Vida. Risa. Amor.

It's good to get away from time to time, but after another family road trip has come and gone, it's been another chance for me to realize how much I love home, (my pillows), and my sporty family's world.

I'm even getting psyched for this weekend's games my kids are playing in.  5 games.  5 practices.  (And this is a quieter week).  People still don't understand why this could be fun for me to have all 4 of my kids actively involved in sports, but I can't imagine the weekends any other way.  I love having my kids play something they enjoy, and I love being there for an assist, a goal, a tricky pass, a touchdown, a flag grab, a basket, a steal, a hit, an RBI, a double, (yep, I'm learning softball lingo), and that crazy awesome noise of when the softball smacks the mitt perfectly and the dirt dust smokes off the top, and the guy in blue yells "Out!"  So yeah...it's not so much that I love sports,  I super love watching my kids play. 

As Josie's highschool soccer season just wrapped up, her Barca soccer club team had a college showcase tournament this past weekend in Vegas. The highlight of this trip for me was watching my girl play her heart out, with a goal scored and all, I am so proud of her!  We've been busy before this weekend typing up her "soccer resume" and sending out letters to potential colleges...I never knew there was such a thing to have to do until now.  And I'm really not so sure I'll be able to let her go in just 2 years.  Time is flying.

Lanie's Jr.High Desert Ridge softball team were undefeated all season and won their championship! Great job Lady Rattlers! She also plays outfield with her East Valley Pride club team and recently hit a home run...can't wait to see her do more great things!  Love my LanieLou.

Aydan is finishing up his basketball season and though it was his first year trying out the sport, he really did well!  He's already getting conditioned for a new football season as well and this time his team will be the Panthers.  He's hoping he'll compete against his cousin Micah, as they are now in the same age bracket and league.

Rylan is begging me to sign him up for boxing, wrestling, Karate, or a ninja warrior skills building class.  We've even recently chained up a punching bag in the backyard for him to pound on and sadly he has found out it hurts his little hands to punch on.  (Batman punching gloves come in handy though).  And I so very much want to get him signed up soon for something, but I have discovered that even I have limits...(4 in sports = chaos.)  Summer will be his turn for camps and trying out different activities. 

So that's all for now. 

Spring is in the air...and I smell lots of fields of grass....and cleats, shinguards, softballs, soccerballs, footballs...

It's just been so busy.  I say it all the time, but gosh, there's just so much going on in our family.  My gas tank went from full to empty in 5 days between work, school, softball, basketball, football, and soccer.  (Ok, and Kohls).  It seems every minute of every day we are scheduled. 

In the middle of this action packed week, Rylan came home from school the other day telling me that a mean first grader punched him in the stomach.  It really doesn't take much for this mother tiger to get her claws out when anyone messes with her babies....especially her youngest one.  Sigh.  He was so sad, and it made my heart break. The teacher was made aware of it as was his big brother and football buddies, so I'm pretty sure it's safe to say there won't be any more punching going on. 

And so today I was a Kindergarden Mom.  He's my last Kindergardener, and I need to keep reminding myself of that because I'll admit that there's a huge part of me that has a "been there and done that" attitude...(3 times actually).  I have been slacking in the "volunteering department", and about a month ago I offered to help out at his school for his jogathon.  It's easier to check yes, and a lot harder to actually follow through and show up...especially when your refrigerador is bare.  I'll admit I even e-mailed the teacher to check if they had enough volunteers, but my 5 year old would not let me off the hook as easily...not even if we didn't have any ice-cream left in the freezer.  I haven't exactly been available to help out in his class since I started working part time, and of all my kids, he has been the one to notice my absence.  He really has had a rough week, and so I showed up, slapped my Bulldog visitor sticker and smile on and all my thoughts of groceries were erased once I saw, that he saw, that I was there.

He had a very successful 4 lap jogathon and when it was time for me to go he hugged me goodbye.  After I walked away about 50 feet, he chased me down for one more hug.  He has strong little arms that squeeze tight like his Daddy's and his head even rested on my shoulder for a few extra seconds.  I love his grubby, five year old boy smell.  Best hugs ever.

Every morning I drop him off for school, he walks backwards, shouts "I love you!",  and waves goodbye to me until he can't see me anymore. 

...Before the school year ends I'm going to make myself stop the car and chase him down for just one more hug too.

I'll probably do it more than twice a week for the rest of his life. :)

Well it's 5:56 a.m. and I just can't go back to sleep.  I've been tossing and turning in my bed for about an hour ever since my husband kissed me goodbye somewhere around 4:45 when he set off for work.  My head has been pounding for a few days now, but for other reason's besides my headcold, I was left with a huge awareness of the amount of responsibility we both carry right now.  I am really bad at telling him, but I am so thankful for his faithfulness to continue to work long hours at the restaurant he works at to provide for our family.  He's so good at what he does too.  On New Years Eve, he made it home from his 11 hour shift at 11:47 p.m. just in time to find us all in the driveway around the firepit with our neighbors and fireworks to bring in the New Year.  According to Rylan I need to remember to buy more sparklers for next year.

2011 seemed to be a year of brief "hello's", and quick "good-bye's"...soccer, football, and softball.  And to be honest, that followed us right into 2012.  Maybe because it's now 6:37 a.m., and I'm still trying to figure out my thoughts, I'm feeling a little anxious about today.  It's only day two of 2012, and like most people are doing, this is the time of year to make resolutions to improve the parts of our lives that need improving and reflect on the things needing change.

I don't know that I can change a whole lot actually.  Our activities and schedules have already filled up the new calender, but I guess if I were to set a goal, or prayer, it would be for Strength...with a capital S.  To develop more endurance and energy, and to remember to stay strong for my family:  physically, emotionally, and spiritually. 

I looked up and saw another one of my "Isaiah" hawks gliding in the sky yesterday.  God finds little ways to remind me he's still with me.  Always.  Guess I should just look up more often.

Tape.  Every home needs some, and to this day I don't really understand why I can't seem to ever own a pack with the handy little jagged edge that helps rip off strips for you.  I can never seem to remember to grab a pack at the store, so I am forced to spend 10 minutes of my days searching for it's "invisible to the naked-eye" edge and make lame attempts to carefully peel it up evenly to make a smooth tear.  Never happens.  Ever. 

It's a boring story actually, but every time I find myself staring at my edgeless roll of tape, it seems to be the metaphor of my life.  My patience is lost, I wonder if it's best to give up, and the end seems nowhere in sight.

Maybe that's too deep to compare myself to a roll of tape, but it somehow made sense in my mind and I'm going "stick" with it...  (hehe).

I realize my family's activities this season sounds ridiculous to most people.  Soccer.  Football.  Club softball. Club soccer.  Highschool Varsity soccer.  Jr.High softball.  All in one week.  An average of 5-7 practices a week, and 3-4 games on Saturdays.  I'd be lying if I didn't admit it makes a Mom tired.  Proud.  But tired.

I don't always know if this was the lifestyle I imagined for our family.  It's just a season and I know the "end" of it is coming eventually.  My kids seem happy with what they're involved in, and we're happy to watch them.

So, just for now, I know I won't know who the biggest loser is, or the next dancing star, or what's really pinteresting.  Piles of socks will always be turned inside out in the laundry and grass and chunks of dirt will forever be ground into my van's carpet.  I have a "Little Caesar" to thank for feeding us so often too...

Guess I'll keep "rolling" with it all for now.

I hope I can remember that when it comes to
whatever is next for my kids futures,
that by God's grace,
...the possibilities are endless.

When it comes to cheering, I really don't consider myself "hard core".  And wow, there are definately a lot of those kind of parents out there.  I promised myself I will never shout: "Man up!" every two seconds like some football Dads do, or spit endless bags of sunflower seeds while shouting "Come on, you can do better than that!" like I've heard some softball parents do, or a be a "swear at the ref" kind of soccer fan.  Sheesh.  Like the kids don't already know when they made a mistake, and I'm sure they don't need their parents announcing their disappointments.  When it comes to game day, I don't ever expect perfection from my kids, but just that they were trying their best.  Winning isn't everything, but competitiveness and the drive to play a game well will always run in my blood....but the love for my kids comes before any of that.


Aydan has played several seasons on his Cardinal's football team, (he'd know the exact amount...I lost track), and still plays with most of his buddies from school.  Something "clicked" in his little brain this year, in that he learned as soon as that whistle blows, he charges for the flag.  (Like a bull, hence, the name, "El Toro"). I'm second guessing my plan of "bribing" him for a dollar a flag because I think we're up to $18 for just 3 games already.  I'm so proud of him.

It's Labor day today and I can honestly say I'm not sure what to do with this holiday.  I work part time during the week as a teacher's aide, (of a highschool nursing class), so I understand the concept of looking forward to a three day weekend a little more now.  I am usually incapable of taking a "day off" anyway so looking back on my three day weekend I did exactly what I usually like to do:  got a bunch of stuff done.  (I assumed I was supposed to labor anyway).

Lanie made a club softball team a week ago, so until she has games she has practices both on Friday night and Saturday mornings.  There was a lot of time spent in my lawnchair in that dusty dirt dugout with a watered down diet coke, so as soon as we got back home I decided to disappear in the front yard with my leaf blower.  I didn't seem to notice it was 110 again, and I am still under the impression my neighbors think I am insane...(well, atleast they can see I like to keep my yard clean).

Sunday was the only day this week where we had abso-freaking-lutely NADA on the calendar scheduled to do.  I should have done exactly that:  nothing...but as I have mentioned before, I have serious issues of pulling that kind of day off.  Instead, I had the genius plan that it might be fun to take myself and the kids up for a daytrip to Sedona.  With all our phones, DSI's, and the portable DVD player packed, we had pretty much everything to make the 2 1/2 hour drive pretty bearable.  What I didn't plan for was the extra hour the last 13 miles was going to take to actually arrive to Sedona, because it seemed that half of everyone in Phoenix had the same idea as we did.  I also didn't realize the temperatures were going to be the same 103 degrees as the valley area, and that I should have had cash instead of a credit card to park to go hiking.  The lot where we wanted to hike was full anyway, so our place in line was going to be farther back if I had to drive the 20 miles back to an ATM to get cash and come back, so we checked out the stores and bought Ikea meatball-sized scoops of icecream for $3 each instead. 

What made this trip worth it for my kids was when we stopped in the Los Abrigados Resort near Tlaquepaque where they played minigolf at the park with a creek behind it all to splash around in....(nice that it was free.)  What made the drive worth it for me was the smell of the leaves and listening to the sound of the running water at the creek while being shaded under the huge trees.  I love nature and hope my kids grow up loving it too.  As an extra bonus a little nature rock found it's mark on the windshield on the drive home.

Today, besides laundry and grocery shopping, I decided I wasn't quite finished with being outside so I conquered more yardwork.  I was in a mood to trim my backyard trees, so with country music blasting, and standing on the last rung of my extension ladder, I found a way to slice those wicked palm fronds off.  (By the way, those branches have no mercy on you if you accidently scrape your arm along the edge.)  I also realized my mesquite tree was looking pretty shabby and one power-saw tool later I had about 3 wrist thick heavy branches successfully sawed off.  I also got mesquite sawdust up my nose and in my eyes.  I sat in the kiddy pool for about an hour after that.  Yep, still not sure what my neighbors or my kids think of me some days.

I admit I like projects and yardwork, but I love more the bits and pieces in a weekend that allow me to catch up with my kids and just be around them.  Maybe the hope to create a memory in Sedona was more spent in the moments during the drive, and I loved that I had all 4 of them to myself.  I'll take as much of them as I can get.

This was the last unscheduled weekend before the games begin, and it's going to be interesting to see how we're going to juggle all four of them in sports this season....

Before I knew blogs existed, in my college days in the early 90's,  I used to write down memory filled and busy weeks in incomplete sentences.  I eventually threw those piles of memories away as I think some things back from those times might be better left unsaid. 

19 years later,  my brain occasionally doesn't seem to want to function in complete sentences, so this choppy sentence style is going to be given another chance.  Hopefully I might grab a memory or two of this very busy week, (season).  So here's what's been up:

Sophomore Jaguar
Jr. High Rattler
3rd grade and Kindergarden Bulldogs.

Job hunting.  Resume building.  Reference searching.
Website browsing, facebook stalking, email checking.

Softball tryouts: Friday, Tuesday, Saturday, Sunday:
Birth Certificate copies, 20 page tryout packets, fund raising.
Back to school signatures, school supplies, forms, forms, forms.
Homework helping, checking, signing.
Club meeting, soccer tryouts, football meeting.
Reservations, scrimmages, tournaments.

112 degrees.
Lightning storms.
5 minute rain shower.
Humidity = sweaty kids.

Coupon cutting, ad checking, saving 65%.
Fry's, Albertsons, CVS. Pantry organizing.
Dish loading, garbage dumping, bed making,
Laundry sorting, washing, drying, sorting, washing, drying, sorting.....

6:30 a.m. Drivers Ed.,
7:30 grumpy boys wakeup,
breakfasts, make lunches, tie shoes.
8:10 drop off.
8:12 clean, clean, vacuum, vacuum.
3:15 back home....hungry kids.

Fashion disasters, clothes donating, shopping.
Weight lifting, treadmill sprinting, ipod charging.
Spray painting, garage organizing, car cleaning.
Goodwill hunting, Target browsing, IKEA meatballs.

Ornament making.
Yes really.

Desk building, furniture rearranging, new laptop.
Checklists, messages, voicemail.
Blog writing, blog deleting, blog blech.

Grandma makes us food. 
She's Mrs. Incredible.
Grandpa helps with softball.
He's Mr. Incredible.

Texting, texting, texting,
texting, texting, texting,
texting, texting, sore hand.

Driving, driving, driving,
driving, driving, driving,
driving, driving, need gas.

Too tired to watch movies.
Too hot to be outside.
Too busy to slow down.

Too much for one week.