Bishop Machebeuf Lax - Game ??

I've lost track of games. One was canceled this past week because the refs didn't show up and then both Henry and Maxwell's were canceled today because of snow...in late April. Thanks, Obama.

Bishop Machebeuf - 19
Kennedy - 4

Hanson #5...always in the middle of things 

4 goals, 3 assists

Let's go Buffs!!

Team Hanson

This week has been a challenge. It's been one of those weeks where I've second guessed myself and the choices Matt and I have made. Moving kids every few years is not for the faint of heart, I can assure you. You settle them into life and just when you take a breath and relax, something happens to remind you that the comfort of "home" is usually fleeting in the life of a military family. 

Maxwell, Henry and Vivian,  I'm sure that someday you'll read this post (maybe sooner rather than later if you stalk my blog the way I stalk your Instagram accounts) and I hope you always know that every choice Dad and I make is a choice with you three at the forefront of our thoughts. The three of you are the absolute best of the two of us. 

April is the Month of the Military Child. If you've ever wondered what it's like to pack up and head out this poem from Chameleon Kids describes it perfectly. Grab a tissue and read on...

Saying Goodbye as a Military Kid

Each time orders come,
I know I must say goodbye
To everyone and everything
I've come to know at this new home.

I count it down by lasts...

The last practice with my team.
The last class with a favorite teacher.
The last time I will eat the best pizza ever.
The last time I get to play in my backyard.

Those lasts are so sad but none are are sadder,
Than saying goodbye to...

My neighbors who wave when I walk to the school bus,
My friends who meet me after school to play.
The teammates who have cheered me on through a season,
Each person who I have come to expect to see throughout my day.

I say goodbye to places.

My school. A track I ran on. The playground.
So many things I want to try to remember.
So many people I don't want to forget.

So know when the day the truck arrives,
I will be soaking every minute up.
Looking, watching, wanting to remember.
This place. This home. The people.

I hope they will remember the time I was here.
As much as I will remember them.
With each goodbye, I leave a piece of me,
This was my home. Even if just for a moment.

© 2017 Chameleon Kids

Weekend Buffs & Warthogs

Saturday was all lacrosse. All day. Four games, 3 wins. Matt and I couldn't be more proud of our boys!

Bishop Machebeuf - 13
Montrose - 1

Bishop Machebeuf - 16
Palmer - 8

Englewood Tournament Champions 

#bmhslax

Let's go Buffs!!

Warthogs - 7

Boulder - 6

(OT win)

Boulder2 - 8

Warthogs - 5

This is the smile of a young man who hustled his heart out in two back-to-back games. 

This is the smile of a young man who scored his first goal as a Warthog!

Let's go Hogs!!

Happy Easter 2017

Gone are the days of matching outfits and pictures with the Easter Bunny. Our early morning, Easter egg hunt morphed into an all out, boys against Viv battle and our sweet family picture was taken with a selfie stick in the front yard.

Happy Easter from the Hanson's 

Easter egg lax'in'

All in a Week

My folks came for a visit last week. It was a short one, only a week, but as always it was packed with the busyness of work, school, practices, lacrosse games, a birthday and puke.That's right -- puke -- because after all, what's a week without the reality of every day life even if Grandma and Grandpa are visiting.

Viv called me from school last Wednesday morning -- the day after Grandma and Grandpa arrived -- and said her belly wasn't feeling well. The first thing I thought was that she was faking it and she just wanted to come home to hang out with Grandma. I knew she wasn't really sick and I even told the school nurse that, but I still had to go and pick her up. I didn't want to be that mom who leaves her sick kid at school even though I knew she wasn't really sick. 

As Viv got in the car she looked a little green so I told her to tell me if I needed to pull over even though I knew she wasn't really sick. The only thing I could find in the car to give her was a ziploc sandwich bag. I told her if she needed to puke to try and aim for the baggie even though I knew she wasn't really sick. 

Do you have any idea just how much puke a ziploc sandwich baggie can hold?!! I do because she was really, really sick! Poor thing, quietly puked in that ziploc without getting a drop anywhere and then she closed it right up. She's such a good girl -- her brothers would never be able to that! As a matter of fact, the last time Henry got sick he did it on the carpet right outside of the tiled bathroom and Maxwell only made it as far as the bathtub. No question, Viv has got her brothers beat.

So, it was a rough week for Viv. She stayed home from school the whole week but by Grandma's birthday on Saturday she was ready to celebrate...

We had a great afternoon watching Henry's first lax game of the season

We even found Grandma a birthday buffalo on the way home 

That evening we celebrated with a wonderful family dinner out in Washington Park 

A game of corn hole after dinner

And finally, what's a birthday without singing and a birthday doughnut cake?!

We hope you had a happy, happy birthday, Mom. 

Thank you for choosing to spend your day with us -- 

we are so thankful for you and we love you so very much! 

Warthogs Lax - Games 1 and 2

There's nothing like opening a lacrosse season with back to back games!

It seems so strange for Henry to not be in Fort Hunt green, but he really seems to be happy as a part of the Warthogs. Hen played with two other teams in the fall and winter and the fit just wasn't right with them. He doesn't put much stock in if the team is competitive. He just wants to feel comfortable playing on the team and playing for the coaches.  He doesn't want to be the new kid or the short kid or anything like that. He doesn't care to watch film or rehash every detail of the game. Hen wants to go out and play some lacrosse with his buddies, simple as that and thankfully, he found his place pretty quickly with the Warthogs. He was welcomed and put right to work.

His coaches have already told him that they appreciate how coach-able he is and that because of his coach-ability he's probably going to get play time at a couple of different positions. He may not love playing middie but his sense of space is too good to always be on attack. That's my boy -- easy and flexible even on the field! 

Rattlers - 7 

Warthogs - 2

Hanson #26 (and with the orange shoe laces) with 4 ground balls and 2 shots on goal

where he's most comfortable -- at attack 

playing some middie defense

Let's go Hogs!!

Boulder - 5

Warthogs - 1

Hanson #26 with 3 ground balls and 1 shot on goal 

*I didn't get any action shots because I was at the scorekeepers table. Next time!

Let's go Hogs!!

Bishop Machebeuf Lax - Game 4 and 5

Fountain Valley - 12
Bishop Machebeuf - 10

Hanson #5 with 2 goals, 2 assists, and 6 ground balls

Let's go Buffs!!

Ponderosa - 17

Bishop Machebeuf - 10 

Hanson #5 with 4 goals and 6 ground balls

Let's go Buffs!!

A Big Week

Spring Break took Matt and Maxwell to Alma College in Alma, Michigan and Ohio Northern University in Ada, Ohio. They went on student led campus tours, met with admissions folks and professors and of course with the lacrosse coaches and players. Maxwell stayed overnight in the dorms and got a taste of life as a student athlete. One of the two schools really made a big impression on Moose and if you were to ask him today where he sees himself in a little over a year, I know he'd give you a quick answer. I keep telling him that there's a lot of school and lacrosse to be "played" this spring and summer and that he should keep an open mind, but nothing is more powerful than the impatience of a teenager. 

If I could figure a way to freeze time, I'd do it in a heartbeat. 

Maxwell at Alma College in Alma, Michigan

Go Scots!

Ohio Northern University 

Go Polar Bears!

To round out the week Maxwell went ahead and got his drivers license. 

The 3 drivers, 2 cars race is on!

And just like that, he was off. 

Have I mentioned before how desperately I want to freeze time?