Kids blogs...

Many of you know that Jackson has been writing a blog, and now Steven has one too!

If you are interested in reading their thoughts, comments and crazy posts you can see them here.

Behind the Plate - Steven

Life of a Karate Boy who plays b-ball - Jackson

A funny conversation...

Last night I called Round Table to order a Meatball Marvel -their current advertised pizza.
Here's how that went:

ring, ring...
him: Thank you for calling your Foothills Round Table, home of the meatball marvel, this is doug, will this be for pickup or delivery?
me: thank you Doug, I would like to order a Meatball marvel for delivery please
him: will that be pick up or delivery
me: delivery please
him: can I get your phone number
me: (gives number) (confirms address)
him: so a meatball marvel for delivery.. can you hold on a sec
me: sure (1 minute 26 seconds go by)
him: sorry about that... I guess we don't make the meatball marvel anymore, sorry
me: I just received the flyer today advertising it
him: yeah, I guess we got a memo from corporate last week that when we ran out of toppings we were done
me: did you know that when you answered the phone "home of the meatball marvel"
him: yeah, I guess they talked about it in our staff meeting, but I got used to saying that
me: ok. well I guess I need to figure out my order and call back
him: alright, bye.

I have to say I enjoyed my Original Pete's Meatball Pizza about 45 minutes later.. but still remain baffled by that entire 8 minute interaction.

The cost of utilities

For the last couple years our utility bills have seemed outrageous to me. I have realized recently that we were not be energy conscious or aware. I have been working this past 2 months to make some changes to how we use energy. I have:

• tunplugged lots of unused cords
• been opening the house at night to cool down, then closing it up before the heat of the day to save the air conditioning
• tried to not use lights downstairs until after dinner, relying instead on the natural light that flows so freely there
• been not running the dishwasher or washing/drying clothes between 8am-8pm
• been washing the bed linens early (before 8am) and then hung them on the porch to dry - the sun is shining on the porch in the morning -so they are dry before noon! I am thinking it might be time to add a laundry line to the backyard -so many things could be dried out there -quicker than my old dryer seems to dry them.
• doing lots of my cooking/baking after 8pm too when it is cooler
• using the crockpot
  

I am hoping that when the next bill comes (around the 20th) that we will start to see my awareness pay off.. I will keep you posted on that. I did see a decrease this month -last year April/May was $401 this year $325... of course May/June was $532 so I am hoping to come in no more than $400... fingers crossed!

Rivercats Night

Jackson is part of the choir at school. It is made up of about 40 4th and 5th graders. The kids have to go to school 30-45 minutes early 1 day a week in order to participate. Our music teacher has done such a great job with the choir. Anyway, they had the opportunity to sing the National Anthem at the game last night and I captured it with Jack's video camera. I am so glad I did -it brought tears to my eyes & I am excited to have a record of it. Jack is in the very back - I am also including the still photo -so you can see him, that way you'll know where he is in the group. At the very end you can hear an excited Grandma cheer -be ready for it....

The 4th graders also learned Take me Out to the Ballgame on their recorders, and they got to go on field in the 7th inning stretch to play. One neat thing that happened is that they were doing their sound check (at 5 p.m. = game at 7:05) during warm-ups and the Rivercats players actually stopped, watched and clapped for them -how exciting! I wasn't able to get the recorders on video -but I did snap a photo from our seats...

Coloma

Yesterday I went to Coloma with Jackson's 4th grade class.. 2 buses of kids, 120 kids and 46 parents (mostly in cars -who wants to ride the bus?) embarked on this journey, leaving the classrooms at 9:15 a.m. and we returned to school about 6 p.m.

I was in charge of these 5 boys: Jackson, Jacob, Tyler, Robert and Brennon. With our group was also Tyler's dad Ari. We spent the day walking around the town, gold panning, touring the museum, watching a movie of the gold rush town history and seeing a ranger give a talk about when gold was first discovered while building the sawmill. We climbed up the mountain to see the monument at the top. The day went pretty well, the kids all behaved and got along (which I didn't expect) and it was only about 90 instead of the forecasted 100 degrees.



The gold panning location was out in the bright sunlight and the kids went at it for about 45 minutes in the heat.. so after we headed to the icee store and made sure they all got one whether they brought $$ with them or not. We couldn't let just one be left out of icee's, right? We then settled in the shade to watch the ranger give a talk about how they build the sawmill and when gold was discovered there. It was neat to hear his description, all in real, understandable language --it was like hearing it from someone who was there.


It was a long day... at 3:30 the kids all came back together for a bbq... afterwards we got ready to leave. I had carpooled with a friend and we intended for our kids to ride back with us -Jack kept saying he was going back on the bus.. but at the last minute -he opted to ride in the car with us -which proved a good choice -seeing as how we beat the buses back by about 27 minutes.

Treasured Moments

Steven snapped this picture for me the other day. It is a rare glimpse into
the cuddly Jackson who exists so rarely these days. He is growing up so fast
and has quickly outgrown many of my favorite times of the past. I can remember
when he would sit with me like this every day to chat, watch a show or read a picture book -
and I am not talking 5 years ago either... He is more likely now to lay on the floor
and cuddle Sammy or sit just close enough that I can't reach out and touch him. He
no longer lets me ruffle his hair or anything. So this was a treat for me -to have a moment
like that captured in time -so I know that I miss something real. He is maturing much faster
than the other one did -probably since he has a big brother. I just have to work harder at
storing up these memories... the days go by just too fast!

Today I am off to Coloma with Jackson's class. It is a long field trip 9am-6pm but should be fun. I have everything ready -camera, sunscreen, lots of water, lunches, gum and band-aids. I have been invited to a volunteer appreciation breakfast first at school, then the field trip, then I am supposed to go to my monthly scrapbook night -which may or may not happen after such a long day. Jackson also has karate -which he will decide about once we get home. It's about an hour on the school bus for him (I am going in a car with some friends) and will probably be quite loud and chaotic -so it could overstimulate him -we'll have to see.

I went yesterday to Fit Club at the gym with a friend. We did an hour of intense workouts, mainly in kickboxing. It was fun, challenging and looooong. I am sore and having a bit of trouble moving my arms -but that should pass. I am going back tomorrow for the Total Body workout -which sounds like it might get me in trouble..hmmm. Then last night we had our book club meeting at Starbucks -just 3 of us (the other 2 actually read the book, I couldn't get into this month's selection Snow Flower and the Secret Fan) and we talked about kids growing up fast, teenagers, life and stuff. It was just what I needed -2 hours of adult girl time....

The season is coming to an end...

Last night was one of those days that I got caught without my camera --and really wished I had it with me. Steven's team played at 7:30 and his manager wasn't there, the assistant coach was in charge. So he had Steven start off the game pitching! He did really well, unfortunately the rest of the team wasn't on their game and the defense behind him was lacking.. so there were 7 runs allowed... but I think there were an equal number of errors (if I'm not mistaken..) Then he moved to catcher and did an excellent job there as well --grabbing onto some really wild pitches! He had a great hit (with an RBI) in the first and then walked in the 3rd. We ended up losing in the 4th when they were ahead 12-2, bringing their record to 1-16{insert sad face here}. Steven is still having fun and loving the game & playing..most of the time. He was frustrated when there was no defense behind him last night.. I could see it on his face when they came in... still he was smiling when the game ended.

My dad pointed out what their problem might be... after the game the coach said "right field" and the whole team (including him) headed out to left field..LOL

Memorial Day

My guys!

Memorial Day the 3 of us slept in, hung out and watched The Terminator (in preparation to see the new one). Jackson got home around 1 from a fun night at his friend Alfred's house. He needed some alone time so he did some computer, watched some tv upstairs and played with his basketball cards... while we watched the movie. I left the boys downstairs doing Wii Fit and went upstairs to watch last weeks Desperate Housewives (which was the season finale and I still hadn't watched it!). Then we got a call asking if the boys wanted to go swim and they did! So we headed out (Jonathan was at home) expecting to be gone an hour or so... well the boys were swimming, we were visiting and next thing I knew we were all eating a delicious meal of grilled hamburgers, salads, corn on the cob.. yummy! After dinner the boys swam some more and then made s'mores. They had such a great time and it was so simple and easy. We finally got them back out of the pool around 7:50 and were home by 8. Such a great time, relaxing and just hanging out with good friends...loved it!





making s'mores....


oops.. my marshmallow is on fire!!

Yummy!

the kids learned to put the solar cover back on the pool!

This is a picture I will treasure. It is my boys with their best friends
Josh and Justin and their grandparents -Trish & Don... love it!

Baseball tournament....

I just liked this one...of him on 1st


they tried to pick him off.. but he made it back to base!


getting the sign...

the face of someone stranded at third...

right before his great hit!

making a great stop!

We spent the better part of Saturday and Sunday at Steven's baseball tournament. I have to say it was a beautiful weekend to be out at the games. We had a 8am game Saturday and it was downright chilly because of the wind.. I went in short, tank top and flip flops and didn't bring a sweater -so I was freezing! My in-laws got there just before the game started and had 2 blankets -which they shared with me -I was so grateful they thought ahead! Second game my parents came to watch -it wasn't until noon -so it was a bit warmer -plus I went home and changed into capri's and grabbed a sweater.. we were finished about 3. Jackson opted to stay at his cousins house Friday night to avoid having to go to the game, then Sunday he was invited to a friends to sleepover, which got him out of those games as well. He was disappointed to hear that he missed out on meals after both games. Saturday afternoon we went to a local BBQ joint (Pit Stop BBQ) where Jonathan and I used to go when we lived over in North Highlands. I am happy to say the food was just as good as I remembered and we all enjoyed it. Sunday night it was about 9 when we finished and Steven had been there since 3 (with no time for dinner in between) so we headed to Dennys and Jonathan's parents joined us. So we had a some food, conversation and fun. Jackson was bummed.. but he was still happy to have missed the games.


They played four games and ended up losing all 4. The first game was against the other "local" team -mostly kids *and coaches* from our little league (including 3 players & 1 coach who used to be on our team) and the kids were ready for it! They played really well and the game was tied at the beginning of the 6th 5-5. The Bandits scored a run and went ahead, which ended up winning them the game. The game was a well fought battle with the boys hitting, defending and playing well together.. everything looked good going into game 2. Game 2 we held onto until the 3rd inning -when the other team scored something like 8 runs? At that point the boys playing appeared to give up and looked defeated, well before the game ended. Steven was the "extra hitter" in that game ...which means he did not play in the field at all -but he did get at bats. He was frustrated with the lack of defensive plays and the errors being made in the field...but he still tried to rally the kids when they came in to bat -I was very proud of him and his attitude.

Day 2.. we battled in both games and it seems like it always comes down to just 1 off inning. Steven caught the whole first game (only his 2nd game catching since his injury) and did a great job! He was a wall and really worked to keep the ball out in front of him (see picture below that is a true example of this).... He was scheduled to catch the 2nd game too.. but with only a 10 minute break between games, the pain in his leg/foot were too much and he told the coach he couldn't do it.. so he played 3 innings in right field, then sat the last inning...

He really loves his team and playing, even though they haven't won and he seems to sit quite a bit more than he should. I am more frustrated with it (again) and we are working together to decide where to go from here... he has lots of options and I hope he takes a good hard look at them.

Waffles!

Today we had homemade waffles for breakfast (we had them for dinner on Tuesday too!). The boys and I really like waffles but we didn't have a waffle iron. A dear family friend was getting rid of her waffle iron and she sent on to us!! So now we can have hot, fresh waffles anytime! I used Bisquick for these today, but I have a great whole grain recipe we are going to try out this weekend!

So the saying is really true -one person's trash is our treasure!

Open House...

Last night we all went to Jackson's Open House. His class worked hard finishing up projects and his teacher worked hard getting them all up and ready for us to see. We went towards the end -so that we would miss the crowds (and it worked!) Jack agreed as we were heading out that I could take my camera... I was thrilled! Steven had said no the night before:0(

So we got there and this is what saw first.. on his desk this great card with a picture, a cinquian about him, his favorite stuff about 4th grade ( Stations, choir, basketball, computers, reading, Coloma, PE, Science) and a self portrait.

He let me snap a photo of he & his teacher.... he really likes her (and I do too!)

Then we went to the Multi-Purpose room and saw the art projects (each class was represented). You could make a donation to "buy" your child's art --but Jackson was ready to go and kept saying that you couldn't buy it -he gets it back later. So I made a donation anyway and can't wait to hang this piece of art in my house!


We saw lots of friends, Steven got to visit with his teachers from when he went to school there and it was a nice night!

A slice of my life...

I scrapbook for many reasons... it is a great creative outlet.. it is a social activity I can do with friends... it is a way to document memories that are here today and gone tomorrow. I am finding a much more solid sense of that now that I scrapbook current. I am able to document moments in time and get them into my album while I still remember what they are.

This photo is just one example of what motivated me to take on project 365.. the idea is to take 1 photo every day for a year. Photo's that capture a slice of life... like my boys sitting at the kitchen table, talking and doing their homework. It happens almost every day -this is the first time I have captured it. I am so glad that I did! Looking back thru the photo's I have taken so far this year.. all 140 of them... and I am so thankful that I decided to tackle this project .. it is almost second nature to snap a picture every day.. some with my dslr, some with my point and shoot camera and some spontaneous ones with my phone.. they all serve a purpose and work fine.

Cherry time!

Jackson and I love cherries! We were just able to get some at the store Sunday night! Cherries are one of my food splurges.. right now I am able to get them $3,99 /lb for the red ones. My favorites are the yellow/red Rainer cherries -I have been known to pay up to $5.99/lb for those. My goal is to buy alot when they are on sale for $3.99. I am hoping they'll have them at the small farmers market we go to.... it starts next Tuesday, so I'll have to wait and see.

We enjoy a bowl as a snack. I couldn't resist documenting this bowl in Jack's hand for my Project 365. I have actually made it to May 20 and have taken a picture (of something) every day this year!

So excited....

about this...


Jackson is starting book 4 and I am going to re-read the Harry Potter books, then re-start the Twilight series...

Choir at the Sock Hop

Friday night we headed to the elementary school to watch Jackson sing in the choir. It was the PTA Sock Hop that night, we couldn't stay as he had a basketball game right after....


They sang the National Anthem --which they will sing again on the 29th at the Rivercats game!!!

They also sang Triple Play, Splish Splash, He's got the Whole World in his Hands
and

Then they finished off with We are the Champions!

The kids did an excellent job. They have gone to school 1/2 early every week since school started... and it is
paying off in these performances. Their music teacher is a patient, kind woman (who will get a lovely end of the year
gift from this very appreciative mother) who has worked wonders with this group.

HOT, HOT and HOTTER

Today ends our 2nd day in a row over 100 degrees. Unfortunately, even with our house closed up and the a/c running -it's still 89 degrees inside. That makes me grouchy and truthfully? no fun to be around (I don't think anyone that lives with me will disagree).....

My friends husband came out and checked the a/c on Friday -he said it is running fine and cooling right (after taking temperature readings at every vent).... he will be back tomorrow to see if there is anything else wrong...

I know when we moved to this house --we were able to cool it. Last year the bills got really high during the summer -but I am pretty sure it was still cooling off to under 80... if this is what the summer has in store.. I want OUT!

I have been praying all weekend for the heat wave to end, a new a/c to not cost a fortune and to be within our means.... hopefully it won't come to that, but we don't know. What I do know is I do not handle heat well, not well at all.

In fact, when I woke up this morning and it was 84 inside.. I left and went to Starbucks (aaaah, airconditioning!), came home and got a message from a friend, headed out to meet her for a noon time movie... then called home after the movie and convinced the family to meet me at the other theater to see another movie, then dinner at Mel's Diner and a stop at both Target and Safeway--bringing me home about 8 pm (left at 11). It is now 8:55 and I am truly miserable already.

What did we do this weekend??? Jackson performed with the school choir at their Sock Hop (pictures hopefully tomorrow if I can get to them)... then he played basketball and his team won! Saturday I attended a red hat jewelry party (Jackson came too) and then Steven had a baseball game at 4:30 where it was REALLY HOT! Home, showered, hung out with the kids, showered again and finally took some tylenol pm about 8 pm hoping it would help me sleep even though I wasn't comfortable.....then today -movies.

I better stop now... before I get crazy -I gotta get near a window -hopefully there'll be some kind of a breeze! Or maybe it's time for another cold shower..... hmmmmm.

It's a Swagbucks Starbucks Friday!

As I sat down to blog today, I am enjoying my FREE Starbucks Iced Coffee with Milk x2! It is my new favorite treat -only 110 calories. Just coffee on ice with a little sweetener and milk. Not fancy -but delicious. In fact I am trying to replicate it at home for when my FREE money runs out. Today's coffee is courtesy of Swagbucks.


For those that have never heard of Swagbucks, http://swagbucks.com/?cmd=sb-register&rb=328179, it is a simple alternative to using Google or any other search engine, with one exception: Swagbucks actually pays you to search. Simply use Swagbucks to do your searching and every so often you will earn Swagbucks that you can redeem for prizes and gift cards. My favorite is the $5 Amazon Gift Card (45 Swagbucks). It really is the best value of all of the gift cards, in my never-to-be-humble opinion. I recently redeemed 130 points for a $10 Starbucks card that I had to share with Steven because he used the Swagbucks search and hit the jackpot -50 bucks! That went a long way towards that Starbucks card. I used Swagbucks for several months last year and was able to get 3 Christmas gifts FREE from Amazon for just searching the internet (as I normally would). Now I admit -I do extra searches now, hoping for another payoff like Steven's... but it hasn't happened and I limit myself to 5 or so a day. If you decide to give it a try -please use my link as I get some type of credit -although I am not sure how that part really works, I admit it. I just wanted to share this easy way to earn FREE stuff!

The other night Jackson and I went to the mall (I think I mentioned that?) to go shoe shopping. He objected to the fact that I took his brother shopping on Sunday and not him, because he needed shoes too (now he tells me! Like I really wanted to do this twice?) He saw lots of neat shoes that were outrageously expensive, but totally cool on our way thru Nordstroms. We got to the Van's store (our destination) where he was looking for slip on shoes. Unfortunately, the slip on shoes are not built for a foot the shape of his -he had to keep going bigger to fit the widest part of his foot, then the shoes slipped on the heel. I was unwilling to pay $50 for a pair of shoes he would decide after 2 days not to wear. So he looked a bit and asked (hesitantly) if he could try some tie on shoes? I said of course and he pointed out they were almosst $20 more! I said it's ok and he tried these ones... they are so cute, so HIM, how could I say no? So while I held fast in Nordstroms over $72 shoes, I bought $61 ones at Van's.... Not my shinest frugal moment, but if you could have seen his face, you would know why I caved. I am not sure how well the picture shows them -but they are tie-dye fabric shoes -totally Jackson!

So today I got the frowny face when I wanted to take his picture -but he looked so cute for 50's day I had to even with the frown. They are having 50's day today and then a Sock Hop tonight. He is going to the Sock Hop briefly to sing with the choir -then we have to skeedaddle quick for basketball pictures (6:45) and game at 7:30. He ended up leaving the hat in the car since he got worried it wasn't within the dress code.

Now I am off to work --have a couple hours of reports to process.... then I will be working on making chicken meals.... someone is coming to check our air conditioner (supposed to be 100 this weekend)...a regular day is planned, hope nothing unexpected comes up... hope you all are having a Fabulous Friday too!

Wednesday I cooked!

I planned to spend all of Wednesday cooking meals to go in the freezer (dinner and breakfast) but Jackson had a surprise trip to the dentist (where they pulled a tooth-ouch) and that threw my day off -but I persevered! Instead of muffins, banana bread plus 18 meals --we ended up with 13 meals -I won't complain -it's 13 homemade meals, ready to go!

I had to make 2 extra trips to the store because I thought I could "wing it" and didn't double check that I had everything before hand. I am usually much more anal about that -but I tried to fly by the seat of my pants and it didn't work. After the 2 trips to the store (which I timed with dropping off at school and the dentist...) I realized at 6 pm that I was out of the heavy duty foil to wrap the last 4 meals!!! Yikes, into the fridge they went and I will get foil today -I was not going back out again. Needless to say, this morning I have already made the list, crosschecked the recipes and will be sure to have everything I need tomorrow for chicken day!

It was my ground beef day... so I made 3 meals of meatballs and gravy (with egg noodles); 2 Shepards Pies (homemade mashed potatoes even) and 3 baked ziti. Plus I have 5 meals worth of ground beef already cooked with onions and garlic for spaghetti or sloppy joes or ??

I used 15 pounds of ground beef ( 93/7 I got on sale! for $1.49 per pound!!!!) to make all these meals. In addition, I made up 10 pounds of mashed potatoes ( a few for side dishes) and I have enough homemade spaghetti sauce for 2 meals plus tonight!!

So Wednesday was good, today I scrapbook and tomorrow is my chicken cooking day! I am hoping to get the baking done tomorrow early since they say it will be 95 degrees here by the end of the day and I really want to get some muffins and coffee cakes in the freezer.

Meatballs, egg noodles and homemade gravy --Steven was upset this wasn't for dinner last night!

Home from practice and no meatballs for dinner, Steven was still excited for Shepards Pie... nope, not for dinner either!

Everything else, already wrapped to go in the freezer -forgot to take pictures first.. oops.

My special Mother's Day....

This post was written on Mother's Day.. but sat as a draft until I spoke to my kids. I wanted to ask them if it was ok to share the notes they wrote to me online.. Jackson said no at first, then asked if I meant the blog or facebook. If it was facebook, then still no. But the blog was ok. Steven agreed right away -so with their blessings, I finish my post. If you want to read the cards, just click on the picture and you will see it big enough to read.

Friday when I picked Jackson up from school, he wanted to give me the card he made. I said when we get home, he said urgently that he wanted to do it now. I said not while I am driving -he said ok, but the minute the car stopped -he gave me this amazing card!!!


Then later, I heard his dad say he needed to have a card to go with the gift. I suggested he could draw me a picture of our family but he said that would take too long to do his best work. I guess his dad won that battle, because I did get another beautiful card with my gift on Sunday.




My darling husband got me this new camera strap for my camera! It is so cute and sassy & I LOVE it!!

Jackson picked this silver (I don't know why the picture looks copper, the whole thing is definitly silver) heart bracelet! 1/2 of the heart is shiny silver and 1/2 is matte silver. I know I will get a lot of use out of this and I LOVE it! With it came another sweet note...


Steven chose this set of bracelets -in red and silver. I LOVE this too! I will wear them lots! His note was the longest he has ever given and I will admit that tears came to my eyes as I read it.

originally I had written this:
I thought about posting the notes they gave me for Mother's day as well -but have decided that I need to get their permission before posting those. I would like them here, as I print my blog into a book and would then have it as a keepsake for ever and ever (while the actual cards may not last that long)... so I will have to check with them first.