Celebrate Your Artistic Side

     I want to share something.  First, I'm a proud momma, of all of my kids of course, but last night, my 10 year old was one of 2 kids in his school who were recognized for their "excellence" in the arts.  If you knew my Spency, you'd know he loves art - drawing, pottery, etc.  You can't go wrong giving him any kind of art supplies, ever.  He also plays clarinet in the school band, and is singing in the 5th grade chorus (but admittedly, that is not his choice, he "had to", LOL)   Both his band/music teacher, and his art teacher nominated him, and the other child, so it was unanimous.

     I'll be the first to tell you that I don't have a creative bone in my body.  I can't read music or play any instrument.  I love to sing, but I will admit that no one wants to hear that. (It's not a pretty sound.)  I can't draw to save my life.  Let me trace it, and it might come out okay.  But, listening to the key speaker last night, I realized that I do have an artistic side, somewhere.  He thanked us all for nurturing the artistic sides of our children, and believe me, I am all for that.  I will do whatever I can to make sure they can do the things they love, and the things they excel at.  He then explained that he's heard a million times from parents who say they aren't creative or artistic at all (I was thinking it about myself while he was saying it.)  He said we just had never had the chance to explore it, and develop it.  And that is probably right.

     I was in chorus in school, and loved it, but due to circumstances, wasn't able to continue with it.  I also took dance lessons for quite a few years, but similar circumstances put an end to those as well.  I still wish I had been able to continue with those, for many reasons, but it was not to be.  I think I ended up turning into one of those "helicopter" moms for a bit (maybe I still am to some degree.)  I wanted my kids to do everything.  They didn't.  I wasn't as bad as some, but you'd have to talk to the older kids to really know if I drove them crazy with activities or not.  I'm trying to be a little more relaxed with the younger ones.  It also "helps" that our finances don't allow for quite as much as the older kids had.

     In any case, I definitely encourage my children to do what they love (within reason, of course.)  My son had the toughest time just recently, because in 6th grade next year, he could only choose one elective class.  So, he had to decide between band or art.  He was almost panicking at the choice because he likes them both (and I think part of it was that he didn't want to let us down at all either.)  We assured him that we wouldn't be upset with his choice, and that we understood just how much he loved art, so that is what he picked.  He found out last night that it's only one year that he has to choose between them, and he can still do jazz band in the meantime, so he's very relieved with that idea.

     Last night was about him, but it also let me realize that I DO have an artistic side in me somewhere.  I just need to locate it, and do what I encourage my kids to do - let it out, enjoy it, have fun with it.  Now to just find where I tucked it away...

"Gotcha Day" is coming!

"Gotcha Day" is coming up at our house this weekend.  For those of you who don't know what "Gotcha Day" is, it can vary for different families.  It's a term used to celebrate a child's adoption date, or day they joined the family, or day they arrived at home.  In our house, the date signifies the date we signed those final papers, making our son "officially" our son.  In my heart and mind, he had already been my son for over 15 months, from before he was even born.  But that date was the day I breathed a little easier, knowing he was actually "mine" in the eyes of the law.

Now, S has known, since he could understand, that he's adopted.  He knows his birth family very well, since his "birth mother" is my sister-in-law.  He knows how he grew "in her belly", and all the details a ten year old boy can know.  He sees his birth father's family several times a year - we all get together after Christmas, and for their family weddings/birthdays, and picnics in the summer.  He also gets very excited to celebrate his "Gotcha Day" with us.  (I have been ordered to get cookies or some treat for his class.)

I understand some people don't care for that term, "Gotcha Day".  To be honest, I didn't either, until it happened.  Now, I can't imagine NOT using it.  It's not only the day that I gained another son, it's the day that he "got" our whole family.  It's the day we all "got" a larger, more complicated family, but one we can't imagine being without now.

It's been NINE whole years since we signed those papers.  S had been home with us for just over a year, he was actually 15 months old on the day we signed them.  I was holding his younger sister, M, in my arms, as she had miraculously been conceived and born in the time we waited to make it all official.  He was sitting on my husband's lap, happily giggling and smiling that little smile of his.  He'd just learned to walk within the previous month - on the day that M was born.  I had been terrified that that day would never happen.

He was born 11 weeks early, at only 2 pounds, 7 ounces.  Tiny, blue, and scary yet beautiful.  I cried that day, so scared he wouldn't make it. Scared he'd never come home to us.  I visited him every day of his full 2 month stay at the NICU.  Watched him grow stronger, bigger, learning how to eat.  I panicked when I'd think someone from his birth family might decide they'd adopt him instead of us (it took me a long time to get over that idea, even after the papers were signed.)  I was the one to pick him up and bring him home on his day of release from the hospital, though in their eyes, I was nothing but his aunt then.  I spent his TWO first Christmases, home alone with him, quarantined so he wouldn't get RSV or pneumonia, while the rest of the family visited relatives for the holidays.  So "Gotcha Day" is a very important day to me.

It was the day I stopped holding my breath so tightly.  The day I could actually say he was MY SON.  I will bring cookies or cupcakes every year until he tells me he doesn't want them.  I will make him a special meal, celebrate with him, look at pictures, however he wants to do it.  I will also celebrate in my heart - that I got my second set of children - one through adoption & one through birth, after I had accepted that I'd never have more after J & K.  I will celebrate it forever, whether anyone notices it or not.  It's as important a date to me, as the day of every one of their births. So, if anyone ever gets confused when I say HAPPY GOTCHA DAY on January 25th, I'll be happy to explain it to them if they want to hear it all, but I will never stop saying it.

CORN - As Far As The Eye Can See...

     At least, that's what it is like when you're stuck inside a Corn Maze!!  Corn everywhere.  Ha ha!

    Okay, I can't believe, in all of my 45 years, and all of them spent living here in Connecticut, I have never been to Lyman Orchards in Middlefield, CT before!!  Where have I been?  Why didn't I go sooner?  I have no answers for these questions.  But I have been there now, and I loved it!  Originally we ("we being myself, my husband, and the two younger kids "M" and "S") went solely for the Corn Maze.  (In the honesty of "full disclosure", Lyman Orchards gave us the passes to the maze in return for this blog post.  All opinions & experiences are our own though.)  To be truthful though, there is so much more to Lyman Orchards than this maze!!

     We set off on this bright & sunny Sunday afternoon, for a nice drive to the Orchards.  The directions on their website are spot on, and we got there so easily.  Quickly found a place to park, which was surprising, since there were TONS of people there.  We got lucky, I won't lie.  Right by the parking lot was a nice little pond, loaded with ducks, and a small fountain in the middle - very peaceful and pretty.  We wandered around for a little bit, passing the hayride area, pony rides, smelling the fresh cinnamon cider donuts being made (oh did I want those!!), and then made our way to the Corn Maze area.  I had gotten our tickets online, which you can do here, so we just handed over the printed tickets.  They quickly scanned them and sent us on to the entrance.  There we picked up our maze map, pencils for the kids, and our choices of themed multiple choice questions, to help us find our way at the ten marked posts throughout the maze.  We each took different ones in case any stumped us along the way.  Mine was History, Dad took Sports, S took Scouting, and M selected Movies/TV.  There were also ones for tiny tots, "corny", and girls scouts.

     In we went!  It was a lot of fun, twisting & turning through the corn, finding dead ends and turning back, or just going around in a circle in this section or another.  We joked that if we needed to, we could have M stand on Dad's shoulders to help guide us out - but that wouldn't have helped one bit.  Even on his shoulders (he stands just about 6 feet tall), her four foot body wouldn't have been able to see much.  There were two bridges that bring you up above the corn too, but even up there, all you see is more and more corn.  At some point in the maze, we made the decision to split up - one kid with one parent.  I kind of thought we'd meet up again somewhere, and we did - OUTSIDE.  So then it became girls vs. boys in the race to get out of the maze.  M was a little worried that we wouldn't find Dad again, but I assured her that we were just as capable of finding our way out as they were.  And we did!  Yes, the boys won, and were waiting for us outside the exit, but we had fun and worked together with the clues, and the paths, and made it out without tears or frustration. I had no worries, they have "corn cops" stationed throughout the maze for anyone who needs help, gets tired, or just gets so frustrated they want to give up.

     Once you make it out of the maze, you get a success sticker, "I survived the Corn Maze."  Then we headed off to check out the Apple Barrel store!  Oh what heaven!  It is loaded with all of the fruit grown at Lyman Orchards, plus pies, breads, muffins, cookies, and so much more.  I can't even list it all here, really!  The smells are amazing, and if you can get around the throngs of people shopping in there, so much to pick from.  I ended up with only a bag of fresh red bartlett pears, while my husband was outside getting a huge bag of freshly made kettle corn, but I could certainly have spent a lot more time, and money, in that store!  Dozens of types of apples, gorgeous peaches, grapes, squash - you name it, it was there.  

     The more I look over the brochures I picked up, or the website - I realize just how much is located there.  I'll give you a little Lyman Orchards lesson now.  It covers more than 1100 acres of farmland, and it's only 30 minutes from Hartford, New Haven, or Waterbury CT.  They have their Apple Barrel market store, Pick Your Own Orchards (from June through October, you can pick strawberries, jostaberries, blueberries, raspberries, peaches, pears, apples, and pumpkins - all in their own seasons), the historic Lyman Homestead (dating back to the mid 1700's), and an entire Golf Center (including The Jones Course, and the Player Course).  They also do events there all year round.  We will definitely head back for some of them too.  They do special breakfasts, kids & adult workshops, WinterFest, a Mother's Day brunch, Strawberry Fest, Easter Apple Hunt, Connecticut Day, Berry Fest, Peach Fest, Sunflower Maze (in August), Clambake, the Corn Maze, and Brunch with Santa!  Be sure to like them on  Facebook, follow them on Twitter, subscribe to their YouTube channel, and add them to your circles on Google+, in order to keep up with the Pick Your Own season, and all their fabulous upcoming events.

     I almost forgot to mention that they donate so much to great causes too.  The Corn Maze (going on until November 3rd) donates $1 from each ticket sold to the American Cancer Society.  (That is a huge charity that is close to our heart.)  The Sunflower Maze that they do in August donates $1 from each admission to the Connecticut Children's Medical Center.  I took a picture of their boards showing how much they have donated to these causes.  What a way to give back to the Connecticut Community!

     If you find yourself in Connecticut, or like me, you live here and have never been to this amazing place, please, take some time to visit.  Yes, you can make an entire day of it, or at the very least, a whole morning or afternoon.  So much to see & do, a fantastically peaceful setting, loads of exercise if you happen to get "lost" in one of the mazes, and just a great family outing.  I am so glad we went, and I can assure you that it will NOT be the last time we go.