Steven's family birthday

There's my boy who will be 13 in just 9 days????yikes.

Grandma was pretty pleased with her wrapping job...

For those of you who are wondering -no his birthdate didn't change! It is still September 12th (same as my cousin Chris). With the kids getting older and having sports games and practices, we find it harder to co-ordinate times for family dinners. We go with what we can work out and since there are 2 birthdays in September (Cyn's is coming the end of the month) it just worked out to have Steven's the end of August when everyone was available. Now, his thought was that was cool -early presents and we can swim at his dinner. Unfortunately his eye diagnosis earlier in the day made that not possible for him -bummer.

After the epic post about his eye the other day - I won't rehash that part of the day. I will however share that after his 2nd follow up (today) they doctor said the eye is healing nicely and so there should be no permanent repercussions, God willing. Good news to hear for sure!

So my mom made Steven's dinner choice: fried pork chops, mashed potatoes (and gravy even though he doesn't eat gravy he asked for it knowing others like it -so sweet my boy is!) and corn. It was yummy. The we had dessert --which I baked. White cake with strawberry frosting. I have to say I thought that was yummy too. We served the cake with vanilla/chocolate ice cream and cookies & cream ice cream (his favorites). Everyone seemed to enjoy dinner and the mood was jovial.

When it was time to light the candle (Steven's unprepared mother forgot candles) that Grandma had... the kids tried to use the lighter. I am pleased to report that none of the 4 could get a flame (unlike my cousins & I at that age..LOL) off it. Brian ended up lighting the candle while Jonathan blocked the wind from the fan. It was way more trouble than the candle was worth -or so my kid told me....

Family time comes at a premium. It seems like there is never enough time and this time was no exception. Steven had been invited to a birthday party for later that night and he really wanted to go -so we headed out about 7 to take him there. So we had a couple of hours of time to visit, no time for games this day.. maybe next time.

Present time, present time, open a box and see what's inside: another wrapped box?


Steven blowing out the candle (for the picture anyway)

Grandma & Ciera


First came Steven and the lighter...

then Jackson & the lighter....

Basketball

Tonight I took Jackson to the basketball skills evaluation. He is moving up a level -from 3/4 grade to 5/6 grade. He was still in the group of the tallest #34 out of 41 by height. He is excited about basketball. With every passing week I can see his mind working faster at what to do as his body increases it's skills. He works at it, alot. I will say that he always puts his whole heart into an activity and basketball has been the hardest for him physically. Not mentally, but working with the size of his body and coordinating everything took some getting used to. I was so proud tonight as I saw him participating in the drills, in control of his movements, being deliberate in his actions and getting the job done. Exciting for me, absolutely!

Now there are always trade-offs. For the last 2 years he has been dedicated to karate. He studied harder and more diligently than anyone and it was apparent to his teachers and those of us watching. When he started basketball 6 months ago - I really thought it would be a passing fancy... but here we are and he is still playing basketball, but has put his study of karate on hold. He just earned his purple belt and is 2 sessions away from his brown belt. A year ago, this kid spoke excitedly, often about when he could get his brown, and then black belt. It was all he wanted to accomplish, it was his dream. He would rush to the computer at the start of a new session to download the new kata and start to learn it on his own. He would often attend 2 or even 3 1/2 hour sessions per night instead of his 1 required class. Now his dream has changed and he is pursuing other sports he feels passionate about. I am still a bit sad, almost nostalgic. Last night at 7 pm I felt a twinge of sadness that we weren't at karate. I really loved watching him perform his drills and kata's --with such seriousness, such diligence, showing in his face and action such a sense of accomplishment. I realize now that what I love about karate isn't karate itself.... but the esteem it instilled in my son through it's structure and discipline. He is such a different kid now than he was before karate. He has grown mature and confident in his abilities in life. He is more direct, less shy and willing to look people in the eye. He has overcome much social anxiety and is now quite social. This is all a sign of growing up and it may have happened eventually, but I know that karate was a big part of it for Jackson. I hope that he will go back and continue his study of karate when he is ready. As Sensei always says: "the best part about karate is that it is all year long, you can take a break and come back, we will always welcome you."

Last Friday Jackson's team played in the championship game. They lost in the end and were disheartened. There were some bad calls on both sides and a disregarding of the rules by the referee's that made the loss especially hard. But they played hard and they know that. In the end the only call is the one made by the referee's and we have to respect their authority as such. That is what I want my son to know. That win or lose, you are a good sport and accept the end result. I will certainly look to the league to provide clarification of the rules that we feel were disregarded -so that we can be fully aware of the rules and regulations, teaching the boys to play by those rules. Now he will be in a new division with some new teammates and possibly different assistant coaches. He is ready for the adventure and looking forward to the challenge. So am I.

The game is tied....in the 3rd...

Time out in 2nd...

Going in to start the 2nd period...


Before the game...

I would love to blog more...but just about Steven...

Early Saturday morning (6:45 a.m.) Steven woke me to say his eye really hurt. He had taken out his contacts, but it hurt bad!
So I got up, put drops in and had him use a cold compress. We sat together downstairs watching The Firm for a while. I tried to call
the optometrist -but they are closed on the weekends:0( So about 8:45 he shares that is REALLY still hurts and I see that he is real
sensitive to the light that is now streaming in the windows. So I called the regular advice nurse line and they advised me that their protocol states that I need to take him straight to the emergency room within 4 hours of the onset of symptoms. Knowing he had been up since 5:30 (he had told me) I had him get dressed and we quickly headed out.

We were seen surprisingly quick in the ER (saw the dr. within 45 minutes) then sat for 45 minutes until he came back and said that
he had spoken to the Opthamologist on call and we were to go see him at 2:30 on the other side of town. He said a nurse would be back shortly with discharge papers --but she never came! We waited a little more than an hour before I flagged someone else down and they had us on our way out the door in 2 minutes. We paid our $100 co-pay and headed to the pharmacy. It was a nightmare --first they said they didn't have the antibiotic drops, then it was the pain drops, then one could be generic, but both rang up brand name price $284 was the first price she gave me. I had them check again and ended up only paying my $94 and we were on our way after only 72 minutes in the pharmacy.

We headed home with just enough time to eat, grab our stuff and head to the Opthamologist. Jack went to my parents with Cyn & Brian and we went to the doctor. He told us it was a Corneal Ulcer and VERY SERIOUS! He cautioned Steven about ever sleeping with contacts on again and went as far as to say when he first came to Sacramento they would admit people to the hospital with this -to ensure they got the drops every hour to avoid possibly going blind. He told us to keep the drops in every hour on the hour and come back Monday.

This brought up a dilema -up to this point I was putting the drops in for him. He was scheduled to attend his friends (twins) birthday party and sleep over at their house that night. It was decided that if he could put the drops in himself -he could still go --but no swimming.

We then headed to my parents for dinner -we were supposed to be celebrating Steven's 13th birthday. We stopped and got him a grande vanilla bean frappacino to make him smile and then we headed to my parents. Another post will follow on the birthday -he had a good time -but had wanted to swim -which was a no -go.

He learned over the next couple of hours to put his eye drops in and after dinner we took him to his party. He was there until 10am Sunday morning.. texting me after every eye drop was put in. When I picked him up, the parents said how responsible he had been and how proud they were of him for doing it on his own (although they were totally willing to help him!). We headed home and he told me they had been up til about 1 am and he was up again at 7am (which fit the 6 hours the doctor had said he could sleep before waking and resuming eye drops).

We were excited about the Little League World Series Championship game with a team from California in it and the Giants game was gonna be on an hour later. We all sat down to watch. 1/2 hour into the LLWS I took this picture. He was exhausted. I had to wake him up EVERY hour to put drops in during his 4 hour nap. He slept just long enough to miss both games.

Today we saw the Opthamologist again. He said it is healing, still SERIOUS and we should see him again on Wednesday. So we continue with drops every hour....and lots of prayer of a full recovery.

Backtracking...

On our day in San Francisco we went to the beach. Now, I have taken the boys to the city
a bunch -we shop, go to the wharf, Golden Gate Park, Giants games --but not once have I taken
them to the beach. Why? As a teenager -the beaches were my favorite place to go. A picnic lunch or a book to read and the beach -total perfect matches. So on this trip -I decided we would go to the beach. It was our last stop and the weather had changed from sunny and clear to overcast and foggy -but it didn't matter to them one bit. The boys all said the beach was their favorite part of our day out. From my perspective -it was also free! So we can be sure to go more often when visiting the city by the bay.

I chose a beach on the Presidio at Crissy Field. It is right next to the Marina district and had lots of free parking and actual bathrooms. Because it is on the bay side of the bridge, there is virtually no wave break and it is not too crowded. The water is still super cold -but that didn't stop the boys! The beach is about a mile long with an excellent view of Sausalito, the Golden Gate bridge and Alcatras & Angel Island.


This was taken near the end.. when they were all drenched!


I called them to look so I could capture their smiles as they were
immersed in super cold water.

Jumping was the game they played for almost an hour..

This was near the beginning.. they were just starting to get braver and
go in further ...



They were all in at this point...

I love this one of them jumping!

They started off playing football -but they could hear the call of
the water...

More football..

The Golden Gate Bridge...

There was a National Kite Surfing competition going on..

Alcatraz behind them....

Another day in our life.

It's Thursday of Jonathan's first week of vacation (one more to go!) and I must say it's been good having him here. Once the boys get home sometimes things are so crazy -we don't get to just "hang out" and talk about stuff that doesn't involve kids, sports or the house. That is something we've been able to do this week -which has been really nice. It's always good to reconnect in that way and to know that you still like the person you married just as much as you did before you married them. We are having a fun day today -heading out to the movies to see Inglorious Basterds... I have to say there is nothing I enjoy more than a matinee on a weekday. It feels luxurious, sneaky even -but it isn't crowded, it's cheaper and I just love it.

My sons both have a fashion sense all their own. One wears only comfy clothes -typcially athletic shorts, t-shirts and sweats (with his new jeans thrown in!) and the other like to dress it up a bit. Jackson is comfortable and enjoys wearing dress shirts with ties and has done so twice this week. He now wants to get a jacket and a vest to include with is ensembles -and I have my eye out for a good deal. If only they would let him wear his hats with it --he would be so happy!






Last night Jack's team won their playoff game 34-23. The team had a tough start -it was 0-2 in the other teams favor at the end of the 1st period. They warmed up and pulled thru though... which is good. They will play again Friday night in the Championship game.. so we'll see what happens there.

Steven is on a AVID Field Trip today to CSU Sacramento. They are participating in a ropes course and touring the campus. I can't wait to hear how it goes.

Crossing Guard

on

Jackson is one of the afternocrossing guards at school this week. He had to attend a hour long training at the end of last year in order to be able to . He says it is good and he likes helping people. I have not been to watch yet (tomorrow) but my mother took these pictures on Tuesday of him at the driveway to the school -which is the busiest spot! or so he tells me. They help stop traffic to let kids cross the street, the take the flag down and fold it up. It is a great thing to be a part of!

I am hoping to post more about the last week .. but right now I have to get my banana muffins out of the oven and then we are headed to Jackson's playoff game. As the 1 seed-this is their first game in the playoffs and if they win tonight they will play in the championship game on Friday.

School: Day 9

Today was day 9 of school. The boys are getting into a rountine, but we are all still having a difficult time getting going in the morning. I will say that they are up & ready with breakfast eaten when they need to go.. so we are getting there!

Jackson let me take this picture before he left this morning -although as you can see by his face, he wasn't really happy about it. He has grown so much over the last 6 months.. becoming more confident and caring less what others think. He loves ties and wearing them. I am pleased to say that he also see's that he should wear them with a collared shirt as opposed to a t-shirt now. He has quite a collection, having raided both his father and grandfather's closets and cleaning them out of ties they don't wear.

On a personal note.. this was the first picture I have taken in 9 days. For some reason I just stopped picking up my camera and it got harder to restart. I had taken a picture (at least 1) every day since January 1st and then ..nothing.. So now I am back on track and working to "make up" those days. True it won't be pictures I took on those days -but I will use everyday photo's to fill in -the purpse of the Project 365 I am working on is that at the end I will have a snapshot look at our whole year. So I will go to Jack's school and take a picture of the door to his room, same with Steven, pictures of backpacks, lunchboxes -that kind of thing to fill in those days.

Things are crazy busy around here and I know I haven't written -mainly because I just didn't know what to say!

Jackson is finishing up a karate session (belt test tonight!) and a basketball session (last game tomorrow -then playoffs as we are in 1st place and undefeated). Now that school is back is session the schedule is getting to him -school all day, karate on Tuesday & Thursday for an hour, basketball on Mondays for 2 hours and Friday games, Saturday tournaments. He gets Wednesday and Sundays off -that's it. He has decided to take a break for this session of karate and go back in the winter. It makes me a bit sad as he really enjoys karate and I worry that if he stops to take a break he may never go back. On the flip side -he currently LOVES basketball. He works really hard at practice and at home to get better and we see improvement in his game every week. So I am happy that he will keep up with that. Jack has always needed to balance activities with down time and is is nice to know that he is now at a point that he can self-regulate how much of each he can comfortably handle.

Steven is working on his baseball. He is in a training program for Performance Pitching and Hitting, Power Throwing and Agility with a great coach. He is working out Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Sundays for 2 hours a night. He is committed to growing his game and is working hard at it. He is much happier with his classes than he expected and is enjoying having his friends in classes with him immensly. The AVID program is amazing. They are teaching them to be organized and time management skills, plus so much more (a whole post to come later regarding this program!).

Jonathan has built up so much vacation time that he is no longer getting any. So he is taking the next 2 weeks off! I have some projects for us to do around the house, there are some movies we want to see and restaurants we want to try. I have my regular committments -so he will get time at home alone. I hope it serves as a break for him, he really needs it. I can see the stress building in him and hope that time away from work will allow him to decompress and reboot.

I have been working on building my jewelry business. I have had 9 shows now and it is going really well. I am always looking for people who want to earn free jewelry and meet them in all kinds of crazy places. My mother has been instrumental in drumming up business and excitement for me - I really appreciate all her support!!Having this business has been such a blessing to us -especially since the timing coincided with a lull in my other work. I have been also trying to learn to meditate and pray. That is much harder to do than it sounds, but I am enjoying the process and look forward to it daily.

I guess that brings everyone about up to date. Have a happy day!

A long week....

So it is finally Friday! I have had a long week, but a good week. Getting up early is always hard for me and much harder coming off 8 weeks of sleeping til 8am... 6am is just sooooo early! But we've managed it for the most part -everyone is happier to get to bed a bit earlier each night. I know we are all looking forward to a relaxing weekend with nothing planned. That's not really true -but there is a lot of unscheduled time to look forward to.

I have 2 jewelry shows. One tonight and one tomorrow at 11. I am looking forward to them.. having gained practice and confidence over the last month. I have most everything ready to go (although there is a bit of tagging left to be done)... and am planning on having a 2 great shows.

Jackson has a basketball game tonight against his cousin Logan's team. I wish I could go -but I don't think the timing is going to work out with what time I have to be at my show. Jack's team is undefeated at this point (6-0) with 2 games left in the regular season... so I am sad I will miss it. He is understanding about it and that helps.

Steven has had 3 nights of grueling conditioning workouts for baseball. His coach is all about building and conditioning the bodies to build them into the baseball players they need to be. Those boys work HARD and no one complains --it is great to see them growing and learning together. He gets today & tomorrow off -but full field practice is Sunday late afternoon. I am not sure there could be a worse time to practice than Sunday at 5pm -but at least he gets to sleep in a bit and has all day today & tomorrow off to rest.

School seems to be going well. Homework is getting done, the boys are getting used to their classes and organized. Back to school nights are next week -so I'll get to see more then.

I had a long week of my own making. After taking Jack to school Monday -I went out to breakfast with some friends to celebrate the kids going back to school! We had a great time. Then I went to get my nails done and ran into another friend there -we chatted for quite a while. Took the dogs to the park, hit Curves and the kids were home. Tuesday I went to the movies with my mom and a couple of our friends to see Julie & Julia. I didn't expect much (read 1 of the books it is based on -the Julia Child one and was bored to tears) and found it to be quite entertaining and fabulous really. Stopped for lunch on the way home and got here just as Steven arrived home..day 2 gone!
Wednesday I worked around the house, went to Curves and had a coffee meeting to close out a jewelry show -then the day was over. Thursday I went to Curves and then to have coffee with another friend at her house -ended up staying most of the day. We hadn't really gotten together over the summer and we were enjoying catching up! Today... is another day and it is busy getting ready for my show.

The good news --we had dinners ready every night and the kitchen stayed clean. The laundry is almost all done.. so I accomplished some things.. next week will be better (less social anyway).
That said -gotta get going and get some things done!