Blogging Goals!

Alright friends, I've been thinking about this blogging thing.  I genuinely miss blogging, but haven't (obviously) been making it a priority.  My goal is two times a week to post something on here.  

It's so funny because one of my favorite things to do is go back and look at the blogs I've posted and lately, well I just can't do that.  Makes me sad I don't have my "electronic scrapbook" up to date.  

We headed to my dad's for Easter.  It was a nice, low-key day that involved all the good stuff: family, the Easter Bunny, church, card games, picking-up poop in Grandpa's yard (scouts honor the boys thought that was fun), basketball on tv, pie, ham, deviled eggs and all that yumminess.  

Here's a picture we snapped after church.  Don't mind the awkwardly leaning, tired looking mom.  Why does nobody ever tell me to stand up straight?! Ha.  Next time, I guess.    

I hope your Easter was as great as ours!  See you back here sometime this week. :)

Oh hey....Happy Easter!

I just so happened to glance at my blog today and I noticed two things: 1. I still had a Christmas/Winter Wonderland background and 2. I hadn't posted in over a month.  A month!  Yikes.

I apologize if anybody has been checking this on a regular basis for my absence.  The days and weeks get away from me.  

We are staying busy as we typically do.  We've started baseball and softball practices for spring league.  Aaron is coaching Brody's team and I'm coaching Jenna's.  Aaron is the high school boys golf coach this season.  We've had spring concerts.  We had our birthday bash last weekend.  I feel like I might still be recovering from that. :)

We have no big Easter plans since we saw pretty much everybody last weekend for the birthdays.  Hanging out at home, heading to church and going to my dad's on Sunday for lunch.  Sounds like a plan to me!

The Easter Bunny was uptown a few weeks ago and I snapped a picture of the kids.  Gosh, they're getting big!!

Happy Easter!

The way I see it....

Everybody has a story

Do you ever read those books where you get to the end and you think...yes! That right there! I couldn't agree more! That happened to me on Sunday when I finished a fictional book called, “One Hundred Names.”

It's about a journalist who is in the midst of scandal at the same time her mentor who taught her everything is dying of cancer. Kitty (the journalist) asks her friend what was the one story she wishes she would have written and didn't. The answer lies within 100 names on a single sheet of paper. Her friend passes away before she can ask her what the link is between the names. Doing this story as a tribute to her friend is a journey that Kitty decides to embark upon. She learns a lot about herself and others along the way.

Not to give away too much, but in the end she comes to this conclusion – every single person has a story to tell. Every single person has an extraordinary story. So much truth, am I right? I don't know if this story resonated with me because of my job or just because every person has a story that is unique unto themselves and I love learning about people.

This theme has been swirling around in my head lately ever since the last board meeting when they were talking about bullying. I kept thinking, what are we doing to throw these students together where they are with people they wouldn't normally be with? What can be done to pair two seemingly different kids to let them get to know each other better?  People, I truly believe, are more sympathetic and kinder when they get to know people.  And yes, I do think it is as simple as getting to know people.

Again, at church yesterday it hit me. Our minister was talking about differences amongst people and said that when it comes down to it, “people are people.” She encouraged us to meet in the middle and find out where others are coming from.

We are all just people. We all have things that have shaped us and molded us into the people that we are. We all have things that have happened to us that make us think the way we think. Wouldn't this earth be a much better place if instead of judging people, we started by learning more about them and respecting them?

I resort to thinking that everybody fights battles that we know nothing about. We all have inner struggles that we deal with. We don't know what it may have taken somebody else to even pull themselves out of bed this morning.

We are all unique. We all have our story that nobody else does. Nobody.

I'll leave you with these final thoughts from the book:

“We might all think that we are unremarkable, that our lives are boring, just because we aren't doing ground-breaking things or making headlines or winning awards. But the truth is we all do something that is fascinating, that is brave, that is something we should be proud of. ”

You are remarkable in a way that is uniquely you, I hope you remember that, but that's just the way I see it.

Dance Marathon 2016!

Iowa State's Dance Marathon was at the end of January.  Without a doubt, it is our absolute favorite day of the year!  At the beginning of the week we had to start counting down how many "sleeps" we had left until the big day.

Dance Marathon is neither a dance nor a marathon, but a celebration of LIFE!  For 12 hours, these students stand "for the kids" and raise money for the University of Iowa Children's Hospital.  This year, they raised over $362,000!  That does so much good for families just like ours. 

 This year, I thought I'd do something different for my post.  I thought I would ask everybody in the family what their two favorite things were about dM.  Here goes....

Jenna - 1. The morale dance!  Everybody learns it at the beginning of the day and it is done at the top of every hour.
2. Playing laser tag and doing the inflatables.

 Brody - 1. Playing with the college kids
              2. Power hour - this is the last hour of dancing.  There are glow sticks and tons of dancing and it is CRA.ZY.  I'm with Brody, it's awesome!

 3. Blake - 1. Hanging out with Nathan (our new family contact) and his girlfriend, Becca.
 2. The army inflatables

4. Bowen - 1. The morale dance (you can youtube this to see what I'm talking about).

 2. The game room (see above and below).

5. Aaron -  1. The hypnotist

 2. Seeing the "reveal" for the first time this year!  That was at the very end when they let everybody know how much money was raised.

I'm probably going to list more than two because I'm the blogger, so I can make my own rules. :)

 6. Jamie -  1. Power Hour

2. Seeing all the dM alumni

3. Connecting with other families (there are a few moms I've become close to and we love to catch-up).

 4. Hearing other miracle kids' stories

5. Having Steph and family with us. It means so much to us that they are now part of our family.

 

 6. And this is my favorite, hands-down....

Last year and this year we had the honor and privilege to share the last family story of the night.  It's a lot of pressure because everybody's tired and you're supposed to be super motivational.  I don't talk, Aaron talks.  The whole day I harass him with suggestions like, "You should talk about this..." Or, "Make sure you don't forget to say something about that...."  I make him nuts.  I know I do.  :)

 

Here's the thing though about Aaron.  He nails that speech.  I mean, he hits a home run out of the park.  He has the college kids laughing and crying and cheering.  I am so, so proud of him how he can convey our story to these dancers.  

One funny he told during the speech I have to share.  He was talking about me carrying the twins 37 weeks and then being induced.  He said both twins were good-sized, 7 lbs. apiece.  Aaron then proceeded to walk over and high-five me.... :) :)  

Another year over and more memories made.  More funds raised for a cause near and dear to our hears.  Thank you dancers for inspiring me.  Thank you families for sharing your stories of hope.  We feel so incredibly blessed to be part of this amazing thing called Iowa State's Dance Marathon!

The way I see it...

Appreciation

Appreciate – verb, to recognize the value of something
Appreciation – noun, grateful recognition

I don't know if it was the holiday season, or the fact that Valentine's Day is right around the corner or because sometimes I get random stuff stuck in my brain that won't come out, but I've been thinking about those two words lately.

I've been thinking appreciation as it pertains to my life and all the parts of it – my family, my friends, my job and all the other stuff that goes in-between.

As I've said before, I am very, very lucky to have this job. It fits with my crazy family demands. Chris is the best at letting me just do what I need to do, when I need to do it, as long as that paper gets done every week. It's such a great thing to feel like what you do matters and I most definitely feel that way here at the paper.

At home, I've been thinking about little things I can do that my husband may appreciate. I know that I drive him nuts occasionally with things I do. For example, when I get done drying a load of laundry, I just leave it in the dryer until I absolutely have to take it out. Aaron will go to put his reffing stuff into the dryer and finds it full of clean, dry clothes. Bless his heart, he never says a word about it. I can always tell when he does laundry because I go to switch the laundry over and that dryer is always empty. I appreciate that.

I know Aaron appreciates that I let him sleep in on the weekends (most of the time) and I take care of all the Blake stuff – ordering meds, appointments, port supplies, I just keep track of it and get it done.

It's not about big stuff, is it? Appreciating people doesn't have to be some grandiose gesture either in recognition or act. Obviously, my examples prove that.

But what about those people that don't appreciate you? I say forget them. You keep doing your thing and being you and that's all that matters. I love this quote I found, “Your value doesn't decrease based on someone's inability to see your worth.” Let that sink in a minute. So much truth, right?

Is it hard when people don't recognize that you're doing something well? That you're going out of your way to be helpful? That you're going above and beyond? Of course it is. That doesn't change the fact that if in your heart of hearts, you know you're doing a good thing, that may just have to be enough.

My point is, be grateful and show your appreciation for the people in your life. Do things others will appreciate. I think it's safe to say that people who feel appreciated will always do more than what is expected, but that's just the way I see it.

Super great news!

Blake had an appointment on Monday in Iowa City and since Monday is my "paper day" Aaron took Blake down.

The first appointment was an ultrasound of Blake's kidney and bladder and a consult with urology.  Dr. Storm said everything looked stable from six months ago and to keep on keepin' on.  Aaron commented how great it was that he was able to pee on his own.  Dr. Storm apparently just shook his head and said, yet again, "But he's not supposed to be able to pee."

There are some things you just have to roll with.  Don't question it, just be glad.  Be thankful. 

Blake also had to have an iron infusion and meet with Dr. Jetton.  Dr. Jetton thought all looked well and she made just one med dosage adjustment.  She also said Blake didn't have to go back to see her (as long as all is well) for SIX MONTHS.  SIX MONTHS!!

When Aaron told me that I pretty much teared-up.  For a kid who could barely stay out of the hospital for 48 hours, SIX MONTHS just blows my mind. Happy heart for this mama!

Hunecke Family Christmas

Christmas has come and gone and I still haven't blogged about our Hunecke Christmas that was December 12th.  I hope to get the blog caught up over this week!  Things are a bit more laid back the next few days.

We take turns hosting every year and this year, it was our turn.  Which was nice (no travel!) and stressful (cleaning, planning, etc).  All went well though once everybody got to our place.  

Everybody arrived at around NOON on Saturday and the last of my family left at 10 AM on Sunday.  It was short and sweet, but a great time.  

Last year we were in Mankato and we had so much fun going to the Kiwanis Light display I was feeling a little bit of pressure to do something super fun for everybody.   My family is loud and crazy and a ton of fun.  We also may be a tad bit competitive.  Because of the reasons mentioned, I spent the week leading up to our Christmas trying to find Christmas-related games that we could play.  

We made it a battle of the sexes sort of thing and kept track of points.  I also made it kid friendly so they could jump in every few games between playing with cousins to participate as well.

 Chaos in the kitchen.

Here are the games we played:

1.  Snowball fight:  We used giant marshmallows and tried to throw them threw the center of a wreath.  Most ‘mallows through the wreath wins.  Sidenote:  I was terrible at this game.  Super terrible.  The men’s team destroyed us at this.

2. Penguin walk: The object is to keep a balloon in-between your legs (walking like a penguin) and you race wherever you decide.  This was harder than it sounded and the kids loved it.

 Things got a tad competitive...

3. Humdinger: Put a minute on the clock.  Put a bunch of different songs into a baggie.  Like the name implies, you hum the Christmas song and whoever guesses it goes to the front to do the next one.  The women’s team completely dominated this game!  It was one of our faves and I was sorry we ran out of songs.

4. Christmas Catchphrase: This was a variety of Christmas stuff like songs or things you during Christmas time and you had a bunch in a baggie and you had to describe them to your team without saying the words on the piece of paper.  A minute on the clock and whoever guessed it right went to the front to describe it.  Another good one.

5. Candy cane relay: This game was hilarious!  Everybody got in a line and had a candy cane in their mouth.  The object was to pass one candy cane to the end of your line and back again using the candy cane like a hook and no hands allowed.  

6. Family Feud - Christmas style: I found this one on-line (like I did the others) and they had ten questions and we did it like the real game.  Face-offs between significant others, trying to get the steal. trying to avoid three strikes, deciding if you were going to pass or play.  This was definitely a hit!  I highly recommend it.

 I have no words for these outlaws.  Married into the family and they're kind of the three musketeers.  We love 'em.

 

Games.  Laughter.  Presents.  Way too much food. Memories.  Quality time.  More food.  More laughter.  These are my people and I wouldn't trade them.