With Frog in Hand

The other day I was going through a basket on my nightstand, and I ran across a piece of bright purple paper. In the middle of the paper I had glued a picture of a child's dirty hand holding onto a frog. I had written in the corner, "Be present. Appreciate the surprising, every day moments. Love in the way people receive it." No doubt, this was an "assignment" I had done for my weekly moms' group, probably more than a year ago. Our facilitator was a vibrant, artistic, reflective woman named Deb. Every week she had projects organized for the moms; specially designed activities to get to the core of our parenting, our faith, ourselves. All around our house, I have these little pieces of our weekly meetings; usually brightly colored, always meaningful. These pieces are precious to me because of the time I spent with my friends sharing, supporting, praying, contemplating. They are even more precious to me since Deb passed away in October. Her life and her death have had a profound influence on our family. I am so grateful for all the little Deb treasures I keep discovering.

We are still in the midst of the Mite hockey season. Harry now practices two weeknights on outdoor rinks. I was not prepared for the number of practices per week, nor was I prepared for the various pieces of equipment he would need. I was especially not prepared for the time Artie would spend WATCHING his brother practice. He chooses to go almost every time, mostly because of the subculture that surrounds the siblings of the players. There are treats to be purchased, new bathrooms to explore, and the possibility of snagging an electronic device from a parent in order to play a game. Artie has been a trooper, and I'm impressed with his ability to just "hang" at the rink. Some day it will be his turn...

Of course with all these practices and important games, Harry has come to fancy himself quite the player. He has asked if he can "sign up for the Gopher hockey team." It almost breaks my heart to look at his huge, expectant eyes, with him fully expecting me to jump on the phone to call coach Lucia. Maybe we'll have him ask the players themselves next week when we skate with the Gophers at Mariucci Arena. Mike is off getting our skates sharpened so that we don't fall on our rumps in front of the hot shots. I think I had a similar nightmare one night...

Thanks for reading,
Kristi