Jack of all Trades but Master of None

Trip to the Snow!

2009-01-09T23:03:00.001-08:00

2009-01-01T11:26:00.000-08:00

2008-12-01T22:01:00.000-08:00

Wow! It's been a long time since I blogged. A lot has been going on but of the most interest is this last week. I entertained about 21 guests through the week, cooked insane amounts of food, did lots of laundry, did some interior decorating, and will need at least a week to recover. BUT I loved every minute of it!!!!

The week began with welcoming my sister Debby and her family to my home for the first time since we moved out to Arizona. My parents also came out for the weekend. We had a great time relaxing and playing games. It was so nice to have the girls here to love on Caleigh, play superheroes with JoJo, and act goofy with Elijah and Markie. Caleigh absolutely fell in love with Deb and would cry every time she left the room. We took them to our favorite and ONLY sit down restaraunt in Buckeye, Cracker Barrel for Brunch on Sunday - YUMMY!! That evening we had a special dinner to celebrate my mom's birthday. Deb and I made a yummy pot roast nad Margaritas!! The Benis fam left on Monday evening and my folks left Tuesday afternoon. It all went too quickly but it was a wonderful time and I look forward to having them again - but next time for longer. So as of Tuesday, guest count - 6.

Tuesday evening I got a call from my husband informing me that his cousin's car had broken down in Phoenix on his way home for Thanksgiving and needed a place to stay. So we picked up Austin and we spent the evening watching Ironman while awaiting the arrival of Marcus' brother Marlo and his wife Dolly. They arrived around 10:00 that evening. At about 11:00 pm I received a call from another of Marcus' cousins, Tanya, asking if she could crash on her way to Casa Grande where all of my husbands relatives were coming together for Thanksgiving. Why not? The more the merrier right? She even brought some friend for Lando, Thumper a toy poodle and Flower, a king charles spaniel. Wednesday 12am - guest count grows to 10 (12 if you count the dogs)

I awoke Wednesday morning having received 8 more guests who found any spot that they could to catch some Z's. More family on there way out to Casa Grande. My father and mother-in-law, Great Grandma Bratton, Aunt Geraldine, and bro and sis-in-law Aaron and Ashley. I cooked breakfast for all of the crew and they all spent the day at the house. I loved having them there and showing the family our home. All but Aaron headed out that evening to get their hotels for the rest of the holiday weekend. Wednesday guest count - 16

Thursday. Thanksgiving. No cooking for me. YEAH!!!! We drive out to Casa Grande to celebrate with Marcus' family and spend the day eating and laughing and taking pics.It was a whirlwind of driving, eating, and passing my little girl around to tons of people (she was a trooper and smiled and made everyone fall in love - was there any doubt?)

So..we are wrapping things up in Casa Grande and I get he call from my other sis Barb and her family. They are in Buckeye and on their way to the house. Yeah!! I load the kids up and we head home. We get there around 9:00 and we are so excited for them to be here!!!! We got a lot of fun and food and decorating done. Barb, who is my personal interior decorator, spent her time putting together and designing Caleigh's nursery and painting my family room a beautiful rust color. Now my house looks a lil more "me". We also managed to cook a Thanksgiving dinner for them on Saturday since they were on the road all day Thursday. Again, a wonderful time but too short and it was so hard to watch them go. Ending the week with a final guest count of...drum roll please - 22 (again...23 if you count the dogs)And I wouldn't change it if I could!!!!

Okay....so who's next?

Last Blog

2008-08-03T23:04:00.000-07:00

I won't be blogging anymore. The main reason I did this was to have a way for my family to keep in touch, but they don't really read it.

Heather, Shannon, and Cathi thank you for reading it, but I just don't really enjoy writing it anymore. It has become more of a chore so I am signing off for now.

I will try to keep on on Caleigh's blog, so you can always check in there.

I've been tagged

2008-07-29T14:15:00.000-07:00

A. Attached or single? Attached
B. Best friend? Heather,Aliki, Kristi
C. Cake or pie? lemon cream from Maries or my Mom's temple Delight or my homemade apple pie - really just about any pie will do
D. Day of Choice? Saturday or Sunday
E. Essential Item? laptop, flip flops, and Pepsi
F. Favorite color? brown
G. Gummy bears or worms? bears
H. Hometown? Buckeye, AZ Yuck
I. Favorite indulgence? Brownies or McDonald's Fries
J. January or July? July
K. Kids? 4 Yikes
L. Life isn't complete without? God' love and sovereignty and letter B
M. Marriage Date? July 9, 1994
N. Number of brothers and sisters? 2 sisters
O. Oranges or apples? apples with peanut butter or cheddar cheese
P. Phobias? I fear that my marriage will stay in it's vicious cycle till I die
Q. Quotes? R. Reasons to smile? Faithful God, fun & good kids, loving family, amazing friends, trips to California
S. Season of choice? summer - get to go to Cali a lot and go to the lake and the beach
T. Tag 5 people: I don't even know 5 people that will read this, and most of them have already done this but here goes - Heather, Shannon, Cathi, and Kristi - one short
U. Unknown fact about me? I don't believe in happy endings
W. Worst habit? besides M? procrastinating and short temper
X. X-ray or ultrasound? X-Rays! no more ultrasounds for me please - it always means there's a baby
Y. Your favorite food? steak and shrimp
Z. Zodiac sign? Taurus - whatever

Karaoke Fun

2008-06-25T18:49:00.001-07:00

American Idol Baby!!!!

2008-06-22T18:23:00.000-07:00

Okay - the American Idol game for the Wii is so much fun!!! Kristi was back in AZ for the week and we got to play it for, um I don't know - hours, and we had a BLAST!! I got to sing "Sister Christian" - nuff said. The kids all had a ton of fun playing it too. And just in case you were wondering - Paula Abdul is equally annoying as a computer graphic. The slideshow I had attached to this wasn't working, so please look at the "karaoke fun" post above.

And here are some pictures of a cute, chubby cheeked baby.

Caleigh is 1 month and it's Father's Day

2008-06-16T00:56:00.000-07:00

My sweet baby girl is one month old already. Can you believe it? It has gone by so fast. She has grown some, mostly in her cheeks, but she is still petite. She sleeps well at night 4 to 5 hours at a time. She is becoming more alert every day. I think she has Markie's big eyes. We were looking at all the boys baby pictures today and it is amazing how much she looks like her brothers. Here are some pics of the boys that were the most like Caleigh.

Today was Father's Day too! We spent the day at home just lounging, which is Marcus' fave thing to do. The boys swam a little and then I made Marcus' fave dinner - tacos!

"Enjoying" the Heat

2008-06-01T10:54:00.000-07:00

Well, we've been hold up in the house for awhile now waiting for me to heal up and we are finally going to venture outside. My girlfriend Kristi drove over, picked the boys and me up and took us up to the Surprise Aquatic Center. The boys had a blast! There were waterslides, diving boards, and a water play area that was perfect for JoJo.

Kristi, Caleigh, and I just lounged and enjoyed the day. Later in the day, Kristi's girls joined us and the kids played tag and had water fights. It is a really fun place and a nice option for escaping from the heat!

Caleigh just Chillin'

My baby is in high school now!!!!

2008-05-28T14:50:00.000-07:00

My big, goofy boy!

Marcus Bratton Jr is now officially a high school freshman. YIKES!!! On Thursday, May 22nd Marcus graduated from Jr. High and will be attending Buckeye Union High School next year. He has already been practicing with the freshman football team and is very excited about being i high school. I, on the other hand, am terrified and feeling very old! I am very proud of him for getting his grade up at his new school and he has made a wonderful friend that we really like, T.J. They have become best friends and will be playing football together.

He looked so grown up and handsome the night of graduation. After the ceremony, we went and had dinner at the Cracker Barrel. we've never eaten there, but the food was outstanding and he prices were really good. Since it is the only sit down restaurant in town, that works out nicely for us!

Marcus and his teacher. Mr. Rasmusen

PopPop was there for the big day and got to meet T.J.

Mommy and Caleigh's first outing! (It was sooooooooo windy)

My two handsome Marcuses

Welcome Caleigh Grace Bratton!

2008-05-27T18:44:00.000-07:00

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Even though the days before the birth of Caleigh were emotional and difficult, God blessed the day of her birth and the days since. We arrived at the hospital nervous and anxious. I had never met the doctor who would be performing the C-section and I had had nightmares and anxiety attacks throughout the night. I was put at ease when I met Dr. Hashad and the wonderful nurses at Mission Hospital. As my family began to arrive, the weight of my unfulfilled dreams for my daughter's birth began to lighten. At 6:00 pm the anesthesiologist came in and walked me into the operating room. They wasted no time prepping me, but I again began to get nervous when the spinal block didn't seem to be very affective. Marcus came in camera and video in hand prepared to try and capture as much on film for me as he could. Thank God he was there! As they began to pull her head out, I began to feel more and more pressure that was quickly becoming painful. As the assisting doctor began to push on my stomach to get the baby out, I was crying in pain and was told that they could give me something that would help, but may make me "a little drowsy". As I squeezed my husband's hand trying to bear with the pain, I asked for the medicine and was out cold within seconds. Unfortunately, I didn't get to see her enter the world or hear her first cry, or hear the words I was so nervous I would never hear "It's a Girl!"
I woke up in the recovery room extremely groggy and unable to see straight. I watched what I could of her first bath, closed my eyes to listen to her sweet cry, and finally heard a nurse refer to her as a pretty little angel. So, it was a girl, and to the best I could see, a perfect one! Marcus quickly asked them to move her warmer as close to my bed as possible so I could touch her. After about an hour, I was waking up a little more and now only seeing double as opposed to multiple. Marcus Jr. and Elijah were able to come in and meet Caleigh as well as my parents, In-laws, sisters, and my 2 best friends, Heather and Aliki. Recovery took 2 1/2 hours instead of one, so Caleigh and I didn't get to our room until close to 10:00 pm. All the cousins and JoJo were finally able to see our sweet new addition to the family.

The next few days in the hospital were so wonderful. So many visitors and I got to have 4 sleep overs!! The first night Marcus stayed with me then Heather on Friday night, my mom on Saturday, and then my sister Barb on Sunday night. I had so much fun with them as well as with my sweet, quiet baby girl. I got to get a lot of rest, eat a ton of yummy food, and was spoiled by the nurses.

On Monday, my dad and JoJo came to take us home. Barb was still there to help us load up and head to Grammy and PopPop's where we would stay until Wednesday. Again we had many visitors, including play dates for JoJo. Marcus and Elijah had already headed home on Sunday with their dad to finish of their last week of school. On Wednesday we loaded up the van and my dad drove the three of us home to Arizona. It was a long but fun drive. Caleigh slept the entire time only to wake up to nurse when we stopped for dinner in Blythe! Yeah - hopefully she will be a baby that continues to travel well. The only bummer was that we discovered poor JoJo had a fever and he spent the next two days with the fever, the runs, and some vomiting. Thank God Caleigh and I did not catch it.

We have been home almost a week now and she is just as good a baby as her brothers were. She sleeps a lot, wakes up to "play" a couple hours a day, and sleeps in 4 to 4 1/2 hour stretches every night. She barely cries at all - squeaks and peeps mostly. She is nursing very well and pooping more than her brother's ever did! I am healing slowly but surely. A big difference having this surgery at 21 with no kids and living in a little apartment than having it at 35 with 3 wild boys, and a big ol house. I'm getting there and I am trying to milk it as much as I can. Marcus stayed home Thursday to Monday night and got the house clean, painted Caleigh's room, did a bunch of grocery shopping, and impressed me with his cooking skills.

We still haven't watched the video of her birth yet, but I hear that my sweet husband did an amazing job catching it all for me and, as you can see from the above album, got great photos for me too!

We can't wait to come back to see everyone next week and make some more memories with our little princess.

Some Sad and Sucky News

2008-05-13T20:02:00.000-07:00

Well today has been an overwhelming day. As some of you know, I got a phone call from one of my doctor's associates asking me to call. I called to find out that my doctor, the only one in the group to do V-bacs, had to leave for at least 2 weeks for a family emergency. It is his daughter who is very ill and on a ventilator. I don't know what happened, just that it was unexpected and it is very serious. Please pray for him and his family.

The doctor precedes to tell me that no other doctor in the Mission OB/GYN group feels comfortable inducing me and giving me the opportunity to try for the natural delivery. This is despite the fact that I have had 2, yes 2, babies naturally since my c-sections. So my options at that point were -

1. wait for my doctor to come back,which would be in no less than 2 weeks (I am due in 9 days), but if I go into labor before he returns, they would do the C-section anyway

2. try to find another doctor by next week in a different group that will do the V-bac - and be accepted by my insurance, that will take a new patient one week before they are due

3. come in on Thursday and have the unnecessary surgery that probably could have been avoided

So, after much deliberating, crying, swearing, discussing, and all the other stuff, we opted to just go ahead and schedule the c-section for Thursday evening at 6pm. Needless to say, I will be in the hospital a tad bit longer than expected, probably until Monday instead of Saturday, and then onto my folks until Wednesday.

The point of all this is, please come and see me on Fri, Sat, or Sun or call me at my parents and come see me Tuesday or Wednesday. I will be out there for almost a full week and will need to make all happy positive memories to go along with the best memory, the birth of our little girl. I don't know when I'll be able to come out again, but hope that I will heal quickly. I would also appreciate all your prayers over the next few days. My spirits are better than they were a few hours ago, but I am still broken hearted about things being changed so dramatically and so last minute.

Bottom line is - God is in control and must know something I don't know and stepped in and re-planned it, so I know it's all going to be okay, but I still would love your prayers. :)

If you already got this in my e-mail - sorry, there are some people that I don't e-mail addresses for. :(

May is busy...and it's just going to get busier

2008-05-11T22:03:00.000-07:00

Well, May has only been 11 days so far, but it has already been busy. I celebrated my 35th - YIKES!! - birthday on the fourth. Marcus, the boys, and I all went out to lunch at In-n-Out (a mere 15 miles away) and then saw IronMan. We all loved the movie. It was very well done. Then we came home, I got to take a nice long nap, and then Marcus and I went out to dinner just the two of us to TGIF's (that's where we went on our first date) As you can see in the picture, he did most of the celebrating and had 2 margaritas and then he couldn't figure out why he wasn't photographing well. we kept taking em and taking em, but he just kept looking drunk.

On the 7th, Marcus, Joseph, and I all hopped in the big rig and headed out to the OC for my last doctor's appt. We had a great time, JoJo got to drive..a little, but we were all EXHAUSTED when we got back on Friday. Saturday was work day as we cleaned up the house and got a few projects completed. Marcus Sr. even made dinner!!!

Sunday, as you know, was Mother's Day. It was very difficult to be away from my mom today, but I still had a nice day. Markie brought me breakfast in bed. Marcus Sr. got all the things done on his "Honey do" list, and we went out to lunch at Black Angus - my fave - and then when we got home Marcus and the boys gave me my present. A nice big above ground pool to help me survive the next 2 days of pregnancy in the heat and then we can all enjoy it until we have the $ to install a real pool hopefully next year. I even got to sleep while they set it up. I am looking forward to getting in that puppy tomorrow and floating all day.

The boys and I on Mother's Day

The next two days will be filled with relaxation, packing, and all last minute baby preparations that need to be done. We will be leaving Wednesday am to head back out to finally welcome our baby girl into the world on Thursday, May 15th. I made a little photobook with some fun snapshots throughout my pregnancy - enjoy!

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Almost there!!!

2008-05-01T12:31:00.000-07:00

I just saw the doctor and he has set the date for my induction - Thursday, May 15th. OH MY GOSH that is 2 weeks away!!!!! Does anyone wanna come over this weekend and help me paint her room??? Ha Ha Ha

I am so excited - I have everything ready except for painting the room and I need to put the crib together. I have officially finished washing all the clothes that Aliki gave me for her and the chances of her wearing all of them are slim to none. I will have to change her 3 times a day just to make a dent, but I have no problem with that. Everything is so cute, fun, beautiful and happy.

2008-04-30T22:42:00.000-07:00

Do I have the best friend EVER or what? Heather organized three, yes three, baby showers for me. One for all the ladies I work with at school, one for our class, and one at her house for all my friends and family. The one at her house was also thrown by my other BFF, Aliki. I wanted to get all the pic from their cameras as well as my sisters, but who knows when we'll have the time to get those together. So here are just a few from my Camera that I've put together in a slideshow for ya'll. The only bummer is I don't have ANY pictures with Aliki :(

Baby Showers!!

2008-04-30T22:07:00.001-07:00

The New House

2008-04-25T12:41:00.000-07:00

Here we are in Arizona and we have been working our butts off to get the house together and get all the painting done before the baby gets here. The weather has been very nice so far - we haven't turned on the AC yet!! It does get CRAZY windy which Elijah hates cuz it is really loud.

The boys have started school and are very happy there. Marcus has already made a fast friend. They are frighteningly alike and go to the local high school to prepare for Freshman football next year. Yikes - High School next year!!! it has been great for Marcus to be back in a sport program. He has also started going to youth group on Wednesday nights. Now we just need to get Elijah into something and find a church for him to get involved in as well. He is doing very well academically and is making friends. He takes more time to get close to people so hopefully by next year school, he will have one or two best buds. Joseph can't wait to go back to preschool in August. We have already found a neat little Christian preschool for him to attend and he talks about it all the time. Poor guy does get a little bored being stuck at home with just me all day waiting for his brothers to get home. I think that when his little sister gets here, he is going to be so happy to have someone else in the house other than me.

Marcus and I are adjusting well to being under the same roof again, even though he is working a lot so he can take a little time off when the baby comes. I am a tad lonely from time to time, but it has been good because it keeps me focused on my responsibilities here. dad, you would be so happy at how well things are being organized and how clean, well at least the downstairs, stays allthe time. I guess the time I spent with my sweet OCD dad has made me a better housekeeper - thanks, Dad. I get tired soooo fast, but I think that I have accomplished a lot in the past month.

Thank you, Heather, for coming out here with me and being the best friend EVER. I really mean that from the bottom of my heart. You made the transition that much easier and having you and your kids here was such a blessing to my children as well. I CAN"T WAIT for you guys to come visit again and this time we will have fun instead of just working the whole time. Life is not the same without you just down the street and I pray that our friendship will stay as close and as special as it has become in the last 3 years. You are my precious gift from God that was key in helping me and my children get through so much drama - and you helped us come out better people. I miss you so much my heart hurts.

Thank you, Aliki, for all your prayers and support. My sweet best friend that God gave me 7 years ago when I was at my lowest. For always spoiling me when we come visit and for clothing my daughter well for the next year and a half of her life. Thank you for blessing me with just about every baby item my little one will need. You have saved us about $1000!!!! I have loved the time that we have spent together over the past few months and I can't wait for you and the girls to come see our home. I will definitely need to get a gate before your little climber, Belle, comes over.

Thank you to my sisters who made my boys and me feel so unbelievably loved and so special with all your efforts into giving us a loving goodbye. I miss you guys so much and appreciate all the chances that you give me and all your patience with me as I have gone through my adult life.I love you and I am so glad that you will be there to welcome this baby into the world. I can't imagine her not meeting you on her birthday.

Thank you to my amazing, wonderful, loving, patient, forgiving, and godly parents for being more and doing more for me and my boys than any parents anywhere have done. There are not enough words to express my love, gratitude and respect for you both. My house is not my home until you come and see it and have been here to make memories.

Our First Visitors from California

2008-04-13T09:24:00.000-07:00

As you all know, Heather and her kids came out with me and my boys to help us get moved it in, but we actually had our first Cali visitors since we are all moved in this week. My dear friend Erika (we met in 1993 while we were both working at Ruby's in Costa Mesa) ironically had already planned a family trip to Scottsdale when I told her the date that we were moving. She was very faithful and contacted me as soon as they arrived and we had her, her husband Justin and their boys Chance and Jett over for dinner on Thursday night. It was so nice to have a friend here and the boys couldn't have been more excited to have some one to play with. JoJo and Jett clicked especially well. We got together with them at their hotel on Saturday to go swimming and we went to historical downtown Scottsdale to ride the trolley and had lunch t the HUGE mall there. JoJo and Jett sat next to each other and held hands and I think are forever friends now. JoJo can't wait to see him again on one of our trips out to Cali this summer.

JoJo feeding his "dolphin" Chance some fishy crackers

On the trolley

It's a Girl!!!

2008-02-20T20:25:00.000-08:00

Well we are having a little girl. We are still in shock and still need to see it to believe it (well, I guess not see "it") but the ultrasound tech seemed very confident. I just cried and giggled for about 10 minutes straight and Marcus was even more silent than usual (if that is even possible) He is very skeptical and excited. Now the fun job of finding a name for our little princess. Here are some watch my belly grow pics and as soon as my scanner works -you'll see some of her first pics.

January 13th - 18 weeks

21 weeks

24 weeks

Oh my Gosh!!!

2008-01-30T17:11:00.000-08:00

Well we went out to Arizona to check out the house. Holy cow the renters jacked it up pretty bad - we still made the best out of the weekend! We got the painting started and met my BFF's husband in Glendale where he was kind enough to get us into the NFL Experience which was soooo much fun!

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1 of 3 holes in the carpet

I just loved all the stains on the 2 year old carpet and the awesome works of Crayola art on all the walls.

I don't even want to know what that is!

Elijah as a Charger
Marcus running drill

Marcus and I standing inside casts of NFL players legs Yikes!!!

Painting over the hideous yellow paint

I love this cocoa brown color we used in the living room. Please note the totally awesome 90's "chandelier" in the dining room.

We got a little work done and then the boys picked out their rooms - but the highlight of the weekend had to be Marcus cutting off his afro. I can't believe how much cuter he looks and he even looks taller. I have to say - he is one good lookin' kid!

Christmas and New Years

2008-01-05T21:24:00.000-08:00

Make a scrapbook - it's easy!

Christmas was great this year. Between JoJo having his first Christmas program and getting 2 weeks off from work - I can't complain. We tried to relax as much as possible. We were able to celebrate with everyone this year. Christmas Eve and Christams morning we were with the Bratton Fam and then Christmas Day and the day after - we partied all over again with the Temple Fam.

For New Years Eve and Day, we went over to Heather's house for yummy food, once she and I put together the BBQ, games and some PS2 rock Band - it was a ton of fun. Her sis Shannon and her youngest Mandy were there and we laughed in the new year!

Happy Halloween!!!

2007-10-31T22:37:00.000-07:00

Trick or Treat - Smell my Feet - Give me way more sugar than I should EVER eat!

We went trick or treating this year with the McAllister group - which is what we did last year too now that I think about it. Joseph has been talking all month about being a ghost which worked out nicely for me since I am too broke to go all out this year. I told Marcus and Elijah that they could create any costume they wanted - as long as they used what we already had around the house. They did an awesome job and we all ha a great night. (Benny is a red gummy bear in case you were wondering)

Marcus - Nerdfest

JoJo the friendly Ghost

Srgt. Eli Bratton

Pumpkin Carving

2007-10-30T11:16:00.000-07:00

Here are some pics of our pumpkin carving - ENJOY!

JoJo's First Field Trip

2007-10-29T21:36:00.000-07:00

Joseph got to go on his very first field trip today! It was so much - We went to Los Rios Farms in San Juan with his preschool class. They got to play in the hay maze, make crafts, pick out their own pumpkin, go on the petting zoo, and ride on the train. We had a great time!

My favorite is how cute he looks in his overalls. He loves to pose for pictures too, so I was able to get some fun ones!

Birthdays!!

2007-09-30T22:32:00.000-07:00

Well - it is the end of September and my two older boys just finished celebrating their birthdays!! They had two separate parties - well three if you count our little family one.

Marcus turned 13 on September 21st. AAHHHH a teenager!!!!!!!!!!!!! He celebrated after a win 28-0 at home. We took the team out for pizza and then bowling. It was a BLAST - especially when the parents went into the "lounge" and discovered they had karaoke. Now the real party begins - raising a teenage boy!!

Elijah turned 11 on September 25th. He had a nice simple party with a few of his friends from school. They just came over, played outside, had pizza, and brownies and ice cream. It was one of the most mellow and simple parties he's ever had, but he loved it. Many of the boys even commented how mush they enjoyed it. I guess less really is more.

Why I Ride

2007-09-15T09:10:00.001-07:00

Sorry - didn't work the first time. Please see posting below.

Why I Ride

2007-09-15T09:05:00.001-07:00

This is a beautiful video clip that my AMAZING brother-in-law Andy put together about my sister Deb and tells why he is riding in MS Ride in October. My other sister Barb has MS too, but thankfully is does not affect her a badly as it does Deb. If you wish to support him, you can go to his MS support page at:
http://www.biketofinishms.com/abenis
If you cannot give financially, your prayers for the Benis and Green families would be a blessing.

Are you ready for some football?????

2007-09-09T15:22:00.000-07:00

The boys football season is underway and the boy' teams are loking pretty good. Marcus' team the Wolverines are 2-0 right now having beaten both Pasadena and Tri-cities 30-0. Marcus scored his first touchdown on the first play when Pasadena kicked off and Marcus ran it back 70 yards for the touchdown. He then scored his second touchdown on the second down of the first series. Last Saturday night Marcus scored three touchdowns and had some great hits. Now we just got to keep him humble.

Elijah's Cowboys are 1-0 having beaten the Corona Panthers 12-0. Elijah had some good defensive plays and almost scored a touchdown on a great pass, but due to pass interference, didn't complete the catch. He has a hard game coming up next week against Carson Colts who played in the Super Bowl last year.

First Day of School! First Day of School!

2007-09-07T17:57:00.000-07:00

Well, school is officially in full swing. So Sad. I love summer and hate to see it go by so quickly. Elijah and Joseph started on August 30th and Marcus started on September 6th.

Elijah started the sixth grade this year and has the most beautiful, sweet teacher named Mrs. Pace. He really seems to enjoy being in her class so far. He is in the same class as two of his cousins which is the first time since the second grade that this has happened and we are very excited. He has a wonderful class and has some great friends. His buddy Ben is in the other sixth grade and they get to hang out durinf lunch and recess. Elijah has also taken on flag football along with all his other committments. He's a bit crazy I think, but he loves it.

JoJo started preschool this year and couldn't be happier although I miss him terribly. He loves his teachers, Mrs. deViso and Mrs. Rexinger. He recently told me that Mrs. deViso is from heaven. He also lets out a grunt everytime I come to pick him up because he doesn't want to leave. I guess that that is good and bad. He loves to help and play on the playground, especially the water table and riding the bikes. He's made some new friends and I can't wait until the preschool is back on the main campus cuz he drive down there is killing me! And I will love being able to see him on the playground every day!

Marcus has now been integrated in to the world of public school - YIKES!!!! He is attending the middle school down the street and loves walking to school every day. The school seems to be very structured which is good for him and he is making new friends. I just pray that God will send him a couple good, Christian friends and keep all those fast scandalous girls away from my baby :) he seems motivated to get his work done, for now, and I am very proud of him.

I went back to monitoring so I could keep Elijah and Joseph at our school. I am working with my BFF Heather and we are having a ton of fun. We have a totally awesome group of kids and it looks like it'll be a great year.

Wicked!!

2007-09-04T00:42:00.000-07:00

I was so blessed today to be included in my BFF's sister's bday bash! We got to celebrate Shannon's 39th birthday by having a surprise lunch at her aunt's house and then the going to see Wicked. It was soooooooooooo amazing!!! The music, the costumes, the whole thing was fabulous. I am so glad that I was able to go!! Thank you Shannon, Cathi, and Heather for inviting me. I had soooooo much fun. Whether we were playing spoons with forks, Bob's nines, taking silly pics, raiding Carrie's closet (thanks again Carrie for letting me borrow stuff) or roaming a round LA looking for a place to eat - you guys are so much fun to be around! Not to mention that scary random guy that assaulted me while we were tyring to have our girlie pic taken at the bowling-restaurant place. Can't wait for more girl's time out with you!

Holy Scrap!!

2007-08-20T00:02:00.000-07:00

I just got back Saturday from a 2 day scrapfest in San Diego. Heather and I headed down to San Diego on Friday to Scrapbook Expo. We had so much fun. We took some classes, spent a little money, volunteered for 4 hours (we made $46, and attended the crop night. On Friday afternoon we walked around downtown San Diego in the historic gaslamp district and had lunch at a yummy burger place called "Dirty Rottens".
I loved San Diego. The weather was a little hot, but still beautiful. We plan to hit the expo every year and hope to make a longer weekend out of it so we can enjoy all that San Diego has to offer.

Next up is Scrapbook Expo Costa Mesa in February. Can't Wait!!

Wild Rivers

2007-08-16T21:00:00.000-07:00

The boys and I just had a fun day at Wild Rivers with Heather and her kids. The church where Marcus goes to Jr. High group had a great deal on tickets that we just couldn't pass up. It was a blast!! I haven't been to Wild Rivers since high school and it was really fun!!! Joey was so brave and went down all the slides he was tall enough to ride, swam in the lazy river, and loved all the splash areas. Elijah especially liked the wave pool. I took a ride on the inner tube in the wave pool and was crashed into and flipped over face first into the pool. I'm sure I looked like an idiot.

On Thursday we went to my sister's country club and had fun trying to escape the heat in the pool. We had a great time especially since Grammy and PopPop joined us for the day. The only problem was that there was a shark pool there and every time you stepped foot in it, you were attacked and bitten. (the kids were the sharks and they were swimming around the toddler pool and they actually did bite!) We have been blessed to be able to use this pool. Thanks, Barb and Keith!

All said and done this has been a wonderful summer. Wish I could have spent more time at the beach, lake , and pool, but I did enjoy the times we were able to go. School starts for Elijah and JoJo next week and for Marcus in two. We're gonna make the best out of the little bit of summer we have left. I love summer and this was a great summer with my boys, family, and friends!!

I love Coronado!!!!

2007-08-13T16:10:00.000-07:00

Last week the boys and I did our yearly trip down to Coronado. Every year for the last 10 or 12 years we go down to spend time with my folks at their time share on Coronado island across from the beautiful Hotel Del Coronado. We had a wonderful time. On the first day we went to Loews Resort where we have pool use and just soaked up the sun and swam all day. It was such a BEAUTIFUL day!! The boys were in the water the whole time and JoJo is getting better and better at swimming. I wish I could put him in swim lessons. He is such a fish.

On day two we did the treck down to the beach for surf and sand. It was pretty windy and overcast at first, but the sun eventually came out. We went to the tidepools and caught crabs, found some sand dollars, and showed the anemones to JoJo. He liked to look but not to touch. Then we built a sand castles and the boys and I had fun tossing the football around. I should have been a NFL quarterback - I got skills! It was a wonderful but too short two days and we are already looking forward to next summer!!!

Football is...

2007-08-03T08:49:00.001-07:00

I really do love football. I know I may complain and moan about how time consuming it is - but when you get down to it - I LOVE IT!! I love the hitting, the cracking of helmets, the driving through the line, the shear thrill of it all. You all better come to some of my boys' games this year - you'll see how much I show my love during the game!

Mother's Day and Birthdays

2007-08-02T23:34:00.000-07:00

>I had a wonderful time tonight with my 2 sissies and my mom. We finally were able to take some time out to celebrate Mother's Day and all of our B-days. Only 4 months late, but no biggie. We have been trying since April to do this - just goes to show how busy we all are. Barb turned 36 this year, Deb, 40, Wow! and I turned 34. All of our birthdays are in a week of each other and then a week and a half later is Mother's Day. It's hard to find the time to cram all that celebrating in along with the end of the school year, Mom's Sacramento trip, Volleyball, and Baseball.

Tonight we went to see the movie "No Reservations" with Catherine Zeta-Jones (who I normally don't care for) BUT it was really good for a chick flick. Usually I avoid romantic comedies as a rule, but it was very enjoyable and I'm glad I saw it. It was funny, sad, romantic, and had a great story line. I laughed - I cried - it became a part of me.Then we had dinner at Olive Garden, which was delicious as always - but the best part was then going to BJ's for chocolote chunk pazookie. Probably the BEST dessert in the world! We also tried the brownie pazookie which was good, but can't compare to the OG style.

It was so nice to just be the three of us. I can't remember the last time we did something like this. We have decided to do it on a more regular basis. I would encourage anyone else with sissies and a mom that live locally to do the same. It is so fun to just be the girls. We laughed so hard and the conversation covered everything from religion to how we could make our mouths look as ugly as possible. (I was told I look like a sea bass and Barb is a wide mouth frog)

Good times, Good times

Are you ready for some football!?!

2007-07-31T10:22:00.000-07:00

Football is in full swing now. The boys got their equipment this weekend and Marcus had his first practice last night. He was so jazzed. He was watching tv Sunday night with his helmet on and was up and dressed first thing Monday morning - even though practice isn't until 6:00. It was sweet though cuz he got JoJo all dressed in Elijah's gear and they went out back and had some fun running and tackling. Joseph is gonna be unstoppable when he is old enough to play. It looks like Elijah will be a receiver this year again - YEAH!!!! and we are all happy because he gets to keep his number that he's had for the last 3 years - #3. His old coach saw him and said it was really hard to give a #3 jersey to another kid this year cuz it has belonged to him for so long. Pray that they will have a fun and safe season - and win!

JoJo in his 3 point stance
Cracking heads!!!!
Scoring a touchdown!!!

What a Difference!

2007-07-29T08:23:00.000-07:00

In stark contrast to my last post, Heath and I worked Fishfest yesterday. It was amazing! While we didn't even make $10 in tips, being there was payment enough. It was so awesome to see "God's People" coming together to have fun, rock out, and worship God. I love to see grown big, burly men standing up, hands raised, singing out to the Lord. I love see women doing it too, it's just neat to see men being humble before their God and not caring who sees it. It is so the opposite of what men are taught to be these days. There were people raising their hands in worship while Chris Tomlin lead us all in song and people banging their heads to Kutless. There was such a variety of people. Young and old, black, white, hispanic, asian, etc. Everyone was gracious, friendly, and just plain nice. Unlike all the other concerts we work, people actually threw all their trash away and there weren't any fights for security to break up. Nobody cussed at us for not being able to give out cups or for the ridiculously high prices for everything.($4.50 for a bottle of soda)
It was a refreshing and pleasant example of how we, who are called to be different in this world, should be at all times. And best of all.... nobody peed in the bushes!!!

Aaron Shust was REALLY good!
Mercy Me warming up - they were awesome!
Burly man worshipping!
Kutluss rocked! They got the whole place praising God!

The Joys of Being a Beer Girl

2007-07-27T09:00:00.000-07:00

This week my BFF and I worked the Rush concert. We got to serve beer to a bunch of 40+ rockers. It was super fun. The best is when these 40+ boys, yes I said boys, get so drunk that they can't find the bathroom. Here are some fun candid (clean)photos Heather took of this. Other than this it was a lot of fun. How couldn't it be? We get to work together for 5 hours and get paid to do it! We either lead really sad lives or just love being together, cuz we really look forward to working these concerts together. We get to work FishFest this weekend and while we will not be serving any beer and making only a fraction of the money, I am looking forward to the show. Here we are in our sweet "uniforms"

The best was the night before when we had to go to this "alcohol servers" class where I think we both got officially dumbed down by the dork that ran the class. The last time I was treated this stupid was when this guy I know tried to tell me that, yes,it was his car that I saw parked in this other girls driveway at midnight, but his friend had borrowed it was apparantly sleeping with her too. I guess I do have the "I'm Stupid" sign across my forehead after all. But that is a subject for another time. Needless to say we were bored to tears so we decided to take pics.

Srappin' Weekend

2007-07-24T10:00:00.000-07:00

Just got back the other day from a relaxing weekend with my other best friend Aliki at her parents vacation home in La Quinta. It was BEAUTIFUL!! We spent the majority of the weekend scrapbooking, swimming, and eating. I made a couple of mini albums and worked some more on the never ending project - my Disney album. Can't wait to go back soon!

wow - my own blog!!

2007-07-23T21:40:00.000-07:00

Well as you can see my BFF has created a fun blog site for me to record the mundane events of my life. Not that there are many people who are interested, but it'll be fun.

Elijah started football today. This is his fourth season with the Cowboys and this year he has a new coach. We hope it will be a fun and exciting season.

Marcus starts football next week for the Wolverines. He decided to try one more nes style for his hair before sticking it into a helmet. After trying braids and realizing the pain is not worth it - he opted for twists this time. He looks too old - but very cute. He is quite the little hottie. I'm scared!

Joseph is getting to start preschool in the fall and had a fabulous pirate party that was a ton of fun!! I can't believe he is three already!

My BFF Heather

2007-07-23T14:50:00.001-07:00

So, here I am joining the blogging world and I thought it would only be appropriate to post about my best friend Heather. She is so cute, funny, generous, loving, I just plain adore her. We have known each other since High School and I think it's safe to say that no one knows me better and vice versa. In fact, she's the one typing this blog for me-she knows me that well. We share quite alot- similar tastes in our men (mocha-chocalota), similar hobbies (scrapbooking, talking, laughing, learning how to master Ebay, refining the art of brownies and ice cream), we love going to Disneyland (apart or together) and all things Disney, and we both have 3 kids. Our boys are almost the same ages-Marcus and DJ are 12 and Benny and Elijah are 10 and only one week apart. They are best buds and we love watching them grow up together. And then there's JoJo-who could forget about him? I'll post more about him another time. Check back often for updates on our fantastic family life. Here are some fun pics of me and Heather-we have shared some amazing times together and here is just a smidgin of those times....enjoy!