Matthew – Page 13 – Terry Family Shenanigans

Matthew plays…Futsal?!

About the same time that winter baseball conditioning got started, Joaquin, one of the boys on Matthew’s team asked the kids if they wanted to play on an indoor soccer team- or actually it is called Futsal. He has played for a while and is pretty good. The head coach (Jimmie) of our baseball team and a friend of his said they would coach any of the boys that wanted to play. Jimmie thought it would be some good extra conditioning for the boys. It wouldn’t be to much of a time commitment. They have a practice and a game every other week. The kicker is that the practices are usually Friday nights and the games start between 6-8 on Saturday morning. Barf! But of course as soon as Matthew heard it could help his baseball conditioning he was all in.

About five of the boys said they would play and then a few younger siblings that play soccer joined giving them a team of about 8-9. They had there first game before they had any practices just because of how the schedule worked out. So the coaches and Joaquin were literally telling them what they were supposed to do as they were getting ready to head onto the field. This is where it got entertaining. As I mentioned, only one player on the team has ever played soccer on any regular basis. The younger siblings have played but they are 1-2 years younger than everyone else. All the other boys from our baseball team have never played soccer (Matthew played for six weeks when he was four). They are all athletic kids obviously, but their soccer knowledge and skills are pretty limited. All of this was pretty obvious between the two teams in the three minute warm up time they have before the game starts.

There are seven players on the field at a time so we only have 1-2 subs and once they start the clock it doesn’t stop for 45 minutes except for a 3 minute half time time in the middle. No time outs, no breaks. If you want to switch a player you have to do it really quick while the ball is somewhere else, including the goalie position. We got smoked the first game and the boys were red in the face, gasping for breath, wiped out. Since then though we actually have won a couple games. There is marked improvement each game. The cheering from the parents is pretty funny. We don’t really know how to cheer for soccer. We don’t know the names of the positions and the exact rules (especially since it is Futsal, not soccer). We keep it pretty generic and laugh at ourselves when we goof up. The boys try their hardest and do a great job. It is a little ridiculous sometimes when they get a little out matched. Some of them take a few minutes to warm up and not be intimidated by the ball. Joaquin is a machine and plays the whole time with enough energy for two players and helps his less Futsal savvy baseball buddies the best he can.

The main reason I wanted to write this post is to remember this particular event in one game. It was hilarious, it has been a few weeks now and every now and then it pops into my head and I start laughing again just as hard. One game, a boy named Frankee was goalie and was really struggling. No matter how many times his dad ‘encouraged’ him to use his hands because he was the goalie-he wouldn’t. I think from the gestures he was making at his dad he was concerned about getting kicked in the face. Before you start thinking I am making fun of a 12 year old kid. I’m not. Frankee is one of our best players on our baseball team. He is a great catcher, and third base, and a pretty decent hitter. He has a little flare of drama and humor to him too. Anyway, we started getting pretty behind on points which further frustrated him and he asked, then begged, then insisted that someone replace him. “Coach! Can’t you see I suck?! Take me out!” The problem is we don’t have extra players so there isn’t a lot of wiggle room for moving people around, or time. Eventually he got switched and was a forward ( I think). While all this was taking place his dad (who Frankee gets his humor from) had been getting frustrated with his performance from the stands as well and was keeping us laughing with his own comments and suggestions. His first play with the ball after Frankee switched positions he was running at the ball and went to kick it and totally missed and caught his foot on the ground and fell on top of himself and a few other kids on his own team, leaving the ball in the middle of three players from the other team to take off with. Oh man, it was so funny!! I wish I had it on video because I would send it to AFV. His dads reaction of shock and shaking his head and putting his head in his hands while muttering something about “I thought we had walking mastered” made it even funnier. Probably more of a had to be there moment to appreciate the full hilariousness of the scene, but like I said, weeks later I still start laughing out loud when I think of it….yep, still makes me laugh.

Fast forward a few weeks and Frankee was goalie again for today’s game and did a great job. Matthew scored two goals today and is getting some pretty nice footwork skills going. Kudos to all of them for not only trying something new and hanging in there, but doing their best and showing improvement each game, AND doing it at 6am! Blah!! They are a fun group of kids and parents. I am excited for baseball season to start.

Goodbye February! Part two.

Since I’m talking about being sick I will give a little summary of sickness tolerance of our family. I don’t like my kids to be sick obviously but I do have a little extra nurturing mom side that comes out when they are sick. I love that I can take care of them and I know all of the little things to make them feel better. When Ryan reads the last few sentences he is going to…react…so I will start with the reason for that and get it cleared up.

Ryan and I didn’t really have to many big adjustments to each other when we got married but being sick and the expectations of the other person was one of them that we bumped through a few times. So here are our pre-marriage expectations.

Me 2002- Life needs to continue whether you are sick or not so suck it up and keep going. Colds don’t even count as being sick, they are just a nuisance. If you are sick you are a wimp. Take care of yourself if you are sick.

Ryan 2002- When you are sick, you get in bed and rest and get over it. You don’t go to work, or church or anything because no one wants to be around you anyways and get sick. Your wife takes care of you and sympathizes with your sickness.

With those expectations in mind…

Many, many, many years ago Ryan was sick. At the time I think I was working every Monday at an office. We had someone that watched Matthew for us. I came down the stairs to go to work and Ryan was on the couch and said he didn’t feel good so he was going to stay home from work. Unbeknownst to me, not only was he sick but he had been throwing up or coughing all night or something so he was extremely tired on top of his illness. I asked him if he was going to keep Matthew home with him or if he still wanted me to take him to the sitter. He said, “No, I’m sick” I said, “Ok” and for the next ten plus years I have been labeled as the ‘cold, unsympathetic, heartless wife’ that was ‘disgusted that her poor sick husband wouldn’t watch their son when he was sick’ basically almost dying. That is Ryan’s version. My version is,the first time I had to work when Ryan had a man cold I asked if he was still taking Matthew or not so I could let our sitter know. He said he was still taking him and I went to work.

Ryan, right about now I sense your desire to come tell me your version of the story AGAIN. Keep reading.

Fast forward a few years of practice and you now have our adjusted expectations. These are of course ideal situations and sometimes adjustments have to be made but this is the general idea.

Ryan 2018- When Ryan is sick he wants to be left alone to sleep or play a video game, but he likes to be checked in on occasionally so see if he needs company or a refill or medicine. The longer he is sick the more he likes to be checked on because he gets lonely. He likes to be in his room with the door closed so it is quiet and the blinds closed so it is dark. He likes ice water with a little ice, and lemon lime Gatorade. If he has an appetite he prefers some kind of chicken soup. He will not be doing any other tasks until he is feeling better. After years of proving my nursing abilities I have almost redeemed myself from my original blunder.

Me 2018- When I am sick, I get to be sick. Many times Ryan has stayed home from work to take care of the kids so I can rest. I get to have the door closed and be in my bed and sleep. He will check on me and see if I need anything. It is almost like a little vacation-except I feel like crap. I will still probably go to work if I am scheduled but I do realize that people don’t want to be exposed to whatever I have when I am sick so I am getting better at staying home. Colds still don’t count as being sick (for adults), however, they are a reasonable excuse to go to bed early if you’re a wimp. 🙂

Where our kids are concerned we also made a lifetime arrangement due to each others stronger than usual aversion to vomit or poop. When possible and reasonable Ryan is in charge of clean up and assisting in areas of vomiting. I have the same agreement when poop is involved. I think I got a pretty good deal because vomit has the potential to appear for years to come, hopefully poop doesn’t.

Ok, I veered a little off topic. I may sound like I am joking describing some of our sick traits, and it can be overwhelming sometimes, especially when there are multiple people sick but I love my family and I love nursing them back to health when they are sick. As long as they don’t throw up on me.

Emilee- She stays true to her typical snuggly, mommy loving self but kicks it up a notch. When Emilee is sick she feels best when I am physically touching her and devoting all my attention to watching her be sick. Sitting by her reading a book, or watching a show, or doing anything else is not good enough. She wants me to make her a sick bed on the couch with her fridge cold water in a sippy cup so I can help her drink it without her having to lift her head. Then lay next to her and look at her and say that I am sorry she is sick while stroking her hair. She will take medicine if it is bubble gum flavored.

Matthew- He is changing to more of the sit in front of the tv/play video games until he is better but he has some things he likes too. Matthew likes to be waited on hand and foot when he is sick. He likes to be checked on regularly and have the option of having a sick bed on the couch or staying in his room. He wants a sprite and water to drink. He also loves orange jello that is stirred just before it is all the way set so it is like a soup not a solid jello. He is the best at taking medicines (even if they are disgusting) and will ask for medicines for specific things-like a throat spray or cough or headache. He used to have night terrors at random times when he was little. Now they are just when he is sick, and his asthma always gets worse towards the end of his sickness, which means he usually takes the longest to get better.

Allison- Alli is our lock it down don’t mess with me sick person. She is by far sick the least amount of anyone. She has only had to take antibiotics twice in her life. The first time was Penicillin and we discovered she was allergic to it. She has never even had an ear infection. She is usually sick the shortest amount of time too. When she is sick she wants a sick bed on the couch with her blanket. She wants a throw up bowl and ice water within arms reach. Then she pretty much lays there and sleeps until she is better. She will get up and go to the bathroom when she needs and she likes to be carried up to her bed at night and then carried back down in the morning but otherwise she wants to be left alone. She will not take any medicine. She is just now starting to occasionally take Tylenol but most of the time she will have nothing to do with it-not even a cough drop.

Pre-Spring Break Break.

Today was the third day in a row I have received a call before six in the morning saying school is canceled due to inclement weather. This is a picture of the ‘inclement weather.’ When did we get so wimpy Kansas! It is cold, and we have had some ice, but the roads are dandy. My kids have been out of school for a week now (parent teacher conferences…President Day…three snow days). My kids have been loving the bonus spring break. Ryan and I have both worked this week so it has been a little tricky figuring out who can watch our kids last minute. Luckily we have awesome Aunt Lauren to help us out in a pinch. It is looking like there should be no reason to cancel tomorrow but I thought that the last two days. Fingers crossed!

Last weekend was the final basketball tournament games for Matthew’s season. We wanted to keep him busy through the off season for baseball so we just signed him up through the city of Olathe sports. His friend Finn ended up on the same team. The first practice looked a little rough but they had a great coach and they did really good. Their end of season record was 7-1. They were the winners for their division, and were bumped up to the next division for the tournament. The trophies they are holding are for winning their division. They won the first game but lost the second game of the tournament. Matthew played pretty good. He is great at the steal and break away for a layup because he is so fast. He made a few threes too. He needs to work on his dribbling so he is more comfortable with his left dribble but he had a good, fun season.

Emilee is finished with her three basketball practices and has had her first two games. The first game she would run down and shoot the ball if she got it on offense, but when it was time for defense her and Reese went and SAT against the wall until it was time to run down the court again. Game two was better. She stayed on the court and held her hands up wherever she was whether she was standing by someone or not. We have been working on dribbling this week for her last game. I love watching little kids play sports. It is so ridiculous if you sit back and take in the whole scene but it is a lot of fun for them. She is so proud of herself when she is done.

Alli's famous

A few years ago Ryan had Allison come to his work and take some pictures for some brochures they were making and other advertising stuff. They just redid some of it and added a video on their Facebook page. The last part ends with this picture. We showed Alli the video and I said, “Look Alli, you’re famous!” to which she replied in her best ‘mom you just don’t get it voice’, “Ya, I’ve been famous for years.” I hope she holds on to that confidence.

Ryan and I went on a group date with some of our friends to an Escape Room this last weekend. We have done it once before a while ago. It is a fun time. The room had a 34% pass pass rate and we were able to figure it out before our time ran out. That made us all feel smart. Then we all went to KC Joe’s BBQ and had some delicious BBQ. I am becoming a BBQ snob, which is easy to do in a city known for its BBQ. It is probably my favorite type of food too now.

Conferences and the violin play off.

Last week was parent teacher conference time again. I met with each of the kids teachers and their music teacher.

Alli’s teacher is on maternity leave so she has had a long term sub for the last six weeks with three more to go. Her regular teacher is nice but Alli seems to click with her substitute a little more. Her name is Mrs Hathaway but she goes by Mrs Happy. She is a boisterous person with a large personality which fits Alli well. The first thing she said to me is when I walked in was, “Hi Sugar! Your Alli is a little spit fire, she doesn’t take any guff from anyone, and I love her for it. She is a future leader.” I was expecting a bear hug the way she was approaching me but instead got a hand shake and a hand on the shoulder. We talked for about 40 minutes and I am glad Alli has the opportunity to have her for a few more weeks. She is kind of like Alli’s own Mary Poppins. Mrs Happy has noticed and seems more aware of Alli’s traits and strengths and weaknesses more than any other teacher she has ever had, and she has been actively focusing on her to help her improve. Alli is doing well in school. The two biggest areas she struggles is her spelling tests and the comprehension portions of her reading tests. Mostly for lack of effort and rushing. Mrs. Happy has made an effort to call Alli out and give her strategies and processes to improve in those areas. After some eye rolls from Alli (sigh) and some of Mrs. Happy’s own ‘no guff policy’, Alli has improved steadily in both areas the past few weeks. She seems to be more willing to do her homework too. Mrs, Happy also pointed out she loves Alli’s friendship with her new best friend this year named Carly. She described them as serious, no drama, solid foundation, riding the same wave length friends. They are quite a pair, and they seem to get each other. I am proud of how hard Alli works at school and the effort she puts into her work. I agree with her teacher. She is a born leader and she is a force to be reckoned with. She has amazing potential, Ryan and I just hope and pray we can help her channel it in the right direction.

Matthew’s teacher said he is doing really well too. Matthew really spoils me when it comes to school. He has always been good at getting his homework done and turned in without being asked. He is pretty self sufficient with everything and responsible. I’m crossing my fingers that his organization and self motivation will continue and be a permanent trait. Math is one of his best subjects, he says he doesn’t like it but I think he does. He is getting a little streak of the beginnings of a teenage boy silliness and cockiness but he is a good kid. I can count on one hand the number of times he has forgotten an assignment since he started kindergarten and he has never just not done it. Than remains true for this year too, until orchestra.

This year HE decided that he wanted to be in the orchestra and picked the violin to play. He has orchestra twice a week for a half hour. This makes the progression through lessons fairly slow. The first semester was a little ridiculous, over the course of four months they learned six notes and were supposed to pluck them (they don’t learn the bow until after Christmas) for 100 minutes a week. ‘Mind numbing boringness’ is what Matthew called it, and I couldn’t blame him. As a result he became pretty lax with his practicing and I let him. After Christmas they started learning the bow and a few more notes and playing more songs. After some reminding, nagging, prodding, incentivizing and more nagging his practicing habits stayed pretty much the same as first semester. So by the time conferences came around last week he had a nice F for his music grade.

When he told me about his F he said it with the attitude of that was just how it was and it was out of his hands. I asked him how much he had been practicing and he said, “A lot its just to hard .” The ‘just bad at it’ excuse. I told him he was full of crap and all he needed to do was practice consistently and he would get better. His grade was a result of his lack of practice not his inability. Then to prove my point I challenged him to a violin play off. Basically I spent about half an hour learning how to play ‘Twinkle Little Star’ on the violin, then we went in another room where no one could see us and each of us played it without telling those who were listening who was playing. The results… Ryan, Alli, Emilee, and his friend Carson could not tell who was who. Matthew was a little embarrassed to be bested or at least matched by his mom who until thirty minutes before had never touched a violin and decided he would put more effort into practicing. He now has a B in orchestra.

Valentine’s is coming…

Aaahhh Valentine’s Day… I have mixed emotions about this holiday. Sometimes I get into it and it is fun, other years it is more of a hassle. This year I have been a little more into it.

For the kids I usually get them a little stuffed animal or something. My kids LOVE stuffed animals. They are going to take over our house someday. It really is something all three of them like though so it works well.

This year I am doing something fun that they have really liked. Each day I leave a little note with a treat or gift for them to find in the morning. I started on the 1st and the last one will be the 14th. Some of the favorites have been a balloon that says pop me on it with a note inside, or ones that have a cheesy note, like ‘I love you smartie pants’ with some Smarties.

This is the last weekend before Valentine’s Day so it has been full of Valentine festivities for the kids getting ready for the party coming up this week for school. They can make a box for their valentine cards and bring it if they want and then of course making the Valentine’s for each person. It made me chuckle how each kiddo did their stuff.

Emilee got an appropriate size bag to color and decorate with stickers and had fun sticking the candy on each card for her preschool friends. Took about half an hour.

Alli made a robot that opens it mouth to receive her cards. It is made from three cereal boxes, four 2 liter bottles, all covered with tin foil then colored to look like different colors of slime because it says “I love slime” all over it. She has been working on it for three days and still has some finishing touches. She also spent a few hours making her valentines and organizing them and checking and rechecking her list.

Matthew asked to have little individual bags of Skittles which he wrote ‘from Matthew’ on each one then put them in a plastic grocery sack which he said can also be his ‘box’. Took him a total of maybe five minutes.

Side note. In fifth grade I remember spending lots of time wondering and thinking about the perfect card for each boy. I stressed about the ‘meaning behind’ each one and wanted it to be very clear that I didn’t like them, or if I did like them then I had to make it obvious but not to obvious. Then after everyone handed them out at school I would come home and poor over the Valentine’s from the boys and try and figure out which ones were sending me a hidden message that they liked me. Haha! I now know that these boys (if they were anything like my boy) spent about two seconds doing their cards and had no idea that this was serious business and I would be agonizing over them wondering what they meant by giving me the one that said “you are the best!’ on it.

Ryan and I usually keep it simple and plan a date somewhere close to the 14th and have a nice evening together. The last few years I have also given him a homemade thoughtful, sweet, but slightly cheesy gift. For example one year I made a little book with a picture of us from each year we had been married and decorated it over the top with hearts and glitter and flowers. One year I hooked a deck of cards together with an o-ring and mod podged a different reason I love him on each card. Another year I made a picture collage with pictures from the last 15 years we have been married. He is getting a nice little collection for his dresser. 🙂 Ryan always makes sure I get a yummy supply of dark chocolate too, which I am already looking forward to.

The house…

This afternoon I was sitting on the couch and Matthew came up and asked if he could sit in my house. It made me smile.

When Matthew was little I was laying on the couch and he came up and sat in the little space behind my legs made from pulling my knees up and started looking at a book. I said it was kind of like a little house for him and from then on he would ask to sit it my house. When his sisters came along he told them about the house and now they all ask to sit in my house. It is a reading spot or snuggling spot for them, and I usually get to take a nap too.

January came and went…

I plan on writing more than I have this past month. Once I got my blog started I somehow locked myself out and it took awhile to figure it out. I went and visited my sister DeAnna and her husband John helped me get things figured out so I should be good to go now! Woohoo! There is a post that I wrote that I can’t seem to find but forward from here.

So January is always a bit of a let down for me to be honest. It is hard to follow the fun and excitement and Spirit of Christmas. New Years is exciting and I always feel a bit refreshed and ready to head into the year…but then it is just cold and gloomy and back to the same old routines- and stays that way for far to many weeks.

With my kids getting a little older and their schedules getting busier that does help the month go by faster.

Emilee is 5 and when you ask her if she wants to learn to do or play anything she always says, “Yes! But not until I’m older.” So we told her she was older now and she can try basketball. Her and one of her besties, Reece, are trying YMCA Bitty Basketball together. She seems to really like it. Ryan is hoping she will like it and they can share the love of basketball together for years to come. She has the height-she is estimated to be 5′ 9″, and she seems to have a bit of natural coordination which Ryan hopes will translate to athleticism. It is hard to say, a good 25% of practice is still spent practicing her cartwheels, but that is way better that the 75% of soccer practice she spent doing somersaults last Fall. Emilee is giving her first talk in Primary this Sunday too. She is excited about it but has a little shy side to her so hopefully she will actually say it when the time comes.

Allison is our social butterfly. She keeps us up to date on all the happenings in the 2nd grade and 5th grade (they sit across from each other at lunch, much to her delight). She has been playing the piano for about a year and a half now. Before Christmas she was struggling and not really loving it and begging to quit. Over the break her teacher gave her and Matthew a duet to learn. It was the first “real” song she ever learned and it was a break through for her. She realized she can pick out songs she likes and learn them and it is fun, and she is good at it. She practices on her own or with little reminding now. I hope it lasts! She is still doing gymnastics too. She started with a general gymnastics class, they rotate through the floor, bars, beam and a few other things. She was not feeling challenged enough with that and getting bored. She seems to have a knack for gymnastics too. I talked to her coach and he suggested she take another class that does floor work only. She loves it! She is getting close to being able to do a back hand spring on her own. She achieved the flexibility to do the splits completely this month too which she is quite proud of. She joined Girl Scouts this year too. This month she and her dad made a pine wood derby car to compete with. She did a good job and almost placed in the top three for speed but not quite. Alli has an artistic side and she had fun painting and blinging out her car with glitter. January is cookie season for Girl Scouts. Selling door to door is one of the last things I want to do but Alli (being the polar opposites we are) is all for it. She dragged Ryan out with her a few times (I was always busy…) and 85 boxes later she was not even close to done but Ryan was. They have cookie booths that the whole troop will sell cookies at too so she can look forward to selling more that way.

Matthew has not shortage of activities to keep him busy either. I told him he had to play the piano for one school year minimum. He also decided that he wanted to join Orchestra and play the violin too. He is currently looking forward to dropping the piano as soon as I will let him, but plans on continuing with the violin. He is in a year round baseball academy. Ryan and him share a LOVE for baseball. When Fall Ball was over the coaches told everyone to rest their arms and not even play catch until after Christmas. In the mean time the academy has a strength and agility class called Boost they want him doing as much as possible. He has been doing that a few times a week and working on his hitting. I’m excited to see him hit this coming season. He has improved a lot. I love that he is working out on a regular basis too, hopefully that will instill a habit in him to continue in the future. While he was waiting for regular practices with his team to start again-which they did this month- he played basketball with an Olathe Rec team. Matthew is naturally athletic so any sport he tries at he will be at least decent. He has not been practicing basketball very much though so he has lost a lot of his dribbling skills…and shooting skills…but he has been enjoying it, even though he says he just tolerates it until he can play baseball again. His baseball team has several kids that play indoor soccer together too so he is trying that out. It isn’t very time consuming, not even a practice and game every week, but it is one more thing to keep him distracted from video games and stupid You Tube.

Well, I will pause for now. I still have lots to say! My next post will be about the awesome trip to see my sister in Utah that I just got back from.