Merry Christmas

Wow, what a fun and busy week we are having. I love having my sister and her family here. Grace and Lizzie are like the sea gulls in Finding Nemo....Mine,Mine,Mine,Mine,Mine...you get the idea. They can also be very, very sweet to each other.

Gracie had a wonderful birthday. I can't believe she is already 3 years old. Where is the time going and why must it go so fast? We went to Costco to pick up a cake since it is the cheapest way to go for a premade cake. Grace didn't care that it said Happy Holidays instead of Happy Birthday. She wanted the teddy bear.


We went to the Zoo on Monday. It was not crowded at all and fun was had by all.




I want to wish you all a Very Merry Christmas. This year has been really tight financially, so we didn't send out Christmas cards. Oh, well maybe next year.

Big Girl

Thanks to Grandma Fern's early birthday and Christmas present, Grace is now sleeping in her own big girl bed.

She slept the whole night in her own bed. Yippiee!!!!! I sure enjoyed my night sleep too.

It's beginning to look like Christmas

We finally got our Christmas tree up Saturday afternoon. I love our tree. I love to just sit and stare at it. I was also able to decorate around the house too.

We had another loooonnnnggggg weekend of baseball and now we don't have another tournament till after Christmas. It's a good thing too, I need a break. It is very frustrating to know that your son is just as talented as others and yet he doesn't get to play. It gets a little old after awhile.

Granny was admitted to the hospital early this morning. The paramedics thought she was having a stroke since her blood pressure was 220/119. She had a few very adnormal EKG readings. After a cat scan showed no stroke, we are hoping that they will transfer her from Scottsdale/Osborn to Desert Banner since it is closer for us and they already have her records from a few weeks ago.

Can't wait till Saturday when my sister gets here with the girls. I need my family right about now.

Most Mornings with Grace

Good Morning, Miss Grace.


Can Daddy have a hug before he leaves for work?

Stretch!!!





Awww, Thanks Princess!


You're welcome Daddy, I'm going back to sleep now.

We Won!!!

We won this weekends tournament. We get to try and do it again next weekend too.

Photos from Tammi Haeberle.

Night out with my guy

Mitchell and I went out tonight. We went to the bookstore and listened to Joe Garagiola talk about his friendship with Yogi Berra and others. What a fun story teller. We were able to get a book signed for Grandpa Jake, which will be a Christmas gift.

Mitchell asked Mr. Garagiola what it was like to broadcast with Daren Sutton, the voice of the Diamondbacks and I asked him to give Mitchell some life long baseball advice. He told Mitch that he loved working with Daren and also told him he needed to be good in school and keep the grades up.


After the bookstore we went to Rubio's for dinner and enjoyed each other. I love having a one on one with my boys. Thanks Mitch for the fun night out!

Just like Momma

I took Grace into the doctors today since she has had a runny nose for about a month. He told me that kids don't usually get sinus infections so his guess is that she had colds back to back. He then started his examination and came to looking up her nose and stopped dead in his tracks. He was wrong this time. She has a sinus infection along with both ears infected. Just like me!

I love proving people wrong.

Know what is really annoying?

Driving with a newly licensed driver who tells you every mistake you make. Just saying.

Face Book

Do any of you use this web site? My nieces,sister, sister in laws, son, and nephew do. I have an account and am just starting to play around in it. I have found lots of friends from my old school in MN. Fun to see what they look like now. Let me know if you use Face Book and tell me how to have even more fun with it!

Thankful

I thought I was going to be a good blogger and get a post done almost daily. I ended up not doing so well.

We had wonderful Thanksgiving day. My mom, in laws and a good friends shared the day with us. I couldn't have done it with out Toby and his mom. I was sick and not feeling very festive. They pulled it all together for me and for that I am very thankful.

I wanted to take pictures, but I forgot. I know my mom got some, so that will have to do.

Toby left in the middle of dinner to go hunting for 5 days. He hopefully will be back early with an elk, but if not I should see him around Tuesday. Just about when the Dr. said I would be feeling better.

I have to give Minute Clinic a shout out here. I was able to get in and out with in 15 minutes and she even faxed over my prescription to Costco so I just had to make one trip. For someone with a sinius infection and double ear infection that was awesome.

I am feeling a little better already.

I hope and trust you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving and hopefully you did some shopping on Friday. I didn't, but I saw Twilight and loved the big chesse ball of a film it was.

Have a safe and happy weekend.

I just noticed that we have 26 days till Christmas???!!??...That means my sister will be here in 3 weeks with my nieces....Whooo Hooooo.

Baseball Update

We had another fun filled weekend of baseball. The Vandals won both games on Saturday and was seeded # 2 for Sunday. We have never won both games on a Saturday before so that was very exciting. Toby was to sick to go to the games on Saturday but wanted to be there on Sunday. This is what he and Grace did in between games. If I had a dollar for every mother who walked by and asked if I had a picture of the two of them, Christmas would be paid for!!!



The Vandals made it to the Championship game and played a team that really should be moved up a league. We lose a lot of games due to errors we make...or in other words, we beat ourselves. We came in second this tournament and the boys should be proud of themselves. Mitchell was hurt sliding into 3rd base in the first game so he didn't play in the Championship game. Here are our boys with their "hardware".
Way to go Vandals...hope to see many more pictures like this in the future.

Meet Jack

This is Jack. Jack lives at the Phoenix Zoo. Grace likes to go visit Jack once a week or so. We really don't need to visit any other of the animals at the zoo. Only Jack.

Next time you are at the Phoenix Zoo, wander down into the Harmony Farm section and towards the back is the horse barn. Hopefully, Jack will come out and visit with you. Tell him Grace sent you.

Cool Website

I found this on another blog and had to share. Would you like to make snowflakes with out the paper mess? If so, click here and have some fun.

Something to make you smile

From an email I recieved today...enjoy.

TWENTY NINE LINES TO MAKE YOU SMILE

1.. My husband and I divorced over religious differences. He thought he was God and I didn't.
2.. I don't suffer from insanity; I enjoy every minute of it.
3.. Some people are alive only because it's illegal to kill them.
4.. I used to have a handle on life, but it broke.
5.. Don't take life too seriously; No one gets out alive.
6.. You're just jealous because the voices only talk to me
7.. Beauty is in the eye of the beer holder.
8.. Earth is the insane asylum for the universe.
9.. I'm not a complete idiot -- Some parts are just missing.
10... Out of my mind. Back in five minutes.
11.. NyQuil, the stuffy, sneezy, why-the-heck-is-the-room-spinning medicine.
12.. God must love stupid people; He made so many.
13.. The gene pool could use a little chlorine.
14.. Consciousness: That annoying time between naps.
15.. Ever stop to think, and forget to start again?
16.. Being 'over the hill' is much better than being under it!
17.. Wrinkled Was Not One of the Things I Wanted to Be When I Grew up.
18 . Procrastinate Now!
19.. I Have a Degree in Liberal Arts; Do You Want Fries With That?
20.. A hangover is the wrath of grapes.
21.. A journey of a thousand miles begins with a cash advance.
22.. Stupidity is not a handicap. Park elsewhere!
23..They call it PMS because Mad Cow Disease was already taken.
24.. He who dies with the most toys is nonetheless DEAD.
25.. A picture is worth a thousand words, but it uses up three
thousand times the memory.
26.. Ham and eggs...A day's work for a chicken, a lifetime commitment for a pig.
27.. The trouble with life is there's no background music.
28.. The original point and click interface was a Smith & Wesson.
29.. I smile because I don't know what the hell is going on.

I have another blog...it is called Scrapping With Jen

This weekend I created my first real digital scrapbook kit and posted it for free on that blog.

Digital scrap booking is a huge industry and lots of people like to create freebies to share. This is something I hope to do more of.

This is what my kit called Christmas Candy looks like and a page that I have created using it.

1 new driver's license

Being voted Most Improved by your fellow teammates at award banquet

1 I pod touch

Turning 16....Priceless

What a weekend

This weekend we had another baseball tournament. We didn't do to well, but I think the boys are learning more and more each game. I know we can be a championship team, some day soon.

Yesterday before the game we went up to visit Toby's family at their time share resort. (Sherry, Mitchell says it was the same place you took him last Aug. He was all proud that he knew where things were. Too funny.) Shelley said last week that I married in to a fun family and I totally agree. Here are some pictures of yesterday.

Grace and Uncle Chuck

Uncle Chuck giving us his Michael Jackson photo op.

Uncle Chuck, Grace and Aunt Jan

Never to old for a slide.
Despite the look of this picture, she loved the playground.
There are 10 gnomes hidden on the resort grounds. We found 1.
When we got back to the room, this is how we found Aunt Edna....ok, not really. She was sitting just like that, but Chuck thought she needed the gin bottle.

This is just too funny not to share

Click here to watch!

Our weekend

Our weekend started on Thursday night at Justin's last football game. He started as center and played both offense and defense. Later in the game he just played offense. I'm ok with that. The more he is out on the field more of a chance he has of getting hurt. One player took a hit really hard and laid on the field without moving for more then 20 min. He was finally carted off in the ambulance. Justin said he was at school on Friday and was stiff and sore. Can't be to cautious with neck injuries. It was scary to see the player just lay there and then leave in that fashion . Here is Justin in his last game as a sophomore. Just think next year I will have two Padre Football players.

Friday was Halloween. Mitchell came home from school feeling pretty punk. He had a fever and a headache with a sore throat. Motrin and a few hours of rest and he was a new kid. He didn't go trick or treating since I was the mean mom, but we saved him plenty of candy. He was to play in a dodge ball tournament at school on Saturday but we didn't make that or baseball practice. He is still in bed right now with the sore throat, but no fever so I hope we are making progress.

Grace was a unicorn for Halloween and tick or treated at a few houses. Grandma Jake stayed after chemo to take her out. We made it over to Grandma Fern's and then to a few houses in the neighborhood.

Saturday night was the last of the homecoming season. Justin and Kanani went together again and had a fun time. Here is the last homecoming picture of the season. They wore the same outfits (smart kids) so it isn't much different from last one except Kanani has make up on this time. She doesn't like the first one I posted so this is for you Nani.

Ok, now the next few posts will probably be of Chris. He had a birthday last week and I didn't even make a big deal about it. Shame on me.

MDN Padres JV Football

This is a 20 sec. video of last weeks game. Justin was a super star and this was one of the last plays of the night. If the other team would have made this two point conversion they would have won by one point. Justin is #74 if you couldn't tell!!

So sorry it's been so long....

I really have a strong desire to learn how to design digital scrapbook materials. I like to lay on my bed and doodle in photoshop. I like to do this more then doing dishes, laundry and making dinner. My family is starting to notice. Bummer. Oh, well. I sometimes have some thing to show for it.


Here is Grace and her cousin Patrick Jr. This was taken about a month ago when Jr was here to celebrate Granny's birthday. We like it when Jr visits and hope to see him soon.

I did not create any of the supplies for this page. I would love to learn how.

For those who yearn for more Edward and Bella

A friend of mine called me today to tell me about her find. It was new to both her and me. I'm sure like always, I'm a day late and a dollar short. I wanted to direct you to here to read a portion of Midnight Sun that Stephanie was working on but somehow got leaked on the Internet. She didn't want her fans reading the unedited copy so she has posted a PDF file on her site. It is 200 + page read from Edward's point of view. I haven't been able to find the time to finish Breaking Dawn yet so it may be awhile before I get to this.

So how late am I on this find?

Justin Ramblings....

Ok, so after I bragged about how good Mitchell was on Wednesday at baseball, Justin had to go and shine at football on Thursday. He started at defensive end and played all of the defensive plays! He almost sacked the QB a few times and sure put a lot of pressure on him. He was so pumped up and was happy to take the victory.

I was approached by one of the moms from the team and asked if I would take pictures on the field last week and this coming up week. I agreed very quickly and now am a little nervous.

Saturday was Mt. Point's homecoming. Justin and Kanani looked good together! He had a blast and saw several friends from Jr. High there.

Now for a picture.


I took over 700 photos of the football game and have not gone through them to decide which ones I like yet.

Ramblings

We just had a fabulous baseball night!!! My Mitchell was a super star at second base and short stop! It is so fun to watch your son grow as a person and a ball player. Way to go Mitch, I know you are proud of your self and we are so very proud of you.

Ok, so after talking about it for a few nights here is the picture of Toby's tattoo....I know this is a shock to for some of you, but whatever, it is his body and he can mark it up as he see fits. This is an elk skull that Toby drew for the guy to "ink". Do I mind? I could care less, it is his body.

On to Justin and Kanani and homecoming. Kanani invited Justin to Mt. Point's homecoming this Saturday. She came over and decorated the drive with a poem saying

Roses are Red
Violets are Blue
It would be really sweet
To go to my homecoming with you.

And she baked him a four layer cake


I couldn't leave out Chris in this post, he has missed the last few days of school due to this



and he WILL be going to school tomorrow. Could tomorrow be a boy free day? Oh, how exciting.

Your Ice Cream Personality:

You are not a particularly modest person. You're proud of who you are, and you don't care who knows it. You are incredibly cautious. You rather miss out on something than make a mistake. No one would ever call you wild... but they would call you responsible. You are a somewhat open minded person, but deep down you're fairly conservative. You don't like trying new things very much. And if you do find something new you like, you stick with it. You are a natural multitasker. You feel alive when you're doing more than one thing at a time. You can be a big dramatic and over the top sometimes. You are bold in every way

The Ice Cream Personality Test

Happy Birthday Gabe!

We went to the zoo yesterday to celebrate Gabe's 6th birthday! What a great kid Gabe is!!

Frosting Lips

Gabe and his mommy!

Present Time!!

Free Ride on the carousal

What a weekend!!

What a fun weekend we had. Mitchell had a full weekend of baseball and it was fantastic. We lost the first game, but then won the next two. We lost the championship game by one point and we should have won, but don't all losing teams say that? I should have pictures soon.

Grace enjoyed playing with Murphy, the Mitchell's dog.

Saturday between games we went to Burger King for lunch. Mitchell asked me if I was a happy parent. I said, yes, why? He said that I needed to be in order for Grace to play on the playset!! Here is the proof.
I guess BK now serves Prosac with value meal #1.

Toby was laughig at rule # 6.

Run Mitchell Run

Yesterday Mitchell had his first of two cardiologist appointments this week. At this appointment we had the stress test done and next one will be the echo and talking to the Dr.



Gabe got Mitch all prepped for the test. He used a few different types of wipes to loosen the oils on his skin and then alcohol strips to dry it out. The last part was to use some sand paper to scrub away any of the dead skin. Ouch...Mitchell said it wasn't to bad. Next, came all of the snaps.



Mitchell makes going to the doctor look fun.

Here comes the fun part. The wires and the treadmill.....

Blood Pressure Check

Start out slow

Now we are moving.

Mitchell said he was day dreaming of running up the hill at Grandma Jake's house.

After the test was complete, I asked the Dr. if he would let Mitchell play baseball. He said Yes. Mitch did great on the test. His heart stayed even and he didn't have any chest pains. Good Job, buddy.