DETERMINATION

Yet another "proud Mommy" moment...

Each month the students at Heritage Oak Elementary are recognized for showing strength in an area that focuses on important life skills. It is called "The Pyramid of Success" program and it is specifically designed to foster positive values and high self-esteem in the students at the school.

Alexander was beaming with pride as he joined fellow students at the school assembly to soak up the applause. Alexander received the award for "Determination". This month he was chosen by his teacher for all of his hard work and desire to always do his best (even if it comes hard for him). Alexander has always been "determined"...even from day 1 in the NICU, on a ventilator. Well, the rest is history. I am so proud to have such a determined son to call my own! It is a key life skill that will take him far in life!

The "Pyramid of Success" is a cool program. It is a way to reward the kids and offer them some positive reinforcement for all their hard work!

Awesome work Alexander!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY...a few days late.!

Dear Alexander and Matthew,

HAPPY 11th BIRTHDAY!! (September 25th) I am sorry this posting is late. It has been a very busy past few days. I know you understand and for that, I am very grateful!!

So, on that note, here is my birthday message to you...

You are both growing up so fast. Instead of counting the years that I've had with you, I have started counting how many I have left. I realize that I'm over half way done raising both of you. Where has the time gone?

I love that you are the oldest in our family and appreciate all the help you give me (I know being the oldest is always fun). I sometimes forget to think about when you were both smaller and more dependent. I know you would each love to have more freedom. But I think you understand how important it is to be a good example to your brothers and sister. As I release you, bit by bit, I pray for wisdom.

I also want to compliment you on your beautiful hearts. You truly know right from wrong. I don't worry about you in that regard. You have a solid foundation and your faith is strong. You are both smart, polite, personable and brave. It makes me so happy to watch you both use the special gifts that God has given you.

I LOVE that you are such great "team-players", both at school, at home and on your sports team. I have watched you excel in sports and know you must have gotten that from your father (not me!). Your are both sports-lovers and can quote many statistics of your favorite ball teams and players (you get that from your dad too). You not only love to watch sports but play too--mainly soccer and football.

You are both very impressive young men. You are polite and patient. You are peacemakers in our home. You are both kind and considerate and get along with everybody.

I know we tell you often, but always remember how proud you both make your mom and dad. We love you so much and thank God for your place in our family.

Many blessings, Alexander and Matthew on your 11th birthday. WE LOVE YOU!!!

Love you all the way to heaven and back, Mom

"CALGONE TAKE ME AWAY"

Remember this post from the other day?

Well, in case I did not make myself clear, allow me to draw you a picture and show you what a sweet little 2 year old I have on my hands...

"Where was I"? you ask.....well, I had just gotten out of the shower...the phone rang (Kristen, it is all your fault) and Brendan was out of my sight for less than 5 minutes. He escaped into the garage looking for a snack out the garage refrigerator, I suppose.

I scooped him up, brought him back inside, washed off his hands and feet and proceeded back into the garage to clean the mess.

STUPID ME---left Brendan in the house. Hence the spilled OJ from the kitchen refrigerator (from the top shelf mind you) and left over pizza all over the floor.


Guess he was looking for a snack after all!

Hope your day was better than mine!

Introducing Mr. President and Mr. Vice-President...

Alexander and Matthew decided at the beginning of the year that they wanted to run for student council officers.

(actually they decided last year but you can only run in 5th grade)

They decided on their own who would run for Pres and who would run for VP.

I knew it would be a good experience for them.

But as a mom I was worried about it.

Ugh, what if one won and one didn't?

I kept telling myself (and them) that this would be one of the many life lessons that would make them stronger.

They had great attitudes about the whole process.

They were well aware of how it all worked and still wanted to do it regardless of the end result.

There were about 6-7 other kids running for each office.

Elections were last Friday.

Alexander ran for Student Body President.

Matthew ran for Student Body Vice-President.

They wrote their campaign speeches.

They made their campaign stickers and posters.

They stood up and delivered their speeches to the entire 4th and 5th grade.

They were so nervous--especially Alexander!

They did great!

They made me so PROUD!

THEY WON!!!

Congratulations Alexander and Matthew.

I know you are going to be great leaders this year and always!

GO HUSKIES!!!

HAPPY 4th BIRTHDAY TO MY #4...

Today you are four years old. I am in disbelief that this could be true! You have been in pre-school for about a month now and you are loving every minute of it. Daddy and I are amazed by how you have always been able to hold your own with the big kids. You love everything physical and recently mastered riding a 2-wheeler without training-wheels!

You listen and learn from those around you. And you are above and beyond smart! You are a constant joy to our family. Your smile is contagious and you tears break hearts. You are outgoing, talkative and lovable. A hug from you always brightens my day

Some of your favorite things consist of…

You love playing with your big brothers. You love playing outside and getting dirty. You love watching TV (in limited time periods) and playing on the computer (Nick Jr. games especially). I am not sure you even know how to use a traditional mouse, since we only have a lap-top, without a plug-in mouse. You can manipulate the lap-top touch pad better than I can. Your favorite song is "Powerful" (from Vacation Bible School) and "We Will Rock You". You are a good helper around the house by bringing the small trash cans to the kitchen to be dumped into the bigger can. You love to "pretend" more than any of your older siblings ever did. You can say your prayers and bless yourself like a champ. In fact, you never forget to bless anyone or anything during our dinner-time prayers...including the "lovely broccoli and milk". Your lightsaber, trucks and blocks are your favorite toys to play with along with any outside toys with wheels.

On your 4th birthday, I pray that Daddy and I can be the best parents ever and help to raise you into the strong, kind man that I know you will be. I hope that we can teach you about God and His awesome love for you.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ANDREW!
Always know you are loved more then words can say.
Love,
Mommy

"Oh Jen, Stop Your Whining!"

Okay, so I hate that the posting at the top of my blog was so negative. I sound like such a baby..."woe is me...my house is a mess!!" Gosh , I hate being so superficial. That being said, I was really touched by a show on TV this week.

Did any of you watch The Biggest Loser on Wednesday night?

I admit, I do like reality TV. Not all of it but a few of them I really like.

I have never watched the Biggest Loser religiously. Never TIVO or DVRed it.

For any of you "usual's of the show", is every episode such a tear jerker? If I cry like that every week I am not sure I can watch it!!

All the contestants stories have a similar thread. But when it comes done to it, they have all just let themselves get over-weight.

But one women's story is more than I think I could take...Abby Rike.

Her husband, 5 year old daughter and 2 1/2 week old son all were killed in a car accident.

CAN YOU IMAGINE!!?

Your entire family gone in one moment.

Yet, and she gets up everyday (I am quite sure she doesn't complain about a messy house).

She knows there is a reason she is still alive. She said at the end of the episode that to her dying would be easy. It is living everyday that is hard.

She is truly an inspiration for all of us mothers, for her enormous courage of simply going on living, putting one foot in front of the other every day.

She is an amazing example of living in the moment...living in the "how" not the "why" mentality.

A good lesson for me!

So, my cheering will be for Abby Rike. Not just because of her tragic story but because she is such an amazing woman and she is an inspiration me!!

Treading Water

I've been feeling a bit glum lately. Really, it is very shallow. It is about the state of my house. I can resign myself to dirt and chaos for a limited time; but it still gets to me and then I hit my breaking point!! For a variety of reasons, things are not where I want them to be. As a family we are trying to adjust to a new school year, new sports schedules, Mike working longer hours, his coaching and our other responsibilities. All of this causes upheaval.

My house needs major cleaning.I don't know what it is but I can just barely stay on top of the most basic maintenance: laundry, cooking, dishes, keeping a semblance of clean in the kitchen and dining areas, vacuuming the carpets, keeping the toy chaos from overwhelming everything. Anything more has mostly been beyond my grasp. I don’t like living this way – trying to maintain a sense of order in the midst of circumstances I just can’t seem to control. I hate feeling that I am out of control with all of the details of life..

To add to this feeling, Brendan has been SO difficult this week. He's such a sweet, happy fellow, but this week....I'll tell you...I don't know if it's his cold, or the kids being gone at school, or just a new little stage, but he wants ME almost every minute. He's 34 pounds and it's not easy lugging this kid around.

If he happens to be settled and busy it just means he's up to no good. He'll find a pen or a pencil laying around-my walls, his canvas...or he stands on his tippy toes and fishes one out of the drawer and just writes everywhere before I even get a chance to stop him.

He's hurt me, physically, 10 times this week. Slammed a door shut on my ankle, given me serious love bites, head butted me in the nose (the kind that makes you check for a break or blood!), all on accident of course.

He's smooshed my lipstick, dumped bags of cereal and goldfish when given a second. Crinkled my new magazine, ran his stroller into my ankles. He's been using the shelves in the refrigerator as his jungle-gym.

When we went on walks, they were as far from enjoyable as you could get. Refused to sit in the stroller, down every one's driveway, in the street constantly, in and out of the stroller every minute, mad as heck when he didn't get his way and we headed home.

Tons of whining. Tons. Do you get the picture? Tested every ounce of my patience. So much so that here I am...my turn to whine!!

Here's to Friday!! Hoping it's a better weekend and next week will be a fresh start!

P.S. I am going to Babies-R- Us to get myself a lock for the refridgerator door! They've got to make one of them...right?!

Wordless Wednesday

Random photos that I haven't had time to post. Busy day today. I need to walk away from the computer and walk my way to the gym!

Resistance Training

As if pushing 34lbs of 2 year old baby on my power walks isn't hard enough. Brendan is just tall enough now to reach the front tire of the jogger with his feet and squeeze it protest that he does NOT want to be part of my exercise regime!

"C'mon Mom...no pain, no gain!"

EIGHT IS GREAT!!

Our little Pookie is 8 years old...(only Daddy can explain that nickname). I remember the day I found out I was having a GIRL. I was so surprised. Now, here we are, 8 years later and you are still my only girl. What a gift God has given our family to have you as our daughter and sister! You bring us more joy then you could ever know,(even on the days I may say otherwise). You are funny, smart, witty, caring, gentle and beautiful both inside and out!

Happy 8th Birthday sweet girl!!!!

I love you forever and always,
-Mom

Always Remember, Never Forget...9-11-01

Today we remember the victims and countless heroes from the fateful day of 9-11-01.

The biggest national tragedy of my life was September 11, 2001. I had never experienced an event like it and hope I will never see another.

Like most people, I remember where I was when I first heard what happened. I woke up in the morning and turned on the television – like I did every other morning. The second tower had not been hit yet. I was nine months pregnant with Catherine (and ended up in a car accident later that day that started my labor).

After the initial shock and sadness that day brought, the days that followed were extraordinary. Those days made me more proud to be an American then I had ever been before. We the people were truly united. The feelings were genuine and pure and still brings me to tears.

Everywhere I looked the American flag was waving. Businesses, homes, cars, people walking on the street – there were more American flags then I had ever seen. With all those flags came comfort and reassurance that this is truly the greatest nation on earth.

Happy Birthday to all those born on this date (or close to it--Catherine Claire). Let our celebration of life be a reminder to those that attempted to break us that we are still standing proudly and believe that America is the best place to live!!

And let us be thankful for those who work to keep this tragedy from ever happening again, especially the soldiers who put their lives on the line for us. God bless them and their heroic families..

Obama's Speech to the Kids...

I read Obama's "Back to School" speech this morning. I figured I should, considering my children came home from school yesterday telling me all about it. "Mom, it was pretty good and he only used one bad word.... he said the 's' word mom". ("stupid"...my kids think they are the bad-word police).

So, after I dropped the kids off at school this morning, I pulled it up on the computer and read away...

Other than the line about "giving up on your country," I had no problems with it. (which I found surprising.) I guess someone in the White House wised up and realized it would only hurt Obama to make the speech a politicized piece of brainwashing propaganda.

Even though I didn't vote for Mr. Obama and I certainly don't agree with his policies, I think his speech was very encouraging to the students -especially the ones from broken homes. He doesn't let them make excuses of why they 'can't' do something. He makes himself of an example of being a child in a single parent home and his mom working hard. There are some kids out there looking up to him and hopefully it made a positive impact on them. (this is probably the nicest thing I have ever said about our president)

That being said, after reading it I thought to myself, aren't most parents and teachers saying the exact same stuff to kids day after day? I didn't hear anything even remotely noteworthy or exceptional. Overall, I am not sure it was necessary to disrupt the entire U.S. public educational system over this speech.

Can't wait to hear his address to Congress tonight!!

Boy's Night Out to America's Game

This past Saturday was a "Boy's Night Out". Mike, Uncle Sonny and Pop took all of the "big" boys to see the SF Giants play the Colorado Rockies at AT&T Park. They all had a great time. Let me say that my boys first love are the Boston Red Sox, but they have grown to like and follow the Giants as well. And hey, who wouldn't get excited to go watch a game at beautiful AT&T Park.

The boys were all so excited to spend the afternoon and evening together. Alexander and Matthew made homemade signs and printed out "Panda" masks to bring along. Mike, Alexander and Matthew drove down to my sister's house, where they met up with Uncle Sonny, Nicholas, Ben and POP too! They headed out to the city in order to get there in time to receive a SF Giants gym bag, which were being given out to the first...20,ooo (or something like that). They just had to get a bag or else the whole night would have been a disaster!!

After getting their bags (YAY!), they headed over to Amici's Pizza for a good ol' NY style pizza pie, which even satisfied the toughest palette of the group..POP! He gave a the pizza a thumbs-up..."best pizza I have had since I left NY"!

One of the great things about the game was third baseman Pablo Sandoval, who is nicknamed Kung-Fu Panda. The kids were so excited to see him and loved watching him, one of the Giants great players, in the field and at bat. Panda did not disappoint. In fact he hit a home run into the "Splash Zone" which made the kids pretty happy!

Overall is was great game. The Giants won, the weather wasn't too cold and most importantly the older boy cousins had a great time hanging out together. Before we know it, Andrew and Brendan will be tagging along too.

Here are a few snapshots from the night...(thanks to Uncle Sonny).

My morning at the park...

It amazes me how a little 2 year old can have so much fun just playing (for free) on a playground in the neighborhood. I used to take Alexander, Matthew and Catherine when they were small to the park ALL THE TIME, especially when we first moved to Roseville. I knew NO ONE and I had my pick of about 10 different parks within a short distance of my house. It was my contact with the outside world and a way for me to meet people in our new town. As the years have past, I just don't take the little guys to the park as often as I did with my older ones. I think part of it is that we have a backyard where they can play and a playset with swings, so Andrew and Brendan have entertainment right outside the back door.

But like anything else, I guess sometimes what you have can be boring. While Andrew was in preschool this morning, I took Brendan to brand new playground close to Andrews school. He had so much fun. I enjoyed just sitting outside ... the weather was just beautiful (since it was 9am, it was still comfortable). What was especially nice was being away from my house and the many distractions. I got to play with Brendan, watch him climb, swing, and slide. There was also the opportunity for me to take some pictures (well, just a couple) which always makes me happy. For a short time there was even a mom with two children that came by and we chatted. She was much younger than me...and her little ones were 1 year and 3 years old. I did feel a bit "old" chatting wit her (I bet she was about twenty-six. She was shocked to find out that my oldest were almost 11yrs old and that Brendan was one of five. I then suddenly felt really old.

While Brendan played away, I got to thinking how I have been stuck in a bit of a rut for the past year or so. I just don't get out of the house as much as I used to. I find it is very easy to get stuck in the routine of staying at home . . . all the time. I mean, I get out everyday to run errands and drive carpool and go to COSTCO, but sometimes it is hard to leave, because if I am not home...things at home are not getting done. Can you say LAUNDRY? However, the time has come that I just need to leave the house regardless of the state that it is in. I need to relax and enjoy my time with Andrew and Brendan and better yet, just relax.

So today's park visit with Brendan was quite beneficial for my mental health. I promised myself that I will take the kids to the park more, arrange more play-dates for Andrew and Brendan and just get out more. I need to take better care of myself and try to nurture the part of me that existed before kids. I also resolve to take more deep breaths now and then and always, always, count my blessings.

"Mom, HELP...I am getting really dizzy!"