Star Student and Field Trip Time!!!

Last Friday Justice got to go on his first field trip with his class.  He was so excited to ride the bus and go to the farm he could hardly contain himself.  He came home when the names were drawn for the chaperone's and tried very hard not to cry that I could not go with him. I knew he would have a great time even without mom!!!  Mrs. Moore made sure he got with his best buddy Anawin's group and his mom, which made it even better. I am so glad he had such a great time even if mom couldn't go with!!!  There will be many, many more field trips I am sure I will get to go on with you!!!!!

Justice was the star student this week so I sent a special lunch with him to make it even more fun since we could not celebrate his day with him like the other kids get to on their star student weeks!  I think his "big sandwich" from Subway with all his special surprises inside the bag and coming in at the end of the day with a big bag of goodies to share with his class while he shared his star poster with the class was a great way to end a fun day!!!

Justice loved that Freedom Bear went to football practice and was actually in the huddle for the biggest game of the season for Jax.  Mrs Moore told the class that Freedom Bear had never been to a practice before so that was pretty exciting!!!!!!

For his star student week we had a lot of fun doing all the little projects that go a long with being the start student!  On Monday Justice brought in a few of his favorite items.  They ask that you don't just bring in a bunch of toys so I made him think of things that he really liked or loved.  He took in his Nintendo DS (no surprise there), his blanket that Jax had as a baby and Jax has given to him to sleep with now (even though in the middle of the night...it still ends up wrapped around Jax's neck, Jax's football picture (because Justice can not wait to play football like his brother) and a bag of his DS games!  On Tuesday he took a book with him.  He is not into a "favorite book" so we just chose a Curious George book.  I am really bad about reading to my kids, even though they read to each other and love reading.  Wednesday brought on the estimation jar.  Lots of sour patch kids and gummy fish... (gross) and Friday was his love letter and poster!  He got jipped with having Thursday off for a holiday and the field trip, but we made up for it with a special star lunch on Monday of the next week!

Here are a few things Justice wrote about himself on his poster:

3 amazing facts about me:
I LOVE BROCCOLI AND BIG SANDWICH FROM SUBWAY
I GET TO PLAY TACKLE FOOTBALL WITH MY BIG BROTHER NEXT YEAR
I JUST LEARNED TO RIDE THE E300 BLUE SCOOTER THIS WEEK

Mommy's favorite *****  I am special because...I LOVE MY MOMMY!!!!

I AM 5 YEARS OLD
I WALK TO SCHOOL
MY FAVORITE COLORS ARE RED, BLUE, AND BLACK
AND I SHOW PEOPLE I CARE BY TELLING THEM THEY ARE MY BEST FRIEND!

Dear Brinkley and Justice,

Hi little crumbsnatching loves of my life,

I wanted to take a few minutes to tell you how proud of the two of you I am.

We are going on almost 6 entire months of football and there have been only two times that you could not or did not want to go to practice.  That in its self is a miracle. No one has gotten sick, no one fought about having to load up 3, 4 or 5 times a week, or whined about unloading everything once we got to practice...ever.  It has not been easy on anyone but you two have absolutely given 100% to Jax and his entire team.  It would not be possible for Mommy to help out the boys the way that I do or even get Jax to practice to be as successful as he is, without all the effort you two put into all the time away from home.  It is never easy but you two work hard to make the days a little simpler. I am sorry for the times that I get frustrated when we are at practice.  It makes for a very, very long week when you guys fight and do not get along so sometimes Mom looses her cool too.  

After Jaxi wins his championship game the two of you will each get a special day just to yourselves.  Mommy will let you pick out a movie or something ultra special to do, just to say thank you for supporting Jax through summer, fall, and into the winter!!!

I love you and I know how much Jaxi loves you for the support that you give to him all week long.  

Thank you for being such an awesome daughter and sister, son and brother!!! 

YOU TWO ROCK!!!

All my love, 

Mom   

DECEMBER 4TH

I THINK SOMEONE IS A LITTLE HAPPY..... CAN YOU GUESS WHO IS GOING TO THE STATE CHAMPIONSHIP GAME ON DECEMBER 4TH?

WAY TO OWN IT TODAY TITANS!!   27-0... I THINK YOU PROVED YOUR POINT!!!!  BRING ON THE VIKINGS AT THE STATE CHAMPIONSHIP GAME!!!!!!

ENTIRE WEEK OF MAKE IT OR BREAK IT

 JUST PICKING HIM UP BY HIS THIGH..................................

PAYING JAX BACK WITH A FACEMASK AFTER JAX HIT HIM WITH A FACEMASK BY ACCIDENT BECAUSE HE IS HALF OF JAX'S SIZE AND HE TURNED AROUND AND CAUGHT JAX'S HAND UNINTENTIONALLY!  FUNNIEST THING IN THE WORLD WHEN I TOLD OUR REF, "IF MY KID WOULD HAVE MEANT TO FACEMASK THAT LITTLE TYKE, HIS WHOLE HEAD WOULD HAVE POPPED OFF!!!"  OUR REF, ANYA LAUGHED SO HARD SHE HAD TEARS ROLLING DOWN HER CHEEKS!

WE HAVE COME TO THAT POINT...


WE ARE MAKE IT OR BREAK IT IN A LOT OF AREAS RIGHT NOW.


ONE IS READING AND SPELLING, AND QUITE WELL, I MIGHT ADD,  ONE IS ADMITTING TO LIKING A BOY, A BOY THAT HER BROTHER IS "ALLOWING" HER TO LIKE BEAUSE HE IS COOL AND HE IS A "QUARTERBACK."  I THINK THIS IS PROGRESS ON BOTH PARTS.  JAX IS LOOKING OUT FOR LITTLE BINKY AND BINKY IS STARTING TO ACKNOWLEDGE THAT NOT EVERY SINGLE GUY ON EARTH IS DISGUSTING ANYMORE.  AS LONG AS I DON'T TALK TO HIS MOMMA WE WILL BE ALRIGHT...  BECAUSE I THINK I HEARD BRINKLEY'S LUNGS EMPTY OUT WHEN I WALKED UP TO HER AT THEIR GAME SATURDAY MORNING, JUST TO SAY HI.  I WILL NOT ENCOURAGE THIS ONE TOO MUCH, BUT I HAVE A FEELING WITH BIG BROTHER APPROVING IT, MR. QUARTERBACK MAY JUST HAPPEN TO SHOW UP OVER AT OUR HOUSE ONE OF THESE DAYS!!!


TOMMY IS ONTO  HIS NEWEST "KNOW YOUR LIMIT" DETAIL.  WALKING THE BAR DISTRICT WITH PBT'S TO SHOW BAR PATRONS WHERE THEY ARE AT WITHOUT EVEN REALIZING IT!  FUN STUFF I MISS SO MUCH!!!


AND FINALLY, OUR WEEK COMES DOWN TO "THE GAME."
THE GAME THAT WILL END THE SEASON OR TAKE US TO THE STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS UNDER THE LIGHTS AT MESA COMMUNITY COLLEGE.  THE STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS THAT WILL BE SPONSORED BY RIDDELL AND UNDER ARMOUR AND ESPN WILL BE PRESENT THERE.  SO  "THE GAME" IS ON ALL OUR MINDS.  ESPECIALLY JAX'S.  WE PLAY A TEAM WE PLAYED BEFORE.  THEY CHEAT.  JAX HAS ALREADY MADE UP HIS MIND TO RUN THEM ALL OVER LIKE MACK TRUCKS AND ONE BY ONE THEY WILL GO DOWN AND OUT OF THE GAME.  HE AND HIS TEAMMATES HAVE A PLAN.... THEY ARE GOING TO PLAY LIKE THEY HAVE NEVER PLAYED BEFORE, HARDER THAN EVER, HIT LIKE TRUCKS, RUN LIKE THE WIND, CATCH EVERYTHING THAT COMES THEIR WAY, HIT EVERYONE IN BLUE AND HIT THEM AGAIN IF THEY THINK THEY WANT TO GET BACK UP AND THEN TELL THEM TO STAY DOWN......  BECAUSE IT IS GAME ON FOR THESE KIDS!!!!


HOPEFULLY I WILL I HAVE A VOICE BY THEN, BECAUSE I HAVE SLOWLY BEEN LOSING IT FOR THE LAST TWO GAMES AND NOW IT IS JUST A HIGH PITCHED SQUEAK..............................................................I AM GOING TO NEED MY LOUDEST SCREAMS FOR THIS GAME.  (MY KIDS ARE LOVING THIS, I BARELY TALK IN THE HOUSE NOW)    SO JAX AND I ARE SLEEPING WITH HUMIDIFIERS AND VICKS.  YUM.....

SEMI'S ... HERE WE COME.......

LOSING

Jax's 70+ yard touchdown run!!!

I am a firm believer in learning how to play fair, play hard, be a good winner and a better loser.  Unfortunately I didn't know how difficult it would be to comfort a crying 10 year old little boy, or 24 for that matter.  No matter how big my kid is in size, he is still a little boy, who has just had his heart shattered into a million pieces after losing a football game because adults taught children how to cheat and hurt other children.  All Tommy and I could do was hug him and tell him how proud we are of him.  What more can a parent do?

I have never seen little boys go after other little boys like this.  Inmates in a jail yes, little boys? no!  We watched 10 year old little boys try to, and successfully hurt 95% of our boys in one way or another.  Two of our quarterbacks were seriously injured.  One with a possible chip in his hip bone and the other with a possible concussion.  We had boys that had intentional helmet to helmet hits, intentional jumps onto their arms, hands, and even Jax took the intentional jump to his achilles.  Fortunately we have a professional team trainer that loves to run because she was non-stop the entire game.  I laughed when Jax told me that he "accidentally" stepped on the other teams quarterbacks hands... after he took him down during a play.  I must have given him some kind of look because he immediately came back with, "hey, I helped him up after...."  Then I burst out laughing but it didn't take out enough of the sting!!!!

A tough loss yes, but a good lesson that Jax needed.  You see, Jax had never lost a football game.  Somehow, he has always been on the winning end of the clock when it has come to football.  He has lost during soccer and baseball but I honestly think that it didn't matter because he didn't love those sports.  He lives to watch football and learn play.  He respects his coaches and wants to learn.  Baseball and soccer were were just whims but football is his "it" sport..... except for the fact that he has coaches that are trying to talk to him about baseball..   but that is a whole different ballgame all together...................  and blog.............

So.....we move forward to our playoffs with only one questionable loss ....  and the real possiblitly that my son could head to the Arizona State Championship playoff game for the East Valley Junior Pee Wee Division for the Valley.  This could get interesting....  real quick...............................

Friendship

Funny thing about friendships....  when they are real, they can come and go and you can say anything and then laugh about it and still want to be around each other.

Take for instance..  one of the women I really look up to.  The other day we were joking about a few different things and she says, "wow, I remember when we (her and her husband) were their age (insert a certain couples name) and we worked out together and had the perfect house together and our kids were perfect in school together and I was the perfect stay at home mom and I cooked and my husband came home to me and it was just perfect.  I totally started laughing and said, "when I was her age I had the perfect career, a nanny, the perfectly clean house, I worked out every day, went to work with my husband everyday, came home with my husband every day and had the perfect life.....bahhhh and now I have her sucky life that I totally hate cuz it ain't perfect to me....funny how that works huh?"

She laughed so hard she almost spit her drink out too.  I never realized how much of a good friend she really is to me until that day.  Funny how you never really know who your real friends are until you really need them or until push comes to shove and it hits the fan.  Or when you don't need anything at all and you just want to sit and do nothing and say nothing.  That is when you know who your friends really are.  The ones who can enjoy the silence with, without having to break it.

And on that note... three kids fighting means I don't get to post yet another blog post......  this is getting so very old......

4-d

HAPPY 40TH BIRTHDAY TO THE LOVE OF MY LIFE!

I SHOULD BE DOING A MILLION AND 6 OTHER THINGS RIGHT NOW... SEEING AS THAT OUR 5 YEAR OLD IS STANDING HERE NAKED, WRITING HIS COLORS FOR ME WHILE WAITING TO TAKE A BATH, BUT SOME THINGS CAN WAIT.

I DON'T KNOW ANY COUPLES WHO HAVE BEEN WHERE WE HAVE.
I DON'T KNOW ANY FAMILIES LIKE OURS.
I DON'T KNOW HOW WE DO IT..BUT WE DO..
AND WELL!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MONTH TO YOU MY LOVE!!!
ALL MY HEART ALWAYS,
BUNNY

MOM

For one,you're not the only one who can take over blogs.Thanks for telling me all that stuff(go to my blog and read it people).2 things 1, why'd you suddenly take over my blog,just kiddin,but seriously.2 you are the best mom ever,'cept for the fact you hacked my blog but still love ya more than cinnamon toast.

LOVE YA,
JAX

p.s. thanks for the towels
p.p.s  go to my blog,it's funny       what to do: go to blogs we tend to bother,click all about Jaxi,this'll get me some readers

READ IT PEOPLE WHO READ MY MOM'S BLOG,PLEASE........AND LEAVE COMMENTS,

SOARIN'

THEY ARE COMING TOGETHER AS A TEAM!!!  AND WE ARE SO PROUD OF HOW FAR HE HAS COME THIS SEASON!!!   STILL UNDEFEATED AND THE TEAM TO BEAT!!!! 

GO TITANS!

THE FINAL SCORE AGAINST CASA GRANDE....28-0!!!

TITANS TEAM

2010 Fall JPW Titans!

(Thankfully this is not their actual team photo!!!!)

Goings on.....

Boy am I forever playing catch up these days. It seems like the minutes fly by and I am doing absolutely everything I can to enjoy every single second of it all.

All our spare time seems to be consumed with Jaxi's football practice and games. I never realized how much work it was going to be just by volunteering to be the team manager. I love everything I do for the boys, but I know that my other two littles are seriously getting short changed when it comes to Mommy time! We have been working on that in a big way!

We finally said good-bye to Tommy's squad A crew with a going away party. Our favorite cake baker made custom cakes for Tommy and Roberto and to be honest, I was so done with his transfer and adjustment and saying good-bye and waiting I just wanted it all to be over and done with. His process was the longest testing process anyone has ever seen and I was sick of it all. We had to put off Brinkley's birthday party because of the squad party so I was beyond over it all!!!! Good bye to the boys and girls of squad A and hello to the boys of night traffic.

So with all that said, we celebrated the big 9 for Miss Brinkley over the course of a few weeks! As usual, she bowed out of a big party with friends. We let her play hookie from school the day before her birthday and took her to see Vampire's Suck. She thought it was funny. Then we took her shopping for a new stereo system. That was her big ticket item that she chose. It was a great day with Daddy and Binky and Mommy. She stuck right in the middle of us all day. Even though it is almost our fall break from school, we still owe her a night out to P.F Changs, for her big birthday dinner. I am sure we will be able to squeeze that in pretty soon!!! I did manage to bring in donuts and juice to her class on her birthday. We had a great time dancing and boping around!!!! Happy Birthday as always Binky Noodle!!!

With Brinkley and Justice having birthday's so close, I did the unthinkable, in my eyes, and made them celebrate their days together. I took full responsibility for making sure each of them felt special for weeks before and after their big day!!!

Trying....the bright side~

That is probably the word of the week around here.

We are trying our best.
We are trying to be the best we can be.
We are trying to change our habits.
We are trying to make amends.
We are trying a different approach.
We are trying to look outside the box.
We are trying to keep our cool.
We are trying to look forward.
We are trying to forgive quicky.
We are trying to forget even quicker.
We are trying to restart fresh.
We are trying to forget we restarted once already this week.
We are trying to learn a lesson.
We are trying to take responsibility.
We are trying to own our actions.
We are trying to swallow our pride.
We are trying to look on the bright side.
We are trying to even find that bright side.
We are trying ...... and it is trying.

I took Brinkley out for a girls night last night.... with swollen eyes and a stuffed up nose.
Retail therapy was not really helpful.
I woke up this morning with swollen eyes and an even stuffier nose.

I can't remember a time when I have been pushed this far.
Tommy worried I would yell and scream and spank until it got ugly.
I am pretty sure everyone felt like that. Jax held the phone, just in case.
That was not the case at all. I cried. A lot.
He thought I was faking it and even said that to me.
That was, until he saw the tears falling down my cheeks.
That was when he realized how severe it really was.
He cried. A lot. Until he shook.
I didn't yell.
I never spanked.
I actually remained calm.
I said what needed to be said.
It was quick and painful and over.
BAM
That was when we decided to start over again.
That is what today is.
A DO OVER!
And I am so thankful for that.
Every 24 hours we get to Do it Over again!
And this morning we are doing just that.
We hugged goodbye and he agreed to work hard at everything today.
Especially his actions and his words.
Because he knows better.
And he is better than that.

And all we can do is try.

MORTIFIED....

I hate having to answer the phone to find my children's principal on the other end of the line...

only to find out that for the second time in three days...... my four year old has ended up in the principal's office.

Pretty much ended any shot at a good afternoon...............

Callings.....

I have never in my life ever used that word until we moved to Gilbert.... but not being Mormon is not what this is about.

Tonight I got more acquainted with the heads of the football league and their spouses. One woman's husband is a Gilbert motor so of course I gravitated to her and him. We chatted for a few seconds and when I told him I am a retired motor he knew who I was, instantly. Law enforcement..small world... seriously. So we chatted a while longer... and then the women from our team wanted to hear "my story." I told them I might cry but after they read my blog, that took six years to write, they were astounded that I even help with football, let alone actually workout with the boys.

After a while one mom asked about seeing the light... all the typical questions I have been asked millions of times. And then she said the phrase that runs through my head every day... hundreds and hundreds of times over and over....

"GOD HAS BIG PLANS FOR YOU, THAT IS WHY YOU ARE ALIVE TO DAY!!!"

I told her that I truly believe that too.. but dang it, I wish God would just come out and tell me what that plan is.

She looked me square in the eye and said, "This is your plan DeANNA, you are here to help your children. To help Jax become the great football player that he is already aiming to be. To teach your children and to be their mom everyday. THIS IS YOUR PLAN."

I kid you not, it was like she had just smacked me across the face. I have heard that millions of times and heck, I have said it over a million times myslef, albeit....very sarcastically. I had always known how lucky my kids and my husband are that I get to stay home and keep track of homework and shots and shoes and uniform lanyards and shoe shine kits and mechanical pencils and clean underwear. I knew that from the day I officially retired, and I knew that I didn't like it one bit.

Tonight was different. Something clicked when she asked what it felt like to be on a ventilator and what goes through your mind when you can't breathe on your own. How you learn to walk again and if I really saw the light everyone talks about. Not only did it click, it was like a fire alarm going off in my ears that would not stop ringing.

I looked out to Jax on the field, just as he dove and caught a pass. His team ran around him and were so excited ... cheering and yelling and smacking helmets. I looked at Pudgie and Brinkley playing on the jungle gym, laughing.

I would have missed this moment, and a million others if it weren't for that one bee that changed my life that day.

And I wouldn't change that for the world. This is what I am meant to be doing. Today is the day that I finally accepted it and opened my heart to listen to what God has been telling me everyday, for a lot of years. Let's hope I didn't take too long to listen!

Just fine....

When did my daughter grow up and become 9? For me, 9 is not fine.

I can't even believe that she is past 3 let alone old enough to be sporting braces and a cell phone. Just yesterday she was one of the chubbiest babies I had ever laid eyes on... SERIOUSLY... at 6 months, my chunk-a-saurus was sporting 4T clothes.

I fight with this little girl all the time. She is stubborn and hard to get along with and has her own ideas about how life should be lead. And I am thankful for that. She is not like other little girls that do everything everyone else is doing. She is one independent little chickie.

I feel so bad that she is tucked in the middle most days. We have had such a crazy schedule, at best, but she is adjusting.

So quickly, I will tell you, I love you more than life my little girl! We have tons planned over the next few weeks... so let's celebrate!!!! And I will update as we go!!!!

Fingers crossed, again

Ahh another Sunday.

One still sleeps. Which is probably better since he crawled into bed about 0530 this morning... and we were not exactly on speaking terms last night, when I went to bed.

I vented. Not about him or anything in particular..... yet everything under the sun.... just typical MOM stuff that everyone deals with and gets tired of and wonders when it will get through to everyone.......and how many times I need to repeat myself and ask to pick up this and that and, well, you get the gist. I vented... and it turned ugly and now, well, now he sleeps, and I finished my first workout of the day only to come in and find the dog chewing a pack of gum, my little munchies playing Madden '11, while eating everything that they shouldn't, for breakfast. It is Sunday so I will pick my battles wisely. I am going into hiding.................................and no one will care or miss me.

I retreated to Jaxi's hole of a blacked out room. Container of strawberries in one hand, rented movie and computer in the other. I can hide out here all day. No one will notice I am not in the room until there is a fight of some sorts over something inconsequential. For now I get to relax and re-evaluate and plan and plot. It was somewhat ironic that I read an article this morning about the reversal of jealousy that a mom felt about the stay at home mom that gets to spend lazy days of summer with her kids and how she would love to be able to choose a lunch date after the summer movie morning rather than trying to find every available summer camp, under the sun, to ensure her son was safe and having fun....... while she went to work everyday. I miss those days. I used to feel like I was accomplished and that I was balancing everything perfectly. I can't say that I feel like that I accomplish much of anything anymore. I have been told my balancing act isn't so spiffy and well...... my organizational skills are truly lacking, again and again I have been told. Makes for one happy Mom!!!! Funny thing is, everything and everyone else in this family is balanced and supremely organized, thanks to my dysfunciton of not being able to get my own act together.

The kids have all their school clothes in color coded order. Pencils are in color coded order, papers are filed, projects in the calendar, toothpastes in order of which child uses which paste, food is organized by snack preference, and backpacks are hung by the garage door with care. Daddy's clothes magically appear in drawers and on hangers, under armors are miraculously waiting on the railing to be carted to work....daily, food finds its way into lunch boxes and money into wallets..... and on occasion... the tooth fairy even remembers to make fairy dusted appearances.

They are all organized and ready to roll every single day. Maybe that is my biggest downfall. I organize them so well that I can't even fathom attempting to find a care in the world big enough to organize mine. I am figuring that it is about time I do that. We are finishing up three really, really trying weeks and things may just actually start to fall into place in this house.

A little dude woke me up this morning... again.
I took it as a sign that I needed to get moving in order to earn the lazy Sunday we all need.
The sweat felt really good this morning.
I was sucking air hoping that I didn't pass out.
It cleared my head and I am pretty sure it wiped out my bad attitude.
I hate running but it brought out the high I needed to kick my own self into days ahead.

I already feel like the week is in the bag and I can get another workout in tonight.

Keeping my fingers crossed that this all works out the way I am planning it.....

TEAMS AND WORK

I am Jax's team manager for his tackle football team. They don't call it the team mom because it is seriously a job. If I have the weights on the boys off, or their information is not correct, their pictures are blurry or anything... a game if forfeited to the other team. It is seriously crazy busy keeping all the stuff right on track for these boys. More so, the real problem, is keep parents on track. It should be pretty easy to figure out why I need your medical insurance paperwork seeing as that we have already had one lil guy go down with a broken arm. Alas, I have to chase down parents like a kindergarten teacher rounding up her students after recess. SAD.


So, a few nights ago, I got a phone call from a concerned parent, and it made me sad. His son is and or was, being singled out, for whatever reason, by two of the boys on the team. Dad felt more comfortable coming to me than the coach, which might be understandable... no not really. At any rate... the word TEAMWORK came up a lot in our house after I had this conversation with the dad and then at our practice. (SADLY, AFTER THIS DISCUSSION AT PRACTICE, THE SAME LITTLE GUY BROKE HIS ARM... PURE COINCIDENTAL AND ACCIDENTAL) I was somewhat angered that anyone on a team would intentionally hurt another child when he was working at being a better player. It happens all the time, I know.


I asked my guy about it. Had he seen anything bad going on or heard anything. His answer was no. He doesn't lie so I was sure that he wasn't really paying attention to anyone but himself during these times.

The truly ironic part about learning that there is no "I" in TEAMWORK, this week, is that my other biggest boy is dealing with this issue as well. And since I won't go into the dirty details. I will say that our family has really gotten schooled on this subject a lot in 4 measly days.

I stressed it to everyone since they seem to think that no one needs to pick up their school work, or their shoes, or worse yet, boy parts of their football uniform. I had to make threats (which I will go through with them no matter how gross it is going to sound) to put all their crap, junk, garbage and items that have kitchen cabinet item names.... (yep, I am talking my 10 year olds football cup) on top of them or on their face while they sleep... if I find them on my counters, kitchen or dining room table, in the downstairs bathroom, on any furniture downstairs or remotely close to food items in the pantry.

We either work as a TEAM or I will punish you all as your Coach.

In reality, I am too tired to care this week... but for the time being, they don't need to know that!~

~TASMANIAN MONDAY~

As you can see, this was a post for Monday. I AM TWO DAYS LATE AND IF THIS IS ANY INDICATION OF HOW THINGS ARE GOING TO CONTINUE WITH A NEW SCHEDULE AND LIFE, I AM UP A CREEK.............

I am pretty sure I am like any other Mom in my neighborhood when it comes to schedules.

Mondays... we don't veer off course at all. We have a system and it does not get changed in any way shape or form or Momma is nuts for the rest of the week.

The kiddos know.... if they are Jax, he wakes up anywhere from 0500 to 0600 to have his own time to do whatever he wants.... like play his video game uninterrupted or read or whatever.

Two other little crumbsnatchers get to sleep until 0705 since they took their baths on Sunday and we have breakfast and we are good to go and in phenomenal moods for the remainder of the day, unless big brother scares the living daylights out of little sister as she is walking to the staircase....half asleep and he screams "raaarrrrrrrr" at her from around the corner and she bursts into tears and runs back to me as I am tugging at the little man to get out of bed... and the dog is biting me for tugging at the little man........ and now barking because his girl is crying and she is confused as to who to protect..... GET MY JIST? We have our Mondays down to a science.

Until today's Monday.

Daddy is home. For all eternity, or until he is promoted, on Mondays now. And I am now considered the devil. Or the Tasmanian Devil, to be exact. He watched me doing the laundry and vacuuming and dusting and dishes and picking up after everyone and getting football gear and drinks ready.........

I can't deal with change very well. I admit it. I am an OCD human when it comes to that. I can't veer off course with Monday's either. It is too hectic and I have to play catch up to everything that slid by the wayside on the weekend... and this weekend...everything slid. we had 8 children here playing video games and swimming and jumping and spending the night and my house shows it.

Having Daddy home is gonna take some adjusting to on Mondays. Or I may have to chain him to the chair at the desk so he does his homework while I do house work, like the Tasmanian Devil, as he called me...............Can't wait for our first Tuesday of the new schedule!!!!

212 degrees - The Extra Degree

THE KIDDOS ELEMENTARY SCHOOL HAS SORT OF TAKEN THIS ONE ON AS THEIR MOTTO THIS YEAR. WE HAD THIS ON OUR BLOG 2 YEARS AGO FOR MOTIVATION IN OUR WORKOUTS. I THOUGHT THAT THIS WAS STILL EXTREMELY APPROPRIATE FOR ALL THE HARD WORK JAX HAS BEEN PUTTING IN ON THE FIELD, EVERY SINGLE NIGHT.

I half JOKED WITH HIM....... NO MATTER WHAT.. YOU PUSH FOR THE EXTRA DEGREE AND YOU WILL BE AMAZED HOW FAR YOU CAN GO!!!! WE WILL SEE HOW MUCH PRACTICE CHANGES THIS WEEK!!!