musings of Mother Hood

2011

I'd be lying if I didn't admit I kinda love these posts. I love looking back over the year and revisiting our stories and photos and memories. So - as much for me as for you - I present 2011 with the Hoods.

January. We started the year with a disappointing Razorback loss in the Sugar Bowl, but we had a great time at a watch party with friends. And, per the usual, we had PLENTY of snow.

February. More snow. And then some more snow... And the formal announcement of the 1LT Tom Martin Memorial Foundation - long time coming! After the record-breaking snow postponed the original party, we finally celebrated the first anniversary of The Harbor at the end of the month.

March. After all the crazy snow in January and February we were rewarded with some really fantastic warm weather so we played outside as much as possible. And Colt went all out for St. Paddy's Day.

April. Things started picking up a bit. We spent some time being tourists in our own town, did some hiking, celebrated Easter, and spent an afternoon at Touch-A-Truck. I ran my first 5K... then immediately ran another.

May. I traveled to Cabot to help present the 1LT Tom Martin Memorial Scholarship. And the Martins invaded Northwest Arkansas to celebrate Mother's Day, (early) Father's Day, birthdays, anniversaries, graduations, and anything else they could think of. We aren't ALL together that often - so we made the most of it! We even made it to a baseball game!

June. The monkey turned the big 3 and we went to Arkadelphia to celebrate Father's Day and his birthday (Again! This child had TWO birthday parties this year!). While we were down south I ran in the one and only Smackover Oil Run and received the biggest trophy of my life. And I even convinced Jeff to do a trail race with me!

 

July. We spent the 4th of July weekend with friends -- here in town and on the river! Then! Vacation! In keeping with our new tradition of doing something adventurous and exhausting with our summer vacation - Jeff and I spent four days hiking in the backcountry of Yosemite National Park, including a summit of Half Dome. It was an incredible trip. July also brought Colt's first movie!

August. August brought a chicken pox diagnosis, a few trips to the pool, Colt's first Vacation Bible School, and another first day of school - back in the swing of things after the summer. And I bought a bike!

September. The Month of Colt! I felt like the Little Guy was getting slighted on the blog because of all my crazy running posts so I did a whole month of nothing but Colt. (It was QUITE popular. I may have to anniversary it for 2012.) September also brought football, my first 10K, and the Warrior Dash! What better way to celebrate our 5th Anniversary?

October. A big month for the Hoods -- my birthday, Jeff's birthday, Halloween. Bikes, Blues & BBQ, more football, my First Runniversary and POTTY TRAINING. October also brings sad anniversaries for my family - my brother's birthday on the 10th and the anniversary of his KIA on the 14th. But this year we spent time together in Cabot at a fundraiser for the foundation. It was perfect.

November. We spent Thanksgiving in Dallas with my family and I somehow convinced my Dad, Laura and Leo to run the Dallas Turkey Trot with me. Then we headed to Arkadelphia for a few days with Jeff's parents -- and hiking with Pop.

December. Crazy busy month! We started with a trip to Vegas for my first half marathon, then got home and started the Christmas season with gingerbread train decorating, cookie making, camel riding, and Santa visiting. We said goodbye to my parents' sweet dog, Chip, and we celebrated Christmas with both the Hoods and the Martins. 

Whew! 2011!

2012? What do you have up your sleeve?

Past years:
2010
(I somehow skipped 2009...)
2008
2007
2006
2005

Merry Christmas!

It's true! We celebrated Christmas around here! Cookies for Santa, road trips to visit family, back in the car to visit MORE family, and of course presents and food (and football!). It is well into January now so forgive my tardiness, but it's never too late for one last dose of holiday cheer, am I right?

As per my Christmas tradition, I took more photos than you care to scroll through -- so save your strength and enjoy this video of Hood Family Christmas 2011.

 

If you don't see a video - click HERE.

It's about time

I kinda hate the phrase 'Time heals all wounds'. It suggests that the mere passing of time will help you get past any amount of pain or grief, that marking days off a calendar will somehow help you feel better.

I just don't buy it.

What terrible advice to give a grieving friend. "Just hang out for a while. Relax. If you just wait long enough, you'll eventually forget about all this pain and you'll be fine."

No. The people you see healing over time are not healing because of the time. They're healing because of how they are spending that time.

Four years have now passed since October 14, 2007. He's been gone FOUR years.

Honestly, I can't remember the point at which I realized it wasn't going to just get easier with time. This day keeps coming, every year. And I suppose we could all sit back and wait for it to come around, and eventually four years would turn into ten years then twenty then fifty. And we would all keep hoping that "time" would do its job and the pain would be gone. But it just doesn't work that way.

Last night, we were in Cabot. Our hometown. It was incredible to swap hugs and stories with old friends and be surrounded by those people this week of all weeks. After all, this week has to happen. Every year. Why not spend it together and in action?

Everything that happens to you makes you who you are. October 14, 2007 is part of who I am. And every day since then, I've changed -- and he hasn't.We grew up together and then suddenly I had to keep growing and he's not here. As life happens and our family evolves, I will miss his presence in all of it. At first I missed my big, goofy brother and was heartbroken because of what could have been. Today I miss him differently because I have a kiddo who I think is pretty cool, and I know he would think so, too. For every day that I change, there are new reasons that I wish he were here.

Last night it was serving pizza, other times it's something else. And it's different for each of us, but I think, after four years, we've all committed to making these days and weeks pass meaningfully instead of just watching time go by.

The Rest of the Story

I got all excited and started to tell you about our long weekend with family, but only got as far as Thursday. Whoops.

But better late than never, right?

It's true. I was off work Thursday and Friday last week to drive to Cabot and back (Thursday) then entertain the fam in Fayetteville (Friday and beyond). Which may or may not seem monumental, but around here -- it's a pretty big deal. All Martins in the same place at the same time -- doesn't happen that often. Especially not in Fayetteville!

My Dad came from San Antonio and picked up Laura and Leo in Dallas on his way. Mom flew in from Virginia and Erika flew in from Georgia. Becky is here in Fayetteville, too and that rounded out the group.

We joined The Harbor at Faith & Family Night with the Arkansas Naturals Friday night -- and let Colt enjoy his first baseball game.

He spent every minute of the pre-game festivities (well, until the fireworks) hanging on the edge of the fence, waving to the baseball players warming up. IN LOVE.

And remember what I said about all those Martins? All in one place?

Front Row, Left to Right: Laura, Leo, Erika, MawMaw, Colt, PawPaw. Back Row, Left to Right: Becky, Creed (Becky's boyfriend), Jeff, Sarah.

In this next photo, my friend Nancy managed to capture the perfect culmination of several notable factors:

1. I am constantly on the Quest For The Perfect Family Photo and I rarely pass up an opportunity when we are all showered and dressed (and sometimes not even that...) and doing something fun.
2. Colt is in that stage (that I assume will last for about 18 more years...) in which he looks anywhere but at the camera and makes my Quest For The Perfect Family Photo a lesson in patience and creativity instead.
3. "Got your nose!" is endlessly entertaining. I don't care who you are.

The Double Nose Get! We never saw it coming!

More ballgame pics of families from The Harbor on Facebook - or RIGHT HERE.

I can't remember exactly, but we made it to inning 6ish before the munchkin's bedtime came calling. He really seemed to like it (except for the blasted fireworks) so we might look for a day game to check out this summer. 

All that fun and the actual weekend hadn't even started yet! Saturday morning we headed over to MawMaw and PawPaw's hotel to mess around in the pool.

The water was a little chilly and his teeth were chattering out of his head, but he didn't care. He splashed around until lunch time. Lunch, nap and a trip to the bookstore to show MawMaw the train table -- and it was time to get ready for supper!

I mentioned that the family doesn't get together all that often. So we decided to squeeze every drop out of this weekend -- and celebrate everything within 100 miles. Yes, it was Mother's Day weekend, but my Mom and Dad put their heads together and came up with a "Celebration!" that included EVERYONE. We celebrated birthdays, graduations, Mother's Day, Father's Day, green cards, and memorials.

And we ate.

I love this. It allllllmost looks like Jeff and I could be on a nice little date. But then you see the sippy cup peeking over the edge of the picture. Yah family life!

And one with the monkey himself.

And after a few more family photos outside the restaurant (courtesy of the cute prom kids waiting for their table) --

(-- and a quick stop in the parking lot to capture THIS --)

-- it was time for the real Celebration!

Remember? Birthdays, graduations, Mother's Day, Father's Day, green cards (and driver's licenses and SS cards!), and memorials. We celebrated it all!

I know that's more pictures than commentary, but I hope you can tell that we had a really good time together. We ate, we swam, we enjoyed America's pastime -- we celebrated.

And it totally wore out these Hoods. Everyone left early Sunday morning and we played hooky from church just to regroup a little. And I enjoyed what is now my favorite day of the year - with my two favorite people.

Happy Mother's Day to me.

Who says you can't go home?

I just sat here for ten minutes trying to think of a good way to describe the feeling I get when I drive to Cabot.

Nada.

I don't know. It's weird. I haven't lived there in over ten years, but it's such a special part of who I am. And every single time I close in on the intersection of Highway 319 and Highway 5 - and start seeing business signs with "843" phone numbers listed on them, I get this combination of excitement and anxiety and nostalgia and - I don't know what.

See?

Nada.

It's been so long now that I don't really expect to see people I know at the gas station or when I walk on campus at the high school. Heck, the kids in school there now were about six years old when I left for college. They don't care about who I was in high school. They don't care that I graduated with honors or had the lead in the school play or lettered in band.

But that's not why we go back. We go back so that no one forgets him. We go back so that no one forgets that Tom Martin went to CHS. He loved it there. He graduated and went on to do good, noble, selfless things. And he was within months of his 10 year reunion when we got the news that he wasn't ever coming back home to Cabot.

So now we go for him.

Last week, my family and I traveled to Cabot High School to present the 4th Annual 1LT Tom Martin Memorial Scholarship to a very deserving Cabot High School senior - Kevan Sharp.

Left to Right: Leo Rangira, Laura Martin Rangira, Erika Noyes, Kevan Sharp, Candy Martin, Ed Martin, Sarah Martin Hood.

This was the first year that our family had personally selected the scholarship recipient and it was every bit as rewarding as we had hoped. Becky and Jason weren't able to make it -- but we hope the entire board can be together in Cabot to present the scholarship someday in the very near future.

It was special to be there. It was special to be able to talk about Tom to a whole new generation of Cabot High School students. We chatted with old friends and former teachers -- and we told lots and lots of stories.

I may not be able to describe that Cabot feeling - but it is unmistakable.

*****

Click HERE to learn more about The 1LT Tom Martin Memorial Foundation. And HERE to find us on Facebook. And, of course, HERE or HERE to learn more about the man himself.

Be well, do good work, and keep in touch.- Tom Martin (and Garrison Keillor...)

Possibly my favorite photo of all time

 
Laura finally posted some wedding photos on Facebook - which you should be able to see by clicking HERE. The photo above is Colt and my Dad. Poor little guy felt puny the whole weekend of the wedding, so all the photos of him have the poor, pathetic look that makes kids so cheek-pinching cute. But this photo just melts my heart.

And here are a few more to give you a taste. (Photos courtesy of Bella Novella Photography - we love you, Betsy!)

The whole family! Left to right: Becky, Dad, Colt, Mom, Laura, Leo, Sarah, Jeff, Erika.

Congrats Laura and Leo!

This Christmas

"We still do both," I answered in the weeks leading up to Christmas when asked about our plans.

I would usually get a scrunched face and a knowing, sympathetic look. Evidently, it's the thing to do now to swap holidays with your different families to cut down on travel time and such. You know, visit Dad's family for Thanksgiving and Mom's family at Christmas -- then switch for next year.

Apparently, we're old school. We do both.

A perfect storm of circumstances got us into this predicament and, honestly, I don't think we mind. All the Hoods only get together once a year, so we want in on that. And the Martins all have ONE little boy to spoil!

So! Two Christmases!

But first, there was the pre-party. I sent a camera to school with Colt in hopes of capturing a few gems from his class Christmas party. Mission: Accomplished.

Please notice that the frosting is being enjoyed as a mess only. Very little of it made it into his mouth. That's my boy!

 

I would have been there myself if not for this pesky conscience of mine that kept me and my flu-like germs at home. We'll be there next year, Buddy.

Stupid flu also derailed my plans to procrastinate all holiday shopping and baking till the weekend before Christmas. Yeah. That didn't work AT ALL. We didn't get to our gingerbread house, but I have half a mind to do it this week anyway. Stupid flu.

While I was procrastinating, Santa's elf (a.k.a. Grandpa Martin) was hard at work. I loved getting 
periodic photos with Grandpa's progress in the workshop. You'll see pictures in a minute, but my Dad built a Lego table for Colt that is perfect perfect perfect. He's played on it every day since we got home.

In fact, he's been in overdrive. I think he opened more presents at Christmas this year than the number of toys we previously had in our entire house. But I'm pretty sure we got through the entire week without opening a single toy that requires batteries! God love Hot Wheels and Legos. (Aunt Sarah: I WILL find a way to repay you for giving my two year old cymbals and maracas!)

Ok - one last thing before we get to the deluge of Christmas pictures. This is too good not to share. We usually play games at both the Hoods' and the Martins', but the Martins tend to be more... animated. The game is Rigamarole. And it's kind of a combo of Charades, Pictionary, and Taboo. The teams were Grandma/Grandpa, Laura/Leo, Becky/Sarah. Colt and Jeff cheered us on.

Martin Family - Rigamarole. Christmas 2010 from Sarah Hood on Vimeo.

So! Two Christmases! Puzzles and cars, lots of football and lots of cousins at the Hoods'. Legos, Bass Pro, and new family members to introduce to the Razorbacks at the Martins'.

Christmas 2010 from Sarah Hood on Vimeo.

If you're viewing this post via email or a reader, please click on through to enjoy the videos.

2010

I just looked in my Archives and discovered I managed to forego a Year In Review post for 2009. How did THAT happen? The year that brought Colt's first birthday, my trip to Africa, The Great Ice Storm, Colt's first air travel, first haircut and first day of "real" daycare.

Yeah. Somehow that post never got written. Whoops. But if you're so inclined, feel free to feast your eyes on 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008. It is WAY weird to go back and read those posts. Pre-marriage, pre-kiddos, pre-real job. (Pre-shiny new blog with nice, neat formatting...)

And now! I present to you! The Hoods in 2010 ----

January. We started 2010 buried in snow. After having the first white Christmas in NWA in AGES, we enjoyed many, many "snow days" home from school at the beginning of January. It was the holiday break that would not end!

We ended January with the passing of my Grandma Martin, at the age of 87. I traveled to South Dakota to be with my family and honor the life of a very special lady.

February was cold. Really cold. And we spent more time hibernating inside with the Munchkin.

February was also the beginning of Techno Mama, a bi-monthly blog/column I write for NWA Motherlode that allows me to share my geekiness with the world.

March always tends to be a little wacky, right? Seems that way. March 2010 meant a new car, knee surgery for me, lots of playing outside in the spring-like weather, then one last (record breaking!) snow storm (on the first day of Spring Break!).

April. More spring. More warm days spent OUTSIDE. Colt loved to be outside whether it was playing with bubbles in the driveway, spying on the dogs next door, or helping his Paw pull weeds.

April also brought the unveiling of the blog makeover, the original penning of my Life List, Razorfest 2010, and Easter.

May brought Becky's graduation and - with it - a party! Grandma and Grandpa Martin were in town to help celebrate and Colt loved every second of the attention. We took a trip to the Drive-thru Safari at Gentry and did - you guessed it! - more playing outside. Have you noticed a pattern?

Ahh yes, and Jeff and I managed to get away for a day of rednecking on the Elk River over Memorial Day weekend.

June! Colt turned the big 2! And I took a bajillion pictures of him. I also sent a camera to school the day of his birthday so we could capture those memories, too.

We spent some time at the pool, mowed a lot of grass, and pretended that the playground at the elementary school down the street was our own personal property.

July was a wee bit busy. To say the least. We kicked it off with a trip to California to scale Mt. Whitney and visit Hollywood.

Next we welcomed my sister Laura back to the country after a two year stint in the Peace Corps with a Martin Family Vacation! And I went parasailing!

And we rounded out July with a quick trip to Cabot for my 10 year high school reunion.

We even managed to squeeze in a few days of relaxing and chores around the house.

 

August was a slight slowdown. Slight. We braved the Arkansas summer heat for Razorback Fan Day and I helped with both the 2nd Annual NWA Mini Grand Prix at work and the 1st VBS for The Harbor. We spent some time playing INSIDE because of the heat, but made it outside when it was reasonably nice. Colt also moved up to a new class at school.

September was FUN. We totally lucked out and WON a trip to NYC so we spent Labor Day weekend touring the city with our friends Ryan and Teresa. We saw a Yankees game, the Brooklyn Bridge, the Empire State Building, the Statue of Liberty -- you name it. We also tortured poor Ryan and Teresa with an entire weekend of Seinfeld references...

September also brought the Washington County Fair, THE ALABAMA GAME, the introduction of Burger Life, and I was featured in NWA Peekaboo Magazine as one of the 9 NWA Blogs You Should Be Reading.  

October is always a big month with birthdays for both Jeff and me, and some Halloween action. This October I also discovered that I know how to run, which is a skill I'm still slowly nurturing. Colt went as Dennis the Menace for Halloween, but didn't much care about the candy -- yah! We also visited Bikes, Blues, and BBQ and the pumpkin patch, and took Colt to his first pre-game festivities at the stadium. Go Hogs!

November was fairly quiet with a trip to see Merle Haggard and, of course, Thanksgiving.

And after yet another nail-biter, the Hogs pulled it out against LSU this year!

December. Christmas, of course, which meant Christmas lights on the square and lots of time with family.

My sister Laura also got married this December, and I don't have photos back yet of the Hoods with the bride and groom -- but here are Mr. and Mrs. Rangira, courtesy of Bella Novella Photography.

And the weekend of Laura's wedding - in Dallas - we got to see the Lost Heroes Art Quilt in person for the first time.

2010 has been a busy and memorable year. And it has paved the way nicely for 2011, which I'm sure will bring adventures of its own. Maybe potty training? Maybe a big boy bed? Maybe I'll cross a handful of things off my Life List? We shall see.

Reminders for 2011:

• Get Musings of Mother Hood delivered to your email by subscribing HERE. No spam. No worries. Just a nice little email anytime I update.
• Become a fan of Musings of Mother Hood on Facebook and get updates in your News Feed.

Welcome 2011! Come in and stay awhile.

I took pictures of everything but the food.

There are probably families out there that ate more food and watched more football and spent more time doing absolutely nothing than we did this week, but there can't be many.

We spent about 80% of the weekend on the floor playing. Cars, Legos, cars, dominos, cars. Ninny dragged out some of the Matchbox cars Jeff had as a little boy -- and Colt was all over it. 

The lovely people (some of) you may not recognize in these photos are my in-laws: Jeff's parents Ninny and Baw (Granny and Pop to the layperson), Jeff's sister Sarah, her husband Frank, and their three kiddos.

If you'll notice, most of the people in these photos are not looking at the camera. There are a handful of reasons for that, actually. Most likely, they are minding their own business and not paying a lot of attention to my incessant picture taking. Second most likely is that they are busy watching football. We watched A LOT of football.

It eventually warmed up enough for us to brave the outside world. So after a short trip to the Arkadelphia Walmart for some Black Friday People Watching, we bundled up and headed to the park. We were glad to get Colt out of the house for a bit, and the boys stayed home to watch - you guessed it - more football.

We made it back to Fayetteville in time to watch The Game. Honestly, does the LSU/Arkansas game have to be so outright stressful EVERY year? Per the usual, Jeff paced the house but the tension of such a big game was somewhat lessened by our favorite little Hog fan - cheering right along with us. And it's always nice when such a big game happens to end on a high note! Go Hogs!

I can only hope you had as much fun this week. Happy Thanksgiving 2010 from The Hoods.

My other brother

I met Jason at the Newark Airport in May 2005. I was arriving from Northwest Arkansas to help Tom celebrate graduation from West Point and Jason had driven over from the Academy to meet his family just arriving from Mississippi and waiting for their luggage at the carousel next to mine. We both recognized each other instantly.

"Hi. I'm Jason."

"I know who you are! I'm Sarah."

We hugged. And chatted like we had known each other for years. Because in some ways, we had. Tom had posted many a photo and story about Jason on his blog over the years they'd known each other in school and - knowing Tom and his propensity for storytelling - I'm guessing my name may have come up at least a few times. Now here we were, finally meeting in person.

Tom and Jason were great friends through school. Best friends. Two guys who had both grown up with nothing but sisters -- now had a brother. They went skydiving together. They got into trouble together. They kept in close touch as they graduated and moved on to their careers and later deployments.

And when I got the worst news of my life, and traveled home to be with my family during that hard week of memorial services, funeral and burial - Jason was there. He loyally stood by my family - his family - at our worst. He knew that Tom would have done the same for him. There was no doubt in his mind where he belonged that week. He bravely spoke at Tom's funeral, words so genuine and loving -- I still marvel at the strength he had to say them.

My sisters and I were so grateful to have Jason there that week - a solid hug, an easy smile, a truly devoted friend. And as if there were any doubt Tom and Jason were kindred spirits - we did our fair share of laughing that week. We told stories, we shared pictures, and Jason taught me to play paper football at my parents' kitchen table.

Here's the entire family at West Point for Tom's burial services in October 2007. Left to right: Dad, Laura, Mom, Jason, Erika, Becky, Sarah, Jeff.

And the last time Jason and Tom saw each other, in Iraq a few months before he was killed.

Jason is currently serving his second deployment - this time in Afghanistan. He's away from his wife Jessica and their three kiddos - Carter, Katie, and baby Tom - and I've been thinking about him a lot this week. It's Thanksgiving, right? And I can't think of a better time to remember and thank people like Jason who spend their lives in service - whether that service is to the military and this country or to my family when we needed it most.

I twisted his arm and made him give me suggestions of things he and his guys could use over there - in case anyone is interested in sending a package in time for the holidays.

• They can always use the necessities like shampoo -- miniatures and small bottles are best. Or hand sanitizer, toothpaste, or batteries.
• Food: chocolates, Little Debbie cakes, beef jerky, granola bars, gum, any other snack food.
• For fun: books/magazines -- anything you may have already read and could pass on, CDs/DVDs.

CPT Jason Hillman
25th Signal Battalion
APO AE 09320

And of course an email hello will do - any day of the week. emailjasonhillman@yahoo.com

Jason, I'm thankful for you.