his favorite snack of Pirate Booty and Toy Story gummies. Well today he sent in his three favorite things.....his life-sized Froggy who he has had since birth (Thanks Aunt Linda!), his favorite drawing of a space alien, and a picture of his favorite place, Washington, DC. Last night when he was collecting his three things, I asked him, "Why these three things?" He replied, "Froggy because he is my best friend and he keeps me safe and he will go to college with me (I will remember to remind him of this when he is 18!), the drawing because I did my best on it, and the picture of our family in front of the Washington Monument because it was the best trip ever!"

Tomorrow, Martin gets the easy part by enjoying a delicious lunch of Sloppy Joes and pizza with 18 first graders (13 boys and 5 girls!). And I will be reading to his class on Friday, which I am looking forward to since I don't get to go into his class very often because of the JOB! I asked him today what did he want me to read? He said, "Skippyjon Jones because it is funny." Now I have the hard part! Have any of you ever read a Skippyjon Jones book? I am not arguing with him about the funny part, it is definitely funny but the language and Spanish accents throughout the book are insane. Enough to turn your brain into guacamole! Wish me luck! I can't complain though....it is all for a pretty terrific boy!

Training Day

As many of you know, I am not the most athletic. I start panting at the idea of jumping on a stair climber or an aerobics class. But I have found myself in a dilemma! Recently my book club group decided that we would "divide and conquer" the Cooper River Bridge Run this April. In one of our drunken escapades, we decided that we would train for the next few months and then make a fun girls' weekend out of it. It sounded good at the time.....4 Sangria's and a 6 pack later. It wasn't until Sunday that I realized that the 3 miles that I had worked up to a couple of years ago was a triumph of the past! Nearly dying after one lap around the high school track, I knew I was in for a long training session and a long couple of months. My friend Barb, who is an experienced runner and holds several marathons under her belt, thought it would be a good idea if I did some sprints! Who were we kidding...my a@# is not in shape and it is looking more like I am going to be registering as a walker/runner with no time limit! Those girls will be looking for me at the back...just call me the caboose! It was funny though as we were training, Princess P was trying to keep up with us. She kept saying she wanted to be like Barb (notice not like mommy) and run! As she was running though, she kept saying "almost there, almost there, almost there!" My thoughts exactly my Princess P...that's what mommy will be saying when she crosses that big bridge of soreness and exhaustion.

Training Session
Week 1: 1/2 mile (9 1/2 more miles to go!)
Speed: Slow

Time Out!

No one can say ever say our life is not busy! We hit the floor running at 6:15 every morning. Then it is non-stop...school, work, homework, football, boy scouts, dinner, bath, bedtime....only to wake up the next morning to do it all over again. So on days like this where our bodies tell us to slow down (unfortunately both Jack Jack and Princess P are sick) we take full advantage of it. Because days like this don't happen very often. It's nice once in a while to take a TIME OUT from life. A time out for movies, coloring, building Lego houses and spaceships, tea time with baby dolls, and dressing up like your favorite Disney princess. Life moves too fast so take a time out today!

Have you smiled today?

I don't normally use the word "hate". I feel it is a strong word that puts a number of limitations on you. But I can honestly say I have started to "hate" the television. Particulary being on at dinnertime. I use to let it slide and allow Jackson and Parsons to watch something educational or at least something with a little substance, but that has even become a problem. The televsion interurpts thoughts and distrupts conversations and turns little minds and bodies into zombies. So for the past couple of months, we have been turning off the television during dinnertime and actually have good conversations. At first the silence nearly killed us but with a little help from our smile moment/frown moment game we are off to a great start. Smile moment/frown moment is where we share a moment in our day that made us smile and a moment that made us frown. Last night, Parsons shared that her smile moment was kissing her daddy when he came home and Jackson shared that he enjoyed his Dr. Doug field trip. Our only rule is you have to lead with a smile moment and then learn from the frown moment. Our game has even inspired us to come up with other questions to ask....like if you could have any super power in the world what would it be? Of course Jackson wanted the ability of time travel, daddy wanted to be able to jump from place to place, and Granna wanted to have strength. And what do you think Mommy wanted.......the ability to eat and DRINK anything I want and be extremely thin! HEHEHEHEHEHE! I hope this makes you smile!

Rough Waters

Lately, the waters of the hurricane of life have been a little rough on the Harper clan. With lots of changes in 2010, life brought a lot of frown moments and at times we couldn't quite pick out or identify the smile moments of life. But looking back it was the smile moments that got us through. Every grey cloud did have it silver lining. Smile moments this year:

Parsons turned 2 and became potty trained!
Jackson learned to ride his bike without training wheels and lost his first tooth!
Daddy took the kids on a 12 hour trip to CT by himself for a week!
Jackson started first grade!
Mommy joined a monthly book club and enjoys the good spirits and new friendships of her neighbors! (I also turned 35!)
And it snowed in SC 3 times!

I learned a lot this past year....that things happen for a reason. Whether we want to accept this reason or not we have to keep moving and forge ahead through the rough waters. I also found it is easy to drown in the rough waters if you don't stay positive and try to find the silver lining. So I am making a promise to my family and myself for 2011 that I will try to not drown and see the positive. So with that being said..I am going to follow suit with my good friend Mary and to blog more often...and to share and record the smile moments of 2011!