Poetry: I am Cole Hubbard.

 

I am Cole Hubbard.

I am awesome, funny, and nice.

I wish I could be a football player.

I wonder why I couldn't.

I hope I can be one someday.

Sometimes I worry that I won't be able to.

But I feel better when I pray.

I know I can be whatever I want to be.

Maybe someday I will be one.

Until then, I'm happy who I am.

Cole's Thanksgiving Journal Entry

 

Given that today was yet another snow day for the Williamson County School System, I was blessed with the gift of unscheduled down-time with the kids.  After a 2-game domination of Rummikub (Mom vs. Cole), I stole a moment to read some recent journal entries in Cole's 4th grade composition book.

His writing made me smile and I quickly found my favorite poem: The Senses of Football.

 

Football is orange.

It tastes like dirt.

It sounds like crowds screaming.

It smells like sweat.

It looks tough.

It makes me feel hard core.

I kept reading the entries and soon came to one he wrote in November.  It made my day because a 9 1/2 year old boy doesn't always say what he thinks.  At least not out-loud.

I have tons of things I am thankful for.  I am thankful for my brother Cooper that is always having fun.  He begs me to play Wii with him even though he is four.  I am also thankful for him telling me jokes like "Why did the apple turn over?"  I have never heard that one before.  He is also the best brother ever.  That's why I am thankful for him.

I am also thankful for my little sister Ivy Mae for being so cute.  I get compliments from people, mostly from Tori Egli.  I am also thankful for her letting me read fairy tales to her at night.  She can be annoying but she can be friendly.  That's why I'm thankful for her.

I am also thankful for my stepdad for helping me make the right decisions and being able to help me through tough times.  I am thankful that he can watch football with me.  I am also thankful for him passing the football and riding bikes with Cooper and me.  I am also thankful for him for going to work and earning money for my new house.  That's why I am thankful for my stepdad.

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And for this, I am thankful!

Love,
Cat

Fabulous Fall Photos!

We had a photo shoot recently with an amazing photographer, Ariel Renae Photography.  She is so talented and, in no time flat, she captured my kids' personalities and left me with so many beautiful choices that I'm having a very difficult time narrowing them down for the walls.  I, of course, was very nervous because Ivy was having a TERRIBLE afternoon since waking up from her nap.  But, somehow, she managed to capture smiles rather than frowns and I am so happy with the results.  Here are a few precious rays of sunshine...   

Cooper gets his teeth cleaned!

After 75-minutes at the dentist's office with Cooper and Ivy, I was beginning to feel like a permanent fixture in the chair.   It took forever to get my x-rays done so I was only half-way through my own cleaning when they called Cooper in for his first check-up.

As he climbed into the chair, I heard Cooper say,

"I sure hope you know what you're doing."

Breaking away...

We are moving this week.  And among all of the excitement, I keep finding little pieces of our lives that scratch up some tidbits of emotion.  One of those things happened today as I was packing up the pantry.

My mom always used the inside of her big pantry door as a growth chart and I, in turn, have done the same.  But today, when I opened the door to pack up the cereal and pop tarts, I noticed it again and it made me sad.  I wanted to rip off the door and carry it out with me because, though it is just a door with pencil markings, mapping the kids' growth on this door has meant a lot to us over the years. 

Sure, there will be another pantry door at our new home.  I have, of course, meticulously traced each marking so that I can transfer it to the new pantry door.  But...it just makes me sad.

Change is a blessing.  But with all of the things we look forward to, there are so many things that we will miss about this place.  This old pantry door just seems to sum it all up in its own simple way.  It just makes me a bit sad that this sweet memento will soon be painted over by the new owner.  

Unwelcomed guests!

I made the mistake of walking into a new Brentwood store, C'est Moi, today.  It looked so welcoming from the sidewalk and I thought it would be harmless if I just perused for a brief moment before heading to the car with Cooper and Ivy.  I was thrilled with the selection and quickly told Cooper not to touch anything as he followed behind Ivy (who was on my hip) and me.

The store is small but full of French-style goodies and decor.  It was lovely and offered me a moment to dream about future home decorations and lovely embroidered pillows.  With every step, I continued to remind Cooper not to touch anything and he stayed close behind me with the innocence I demanded.  His four-year-old hands were wrapped tightly around the cup of sweet tea we had bought moments before at the cafe up the sidewalk.

But, as I turned the corner to eye a beautiful white and pink dresser with an antique mirror and pink crystal pulls: CRASH!  I whipped around to see Cooper's eyes as wide as dinner plates.  He had picked up a beautiful glow-in-the-dark glass ball - the kind you would nest together on a coffee table - and had thrown it straight to the floor.  "I thought it was a bouncy ball, Mama!  I thought it was a bouncy ball!"  His tears started to flow and I quickly rushed to see how much it cost to help clean up the mess.  I snapped at him and said that I had told him not to touch anything and this is why these things happen because he doesn't listen when I tell him to mind me and it makes me so mad and this is why things get broken because if he would just do what I tell him to then things wouldn't break in a nice store and it just makes me so mad!

I looked over my shoulder to tell her that I would buy it immediately but the owner rushed over and said that it was fine and that she has small children too and that it wasn't a problem.  Of course, I was thinking that she shouldn't have had the damned things in a basket on the floor...but I didn't say that, of course.

So, after taking a breath, I asked Cooper to sit down on the floor with his tea while we cleaned up the glass.  After the owner got it swept up and told me about her kids, I looked over to see a huge puddle of sweet tea on the floor of the store and Cooper's eyes were, again, as big as dinner plates.  So, I said "What in the WORLD, COOPER?!!!  Why can't you just sit there and wait instead of cramming the straw down in the styrofoam cup so that it gets a big hole in the bottom and the tea spills out all over the floor of this nice store and makes a big fat mess for this nice woman to have to clean up when she just opened the store 6 weeks ago and is probably paying who knows what in rent for this itty bitty store and now we've come in here and made a big fat mess because you won't listen!!"  So, I am frantic and I quickly grab some paper towels from her and sat Ivy down beside me so that I can start wiping up the mess that Cooper made and then CRASH!  Ivy has picked up another one of those glow-in-the-dark glass balls and thrown it down on the floor because she thought it was a bouncy ball.  So I screamed and grabbed Ivy and ran out the door with Cooper's hand in mine and ran to the car for the sweet comfort of the straightjacketlike car seats for a little piece and quiet.

I never looked back.

Please go to C'est Moi in Brentwood (7020 Church Street) and buy something and tell her that I am sorry.  Also mention that my kids are still alive normally very well-behaved.