Kids do the darndest things...

The other day, I was in a second grade classroom, not my son's...in another district.

The teacher was using what is called an "Assertive Discipline Plan". Individuals earned fake money for following the rules, teams (each table group of kiddoes) earned points the same way. Apparently to turn dollars and points in for privledges and prizes. And they lost the points and money if they had a "oops" moment. Incentive to not have "oops" moments. :)

When one of the kiddoes would get a compliment from the teacher, the teacher would ask if the child would rather have a "dollar" or a team point.  The kids would then choose which one they wanted, and they almost always chose "team point" which always resulted in fist bumps and smiles from their whole team!

One ADORABLE, and quiet, little girl got to make that very choice and she chose,

team point.

YAY!!!

The little freckled, red headed boy across from her smiled and said "thanks" and held his hand up for a high five.

The little girl kind of backed away and shook her head, no.

The little cutie pie was even more insistent now that she give him a high five so he got closer and even more "celebratory"...

She quietly shook her head no.

Odd, I thought. Wonder what the story is there?

And just then, the little boy reached up and...

picked his nose and wiped it under his desk.

Problem solved.

Wise choice little girl!!

Yup...kids do the darndest things! :)

And I giggled for about an hour.

The Key To Chaos...

Well...I had a "SERIOUSLY!" moment this morning! :)

I had a meeting at school at 8:20. Shouldn't be a problem, usually we are there by that time..easy peasy...right???

WRONG! :)

This had to be the day that the lego thing just "HAD" to be built before we could get in the car!! I didn't handle that well...there was yelling involved and me explaining that "the lego thing has GOT to wait because we are going to be LATE!"

No one really moved very quickly.

More yelling! Not proud...just truthful! ;)

Which was followed by Braden walking up to me and kindly explaining that "we NOT go to school today...we go to Chugga Cheesies (Chuck E Cheese)....

that was followed by him folding his arms, turning his nose up and saying, "hmmmm"!

Okee doke...so it' going to be THAT kind of day... :)

I talked Braden down, talked Zach away from the legoes and both boys got into the car, everyone was ready to roll!! YAY!!

We got to school and everyone was calm and happy and ready to have a great day.

I parked the car and shut it off....

...well...tried to shut it off...

Apparently, my key ring had gotten between my key and the ignition box (yes...I still have a key...my car is 10 years old).

I tried repeatedly to get it to shut off but that piece of metal was blocking the way!

Two little voices tried to aid me with "helpful" suggestions...like "just turn it off and pull the key out mom!"

SIGH!!  I resisted yelling...

but I did just allow my forehead to fall into my steering wheel.

And I left it there awhile while I sighed....

Zach next suggested we call a mechanic...or the police because we had an emergency.  LOL!

Instead, I called Brian...and I told him I had a meeting that I was late to already so the key would be in the car and the car would be on...

He said he would hurry! Thank goodness he was in town! :) So I left the car running and I headed into school and kissed everyone goodbye while rushing to the office for the meeting...

Seriously!

I stopped at the secretary's desk to tell them that Brian would be bringing in my keys, and why. :)

They know me...and they laughed...

LOTS!! :)  I can't blame them...so did I! :)

I went in for the meeting (where we had another good giggle). I had to rush off at 9 to get to my next thing and was rummaging through my purse for my keys.

I couldn't find them anywhere!!

YUP...I'm blonde!!

We all got a good giggle out of that one too!!

So I stopped at the secretary's desk to collect the keys and a new face looked at me and dangled them with a smile.  She handed to them as I was introduced to the "new secretary!"

SERIOUSLY!!

First, I gave a big hug to  Mrs. Brake who is leaving...sad sad sad!! She's a gem!!  And then I shook the hand of the new secretary and said,

"Hi...I'm Deliece Hofen and this is pretty much how things are gonna continue to roll for me!"

More giggles....

Mrs. Barrett (the other secretary) gave me a big hug and said that this was a good blog moment!!

She was right.

Seriously!! :)

I left hoping to get a mimosa...never did but still hoped!!

Remember Match Game and "Dumb Dora"??

I just kicked Dumb Dora's ASS!!!

I'm dumber...I WIN!!! :)  LOL!!

You Saved My Heart...

The other day, I was doing the Evil Twister Workout (described in this blog... http://deliecehofen.blogspot.com/2013_01_30_archive.html)

Braden was home and he wanted to do it with me.

I knew it was a bad idea because even I can't keep up with left hand here and lunge right and...smile..."are we having fun yet?" 

No Evil Twister Chick, I'm not having fun!! :)

Braden tried but when he can't do something, he falls on the floor and cries and says, "I can't do it!!".

Doesn't matter how insignificant whatever he couldn't do was, he is upset because he can't do it!

Then, my sweet boy did what he always does. He got up and tried again.  Then fell on the floor and again said, "I can't do it" and cried.

That continued for some time. I tried to talk him down but there was no fixing it...there never is...

Braden Hofen does not know how to give up.  He will NOT quit trying no matter how hard it is and I'm pretty sure that is why he is still alive today!

Finally, the workout was over and I shut it off. Braden got up, picked up the five pound weights, and with swollen eyes lifted them up and smiled and said, "Look at me, I'm doing it!"

I told him he was doing it and we clapped and hugged and he was smiling from ear to ear.

Then while I was still hugging him he started crying again, took my face in his hands and  he said, "Mom, you saved my heart. I love you!" and gave me one last big hug.

I looked at him and said, "No buddy, you saved MY heart!"

And then he ran off to play.

It's true.

He did save my heart!

Before the cAncer mess, I thought I had things figured out in life.

I had a great career, two wonderful children, an amazing husband, a safe home, and food to eat.

Braden taught me lessons I didn't want to learn. I certainly didn't want to learn them through him having cAncer, but he DID save my heart.

I didn't even know I was missing anything in my heart until the cAncer mess.

Braden taught me how to be strong and courageous. He never quits.

He taught me to live for joy, even on horrible days. See the positive!

He taught me about detours and that life isn't about the places you arrive, it's about the journey!

He taught me to be GRATEFUL for every single day. For every single day!! Even the bad ones.

He taught me to fight and never quit.

He clarified for me that God doesn't give us the bad stuff to punish us or teach us a lesson, God is our salvation and grace. God is our HOPE! God is good all the time!

He taught me to have an appreciation for life.

He saved my heart.

I "knew" these things, but I didn't LIVE these things like I should have until, Braden saved me.

He was 3.

And he has autism.

There's a lesson in that for all of us.

It's not about how old you are or how many education degrees you have.

It's not about money and notoriety.

It's about having a heart that is pure and knows how to truly love others.

It's about fighting for what is right no matter what!

It's about enjoying every minute you have on this Earth because it can all end tomorrow.

Stop, think, love, and appreciate.

cAncer, you lose!!

Friday Funny...

This story truly shows why this blog is titled what it is! :)

Wednesday was the day for Valentines' parties at school, we didn't have school Thursday and Friday.

SO...I convinced my sweet friend, Amy, to let me take her to the second grade party, our sons are in the same class and she has been locked in her house for several weeks following some foot surgery.

I picked her up and we started to turn to head to the school when I saw a neighbor's dog roaming around. She was A.W.O.L. and was headed far from home!

So we stopped and called for her and she happily ran over! She is a sweet puppy and she was thrilled to see us! I grabbed her collar and quickly realized that she was not going to go quietly.

She was SOO excited, she wanted to play and she wanted to lick and she wanted to love and she wanted to run...

So we started walking to her house and she decided to make a break for it.  It was like trying to stop a sled dog at the idatarod races!!  She was pulling me and I was trying to hold on to her so she wouldn't run away when she kicked it into overdrive and bolted.

I tried to hang on...

I didn't want to lose her because I was afraid she would run away and I couldn't stand the thought of the little girls who are her owners crying because they couldn't find her.

Instead of hanging on,

when she pulled really hard...

...I fell flat on my face in the middle of the street!

That's when she ran back and decided this was AWESOME fun and she started licking and running away and then coming back, climbing over me, and licking again and again and again and again...

I was laughing so hard, I could not get up. And that was only egging her on!! :)

Amy was in the car and she later told me all she could see was my legs flying up in the air over and over as I rolled to stop the full facial licks!! She obviously couldn't get out because of her foot so she was helpless but cheering for me!!

I finally climbed to my feet but I was laughing so hard, I could barely stand!! I could see Amy in the car laughing her butt off!!

I called for the dog and she eagerly ran over and I told her we needed to go home and she just followed me!!

If ONLY I had tried that first!!  LOL!!

We rang the neighbor's doorbell, she stood right beside me wagging her tail and ran in the house the minute he opened the door!!

I walked back to the car and Amy and I busted out laughing! 

Seriously!!

Only the two of us...

We made it to school in time and the parties were awesome!!

We have SUCH amazing mommies who do great stuff at parties.  The fourth graders had a sock hop and it was priceless!! The kids LOVED it and I got some great video of Zach doing the bunny hop!!  The fourth grade mommies were AMAZING!! HOLY MOLY what a party!!

Braden loved his party and he actually participated in each center without any adults helping him AND I got to be in the room and he handled it AND he listened to the adults at the centers and did what they asked which is unheard of!!

In kindergarten, I couldn't let him see me or he would cry and beg to leave. I had to hide in the hallway and peek in when his back was turned. I sent my camera in with another mom and his amazing kdg teacher also took pics for me!!

In first grade, he would handle it for a bit but then cry and have to leave because it was too much noise and action.

But this party, he knocked it OUT!!! You wouldn't have known he was a child with autism if you walked in the room.  I was very proud.

It's all thanks to the AMAZING teachers he has at his school!! Mrs. Rottinghaus who started him in KDG, Mrs. Haught who kept him going in 1st, Ms. Kumpf who is doing amazing things in second and his paras Ms. Kim and Ms. Jo who have helped him become independent!

We are SOO blessed!! Things could not have gone better at the parties.

I'm just going to try to be a better dog catcher next time!! :)

Saturday....Zachism day....

Zach is 9 and says the funniest stuff!!

And he doesn't mean to...

He's blonde like his mom!! LOL!!

Laughter is the best medicine and kids DO say the darndest things!!

Each Saturday, I'll share a "Zachism" with you to start your weekend with a grin (hopefully).

This one is an oldie, but a goodie and still makes me chuckle.

I shared it with the comedian, Sinbad, who cracked up.

Sinbad has been an advocate for our kids with cancer, GREAT guy!!

So here's our first Zachism:

When Zach was 4 and Braden was 3, we were early into this cancer mess. 

We told him we had to take Braden back to the hospital as a family the next day to get a "cat scan".

He shook his head and said, "man, he gets a lot of those".

He thought for a bit and said, "but when can he have a DOG scan?"

LOL!!

TAKE THAT cANCER!!!

Happy Saturday!!