Grid Iron Dreams

As a little gril, you could NEVER catch me is a dress or near anything that even hinted at the color pink. I was as far from a girly gilr as you could be. I loved to watch football. My mom even ordered me Football Digest and I would study each page. I could discuss stats with my dad and he would even consult me on his football pool picks. I would spend my Staurdays watching college football with my Grandpa and Sundays were spent glued to the NFL games. This was as close as I thought I would ever be to the game.
................then, came this beautiful blue eyed, blonde haired little boy who stole my heart. As I watched him grow and explore, the thought stayed in the back of my mind. What if he loves the sport his mom loves so much? What if he wants to run out onto that field someday? Then it happened. Leo was old enough to join a football team. The first time he "padded up", I cried, the first time he put on his helmet, I cried, the first time he ran out onto the field, I cried. He was living out all my dreams, and they seemed to be his dreams too. A mom could not be more proud.
    His first game, the older kids get to see more playing time. They have a fifth quarter for the younger ones. I was prepared to watch most of the game without my son running out onto the field, but that was not the case. The coach saw in him the same thing I see in him each and every day - the drive. Leo wants it!!! He pushes himself to the limits. It comes so effortless to him. Leo got to go in on the punt return - EACH time!!! Then, towards the end of the FOURTH quarter, he got to go in with the older kids. He did great and held on to the ball. The second game, his first HOME game, the same thing happend, only much sooner. Leo saw even more playing time. Then, it happened!!! His little buddy Rusty got the ball and ran in it for a touchdown!!! We went wild. They lined up fpr the extra point, and my kid got the ball and ran it in for the SCORE!!!The emotions that overcame me - I just cannot describe. He ran back to the line up still carrying the ball - pretty sure he wanted to give the ball to his mom!!! Jude and I were just screaming and jumping around!! I knew the answer, but I asked him if he thought it would be okay if I ran out onto the field and gave him a hug - so, I reluctantly stayed in the crowd, watching from a distance as his team and coaches hit his helmet in support. WOW!!!! What a moment.

   After the game, I was the first one to run up and hug him. I didn't want to let go!!! I am so proud of my little boy!!! After we came home and I sat on the porch, I looked at my other beautiful boys and thought - I may get to do this all again!!! I watched Wyatt throw the ball outside with Jude and Laughed at how hard he can throw. I looked down and watched Finn play with Leo's helmet. I watched Grier cheer on her brother as he thre a perfect spiral. I watched Roan as she picked up the football too "My turn!!" - could it be? Will I watch 4 of my kids run through the banner to get onto the field? With Roan, you never know.........................

Preschool Graduation

   I didn't think I could do it. I dreaded the days leading up to it. Then it came, and she cried. My Grier didn't want to stay at preschool anymore than I wanted to leave her there. She cried so hard and I had to leave her there while she still cried. She cried after I left and kept crying the entire first two weeks. It was brutal. then one day, it became easier. She looked forward to going to school and did not shead a tear. it didn't take her long to find a place. She made friends with some of the most adprable little girls. They would run up and greet her at the door each day and wave good bye in the afternnon. She got invited to birthday parties and playdates. She started to come out of her shell.

   Grier is the sterotypical middle child. Two ahead and two behind. Leo, Wyatt and Roan all have such strong personalities. (Not sure about Mr. Finn yet). Grier hides behide those gorgeous big blue eyes of hers. She doesn't like attention and is content to just watch from the sidelines. In the words of Mrs. Pedigo, her teacher, Grier knows her place. She knows her limits. She will do things in her way in her own time. She can't be pressured. Her dad says she is the most stubborn creature on Earth. That will be a great trait when she gets older, but at 5, Grier can be very misunderstood. Her shyness comes accross as rudeness. Those big blue eyes that seem to welcome attention, really want to bland into the crowd. It takes her a LONG time to warm up, and only those who wait really get to see the gift that Grier is to us.
  We had these two big rowdy boys in our life and then came this tiny perfectly beautiful little girl. She adds a softness to the house - even though she keeps up with those two big boys and will try and out do anything they do. Her beauty is not only skin deep. It radiates deep within.
   Today I watched her walk accross the stage. She stood up, as hesitant as she may have been, she stood up and listened to Mrs. Pedigo talk about her. She pegged her to a tee. Grier is an observer. She takes it all in and only when she is ready - she jumps in too.
   Grier, I love you more than words could say. You are sweet and sassy. Congrats on becoming a kindergartener!!!

Things I Just Don't Want To Know

I have decided there are just questions I refuse to ask because I truly don't want to know the answers. I was rocking Finn earlier and I heard Jude yell to the kids to quit hitting each other with bats. I thought about asking which kid was doing the hitting or which bat were they using, but the truth is I did not want to know. The kids were dancing for Megan today, and I thought about asking them why they felt the need to take their shirts off while they dance or who taught them to shake their hips like that - but I really did not want to know. As I walked into the kitchen and saw a pile of pancake syrup on the floor, I thought about asking who spilled or why they were even using syrup, but I didn't want to know. When Roan climbed on my lap and smelled strongly of mint, I thought about asking her what she ate. I didn't want  to know. I didn't want to know that she opened my new mint lip gloss and and still don;t want to know where half of the tube went. When I got into the shower, I saw the blue toothpaste on the ceiling - I still don't want to know how it go there or who is going to make it go away. I just don't want to know and it seems to be better today. I am thinking I may try this new approach to life. It just may work.

Baseball Babies

Baesball Fever has taken over the Hayden House. Three out of five are playing htis year. Luckily, Wyatt and Grier are on the same team. This lessens our crazy running a little. We start each Friday night getting ready for Game Day. each uniform is laid out in birth order. Then, we pack up 2 bags. Usually I take Finn so I get all the bottles and wipes and Jude takes Roan so he gets all the SNACKS!! These are very important. Try keeping a 2 year old girl focused on a double header each week without snacks and you will NOT be successful!!

I take Wyatt and Grier to their game at 9 and then haul ass to White Park for Leo's second game at 10. I sometimes don't know if I am coming or going and I am sire the parents from leo's team who don't know us must think we have marriage problems and a weird custody arrangement.

Here is Grier getting lined up to hit off the tee. In this league, it is required that the kids hit off the Tee the first inning. I am proud to say, she doesn't need the tee. She manages to knock the ball pretty good without it.  My girl won't let those brothers of her out do her EVER!! She hangs right with them at home and gives them a rin for their money. Don't yhou love the pink bat? Her dad wants her to have a pink helmet as well - we will see.

Here is Wyatt. Homie here can't help but slide his cap down Gangsta' Style. We laugh each week as to how long it will take the hat to slide forward. I guess that is just how he rolls. This kid has power!! He puts all his size behind him and that ball will NOT stay in the infield. He hits it out each time. Never fails, every time he gets on base he looks over and says "Mom, did you see me knock that one out?" Oh, Wyatt, I would never miss it.

Here is our own Tiger. Leo plays in the Bedford 3B league and is impressing us more and more each week. last game, he had 2 doubles and a TRIPLE!!! I about ran out onto the field to hug him. Lucky for me, my baby always comes and gives me a hug and high five after his hits. I wonder how long that will last? He has been playing different positions, but the coaches seem to like him at third base. He does a great job there. He didn't know a soul on the team, but in true Leo fashion, made friends the first day.
I  love watching the kids play so much, I don't know what I would do if sports didn't appeal to them at all. I think this is how the next 18 years will be spent. We may need to clone ourselves, though, when all five are playing!!!

2012 Talent Show at St Johns

From left to right - Colin Kane, Jacob Birr, Leo Hayden, Wyatt Hayden

What a handsome bunch of studs. The hats and ties were the workings of my own two studs. I was worried my Wyatt wouldn't go through with the performance, but to my astonishment, they went off without a hitch. They wiggled their little hips to "Dynamite". The crowd roared! The entire gymnasium clapped along to keep the beat. Leo was able to lead the group and he did not miss a beat. I am a very proud mom!! I have to admit I wiped away some tears, but I think it is because I was laughing so hard.

Here they are in action!

I wish I could figure out how to upload the video. I just don't think I can describe this performance in words. The entire show was quite something. there were hula hoops, dancers, piano players. Bridget Kennedy really out did herself this year putting the whole thing together. I am very proud that my kids go to such a great school and are part of such a great family.

On a side note, my Wyatt, who I was worried about, followed Leo's lead the entire song. Leo, to my surprise, had some soul in his moves. how I wish Jude could have been there to see his boys, but Bud needed to get out before the Memorial Weekend!!

Leo and Wyatt, mom is soooooooooooo proud of you boy!!! Maybe next year you will let your sister join in and become a Hayden Trio!!!

Leo's First Communion

Well, this handsome 8 year old made his First Communion on May 5th. Preparing for this day has consumed ALL of our time. It was worth ALL the blood, sweat and tears. Grandma Lyd had a bucket list, and Leo's Communion was the last thing sge mentioned. It was soooooooooooo important to her - he was so important to her. The Firt Great Grandchild from the First Grandchild. We missed her terribly, but I felt her all day. She kept popping in. Our beloved Neighbor "Gramma Marge" brought over sweet and sour cabbage on a whim - and we know who sent it. Leo carried my Grandpa's rosary, which was the last thing we discussed before she died. She was there.
  My Leo looked so handsome. He had a part in the mass at the beginning and did such a great job. Jude an i got to sit together without the other 4 and just beem with pride. This was made possible by, my mom, Michelle, Julie, Jamie, Sam, Marge and my Dad. Oh the fun it looked like they had in the front row with the rest of the Hayden kids, Hannah and Jack. I owe them all HUGE!!!
   The party startd at 4 and the Fischbach Family didn't leave until close to midnight - my 90 year old Grandma included!!! What an awesome time. I didn't take pictures as i was laughing and having such a great time, it slipped my mind.

Thank you Lyd - you made the day as special as possible!!! You really watch out for these kids of mine!!!

ROAN - Really Ornary And Naughty

There is a reason I have not posted in a while and a reason why this page is named after child #4. Roan!!!! Where do I even begin? I guess I will start with what seems to be everyone's favorite story. Yesterday while I was at Costco picking up pictures (yes, the one above was included), I had the 3 youngest with me. I was walking around electronics and I got a phone call from school. Everything was fine, but as I got distracted, Grier decided to chase Roan down the aisle. As Roan screamed and began to lose her footing, she reached out to brace herself - with my shorts. Down they came!!! As I whipped around to see my audience, there was a man at the end of the aisle, sitting in optical, who pretended he did not see my bare ass. From the way he was sitting, I knew nothing was farther from the truth, but I appreciated the fact that he at least wanted me to believe my hind end was not on display. WOW!!!
   About a week ago we had the opportunity to have our tree of death cut down in the front yard. The price was so little we had to agree, but we were not prepared for the mass of the tree. Needless to say, Jude has been working very hard clearing it away. Roan, who feels the need to dress for all occasions, could be found in her Elmo costume, a white knit hat, a left croc on right foot and a left slipper on left foot and out she went to help her Dad. As people looked on in disbelief Because the temp was close to 80 - I merely explained - there are some battles as a mother of 5 that you just don't want to have.
   I am still trying to figure out why the boys are calling Roan Larry, I don't ge an answer, but I decided to follow suit and I now call my beautiful 2 year old Larry as well. It fits well, especially when she is singing and dancing and smacking her "bootie" as her big brothers taught her. Oh Roan - how dull life would be without you!!!

BARF!!!

Yep, that pretty much sums up our life lately. It started out last Thursday. Leo kept disappearing to the bathroom. Well, by Saturday night, everyone but me had went down with the nastiest stomach virus I have ever seen in my life. I went through an entire container of Tide and Clorox wipes. It was brutal in this house. Jude said it looked like a triaage in the living room. We had towels spread all of=ver the floor and a rotation of "puke buckets" scatterd about, too. Jude tured a lovely shade of green Saturday evening and went down shortly before Grier, Wyatt AND Finn went down. I was flying solo. I thought very hard about locking myself in a room and crying - only the only room that locks is the bathroom and I needed that OPEN.
I do NOT get the stomach flu. I just don't. Thurday, Friday, Saturday - I was fine. Sunday I got a little queezy, but nothing. I figured I would be fine. I warned all to stay away from our bio hazzard house. My mom dropped off supplies twice on our door step. She called to say it was there long after she drove away from our street. I don't blame her one bit. It was U.G.L.Y. in this house. As Sunday went on, everyone started to perk up a little. I thought we were in the clear. Then it happened. Monday morning came. Grier was in our bed along with Finn and Roan so I could keep the latest vicitms close. The big three kids had a free day and Jude had to get ready for work. 5am - I woke up a little achy. Attributed it to lack of sleep and 50 loads of laundry. First - Finn blew - then Grier. Jude asked if I would be okay. I assured him AI was fine. As he drove away - I knew otherwise. I called him to come home just as he walked into work. Somehow, someway - the blasted flu claimed another vicitm. I do NOT get the flu! My body ached in places I didn't know I had. WOW!! It is Friday now and I am still feeling the effects.
The house has all but been sterilized. I havd gutted and washed every nook and cranny in this place. I pray we never have to live through such hell again!!
So, on to some brighter news. Finn FINALLY rolled over last night. I of course, missed it because I ran down to do some laundry. My last baby is growing up as much as I try to fight it. It breaks my heart. I am happy, though he is moving forward. He has been so sick, that I barley can put him down these days. He is scheduled to have his tubes put in next Friday. This should resolve some of his pain issues and hopfully tone down the asthma a litttle.
My Grier turns 5 tomorrow. Don't know how that one happened. I know it sounds cliche, but the time goes by so fast. Our days are so hectic, but I do know one day I will long for all these days once again. Until then, crazy it is!!!

If she was the first - she would have been the last!!

 I find myself saying this a lot when it comes to Miss Roan. We spend a lot of time together. Sometimes, a little too much time. I have to keep her with me always. God knows what she will do, well today I found out. I have a bin of socks in the girls room with all the mismatched socks. Well, lately there were more mismatched socks than pairs. So, I decided to clean it out. This then lead to getting rid of the 18 month clothes that Roan no longer fits into. As I was doing all of this, Roan tried "helping" me. She stole socks and tried putting them on. After a while, she got bored and Finn got hungry. I tried multi tasking by sitting on the floor in the girls room and feeding Finn and sorting through clothes. I "thought" Roan was in the living room watching Elmo. Nope!!! She came upstairs when I called her name with chocolate and peanut butter all over her face and hands. She found her Dad's stash! I said, "roan, what do you have?" She replied, "My eat butter cups." I am pretty sure she had more than one - maybe 5 from the looks of it. I cleaned her up and Finn was no longer in the mood for a nap. So, we moved on the the bathroom. As I cleaned up the towels on the floor and extra toilet paper all over the floor, Roan "bugged" Finn. As I listened to her talk to him, I realized what she was saying. "Grandma sleeping. Grandma sleeping." She has said this from time to time since Grandma Lyd passed away. She is named after Grandma and Grandma loved her eyes and her personality. Roan Lydia always ran to Grandma and talked up a storm to her. So - I know why Roan talks about her. I wish Grandma would do a better job of getting Roan to behave, though.
   Any time I ask Roan to do something for me, she tells me NO. The other kids may not do what I ask, but they would never be bold enough to tell me no. Roan - well, she has no problem looking me in the eyes and telling me no. I love that she is a strong willed little girl who won't let anyone walk all over her, but wow - she can be a little much. When she falls asleep, Jude and I joke - you don't poke a sleeping bear. If she passes out on the couch - we leave her there. You can also see from the picture, Roan has taken to wearing a tu-tu EVERYWHERE!! It is really funny because she is the biggest tom boy around. She loves her tu-tu. My wear tu-tu!! So we don't argue - we have learned to pick our battles. If she wants to wear the tu-tu to church, she wears the tu-tu to church.
   Speaking of church, just a quick story. Taking 5 kids to mass is a circus when they behave. When they act up, it is a freak show at the fair. Last Sunday, we sat in the  second row with no one in front of us. When Jude took Finn out to get him to stop crying, Roan started fussing so I pointed to Fr. Tony - then she pointed to him. So he pointed back. Okay - not too bad. As mass was ending, Fr was standing at the alter to walk out and Roan dtarted yelling "bye Tony". She did this 5 or 6 times and would have continued to do so, but he finally heard her and turned and waived to her. I wanted to crawl under the pew. Oh Roan!!!!

Catching Up

   I can't believe it has been a year since I started this blog - and left a post. I guess I have some catching up to do. A lot has changed since I was lost on. On October 17, 2011, we welcomed a 6 pound 13 ounce beautiful baby boy. Finley Jude Hayden completes our family. What a great note to end on. He is just beautiful. He has had a rough start, though. When he was not even a month old, we were forced to say goodbye to Grandma Lyd. A piece of my heart left me that day, I know I will never get it back. She watches over us. I know this because when Finn was 9 weeks old, he was admitted into the hospital. he had been battling a couugh and wheezing pretty much since birth. We were stumped on what to do for him. After COUNTLESS doctor appoinments, he had a chest x ray and the verdict was pnuemonia, or so we thought.  The docs in the hospital were not convinced it was pnuemonia. They finally decided Finn has asthma. He was released from the hospital on December 23rd and we scrambled to get everything ready for Christmas. We managed to pull it off thanks to the help of my family and friends.

   Since then, it has been an uphill battle with Finn. He has good weeks and bad weeks. We are still trying to figure him out. The big three kids are plugging away at school. Leo is preparing for his first communion. He is also learning to count money and add double digit numbers. I am very proud of him. Although, he totally has my smart ass attitude. Poor Jude. Two Kristy's. Leo amazes me. He is my right hand man. he helps with finn and is quite attached to his Roan. He puts up with her her crap and coddles her non stop. He is such a big boy now. where did the last 8 years go?

   Wyatt is Wyatt. He is doing great in kindergarten. He is excited to learn. He is working on time and reading site words. They even come up with sentences. Funny story. Wyatt's report card came home. In kindergarten they get S+ S S-. He got an S+ in identifying colors. He is color blind. He can an S- in making good use of his time. That made more sense.

   Grier - well she is tying right now. She recenly cut a huge section of hair out. I had to do the best I could to even it all out. She now has a bob haircut and I have to admit - she looks adorable. She also has learned how to write her name. She has practiced al over the walls in her room, the bathroom and the basement. Lovely.

   Roan - wow. Talk about a fire cracker. She is something else. She has music in her soul. That little girl believes it is her duty to dance. She busts a move where ever she is. She has some major ghetto moves for sure. Jude and  iare seasoned parents and know when not to laugh at the kids. Roan makes it impossible. She makes us giggle nonstop. She has such attitude and fire. No one pushes her around.

   Finn - he is 4 months now. He is a clone to Leo. It brings back so many memories. He is smiling and trying to stand and bounce. He is growing just a little too fast for my last baby. He is up to 11 pounds and 13 ounces. At the same aga, Wyatt weighed 17 pounds - just to put Wyatt's size into perspective.

   So, that sums up the past year and brings you all up to date. I think I can start to share some of the crazziness that goes on in this house from here on out!!!