Musings

Interesting that I started this blog for a lot of reasons. Partly it was to share what we're doing in our life with others, but partly it was also for the kids to read. To remind them of the fun and the crazy and the difficult. I remember thinking that they should know, some day, that it wasn't all awesome. That when they're parents and thinking they were all perfect as kids and how come they have it so difficult as parents and that I couldn't possibly understand, they can read the blog books and know that all wasn't always awesome. It was fun and it was crazy but not always awesome. 

Well, that was all fine and well when they were 2 and 4 and 8 and even 10. I knew it was hard, but that it would pass. It was exhausting and challenging but each day started new. And it wasn't personal because they were still in their formative years and still unsure how to harness their feelings. 

But now. Well, now they're nearly 12 and 14, with 8 and 6 behind them. And each day I'm faced with the fact that they're real people. The younger two grew up faster than the older two, and I'm reminded of it every day. It's in the songs they know and the shows they watch and the things they say. But those 12 and 14 year olds. They're a totally different breed. They're fun and funny but challenging. So challenging. They think they know everything. They are alternately little children and then grown ups. They want me close but argue with everything I say. They want advice but don't take it. Each day I just throw up my arms and wonder about the next day. It couldn't be worse. Some days that's true. Other days... well, then there are other days. 

Part of the challenge of blogging is I would write this same thing over and over. Specific examples are hard because they're personal. Because it's not just writing about out of control funny toddlers or children. It's real people and real feelings and real memories. I think I'm thankful there's no blogs of what I did as a teenager. Even today I look back and think I wasn't so bad. And even the things I did only impacted me because I was so mature. And then I think about how that can't be true... because it wouldn't be true of Abby. Everything she does impacts me in some way. I can tell you the millions of things that Ava does... funny or crazy or outright mean or rude or how could that be my child moments. But Abby and now Nolan are different. They're actually navigating life and finding that it might not be easy. That you can alternately be grateful for an experience and disappointed in the experience, which is difficult to process. That you can disagree with someone but not be less loving or loved. Let's be honest, I forget those things too. 

I'm excited to see what they do. To watch Abby go to high school next year and watch her soar. But I'm equally as worried. Life is hard, and it's not bad decisions I'm worried about. It's about the illusion that it should be perfect and tv like or FB worthy, and that it's really not. It's just... life. 

All I want for Christmas...

It's a week late but she's excited to have no teeth!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Total panic

I have calmed down now, but am just recovering from a complete panic attack. I broke out in a cold sweat, had to hold back tears, and my heart started beating out of my chest.

Why?

Because I put a meeting in my calendar for the end of the month, for Abby, at the HIGH SCHOOL. Because, you know, she'll be going there in the fall. And she'll need to pick classes. And she'll be playing real high school sports. And taking real high school courses. At the HIGH SCHOOL. And she'll be a freshman, and a sophomore, and a junior, and a senior, and then she'll be gone. And I just don't know what to do with that really.

And, here comes the panic. 

Scary!

I made these for Max's school. Super easy, and aren't they cute?? Too bad the bananas were icky by the time their Halloween party started. 

 The kids had off of school on Friday, so Ava had alumni day at The Hoot House. This is her favorite Hootlet, Merritt, who is in kindergarten this year. The two definitely missed each other!

 And the girls with El... the three of them were the first Hootlets ever. How scary does Ava look??

 Nolan trying on wigs for his girl costume... So pretty!

 Woah! Max is a little scary.

 Gram putting some last minute touches on Ava's costume. She knew I wouldn't sew it together, so she knew she had to come up to be sure Ava got into the costume ok!

 Nolan, I mean Rochelle, was SO PRETTY for Halloween!

 Dave kept thinking he was Abby, and started talking to "her" like he was Abby!

Max makes quite the scary... whatever he is.  

 YUM!!!

 Nice work, Gram!

 My three girls, and the creep...

 

 A new granddaughter!

 After trick or treating. Still creepy!

 And... pretty?

 Dave's thrilled!

 Bentley, the neighbor's dog, spilled wine and then wouldn't leave it along. I wonder if he went crazy, or passed out!

The day was a little wet, a little cold, a little windy, but overall I think the kids had a great time!

Nolan's Memoir

The Wonderful Childhood

Nolan Gawrych  

October 26, 2015

Dedication

To start out I want to thank my 6th grade teacher Mr. Spaeth for making this whole memoir possible.  Without him you wouldn't even be reading this.

The biggest dedications I want to make are to my dad Dave, mom Jill, brother Maxwell, sister Abigail, and my little sister Ava for being there when I need you and helping whenever I needed.  

And for my last  dedication I want to thank Ryan Roehl, Mason Bublitz, Jack Trampe, and Elijah Jenkins for always being there and being great friends.

    Sincerely;

        Nolan Gawrych   

Memoir

    “Life is not about how fast you run or how high you climb, but how well you bounce.”  - Vivian Komori

These events that have passed in my life, whether happy, sad or painful, have influenced me and molded me into the person I am today.

Painful

It happened two years ago in Stevens Point at a baseball tournament. I slid into second base and the umpire said "Out!" I’ve been out before, and will be out many, many more times. But this time, something way worse happened.

It all started when we were playing a team from Altoona.  We were winning 11-7, and it was the last inning. There were two outs, I came up to bat, and got a base hit to center. Logan, the next batter, hit a ground ball to the shortstop. Just as I was sliding into second, the shortstop threw it to the second baseman, and he came down on my ankle. I came off the field fine, thinking I was ok, but then it started to hurt... a lot.  My dad carried me to the car and since we were in Stevens Point we stayed there for the next 2 days, but I didn’t get to play anymore.

When I got home I went to the doctor, and he said it is probably just a sprain. I was very relieved. I’d be out a game, maybe two. But then, later that day, we got a call from him and he said it might be a fracture. I started to feel a little bit apprehensive, and starting to think about what the rest of the season would be like if I couldn’t play. It would not be a fun spring and summer. I went to a different doctor and the news from that doctor was a fracture.

The rest of the summer there was no more baseball. No more batting cages, no more pitching, no more outfielding. I knew I liked to play baseball before that injury, but that day, I realized how much I truly loved baseball. I was able to get back into it with two games left in the season, and I played as hard as I possibly could from that day forward.

Everlasting

It all started when we were in The Dominican Republic at Ocean World right on the coast in Puerto Plata. My brother, sister, dad and I signed up to do a shark encounter. We started out in a show that showed off the sharks to the audience, and we fed the sharks anchovies. While we were feeding them ,the instructor did tricks with them like spinning them around and having them splash the water with their fins. They also pretended that the sharks bit them, and I tried to laugh with the audience, but I really just felt scared. I kept looking at my brother, sister and dad to see how they felt, and if I was the only one who was scared. I couldn’t really tell.

Once the show was over, we got to feel the shark's stomach and scales.  The scales and stomach were a lot smoother than I thought they would be. And then, the fun and scary part came where we got to to swim with the sharks. There were a lot of instructions, like don’t touch the coral reef in the tank, don’t touch the sharks while we’re swimming, and most importantly, stay safe! There were many of the kids who decided they didn’t really want to swim with the sharks after all and got out of the tank. For me, there was no turning back. I was going to do this!  

We swam for about thirty minutes. While we were swimming we could only find 4 out of the 5 sharks. It was very peaceful underwater, watching the sharks swim underneath us. Eventually we had to get out, but before that, I realized how brave I felt, and I definitely had a boost of confidence.

Funny       

In our lives, it’s not only what we do, but what others do around us. To understand me, it’s important to understand what my family is like. An event happened when I was two years old that was not the most pleasant for my dad, but something that our family still laughs at to this day.

We had just moved into our brand new house, the house that we built. I had just gone to bed, and my mattress was still on the floor. I couldn’t fall asleep, and called for my dad. My dad came and layed next to me until I got sleepy. But then, when he tried to get up, his back wouldn’t work. He woke me up, and told me to go get my mom. I stood at the top of the stairs and hollered for my mom, but as she came upstairs, I started to not feel so well. I went back into my bedroom, and as my mom followed me she could tell what was going to happen. Clearly only thinking of the new carpet, she lifted me up, and held me over my dad, who couldn’t move. I proceeded to throw up all over him.

My mom took me into the bathroom and put me in the shower. She couldn’t leave me alone, and my dad still couldn’t move. It wasn’t until I got all cleaned up that my mom could go back to help my dad get cleaned up.

My dad didn’t like my mom very much right then, but this story, nearly 10 years later, still makes our family and friends laugh!

Unpleasant

Last year my five year old sister took the wrong bus home on the first day of school. Luckily everything turned out ok, but it was a scary afternoon until we figured out what happened.

It all started when my younger brother Max got off the bus and my sister Ava wasn't there. When my older sister and I got off  our bus, my dad asked us if we saw her. Of course we said we hadn’t seen her, and asked why.  

"She wasn't on Max's bus,"  he replied.

At that point, I only remember feeling scared. My dad left and went immediately to Green Tree to see if she was there. My mom called the school, and they said they were sure she had gotten on the bus. They asked my mom if she could have gotten off at a different bus stop. We had just moved into our house, so that was scary too! The school said they would talk to the teacher at the busses and ask her and call back.

My mom put her arm around me and my sister, and I tried not to cry. My mom said it would be ok. Then school called back and asked my mom if she found her then. I remember my mom yelling, “NO!” They also tried to call the bus company, but the bus company wasn’t answering the phone. I guess the phone lines were down.

The third time school called, I watched my mom’s face. She started to cry, and at that time I really started to get nervous. When she hung up my sister asked her what they said and I’ll never forget her answer. They wanted her to call the police station. My biggest fear is a fear of kidnapping, and at that time I thought, “What if Ava was kidnapped?” I got really worried then and started to cry. My mom, my sister and I were all crying at that time, as my mom called the police station and had to describe the clothes that Ava was wearing.

Luckily, it wasn’t long after that when a bus drove through the neighborhood and my mom ran after it. Ava was on the bus, and  I’m not sure she even realized she was lost. It wasn’t until she saw my mom crying that she started crying too. After that, we actually had fun. The policeman had to come to make sure everything was ok. We got to look in his police car, we saw a big computer with all of the maps and locations of the police cars, and looked in the trunk at all his different guns. We even joked with my brother Max that someday he would come home in the backseat.

Overall it wasn’t a very pleasant experience, but one that I will certainly remember!

     Conclusion

Clearly life goes up and down throughout the years. Whether the events are funny or painful, there is a lot we can learn. The events above have helped mold me into the person I am today, with many more events yet to come.