McGrath Moments

My son is part of The CREW!!

I received a phone call this week from Braeden's teacher, Mrs. Munford. She told us that she had nominated Braeden for Student Leader at school and he would be recognized on Friday at a school assembly. She wanted to make sure that Ed and I were there to see it. This is his first "school recognition" and Ed and I were so proud of him!

At DRE (Delaware Ridge Elementary) they have a school assembly called Community Circle on Fridays(I think it is just once a month). Parents are welcome to attend. During this assembly teachers who have nominated students as Student Leaders are able to speak about the student and the student receives a red t-shirt that says, CREW on it.

Mrs. Munford said the nicest things about Braeden! She said he was a born leader and that he has learned to lead in a group setting without overpowering everyone else, which was one of his goals for the semester. Braeden is the first student that Mrs. Munford has nominated this year. We were so proud to see him go in front of the school and he was so excited!

Okay, the bragging is over.

Well, it has only taken me one full month to report on our Christmas events this year. Our family had a great Christmas. Always busy and stressful, but also filled with lots of fun and love. Our Christmas season started Thanksgiving weekend while Ed's sister, Katie, and her family were in town from Ohio. I know the kids thought it was very exciting to be able to open presents after Thanksgiving.


Braeden and Brenna had a fun time decorating a gingerbread house. Those things are harder to do than you'd think!

This year was our last year to celebrate Christmas Eve at my Grandma's house. It is VERY sad to think about. We have always spent Christmas Eve night with all of my aunts, uncles, and cousins at my grandparent's house. We recently moved my Grandma to an assisted living home, so we will not be able to all gather at her house anymore for holidays. Just another thing about getting older...CHANGE. I can do without so much change. I like things to stay the way they are.

Brenna was happy to wake up Christmas morning to something she was really excited for Santa to bring her...a dollhouse!! (Santa did bring her Cinnamon Toast Crunch as well!!)

Braeden was very excited to be surrounded by so many presents to open! Santa brought him a Nintendo DS and Big Foot. We have already had to put a daily time limit on our Nintendo use...it was kind of getting out of control!

Of course, we cannot forget that Christmas Day is not only Jesus' birthday, but Ed's as well. He requested red velvet cupcakes for his big day. Brenna and I had a good time making them together.

Christmas was followed by New Years Eve and we actually got all dressed up and went out this year. I totally went all out and bought the "sparkly" shirt and even glued on the fake eyelashes! We had a good time that night, but OMG we are old because it took like a full day to recover from all of the "fun"!!

My Aunt Terry watched the kiddos that night and believe me, they had a great time!! Braeden and Brenna are lucky to have her. She spoils them and makes sure they always have a good time, just like she did for me and my cousins when we were younger!

Right after New Years is Braeden's birthday. He turned 6 years old this year! Where does the time go? He is getting so big. I love him so much!

His first wrestling match was the morning of his birthday, so by the point this picture was taken, he was already in his PJ's. It had been a LONG day for him and me! He enjoyed having his grandparents, Aunt Lala, Uncle James, and cousin Carson over for pizza and cake.

The evening before his birthday, Braeden invited some friends to the movies to see Yogi Bear. We started with an ice cream sundae party, followed by popcorn, fruit snacks, and pop. You parents can thank me for the tummy aches later!

As I mentioned before, Braeden's first wrestling match was on his birthday. Being the first match, he did not know what to expect and neither did I. All I'm going to say is, I got scolded not once, but twice from my husband for "being embarrassing and treating our son like a baby"-exact Ed quote. As a mother, when you see your son getting tackled and smothered by another child(I know, this is what wrestling is) and he is crying, all I want to do is give him big hugs and tell him everything is okay, so that is what I did. Oh, I guess I did pick him up and carry him up into the bleachers to tell him it is all okay and Mommy is here. :)

My son is a caring, loving, emotional child and I'm not sure that this wrestling thing is for him. I do think we are going to stick with it and see where it goes. It might just be what he needs to toughen up. Ed did decide that he was going to make sure he got a little more practice under his belt before we send him out for another tournament. I will have to say that he did improve a lot from his first match to his second. He did lose both, but he scored 6 points in the second match(not like I even know what that means). Ed and I were really proud of him. He didn't quit and you could tell he gave it all he had!

That was quite a quick recap of our holiday! I hope 2011 has a lot of exciting things in store for us. Since Christmas is over, all I hear about now is our trip to Disney World. That is the next thing the kiddos are looking forward to!

Brenna(talking to me): If you ever fall down the stairs, I will call 911.

Me: That sounds like a good thing to do in case there is an emergency.

Brenna: ...or I could call Daddy at work. ...or I could call the Doodlebops.

Okay, maybe not as important as the wheel or the light bulb, but pretty high up there on my list of "Modern Day" inventions. I received some really nice Christmas gifts from Ed this year...well, pretty much every year. He always spoils me. I opened something sparkly from Helzberg in a beautiful maroon box and I opened a big box with a Coach purse in it-I LOVE Coach! And then I opened a coffee maker.

I only use my small, individual cup coffee maker and I really like it. I makes just the right amount for me, since nobody else in our house drinks coffee anyways. I didn't need or want a new one. Little did I know that this is not just any coffee maker. It was a Bosch Tassimo! Many of you probably know what that is, but I had no idea. I used it for the first time on Monday and now I am addicted. I tried to make myself use the regular coffee maker this morning because the coffee for the other machine is so expensive, but I just couldn't make myself do it. It is SO EASY and SO DELICIOUS! You just pop in the coffee disc, it reads the bar code and makes the perfect cup of coffee. You throw the disc in the trash and you're done. NO MESS!

I had a meeting yesterday morning at 9am, so of course I am rushing to get the kids ready as well as myself. I popped a disc in the machine and by the time I had gotten the kid's coats on, the Starbucks Cappuccino Primo was ready to go too!

Stupid post some might say, but I love it and hey, if it saves time and clean up, I am all about it! Oh, did I mention D.E.L.I.C.I.O.U.S!!

All mothers know how important nap time is. It gives us a couple hours of quiet time to get some much needed chores done, to get our mind together for the second half of the day, or just to get in a nap ourselves. Whatever we do with the time, we need it and deserve it!

Yesterday Brenna and I were going to Braeden's school for his class Christmas Party at 2:30, so it was important for her to get in a nap before we went because I didn't need a crabby 3 year old to deal with. I put her down at 11:30. She stayed in her room for about 10 mins before I heard, "I need to potty!" I went up to take her potty and noticed she had barrettes in her hair and bracelets on her wrist, none of which she had before I put her down. I looked on her bed and it was full of toys. She had just been playing! I took all of the toys out of her bed and told her I really needed her to close her eyes and try to sleep.

Not even 10 minutes later, she is out of bed again. I just ignored her and thought she might go back to her room. Yeah right! No nap for Friday, so I decided to get in the shower to get ready for the party and then realized why she didn't want to sleep. I had gotten her a Mocha Frappucino with whipped cream from Starbucks while we were out shopping that morning. What. Was. I. Thinking. POOR Mommy decision, AGAIN!

There is a reality show on the We channel called Down-Sized. For those who are not familiar with this show, it is about a blended family that went from "having it all" to being broke and on government assistance. This show documents how they are changing their lifestyle and pulling together as a family to make it through these tough financial times. Ed and I really like the show and we watch it each week.

While we were watching it this weekend, I noticed that Braeden was not only picking up the toys that he had brought downstairs from the toy room, but also picking up his sister's toys. For the last couple of weeks he has been doing a really good job keeping the toy room cleaned up and just being really helpful around the house in general. The kids don't get an allowance yet, because there is really nothing we require them to do on a regular basis to earn the allowance, but after I saw how much Braeden was doing, I decided to give him $5. I wanted him to know that I have been noticing all he has been doing and that I appreciate it. He was excited to take the money.

Ten minutes later he brought the money back to me, telling me that I can have it back. Obviously being confused, I asked him why. He said that he wanted me to have it so we can keep our house. HE HAD BEEN WATCHING THE SHOW WITH US WHILE HE WAS PICKING UP THE TOYS AND I DIDN'T EVEN NOTICE!! This family is always trying to find ways on the show to make extra money so they don't lose their house.

I was so proud of him for thinking of our family first, but explained to him that our house is not in jeopardy of being taken and that he earned the money so I would like him to keep it. You never know what kids are picking up on, on TV or just all around them and how their mind is processing what they are seeing. I do think teaching your children how to be responsible with money is an important lesson and maybe this TV show has just started Braeden on his way to a responsible financial future.

Friday, December 10, 2010 was the first time(I'm sure the first of many) that I heard:

Brenna: (stomping into her room) I don't like Mommy anymore!

At this age, she gets over "hating" Mommy pretty quickly. All it takes is needing a drink of water or wanting a snack, and Mommy is back in business. I wonder what it will take the "Teenage Brenna" to get over being mad at Mommy! Time will tell.