One Day It Was About To Change And I Didn’t Know It

Some days I wonder where all the time has gone since all of this has started.I never thought when I had three boys I would be a full fledged hockey mom. I figured after my last son Jordan was born, I pictured myself on the sidelines as the football, basketball, or baseball mom sitting in the stands either freezing my butt off or sweating and sticking to my chair or the bleachers. Mainly, because that's how I grew up. I could have never imagined being around a sport I knew little of would bring me so much joy!
Yes, I grew up in Minnesota, Land of 10,000 Lakes, so you would think of course I knew hockey. I grew up in a small town that did not have hockey or a hockey team. I never saw my parents put on a pair of skates, I had never seen a game until college, it was foreign to me. So I had a lot to learn when a two year old boy said, "Mommy I want to do that!" after attending his first NHL Carolina Hurricanes game. Yes, we moved from the State of Hockey to a state that most people probably didn't even know had a hockey team. When I saw his face and the attention it had kept for a two year old boy to sit all game long watching intensely and not once asking is it over yet, which was the case at any other sporting event I knew something was going on in that little brain. That's when it all started. I still have the ticket stub. He got the bug!
I'll never forget taking him to his first lesson he had just turned 3 when they were allowed to sign up for the learn to skate program at the local rink and his older brother Braedyn was 5 and he wanted to try to. He looked like a bobble head out there. I think I had dressed them in three layers of pants because if they fell I wanted them to have a cushioned fall. They both went together and the reactions were quite different. Braedyn would fall and he didn't like it, I could tell. It hurt, he was cold, and he couldn't wait for it to be over but just wanted to be out there with his little brother. They have always have been there for each other. Cooper on the other hand, he'd fall and he'd get right back up....fall again and couldn't get his footing but eventually would get back up and off he went. He picked it up pretty fast. After a couple sessions the teacher kept getting frustrated with him because he didn't want to work on snow plows and picking up cones. He wanted to play hockey like the little boys he would sit and stare at on the other end of the ice. So after those six weeks...older brother hung up his skates and little brother signed up for Rink Rats...Those times I remember so vividly...three years old in his sweaty spider man pjs driving home from hockey his little body so exhausted from skating for 60 minutes. I'd have to get him out of his car seat and carry him into bed and wash him down with a soapy warm wet rag while he's holding onto his teddy bear half awake.
These are the memories I treasure and I will never forget. 
As I sit here going through old photos because one day it just was just sorta gone and hockey wasn’t a part of my life as much as it is his now. I never thought my last road trip with him was my last. I Miss him and I miss the sport that brought me so many great memories and so many more to look forward to. 

How It Was To How It Is

3 years old preschool-  14 years old freshman 

The Middle Schooler

Jordan has been in school all year and they never shut down due to Covid-19. They have been very successful in keeping the virus out of the school. The only thing they do not have because of Covid is sports. The diocese didn't pass having school sports at the middle school level. He does miss out on that but it's just one year. He was looking forward to it. He was looking forward to playing basketball again. That will have to wait until next year. 

He has found a new passion and gave up hockey. He made a travel lacrosse team and it's his turn now to try something. I thought I was done traveling to the Northeast for weekends but come June we will be traveling North to lacrosse country. Tournaments in Annapolis, MD and in Virginia. It will be fun and I've enjoyed watching him develop and develop his love for something. He was a good hockey player but he was always balls to the wall and no fear. He has a little more control on the ground running. Also, he can get a little mean streak and that works to his advantage in lacrosse. It'll be a fun spring and summer. 

The third boy just might be the most athletic one out of all them because he has always had to follow and catch up to his brothers and compete. He doesn't know any different...sink or swim.

It's weird to have your last one growing up so fast. I will always remember him as a toddler. 

Proud Mom Moment

I was so excited to go visit Cooper in Minnesota for a week in February. I got to see two home games while I was there. Of course, the day I left they were calling for temperatures below freezing! The day I left North Carolina it was in the 50s. It was so cold when I got there, my eyeballs were cold! 

I found out the day before I left that he was going to be getting to start the game. I was so happy for him. He had a great game and they won 9-1. To see it in person was very different then watching it in my living room on the flat screen tv! It was an exciting atmosphere the crowd is a little smaller due to Covid rules but to Cooper it was way more then he is used to having at games! The game is so much faster then what I was used to and is faster in person then on a tv screen. I loved it!

It was a busy weekend with a couple birthday celebrations and the Super Bowl. I took him shopping and we had a great time.  He used to hate shopping but we spent a day at the mall picking out dress clothes for home games. He insisted on a suit. He looked pretty sharp!

His second game will always be special to me...in my previous posts I have said it is hard not being at the games and cheering from the stands. Not only did I get to do that, but I got to be there for his first Varsity goal. That will always be special for him and I'm glad I got to witness it in person.  They ended up winning 10-0 and he finally got on the stats sheet. This year is not going to be a stats year for him, which is ok. I am just happy he is playing. Some of his friends in Canada haven't even played a game yet. 

I was a proud mom that night. He came home and he was still on cloud nine.  Like I said...Timing...

It was harder to leave this time then before and I don't anticipate it getting any easier.

Way to go bud! I Love you!

Timing Is Everything

There's many sayings about God's timing and how things just work out...if you just keep the faith it does happen. The things that I have prayed for or things that have or haven't happened all work out when they are supposed to. Patience is a virtue and one I am still working on. As I look back on life and reflect I see his hand in everything. It really is amazing when you look at things with a different perspective and a different set of eyes. Ever since I was a teenager he was there and it took me along time to realize that and be thankful. 

If we all just paused for a moment to reflect on the good, the bad, the ugly you might realize what you thought was awful at the time brought you to were you are today. This year has been so hard on everyone and we all have had time to maybe realize what is important in life. When this crazy world opens back up lets be patient, kind, forgiving, and accepting. Lets take the vacation, eat the dessert, sleep in or take that afternoon nap, log off work early, take a mental health day, and be accepting of who you are. Accept were you are at today and keep on working to get better.

Everything works out in time...Have Faith and Trust the Process

Keep Your Eyes Wide Open

Never say never ...

Junior Year and Covid

This year, Braedyn is stuck at home doing distance learning along with most public school students in North Carolina. 

Luckily he is a good student and has been doing great. It has worked for him. The announcement came out they could return to school at the end of March. The school board thought it was a good idea to bring back freshman and sophomores first in January. Then they would bring Juniors and Seniors back in March. That makes completely no sense at all but our board never does. So that is only par for the course. March, what's the point...He'll only have three months left. I hate that for him and I hate that he feels that way. He loves school and he misses his friends. But to go back to a "jail" would not be ideal. The rules and expectations of the students seem more like a jail then school. He can still participate in sports and distance learn so that his is choice. The thing that makes me sad is he has missed out on an important year in High School. It's an important year for your academics to buckle down and start thinking about your future. That is hard to do everyday when you roll out of bed when your alarm clock goes off and log into a virtual classroom. It's like groundhog day everyday. Same thing...

He has missed out on things that high school juniors should have fond memories of looking back... but he had no homecoming, no prom, no pep rallies, and no classroom shenanigans, memories and new friendships. His baseball season was cut short which was a blessing in disguise because he was injured. Now he had a whole year to recover and prepare. I am excited to see what this year has to bring. Hopefully his baseball season will remain intact this spring. This year was the year of college planning and I have been thrown a curveball with that. It is a year to enjoy before your last. All of sudden he will be a senior. I have to say I am sad he missed out on things like that but I have gotten to have a whole year with him at home which I will always treasure. You cannot get that time back and he will be gone soon. We have been talking about his future a lot and thankful for this time to be able to that! He isn't in school so the things that maybe would be talked about with his counselors and figuring things out are not available right now. This would have been the year he started doing that. It has kind of fallen into our laps and I have been help him navigate things. 

He has been working out with his brother while he is home and taking baseball more serious. He has realized he could play in college if he really wants to. Obviously, he doesn't have hopes of going Division 1 or I don't think he ever really wanted to go to a major large University. He has started to think of how he'd like to go to a really good smaller school with a decent baseball program and wants to play ball in college. Some kids just know what they want to do from a young age and it never changes. Cooper has had the same dream since he was a little boy but Braedyn is different. He was a late bloomer and a smaller kid. He has always been a good baseball player and he needed to grow. He will never be a 6 foot kid but he plays like it. I am enjoying him getting excited about his future and researching colleges and programs and possible majors he might pursue. I think he finally has connected with someone who will help him achieve these things. Someone who believes in him and can help him through this new process. Looks like we will be playing a lot of baseball this summer...

I have seen him grow into this confident, smart, funny, and mature young man. He makes me very proud. I am proud to be his mom. 

This is an exciting time for him and I am glad I get to be along for the ride.