The First Lady & My Daughter

Last week I let Lucy miss a day of school to go to a Democratic rally.  A rally where the First Lady Michelle Obama was headlining. 

It was a beautiful day in Detroit. The kind of October day that makes you love Michigan--blue sky, chilly but not cold, leaves turning colors, the kind of Fall day you see in movies and commercials.  

The energy was just as amazing as the blue sky.  People were excited and energized and anxious to see the First Lady.  Volunteers from the local candidates' offices were asking people to sign up to help in the last few weeks before the November 4th elections.  And people were signing up!  People wanted to be involved. 

For Lucy this was school.  She got to see the democratic process in action.  She got to hear how voting matters, elections matter, the people matter.  

Lucy even brought her notebook to take some notes.

For me, it was sort of my church.  I saw old friends that have become like family, I watched as candidates I helped plan small house parties for years ago now introducing the First Lady, I connected with young people that I met years ago when they were interns and now they are working for senators and campaigns.  I was amen-ing when speakers talked about fair pay and equal rights.  I hooped and hollered my support.  I nodded my head and felt solidarity and hope and inspiration.  

I said we went, I didn't say we got the greatest seats in the place.  But it was still unbelievable.

I leaned over and asked Lucy if this made her want to run for office.  "No," she said emphatically.  

My first thought was "What!? Why not? Don't you feel like going out and changing the world and becoming a Senator and maybe even the first woman to be the President of the United States, but dude really hopefully I hope you are the second or even third before you run because you are only 10, but how could this not make you want to run for something?"

But that's not why I really brought Lucy.  I brought my daughter to the rally to show her a part of how politics work in our country.  I brought her to be a part of history, so she can say "I heard the First Lady speak when I was a kid."  I brought her to show her a part of me that isn't just asking her to pick up her room, bugging her about homework and driving everyone everywhere.  While I find such overwhelmingly tremendous value in caring for my family and giving them life skills and making sure they are involved in afterschool activities, I want my kids to know I am even more than that.  

Michelle Obama was a powerful, passionate speaker.
She owned the room.

Watching how she interacted with people was special.  She was gracious and encouraging to everyone from the young girls to the teenage boys to the elderly women who stood in line to greet her, hug her and get a picture with her.  

I want my daughter to see that she can be a mother and an activist.  I want her to see first hand that she can be a mother and a First Lady or a mother and a Senator.  I want her to know she has a voice in the world through running for public office or just getting involved and most importantly by voting.

"If you grow up to be a Republican Catholic like your dad, I think that would be wonderful, as long as you vote," I told her.  Just because I take her to a Methodist church and Democratic rallies doesn't mean I want to raise a Methodist Democrat.   I want her to be whatever she wants.  I just want her to experience not being on the sidelines of life.  My wish for all my children is to be an active participant in their lives, to get involved and build a community for themselves, to be passionate about issues but open to people with different opinions.  

Here we are with my friend Dodi and U.S. State Rep Gary Peters who is running for the Senate.

But the biggest reason I took my daughter last Friday is because I love having the opportunity to spend a day with my girl.

Blurry iPhone pic, but all kinds of perfect.

Crazy Dog Lady & What I Know For Sure

It wasn't my idea to get a puppy, but I went along with it.  In fact I went a little nuts with it.  At the time I was mildly obsessed with Les Miserables and decided to name our new puppy Cosette after one of the Les Mis characters.  I informed the family we would be calling our new puppy Cosi for short.  After we picked her up, I played the perfect song from the Les Mis soundtrack.   It was all so perfect...at least that day.

After a couple months, I was so close to giving her away. I had forgotten how much work puppies are. Tim found a nice old lady on a farm that would take Cosi.  But at the last minute I stopped him.  It didn't feel right, I didn't want to give up on Cosi. 

Fast forward a little over a year and things have changed a lot.  Cosi is still a lot of work and chews Wade's toys and gets way too excited when people come over.  But I love her so much.  

She is my buddy, my sidekick, the only one that listens to me (unless people come over because then forget about it).  Yeah, I've turned into kind of a crazy dog lady. 

I was even featured on EverydayFamily.com calling Cosi my best friend.  

Click here to go to the EverydayFamily site.

It is kind of crazy, but it's also kind of wonderful.  Cosi is my buddy, my sidekick.  She makes me happy.  She makes our whole family happy (except when she chews up Wade's toys because then Wade is over her).  

I know for sure that keeping Cosi around was the total right thing to do for our family.

Here's what else I know for sure this week:

• Rock the Vote is still funny and cool after all these years.  Check out their latest video.  It's fuuuunnny.  

• Speaking of politics, I'm hanging out with FLOTUS today. Lucy and I will be rallying for the Democrats in Michigan.  So psyched.

 

• I graduated from physical therapy!  Woot. Woot. Right? Except I'm really going to miss the gang at my outpatient therapy center.  I loved talking TV with them, but running here I come.

• Wade is growing up, he turned 5 this week.  What? How? Whoa! And he went on his first field trip to the farm. 

Here's the short birthday video I made for/of him.


Wade Turns Five from Jumping With My Fingers Crossed on Vimeo.

• I don't feel bad for Teresa and Joe from The Real Housewives of New Jersey.  And for some reason that makes me feel bad.  

What do YOU know for sure this week?  Tell me here in the comments or on my Facebook page.

And head over and play with me on Instagram.

Still Dancing (31 Days Of Dance)

There's a whole lot of dancing going on over here.  It's 31 Days of Dancing, people.

I've been dancing on YouTube.


(Click here to watch the video.)


TBT edition--


 (Click here to watch the video.)

I've been dancing on Instagram.

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Saturday night!!!!!!! And I'm a grown ass woman. If I want to dance in ridiculous PJ pants in my kitchen after 3 glasses of wine, I can. #31daysofdance #freedom #kitchendance

View on Instagram

I've been dancing in the car.


(Click here to watch the video.)

Even Wade has been doing a little dancing.



(Click here to watch the video.)

It's happening all month long!  Head on over to my YouTube channel and check it out.  And follow my Instagram for some more dancing.

Got a dancing video?  Share the link below or over on my Facebook page.

Wade Turns Five

My "baby" turns five years old today.  

Happy birthday Wade.

Wade Turns Five from Jumping With My Fingers Crossed on Vimeo.

I'm feeling overwhelmed by the quickness of time and seized by all the moments, all the lovely, funny, delicious, amazing, wild, hectic, heart-bursting with love moments.

Last pre-Wade family picture a few minutes before I left for the hospital.

First time the siblings meet their baby brother (and forgot to brush their hair).

Graupel or No Graupel

Beware of the graupel.  That was the weather alert on my phone this past Saturday.  It sounds ominous and medieval or so 18th century doesn't it?  Hear ye, good sirs, beware the graupel.  Right?  

What the hell is graupel?  Well I Googled it and it basically means hail.  (If you Google a little more you will see that the "Is it Graupel or Is it hail?" debate can get a little heated, which I find hilarious.)

This past Saturday was cold and dark and rainy.   I was fearful of all the graupel headed our way, because we were planning on spending eight hours outside in all of it.  Because Saturdays mean football for our family and supporting each other, graupel or no graupel.

I frantically searched for gloves and coats for the kids.  Our glove drawer looks like all the sock drawers in our house....nothing matches.  I found 20 left or right hand gloves, but not one match.  

Matching is overrated anyway.

By the time we had to leave to not be late for the first of two football games, our house looked like someone had broken in and ransacked the place.

We made it just in time for the kick off of JT's game and just in time to be miserable.  

Wade found his awesome mask.

It was 39 degrees and it started to rain. Then the graupel came down hard.  The 7- and 8-year-olds trying to play football in the mess were dropping the ball, crying and shivering.  

"Why are we here?!," Lucy shouted over the sound of the ice pellets hitting her umbrella.  "Whyyyyyyy?"

"To support each other, we show up, it's what we do!," I shouted back.

When Lucy and Wade dropped the blankets in the puddle by our feet and Wade said he couldn't feel his fingers, I relented to going in the minivan to warm up.  

I hate missing my kids' stuff.  I love that they know they have a cheering section, that they have their own people.  People that have their back, witness their big play or big speech or big flop, people that yell their names in support, people that will agree "yeah they should have called that clip" and "what was up with number 67 on the other team?," people that take their side, people that love them no matter what, people that show up.

So after a quick warm up in the minivan, we found less wet blankets and trudged through the puddles to watch the rest of the game.  We got there just in time to see JT get hit hard and to hear the announcer say "injured player number 46 down on the field, JT Youngblood, hit hard by a player that gave him a hit like Ray Lewis, yeah it was a Ray Lewis hit."  Just what a mother wants to hear about their son.

"God dammit, why are we here?," I said out loud as I made my way to see if JT was okay.

"Mom, because it's what we do, we are here for each other, right?," Lucy reminded me as she tried to keep up with me dodging more puddles.

JT got up, made it to the side line where Tim and Peyton were waiting.  They checked him out and sent him back out for the next play.  Peyton turned to me and gave me a thumbs up.  "He's okay mom, we made sure, he's okay," he reassured me, he knew I would be worried.

In between JT's game and Peyton's game some of us quickly went home to throw our blankets in the dryer and get hot chocolate.  Then we went back.

It was cold, but the rain had stopped and the sun actually came out.  But even if it hadn't and the threat of graupel still loomed, we would have come back.  We show up, it's what we do, graupel or no graupel.

31 Days of Dance & What I Know For Sure

So a lot of people on social media do things like 31 Days of...something.  Have you seen this phenomenon?  People do things like 31 days of gratitude, 31 days of eating healthy and then they post it somewhere.  A lot of bloggers write a post every day for 31 days.  I wanted to do something like that in October so I really took some time to think about what I could commit to, what I could contribute.  After a while, it hit me...dancing. Of course, dancing!  

Dancing is something I can totally commit to doing every day.  Why?  I think the better question is why not?

Dancing makes you happy (even if you're not), it burns calories, it's fun, it's harmless, it's fun-ny sometimes.  It is hard to take life too seriously when you are dancing in your kitchen.  It's kind of the best thing ever.

I will be posting a new dance every day over on my YouTube channel (click here to subscribe).  Check me out.

Here's the first dance, 31 Days of Dance Day 1:



(Click here to watch the video.)

I challenge YOU to dance.  Dance in your kitchen, in your car, at your desk, in line at the store, at your kid's football game.  Unless it's illegal in your town, like old school Footloose.  Even if it is, pull a Kevin Bacon and fight your town's John Lithgow and dance. 

Here's a Footloose clip (and some really inspiring dance moves to steal):

*Fun fact- I helped choreograph and performed a dance number to Kenny Loggin's song Footloose when I was in the fourth grade. Woot. Woot.*


Just dance, and share it with me.  Link your video or picture on my YouTube channel or my Facebook page.  

I totally know for sure this week that the world needs more dancing and I'm going to do it for 31 days straight.

Here's what else I know for sure this week:

• We can't pass a leaf pile and not throw some up in the air because it's Fallllllll!

• Little kids can be so mean to moms and it can be so funny.  Check out this video, it makes me laugh every time.

• Wade may have a future as a modern artist.  I walked into the living room the other day and found all of the forks on a display he called "it's a battle." 

• You will never see a U-Haul behind a hearse.  That's the kind of truth Denzel Washington is preaching in this YouTube video and I love it.  I've been quoting him all week since I watched this video.  He gives great advice on dreams and goals.  Check it.

• The world has me sort of freaked out about Ebola.  

• I'm glad my kids have each other. 

What do you know for sure right now?  Tell me about it here in the comments or on my Facebook page.

And come follow me on Twitter and Instagram.

Getting Political

Yesterday I posted a picture on Facebook of Wade and me delivering campaign flyers for my friend who is running for state representative here in Michigan.  It was a very Facebook-y.  What I mean is the picture only told part of the story.  The picture made it look like I was a very together suburban mom teaching my son about democracy on a beautiful autumn afternoon.  The picture only told part of the story and it partly lied.  

Yes,  I am suburban I have the minivan and the yoga pants to prove it (said yoga pants were my outfit of choice for this particular outing) and it was indeed a beautiful autumn afternoon.  But I'm so not together.  The picture doesn't show Peyton accidentally letting Cosi, our beloved but somewhat wild dog, out the front door and all hell breaking loose.  

"No Cosi!!!!!!!!!!," I screamed as she ran toward the street right as a school bus was heading our direction.  The neighbors that were outside turned and gasped in horror.  Cosi stopped, but didn't exactly come to me.  Two people that just happened to be canvassing the neighborhood on behalf of our state's gubernatorial race looked terrified.  

"Nice job Peyton, what were you thinking!," I screamed accusingly at my oldest son who was frantically chasing Cosi.  I was afraid that Cosi would run in the street and get hit by a car. 

The neighbors were starting to gather at the bus stop to wait for the elementary school kids' bus to arrive.  Cosi was running circles around us, I was yelling like an insane woman and Wade was laughing.  Just when Peyton had Cosi by the collar she started to run and the collar slipped off, and she sort of took Peyton out at the knees.  Cosi and Wade were loving it.  They thought this was the best game of chase ever.  Wade's eyes sparkled.  He loved the element of danger the street brought to the game.  

I could just imagine what my neighbors were thinking.  I imagined something like this "My god, look at her, totally out of control just like all the rest of those liberal Democrats."  

We finally chased Cosi to the backyard.  I walked to the front yard smoothing out my hair and trying to catch my breath and announced to no one in particular,  "Sorry everybody, I didn't...(catching breath)..... mean to....(more heavy breathing).... scare you."  Followed up with a maniacal laugh that sounded like Lucy's Halloween witch doll that laughs everytime you push the button in the doll's hand.  

So my lesson in democracy wasn't picture perfect, but it wasn't totally scary either. 

Getting involved in the political process, being a part of it all feels so good.  I like supporting my friend and talking about what is going on in our community.  I get a little nervous that I might offend my very Republican neighbors with my very pronounced Democrat-ness.  But I won't let that stop me.  Over the years, I've had some of the best discussions with people that don't agree with me.  We've listened and learned things from each other.  More times than not, we laugh with each other about something we can relate to like tweens that roll their eyes at everything we say or those autocorrect mistake posts on Facebook that make everyone laugh no matter what political party they belong to.

I like being involved, helping to make a difference, learning and supporting our democratic process.  Some years I have hosted parties for candidates, gone to meetings and fundraisers, made a million calls and canvassed neighborhoods.  During the 2008 Presidential election, there was a campaign office here in town that I spent so much time at my kids called it "Obama's office."   Other years all I have the energy and time for is to put a sign up in my yard and to go vote.  But every election I will do something because it's a pretty bad ass wonderful thing this whole democratic society.  

This year it may not be picture perfect, but it still feels energizing and exciting to help someone get elected who is passionate and educated and hard working and giving their whole life to public service.  I feel patriotic and young and like I need to dig my Rock the Vote shirt from 1994 out of the attic and binge watch West Wing on Netflix. 

October

Holy shit it's October...how? I mean what?  Time, man, it just goes so fast.  But I think like October.  October is football, playoff baseball, warm enough to enjoy being outside but cool enough to wear a sweater, beautiful leaves, no high-pressure-make-you-question-your-family-or-your-religion holidays....actually October sort of rules.

I feel like I'm getting in a groove too.  We are finally feeling our routine and we're over all the back-to-school newness.  We only have a few more weeks of football season and practice and eight hour Saturdays with both boys' games.  I must admit, aside from the constant worry that the boys will get hurt, I have kind of loved this season.  

The boys are happy and that makes me happy. There's all sorts of father and son bonding going on.  Wade and Lucy and I get to hang out with families we love at the games.  I might even be sad when it's over.

There's a lot of other stuff going on besides football this month.  Wade and Lucy are playing basketball.  

There's the run club, Wade's birthday, our annual trip to the pumpkin patch, maybe a date night, um, Halloween.  I think October may be one of my favorite months ever.  I mean seriously, there should be more written about this month.  Are there any songs about October?   Here's to October!

Photo Credit: http://inspirationlane.tumblr.com/post/64341452681

What are you doing this October?