Sometimes we have to do what is the most difficult...

Jackson decided he wanted to play basketball this session. He isn't playing baseball this year and has been concentrating on karate for the last 18 months.We signed him up to be on the younger team that Steven's tournament team coaches and got his good friend on the team too. He missed the first official practice as it was during his trip east. The next week I took him to practice, but the coach had cancelled it and told kids the previous week -so we didn't know. (neither did the other 6 kids who showed up). Wednesday night Jonathan took him to practice -scheduled for 1 hour. It ended up being a full hour and a half --mostly all running, practicing a drill over and over. Jackson told me the next morning that his feet were blistered (the pad right behind the toes was really bruised) and he couldn't walk and he hates basketball -he no longer wants to play. I told him we'd talk about it later and off to school he went. He took a motrin for the achiness -but has since informed me that "motrin doesn't work for that." He complained a bit more Thursday and we told him he has to go to the game -see how he likes the games, they are different than practice. To be completely honest, Steven always hates practice with this coach too -he is all about endurance and outlasting the other team, with a little skill thrown in.

Friday was horrible. From the moment he got home he was cranky and moody and didn't want to go. It didn't help that his friend is out of town this week at his grandfathers funeral -so Jackson didn't really know anyone on the team and he can be shy. I admit I was frustrated with why the kid couldn't just do what we were telling him to do? We said that he had to go to the game. He came to me about 1/2 hour before we were to leave and said "can I just pay you $99 of my money and not play basketball?" It was so hard to not say yes. To stand my ground and look at his pitifully unhappy face. So we told him we expect him to get that out of his system before we get there -he is not to be rude or disrespectful around his coach or team -that is not acceptable.

We got there and it was still painful for me to see him look so sad as we waited for the court to clear. I told his coach (Mike) that he was leary after the practice and he told me it would be fine, he'd be playing alot. Mike said he told Jackson that he may call him Steven sometimes, but after hearing about his response to the practice said maybe he'd call him Steven 2. Steven always hated the running too, and Mike knew it!

So the game starts (1st picture) and he is still hesitant. Then it kicks in.. he scored our 4th basket in the first 4 minutes and a smile lit across his face. He went on to score another basket, got 7 rebounds, 2 steals, 1 assist and 1 save. He played 4/5 periods and did a great job keeping up. The period he sat out (right after picture #2) was neat because only 2 kids sat at a time. Our coach had to go to his next teams game and a dad took over coaching.. that dad was Shareef Abdur-Rahim, former Kings Forward and current Kings assistant coach. Jackson was so excited to sit and talk with him during his bench time. I tried to get the picture of the 2 of them on the bench -but they were blurry. Next week I'll take the better camera!

He loved playing and is looking forward to next week. It was tough to be so hard on him about it -but it paid off in him seeing that
it was much better than he expected!

So a rough day with a happy ending.

Today my day was filled with .....

Silence! The boys headed back to school today after 2.3 weeks off! I was able to work in peace and quiet & because of that I got alot done! When they are home, they are upstairs, downstairs, in the kitchen, upstairs, outside, inside... every time one of them walks by my head jerks that direction, tearing my focus from whatever I am supposed to be working on.

So today I finished up all my work from last quarter, got 2nd quarter ready to go, worked on ideas for a scrapbook project I agreed to do, completed my exercise dvd (ouch, still, 12 hours later!), walked the dogs, did a little grocery shopping and surfed the internet. It is no longer Lent and I figure I need to catch up -so I spent about an hour goofing off and looking at sites, I admit it!

I had a great trip to the grocery store... with a sale plus OYNO (on your next order) coupons I got 22 pouches of Bertolli Pasta sauce (yummy, I had it for lunch!), 4 #s bananas, 2 12 packs of water with squeeze tops (for the boys to use/re-use for school, but it's ok if it gets lost), 2 dozen eggs, 2 gallons of milk, hamburger buns, 4 #s pork chops and 2 #s hamburger for dinner -- all for $23.43 cash and I received $26 in OYNO coupons to use next time!!! So really it all ends up being FREE!!! The shelf price was $123.93 (before tax). So then of course I had to come home and get caught up clipping my coupons so I can go back again before the sale ends and stock up on some more things that are on sale!

I was able to see most of Steven's baseball game. They still haven't won a game.. when I left they were starting the 4th inning and the score was 8-2. We finished 12-2 at the end of the 4th and the game was called under a mercy rule. Steven caught a good game and got on base both hits. He almost got called out the first time, but the umpire changed his original call after consulting with the home plate ump. He then misread the steal sign and he went.. and got tagged out -but him stealing brought in a run! I didn't see his second at bat, but I understand he was stranded when the inning ended. He played well and that is all we can hope for. I had to leave early to take Jackson to karate.. only one more class to go before his belt test..... he did really well tonight. Then on the way home he asked to stop at donut store on the corner -we had never gone there and donuts at 7:45 at night seemed strange -but what the heck -and you know what? the donuts were darn good and mine was even still warm! We had to eat dinner about 3:30-4 before the game -so by the time he had worked out an hour at karate, he was hungry (and so was I) again. I am actually glad we don't have very many 5 pm games --it is killer on the schedule. 7:30 games get done late -but at least we have time to eat dinner before hand. Steven has to be there 90 minutes before the game, so he actually ate at 2:45 --dinner. yikes.

So I am off to bed.. hoping for another productive day tomorrow! Sweet dreams everyone!

Menu Plan Monday

The kids are still on spring break, today was the last day.. they head back to school tomorrow. So today was a slow moving day. This morning Jackson and I took a trip out to Ikea to look at beds. He picked one he likes and hopefully we'll be getting it soon. He is ready to move to a bigger bed -he looks giant on his twin bed and his biggest complaint is the dogs won't sleep with him since there isn't enough room. He mentioned wanting to make some other changes in his room and we are going to work on those too.

It was nice to have a short (2 hour) trip with just him. He is so much more open and talks so much more one on one. When Steven is there, Jackson tends to be more silly or closed off -not as open to conversation. We talked about his upcoming birthday plans, the dinner he wants, his choice of desserts and what friends to invite. I can hardly believe he is almost 10 and getting so much more adult-like. There is still a kid in him (probably always will be) but I am so proud of the tween he is becoming.

At the same time it was weird to drive away and leave Steven at home. He wasn't even out of bed yet when we left and happy to stay behind. Still, a part of me found it odd and yet exciting for him. He is old enough to babysit -he is alone at the other people's house... of course he is old enough to stay home alone -but really? It was somewhat surreal.

Tonight I went to a BeautiControl meeting with our company's vice president of marketing and development. He talked about our new "instant face lift" products and gave us an in depth lecture about whats in them, how they work and why we need them. I didn't need the talk, the proof for me is on my face -how my skin feels and looks. But it was interesting to hear him talk about it and see it all happen right before my eyes. I am always energized coming home from a meeting like that -tonight is no exception. I am thrilled to have BC in my life and to have the amazing opportunity to help other women thru that business.

So back to menu plan Monday -I am planning simple meals to get us back into the eating at home mode.. the last 2 weeks of vacation have taken their toll (everywhere!).

Tonight -Spaghetti with meat sauce
Tuesday - Hamburgers
Wednesday - Chicken Noodles
Thursday - Meatloaf, mashed potatoes
Friday- Hot dogs, mac & cheese
Saturday- chicken pot pie
Sunday- meatball sandwiches

2005 and 2009 ...

All I can say is wow.... what a difference!

Easter continues

I don't know why blogger won't let me add all my pictures! So multiple posts it will have to be.

Here's one of my honey & me... Easter 2009

The kids all agreed they had to have an egg hunt. Even though the majority of the eggs are hidden in plain sight. They had a good time looking for the candy filled eggs (thanks Cyn!) and then they took turns older then younger ... re-hiding the eggs for the others to find. So Jackson & Logan re-hid the eggs for Steven & Ciera to find.. then vice versa... they spent over an hour hunting and playing with those eggs!

Someone said go....

Happy Easter

Last night around 8 Jackson dyed Easter Eggs. He took his time, making each one a creation. I enjoyed watching his creativity and enjoyment at such a simple project --on that could easily be done at other times of the year, but isn't. I was so happy that I picked up the dye kit while I was out running errands.. and although it used all my eggs (so there were no strawberry cupcakes made) it was well worth it.

We tried to have Steven watch James Bond -Casino Royale, but he gave up after an hour citing confusing language and boring story. Oh well, I'll try again another time I'm sure -since I love James Bond movies...

This morning I had donuts from the local store (thank you Jonathan & Jackson for going to get them!) with my coffee. Then Jackson & I headed out to meet Grandma, Ciera and Logan to see Hannah Montana. There was no one there when we arrived -only 8 cars in the whole parking lot! When we got into the theater there were 3 others already there... a total of 16 of us saw the movie at the same time. The boys sat down in the front row, while the girls sat in the first row of the back section, right by the bar to put our feet on. I liked the movie -felt like it was a feel-good story and perfect for Easter.

I took the kids and my mom went home to get my dad. We headed to my house and decided to go to the dog park before heading to my brothers house. So I took Jack and my neice and nephew plus the 2 dogs and off we went. It was a beautiful day at the park -the sun was shinning, lots of dogs were playing. We just walked around while they played, for about 1/2 hour. Took them home, got ready and off we went.

When we first arrived, my dad, Jonathan and I watched the end of the Giants game. I was bummed that they lost, but you win some, you lose some.... then we enjoyed a great ham, mashed potato & gravy, baked bean, aspargus, corn and roll lunch/dinner and after that the kids played Guitar Hero World Tour (pictured below)

Jackson's shopping day

Today we were looking at sock monkey items online. Jackson loves his sock monkey that his dad got him for Christmas (after he drove us crazy that he had to have it after seeing Mr. Magoriums Wonder Emporium). Yesterday he & his friend were talking about them and how they loved them.

So today Jackson spent some of his birthday money -of course we will post pictures of them together when they arrive (probably on his blog) but he said I could share the images of his purchases.... a sock cow to be friends with his sock monkey and a cocoa dinosaur Webkinz. He is thrilled and anxiously awaiting their arrival in 7-10 business days! He bought both so he could get free shipping instead of spending $7 to ship just the cow. I couldn't be more proud of his shopping logic!

Finally Friday...

Yesterday went by in a flash. We all slept in a bit and then Steven and I watched some shows we had on tivo. I really enjoy the fact that my guys each like different things.. with Jonathan I watch 24, Friday Night Lights and Burn Notice (plus others).. with Steven I watch 90210, The Mentalist and The Unusuals.. with Jackson I watch Jon & Kate plus 8, Super Nanny and Wife Swap. It gives me time to spend with them and I get to watch things that interest me too. With the boys I find it gives us time to talk about scenarios and things we see on the shows -opens up many conversations, which is good. To fill in those that don't know -I don't watch live tv except for baseball games. ever. I only watch things I've got recorded. No flipping channels for me, all watching is pre-planned.

I did some work, the boys played and talked. We had a yummy lunch of leftover meatloaf with a fresh made batch of scalloped potatoes. Then Jackson and I headed out to pick up his friend Mikey, then we picked up my mom and we went to see Coraline. Jackson wasn't home the day that the rest of us saw it -so I had promised him we would go. This time it wasn't in 3-D, but on the plus side it was at the $3 theater. We saw the movie then it was decided he would go home with his friend for a sleepover... so the rest of us went to dinner. Once we got home we watched a little Giants game (they won!) and then some other shows together before heading off to bed at a decent hour. I then watched some tv upstairs and ended up not falling asleep until after 1 a.m. yikes!

This morning I had trouble getting up. I slept until 9:30 -which is pretty uncommon for me. Steven was up, playing on the computer when the dogs and I came down. We had some breakfast and I worked for a while before picking Jackson up at 11. Then they played and I worked some more.

I was a bit disappointed in my "power hour" I did today for my Beauticontrol business. The challenge was to spend 1 hour on the phone and book 4 spa's. I did book 1 -but I left 14 messages -which was not how I expected it to go. But really it was Good Friday and mid-afternoon during spring break -so I can't be too down. I scheduled another for early next week (still within the challenge deadline) and hopefully that one will be more successful!

Tonight I had a Spa. It was alot of fun. There were 8 great women there and it was a pleasure to meet them and have the opportunity to talk with them about relaxing and taking that time for themselves. I stayed a bit long, gabbing with my friend who hosted before heading home -but a good time was had by all! And I have 2 more parties on the books and many new customers too -all good things that will help me build my business!

So now it's the weekend and I am free! I am planning to clean house and organize a bit tomorrow. I may even scrapbook some. Then on Sunday I am going to take Ciera & Jackson to see the Hannah Montana movie -it looks so cute. Plus we'll have Easter Dinner with the whole family -that will be nice. It's looking to be a great weekend! Hopefully I'll get some pictures to share with all of you!