How can I convince my husband.....?

I have been trying for years to convince my husband that we need to move. I look at houses that are amazing and in our price range. They are 3 times the size of my house here in California. They are just beautiful, i.e. the latest find:

This house would be perfect for our family, although at 5 bedrooms and 3 baths I think that is a little small. However, it has a home office, a 2 car shop garage, a sports court, a play house, RV parking, and the extra height garage. It is on almost an acre (also a little small), but with all the amenities, it would be perfect. Now if I could only convince my husband of that. Soon.....I have a feeling it will be soon.

Varsity?

Well as of today it looks like Jake will be playing Varsity Lacrosse this year. The first game is Friday, March 5, at 7 pm versus Foothill. It will be at Foothill for anyone that wants to come out and watch. We will see what this year holds for the lacrosse team. They have a new coach that is fairly young but has some great experience. They only have a handful of returning players, however, many of the boys have played club lacrosse in the area before trying out for the Falcons. I guess I shouldn't say boys, there is no womens lacrosse team so there are 3-4 girls on the team as well. Jake's jersey will be #5 this year.

Disappointment

It is hard to say I am disappointed, but this time I can say it. I am disappointed in the choices that some people make. Am I angry at the choices? NO! I am extremely disappointed. However, sometimes people need to try something before they realize that they made a mistake. Bad choices are a part of life and I can't be angry at that. I have made bad choices in my life, everyone does, but it is how you correct yourself (or if you correct yourself) that makes the difference. I can't and I won't step in to stop the bad choices and the inevitable downward spiral, but I have and always will be the person that carries a rope.

It is funny to see how bad choices do spiral downward and never lead to positive things. You make one bad choice and it turns in to ten more bad choices and before you realize it you have dug yourself a deep hole and your stuck at the bottom with nothing to help get you out. When you finally realize that your so far down, it may feel impossible, but it will be time to make the correct choices. Those good choices and only those choices will get you out of that hole. Because one of those choices will be the rope that helps you up.

Christmas Cards

I found this article on Mormon Times today: http://www.mormontimes.com/mormon_voices/tiffany_gee_lewis/?id=12415

For some reason this is so true. Our Christmas cards went out late this year (or will go out late, probably tomorrow..fingers crossed). But for those of you who sent us your christmas cards and letters, we really enjoy reading about your families.

Happy 2010!

Happy 2010!

A new year is upon us. Really it only seems like a few months ago it was January 2009. Oh how the time flies. I have done random posts throughout the year about some of the kids if not all of the kids, but I will post an update for those who do not keep up with us on Facebook and Twitter.

Jake just turned 15 in December and is already shopping for the car he wants and has memorized the driver handbook. He has already asked me to make his appointment at DMV for his permit (I should remember to add this to my things to do list). He was a starter on the freshman football team this year (Go Falcons!). Although I tried to convince him to play freshman soccer he decided that it was better to take a break this quarter to concentrate on the Sheriff’s Explorer program. He will be playing lacrosse in the spring though, and it looks like on the varsity team, woo hoo! The cadets are headed to Chandler, Arizona next week to compete at the 2010 Tactical Explorer Competition they will compete in such things as Tubular Assault, SWAT Fitness Challenge, Marijuana Field Raid, Tubular Assault, Active Shooter and more. Jake is really looking forward to being able to compete. Since we are not going with him, I will try and keep everyone posted with the results on Facebook and here on the blog. That is as long as he calls his mom and tells me.

Jared turned 14 in November and is looking forward to summer getting here so he can play more video games. I believe I blogged about why it was that I buy this child $60 games for him to finish them in a day or two. Out of all the gaming consoles he loves the XBOX 360 the most. It gives him the opportunity to play with people all over the world as well as his friends next door or down the street without being in the same room with each other. There have been many vacation days where I have gotten up at 1 or 2 in the morning and he is playing video games with people in Japan or Australia. They do not speak English, so this is a good opportunity for him to learn a number of new languages. He is talking about playing football in September when he is a freshman. But spring weights start early in the morning and he is not a morning person, so we will see how he likes the early morning hours.

Jordan turned 9 in September and is growing like a weed. Some days I wonder how long it is gonna take before all the kids are taller than me (2 of them are already). Jordan loves being a Webelos scout, but still enjoyed hanging out with the older Boy Scouts this summer on vacation. He can’t wait to move up to Boy Scouts. He also loves to play video games with Jared, but he will skip doing his homework to play so we had to put a stop to that. He loves to make things up and creates imaginative stories to tell.

Jessica will be 4 in February. She is a lot different than the boys were at her age. She is brilliant and makes us laugh all the time. She spends a lot of time with her brothers so she has a huge vocabulary and has learned not only to use the internet on the computer to get to her games on Playhouse Disney, but how to watch movies on both the computer and her brothers laptop with no help. She surprised me the other day when she gave me directions to the Baskin Robbins in town. I had asked her if she wanted some pink ice cream and of course her answer was yes (pink is her favorite color). I was talking to Dane about what I needed to get from the store and she interrupted to tell me that she wanted her ice cream from the store next to the McDonalds. When I asked her which store that was she told me to go to the McDonalds and make a left, it’s the store right there, it has the candy in it. Of course, she was right. Dane and I both started laughing. She is the princess of the house of course and the boys love her and spoil her, sometimes rotten.

2009 was a good year, but I expect 2010 to be an even better one!

What would I do?

A friend and I were having a political discussion which quickly turned into a discussion about our kids (don't ask how that happened). He had made an observation about how people that are have no children are more selfish and unwilling to compromise and can be difficult to deal with.

I got to thinking about the conversation later and I am not sure I could function without my kids. Sure there are times when I think geez if I didn't have children I could have a nice big house, that BMW I want, a vacation house on the beach, I could travel all over and not have to worry about anything. I could even hire a maid to clean up the house, although I would probably need to make a mess first so I felt like I was getting my monies worth.

But then I go back to finding my daughter in her underwear outside in front of the house, with no supervision as I am arriving home, and she helped guide me car in the driveway like she was the parking attendant. Or the day she was on the front lawn in her purple princess nightgown, with a bamboo stick, playing kung foo by herself, with noises and all. Or watching my son make a complete mess of his new t-shirt while he made a square bowl from modeling clay and then filled it with water proclaming that it works. Or watching the look on my older boys face when he just played his first full game as the starting left guard for the freshman football team and lost but that didn't matter to him. He was more concerned with me knowing that he started and that he played the whole game (like I wasn't there filming the whole thing). Or my other son when he comes home with a good grade and still (in the 8th grade) puts it on the fridge for everyone to see.

Why would anyone want to give up on experiences like that for cars, houses, toys, etc. It's not worth it to me. I can live in my messy house with no maid, with sidewalk paint and chalk all over the front walkway, tip-toeing around the numerous bikes by the front porch.I wouldn't have it any other way.

New Haircuts

So the hubby and I went out last week and left the 15 year old in charge. He is and always has been a good babysitter, but lately he is more inclined to lay on his bed in his room watching TV rather then watching the kids. (The life of a teenager.) But this time, he didn't notice that it got rather quiet and he no longer heard Jessica roaming the house playing. She instead had found a pair of scissors and decided to give herself a haircut. This is not the first time she has done this. The last time it wasn't too bad and it was easily repaired with a shorter version of her current haircut. Not this time. This time she butchered it. Of course none of the kids called to say anything was wrong, but little did I know they sent text messages to the hubby warning him. He also didn't say anything. So the minute I got home the boys warned Jessica that I was there and she hid. She knew mommy was gonna be mad, and I was. When she finally showed herself, she could only say "Sorry mommy." So off to Supercuts to get it fixed, not that there was much left to work with. For a moment I contemplated shaving it all off, and doing the same to mine. Just for an excuse not to have to deal with it for awhile, but that moment passed quickly. Well here is the end result from our trip to Supercuts.

Needless to say the boys all call her a boy, and yes she looks like it. It is a good thing all her clothes are pink. I had to teach her to tell them I am not a boy, I'm a girl.

No one ever said what happened to the hair she cut off. I assumed the boys cleaned it all up and threw it away before I got home. Come to find out I found it in my bathroom behind Jessica's basket of shoes a couple of days later. Needless to say no more ponytails or hairbows for awhile. I guess it makes it easier for Daddy on Sunday, when he has to do her hair. Last week she came out of the bathroom with it call combed to the side, mommy had to quickly fix it.