Football!!!

Gotta get this on the blog otherwise it just will get lost in the shuffle of pictures and thoughts.  This season is now in full swing.  Game one is in the books.  The jitters are done and over with, thankfully, because that was pretty nerve-wracking for the parents, as well as those boys.  They started out like beginning mighty mites....  kidding......well, not really.  With a few really good tackles and a very important sack under his belt up at the PW level,  Jax is ready to rock his first season.

They don't keep score, but who are we kidding,  WE DO!  Titans don't like to lose and now we find out that none of the GYFL teams will scrimmage us anymore.  Bummer!!!!

Every practice, they are learning and every game they are putting that into play.   Jax is running his tail off.... it is good to be back in the swing of it all!!!!!

DAY TWO...

Day two was a full day at sea.  We happily slept in and then roamed the ship together to get the feel of where everything was.  Then we let Jax and Brinkley run loose like wild children.  We don't mind if they go off by themselves!  Some people think we are nuts but we trust them to stick together and watch out for one another.  After a few hours of checking out every deck, hitting all the buffets and ice cream machines... and our first workout on the ship....  the pool called our name!!! The weather was absolutely perfect.  The sun was shining and we were ready for some R & R!

Then we checked the munchies into Camp Carnival for mine and Tommy's one and only dinner "solo" on the ship.  It didn't actually  help that Jax and Brinkley had "check-out" priviliges from the Club O2.  Within 5 minutes of us checking them in, they were bouncing around ship again.  Silly kids!!!!  Thankfully they knew they had to go back at 9PM that night to be there for Justice when they would combine the two classes together.

After we had enough of the casino, we collected the kiddos and hit the ice cream machines and jacuzzi, once again...............  Day two.. in the books and of course.... IT WAS AMAZING!!!!

Day One......

It is absolutely never pleasant to wake up to an earthquake and tsunami in another country like we did on Friday, March 11. Especially when you have a cruise planned that is possibly going to be affected because of it!!!!! We had no idea what type waves or ramifications we would be looking at from the aftershocks on our boat....or if they would even be sailing the Carnival Spirit for our 9 day cruise.  A very long phone call awaited very early that morning.


Finally, we got word that the safest place to be during our vacation, would be, on the water.  Tommy and I discussed at length, ok, for like 7 seconds, that we were going on this cruise, and packed our kids up from grandma's house and headed to the San Diego Harbor.............The ship, The Carnival Spirit, was finally allowed to come into port over 2 hours late.  By that time we had to tell the kids that we had sort of "lied" about our vacation plans.  They were getting somewhat antsy and confused as to why were hanging out down by the docks and ports.......  Brinkley is less than thrilled, initially......... then it sank in.  WE WERE TAKING A 9 DAY CRUISE ON A GIGANTIC BEACH HOUSE....  A 1000+ ROOM BEACH HOUSE..........  YOU CAN'T REALLY BEAT THAT!!!!!


We had more than 4 more hours to wait.  Finally, they let VIP's sit inside the hanger.  Within 30 minutes of sitting down and filling out our customs paperwork, we were going through customs..... to wait for another 2 hours to board the ship.  I made great use of the time by standing in the women's restroom charging the
i-touches.  Very sanitary. 


Finally...IT WAS TIME TO BOARD...AND THEN WAIT FOR THE SHIP TO SIT SOME MORE!!!!!! 


I think the unknown of the tsunami was the worst part of all.  We just did not know what was going to happen with the waves and the aftershocks of the quakes.  Better safe than sorry!!!!!


Once we were safely on the ship, all checked in, after we found our balcony rooms, we started the roaming process.  We bounced around.  We got our first round of food!  We hit the bar for Jax's first Pina Colada, Pudgie hit the ice cream bar for his all you can eat brain freeze, Brinkley hit the jackpot with the french fry bonanza and I just breathed the fresh ocean air.  I think Tommy started his phone withdrawal.......Actually we both did...  It was time to start this vacation!!!!  Finally about 8:30 PM San Diego time, the boat backed out of port..... and our butts were in the jacuzzi when it did.  That was a pretty cool scene!!!!!!!  BEFORE WE KNEW IT.... DAY ONE OF BOARDING AND UNLOADING WAS DONE....... ON TO DAY TWO OF CRUISING THE SEAS!!!!!!!

Pudgie and Brinkley eating in the San Diego Harbor before we could even board the ship!

Jax and Binky eating on the ship............ SERIOUS EATING!!!! 

PUDGIE IN OUR ROOM!

PLAYING CHECKERS ON THE CHESS BOARD!

SUNSET!

THE NAVY SHIPS!

BRINKLEY WAS SCARED TO DEATH BEING HELD BY THE RAILINGS... SERIOUSLY...

I HAD TO BEG HER FOR THIS PHOTO... 

 

ABSOLUTELY ONE OF MY FAVORITE PHOTOS EVER!!!!!

SUNSETS!

Crusin' ... just getting home..........

SWEET HOME!

we are slowly recovering and emptying our suitcases...  at least the ones that made it back to Arizona.  One is actually sitting in the customs area of the port of San Diego.  Brinkley is the lucky one who didn't have any clothes to fold from the trip..... I am the one who is stressing over crystal boots and heels sitting in that luggage without me.  But that is how life is and they will be on their way, via Fed Ex soon enough!!!

For now,  we will play catch up and enjoy a few more days off with Daddy and try to re-organize life and then get this blog completely updated.  It was one crazy fun ride.....  waking up on Friday morning not knowing for sure if we were even going to be able to take the trip due to the earthquake and tsunami in Japan...... what an amazing experience that was!!!

9 days of cruising, 5 ports of call, 3 cameras (one which sits in the bottom of the ocean in La Paz, Mexico now...... ahemmmmm...thank you Jet Ski speed demons Jax and Daddy!!!) 288 pictures that we actually have, only one sunburn, 12 bottles of tequila, 2 games of Bingo won by Brinkley and myself...... wohoo for $700.00, the opportunity for Jax, Brinkley and Justice to hold a baby tiger and lion.... so much more to write about.....by far the funniest thing right now is...  the kids are so proud of the fact that Jax gained 4 pounds, Brinkley gained 5 pounds and Justice gained 6 pounds.....  while I actually lost 3 pounds!!!!    So much more to come!!!!!

.....

I GUESS I NO LONGER CONTROL ANY OF THESE BLOGS.. AS SUCH... MY PROFILE NOW SAYS ... I AM JAX AND I PLAY FOOTBALL.  SWEET ...  SUCH IS LIFE.


AND FOR NOW....  I AM VERY BUSY..  AND IT IS A GOOD BUSY.  ONE THAT I AM NOT EVEN ALLOWED TO TALK ABOUT...  BUT WILL ...  IN HUGE DETAIL...  IN EXACTLY ......


13 DAYS!!!!


PEACE OUT
BLOG WORLD
FACEBOOK WORLD
CELL PHONE WORLD
TEXT WORLD
MY CROSSFIT WOMEN
SCHOOL
HOMEWORK
WORK
DUI'S
I HEAR SOMETHING MORE IMPORTANT CALLING.......
OCEANS AND
BEACHES!!!


PS. 
FORGIVE ME FATHER FOR I HAVE SINNED...  I HAVE BEEN TELLING HUGE LIES TO MY CHILDREN FOR A LONG, LONG, LONG, TIME.  IN A VERY SHORT TIME THEY WILL COME TO UNDERSTAND WHAT THOSE LIES ARE.  THERE HAVE BEEN SO MANY THAT I CAN NO LONGER KEEP THEM STRAIGHT.  SO MANY THAT I JUST HAVE TO AGREE THAT, THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT I DID SAY AND THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT I DID PROMISE THEM!  FORGIVE ME FOR THOSE LIES......  BUT I KNOW THEY ARE GONNA BE SO WORTH IT!!!! 

Hard Work~

My kids have lists of chores that they get each weekend.  They (as in Jax) think it is a fate worse than death some days.  They don't get it when I explain to them that I had to do my chores every flippen Saturday from the moment I woke up, until they were done.  No questions asked!  PERIOD!  It is starting to sink in with a few and not so much with one.  Jax likes to stay in bed as long as possible, hoping that if he sleeps in, I will maybe forget to make him clean.

The best part about it is that Justice is all about helping me do everything these days.  He wants Mommy to make him a list of chores with bubbles to fill in when he finishes up and he wants, "hard," chores.  None of these, "baby," chores anymore.  I asked him what he meant by no more, "baby," chores?  Justice told me that he is sick of having to just pick up toys and shoes...  he wants real chores....like doing real dishes and picking up the dog poop with the real gloves on.

Love it!!!!

But for now, we are trying to stick with cleaning off the kitchen table and..

maybe just getting clothes on to do the silverware from the dish washer.................    

A little LOVE

I don't believe in all the commercial hype of Valentine's Day.  Even though I don't, "buy," into it all, I still like to get the minions special trinkets for the day, whether they pick them out, or I get to surprise them with them.

On Saturday we went for a walk together and each of the kiddos picked out enough ice cream to feed, well, my kids, or a small army ....... as their Valentine's Day treats. Then I was more than happy to spend the afternoon in Brinkley and Justice's classes for their parties.  Unfortunately, I had the time of Brinkley's party completely wrong and I showed up over 40 minutes late.  Thank you Mom of the year.  Luckily Brinkley thought it was kind of funny and was glad that she would still have snacks after afternoon special was over.  I think that she was also excited that Daddy surprised her and made a guest appearance for the party too!!!!  Brinkley is, however, dreading moving up to 5th grade, when it comes to Valentine's Day.  There are no more parties when you hit the big time......... so she enjoyed her last elementary party of hearts!!!!!!

Watching the little dude open his Valentine's and count colors and treats was a blast!  He made sure he was all sugared up to head home and do his homework while attempting to sit in a chair without bouncing off the walls....  it was a blast!!!!  Pudgie was also excited Daddy surprised him and showed up for his party too!  All in all, I would say their day was a "love-ly" success.  We ended the night with a dinner of scrambled eggs, pink German dumplings and strawberries and whipped cream!  It was fun, even if Mom and Dad really don't believe in this day!!!  I still like to surprise my kiddos with little things!!!!!!!!!!