Talented One - It's a Vivas Thing!

Apr 25 2010

Oh Deer! What’s for Dinner?

Last night, we had a family gathering. For once, all of my children that still live with us, were home. At the same time. I know, in a family of seven plus two, that is virtually non-existent! And while my eldest no longer lives with us (insert sad face), he still makes sure to check in often.

But anyway, the kids were all home. So was hubby. It was a miracle.

Earlier in the day, I'd decided to make meat loaf since our pickins' in the freezer are getting pretty low. I knew I had potatoes and I knew I still had enough deer meat for one more go around. It turned out that was a perfect idea…because we actually had a family dinner, minus the eldest. (insert sad face)

(Insert even bigger sad face) It was the LAST of the deer meat!

Now, you just have to understand that most people I encounter don't like deer meat. BUT, my mom makes the best deer meat. I'm not sure what she puts in it, but all we have to do is thaw it out and make patties out of it and whalla…amazing deer burgers! I'd never made a meatloaf out of it, but all I added was garlic and onions…and whalla….amazing deer meatloaf.

And now…it's all gone.

But, the family dinner was so much fun. We laughed and talked. We talked of eating Bambi. (Sorry for the morbid humor.) We talked about elbows on the table. We talked about napkins in the lap.

We talked about broken noses and black eyes; and how B-boo's injuries have all been self-inflicted from her clumsiness. We talked about facial features and the Talented One's cute dimple. I explained to him that he wasn't born with that dimple, but that it had happened when he was 2 or 3 and a little girl had picked him up and dropped him in Sunday school. On his face. His cheek had slammed into the corner of a table. He was bruised for weeks and ever since then, he's had a dimple on his right cheek. So, B-boo speaks up,

So, mom…you saying he wasn't born with a deformed face that turned into a dimple, it happened later."

We all spewed.

Yes, dinner conversation is much like our laundry folding. We all get together and the conversation takes on a life of it's own.

Now, if we could just get our hands on some more of my mom's deer meat, all would be well in the Vivas household again.

Apr 20 2010

Special Memories

I was sitting here in the dark tonight with the Drama Queen, listening to my son’s music. I played it several times.

She finally asked,

“Mommy, why do you keep playing it over and over?”

“Because,” I said, “It takes me back to a special memory.”

“What’s a special memory?”

So I told her, “A special memory is a memory of something special that has happened to you, or with you and someone else. It can be anything, but it brings back that special moment.”

“But why is this song special, Mommy?” she asked.

So I told her about the song and the memories it created the day that the Talented One played it for me. And no matter what, I’ll always consider it “our song.” And when I”m tired, or he’s just there playing, sometimes I can ask him to play “my song” and he does. I don’t have to tell him which one or why, because he knows. And he plays it for me. And I think back to that first time, when he played it for me over and over. And so, sometimes, I just like to sit and listen to it over and over.

Get the Flash Player to see the wordTube Media Player.

So she asked again, what kind of special memories I have. And I told her about one I have of the Smart One. He was younger, and it was just the two of us and we were listening to praise music in the living room. And a song came on. And he just lifted his hands up in praise to the Lord. He lifted his face up and closed his eyes and just sang and swayed back and forth, with his arms outstretched and his face shining as he sang along. I honestly don’t even remember what song it was; but the moment..wow. I’ll never forget that moment.

And so we talked of why I want to keep homeschooling her for now; so that we can created special memories together. ‘And we talked of things we’ve done together. And we talked about just knowing, some day, that there is that one special memory we can share and how she’ll have other special moments with other loved ones; maybe even her own children some day. And we talked about how important it is to just stop sometimes, and grab that special moment; make a memory, because you won’t ever get that chance back. Grab it while you can.

“Mommy, why can’t we go back?”

“Because, those moments only happen once. We can’t do it again.”

And she asked me, “Mommy, can you be there with me when I have my baby, so we can have that special memory?”

I’m not sure what her future husband will say about that one, but I know, when she has that precious baby, I’ll be reminded of this night. The night when we sat and listened to the Talented One’s beautiful music and talked about grabbing the moments in life that we can and making those moments count.

Because tonight, we made our own special memory.

Apr 19 2010

Happy Birthday, Twin!

It's funny how even when they don't *plan* to look alike, they still do! This is the boys on Easter. They are actually a year apart, but you wouldn't know that. Today is the *Twin's* 16th birthday! He is the Talented One's best friend. I think the Twin may have realized that he is officially part of the family on Easter. You see, in the chaoticness (yeah, I know that isn't a real word) of Easter and trying to get home, I forgot to tell hubby to bring him with us. Yah…I probably won't ever live that one down…but it's a good thing, really. I only ever forget my children! ha ha

He's so much a part of our family that a friend actually thought he was mine from birth! Seriously. We had a good laugh at that one when she wouldn't believe me. To make matters worse, when I tried to prove that I wasn't teasing her and that he really did legally belong to someone else, I grabbed another teen (I am a youth leader at our church) and said, "Who's his mom?"

The reply?

"You!"

That certainly didn't help matters! It's a good thing his other mom and I are such good friends. We laugh about joint custody; especially during last summer!

Sometimes, there is actually a triplet that goes with the Twins.

He likes to be included once in a while and will go to extreme lengths to have my blog include him. He has such a good heart.

He carved this for me after camp last year just so he could be part of my blog! I thought it was fitting that he get to share in the happy birthday wishes of his one of his best buddies!

So, Twin…from the Talented One, your Triplet friend and your other mom:

Here's wishing you the happiest 16th birthday that you could have! It's been great having you as part of our family. You're a true friend to the Talented One!

Oh…and no, you can't borrow the car keys! ha ha

Apr 08 2010

Making Progress

I've spent the past few days reading like crazy in preparation for some licensing. May I just say I am soooo happy to have finished and passed all of the tests? AND, I've learned some stuff, too! Hopefully, I'll be able to put it to the test this week!

May I also just say that I am down three doctors now! This means I am now only under the care of two…huge! And I can drive again; although it's not very comfortable if the truth be told!

Oh…and I am finally healing! I have made big people steps this week instead of the baby steps of weeks prior! I've still a long way to go, but I am moving forward!

The Talented One brought home not one, but two amazing grades on tests this week! Big!

B-boo started dance team this week. It's been such a joy to see her doing something she loves again!

Yes, it's been a week with some definite joy!

Best of all….I went to church this week! After 8 weeks, you can bet I was happy to be there again! God is good. 🙂

Mar 19 2010

Hide-n-Seek

I'm sick and tired of seeing doctors. Really. I'm tired of waiting rooms and being told to be patient and take it easy and let myself recover. It's been 5 weeks already for goodness sake! I don't want to be told it will take 14 to 16 more weeks, or even a few more weeks. I don't want to be told to stay off the stairs and stay on the couch or my bed. Who wants to spend their time laying around all the time!?!

And I was dreading this morning's appointment, too.

But then, as we sat and waited, I watched this dark haired little girl with an orange balloon playing in a little cubby while her mommy waited to see the doctor. She was so cute; about three. And then, another mommy showed up with a little red haired girl about the same age. And the dark haired cutie asked,

"You wanna pway wif me?"

And the red haired girl says,

"Yeah!"

I sat there and chuckled at their three year old conversation. It's been a long time since I've had one that young! And then, the dark haired girls asked,

"Do you wanna pway hide en seek?"

"Yeah!" was the reply.

So the dark haired girl had the red haired girl count. And she was so cute, with her head against the wall, counting in her little girl voice while the dark haired girl raced across the waiting room with her orange balloon!

And I was reminded of times when my own children hid.

I remember when my oldest, now 22, was about the same age. Grandma was watching him and she called me in a panic one day. She had looked everywhere for him and couldn't find him anywhere. This went on forever; until she discovered him hiding under the organ bench, giggling while she frantically searched for him.

Or when my youngest, not even two, was our little Houdini. One day we were all sitting in the living room watching TV. On my way into the kitchen, I asked them all not to let her out of their sight. When I walked back into the living room, she was gone. Just…like…that.

No one had seen her move. We searched the house; searched outside. Searched the garage. We searched up and down the streets. And just when we frantically ran inside to call 911, I happened to catch a glimpse of her little lime green outfit. Behind her doll stroller. She was all tucked up under; watching; giggling. Hiding.

Or B-boo. Who was a climber. So much so, that at 10 months, we had to zip her into her crib. You can read about that here. Anyway, by the time she was about 18 months, she could climb anything. And I mean anything! I'd find her *hiding* on top of our 8 ft tall entertainment center! One day, I found her hiding on top of the refrigerator. She wasn't so much about hiding, I think, as about climbing. Until she could climb no more. We couldn't let her out of our sight, because we never knew where we'd find her!

And then there was the Smart One. He didn't do a lot of *physical* hiding, but he loved to hide under bowls. As in if he wasn't wearing them as a hat, he'd hide his face under them. Under blankets. He thought he was so cute. (So did we!)

And the Talented One. I remember him hiding his face in his hands, knowing that if he couldn't see us, we couldn't see him. We'd laugh and go along with it.

So, I guess the waiting room wasn't so bad today. I had the privilege of being taken back in time; somehow how finding those memories that had been hidden up until this morning.