Keeping It Real

I wasn't in the mood for Halloween this year. I forced myself to carve pumpkins withe the kids. Wasn't I stunned when they did most of the work themselves... happily.



I couldn't wait to be done coaching soccer... now I'm done and I'm gonna miss those kids. It is for the best... they all need someone else next year. It was a nightmare at times, but so enjoyable at times as well. Both of my teams certainly made me proud.



I am so frustrated with my graduate program... I will make it, but it is so tough to find a balance between mommy, wife, teacher, friend and student.


My son's team lost their first game today... my heart broke for them. They didn't deserve to win... they didn't play well, but I ached for those kids. And then, in a moment I was so proud of those kids. They ran across the field... high 5ed everyone, got a piece of candy, and headed to a team-mates house to hot-tub and have pizza and cupcakes (a totally last second invite). They spent a couple of hours playing and bonding. They were bummed that they lost, but that happens. They know what went wrong. As I talked with some of the other parents we all had the same idea... it was bound to happen (the loss), the kids are working so hard to gel as a team and the biggest goal we all have for our kids is to not get burned out... HAVE FUN!



We are trying a new Halloween tradition... the Gnome/Fairy comes and collects candy a child doesn't want and in return leaves cash. Guess what... I hate it. It made me sad to watch my kids after all of their fun of collecting candy and looking at all of it to have to decide what to give away. My kids love money, so their give-away bowls are huge, but they aren't happy about it. It makes me sad. I feel like the rug was just just pulled out from under their feet. Now, how do I fix it. I love the concept, but not for our family. I don't mind if they have candy... our Halloween candy typically lasts until Easter. A little here and there won't kill them.




I thought I was suppose to have it all figured out by now... I don't, but I'm trying every day. I'm tired of my mood swings and crabby answers... when you are tired of yourself, it is time to make a change.



I'm keeping it real....

Photos, photos, photos

What do you do with your photos?

I am completely digital... I upload my photos off of my camera and when I have time I send them to Costco or Snapfish to have prints made. I love to scrapbook, but don't have time for it right now. So, my photos sit.


I realized that I have a TON of photos just sitting on my laptop and I need to back them up. I used to burn them to a cd every few months (right now I have almost 8 months worth on my laptop and over a year's worth on my pc). I've also loaded them to sites like snapfish; where they offer free storage.


So, this morning I started uploading to another site to keep my photos safe. It is quite a process as I take a ton of photos. I'm trying to be patient and go through each folder and quickly deleting all of the oops photos. It's tough... I hate to delete photos.


Should I also back them to a cd? What do you do? How do you handle your photos?


Pictures randomly selected from my folders...

In the patch with baby girl!

My guy

It makes a mama sad to miss one of her kids soccer games. However, when you are coaching 2 of the 3 kids, you are going to miss the kids games that you are not coaching.

It warms a mama's heart to hear about the incredible game I missed.

Smiles...

Tales to tell...

and a husband that is so proud tonight that he can't stop telling me about the game.


He even said... "I leaned over to another mom and said... Angela is going to be so upset that she missed this."

I guess my son was on his game today... sadly, I missed it.


I may have missed it, but I've seen so much joy out of the two people in the house with the same name, that maybe it was meant to be.

My Molly Girl

My Molly girl passed away early this morning. As sad as it is to loose my dog, I know that it was her time. She lived for 12 years and 2 months. That is a long time for a large dog. The last year she has been here, but not been herself. For the past 2 months she was living... but not enjoying life. She couldn't go for walks (unless you count going to the mailbox), she couldn't chase squirrels and she couldn't get up the stairs to her bed in the boys room. We made adjustments for her... moved her bed downstairs, walked her to the mailbox and loved on her a lot.

This morning, when I found her I was sad... I cried... I sobbed.

Molly has been in our life for 12 years. She was my first dog. She was Joe's first dog. She was our first dog. She was great (that's not to say she didn't have issues, because she did).

She was so good with kids, not just my kids, but all kids. All of my babies crawled on her, pulled her hair and laid on her. She never complained. When they were out of the way, she would quietly sneak off for time to herself. She loved cleaning up cheerios off of the floor or steak leftovers.

She enjoyed walking and running. She loved the snow, the rain, the sun... it didn't matter, she just loved being outside. She loved being with us. We were her family.

Two years ago, Jeep came into the picture. She was his "mommy". She helped to train him and we were so proud of her. We'd always said that she would have been a great mom and she was.

Today, we are sad. We mourn her, however, we are grateful. Grateful for the 12 years we had with her. Grateful that she is now free to run and chase squirrels.

Goodbye Molly. You will forever be a part of our family.

Life's a little odd when...

* your son can stand on the ground and reach the monkey cross bars


* your daughter heads out on an all day play-date without any worries


* your son tells you that so-and-so and s0-and-so have a mustache/beard growing... um, they are in 4th grade... this should not yet be our conversation, right?


* you are told 'thank you' after helping with evening homework


* you are reminded that "it's time to read" from the child that doesn't love to read


* your children make plans to go and watch another friends soccer game... Oh, by the way, Mom, I need a ride.


My kids are growing up... they are still little enough and they still need me, but I see the tide shifting and I'd like it to STOP!

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom

It's green week at school; which means trees and nature... which is filled with many fun explorations and adventures... I love it!

A couple of years ago, I also made this week our Chicka Chicka Boom Boom week.

The kids love it, I love it... it gives us another spin on trees and really allows me to introduce and play with the entire alphabet with the kids. Later in the week, the kids will create a coconut tree that we will use as a mat for letter work... I'll have to post that photo later.

Don't forget to check out Chicka Chicka 123... a fabulous introduction to numbers. With my preK kids this book allows kids just learning their numbers to find success as well as kids who are ready for bigger numbers to feel challenged.

Beauty

After Pepe's soccer game, we headed to the beach to let the team play and enjoy the day. It was a beautiful day at the coast... and I just love this boy!




Shirts off... are you ready for some football. It was so great to see this team mesh together. Three boys, including mine, joined the team in late August and I am amazed at how quickly they have come together.