High Scorer

We had a lazy morning followed by a busy afternoon.  As a family, we drove across town to watch the Robotics Team compete at Regionals.  Then we drove to the other side of town to catch an OLPH JV basketball game.

We had just pulled onto the campus of San Joaquin Memorial when my principal called me asking if we were possibly coming to watch the game.  I told him we were in the parking lot.  He said, "Perfect!  We need Evan to play!"

Turns out, the team was short a player due to some kids being sick and others competing in Robotics.  Coach Washington pulled a jersey out of his car, and Evan was IN THE GAME!

I know I'm his mother, and I'm slightly biased, but that kid was amazing to watch playing against 5th and 6th graders!  He was fast, he was aggressive, and he made three points...top scorer for his team!

Since he was so small compared to the other players, the entire crowd seemed to be cheering for him!  Our team lost terribly (7-37), but Evan had a blast, and man was it fun to watch!

Evan was #52 for the game.  He is such a cool and composed athlete.  No fear.  Just determination.

Another funny thing is how unexpectedly prepared he was to play.  He was wearing navy blue shorts in the middle of winter, he had on tennis shoes, and a short sleeve jersey.  At any given time right now he'd be in track pants, Adidas slider flip flops and a sweatshirt.  He was meant to play today.

50th Reunion or Bust

I offered to take my mom to Hollywood to her 50th High School Reunion.  What an adventure we had!  A good time, as always with the old people.

A quick stop in McFarland to get a Diet Coke from McDonald's.  That was a crazy busy little parking lot.  Not much else going on in that town but the action at McD's.

Another hour or so down the road, and we stopped for lunch at Marie Calender's.  Tasty lunch.  It's good to travel with mom...she gets a senior discount everywhere we go.  Now is she could only get that discount for gas.

We made it to the Sheraton Hotel in Universal City in one piece.  Traffic was busy but flowing nicely.  Both of us were quite impressed with the valet parking, bell hops, and fancy digs.

They even offered us complimentary glasses of wine!   Can't beat that!

Popolo's

Our favorite pizza. Popolo's is the best, as noticed by there only being one slice left.  Good stuff.

Water is Gross

I keep saying, "Water is gross."  Most of the time I mean it.  However, I have been steadily drinking water for a whole three days now, and I have survived.  (Remember a few posts ago where I posted a picture of my last beloved Pepsi bottle?)

My goal this week is to drink a full bottle of water before going to school.  I did it this morning.  Now I am working on drinking water throughout the day.  It helps to have a cute cup from Disneyland.

Dinner

We had an unexpected night free from soccer practice or meetings.  We ate dinner as a family at a decent hour.  We watched The Middle on TV.  Children went to bed.  It was nice.

Go USA

Guess what the 8th grade students are about to start studying?

It's my favorite thing to teach!  Between the Constitution and the Election/Voting Process, we are going to be very busy this fall.

No More

This is my last bottle of Pepsi Max.  I am going to attempt (for the 93rd time) to give this up.  I drink soda all day long.  Probably not the healthiest of options, even if it is diet.

This doesn't mean I won't drink soda when I go to Chipotle, but I won't be buying it to drink at the house and school anymore.

Sniff.

Best Little Running Partner Ever

Evan went with me to run "the loop."  This is a loop we do where we exit our neighborhood out a back road and run the outskirts of our block to get back home.  It is about 1.75 miles.  Evan had no problem.  Me...huffing and puffing.

It was a really nice evening.  Sort of overcast, cool-ish temps, and slight breeze.

That's me.  I was trying to get a shot of the mountains.  They were gorgeous.  Instead I got half my face and clouds.  At least the clouds are pretty.

Soccer or Beverage?

Hudson shares his double chair with a sibling on the team named Axel.  This little guy is super cute.  The first time Axel dared to sit in the empty seat, Hudson had a living fit.  Now they two little ones can coexist in the chair, both enjoying their beverage of choice.

We only had two soccer games today.  It's the first weekend in a long time that isn't overly filled.  I'll take it.

The Big Fresno Fair

 I drove Hudson to the fair.  Evan went with a friend.  Hanging out in front of a display.

 That is my hand, and I am actually touching that snake!

 Hudson "pans" for precious gems.

We ran into Evan.  By this point he had eaten only a cinnamon roll and a Pepsi.  He was more interested in his purchase of a rubber band gun and a new bracelet.  Not what I would have bought, but oh well.

 I wait all year for a chicken gyro.  My goodness, I love these things!

Hudson was grumpy and tired and fell asleep on the way home.

Until next year's field trip.

Homework

I hate homework.  Let me clarify.  As a mother, I hate homework.  It is irritating.  It causes fights.  It causes tears.  It causes headaches.  It causes stress.  I'm not really sure of the positive aspect of it.

Now, as a teacher, I realize homework to be a necessary tool at times.  When I taught 3rd grade, the subject of spelling was done almost entirely at home as homework.  We simply didn't have enough time to do it in class.  As a junior high teacher, I try to use homework as a "finish what you didn't complete in class" type of thing.

Hudson is rather resistant to the concept of going to school everyday.  He certainly is not on board with doing homework.  I guess he figured Harry would be a great help to him as he colored a picture of St. Francis of Assisi.  I don't think Harry wanted to be involved in coloring.  Just a guess on my part.  But then again, Hudson didn't want to be involved in coloring, either.

Homework was made slightly more bearable last night with a cup of milk, Easy Mac N Cheese, a box of Tic Tacs and a dog.  And the entire packet got done.

(Thank goodness I looked at the packet last night instead of today.  Normally homework is turned in on Friday, but due to a field trip, the packet needed to be turned in this morning.  Not turning in kindergarten homework is one more thing I did NOT need to add to my list of things I can't manage to accomplish.)

*As a side note, even though Hudson isn't all about school, he did well on his progress report.  I was pleased.  The kid would just rather be playing.  I can't say that I blame him.

Happy Birthday To My Favorite 8-Year-Old!

Evan woke up, crawled into my bed, and went back to sleep.  He likes to do that.

My Fall babies. Their birthdays are 20 days apart.  At our school you get free dress on your birthday.  Evan chose to wear his Wednesday soccer practice outfit.  He lives and breathes soccer.

Birthday breakfast donuts.  I think this needs to be our tradition.  We had donuts for Hudson's birthday as well.

I always tell Evan, "You made me a mom."  It's hard to believe that Eric and I are the parents of an 8-year-old.  I'm not sure where the years went, because I still remember pretty vividly the weekend he was born.

Evan makes us proud each and every day.  He is a pretty amazing kid.

Happy Birthday Guero Tometo! (soccer nickname)

Smells Good

This is the Scentsy wickless candle that sits on my desk at school.  I love it.  I spent $50 without blinking an eye on the warmer and six delicious scents.  (That is a big deal because I have a hard time spending money on myself.)

This candle thingy-ma-bobber makes me ridiculously happy.  I sometimes let the kids choose the scent for the day.  The one in there now is Sweet Pea and Vanilla.

One of the students banged into it today and spilled wax all over the place.  That's why it looks a little messy.

Even though it is 102 degrees outside here on OCT flipping 2nd, I am going to use the Honey Pear Cider tomorrow to remind me that in other parts of our country it is indeed fall.

My boss took all of us out to lunch today as a thank you for all of our hard work so far this school year.  I had lasagna.  Delicious.  I really do like where I work.

My World

I had kind of a rough day today.  Luckily, I have these shining faces in my world.  Evan was here, just not in the photo.  

Luckily, the biggest one knows just how to help me feel better.  Each and every time.

Pout

Hudson had a fit at the allergist yesterday.  He pouted in a corner.  I took his photo.  It made him angry.  Oh well.

Why is he pouting?  Because I told him to get off the stool.  The same stool I tell him to stay off each and every time we are there to get shots.

Soda

The boys and I went to the junior high boys football game across town after school today.  We were all dying of thirst, and I promised the kids we would stop and get a soda on the way home.

The first place we came to was Burger King.  It had the COOLEST soda machine I have ever seen.  You selected the soda you wanted by touching the screen.  When I touched the "Coke" button, I was able to choose from over ten different types!  I chose Raspberry Coke.  Yum!

The machine has an old fashioned look to it, but it definitely has modern technology.  I need a machine like this in my kitchen!

Hudson's First Field Trip

STORYLAND FIELD TRIP!

Today was Hudson's first field trip.  Well, his first field trip by car, anyhow.  Last year the preschool took walking field trips.  This was his first "grownup big kid" field trip!

I took another mom and four kids in my van, and off we went to enjoy the park.  It was a bummer that Mother Goose was on vacation and the train wasn't running, but the kids had a great time.

All returned.  No one got lost.  All are healthy.  That equals a win.

(It's hard to believe that I went to this place as a kid.)
(Hudson is the kid at the top of the photo. By the way, that is a mushroom in the photo.)

Snapshot Into My World of Pre Algebra

A view of what my world looks like in the middle of the day.  I don't actually spend much time at my desk, but the kids are busily working on multiplying and dividing variables.  Fun stuff.  No, really.  It's fun stuff!  At least I think so!

More Soccer...and a Dinner Date

Both Evan and Hudson have soccer practice on Monday nights. I got the easy kid because his practice only lasts one hour. (Evan's goes 2+ hours.) After practice Hudson chose to eat at Me N Ed's. We shared a personal pizza.

Soccer...always soccer

I'm not even going to make excuses or attempt to explain why I haven't posted since April. The process would be exhausting.

 Instead, here is a picture from today. Evan's Argentina Soccer Team. We are ranked 6th (out of 150 or so teams) in the Nor Cal League, and we played the #1 team this morning. We came away with a 1-1 tie. Very awesome watching the boys work hard and play well.

**Update - As of this evening, the boys are ranked 3rd in the state!

Snow Day

Today is our first day of Easter Break, so we celebrated by going to the snow to play. Neither of my boys have been to the snow before. Shame on me because we live less than an hour away from accessible snow, but it just never worked out before.

We had a blast! I sat in a chair and ate food. The boys slid down the hills over and over and over again!


Hudson heading up the hill.


Evan heading up the hill.


Hudson in red.


I was looking extra fancy for our snow day! Not.


The whole group of kids.


Evan coming down the hill.


Hudson coming down the hill.

Such a great day! It was one of those days where I truly enjoyed being a mom!

Cross Country - from Fall 2011

For lack of anything better to post, here is a photo I got from Coach at school when Evan did Cross Country this past Fall.

There is plenty to blog about: soccer, soccer, oh, and more soccer. First Reconciliation, First Communion, soccer, making the yearbook, soccer, jog a thon, awards, lack of running, soccer. You get the idea. For now...you get to see a random five month old cross country photo.

Go me. It takes talent to keep the blog updated as well as I do!

By the way, Evan is the second kid back on the right with the big OLPH logo on his shirt.

Please Vote!!

Still running. I'm just tired tonight.

I have a request:

If you could so graciously click on the link:

HERE

...and go vote for our Epic Love Story on ABC 30! Our video is "hlforcey."

If we win, we get an iPad2, dinner, jewelry and furniture! I would sooooooo love to win this prize. However, it was fun being creative and making the video!

It's easy to create a simple account and then vote. We would really appreciate your help!

Win!

Evan's soccer team won their game tonight 21-0! The best part...besides the win...was listening to the parents of the other team!

Comments ranged from irritation to admiration. Made me chuckle.

Good game, Argentina!

Stuff

*I like teaching algebra. I just picked up teaching the algebra and pre-algebra classes after Christmas break. I feel like the kids and I are in quite a groove. I keep telling the kids that math is my favorite to teach because there is always a right answer.

If you do the problem the right way, you get the right answer. I think some of them are starting to recognize my genius self!

*Evan is getting ready for First Reconciliation. He sang a song to me about being nice to his brother. I laughed on the inside, but it's a very sweet little song.

*Evan complains every time he has to write in cursive for homework, but he actually has rather nice handwriting.

*The Science Fair is in 7 weeks. Ugh.

*I'm going to be the Spelling Master on Saturday. That means I read all the spelling words to the kids. A little stressful.

*Hudson tries to give his toys to his teacher. He tells me almost every morning that he wants to give a car or a train to Mrs. Ortiz-Belcher. He even wanted to give her his running trophy that he earned a couple weeks ago. That little guy really has the sweetest heart.

Random enough? Mission accomplished.

Party

We went to a birthday party yesterday for a girl in Hudson's class. It was held at a fun playroom where kids can run around and do all sorts of things including dressing up.

Hudson was channeling his inner Batman.

Not too long after this photo, he smacked his head pretty hard on the ground. He screamed. I kissed him. We left. Football made it all better.

Questions and Answers

I like these, so here goes:

Mac or PC? PC

Do you paint your own nails? No. I get acrylics put on every 2-3 weeks. I love having nails that don't bend and break.

Beach or mountains? Beach

What’s the title of the book you’re currently reading? Farewell to Manzanar. It's a book for Academic Decathlon about a Japanese internment camp during WWII.

Do you dance? Sometimes...when no one else is around.

CNN or Fox News? I guess Fox. I usually stick to local ABC news.

Do you ride a bicycle? Yes, and I need to get training to ride 40 miles in May for the California Classic Weekend. Ride on Saturday and 1/2 marathon on Sunday.

Do you get a yearly flu shot? Every single year up until this year. The rest of the family got theirs, but I somehow failed to get it done.

Best movie you’ve seen in 2012? I haven't seen any yet this year. I loved The Help from last year, though.

Do you prefer to workout at home or at the gym? I don't belong to a gym. I want to so I can take classes. I really want to try a spin class.

Last airport you were in? I think it was Burbank when we came home from visiting friends on the East Coast right after Christmas 6 years ago.

Married or single? Married for almost 9 years.

iPhone or Android? Just got a brand new android, and I LOVE it.

Do you prefer to be in pictures or taking pictures? I like being in them if I look okay!

Favorite brand of sneakers? Asics

Do you like snow? I like to ski, and it's hard to do that without snow. Do I want to sit in it and be cold? No.

Do you have/want to have kids? Two boys ages 7 and 4.

Summer or Winter? Winter all the way. Hate hot summer sun. Hate hot weather. Hate being hot. You get the idea?!

Do you know how to swim? Yes. Used to be a lifeguard once upon a time.

Do you prefer to shop in store or online? In store, but I don't really like to shop.

*****************
What were we up to last week? More soccer. All the time soccer. I'm just trying to eat healthy, keep up with school work and grading, keep the house livable, run, and watch tv. Gotta watch tv!

What We Are Up To

It's been a busy two weeks since school started back. Here is what we have been up to.

Soccer - and lots of it. Both of the outdoor teams (OLPH and Argentina) have moved to indoor. That means lots of practice and lots of games. Luckily, OLPH is not having practice because the coach (who also happens to own the indoor arena) knows that the two main players (Evan and Isaiah) are already practicing for Argentina. I'm not sure if that made any sense, but what it means in practical terms for us is only two practices a week for Argentina. There will be 18 games total from now until early March. One cool thing is that the OLPH coach told me that Hudson could play on the team! I even got him an OLPH uniform. Sorry, no pics. Bad mom. He did GREAT during his first game, and he is right there in the fray of things. Evan was excited to have his brother on his team as well. Evan is pretty proud of his little brother for having skills. I think Evan sees Hudson's abilities as a reflection of him because as he claims, "I taught Hudson everything he knows!" Hudson also takes a soccer class every Tuesday. Practice Monday and Wednesday, soccer class on Tuesday, games on Friday or Saturdays. Yep, that keeps us hopping.

Birthday Party - Where was it held? Where else...but at Indoor Soccer!

Running - I officially started training for my third half marathon on April 1. It's in Ventura, and I enlisted my cousin Michelle to run it with me. I am excited. I am feeling decently strong running-wise. Lately, Eric and the boys ride their bikes with me while I run. I like having them out there with me.

Math - I picked up teaching both math classes at school. I like teaching math. I'm still getting used to the extra time in the classroom. Running helps the stress levels I feel regarding this issue.

Meetings - Eric and I still go to Weight Watchers meetings every week. He also has City Council meetings that he has to attend every so often. I have School Board meetings once a month. I also have 50th Anniversary committee meetings twice a month. There is also going to be Academic Decathlon meetings coming up soon. Ugh. Meetings.

That's about it for now. Oh, and I got a new phone, and I love it.

Booster Seat Super Star

On Friday, Evan had a neat opportunity to be a part of a news conference about booster seat safety. The law in CA changed on Jan. 1 and now requires children to be in a booster seat until they are age 8 or at least 4'9" tall.



When Evan turned 7 in October, we told him he could sit without a booster. However, after taking one look at the seat belt cutting into his neck and him not being able to see out the window, we forced him back into his booster. He just looked unsafe sitting like that. Then we found out the law was going to be changing, so it became a moot point anyhow.

The Trauma Coordinator at Children's Hospital is a dad at our school. He asked me earlier in the week if Evan would like to be part of the news conference.

Every channel was there: 24, 26, 30, 47, and The Fresno Bee. Pretty exciting stuff!


The news conference getting started.


A police officer from the Fresno Police Department demonstrated how the seat belt fit properly around Evan with him elevated in the booster seat.


After the initial news conference, each station wanted to get their "own" shots and interview clips. Evan stayed buckled up in that funny seat for about 30 minutes. He was a trooper with the sun in his eyes.


And again in the booster.

After school, we drove over to Channel 24's studio because they wanted to do yet another interview. It turned out to be quite a long day!

My little tv star had a lot of fun! His picture was also in the Fresno Bee yesterday.

On a side note, the surprising thing about this whole event is how controversial it apparently is. I was pretty surprised at how many comments there were on Facebook about people thinking this law is government interference and how stupid it is. Really?!!

That completely shocked me. A stupid idea? You pay $20 to buy your kid a booster from Target so that in the horrible event you are in a car accident, it gives your kid a 45% higher survival rate? That doesn't sound stupid to me. It sounds like common sense. I was saddened by the amount of complainers. And to the people who made idiotic comments such as this: "We rode around in the back of my dad's pickup and we are alive and well." Well, I am guessing they weren't involved in a car accident at the time. Maybe they would have a different opinion today. Such ignorant people.

In any case, if this law helps keep more kids safe in cars, it's a good idea.

P.S. We have four booster seats. Two in my car and two in Eric's car. Oh, and yes, that is my van in the news clip! Well used (dirty) booster seats and all!

Happy New Year - Happy Birthday

Happy New Year! Happy Birthday to my mom!

We woke up late, cleaned the house, and waited for my family to come to our house to celebrate my mom's birthday.


Grandma got quality snuggle time with her 5th grandson.


Cousins had fun playing Wii.


Little dogs are learning to share lap space.


We keep our house pretty cold...65 degrees or cooler. When my family comes over, they freeze. Even though it was 64 degrees outside, we turned on the fireplace. Eric was in shorts and a t-shirt all day. At least the dogs liked the warmth!


Grandma opened her birthday presents. Hudson gave her a picture of himself dressed as a cowboy.


Grandma requested German Chocolate Cake. Making a wish!

It was a good day.