jbaj

Well - We didn't see THAT one Coming....

2012-02-08T20:56:00.000-08:00

Last weekend AJ had another Lacrosse tournament. I have a feeling I am going to like these tournaments someday when they are in the spring or something. Watching anything in a whipping wind is a tad exhausting.

Between the 2nd and the 3rd game was a 2 hour break. So Paul and I did what any good parent who is freezing their hiney's off and went and sat in the car. AJ was going to hang with his team. We took his gloves, helmet and elbow pads and left him with his stick.

That may have been a mistake...
90 minutes later we started our trek from the warm car to the field. AJ saw us and ran up to greet us. We asked what he did and he told us he played a game called 3 Flags Up with a few of his teammates. Paul asked - without your gloves and helmet? And AJ answered yes and that was that.
The last game was a thriller and we ended up winning. We don't know anybody yet in Lacrosse so we didn't socialize much. (HA! and that is a big surprise!). After the game we packed up our stuff and headed home.

The next morning all the parents received an email from the coach congratulating the boys on a well played tournament. The last paragraph indicated his son had broken his thumb before the last game and may have to sit out for a few weeks but would be at practice to support his teammates. For some reason the before the last game part didn't phase me but Paul caught it and brought it up to AJ.
That is when I guess he figured he better come clean and he told us that he had broken the coaches son's thumb when they were playing 3 Flags Up. None of the boys had been playing with equipment and it was an accident. Oh - but he did apologize to the boy when he got back from the hospital.

We were aghast. Because we had no clue. And um he didn't really run and tell us about it either. And somehow the boy went to the hospital, got the splint, came back and obviously had the splint on because AJ apologized to him and watched the rest of the game with us being none the wiser.

So wind or no wind I am parking myself on the field at all times. I also need to brush up on that parental radar that usually works pretty good for me because I can tell you - I sure didn't see this one coming.

A's

2012-02-05T08:04:00.001-08:00

AJ's Lacrosse coach is trying to inspire the boys to do well in school. To that end he bought these stickers that if the boys brought their report card to practice he would give them a sticker for each "A".

Most of these kids go to Faith. AJ got it in his head that only private schools or Faith schools would qualify for the stickers.

So I emailed the coach and of course that was not the case.

It's the little things that make this kid happy.

A Roll Anyone? Anyone???

2012-02-03T21:15:00.000-08:00

AJ has decided that he really likes home made rolls. They sell "home made" rolls at the grocery store in the freezer section so I have gotten in the habit of buying a "bag" to use over a week or two. There are 36 frozen rolls in each bag and there are 3 people currently living in our home - heck those rolls can last 2-3 weeks if stored properly.

I guess they weren't stored properly this last time because when I pulled out the bag instead of being 36 perfectly formed separate balls it was one big lump.

I didn't have much choice. I didn't have time to separate all the balls before work so I threw the thing on the baking dish and put a towel over it and let it rise.

And this is how they ended up:

The great thing is these rolls will last a while!

Properly stored of course.

Chess Club

2012-02-01T20:25:00.001-08:00

For the last several years at school AJ has always joined the Chess Club. The first few years it started at the beginning of the school year but the last couple of years they have started it after Christmas break. AJ starts looking for the announcement right after Christmas and is usually the first one to turn his form in.

This year I received my weekly email from the principal that said yes - they were indeed having Chess club this year but it would be limited to 30 kids. The first 30 kids to sign up were in. The form would go out "sometime" in the next couple of weeks for the sign up.

Did I tell you that AJ loves Chess club? It is the activity he looks forward to each year and he was getting anxious as only AJ does - when we weren't getting the notice.

Apparently a lot of kids love Chess club because I went to pick him up last Friday and he excitedly waved the green permission slip which said that sign ups would start that day. We sat in the parking lot and filled it out and I sent him in to the office to turn it in.

He soon came out trying very hard not to cry. Chess club was full. I was a little bit perplexed as to how it could be full already since he had just gotten the form that day and parents had to sign the form and pay the $5.00 in order for their child to join.

After grilling him all the way home he insisted he just got the form that day. I asked another girl who isn't in his class but goes to his school and she hadn't even gotten her form yet. So I surmised that all of the forms were not distributed on the same day and so the playing field wasn't level or fair. Which made me mad.

So I did what I always do and wrote a letter. But in this case I wrote an email to the principal. I had his email after all because I was receiving the weekly newsletters from him via email. I waited until I wasn't quite so mad and I told AJ that I would go to bat for him and ask for an exception for him to be on Chess club but that was all I could do. Life wasn't always fair and this certainly wasn't fair but they could only accept so many kids and he had to understand that. And he agreed - that was all that could be done.

I drafted my email outlining my concerns and asking for the exception for AJ. And can I say I am pretty sure this school won't be too sorry to lose my wordy diatribes. I sent it to the principal and the next day he replied and said he would look into it and to please have AJ see him at lunch on Monday.

Now the ball was in AJ's court. I told him there was nothing more I could do but he needed to plead his case to the principal on Monday. He left on Monday with the green permission form and his $5.00. When I picked him up that afternoon I asked him how it went. He said the principal was going to try and get an additional class going and he would let him know as soon as that happened. On Tuesday AJ came home with a big smile on his face and the news that there would be an additional class and he would be included in it.

I am pleased that the principal listened. I am glad that I took the time to send the email instead of stewing over the injustice. And I am very happy that my son realizes that he can make a difference. Because I'm not positive that the principal would have made the effort to add the additional class (that is now full) if AJ hadn't met with him during his lunch on Monday.

So we broke this sucker out when he heard the news and he has now lost to his father 2 nights in a row. But hey - Paul is a darn good chess player.

And now AJ will be too.

Life......

2012-01-30T21:21:00.000-08:00

really does go on....

We got the call last Saturday night that Paul's dad, my father-in-law and the kids Papa Jim had passed away. It was not an unexpected call but that certainly doesn't make it easier.

Sunday was a sunny day. We walked outside and Rivers had the garden rake stuck in his mouth and we had to laugh. I still had to go to the grocery store. Paul had to make the attic safe for my Christmas decorations and the ridiculous amount of Beanie babies that I still have. Silly stuff that had to be done but the man was never far from any of our thoughts.

When we told AJ his eyes welled up with tears and then he smiled because he realized Papa Jim was with Jesus.

Sunday afternoon and evening we took the time to talk about our memories - because we all had them. And to honor in our own way the man we all loved.

Rest in peace Jim.

You will be missed.

I Can't Wait for Summer

2012-01-24T20:22:00.000-08:00

Summer nights are the best in the desert. Something about it being dark and hot at the same time appeals to me. Winter nights are just cold. But we wouldn't appreciate the summer if we didn't have the winter would we?

Well the Food Supply will Probably Increase

2012-01-22T19:45:00.000-08:00

At the Reed home - We dropped Brandon off at the airport today.

For some reason we have struggled with the timing of getting Brandon to the airport. He has flown home 3 times and has therefore flown back to Reno 3 times.

The first time we got there way way too early. It was a morning flight and he wasn't checking a bag and we got there the recommended 2 hours early. Which if you aren't checking a bag is too early. It gave us plenty of time to eat a $100 breakfast at the airport. And it wasn't a very good $100 breakfast either. Oh and we also spent $50 on some Good and Plenty's. I guess they don't sell those in the store anymore. Or if they do we don't buy them there.
The second time we cut it a little close. Like running through the airport hearing his name called because we were so late. Jessica was with us that time and that probably scarred her little heart for life because she would rather eat a $100 breakfast than be late for her flight.

Brandon didn't check a bag that time either. That was Thanksgiving.

We had Jessica here for Christmas and she had a bag to check when she went home. She was flying Southwest on Christmas day and insisted on getting to the airport 2 hours early. There was no one - I mean no one in line while she was checking her bag. We said our goodbyes and she spent 2 hours in the airport reading her book
Thinking we learned from our various flight experiences we thought we would leave for the airport today 90 minutes before Brandon's flight took off. That would give us time to check his bag. We wouldn't have to buy the $100 breakfast or $50 Good n Plenty's. And all would be well.

Once we got to the Southwest terminal we noticed there was a flaw in our plan. The line to check luggage was very long. So long that the flight would have taken off by the time we got to the front.

So plan B was quickly established and we pulled our suitcase off to the side and pulled out the necessities that Brandon would need for the first few days of school and transferred them to his carry on bag. Looking a tad bit ridiculous I'm sure.
And we ended up bringing this beauty back home with us.

I can hardly wait for our next flight.

Twas a Dark and Stormy Day.....

2012-01-21T20:01:00.000-08:00

When we ventured out for AJ's first Lacrosse game.

It was windy too
The game itself is fun to watch. We don't quite understand all of the rules and regulations yet but it is certainly non-stop action.
The boy is certainly loving it although it seems a bit early to see if he has a knack for it or not. He wants to play next year and it seems to be slowly inching soccer out of his top spot for sports
Once again he appears to be somewhat dwarfed. But he has speed - and since this bigger guy is defense I'll let it slide... for now
The Crusaders won 2 of the 3 games they played. No relics for AJ as he told us afterwards but he will get them next time. You know - Crusaders - Relics - you probably had to be there.
And we came home to the skies clearing.
On this dark and stormy day.

Early in the morning....

2012-01-19T07:22:00.001-08:00

I was getting ready to take my shower and I looked out our window which faces the east.Paul had left earlier than usual and I thought I would get an early start to my day too.
But God had other plans.....

Someone

2012-01-17T20:31:00.000-08:00

is not very happy
that there are people in HIS yard
No - he's not very happy at all

Love is...

2012-01-15T19:17:00.000-08:00

Waking up to a clean kitchen and all my candles lit :-)Jessica reminded me this morning when I told her what I woke up to this morning that the Reed's show their love in unconventional ways. And this is very true. Because if I had my choice of flowers and candy or a clean kitchen with my beautiful candles lit I'll take the latter every time.

Saturday Night

2012-01-14T20:28:00.000-08:00

Invariably means Mexican food and milkshakes. The little neighbor boy has figured out our schedule and manages to be here for milkshakes.

He's also decided he likes Mexican food too and has invited himself over for that a few times also.

I do love this neighborhood

It's Friday

2012-01-13T21:29:00.000-08:00

I went to tell AJ it was time for bed and there were 5 boys in his room building a city out of legos.

I have to say I love it when they are all playing legos together.

The best part is that we get to "keep" the legos out until the city is complete!Safe to say he won't be vacuuming THAT room just yet.

When does it get dark anyway?

2012-01-09T21:06:00.000-08:00

AJ's new practice times for Lacrosse are 3:30 - 5:30 or whenever it gets dark - so says his coach. There are no lights on the field.

Since I had visions of me showing up and my poor son huddling alone in the dark I made sure I was there as the son was setting.
And I wouldn't have missed this for the world.

A Good Sunday

2012-01-08T20:08:00.000-08:00

Includes Spaghetti and Chili for lunch
A great Sunday has Paul making popcorn afterwards.
This was a good Sunday.

Can Anyone Catch AJ?

2012-01-07T20:32:00.000-08:00

After lacrosse practice the coach always has the kids run a few laps. Running is definitely a big part of lacrosse. Today all the kids took off and after the 1st lap AJ had caught and passed everyone and was building up a sizeable lead on the 2nd lap. That is when the Coach yelled "Come on guys! Can anyone catch AJ?"
And no one could.

The Quality of these Photo's Per Day

2012-01-06T20:01:00.001-08:00

Is certainly not improving much are they? That grammar isn't correct - I know it's not. Anyway, I have a reason for this one though. Because of the fiasco with Brandon"s car yesterday he had to borrow mine tonight. And it has my camera in it. So I implored Paul to take one with his phone and he did. Does it still count? I think so.

Oh yikes! Poor Rivers looks a bit possessed doesn't he?

The poor guy was "fixed" today. And nowadays they make them wear this collar - they call it an Elizibethian collar and we were told to keep it on him a "minimum" of 10 days. So not only did he suffer from the indignity of being um - neutered - he has to wear this stupid collar for 10 days too.

I'm thinking I would look possessed myself.

This Little Green Sticker

2012-01-05T20:29:00.000-08:00

Kind of ruined my day. See it says 08 - that stands for August. On the right it says 2011. That stands for - uh - 2011. So this means that this sticker - or as it is more commonly called "Registration for your car" - expired in August 2011. We moved. You have to let the DMV know you moved within 30 days of moving which I apparently neglected to do. This is for the car that Brandon drives ONLY WHEN HE IS ON BREAK which he helpfully told the Highway Patrolman who pulled him over today. That and the fact that he has never been pulled over in his life prompted the highway patrolman to have him call ME and then get on the phone and read me the riot act. He went on and on that he didn't want to give Brandon a ticket because the poor kid only drives the car every once in a while and he can't give the ticket to me because I'm not there but if he ever sees the car again and it's not registered he will have it towed. Because I'm an awful mother like that I guess. Geez.

So yeah - that little green sticker kind of ruined my day

I Don't Eat Anything That is Green...

2012-01-04T20:04:00.000-08:00

So says AJ anyway. But once he saw this salad in the pretty salad bowl that Jessica got me for Christmas (with 4 smaller bowls that match!) he was feeling left out that he didn't get one. So the first night he piled a bunch of croutons with a teeny tiny bit of lettuce in the sparkling bowl and drowned it in ranch. Tonight not quite so many croutons and a bit more lettuce and the ranch dressing was more of a dressing instead of a soup. Maybe tomorrow he will try a tomato? One never knows!

We are going for a record here

2012-01-03T21:58:00.001-08:00

What will the neighbors think?????

Let the Resolutions Begin!

2012-01-02T21:53:00.000-08:00

Mine is the same as it is every year - diet and exercise (nada on both so far!). This is AJ's first year jumping onto the resolution merry go round. His was not to play video games AS MUCH AS HE USED TO. And this is what he is doing right here. Not playing video games as much as he used to - uh huh - yeah right.

It is January 1st

2012-01-01T21:49:00.000-08:00

And our Christmas tree is still up. Paul would take our trees down on December 25th if he could. I usually make him wait until at least the 26th. Ready or not everything must be put away.

Things that make you go hmmmm

So I had this great Idea....

2011-12-31T22:17:00.000-08:00

That I would do this one great catch up post for the end of the year and then start on this photo a day thing that my sister has me doing AGAIN. I lasted a month last time. And the thought of trying to compress the last 2 months into one concise post has made me feeling rather ill. But what the heck let's give it a shot!

So where did I leave off? Oh yes - Lacrosse. AJ has started playing Lacrosse and depending on which day you ask him he is liking it pretty well or not liking it so well. I have never heard such moaning and groaning before practice and such glee and excitement after practice. We have been practicing weekly but this week practices start 3 times a week. We will soon see where if anywhere we may go with this.

Then we had Thanksgiving with my family at our house here. It was encouraging to know that we had room for everyone. The cousins all get along so well with each other. We ended up with an extra turkey via Brandon and Courtney. We sent them to the store for some crackers? And somehow they came home with some convoluted story about a debit card needing activation, a turkey and some cheese. Sometimes with Brandon it is best not to try and figure out exactly how things happen.

On to Christmas which was wonderful except that Jessica was here exactly 25 hours. Something about George Bailey and Mr. Potter and that pesky thing called a job cut her time here rather short.

After Christmas we went to California for a few days. Brandon and AJ - despite being told to bring the bags down and load them up in the car manage to overlook 2 bags. And they were crucial bags - Paul's clothes and all of our toiletries. For some reason Paul wasn't as upset about this whole thing as I was expecting him to be. Maybe because he got some new clothes at Wal-Mart? And we were told the best Mexican restaurant in Barstow was Del Taco - this by the helpful Wal-Mart clerk who waited on us. On we went to California where my 50 year old husband and his 52 year old brother beat the 23-32 year old kids in beer pong. Yes - that is what I said - beer pong...

The trip to California culminated in a goodbye of sorts to a family member who we all dearly love.

And I think that is the main reason I haven't been able to update this blog. Some things are just better left unsaid and memories left unspoken - at least for now.

With that - let's see how long I can last with this photo a day thing shall we?

We are Trying Something New....

2011-11-12T20:35:00.000-08:00

And judging from the looks of these boys we aren't the only ones who are trying something new.

Yes we are giving Lacrosse a shot. We have heard it is fun sport that combines speed and agility which are two things that AJ possess. So what the heck - we would try it.
Today was the first practice and we learned about cradling and how it has to be done while brushing your teeth in order to get the hang of it. And during Sponge Bob commercials too.

I can say that during the first hour of this practice AJ was fairly discouraged. He knew nothing about scooping up and cradling the ball and passing was a fairly foreign concept.

But the coaches were patient with all of the boys and slowly they all started to get it.

And by the end of the second hour he was hooked.
So Lacrosse here we come - ready or not.

And Just Like That.....

2011-11-05T21:02:00.000-07:00

Winter comes to Las Vegas.

After all our fall was a whole week long.
Rivers was NONE too happy that I cut our walk short last night. He thought he would lay there with the leash in his mouth on the off chance I may change my mind and brave the cold and wind for another hour.

No can do big guy...
And even though soccer is one of the most action packed sports I know we still have to bundle this guy up. Because he doesn't have an ounce of fat on him.
Yes Winter is here.

And I'm counting the days until summer.

This Week

2011-10-08T07:41:00.000-07:00

Was kind of insane.....

My umpteenth dishwasher broke down on me. I am pretty sure this one isn't my fault. I've been nursing this baby along for the 4 months we have lived here and knew it was on it's last legs. But, in holding to our credo that we use these appliances until they DIE and then wait as long as we can after that to replace them, we used it until the motor started burning out and only then mercifully put it out of it's misery.

Paul lasted a week - he got me a new dishwasher yesterday. Because as he said - Lynne I'd just as soon not eat if I had to wash and dry my dishes every day.

Nevada instituted "hands free calling" on October 1. I do think this is a good law. Paul saw it coming last Christmas when he got me a blue tooth headset as a gift. No need for someone who loathes change to do anything with this gift until it was absolutely necessary right? So it was put away until the law changed and then we moved and WHO KNOWS where that darn thing is now. And I had a bit of dilemma. Because my morning and afternoon commute is when I catch up with all my family and I do try to obey the law so I have been forced to use the Onstar phone in my car. This is NOT cost effective at all and I have to tell the computerized phone person my number several times before she gets it correct. I get a lot of "Pardon?" "Can you repeat?" in that weird computer voice. So this is not going to work.

If I could go into my work week I would but let's just say Veggies in Vegas got a few more chapters written.

Jessica is working "Core queue" for a while and is going to explain to me what that means when she is home for Thanksgiving. Brandon had his first Justice Board meeting at UNR to kick some people out as he put it. AJ panicked that he was going to have to wear pants as in typical Vegas fashion our temperatures went from 90 to 50 in the course of 2 days. He hates wearing pants. And Rivers was almost wished into the cornfield by Paul. He was a bad dog a very bad dog this week.

With that I am off to find that darn blue tooth headset before Monday!

So - We are 3 and 0

2011-10-01T18:46:00.000-07:00

I am thinking we have a pretty good team.

Rivers has been officially adopted as the mascot.

Paul was worried because all the the kids go running over at breaks to see the pup. He was thinking the coach was going to tell us to leave Rivers at home or maybe go sit somewhere else.

He worries about stuff like that.

Me - eh - I was pretty sure Rivers wasn't a problem.

And that feeling was validated today when during our 2nd game of our doubleheader - and it was hot let me tell you - the coach told the boys to hang out in the shade with Rivers.

And you didn't have to tell them twice.
AJ still loves soccer. Still falling down but always getting right back up.
You can see the joy -even during these kind of funky warm up drills.
He is the youngest on this team this year but is definitely holding his own.
He scored his first goal of the season today and man was he happy. And his team mates were so happy - this is one of the reasons I love team sports.
We threw a bit of a wrench in AJ's long term soccer plans today when we told him he was probably going to try Lacrosse this winter.

Just try it! we said.

And he will.

But I do think soccer is where his heart is.

It's Been A "Fabulous" Day

2011-09-24T17:53:00.000-07:00

There are 2 places in Las Vegas that are kind of unique - not unique in what they do or items they carry - but unique in their names. We have a Terrible Herbst's that is a lube/convenience store/gas station and a Fabulous Freddy's which is the same. They are in competition with each other although Terrible's probably has a leg up and doesn't really consider Fabulous Freddy's competition because they have a casino and a casino trumps a lube shop convenience store any day. The thing about Fabulous Freddy's though is the customer service. They will pump your gas, give you a discount on your car wash and Every. Single. Time. you leave they will wish you a "Fabulous" day.

ANYWAY....... There is a point to this I think

I was heading to Fabulous Freddy's tonight to get some Mike's and bun's for hamburgers and I was thinking I hadn't written a blog in a few weeks and sometimes I do that because I am too busy and that was the case these past few weeks. But today - today was a good day and I want to remember these good days.

My sweet girl Jessica texted me a couple of days ago that her job and her life are going well. Actually she and I text every day but she had a review and it went well. I put it out of my head that she is 5 hours away and technology is a wonderful thing.
I am so very happy that Las Vegas doesn't have the monopoly on these orange cones. Oh. My. Gosh. Every road and freeway has these stupid cones on them and you zig and zag every which way. Someone on a radio station made a comment that they were sure that these orange cones had a union of some sort because they are "working" everywhere.

Anyway..... again - ahem...

Oldest son Brandon called today from Reno where he is currently residing and going to school. He was nominated to be on the student council for his dorm. And he won! He was supposed to be on the dining committee but really the only thing Brandon knows about food is how to eat it. So he is now on the "rules and regulations" committee. He is biding his time to kick someone out for breaking a rule. I can only hope they have a few layers on someone getting kicked out but I am so happy he is getting involved.
Soccer pictures today and this boy is loving loving the neighborhood. He plays out on our wonderful quiet streets with a whole bunch of boys that suddenly came out of the woodwork when they saw our new puppy. AJ's mixture of bossiness and wittiness has won them over and we have a group over almost every day.
And Mr. Rivers. Who probably wishes every day was Saturday because we are all home and loving on him.
So when the lady at Fabulous Freddy's told me tonight to have a "Fabulous day" I just laughed.

Because I already have.

I Have Been Wracking My Brain....

2011-09-04T21:10:00.000-07:00

Trying to figure out how our dining room has turned into a handball court. We surely made a wrong turn somewhere along the line here.

So in retracing our steps I've come to some conclusions:

1. The first thing is don't buy one of these big ol balls at Target when your son asks you for one. That one is on Paul I'm afraid.

2. Make the son keep the big ol ball as strictly an outside ball. The tendency is for the boy to want to bring it in and out and play with it both places. The tendency of the Mom is to not want the ball in her clean house. However if you are in the throes of moving you may just say in a weak moment that you can keep the ball inside but can't take it outside. Thinking the son will forget about the $2.00 ball when you move. Forgetting that this son doesn't forget about anything. So that one is on me.

3. Once the move is done the ball should have been banned from the new house. And the ball certainly should have never been replaced with a new $2.00 ball when it got a hole in it.

4. Although throwing the ball up the stairs seemed like a harmless past time one of us should have recognized that it would lead to other things.

5. And here we are today. With what I can only call a full fledged handball court in our dining room. Every. Single. Day. he hits the ball against the wall.

6. And we do nothing.

7. Because it all just kind of evolved - into this:
8. I'm not sure how to stuff this Pandora back in her box....

AJ's Watch

2011-08-31T21:03:00.000-07:00

I am pretty sure I have shared on this blog how AJ is when he wants something. He's not whiny. He doesn't throw temper tantrums or beg. He is just

PERSISTENT

After the Ipod touch that he persistently asked for (that we actually had and it didn't cost us any money!) he decided he needed a watch. His conversations were sprinkled with things like "it would really help if I had a watch", "I'm in 5th grade now so I think I need a watch", and so on.

When we took Brandon to Reno AJ turned it up a notch:

"We probably need to turn around (while we were on a walk) and get back to the casino so I can pick out a watch"

"I really need one before school starts - I need to be able to tell time"

And there you go - we cave. Paul tells AJ that we will look at the watches at this one store and see if he sees anything. This store had over 100 watches and not one of them was over $10.00. They didn't look cheap but - well you know.

So Brandon and I stand back as Paul and AJ are looking at the watches. Every time Paul suggested a watch that looked like it would fit AJ properly and was appropriate for a 10 year old AJ would shake his head and point out a style he wanted.

After 30 minutes of this Paul finally just shrugged his shoulders and got AJ the watch that he wanted.

The sales lady who had been watching very intently to see how this played out had a very hard time keeping her laugh to herself.

Because this is the watch that AJ picked out:

Just a teeny bit too big - Paul thinks he only has to take out 1/2 to 2/3 of the "links" to make it fit.
And let me tell you the pressure is on him to get that done. That watch shows up wherever Paul is - just magically I tell you!

Persistence - is this a good trait to have? I'm not completely sure to tell you the truth.

And Then There Was One

2011-08-27T20:33:00.001-07:00

We took Brandon up to college this last week - another milestone is reached.

Because this is the 2nd child we have taken to college we have learned a few things:

1. That first year it's probably better if they don't have a car. Especially in climates that get snow.

2. Luck of the draw is not a bad thing on the roommate front - sometimes your friends are not the best roommate.

3. It's best if you don't cry until after you have reached the car and are driving away.

Ah yes - I am going to miss this kid.

His smile is infectious - When he smiles I can't help but smile, when he laughs I laugh.
He loves this kid. I don't worry about him missing Paul, Jessica or myself or some of his other friends but I am pretty sure he will miss AJ something fierce. Don't get me wrong - I know he will miss us too but I am pretty sure if I set up Skype he will use it with AJ to discuss video games, Charger games and AJ's soccer season.
So even though I try very hard not to be depressed when my kids leave as it is all a part of life I will let myself wallow this weekend. I will miss him so much just as I miss Jessica.

Our work is for the most part done and what he becomes is up to him.

And now there is one....

If a little bit is good......

2011-08-20T22:06:00.000-07:00

See here's the thing about Brandon. He gets on these kicks. Right now he's on a bit of a health food kick. And instead of buying a little container of something and seeing if he likes it he buys a size like this:I'm not sure if it's obvious how big this container is but believe me when I tell you it's HUGE!!

I think in the month this monstrosity Whey Solate 28 has been in our house Brandon has had maybe MAYBE 4 glasses of milk mixed in with this stuff. I asked him if he's using it because for the last 2 weeks I have had it in a cupboard, off the table and kind of behind some stuff.

He said - "absolutely Mom - every day" as he's opening all the cupboards trying to see where it was stored.

Ummm yeah. I'm making him take this to college with him because I don't see it disappearing in the next week.

Maybe If She Had 5 Brothers???

2011-08-13T21:16:00.000-07:00

Jessica and Brian came to see us a few weekends ago for the weekend. Jessica had passed her Series 7 test which was what she has been spending her days and nights studying for when she wasn't working.

I promised her birthday festivities if she came home to visit.

Jessica is the oldest of our 3 kids and has always been fairly ambitious and driven. Her brothers - eh - not so much. Because they are so much more laid back than their sister their personalities often clash.

And these boys can be pills sometimes.

So being Jessica's boyfriend isn't always easy. When Brian comes to visit he usually has to deal with AJ needing IMMEDIATE help with his Lego project or some IMMEDIATE video game help. How about now? Are you ready now? Can you help me now? And he is fortunate enough to get AJ's bed so he gets a former top bunk that is now a twin bed. With rails on it. Unless you dive into bed like AJ does it's a challenge to go to bed gracefully. But hey - at least he won't fall out!

Ah and Brandon. He can be your best friend or in the throes of being a teenage boy which consists of only talking when spoken too and even that can be hit and miss.

After Brian and Jessica left from their short visit we were eating dinner and discussing the visit. Or maybe I was lamenting the fact that these boys really aren't very easy to get along with - from Jessica and Brian's view of course.

At that time Paul told us one of his stories. This story was probably embellished as only Paul can embellish a story but it was a good story and I'm pretty sure most of it was true.

See Paul has an older sister. And this sister - like Jessica - is the oldest of the family and is very smart and very ambitious. She loved her brothers although I'm sure this wasn't always easy. Being the older sister in a house full of boys is definitely a challenge. They are supposed to listen to you but they don't. They don't show you proper respect. They pick on your cooking. And on and on and on.

But these boys loved their sister they really did. They just had different ways of showing their affection that's all. When Trina's boyfriends would pay a visit they would park their cars out in front of the house. The brothers - in their helpful way - would go outside and put the car in neutral and push the car somewhere else. The more brothers involved - the farther the car got pushed.

Not all of Trina's boyfriends were pleased about this although a few found it rather humorous. Those are the ones that would have fit in this family that's for sure.

As Paul was telling us this story I was thinking that maybe my two boys aren't really bad brothers after all.
So Sis - I think you should count your blessings and be thankful you didn't grow up 40 years ago.

The Phone Problem

2011-07-21T21:31:00.000-07:00

We have been on the fence for a while now trying to decide if we should have a home phone or just keep our cell phones. One by one our house phones have failed and so when we moved we just brought over the one phone that I refuse to get rid of.

This is the phone that has the message from Jessica New Year's Eve 1999. We were at my sister-in-law Trina's house and I had Jessica call our home phone. Because the world was going to end in 2000 you know. I had the water barrels to prove it. All the utilities would fail because the last two numbers would roll to zero therefore rendering ALL utilities OBSOLETE. Because utilities relied on computers and no one was smart enough to see the year 2000 coming. Yeah I bought into that whole thing.

Anyway - I wanted to see if the utilities were still working after midnight so I had Jessica call. And 12 years later I still have that message on my phone.

This is also the phone that has the answering machine tape from 2003. My kids are all young and they sound so young and cute so I just won't get rid of it. Brandon has been nagging me for YEARS to change the tape because he thinks he sounds ridiculous. But he's 18 years old and doesn't have the appreciation yet for this kind of stuff - I think they all sound cute so I'm keeping it.

But this is also the phone that is over 15 years old and they don't make phones like they did in the old days and it's starting to sound scratchy.

Since we are still on the fence and don't want to go out and buy new phones Paul started digging through his treasures that he has collected over the years and one day I came home to this:

It works splendidly if I do say so myself.

And I would like to point out that I am not the only collector of "stuff" in this family.

Not by a long shot.

The Blackberry Blurry Blog Blues

2011-07-17T21:48:00.000-07:00

AJ was the last in line for birthday festivities (unless Jessica passed her test and took me up on my offer to come home for her own festivities which she did but that's another story).

Paul is thinking that these festivities go on a tad too long and he may be right. The problem is I feel the need to do something on their real birthday and then maybe the fun thing on the weekend.

But yeah I am guilty of dragging them out a bit.

I don't think AJ's being a whole weekend thing was entirely my fault though. He had decided he wanted to go to Mini Gran Prix for his birthday fun. His birthday was on a Friday so we let him have his cake and open his gifts on that Friday. Saturday he had a soccer game and Saturday afternoon we were going to head down and let him drive some Go Karts.

It had been a couple years since we had been there. The last time we were there he was too short to drive the karts himself but we were sure he would be tall enough by now. Now the smart thing to do would have been to call down there and get the height requirements and then measure him up to make sure he met them.

Yes that would have been the smart thing to do. Call and get the height requirements and measure to make sure he was tall enough.

Well - he wasn't. Oh geez that was kind of a situation. There is nothing worse than knowing your kid wants to cry but is trying to suck it up. That is usually when I lose it but AJ and I held our heads high and our tears in.

That was Saturday. So we had the idea of going bowling on Sunday. Let's just combine it with breakfast! At a casino of course because that is where all the good bowling alleys are in Vegas.

And that's what we did.
Now I have 2 fairly good cameras that I brought with us to the Mini Gran Prix fiasco but completely forgot in the breakfast/bowling date.
Brandon and Paul have the Iphones. Both are usually connected to their persons at all times.

Not this morning though.

The pictures are courtesy of my Blackberry - a very fine phone for almost everything but taking pictures. Hence the title...
Here I am in my oh so attractive plaid bowling shorts and frizzy hair. Sometimes blurry is not a bad thing.
Brandon was bursting with confidence as usual that he would show Paul and I - the former bowling league bowlers of 25 years ago - how it's done.
His confidence was slightly inflated
Every time we go bowling I kick myself that we don't do this more often. The Sunday morning deal was $1.50 per game and that included shoes. Now that is some cheap entertainment!

AJ spent quite a bit of time willing his ball to knock some pins down. He had the bumper pads too. Those things popped up automatically whenever it was his turn. Technology is really a wonderful thing.

So Brandon's confidence was justified in the final game although Paul and I both beat him in the first game.
Safe to say AJ won't forget the weekend and neither will we.

We will go bowling more often because this was just way too much fun.

But I'll bring my good camera next time.

Chopped

2011-07-15T21:40:00.000-07:00

There is this show on the Food Network Channel called Chopped. The premise is similar to the Top Chef and Hell's Kitchen shows where there is a group of aspiring chefs and they perform challenges and at the end one of the chefs gets "Chopped" and has to leave the show. AJ LOVES this show and lately has been incorporating some of the language into his dinner time conversation:

"This sauce is superb"

"The chicken is cooked perfectly"

"What are your thoughts on these carrots?"

"I think this meatloaf has too many onions in it"

And so on.

The last couple of days AJ has made some comments asking whether Paul is going to cook some food. There are many evenings when Paul and I cook separate items for one complete meal and AJ is looking for the time when Paul and I will be cooking together.

Now I'm not entirely clueless. I see what the boy is doing and decide to nip that right in the bud.

I tell him the first time he decides I get "Chopped" he will be on his own for dinner from that point on.

Somehow I don't think AJ will give up quite that easily....

Not Quite 21 Enough I Guess....

2011-07-11T20:26:00.001-07:00

In the midst of the horror that was moving and the excitement that was graduation we decided it would be a good idea to go on vacation. You know - let's cram one more thing into our lives in this one month period of time.

Jessica was home at the time and we tend to pile stuff for her to do when she's here maybe not realizing that when we have her running all over Las Vegas she may run out of time just like we always do.

When we go on vacation we usually set a time when we want to leave and heaven forbid we don't leave within 15 - 30 minutes of that pre-set time. We are a tad OCD (and THAT is a huge surprise isn't it?) when it comes to that. We had a time of 3:00 as our drop dead time and it just seemed like we weren't even going to be close to making that departure time.

One of the last things on Jessica's list was to buy all of our booze for our trip. We are good parents that way. On her list was quite a bit of beer, a fair amount of Mike's and 1 bottle of Kahlua. Because we were headed to Utah and they have some odd laws when it comes alcohol purchase and consumption we felt it was vitally important that we purchase our alcohol here in Sin City.

So before we left we sent Jessica off to the store. She was a young looking 22 almost 23 at the time but by golly she had that all important ID and Paul and I had Stuff. To. Do. before we left so she was nominated to go. And so she did.

30-45 minutes later she returned looking slightly frazzled. I guess she caused quite a stir at Vons trying to purchase all of our alcohol that managers were called, conferences were held, the line was at a standstill and the ID was examined very very carefully. In the end it was decided she could take the beer and the Mike's but the Kahula was a no go.

She wasn't 21 enough I guess.

This, That, And the Torch Has Been Passed

2011-07-05T20:15:00.000-07:00

One of the things AJ has been asking for his birthday is an Ipod Touch.

Because this family hasn't met an Ipod or Iphone it hasn't liked we were pretty sure there was one around the house somewhere. Packed away.

Packed away wasn't making AJ too happy because he needed that thing. You know. How AJ needs everything.

So what do you know - I spend 3 hours unpacking some boxes and find the Ipod Touch.

There is an application - "it's free Mom!" that makes a very realistic sounding light saber.

And all is right in AJ's world for now.

One of the reasons I spent 3 hours unpacking boxes is because I wanted to move the exercise bike and eliptical where those particular boxes were residing.

I got the space cleared. Paul and Brandon hauled those ridiculously heavy pieces of equipment up the stairs and Paul got the old TV working.

But I couldn't find my ipod in those 3 hours of unpacking boxes. And my Ipod has my music on it. And Paul and Brandon couldn't figure out the closed caption on that old tv. The Criminal Minds dvd's are still packed away "somewhere".

So I walked again tonight. Maybe tomorrow I will find that stuff.

Can I say that Brandon was very diligent in his fireworks duties?
AJ really just wanted the sparklers and I guess his parents never taught him not to run with fireworks.
Brandon watched AJ very carefully when it was his turn to light the fireworks. He loves that kid as pesty as he can be at times.
Paul and I just sat back in our chairs and watched. Which was kind of nice.

Much to my chagrin Paul taught Brandon the proper use of a blow torch to light our fireworks.

Yes the torch has been passed.
In closing I will say that our neighborhood takes their fireworks serious (seriously? Jess can you help me out on that one?)
Our neighbor (affectionately known in our household as "shirtless Johnny") told Paul they go until 1:00 in the morning.

Luckily for us they stopped at 11:00 which gave Paul exactly 4 hours of sleep before he got up at 3:00 am to get to work at 4 to beat the summer heat.

Although he wasn't a happy camper this morning this was a nice long weekend and it makes for a short work week.

Friday can't come soon enough these days let me tell you.

Summer - So Far

2011-07-03T21:48:00.000-07:00

It's been a summer - yes it has

Jessica graduated

And moved from her apartment in Flagstaff to home for a few weeks.

She helped us move which we aren't very good movers so that is always an ordeal.

Then she moved to Scottsdale and started her job at Vanguard.

I miss her

Brandon graduated from high school

He truly did and you can see he is pretty darn happy about it
He is headed to Reno in the fall but is going to continue to make our lives interesting until he goes - of this I am sure.
AJ thought it was pretty bright in that church when Brandon graduated

He is excited about turning 10 on Friday - double digits and no looking back is what he keeps telling me.
We went on vacation

At AJ's insistence we played Monopoly one night. I won. We found out that AJ is a bit like my Mom's side of the family when it comes to playing games. I think I will leave it at that.
It was beautiful on our vacation
Brandon turned 18. We took him to Max Brenner's which was kind of an experience. He looks a tad worn out here and that is probably because he and Paul had just gotten back from working in Utah.

They stayed at a cabin and Brandon was low man on the totem pole and let's just say I know how these guys are.
Well this picture is out of order. This was our vacation - the deer would just walk through our campsite.
We moved. I love our new house. This is sunrise at 5:00 AM
This is sunrise out our bedroom window.
It's a good house and will be perfect for our family
Today is July 3. Jessica and I made a pact to exercise at least 20 minutes a day and hopefully longer every day in July.

I couldn't flake out on day 3 so tonight I walked in a monsoon.

I did!!
Summer is flying by once again...

I'm Starting to Breathe a Sigh of Relief Now...

2011-06-24T20:44:00.000-07:00

I think most parents hope their kids have good manners. And I think most parents know that "hoping" their kids have good manners usually isn't enough. You must be diligent in the teaching of these good manners.

I've been a bit worried about this one:
Back in December when he was a whopping 9 1/2 and should have been well on his way to having some decent manners he went with Jessica and Brandon to deliver Christmas goodies to some people at Paul's work. AJ is a cute little boy and can be quite charming when he wants to be. Unfortunately - on this occasion he decided that it would be best if he didn't say one word. It wasn't even the I'm too shy to say anything routine that he plays quite well. No this was probably bordering on - ummmm - rude.
We certainly can't have that. I was feeling very much like I had been derelict in my duty with my youngest son. I worked so hard with the older two - could I have completely dropped the ball with this one?

Well if I had it would be rectified. The please and thank you's started right then and there. Whereas before we may have been a little bit lax on enforcing our manners we wouldn't be anymore.

So the drilling began. If he asked for something and didn't say please he would be met with a blank stare. Same with thank you. Luckily Jessica and Brandon were also feeling like AJ had been getting a free ride so they were "happy" to help with the indoctrination so to speak.
We had a bit of a setback when we went out for Mother's Day and he kind of broke down a bit. Could it be we were pushing him a bit too hard? Possibly possibly.

But then Paul's parents came to visit last night and took us all out to dinner.

Let me tell you young AJ didn't miss one please or thank you the entire evening and didn't have to be reminded either.

Whew....

We will certainly keep the pressure on but I am starting to breathe a bit easier.....

Never On Tuesday

2011-06-21T20:00:00.001-07:00

I've worked the move/vacation/graduation angle long enough and it's past time for me to start getting my lunches and dinners back under control. Fast food and no exercise is doing nothing for my girlish figure that I worked so hard to get back into shape.

Last weekend in anticipation of starting the week anew with healthy lunches and dinners I sat down and made my grocery list. I'm a big list maker and usually have the menu on the right of the list so I know what ingredients I need.

Sunday morning we went out to breakfast and at breakfast Paul asked me if I had brought my list because we may as well just get the grocery shopping done while we were out and about.

I was in a bit of a quandary. I try not to turn down help grocery shopping because that means I don't have to push the cart or unload the cart onto the - oh heck - the only word I can think of is conveyor belt but I'm sure that's not it. Anyway - I hate unloading the cart. BUT - I didn't have my list. I nonchalantly said no I don't have my list but goodness I can remember it and started frantically typing what I remembered into my phone.

On Tuesdays and Thursdays I try to do some sort of crock pot thing because those are the days I work later and it's best to have dinner done when I get home. When I got up this morning I realized that I had no meat for a crock pot meal and I would have to come up with my meal on the fly. On the fly really doesn't work for me too well and the problem with with Tuesdays and Thursdays is by the time I get to my late afternoon job I am at a weak point in my ability to resist junk food. The vegetables and fruit from lunch have worn off and I know I don't have a tasty meal in the crock pot. In fact I've got nuthin - no ideas nuthin. One of the clients at this late afternoon job had sent the business a huge box of jelly beans and skittles. They were there last Thursday and even though I gave the staff explicit instructions to have them eaten by the time I got into the office on Tuesday they were still there - taunting me so to speak.

So after eating a pound or pound and a half of skittles and jelly beans my ability to think of something healthy for dinner was kaput. It didn't help that when I got home at 5:45 AJ was eating ice cream because camp didn't feed him lunch because he had to sign up for it ahead of time. (What the heck? Who does this? He had $5.00 and they wouldn't feed him lunch?). So obviously his need to eat something healthy was also greatly diminished because he had just scarfed down ice cream.

So we had chili dogs and cheese. On white bread. With ketchup and chips. And Pepsi. In my effort to salvage some sort of end of the day I had Vanilla Almond Special K with Non Fat milk. It totally cancelled out the the skittles and jelly beans - I'm sure it did.

But yeah - this doesn't happen on Tuesday. And I've got 3 more days to go in the week so things aren't looking good that this healthy eating thing is in the cards this week.

This happens a lot on Thursday or Friday but never on Tuesday.

First time for everything I suppose.

The Father's Day Gift

2011-06-19T21:28:00.000-07:00

Back in late April or early May AJ brought home an art project he had done at school. It was meant to be a Father's Day gift. But kids this age can't really wait to give their gifts and since Paul picked AJ up from school it was an easy justification in AJ's mind to give Paul the gift early. Really how he said it was I made this for you for Father's Day in art class but I really kind of like it so if it's okay with you I will use it until it is actually Father's Day.

No need in letting a perfectly good gift go to waste right?

The gift was a key chain. And it had blue and gold beads on it. And in between the blue and gold beads were letters that spelled out "Chargers". Truly a perfect gift.

To be honest with you I kind of forgot about the gift. We have been in moving/graduations/vacation limbo? mode? for the last several weeks. The key chain was picked up and is being used as our new mailbox key. It hangs from our key holder in the kitchen.

This morning I woke the boys up early because we were taking Paul out to breakfast for Father's day. When AJ came into the family room with his sleepy eyes and dragging the blanket that all of our kids seem to have an affinity for he also had something in his hand.

It was the Charger key chain. He had gotten it off the key holder last night in anticipation of giving it to Paul this morning.

He hadn't forgotten.

And it truly is the perfect gift.

Happy Father's Day.

This Boy

2011-05-20T19:45:00.001-07:00

This boy -

I think he will drive me to drink. Oh wait - I kind of do that sometimes already.

Last Saturday - the day of Jessica's MBA graduation, Brandon's last swim meet - the day of so many milestones - Brandon informed me that his senior bio, baby picture and senior picture were due. For some reason I thought I had another week so to get this to the school. Of course being informed that I had to have them in on the day they were due may have contributed to my stress just a tad.

As I am sure they have become accustomed to from moi - I asked for a teeny tiny extension.
This boy -

I think he will cause my hair to go gray.

Yikes - he's done it already!!!

On Thursday - the day before Friday - the day before this project is due - this boy forgets to get the green beans for his MAJOR PROJECT in Independent Living. This is the same class that required the pajama pants to be sewn and he asked about the sewing machine the night before THAT project was due.

So even though I have to sign my life away that I DID. NOT. HELP. HIM. WITH. THIS.PROJECT. AT. ALL. I had to help him with his casserole project. Create from scratch a casserole. Oh geez.

This boy -

I think he causes me some sleepless nights. Pretty sure this is all on him.

Let me just say Pre-Calc, Marine and Desert Biology and Regional Pre-lims and finals. And hope that I remember in 20 years (or maybe it would be best if I didn't remember) the angst and stress that I felt leading up to those events.
This boy -

I have come to the conclusion is most like his Dad. With a little Grandpa Jack thrown in. And I am anxious to see the end result. Because the edge of 17 is still too soon to see how this boy will mature. Safe to say he will have to work so very hard for everything he gets in this life.
This boy -

I am proud of what he has accomplished so far.
I guess I just wish the gray hairs and sleepless nights weren't a part of parenting this one.

But they never said parenthood was easy did they?

This boy - he is my first born son and I do love him so.

This boy....

Milestones

2011-05-17T20:42:00.000-07:00

Flagstaff happens to be one of our very favorite towns and this past Saturday did nothing to change that view.

We were fortunate to be able to watch our number one daughter receive her MBA from Northern Arizona University.

What an honor it has been to parent this girl.
AJ came with us. Brandon had his last high school swim meet and so we had to leave him at home. So many milestones this weekend!

AJ won't show his teeth when he smiles - he's self conscious because he's got those 9 year old teeth. The ones that have all the spaces in between them until your permanent teeth help fill them in. I finally showed him a picture of Brandon at this age and he looked exactly the same. I am hoping that will persuade him to show the pearly whites again.

This is what we call his sweet smile.
Paul doesn't wear a tie too often. Well weddings and graduations. It seems to always be a bit of a challenge getting it tied. Usually once we get it tied we don't ever untie it. Or we buy those clip-on ties. I'm not sure what happened to all those but this trip we didn't have a pre-tied tie or a clip on.

So one of my favorite memories (I didn't dare take a picture) is of Paul at the ironing board, ironing his shirt with his Ipad open with instructions on how to tie a tie. Because the guy is a problem solver. And then Jessica coming early on her graduation day to help. Between the two of them and the helpful tutorial on the Ipad the tie was assembled properly.
The night before graduation Jessica and I sat outside in the courtyard of the hotel. There was a fire pit out there and she and I talked until we ran out of Mike's Lemonade's which was far too soon for me. Paul would keep them on ice and when he saw we were getting low would head up to the room and get us another one. Gotta love that guy.

That was probably one of my favorite parts of the trip. Jessica - for the first time in 10 months was able to relax and it showed. We just talked and laughed.

Many of the MBA students commented to Jessica on how pretty she looked. Since this program is really intense pretty hairdos and make up were not always on Jessica's list of things to do. She made a comment that she may have been a bit "frumpy" during the year.

For some reason that cracked me up - frumpy is not a word I would use to describe this girl.

Much as Paul and I would love to gloat on our parenting skills and bask in the glory of a job well done we really can't with this one.

She is self-motivated and very driven and did this program all on her own.
But we can indeed be proud of the wonderful, capable woman she has become!

Memories of Mother's Day

2011-05-08T20:12:00.000-07:00

This was one of those weekend's I want to make sure I document - because down the road the memory will have faded and I want to make sure I remember my feelings this Mother's Day 2011.

This was a good day. A good weekend. Mother's Day can be hit or miss around this house and I have finally (FINALLY) figured out that I am the one that sets the tone. Like the title of a book Jessica bought when she was very young - If Mama ain't happy nobody's happy. And I think especially in this house that is true.

So it behooves me to make sure that I have my priorities in order on this day to truly enjoy the gifts that God has given me - namely my 3 wonderful children and my pretty patient husband.

Gift #1 - This is AJ Reed. My baby. The one who wished me Happy Mother's Day with a hug the minute I woke up and ran and got his homemade gift and a card to give to me. The fact that he was able to hold onto the gift from Friday is a minor miracle in itself. He kept telling me that he had it and did I want to see it early?

AJ reminded me today that I haven't changed much as a mother in the past 23 years. I still feel every bit of any pain or embarrassment that my kids do.

We went out to IHop for breakfast. AJ has just recently started ordering his own food and tries to be as prepared as possible with his order. When the waitress looked at AJ for his order he immediately said he wanted the "all you can eat pancakes". Our waitress told him they didn't have that deal anymore and oh my... I could see his eyes welling up - he had no plan b. The waitress could see his eyes welling up and said she would make an exception but it was too late for AJ and it was too late for me. Paul and Brandon were left with 2 crying meal mates and we didn't see our waitress until she came with our bill (someone else delivered our food).

So AJ - thank you for your homemade gift and for letting me have a good cry on Mother's Day - not sure I could get through the day without it.

Gift #2 is Brandon Reed. He calls me Ma Reed. I'm not sure I like that terminology but like everything with Brandon I have to pick my battles.

One of his gifts to me was a red pen left in the pocket of his school uniform shorts. Although I didn't realize it at the time this was one of my best Mother's Day gifts.

Brandon left a red pen in his shorts. The shorts went through the washer. Then they went through the dryer. With a bunch of other stuff. In a normal dryer you may hear the pen rattling around and immediately take it out. But this dryer - like all of our appliances - was having problems. I can't even describe how loud it was. Paul described it like a freight train and that is probably accurate. It shook our entire house laboring to dry our clothes. We were embarrassed to have the garage door open at any time because ALL of the neighbors could hear it. This went on for several months - several several several months. We are so used to our appliances breaking down on us that we just get used to dealing with it. But the red pen in the dryer was the straw that broke the camel's back for Paul as it got all our clothes spotted red and it leaked all over the inside of the dryer. No guarantees it wouldn't leak onto subsequent loads and so TA DA! I got a new dryer!

And Brandon did the dishes.

So Brandon although I'm sure you didn't intend to leave a red pen in your shorts - thank you for my dryer.
This is gift #3 - Jessica Reed. She is the one that first made me a mother nearly 23 years ago. I really really miss Jessica around these holidays. My life will be cruising along with me trying to keep an upper hand with the abundance of testosterone in the house and we come upon a holiday like Mother's Day. Then I realize that gosh I would love me some pretty flowers. That's not something you can ask for without sounding totally frivolous and it's not something I get very often.

Jessica - she always has my back. Paul said - that girl - she always makes sure you are taken care of. On Saturday on our way home from an outing there on the porch were the most beautiful tulips and some delicious chocolate covered strawberries. And the boys in the family seem to know better than to mess with my strawberries. Deep in the endless stress that is the last 2 weeks of a Master's program Jessica took care of her mom.

So Jessica - thank you for knowing what I need and for giving me the wonderful opportunity of being a mother. I wouldn't have missed this ride for the world.
Gift #4 - is Paul Reed. Paul takes what I say at face value and you would think after 26 years I would have figured that out. Not sure what it is about women that they think men can read their minds but they can't. So it is always interesting on these holidays because Paul knows he needs to do something but is often at a loss as to what is expected of him. From Bob the Builder - can he fix it? yes he can! That is Paul in a nutshell. Trying to go out shopping to buy something for me is just not something he can really do.

I received two gifts from Paul. The first one on Saturday night when I was at a Pampered Chef party he and the 2 boys cleaned the house from top to bottom. And I mean cleaned and scrubbed and vacuumed and dusted. This was a huge gift for me because all 3 of these guys hate cleaning house. Hate it. We are getting ready to move and I told Jessica I have a bit of senioritis when it comes to cleaning this house. In that why clean it when we are moving in 2 weeks kind of attitude. So I've let it go a bit...... So that gift and his usual Sunday night bbq expertise were absolutely wonderful.

The second gift of course is these 3 wonderfully unique and gifted kids who are truly a blend of us both.
We have been incredibly blessed and I feel so lucky to have them all in my life.

And that is what I want to remember on this Mother's day 2011.

That Apple

2011-05-02T20:23:00.000-07:00

Sure doesn't fall far from the tree.....

I'm fairly sure from the stories I have heard that Paul was a bit of a handful growing up. He disagrees with the "degree" to which he was a handful but I think it is safe to say that he wasn't the easiest of the 6 kids in his family.

One of the stories I have heard is one of those stories that you just kind of shake your head and wonder what the heck was he thinking?

38 years ago give or take a year the Reed family was cleaning out the kids bedrooms when they found a library book. Now this library book was obviously overdue and was last checked out by their middle son Paul. The mother of the family told her middle son to please take the library book back to the library and pay the fine.

This was not something the middle son was interested in doing so he hid the book in the garage thinking this was the solution to going to the library and paying the fine.

A year or so later the Reed family was cleaning out their garage when lo and behold they found the library book. This time the father of the family very sternly told his middle son to TAKE THE BOOK BACK TO THE LIBRARY AND PAY THE FINE!!!

Yeah - well if paying the fine a year prior wasn't an option it surely wasn't an option now. Middle son Paul took the book and buried it in the planter bed thinking that this problem is solved. No one is going to plant anything in a planter that is already planted.

Fast forward another year or so and the mother of the family is thinking she wants to plant some flowers. And what does she find but the dirt encrusted library book. If Paul didn't have bad luck he wouldn't have any luck at all.

This time after he was once again told to go to the library he headed out on his bike towards the Del Mar Ravine.

And I am assuming that is where the book lays today.

Much as he disagrees that our oldest son is just like him I see way too many similarities.

Brandon made some lemon zest sugar cookies in his Independent living class a few weeks ago and since that time has been somewhat obsessed with them. Because I live to please these kids(cough cough) I have bought several different varieties of sugar cookies none of which has met the correct specifications or been lemon zesty enough for Brandon. He finally decided to make the cookies himself.

He found a recipe on his phone and got to work. The cookies smelled decent enough while they were cooking. I lost track of his progress and after a bit went to try one of the cookies. They weren't in the kitchen and so I asked him where they were so I could try one. He told me they didn't turn out very good but that he put them in the outside fridge.

I went out to look and didn't see them anywhere but that fridge is kind of a disorganized catch all and I assumed I missed them.

I checked a few more times over the next couple of days and concluded that the cookies were not in the outside refrigerator. They weren't in the kitchen. I just saw no sign of them anywhere.

Once again I asked Brandon where the cookies were and this time he told me he had thrown them away. I doubted this story a bit because I had checked the trash a few times and hadn't seen any sign of the cookies in there.

A few days after this exchange Paul was in the garage and he called my attention to something that was hidden behind the big tool box between some pinball machines and other stuff we have in the garage. It was a cookie sheet. One of my good cookie sheets. With some burnt, melded to the sheet cookie stuff on it.

I'm pretty sure this cookie sheet could take a journey similar to that library book if we let it.

Because the apple really doesn't fall far from the tree.

When You Spread Your Kids Out.....

2011-04-24T15:46:00.000-07:00

Like we unintentionally did, sometimes those older kids have to stay young a little bit longer than they may want to.

Take the Easter egg hunt for instance.

It is really just AJ who is interested in this anymore but it's hard to have an Easter egg hunt COMPETITION (because that's what a hunt is right?) by yourself.

So we enlist the older siblings.

Young AJ takes these hunts seriously
As does his older brother
And Brian wasn't here with us this year so Jessica didn't have to act all ladylike and such
The competitive spirit runs deep in this family

And as much as Brandon would like to say he and AJ were working as a team and won the Easter egg hunt
It was our darling daughter Jessica who took home the prize.

On the edge of 23....

The Problem With Stapling Your Flags...

2011-04-06T21:20:00.000-07:00

is that they can come undone and poke you.

That can be painful.

I won't go so far as to say we are procrastinators but we live fairly busy lives.
When flags are distributed for Flag Football we may or may not wait until 5 minutes before we leave for the first game to see if they fit.

Chances are pretty good that since the boy is one of the smallest and skinniest on the team they probably won't fit.

Since a whole lot of time can't be spent on trying to get the ends through all of the loops stapling seems to be the prudent solution.
Of course when they inevitably come undone in a few weeks they are going to poke you.

That can be painful
Of course if your Mom can push the staples back in with her bare hands during practice that temporarily solves the problem.

We'll see if we can ride this wave until the end of the season.

Because heaven forbid we try to get those flag ends through the belt loops....

High School Swimming

2011-04-03T21:30:00.001-07:00

Has begun!!!

Even the most seasoned swimmer - and I would consider Brandon a seasoned swimmer - can find these swim meets tiring.

He may say boring.

But let's go with tiring.
I'm back with my tried and true pictures because those are the only pictures I can get at swim meets.

So here we go!

I think he has a good start. Still doesn't wear a cap but is keeping his hair short enough so he doesn't need one.

This is the 100 yard breaststroke. It is a stroke conducive to photography because they have to come up to breathe all the time.
This was the 100 yard backstroke. At these swim meets (which is different from California) they have 8 teams swimming but each team is only swimming against one other team. So there can be a lot of heats. They try to put the swimmers on the teams that are swimming against each other in the lanes side by side but this can be a hit or miss proposition.

Brandon is on the left (no cap) and is swimming against the star backstroker from the team they were actually against.
This team was talking a lot of smack and they really should have won this meet. We were missing quite a few of our swimmers.

Nothing really gets Brandon riled up more than smack talking so he wanted to win this race.
And he did

And THAT put an end to the smack talking

Saturday's in the spring are made up of football and swim meets

I don't think I would have it any other way

Spring!

2011-03-29T21:50:00.000-07:00

This boy doesn't have an ounce of fat on him
So outdoor practices with our cold windy "pre-spring" have not been fun. He hasn't complained at all but if I am sitting in my chair wrapped in my layers and blankets whining away at the wind and the cold I'm pretty sure his teeth are chattering.
But yesterday

Oh My what a day!
75 degrees and it was like this kid suddenly came alive
These pictures don't do it justice but there was such enthusiasm in everything he did
Almost like he had been in hibernation and had been let loose!
The joy was unmistakable
And finally spring has sprung
Not a moment too soon

New Cleats

2011-03-25T21:01:00.000-07:00

When you haven't played football for a while, chances are your feet have grown and you are going to need new cleatsIf your Mom - in the interest of saving time and trying to get a good deal - gets your cleats off the internet where you can't check out the length and texture of the laces - well that might create some problems
If those laces are too stinkin long and kind of slippery you may spend a lot of time at practice in this position
But you may have to take some responsibility for this yourself. Because Sport Chalet only had black cleats and you were pretty insistent on white cleats. And those black cleats had the nice short laces that weren't made of the slippery material
You must admit the white cleats look pretty darn cool but doggone it those laces are long and slippery!
Yeah the bloom is off the new cleat rose that's for sure
Another lesson learned - snazzy is not everything when it comes to footwear

The Alarm Clock

2011-03-17T21:06:00.000-07:00

When Brandon started high school we all figured that it was time for him to get an alarm clock to help him wake up. We went the tried and true way of a music alarm and it seemed to do the trick for a while but by his sophomore year something else was needed. That year he tried using his phone for an alarm clock. He used the phone into his Junior year but that didn't seem to be doing the trick. Over the summer he decided to get serious about waking up on his own and bought himself a high-powered alarm clock.

And let me tell you that sucker was high high powered. It had a feature that if you pushed the snooze button it would come back louder the next time. The clock was kind of funky looking and so only Brandon knew how to turn it off. Or maybe the rest of us just didn't want to learn.

So it was so so loud. I don't hear very well and I would hear that thing going off. There were a few times that Brandon was at his friends on the weekend and he forgot to turn it off and it would start going off at 4:00 in the morning. Paul would have to go in there and unplug it. And Brandon would be severely chastised for leaving it on but Brandon being Brandon a few weeks later he would forget to turn it off and we would go through the whole cycle again.

But like all of his previous alarms he soon grew immune to the shrieking that the clock emitted when going off and the last time Paul had to unplug it on a weekend it stayed unplugged.

Now he has a new alarm clock. It never goes off on the weekends. It doesn't have a snooze button so when the alarm is activated you had better get up. If the alarm is set for 6:00 am it may go off a few minutes before or a few minutes after but it always goes off. It has never failed him - not one time. The problem with this alarm is it's not very portable and I'm not sure how he's going to take it with him when he goes off to school.

Yes - his new alarm clock is yours truly and I am as reliable as you can get let me tell you. And we have about 6 months to figure out a new alarm clock for Brandon.

Bedtime and CRT Testing

2011-03-13T21:49:00.000-07:00

Last week AJ had CRT (Criterion Referenced Test - say that really fast) at his school . CRT's are the standardized tests that all states subject their students to. In California it is SAT's (Standardized Achievement tests), Arizona is AIMS (Arizona's Instrument to Measure Standards), etc, etc.

I don't have a problem with these tests. I understand that this is how the teachers and the schools are graded. I understand the necessity of the tests I really do. Schools must be held accountable as do teachers.

I do have a problem with the methods. I don't think CRT testing should be emphasized any more than any other tests the kids take but it is. A few weeks before the tests are taken "Boot camps" are offered on Saturday to teach the kids how to do well on the tests. We have never participated in these Saturday camps but the pressure is there to do so. The week before the test strict instructions are given to the students and the parents (via phone calls and handouts) of the importance a good nights sleep and the all important good healthy breakfast (as opposed to say - brownies - ahem).

The week of the test the kids are given no homework which is a bit of a bonus.

The first night AJ was brushing his teeth and getting ready for bed at his usual bedtime of 9:00 and we were discussing the testing:

Me: It's kind of nice you don't have any homework this week.

AJ: (in between rinses) - yes it is!

Me: You don't have to do any extra work at all? Not even reading?

AJ: No we just have one thing to do for homework.

Then he got really quiet as if he knew he had blown it.

Me: Oh - I thought you had no homework? What is it you have to do?

AJ: Well - I'm supposed to be in bed by 8:00

Well dang it anyway. Slipped one by me again. I guess he will just be the malnourished, exhausted, straight A student he is every day.

I'll get off my soap box now.

The Race

2011-03-10T21:32:00.000-08:00

We've been fortunate the last few years that we have been gifted tickets to the Nascar race here in Las Vegas. Nascar is one of the sports we are big fans of so it is always a treat to be able to go.

March in Las Vegas can be a bit tricky. Sometimes we will get our one rainstorm a year the weekend of Nascar. Other times it's cold and windy. And sometimes - like this past weekend - it's the gateway into spring - perfect 70 degree weather.

My favorite part of the race is the beginning when the Thunderbirds fly over the track.

Something about these beautiful planes and the men(and women - do women fly these? I'm sure they do but I always think of them as being men) who fly them just gets to me somehow
We have changed our ways lately - we are a bit more "go with the flow" instead of trying to plan everything out. Trying to enjoy the spontaneity of life.
And that means standing behind a driver's cut out and getting your picture taken by golly!
This was at the Busch race - or I guess it's called Nationwide now - old habits die hard.

Anyway the Nationwide isn't as crowded so we weren't stuck to our seats.

Thre really is nothing like a Nascar race. The smell of the engines. Pulling for your driver. The cars engines are incredibly loud. So loud that many people buy ear plugs to mute the noise.

Although it appears some people can sleep through anything....

Late night I guess.

Our driver led exactly 1 lap and it was a caution lap.

Oops posted this picture twice - hate it when I do that.

All in all a very cool family weekend.
Did I mention this is my favorite part?
The sights and sounds of freedom...

Back to the Pigskin

2011-03-07T19:46:00.000-08:00

Much as I loved watching the boy play soccerI must say
I sure did miss football
It's good to be back
Really good

The Other Side of 50.....

2011-03-04T19:35:00.001-08:00

This past weekend I turned 50I remember when I turned 10 I saw tears in my dad's eyes for the very first time. For some reason the fact that I was now in "double digits" was a reminder that life was going by so very fast for him.

When I turned 20 Paul was visiting me in Wisconsin where the drinking age at the time was 18 - need I say more?

When I turned 30 I was so very busy with my family - that it is one of the few birthdays I don't really remember very well.

When I turned 40 Paul and I told our kids that they were going to have a younger brother in June or July. They, and everyone else - were fairly shocked.

And now I am 50.

I understand the tears in my dad's eyes as my youngest is soon to be 10 and life is going by so very fast.
My wish for my 50th birthday was to go to San Diego. Life has been speeding along at a breakneck speed lately and we needed to slow down. For some reason San Diego represents everything we love about getting away - The Chargers, The Padres, The beach and the weather.

My wish was granted but the weather was not looking to cooperate. Rain was forecast for both days we were to be there.

No matter - it was my birthday and we were going.
Saturday was a bit cold but bearable. And looking out on the beach from our room we were just soaking in the beauty of the winter storm.

We ventured to the beach where the wind was blowing. And it reminded me that Brandon needs a haircut...
AJ is pouting about something here - I can't remember what and years from now it won't be important I'm sure.

Ah yes and Brandon - so anxious to be on his own yet still reveling in the joy that is a family vacation

And this picture - AJ looks so serious and yet seconds later he was jumping at glee at a seagull that flew right by him
Music is his passion

As is counting the minutes until this one can get his feet in the cold ocean water

What a wonderful weekend this was
But I would be remiss if I did not acknowledge the ones who made this possible:

Young AJ - Who realizing he had not purchased me anything for my birthday reached in his pocket and pulled out his final $3.00 to give me as a gift.
Brandon - who never fails to keep us on our toes and laughing at the same time.
Sweet sweet Jessica who although she was in Mexico for this particular weekend somehow managed to make sure I had a gorgeous bouquet of flowers delivered to to my work before we left for our trip.
And of course the love of my life. Who really made the weekend possible.
What a weekend it was
The other side of 50 is looking pretty darn good right now

The Adventures of Word-o

2011-02-17T20:21:00.000-08:00

Since neither one of us knew what an acrostic was AJ chose to write the superhero story. He's a creative kid. Not sure he has QUITE the proper meaning of all his words (italicized) but hey - he tried. I especially like the last sentence...

The adventures of word –o

Word – o was born on September 13th 1876. His dad was the president of the country of England. Word- o was so small you need a microscope to see him. But a fatal accident happened to him. He was born with superpowers. Many people gave him criticism about how small he was. His dad always said you can’t compete for president you are too small. Everyone always criticizes me for my size. But I will tell you size does not matter it’s what’s inside of you that matters. When Word-o was 44 years old he became a spiritual. One of his powers was that his were telescopic. Another was his eyes were microscopic which meant he could see stuff so small the naked eye could not see. Later on people adored him. He repeated everything more than once. Soon he got a job as a scientist he had a repetition of doing stuff. He presides over everything he does. Everyones adoration soon faded away. He is very vital and has much vitality. A villain came but Word- o was more powerful he put the villain to fatality. Soon spirituality became enormous in the city of Manchester. One day he was looking through his telescope and found the planet pupiter and was amazed. Then he went to his parents grave.

By A.J. Reed

It Was Either This Or An Acrostic

2011-02-16T21:26:00.000-08:00

AJ has 2 teachers for 4th grade this year. One is a no nonsense Math and Science teacher who gives assignments that I completely understand and that are right up my alley. The other is a brand new teacher and she teaches reading, writing and language arts.

Part of me is happy that he has a young enthusiastic new teacher.

And part of me is not happy with the new ideas, new teaching methods teacher.

For example:

Every week he has 20 vocabulary and spelling words that he must learn. And this teacher is looking for creative ways for the kids to learn these words. And I'm okay with that for the most part. Although a big part of me would love just to have the kid look up the words in the dictionary and write the definitions down. Heck that's how I learned! Anyhow - here are the words for this week: (As many as I could remember anyway).

Spiritual, spirituality, vital, vitality, fatal, preside, president, compete, competition, microscope, telescope, adore, adoration, microscopic, repeat, concede. And that's all I can remember right now. Each day something different has to be done with these words so she can be sure the kids are learning them. Monday was write a letter to your parents using these words. Tuesday was to make a crossword puzzle with these words. Be creative and for heavens sake do not use the definition as the clue. Hmmm - seems like that kind of defeats the purpose but whatever. Loved loved LOVED tonights assignment. Tonight was to take all of your words. Write them down. Write 4 words that RHYME with each word. Now I DEFY anyone to find 4 words that rhyme with spiritual, spirituality, microscopic etc.. Even by GOOGLING words that rhyme with the above I came up empty on many of these. And somehow I think that googling the words for my 4th grade son is defeating the purpose.

But tomorrow - tomorrow is my favorite assignment.

Because tomorrow he either has to write some funky story using all of these words with some weird superhero. Or he can do an acrostic.

Yeah - no idea what that is either. And Google wasn't a really big help.

Weird superhero here we come!

Man With A Mission

2011-02-06T14:06:00.000-08:00

I am not sure what it is about my face or demeanor but it is extremely common for people I don't know or people I've just met to tell me their life story. I'm not sure if I look like a therapist or if my body language screams clergy but for some reason once I say any words the other person's problems come tumbling out.

I found myself today - Super Bowl Sunday - at Vons doing my grocery shopping. I was a bit down in the dumps. We are having a crisis in our family and yesterday was probably the lowest point in my parenting career. It is not my nature to stay down too long but suffice to say I wasn't my usual self at the grocery store. With my borderline (HA!) OCD it is very important that I grocery shop a certain way. I certainly cannot go up and down aisles willy nilly. I must start in the produce section and end in the deli section and my list is written by aisle accordingly. I had gone through produce and I was in the freezer aisle and there were 2 men shopping just ahead of me. One was on one side of the aisle and the other was on the other side so my way thru the aisle was blocked. I was tapping my fingers impatiently waiting for one of them to move when the older of the 2 gentlemen saw me and loudly exclaimed "Oh - a woman with a mission! And she has a list! We need to get out of her way!" And they did.

I went on to the cheese section and the older gentleman followed me. And proceeded to tell me his story. He's retired. His wife works. He does all the shopping and house cleaning and almost has his 24 year old son trained to do the same. Somehow with just the 3 of them he spends $250 a week in groceries. He wants to kick his son out but can't bring himself to do it because he only makes minimum wage. He and his wife want grandchildren but the son is dating a 35 year old woman with 4 kids who is "fixed" (Now why would you tell someone you just met that?). They come over for dinner all the time. I did tell him that's where his $250 in groceries went. Then he went on. And on. About his son. And how much trouble he is and how he's lucky he's not in jail. How he wrecked his car so now he doesn't have one.

I extracted myself gracefully from the conversation and continued my grocery shopping. Tried to figure out why did I get that story?

Then it hit me and I knew.

God doesn't make mistakes and He puts people in your lives at the time that you need them. I needed that story and this gentleman needed me to hear his story.

He was indeed a man with a mission.

The Bodyguard

2011-02-03T20:15:00.000-08:00

A week or so ago AJ made the offhand comment that he had hired a bodyguard at school. He made the comment while he was brushing his teeth and it startled me a bit. I asked him why he thought he needed a bodyguard and he said "well - you just never know". He's not been upset about anything and he seems to have plenty of friends at school. I know he's not the biggest kid in his class but he is probably one of the brightest. I was a bit concerned at first because my thought went to a bully who was making him pay for his protection services. He said oh no no - that is not the case. I asked him what he paid him with and he said sometimes he gives him some snacks from his lunch (since I tend to pack him too much) and sometimes he gives him "Starbucks". These are monies earned at school for homework and behavior and can be used at school to buy pencils and erasers and such. I guess this bodyguard cost AJ 5 Starbucks for a month.

It seemed harmless enough so I put it out of my mind.

And then today he told me that this one boy tried to steal his lunch box. I'm not sure if this boy gets much lunch - I know that AJ has told me he has shared with him before because he's not had any lunch. Now I'm thinking packing too much may not be altogether bad. Anyway - I guess the boy asked AJ if he had any lunch left and AJ said no. The boy didn't believe him and proceeded to steal his lunch box.

Now AJ was telling this to me in the same nonchalant manner that he tells me about his day at school or what he did in PE. I however, was alarmed. I shouldn't have been because the kid wears his heart on his sleeve and if he was upset I would have known about it. But my mind was running all over the place thinking this was a precursor to him being bullied or taken advantage of in some way. You know the usual Mom stuff.

So I put the horrible thoughts out of my head and asked AJ what did you do? How did you get your lunch box back?

He looked at me and very calmly said - "I had my bodyguard get it - that's why I hired him".

Oh. Okay.

I did say he was bright didn't I?

Back In The Day-Part 1

2011-01-26T20:15:00.000-08:00

Back in the day we belonged to a group called Chick A Pig. As I remember it the main function of this group was to throw BBQ's (of Chicken and Pig of course!), eat goodies and play horseshoes. And I'm sure drinking was in there somewhere too. Back in the day if my hair was long my style was a perm. What was I thinking?
Back in the day these three spent an awful lot of time in the blow up pools and Paul spent an awful lot of time trying to blow them up and make sure they didn't leak.
Back in the day the 2 girls here wanted to be cheerleaders. CHARGER cheerleaders to be exact (note the colors). And the boy wanted to be a cowboy. He still does I think.
Back in the day being a flower girl was a pretty good gig for Jessica. I think she was in 3 different weddings in an 18 month span.

This particular basket if I remember right - was very heavy. The smile looks slightly pained.
Or maybe the job was a tough one? She's not smiling in this one either. Loving the short hair and shoulder pads Lynne :/
Oh here she's happy! Love this picture. Everyone is happy at a wedding aren't they?
Oh snap - Uploaded the dahling perm picture twice. Brandon was pretty stinkin cute too if I do say so myself.
Ah yes - this was at Jessica's 3rd birthday party. Apparently she got this doll that had to be fed or it would cry. Not sure why Paul has been given the responsibility of feeding it but he obviously took to the task!
Sometimes it's fun to look back in the day :-)

Pulling A Fast One on Mom

2011-01-19T21:04:00.000-08:00

As I sit here watching AJ trying his darnedest to not do cartwheels because he's "sick" I am realizing a few things:

1. Much as it pains me I really need to let Paul deal with these boys when they are sick or supposedly sick. When they are sick I am the bomb. I'll fix their soup and get them 7-up. I will take them to the doctors. I will comfort them as only a mom can. When they are maybe not too sick and just trying to get out of school I am kind of lost. I want to believe that they don't feel good but doggone it that thermometer usually doesn't lie.

2. However - when Paul deals with them he doesn't let them moan and groan on the couch watching Sponge Bob or checking their Facebook page. He is very no nonsense and just sends them to bed. Hey - his thought is if you are sick you should be in bed!Gosh I wonder why I didn't think of that?????

3. I am feeingl kind of sorry for the school nurse at the local elementary school. AJ has gotten to know her quite well over the last few days and she is always very good about calling me and letting me know the situation. When she called me for the 2nd time today she apologized for bothering me. I of course told her that it wasn't a problem and that she can call anytime. And what she told me next made a whole lot of sense to me and highlighted the problem I have when my kids are sick or not. She said" I just feel so sorry for him - he looks at me with those beautiful eyes and I just melt!"

And that my friends is the crux of the problem. And I'm lucky that I'm married to someone with eyes that are just deep pools of gorgeous blue, green or gray depending on what he is wearing. Because the beautiful eyes are not a distraction to him like they are to the rest of us mere mortals...

Thank Goodness.

AJ's Bed

2011-01-15T17:53:00.000-08:00

The New Year is the time in my life when the clutter that seems to inhabit our lives threatens to overwhelm me. I am sure that bringing in a ridiculous amount of Christmas gifts to our already crowded home enhances that overwhelming feeling.

The New Year is when I realize that when 2 pack rats marry they will beget mini pack rats and oh my - let the clutter begin.

Case in Point: AJ's bed.

AJ has had his own room for a good 6 months now and I would say he's settled into a routine of sorts. He doesn't have the comfort of his older brother or sister in the room with him so he surrounds himself in his bed with items that are important to him. I have known this about him for some time but when I came to his room to continue my cleaning frenzy I realized that he has taken surrounding himself with comfort items to a new level. Besides the multitudes of blankets that are so very important to our kids AJ has the following items:

1. A water bottle. Now this is strictly prohibited for young AJ for reasons that we will keep between us so he might get in trouble for this one.

2. Diary of a Wimpy Kid - Books 3, 4 and 5. Reading before bed is the standard way we all wind down for the evening so I certainly can't begrudge him these. Although 3 books seems a bit excessive.

3. The Men's Manicure kit that he received for Christmas. I think he's trying to figure out what all the different items in this kit do - he is currently enamored of combing his own hair - something I am encouraging.

4. The Clap on Clap Off remote control. This was another Christmas gift. Whoever thought of that product is probably sitting on a sack of gold because let me tell you whenever that commercial came on AJ was just in awe. It does require a certain "pitch" in the clap and you can't clap too quickly or too far apart or it doesn't work. We went through quite a few days learning the pitch and timing of this product before we got it figured out. The makers of the product thoughtfully included a remote control to turn the lights on and off and so on those days when AJ doesn't have the pitch or timing down he just digs around in his bed for the remote.

5. Bag of Marbles. This item seems kind of dangerous to have in bed with you so I will probably remove it. I know he's well beyond his choking hazard years but old habits die hard.

6. His telescope. This was a gift from his sister and is at the end of his bed near the window. Seems a bit bulky to have in bed with you but he likes to look at the stars out his windows.

7. And finally - his current favorite object - the $5.00 recorder that he purchased for 4th grade music. To him this is a true musical instrument and he has not let it out of his hands since he received it last week. He plays it non-stop to the annoyance of Brandon (who has conveniently forgotten his own 4th grade recorder days) and has thanked me profusely several times for giving him the $5.00 to buy it.

Now that I am writing all of these things down I am thinking that he's not so much a pack rat but a typical boy - albeit one whose parents don't have very strict rules on what you can keep in your bed.

Obviously this kid is not related to the Princess of the Princess and the Pea fame.....

Notes From New Year's Eve

2010-12-31T20:44:00.000-08:00

The end of 2010 is upon us. Where did the year go? Where did the decade go?

Because I'm a picture taker and I rarely have my three kids together today was the day I deemed "my kids are together and we must go to Red Rock to take pictures" day.

It does not matter that it was 32 degrees at our house and 28 degrees at the Calico Basin. Plenty of notice was given and the appropriate bribe was dangled.
But the excitement level just wasn't there.

Never one to let a little unenthusiasm(and blogger spellcheck is telling me this is not a word but it fits dang it) deter me I pressed on.
And here is AJ. Smiling the sweet smile we know he's capable of smiling. The year has been a busy one for young AJ. He is a child who fully enjoys life and is constantly on the go. After forgoing the cartwheels for a few years they are now back with a vengeance. I truly fear for our TV. He is willing to play both sides of the coin if that will get him laughs and he is not afraid to throw his beloved older brother and sister under the bus when the need arises. He still is a bit sensitive and that is just who he is. Doesn't like to disappoint those he loves and I don't see that ever changing. He is a new (as of tonight), very passionate fan of Mystery Science Theater which his older brother and sister also were fans of back when it was on "regular tv" and not NetFlix where his older brother found it tonight.
Brandon -The older brother. He bought a book a few months ago called "The Lazy Intellectual". I made a comment to him that the title seemed to somewhat describe him. And he didn't disagree. I do wonder about this boy soon to be man. He's not afraid to try things. We have a bottle of organic milk in our refrigerator that he admits is disgusting but seemed like the thing to buy at the time. Plus he will get his second bottle for a dollar if he turns in this currently full bottle. And why? Vegetarianism, organic food - all things that are really foreign in this family - these are things that are attractive to Brandon. And yet - this evening - when he had an opportunity to go to a New Years Eve concert with his best friend he turned it down when he found out his Dad would watch Mystery Science Theater with him and Into the Wild a bit later. Yeah he loves his family. A study in contradictions this one is.
And Jessica - a bit of a life changing year for her. She is in a very intense MBA program. Her year of working has definitely paid off as she now knows what life in the real world is all about. I think AJ is a lot like her in a lot ways - she definitely likes to have things a certain way. She is not a lazy intellectual by any means - I don't think I know anyone who works harder than this girl except maybe her dad and her grandpas. She will be a success in whatever she does - of that I am sure. Just do not rear end her on her drive to success - that may discombobulate her for a bit. But just for a bit.
I don't see this bond ever breaking - it doesn't seem to matter that they are 8 years apart in age - sharing a room for 9 of the 9 1/2 years AJ has been around has definitely forged an unbreakable bond.
And this is who Jessica adores and who adores her in turn. I look forward to the adventures they have ahead.
I am a lucky gal. These three are so very different but such neat kids and I can't imagine my life without them. As I come to the end of my 49th year I feel incredibly blessed to have these people in my life.
On this cold cold day these guys didn't do the pictures because I bribed them with breakfast.

They came because they love me and they knew it was important to me.
So yes I am a lucky gal to have all these people in my life. Even the pesky one that doesn't really like to be photographed.

But that's okay - he joined us on our adventure today.
This was a good day and a good year.

Life is good.

A Christmas Story

2010-12-24T18:48:00.000-08:00

I was told a Christmas story the other day. I think it has been told to me before but when I heard it this time I suddenly understood the power of genetics.

There was once a little boy.

He was a pretty cute little boy. Had these gorgeous blue eyes and the look of angelic innocence.

He was one of six kids - five of which were boys. He was the third boy - he had two older brothers and two younger brothers.
One year he had a paper route as his job. I'm not sure kids are allowed to have paper routes these days but back then it was a perfect job for a boy and his bike.

The only problem with this job was it was Every. Single. Day. Holidays were not taken off and paper boys needed to get up at a very early hour when it was still dark outside to fold their papers.

Christmas Day was no exception.
And so on Christmas morning circa 1973 or 1974 this young man got up at 4:30 or so to get ready for his paper route.

As he was getting ready he had to walk by the Christmas tree and he noticed that Santa had brought his younger brother a bicycle for Christmas.

He had a moments pause as he considered his options. This particular younger brother wasn't an early riser by any means. There was a pretty good chance that he could "borrow" this brand spanking new bike, do his paper route, and get the bike back before anyone would even know it was missing.
And after a moments pause that is what he did.

And he's not sure he ever told his younger brother this story.

I may just have to send it to him.
And it certainly explains the mischievousness of these two boys.
The apple certainly doesn't fall far from the tree.

To Run

2010-12-18T12:05:00.000-08:00

It is imperative to AJ that he run
Winters are tough for him. We don't usually do a sport in the winter and he just about goes crazy
By the time spring starts he is running with both feet off the ground
And he never seems really too rusty - I suppose all that living room running has kept him in shape
He is usually the fastest kid on his teams if the coach has the kids run more than one lap
Kind of like the Energizer bunny that I wrote about a few weeks ago
He just goes and goes and goes
With two feet off the ground most times he thinks he can fly
And you know - it kind of looks like he can

Change - It is not my Friend

2010-12-15T12:45:00.000-08:00

I don't like change - not at all. I am not a spontaneous person and my life is one treasured routine after another.

We leave the house at the same time every day. When I exercise I need to exercise at the same time every day. Breakfast and lunch choices are not really choices because I tend to put the same things in the rotation. The kids breakfasts and lunches vary a bit but mine doesn't vary at all. It's the same thing every single day. Comfort food I call it.

For breakfast I have a banana and a Mocha Chip Balance bar. For lunch it is cut up vegetables, Weight Watchers Berry yogurt, grapes and Tuscan Herb crackers. With a diet coke. And Trident Splash gum immediately afterwards. And of course dinner has to vary.

Unfortunately for me and the makers of the Mocha Chip Balance bars they changed their formula. The packaging just said NEW! PACKAGING! SAME GREAT TASTE! but it's not. The same great taste. I don't really like them anymore - they are too chalky. So I have taken to scouring the stores and the Internet (Blistex anyone?) for the original Mocha Chip Balance bars and buying them up when I can. I saw them at the MGM Grand when we were there for the Jimmy Buffett concert but was not allowed to buy them in bulk. I am still a tad bitter about that.

Anyway I can see the writing on the wall that these Mocha Chip Balance Bars are not going to be a part of my diet much longer so I am saving them. I no longer eat them on the weekends and have instead switched to Special K Vanilla and Almond cereal with Non fat milk.

And oh my gosh. That stuff is delicious! I have successfully fooled myself into thinking that since it is Special K that it is a diet food and can be consumed in mass quantities with no weight ramifications whatsoever. You know - lose two jean sizes in two weeks mentality.

Sadly that is not the case. I am pretty sure that eating 2 boxes of this cereal over the 2 days of the weekend is not going to reduce my jean size.

BUT - I do have something I can replace my Mocha Chip Balance Bars with when the inevitable happens.

Because the writing is on the wall.

And I hate change.

Brownies For Breakfast

2010-12-10T20:50:00.000-08:00

I have this son. He is my oldest son.

And he doesn't always do what I tell him to do.
If I ask him to please take a couple of pictures of his sister and myself there is a chance that I will get something like this
Flattering eh? And he has taken some photography classes so he knows how to take pictures. This is just his way of rebelling I suppose.
Oh this is definitely my favorite....
The other day I had an early appointment at work and had to leave early. That left Brandon in charge of getting AJ ready and taking him to school. I gave him 2 possible options for breakfast. Cold cereal or mini pancakes.

Brownies were not an option. I don't consider brownies "breakfast food" and it is not my intention that my kids go to school on a stomach full of chocolate. No way no how did I ever mention brownies as an acceptable breakfast for his brother or himself.
This boy - he tries my patience - love the kid - but goodness he is a handful.

A long time ago I learned I need to pick my battles with this one.

Brownies for breakfast? That's not a battle I choose to fight.

After all they have some essential dietary items in them right?

Marble Racing

2010-12-06T20:07:00.000-08:00

I'm not even sure what to say about thisNormally games that are created in this household don't tend to faze me

But this one kind of threw me for a loop
This is marble racing

And the pile of marbles that you see here are pushed - along with play by play added of course - in "races"

It seems that the bumble bee marble wins quite a bit - I think he may have an advantage of sorts
And there are 3 or 4 heats and each one has the accompanying play by play

Cat eyes and clearies are the underdogs for sure and the big boulders really don't stand a chance
It's cold here in Las Vegas right now and outside play is limited

But Marble Racing can go on forever.....

Christmas Card Pictures and The Cardigan

2010-11-29T20:26:00.000-08:00

We have these kids

And they are good looking kids if I do say so myself
Every year I "try" to come up with something unique or at least something I haven't done before for our Christmas card pictures
As these kids get older they start to have minds of their own - and they aren't quite so agreeable to my picture taking forays
Now Jessica - she is the daughter of my heart so she understands what I need when I tell her to be ready for Christmas card pictures because we are taking them when you are home

I don't get any grief from Jessica at all - tell me what to wear and how to smile and I'm there!
AJ - he is getting to the age where I need to bribe him a bit. Today's bribe was lunch! I won't fix it for you but I will take you out! But if you don't smile your sweet smile for me you are outta luck guy
And then there is Brandon

Of who "The Cardigan" of the title applies
He made it clear he would smile however I wanted wherever I wanted if I would only please get him this very cool cardigan sweater from Urban Outfitters

It was all he really wanted
See - daughter of my heart - and here she is in her own beautiful sweater from Urban Outfitters
Sweet smiling AJ in his own cardigan from Kohls but aptly named Urban Pipefitters or Pipers or something like that
And my own "I will smile however you want wherever you want" son in his rather handsome cardigan sweater
And he did
And even though these pictures revolved completely around Brandon's cardigan and the necessity of me matching the others to this sweater
I kind of think it was worth it
Or maybe they would just look good in anything?
From my own unbiased opinion of course

A Different Kind of Thanksgiving......

2010-11-25T20:05:00.000-08:00

Our family has always done a very traditional Thanksgiving dinner. We are either in California with family or here in Vegas with family. Always cooking a turkey with all the trimmings and watching football with a fire in the fireplace.

This year - was - uh - different.

Jessica is in this rather intense MBA program in Flagstaff and they have a meeting with a professor scheduled the Friday (tomorrow) morning after Thanksgiving. Word on the street is that this professor's son isn't coming home for Thanksgiving and if she isn't having Thanksgiving why no one else should either! We went back and forth on how to handle Thanksgiving and it seemed that the most prudent thing to do was to put off our family Thanksgiving until Friday when she could join us after her meeting. The boys - I am proud to report - were all on board with waiting a day to cook our turkey.

But that left Thursday as kind of an open day. The idea was that we would go to this Mexican restaurant that we love and eat our Thanksgiving dinner there. This being Vegas all restaurants are open on Thanksgiving because they cater to everyone who is visiting. Well every restaurant was open except this one that is our favorite.

So we decided to head to the Sun Coast casino and do the buffet there. We were all in agreement that we would stay away from any sort of traditional meal because we would be cooking our meal on Friday. Except the line to the buffet was very very long. And that is when I start getting stressed out because I like to have these things planned in advance and spur of the moment doesn't really work for me. We ended up going to a Mexican restaurant inside the casino where Paul and Brandon had these "awesome" steak tacos, AJ was upset because they didn't have chicken strips and I had the Mexican equivalent of Thanksgiving dinner which is Turkey with mole sauce. I kind of felt like the family in the Christmas Story when they went out to dinner at the end of the movie to the Chinese restaurant after the Bumpeses dogs ate the traditional turkey.

Having a very non-traditional Thanksgiving made me pause and count my blessings as to what I am thankful for:

1. Being able to eat as a family - even if eating in a restaurant means 20 questions! And rocks aren't minerals! And John Hancock was an author! And someone famous is Tarvarres Jackson - who unless you are a Vikings fan you have probably never heard of him!

2. Making a deal to clean house on Thanksgiving day in exchange for waking up at 5:00 to shop at Urban Outfitters for Black Friday. Because they have cardigans on sale and apparently our oldest son thinks he lives in the 50's or something.

3. For finding a Wii Fit exercise mat in a lime green color. I am thankful that our youngest son sees this as a substitute football field/marble playground/soccer field and has been playing with it and on it for the past 2 hours.

4. For my Aunt Karen making this red marble bag some 40 years ago that I still keep my marbles in that I played with in 4th grade and that AJ just finds fascinating.

5. For my sister - who bravely had our Mom and our Aunt over to her Thanksgiving feast today.

6. For my daughter - who is attempting to keep our own traditions alive with a stuffing recipe that is oh so delicious but oh so hard to figure out how to make.

7. For my sons - who never fail to keep me entertained.

8. For my husband - who recognized that I was struggling with this day and organized the troops to clean while I took a wonderful nap.

Yes - I am blessed, I am thankful and the meaning of Thanksgiving has come through loud and clear to me today.

Cupcakes, Football and Soccer

2010-11-21T10:24:00.000-08:00

One year ago the wind was whipping thru the palm trees as AJ played his last football game of the fall season. It was very cold.

And very windy.
I had the great idea of making green and yellow cupcakes to commemorate the last game of the season. I get the weather reports. I knew it would be cold and windy. But cold and windy did not equate in my mind to getting grass clippings all over my hard work. Seeing boys trying to pick off said grass clippings. And making a note to myself to not bring cupcakes as snack on a cold and windy day.
Fast forward 1 year and 1 week. It is a cold and windy day in the Las Vegas valley. The wind is whipping thru the palm trees and blowing the soccer ball every which way. It is the last game of the season for the Lightening soccer team and it is my responsibility to bring snack.

I have the great idea of bringing yellow cupcakes to commemorate the last game of the season. Seeing the weather reports of cold and wind. Forgetting of course the fiasco of last year.
Loading the cupcakes into the car I receive an earful from the 3 men in my family.

Paul - Do you remember what happened last year? You aren't going to make these parents very happy.

Brandon - Picking out those grass clippings wasn't alot of fun Mom

AJ - um yeah - I'm not a real big cupcake fan so I will just skip snack this year.

Oh yes - it is all coming back to me now. So it came to be that I gave Brandon the responsibility of doling out the orange slices at halftime while I ran to the store to buy snacks that weren't susceptible to grass clippings.

And I still made it back in time to see the boy score his final goal of the season.

And just like that soccer is over...

The Energizer Bunny

2010-11-16T19:35:00.000-08:00

has nothing on AJ....

Last Saturday evening AJ started complaining that he wasn't feeling good and that he had a sore throat. On Sunday morning he woke up with a fever. Throughout the day it crept up to 100 and he was spending a lot of time on the couch - just vegging. AJ is one of those kids that I don't like to give medicine to because the minute he starts feeling better he is running around playing football, soccer - just generally doing things you shouldn't do when you are sick.

But he was looking pretty pathetic and so I relented and gave him some Tylenol to bring his fever down. I had to run a few errands and after dosing him with Tylenol I ran out leaving AJ with Paul and Brandon. AJ was starting to feel better and was going to play some video games. A sedentary past time I thought so I felt safe in leaving.

When I returned AJ was still playing video games except it was the Wii Fit. And he was running in place. And he had been running in place for over 25 minutes while Paul and Brandon watched football.

Soon after AJ crashed and burned and I'm convinced that is what kept him from going to school on Monday. That and the pesky fever that was still hanging around. I had learned my lesson though and was not going to give him any medicine so he would just relax on the couch and get better. And he did - throughout the day he felt better and at 6:00 he wanted to play football. See watching Monday Night Football is not a passive activity for AJ. He plays "offense" and "defense" and runs, passes, tackles and punts all in the comfort of our living room. I told him that he wasn't going to play football tonight and immediately his eyes welled up with tears - mainly I believe because if he feels good he has got to be moving. His voice had a note of desperation in it as he begged me to let him play - he would only play offense but he HAS to play!

I told him he could play at half speed and if he started feeling bad I would make him stop.

The next morning AJ was on the couch sucking on the thermometer - willing it to go higher because hey - what boy doesn't want to skip school?

To school he went and immediately after coming home he was lobbying to play football and soccer outside. Because - in his words - I feel Wuuuuuudddddeeeerrrrfuullll.

And he did.

I can only hope this kid always has this energy level because at this rate he will NEVER be able to fool me into thinking he is sick when he's not. And important things like football games and soccer practices are reason enough to get better as soon as possible. And pesky little things like school and homework have to be attended to in order to get to those important things.

Ah the life of a boy....

We Are THOSE Neighbors......

2010-11-04T21:16:00.000-07:00

7 1/2 years ago when we moved here from California we came in one extended cab long bed kind of large truck. A plumbing truck with a utility bed. And my blue Tahoe. The rather large extended cab long bed truck was backed into the far side of our driveway "in case we need it someday". The plumbing truck was used for Paul's work and the Blue Tahoe was the family car. Every month or so someone would come by and put a note on the large extended cab long bed truck asking if it was for sale. It never was because you never know when it might be needed.

Now here we are 7 1/2 years later and not a whole lot has changed. We still have the large extended long bed truck backed in the driveway where it first landed when we moved here. Paul has driven the heck out of the plumbing truck. The Blue Tahoe is Brandon's car to use (not his car - his car to use) and I have a gray Tahoe.

Last week the plumbing truck with 200,000 miles on it finally quit. And the poor large truck that has been in retirement for 7 1/2 years isn't going to cut it. So it was necessary to purchase another work truck for Paul. And the utility bed on the old plumbing truck is worth "something" so we haven't sold it yet.

So it was today that I came home to 3 white chevy trucks in the driveway. And even though I said I am NOT NOT NOT giving up my driveway spot to one of these white trucks it appears that I have. And the blue Tahoe and the grey Tahoe have been relegated to the street.

And I'm sure the neighbors LOVE us....

Oh and Five.......

2010-10-31T20:38:00.000-07:00

It might be oh and six now - I'm not sure. The one thing I am sure of is that we are winless and it seems the boys spend an awful lot of time looking at this. But for some reason we are not discouraged. The games are fairly close and they are all playing hard.

AJ has improved with each game and the decision to forgo fall football and replace it with soccer seems to have been a good one.

But this being AJ he does seem to spend an awful lot of time....

on the ground.

He gets tripped alot which usually means that he gets a free kick or something. I'm still not understanding all the rules yet.

This one looks a tad hairy though.

He does seem to put his whole body into the game.

And often brings people down with him....

And there are plenty of opportunities for AJ to pull up the melodramatics that we all know he has a knack for

He still really wants to win but maturity has kicked in a bit and so the melodramatics are mainly visible only to those of us who know him well.

Or maybe not

He missed a goal here and was not happy about it.

But honestly - the kid has really improved by leaps and bounds this season.

His ball handling skills get better every game and he is always in there trying his darndest.

Let me tell you he knows exactly how many goals he has scored this season and he knows how many he is ahead of the 2nd place person on the team.

It's all about the competition you know.

This game does seems to satisfy his need to run.

Because no matter what you need to run in this game if you are on offense.

And he doesn't seem to be afraid to use his body to stop the ball whenever he can. No hands of course - he figured that out right away.

So even though we are oh and five or six the experience has been a great one.

And this kid loves it.

And that's what is important.

Wasting Away in Margarativille......

2010-10-26T09:31:00.000-07:00

Searching for my lost shaker of salt (salt! salt! salt!)

I've tried to figure out over the last few weeks just why it was so important for me to go to a Jimmy Buffett concert. Ever since we moved here to Las Vegas it's been a bit of a driving force in my life to say the least. The first few years the only tickets I could find were people reselling them and needless to say they were a bit cost prohibitive. Finally this year we got in on the ground floor the day they were released and we snapped them up within minutes.

All this has led me to try and analyze just why I wanted to go so badly.

And walking thru the MGM Grand seeing these people in their strange concert attire - I think I figured it out.

Back in the early 1980's Jimmy Buffett wasn't the huge draw that he is today and he was playing at the Santa Maria fair. I wanted to go because he sang this one song that I remembered from this obscure movie called FM. The song was Livingston Saturday Night and was more of a country song than the music he is known for now. I remember coming away from that concert a little bit disappointed that he didn't even play that song but with a new appreciation for his music.

When Jessica and Brandon were young we would spend hours and hours on our deck in Nipomo barbecuing dinner, drinking beer and toasted almond blendeds and rocking out to Jimmy Buffett's Cheeseburger in Paradise cd. There was one song on the cd that wasn't appropriate for kids (Why don't we get drunk.....?) and after a while the kids would know when that song was coming up and automatically plug their ears before we could fast forward it. Every single weekend we would sit outside listening to the sailor who never grew up.

Those were good times on that deck. Although I am the queen of never looking back in life and asking myself what if? If only? or I wish..... there are certain types of music that bring it all back.

So last weekend Paul and I had the time of our lives at the Jimmy Buffett concert here in Las Vegas. It reminded me of a time and a place that I love and I miss and didn't fully appreciate at the time.

Good times. Great family.

And age has taught me to absolutely enjoy and appreciate both.

I Need to Be Reminded From Time to Time.....

2010-10-20T21:24:00.001-07:00

That life really is to be enjoyed....

Every couple of days AJ will tell me what he is excited for in the coming days. He goes thru his list - his soccer game, football, school, - you name it he's usually excited about it.

Today he was going thru his list and in my mind we were running late so I told him to hurry up and load everything up so we could go! Hurry Hurry Hurry!

We are having a rare desert rainstorm so I was trying to get everything loaded up in one or two loads to minimize me getting wet.

And 2 minutes after I gave the command to "Hurry Up AJ!" this is what I saw:

It made me remember what he told me a few days ago while he was regaling me with what he was excited about. He told me - you know - I'm just excited about my life!

And he certainly is. When in a rainstorm you go outside and stick your tongue out to catch the raindrops. So I need to look at life the way this boy does because I really think he has it down.

Nothing Like A Mini Vacation.....

2010-10-10T19:56:00.000-07:00

To recharge your batteries is there?

The dam bridge over the Hoover Dam is almost complete. This thing is seriously scary. I am not sure that I will be able to drive over it at all or ride over it without my hands tightly covering my eyes. I am sure there must be some railing or something up there but it sure didn't look like it from my view. An architectural marvel to be sure but goodness gracious that thing is high up there!
At our destination - or the destination before the destination - our hotel in Williams - gateway to the Grand Canyon. And here is the one male in my family that will willingly pose for pictures.

And is darn happy to do so.

This is on the train - and it was a heck of a view on the trip up.

There is something about getting away from it all and spending time with these people you are related to. Away from the hustle and bustle of the city.

You can really enjoy the awesomeness of God's creation.

You will pose for pictures and you WILL be happy about it.

And one thing about AJ's shirt. He wears it all the time. I will only let him wear it one day a week to school but weekends he figures that is his uniform. His soccer coach doesn't recognize him without it because he insists on wearing it to every single practice. So no - this isn't just one long day at places in California, Arizona and Nevada - the kid just loves the shirt.

And the thing about vacations - you can't retreat to the privacy of your room or the privacy of your garage if someone is annoying you. You are stuck with dealing with them for the duration of the trip.

I think that is a good thing.

You can run but not hide!

Always wanted to say that.

These critters are everywhere. And even though there are signs clearly stating no to feed the animals someone obviously does. Because they will sit there and beg and aren't too fearful of the human race.

No garage. No room.

Of course AJ found a stick for his hike and carried it everywhere. Much to his chagrin he had to get rid of it before we boarded the train again.

Vacations are a good time to catch up on your sleep. Brandon takes his sleep very seriously because he thinks he is lacking in that commodity.

I think we were looking for an ATM machine here....

That was actually the longest part of our hike - looking for that ATM machine.

It doesn't appear to be close by at all.

Vacations are a great way to get away from it all.

And reconnect with your family.

I think that's the best part.

Freedom

2010-10-06T21:26:00.000-07:00

I don't always remember what it was like when I was a teenager. I think I have gotten pretty good at pushing most of those memories aside because let's face it - for most of us the teenage years really aren't that great.

Today though, a certain part of being a teenager came flooding back. This particular part was something I don't think I could forget.

Brandon passed his driving test and is now a licensed driver.

It was funny as I was sitting there waiting while he was out with the instructor all these crazy thoughts were running thru my head. The worst being that he got in an accident with his instructor in the car and there were fire and medical personnel EVERYWHERE. The best being that his driving instructor made him pull over to the side and wouldn't go one more foot with him and I would have to somehow pick them up. Gosh - where does AJ get that over active imagination of his anyway?

All those thoughts were swept away when Brandon walked thru the door with the tell tale grin on his face.

I had to take him to school so he wouldn't have the car today and so his first foray out on his own came after dinner when he made a quick but necessary trip to Office Max.

When he came back he just had this huge smile on his face. I asked him how the drive was.

Continuing to smile he told me "It was just so - so liberating!".

And that's what I remember from 33 years ago. The feeling of complete liberation those first few weeks of having a license. That's what I told him he needed to remember. Not just because your parents can take that liberation away. But because that is such an important part of our lives.

Freedom.

Driving With Brandon

2010-10-03T21:02:00.000-07:00

Yes we are still driving with Brandon. Counting down the days until he takes his test.

So today we went to the DMV for some practice parallel parking. My car is kind of big so it barely fits between the DMV barrels. I had the pleasure of practicing with his instructor last week because he wanted to practice in my car because that is the car he is doing the test in.

On a side note - the instructor had a heart attack a few months ago and I can totally understand how someone with that job could have a heart attack - so very nerve wracking driving in this town anyway but with teenage drivers - Yikes!

Anyway - I had a plan this morning. Brandon and I were going to the DMV and then going to Barnes and Noble to get these books for he and AJ and then head to the grocery store. I had AJ write down what books he wanted so I wouldn't have to take him with me. He was insistent that he wanted to go. I don't like taking him when I drive with Brandon because he talks too much. I don't know if it's from nervousness or it's just what he does but last time he regaled us with the story of a Sponge Bob episode from start to finish with the song that went with the episode. And the way he tells you stories it's almost like there will be a test at the end that you do not want to fail for fear he will start all over.

Sidetracked again - ugh.

I told AJ that if he went with us this time he had to be quiet and couldn't talk. He had the perfect solution for that - he and I would play the no talking game. Which is fine except I had to talk to Brandon so I always lost.

For the most part AJ was very good and didn't talk too much at all. Except when we were leaving the DMV and had a few moments of panic on the part of the passengers. Let's just say people were honking at us.

At that point AJ piped up in a very quiet voice:

"I just want to get to Barnes and Noble alive."

Out of the mouths of babes.

3 more days. 3 more days.

The Procrastinator

2010-10-01T21:56:00.000-07:00

I have 3 kids. All with very different temperaments and personalities Now - 2 of these kids are - hmmmm how do I put this - maybe a bit high strung? No that doesn't sound right. Tightly wound? uh no that's not it either. Driven? - yes that is the word. They are very driven in almost everything they do. If an assignment or report is due in 2 weeks by heaven and earth it will be ready to go in 1 week. If supplies are needed for a project Mom must drop everything to get said supplies so work on the project can begin. Applications are completed, school supplies purchased and studying is done well well before due dates.

In other words they are not procrastinators.

The 3rd child - well this one is a little bit more laid back. To put it mildly.

If the child is given 2 weeks to turn in a school uniform then this child will wait until 2 weeks and 1 day to turn it in. And pay for the forthcoming fine out of the measely allowance received.

If an assignment is given over the summer and is due the first day of school then by golly the child will start said assignment on the day before school starts.

And my favorite so far.... If an item needs to be sewn together and turned in for a class on a Friday and the child has never seen either parent sew one stitch except by hand - well then Thursday evening is the perfect time to ask if the household has a sewing machine.

Isn't it?

Once Again...

2010-09-24T20:10:00.000-07:00

AJ has lightened our wallets of hard earned money at the HM Smith Scholastic Book Fair.

He told me that he had a book in mind and could he please have some moola to purchase said book.

Being the soft hearted mama that I am I asked the name of said book which he told me. It sounded like a 4th grade boys book and so I gave him the cash that he requested.

And once again the kid was drawn from the books that he told me he desired to the -

yes, yes - to the pencils. This time it was a fuzzy pencil that is very very soft and called my son's name away from the logical book you would buy at the book fair and to the pencils that he always seems to gravitate to.

And this time not only did I get sucked into buying another $5.00 pencil but the "special" pencil sharpener to go with it.

Because fuzzy soft pencils can't just be sharpened by "any" pencil sharpener you know...

I Tell Ya - The Boy's A Charmer

2010-09-21T18:58:00.000-07:00

This boy - he's deep in thought here.... The tree is something he wants to conquer We don't have many trees here in the desert so to climb one this inviting - well it's just irresistible.

There was a slight hitch in the tree climbing plans - this cute little girl in the pink sweatshirt had gotten into that tree ahead of the boy.

And at first she was none too happy to see the boy behind her.

In fact she was throwing bark at him to get him to back on down.

But the boy persisted.

And soon his charm wore her down.

And she followed him to the wall - where he is up to no good.

She is thinking about helping the boy over the wall - clearly she is smitten.

And I can't say I blame her.

Because I tell ya - the boy's a charmer.

Glamourous Glasses

2010-09-17T21:04:00.000-07:00

Jessica and Brandon both had to get glasses right before 4th grade. The jury is out on AJ but we are kind of hoping since he got Paul's teeth (which aren't so good) that he also got Paul's eyes (which are very good).

But Brandon and Jessica have both had to go thru glasses. And once they get the glasses they can't wait to get out of them.

I usually let them try contacts a little bit earlier than what they are probably ready for just so I don't have to hear the moaning and groaning about their glasses. Jessica tried in 6th grade but wasn't ready until 8th grade. Brandon tried in 8th grade but wasn't ready until 10th grade.

I kind of liked Brandon in glasses but he was determined.

So a year ago he got contacts. And for the most part he has loved them.

But a part of him is still attached to glasses.
And I need to be enlightened - why someone would nag and beg and nag and beg only to be back wearing these?

Non prescription strength of course - the contacts are under the glasses.

Kids these days....

The First Game

2010-09-13T21:54:00.001-07:00

We are trying a new old sport this fall. After having some success in a summer soccer league AJ decided he wanted to play soccer this fall.

We got our uniforms last week and our first game was this past weekend.

AJ told Jessica that his shirt was a "hideous butterscotch color".

I kind of like it. It's nice and bright. Before the game AJ was a bit nervous. Typical first game jitters I think.

And it's still warm here so the heat is a bit of a factor.

Once he got over his pre-game jitters he played hard.

Was very aggressive

And ran and ran.

And ran some more.

One of the other mothers sitting near us asked if AJ was any good. This was before the game started.

I thought it was an odd question so I thought a minute before I answered. It's really a no win answer. You either sound conceited or you sound negative.

So I said - No - not really. He hasn't played much since kindergarten so I'm sure he's pretty rusty.

Well the kid proved me wrong.

He was the only one on his team to score any goals - one of which was without his shoe.

And the end of the game showed a loss on the scoreboard but we were very proud of this boy because he played his heart out.

Here's to soccer!

Things I Learned This Week....

2010-09-09T20:09:00.000-07:00

1. Do not take AJ in the car while Brandon is driving. The episode of Sponge Bob called the Best Day Ever (and accompanying song!) will be endlessly regaled while I am trying to impress upon Brandon the finer tips of driving.

2. If you have pictures scheduled for 2 months for the weekend your daughter is coming home the soccer schedule will come out and the first game will be at the exact scheduled time of said pictures. Not 1 minute before or 1 minute after. But the Exact. Same. Time.

3. Boys find it necessary to change their clothes multiple times a day. I understand at least 2 times because you have your school clothes and non school clothes but the 3 or 4 other wardrobe changes are really increasing my laundry and I don't like it. Not one bit.

4. Somehow Brandon failed to pass his laundry "sorting" quiz in his independent living class. I feel that somehow I have failed in this. So he will now sort the frequent wardrobe changes listed above.

5. Apparently AJ can't "focus" when his hair is touching his ears. I can say I've not heard that one before.

6. A trip to Joann's fabric store with your 17 year old is always enlightening. Finding fabric and thread to bring to class - the above mentioned Independent Living class (and due the very next day of course) is a challenge but it was nice to see 5 other students from his class doing the exact same thing.

7. Some minor assembly required for the futon (or fruiton as AJ calls it) is really a several hour ordeal for the better half.

8. There is no use saying "some assembly required" and "easy" in the same sentence.

9. I learned that I need to somehow gear up for school starting better than I have the last couple of years. Because for some reason September just kicks my butt every year and I get very crabby.

10. But - this family makes me laugh even when I want to throttle them.

So I guess I'll let them live.

So I Went To A Soccer Game The Other Day....

2010-09-04T17:42:00.000-07:00

To watch my lovely niece Cassidie play one of her tournament games. I had my camera with me and had this GREAT idea that it would be a wonderful picture taking opportunity!

This is one of my other nieces Cydney. I can only describe her as a beautiful spitfire. Emphasis on spitfire.

And yes Courtney who I've written about before. I was sure I had a more flattering picture of her but darned if I could find it. Sorry Court

I am missing my niece Cameron - she was busy busy busy during this soccer game and I didn't get much of a chance to see her. Kind of bummed about that.

Anyway - back to my great GREAT idea of taking some pictures. One of my ideas was to get a picture of me and my boys together. I'm the picture taker of the family and rarely get in the pictures myself so I thought since I would be with my sister I could have her take some pictures of us.

This was Brandon's response to that "suggestion". Apparently I need to give him more notice when I'm going to take pictures of him.

The first picture was - eh - so so. Still not a happy camper.

But then Courtney started making some faces and viola! I got my picture!

My next great idea was to have a picture taken with my sister and I. We don't get to see each other very often and we don't have our picture taken very often at all.

And if I thought Brandon was difficult to pose - oh geez - I had another thing coming!

Please notice that I have the same smile on my face each time - hoping against hope that my sister will cooperate.

I just need one good one

Oh my. Someone is just not taking this seriously......

We are getting there Beck.....

Was that so hard?

So I went to a soccer game the other day.

To watch my lovely niece Cassidie play one of her tournament games.

And had a heck of a good time!

31 Hugs

2010-08-31T20:34:00.000-07:00

Each day is gold, a shining thing

Without a wrong alloy

And when I hold the pure in heart

I hold my little boy

AJ and I have a routine that we go through every night. First we brush our teeth and all that entails. That takes many minutes. Next he snuggles in bed with us and watches a bit of TV and takes too many sips of my water. Then he says goodnight to Paul and Brandon which also takes a while. Finally we head to his room for the final part of the good night ritual. The numerous night lights must be activated and we usually argue about how many night lights are really needed (I'm on the low side he's on the high side). Breakfast is discussed. AJ is one of those kids that needs to eat the MINUTE he wakes up so we decide what he is going to have the night before. Clothes are picked out for the next day.

And finally - whatever day of the month it is we give each other that many hugs.

We started the hugs in kindergarten as a way to help AJ learn how to count and to keep track of what day it was. There haven't been too many nights I've spent apart from this boy in the 9 plus years we've been blessed to have him so it's safe to say we haven't missed too many of our calendar hugs.

I do know my days of getting a hug for each day of the month won't last forever but I'm hoping he will remember these days forever. For now though - I'm still the cool mom and it's the 31st of the month so I'm off to collect my 31 hugs.

And I'm going to savor each and every one of them. Because tomorrow I will only get one.

Final Game

2010-08-21T19:35:00.000-07:00

Today was the final game of the summer soccer season. It was the number 1 team - The Warrior Elite - in all of their red and white coordination of uniforms against the number 2 team - The Wall Smashing Predators - in their mixmatched mostly blue shirts with any and all colors of shorts and socks that you can imagine.

Yes we were the number 2 team playing for the championship. Our record against the Warrior Elite was one win and one loss. The first game was our win and I think it shocked the Warrior Elite because the second game they kicked our booty pretty good. The Warrior Elite was definitely the "Elite" team of our conference and I think they knew it.

We arrived 15 minutes prior to the game and the 10 kids who made up Warrior Elite were already on the field practicing their drills. The Wall Smashing Predators had one other player that had arrived. 5 minutes before game time we had 5 of our 10 players and the coach brought the kids on the field to do drills. 1 minute before the game a 6th player showed up. The referee was not going to hold the game up to wait for any possible stragglers and so the game began. This referee is the one that usually makes the kids tuck their shirts in but I think he actually felt sorry for us so he let our team go in all their untucked glory. The Warrior Elite had 7 players on the field and we had 6. We did the impossible and somehow held the Warrior Elite scoreless for the first period.

After the first period our 7th and final player arrived. Sauntering is the only way I can describe his arrival as he was in no hurry - he apparently thought the game started 15 minutes after it actually did. He was immediately put in the game as we were one player short as it was.

With no substitutions our kids were exhausted by the middle of the 4th period and the score was 5-2 Warrior Elite. The game truly looked lost.

Somehow, someway our kids pulled it together and with 9 seconds left scored the tying goal. This was probably the most exciting soccer game I have ever seen and even though the game ended in a tie it really was a win. Because we were without our best player, with no substitutions, over penalized and basically playing in the penalty with one man short for 25% of the game.

This group of players - who had never played before June 9th, had many varying degrees of skill and experience, had the most laid back coach I've ever seen in my life - somehow tied for first in their summer soccer league. I'm going to miss this group of kids.

And this last game showed me this group of kids has a heck of a lot of class and character. And that the uniforms aren't really what make the team.

AJ's Silver Teeth

2010-08-17T20:47:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago we had AJ's 6 month dental check up. Because he has these "teeth" we make sure we keep this appointment whereas I may let the other kids go a year.

After AJ's last appointment when they had to fix a crown that had disintegrated, I think I finally realized that this was a situation I needed to take seriously. (Day late dollar short? Dollar short for sure!). So we bought the $70.00(SEVENTY DOLLARS!!!) toothbrush. The 2 different kinds of mouth wash - one for morning one for night. The $30 replacement heads for the $70.00 toothbrush. And some floss that you didn't have to wrap around your finger but was compact and could be thrown away. It came in all sorts of bright kid friendly colors. And we established some rules and routine. No hard candy. No sticky candy. Twice a day brushing under parental supervision. Limit sodas. Etc. etc.

We did this faithfully for 6 months until we came up to our appointment a few weeks ago. Going into this appointment I was - dare I say it? confident? Cocky? Feeling very good about our chances of getting out of there paying only for a cleaning? Yeah that was me.

AJ had his cleaning done and I was told there was a lot of plaque. I took offense and said there must be some mistake and went into my diatribe that I listed above ($70 toothbrush, $30 replacement heads, 2 kinds of mouthwash and floss!). There was also some sort of "bump" that the doctor thought might be an infection so off to x-rays we went. After being assured that we didn't need x-rays this time.

It's not always comforting when the dentist comes out and says I have good news and bad news. The good news is there are no cavities, no tooth disintegration that has to be crowned, nothing of that sort. BUT..... One of his baby teeth that has a crown on it needs to come out because the permanent tooth is pushing thru.

Sigh....

That was done this morning. And honestly AJ has done the sleepy medicine/laughing gas so many times that he can give the other kids advice. Which he proceeded to do this morning to a few that were struggling with their sleepy medicine.

Because this was a silver tooth the dentist put it in a special container and gave it to AJ to take home. And that presented a dilemma for AJ. Because this tooth looks pretty cool in all of its silver glory. It would really be a good show and tell tooth and his friends would be kind of jealous. And there is always that chance if he stuck it under his pillow that the tooth fairy would leave him money and forget the tooth. Not like THAT has happened before.

He studied that tooth for an awful long time this evening weighing his options and debating the value of the silver tooth and it looks like the tooth fairy is not getting an opportunity for a piece of silver.

Although she really should pay the kid for his pain and suffering.

Summer Soccer

2010-08-10T19:07:00.000-07:00

After football was over we were thinking we would sign AJ up for another sport. Swimming was the obvious choice but I can see the light at the end of the tunnel with the kids swimming careers and I haven't decided if I'm ready to start another kid swimming.

Our next thought was running or some sort of track and field. The problem with that in the summer is it's hot. Extremely hot. And even though we feel AJ is talented at running it might be something that we would burn him out on - so to speak - before he even started.

Then I got an email from the sports camp where he went last summer and a few holidays during the year. They had an indoor soccer league and they had a few openings. We talked to AJ about it and his response was negative. He hadn't played since kindergarten and really liked football so why should he play soccer? We put some pressure on him that it was only for the summer and he would probably really like it.

Then of course the World Cup started and AJ was gung ho for soccer. We joined a team that had been formed from "overflows" so to speak. These were kids that hadn't signed up soon enough for the league but wanted to play. That fit us to a tee. The season was two games old when we had our first practice.

I must say we are a ragtag group of players. A few players hadn't ever played before and a few hadn't played in quite a few years like AJ. We have players that wear their shin guards outside of their socks. Any and all colors of shorts are worn. Sometimes a few of the players wear blue shirts but not necessarily our team blue shirts. Some shirts are tucked in and some aren't. All of the teams - every single one of them - that we go up against are very color coordinated from their shirts to their shorts to their socks. It's an interesting contrast when we play.

This is picture day. When it would seem like it would behoove the team to coordinate their uniforms somehow.

Nope - not us.

But it doesn't seem to matter. This ragtag group of players is 6-1-1 by last count and doesn't seem to care if they match or not. They just win.

And an old sport has become a new one once again.

The Art of 20 Questions

2010-08-03T21:17:00.000-07:00

This is the Art of 20 Questions from the eyes of a 17 year old.

Of course first you must be on a road trip - that goes without saying.

Second you must realize that not everyone is as excited to play 20 questions as you are so you must enlist the help of your younger brother.

Once you get him playing you are good. Because when you have someone who has chosen an animal and your younger brother is going thru. Every. Single. Animal. that he knows then the older sister and parents have no choice but to jump in. Because that is NOT how you play. You must ask 4 legs or 2. Mammal or not. Meat eater or plant eater. Etc. etc.... Narrow it the blank down dude!

Now you've got everyone playing. So you slowly but surely move the line of questioning to obscure bands from the 80's. One hit wonders so to speak.

And you have your mother stumped. So you give out a clue that is meant to be the opposite of what this band is. Retro Spanish. Antique Spanish. Clues of that nature.

Ah yes - Modern English which your sister (who heard none of the clues) comes up with when she comes out of the shower. Because yes we are still playing long after dinner. Long after checking into the hotel. Long after your weary Mother wants to play. Long after your mother has run through her limited knowledge of old Latin bands or Spanish singers like Julio Iglesias. Because isnt't that what Retro Spanish means?

And that my friend is the Art of 20 questions.

Walking With Jessica

2010-07-31T21:18:00.000-07:00

For the last several months Jessica and I have been walking together. My main goal of course is to lose some weight. Well actually since I'm doing Weight Watchers I want to earn some activity points so I can justify having a Weight Watchers ice cream bar when we are done.

We started walking in early May when it started to get warm. And now it's just plain hot. We go after dinner when it's usually still in the triple digits but pack plenty of water. When we walk we talk. I think that's why we decided to walk instead of run because we like to talk. We don't talk about anything in particular but I think we both enjoy our walks. Once in a great while Brandon will come with us and we both know to just listen because Brandon is a somewhat secretive teenager and when he is walking with us he just talks and talks. Walking does that to you somehow. Loosens the tongue I guess.

Mostly though it's just the two of us. Walking and talking and earning those Weight Watcher Activity points. Just so I'm clear - Jessica is doing this for support as she doesn't need to earn any activity points. I take and use ALL the points we earn. But I will go out on a limb and say that she enjoys our walks nearly as much as I do.

Alas, this morning Jessica left for school. She's headed back to get her Master's and the plan is to find a job afterwards and live on her own wherever that job may be. The plan is she's not coming back home to live.

So Jessica even though we've not touched on this subject on our walks I want to let you know that I will miss you.

I will miss you at work and you always having my back. I always know that when I tell you something or ask you something you will know exactly what I mean. Many years of working together has forged that bond and I am really hoping we will have a chance to work together again. I definitely get why my Dad wanted his kids working with him. It's a whole different dynamic that I have thoroughly enjoyed.

I will miss you at home. You know that cleaning the kitchen doesn't involve just clearing and scraping but getting in and scrubbing the dishes and putting the food away. You never whine or even say no when I ask you to shop, drop and pick up your brothers (Or help AJ with Kumon - that's not something you will miss right?)

I will miss that you know and understand the green, yellow, orange, pink and everything related to that little quirk. Or OCD. Or whatever it is I have.

I will miss your new found expertise at cooking and making the delicious Kahlua, Bailey's and ice cream concoction.

I will miss that you balance out the family even though we girls are still outnumbered. We can certainly hold our own in any discussion or argument that comes up.

I will miss that you and I like to watch the same kind of shows and even though we didn't do it too often I will miss watching movies like "You've Got Mail" and "The Parent Trap" with you.

I think most of all I will miss our walks. Solving the problems of the world - even if it's just our little world - well that's what life is all about.

Mainly I will just plain miss you.

And walking just won't be the same.

Revelations From A 3 Day Trip To California

2010-07-26T20:22:00.000-07:00

We took a very short trip to California to visit family last weekend. I came away from the trip with a few revelations that I guess come with age and an appreciation for the wonderful family I am blessed to be a part of.

I learned that it doesn't matter how long cousins are apart....
They can pick up right where they left off.

That can include picking up on a Harry Potter game that wasn't finished from the year before.

I learned that when Jessica gets her nose in a good book she is every bit her mother in that she wants to finish that book as soon as humanly possible.

And that relaxing and having fun with your cousins can be very tiring.

I found that 18 people can fit in a very small house and enjoy a wonderful meal of fried chicken, okra and some delicious desserts. And it doesn't seem like there are 18 people in a very small house because everyone is laughing and having a good time.

I learned that teenagers are really the same all over in that separating them from their phones is really not an option.

If you look you can find a photo opportunity anywhere - even right outside your hotel room

But your kids really don't care about the tremendous photo background you have found

I learned that as much as I think I'm ready to let this youngest one go I'm really not.

Not even close.

I learned that family really is everything and I am so very grateful for mine.

Walking, Weight Watchers and Wed Velvet Cheesecake

2010-07-16T16:46:00.001-07:00

I am pretty sure there is something in my DNA that every 6 months or so I deem it necessary to go on a diet.

And in my infinite wisdom and impeccable timing I picked a week before birthday festivities to go on my current diet. Because I like to change things up I chose to go with Weight Watchers this time. I have heard good things about it and known people that have gotten good results so I thought I would give it a shot. It's based on a point system that is pretty easy to follow and you can easily figure out the points of every item that you eat. I'm a numbers gal so this seemed right up my alley!

When I plugged in my height, weight and current activity level it gave me my allowable points for the day. Let me tell you - it wasn't very many - it wasn't very many at all. Which only meant in order to get more points in my daily allowance I would have to increase my activity level.

But first Wed Velvet - I mean Red Velvet Cheesecake.

When we were in San Diego back in May we had a family lunch at the Cheesecake factory. Brandon chose for his dessert Red Velvet Cheesecake. He loved it. He inhaled it. He raved about it for weeks on end. And he decided he wanted it for his birthday dessert. He very tactfully told me (for Brandon anyway) that he was sure I could make this dessert with no problem but could we just order it this one time from The Cheesecake Factory? Since his birthday dinner was so labor intensive I readily agreed and here it is. Not too big right?

I of course had a piece and it was to die for - so so good!

AJ is in this stage where he likes everything Brandon likes. Even though the only part of the cheesecake that he ate was the red cake part - didn't like the frosting and didn't like the cheesecake interior but loved the red velvet cake.

He also requested Red Velvet Cheesecake for his birthday dessert 9 days later.

These kids - and I include Jessica with her Italian Love cake - they don't have the sweet tooth that I have I guess. Because these desserts were CALLING me at the end of the day.

Which meant only one thing - I would have to increase my activity level substantially to get thru birthday festivities unscathed.

And here we go....

My sister told me that she had read an article that walking was really the best exercise. I'm not sure she told me why but for some reason what she said made sense and I took it to heart. I started walking with Jessica every night a week or so before Brandon's birthday.

AJ got a bike for his birthday so we decided to all go on a walk/bike ride on these cool trails by our house.

Jessica and I would walk and Paul and AJ would ride the bike around the track.

Jessica wanted to make sure she hadn't forgotten to ride a bike as it had been a while.

Brandon runs. And his face gets very very red.

Very very red.

Brandon tried out the bike too. And for the first part this was as close as I got to taking a picture because contrary to popular belief you really can forget how to ride a bike.

Yes you can. He was wobbling all over for a while there.

He got it after a while. And this race didn't end well for AJ and that's all I'll say about that. Think Roller Derby on a bike.

The great thing about summer is you can work up this sweat and jump right into the pool!

I got this handy dandy weight watcher pedometer and it told me the walking I did earned me 2 points!

By my calculations that is about 4 bites of Red Velvet Cheesecake!