A Week of Firsts

Where have my babies gone??? All of a sudden they are growing up and I want to push the pause button but I can't. We've had a week of "Firsts" around the Mieska household lately. Birdbaby had his 'first' haircut (finally at 17 months old!)- as most of you know Birdpapa like his hair a little long and he was starting to look like a girl. We'll have none of that in this house :). Birdboy #1 went to his first over-night cub scout camp (in 100 degree heat) and loved it! He also had his first experience at mowing the lawn- or acreage for that matter, and loved it! Queenbird kept a close look-out and followed him on the mower. It's bad enough that I'm worried about his hearing, let alone the tractor tipping over on him. Poor kid- I'm such a helicopter mom! Birdboy #1 also signed up for his first tackle football season and got all the gear. UGH! Do you suppose it would be wrong to stand in the huddle each time before a play and see if he's alright? Oh Vey... Slow down, boys, slow down!

Slow Down and... Swing!

Last night was a great life lesson and a funny one to boot.

I work with a population of infants, children, teens and adults with special needs. Working with the hearing impaired and deaf usually there is a disorder, disease, syndrome...you name it that accompanies a little hearing impairment. Most of my kids have more severe problems than hearing loss, Goldenhar Syndrome, Cerebral Palsy, childhood cancer that results in hearing loss due to chemo etc... It's rare that I have a 'normal' child or adult with a loss. That being said I've prided myself on raising my kids to be sensitive to those with special needs. Being in a small community such as Treynor my boys aren't exposed to a diverse population so we're a work in progress :) But I digress...

Last evening we were travelling through Treynor, all 3 miles of it, and we passed a beautiful corner farm house with a giant tree swing right off the country porch. I've often admired this home as it is perfectly manicured, decorated with bright geraniums, and holiday decor year round. I've never seen anyone on the tree swing until last night. A petite white haired woman with capris and the most gigantic smile on her face with a laugh that would put a giant to shame was pumping her legs so hard and swinging so high in the air I had to stop and watch her for a minute. She instantly brought a smile to my face. Luke turned to me and asked, "mom, is she special?" I said "no, honey...she's just enjoying life and slowing down to swing.

AHHHH! Note to self...slow down...and swing.

Ozark Snapshots

We had another memorable trip to one of our favorite family vacation spots. Lake of the Ozarks is so much fun for the Mieska 6. We were able to travel with our great friends, the Lang Gang and enjoyed lots of crazy boat rides, lake and pool swimming, parasailing for 3 excited little boys, and relaxation. Until next time...

My ABCs

Almost a runner: really, I'm not, but I'd like to think I am. I want to be...
Before I had kids I'm not sure what I did.
Cubbie by default and I've learned to love them. Really I've learned to love the way my husband worships them.
David is my younger brother- lives in St. Paul and has always been a great friend.
Eggplant grosses me out. Can't stand it. Tried and tried. Just.Can't.Do.It.
Friends: Angie, Mandy, Alecia, Jen- my closest girlies.
Greek salad: LOVE it! Love me some feta.
Homeschool: Would really love to homeschool my kids but don't want them to miss the social aspect of public school. Plus I'm not that organized.
I LOVE the movie The Outsiders. I think my first real movie star crush was on Pony Boy and Dallas. Stay Gold, Pony Boy, Stay gold.
Jeremiah is the love of my life. Puffy heart the boy!
Kicking a soccer ball is great therapy.
Luke is my firstborn. I always knew I wanted a 'Luke'. He's a sweet, tender-hearted, athletic, fun, and Star Wars loving little boy.
Mary Lu is my mom. She used to keep me out of school every now and then to shop. The Best. Mom. EVER.
Never have I skinny-dipped.
October 31 is one of my favorite holidays (besides Christmas). Favorite costume of mine was when I was E.T. and I glowed in the dark.
Pillows, specifically body pillows, are one of the greatest inventions ever. I could not live without my body pillow.
Quarters is one of the best drinking games. I'm REALLY good at it. Lots of great practice at college.
Radford University is where I attended college. Bus Stop, Macadoo's, Virginia Tech,Alpha Sigma Tau, wow! Those were the days.
Slumber parties are something I will miss out on not having any girls in my house. Some of my greatest memories were slumber parties with all my girlfriends.
Underwear is something I don't think much about. I think I've had the same pair of underwear since Jere and I got married. That's a problem!
Valentines day- I'm a valentine's baby, so is Luke. My Grandpa Harry died on Valentine's day.
When I grow up I want to be a photographer.
Xanadu was one of my favorite songs by Olivia Newton John.
Yellow is a TERRIBLE color on me. I love the color but can't wear it.
Zebras creep me out- are they black with white stripes or white with black stripes???

And those are the ABCs of me.

Mieska Meals 6/13 to 6/19...

Another crazy week at the Mieska house! I'm not sure we had a weekend because it was jam-packed again. Birdpapa and I were able to have an entire day ALONE! We spent the morning and afternoon on the golf course supporting the Treynor Athletic Booster club- thank heaven for an awesome babysitter! She handled the boys and had a great time- hopefully she'll come back!

Monday 6/13
B- free for all
L- Homemade white bread with turkey lunch meat and fruit
D: Stove top Swiss casserole (new recipe)
To Do: Make Strawberry Jam and Breakfast burritos

Tuesday 6/14
B- Oatmeal (pre-made packets) with fruit
L- Pizzadillas with fruit
D- pork sliders with homemade slaw and corn
6PM Owen BB game

Wednesday 6/15
B- Breakfast burritos
L- Gooey toasted PB & jams with chips
D- spaghetti noodles with sauce and green beans
To Do: Make homemade pretzels (breadmaker)& library with boys

Thursday 6/16
B- cereal (kid choice)
L- turkey roll-ups with fruit
D- pork tacos
6:30PM L BB game
J & G Mineola taco ride!

Friday 6/17
B- Pancakes
L- ramen noodles with fruit
D- shrimp lettuce wraps with grilled veggies
6PM- O BB game

Saturday 6/18
CRAZY DAY!
O double header BB game 9 & 11AM
L 3V3 soccer tournament- 2-3 games

Dinner- meatball sammys with veggie and salad.

Sunday 6/19
The best day ever! Father's day
B- Heavenly Hashbrown casserole with chocolate milk!!!
L- Dad's choice
D- Father's day cookout!

Whew! I have my work cut out for me this week! Did I mention I'm painting my foyer to boot and have planned a zoo day on Wednesday! Need to get organized!

'Lil bit a prayin' goin on...

Not a little bit, but a lot! There's a WHOLE.LOTTA.WATTA headed our way and I'm asking the big Guy to take it a bit easy on us, or at least help those that are less fortunate to find a place of refuge to get away from the flooding. My parents live just on the otherside of the Indian Creek which feeds into the Missouri River (which is approximately 1-2 miles from their home). The creek levee is just outside their front door- literally... the water is rising...and rising... and rising. To the point that we're ready to sandbag. UGH! My parents have been very patient and not panicked, until today. They have ordered rock, plastic, more rock and more plastic to put outside their front door and along the basement doors. We are very fortunate to have a civil engineer in the family- my brother, Scott spent the day with the Governor, police chief, fire chief, and a lot of other city officials trying to decide what to do. So he's given us a bit of a forewarning as the city officials have not really released a lot of information to the public yet. So peeps, I'm asking for a favor...please pray for safety for all. I told my mom today- if this is a natural disaster that will ruin your home- you're lucky. You have time to save things, your home won't be destroyed without warning by a tornado, a fire, etc... you weren't given a death sentence, your family is safe, things are just things. But please pray.

Lesson Learned...

Against my better judgment Birdboy #1 received a BB gun from Santa this past Christmas. I don't come from a family of hunters so I didn't see the point of purchasing a gun for a 9 year old boy that would never really amount to anything. However Birdpapa argued that every little boy should at least have a BB gun- this came with a promise that all he would shoot would be pop cans, boards, targets and the occasional ground squirrel. I could live with that. However, this weekend Birdboy #1 started in on bigger targets. Birds. Come to find out he's been doing this for awhile and I was not happy about it. I was watching Boy #1 creep across the lawn and wondered why this poor little robin birdy was not flying away. It finally dawned on me that he had shot the robin in the wing. I instantly yelled at Boy to come to my side and we had a heated discussion that turned into tears and fear because I told him he needed to kill the bird and put it out of it's misery. It killed me to tell him that but the poor bird was suffering. Several minutes later, more tears, and lots of sobbing Luke indeed killed the bird and gave it a proper burial. In my anger I told him he 'probably killed the mama robin' which provoked more sobs and a very upset little boy.

Forward 8 hours.

Birdboy #3 comes running to me yelling "Lukie killed the mama, Lukie killed the mama". Come to find out there is a small nest in the pine tree with 2 very small featherless, starving little baby birds. UGH! More tears and anxiety from Birdboy #1! 10 minutes later I find Boy #1 digging in the dirt for worms. I tried to explain that he couldn't feed the babies that unfortunately they just needed to die. I felt terrible, sick, and deflated as a parent. How do I handle this??? We sat down and had a talk about God's animals and life cycles, what's meant to be, etc... This did nothing for his anxiety. Poor kid. He moped until the next morning and into the evening. We finally wandered back out to the pine tree to find the baby birds and give them a little funeral as well.

WOWZA! The baby birds are still alive! Must not have been the mama! I have one happy little boy that has learned a great lesson.