Friday

It's hot, I am tired and cranky, and it's hot. Did I already say that? Yes, it's hot. Had to run out after lunch to go to the post office and Staples and the Webkinz store. And it was over 100. It's hot. And Greg has football practice tonight. Did I say I am tired and cranky? I was literally falling asleep at the computer (yes the AC is cranked up) until the doorbell rang. It was Janet bring a chewy for K and a movei for mwa. She is the nicest neighbor :)
What movei? Music and Lyrics. I have been wanting to see it. I like Drew Barrymore.

Kids were home today. I gave them tasks to do which they did while complaining. Hey, my kids can multi task too! Greg was doing a great job keeping himself busy as was Evy without the TV on! I think tonight HSM2 will be erased. Oops, must have been time for it to go.

So, for the weekend: Practice tonight. It will be hot! Greg has been practicing as one of the kick off receivers. Yippeee! Go #88
Game Saturday 2 pm. Another hot afternoon! Go Bears!!
Sunday, who knows.
Monday, ahhh, no plans. I am sure somethign will come up. Usually does. If not, no biggie. Maybe a trip to the lake.

Now, the following week, the kids have plans with friends. School does not start till Sept 17 due to construction at the school. Then even more fun begins. Evelyn has soccer practice Tues and Thurs, Greg will have football Tues, Wed and Friday. What is our free night??? Monday! Tues is overlapping practices and going from one to the other and then back again. Oh, well, we are used to spending time in the car and it is well stocked with water, snacks, sports gear and who knows what else is lurking under the seats.

Number one on the list when the kids are back in school is to treat my trusty loyal wonderful car to a good car wash, in and not. Not just the drive through ones or spray with hose ones.

Still hot, still tired and cranky and done typing. My legs and arms are feeling like steel beams these last few days. Not functioning like usual. And no running around the track tonight! Not even a walk. nope. Sitting, maybe will start up a new book. Been anxious to read "Wicked"

Super fun and super safe weekend to all of you out there :)

100 points!

What does this mean??? Well, this is a deal Evelyn and Grandma have/had. Evelyn needs motivation to read (I love to read....my kids don't) Evelyn has been asking for riding lessons for a few years. But our schedule is just packed as it is. But then, we really should let her pursue something she wants to do. Right? Yep. Right.
We have gone on several trail rides and Evelyn even got a one day riding lesson for a birthday present from Grandma. Evelyn has also been to Rawhide Ranch for an Adventure Princess camp out which was all about horses. She is turning into a good rider.
So, the deal was, Evelyn gets a point for every 5 minutes of reading, etc... She can read on her own, do reading and math work with Grandma or on her own and show that she has done it and keep track of her time. Evelyn was so motivated with this as the end result was horseback riding lessons. We would get a daily point score from Evelyn.
Yesterday Evelyn completed reached her goal. 100 Points!! Whoo-hoo Evelyn. So, now she will get her lessons. A few more stable to check out before the deal is sealed though. But Evelyn did get her first pair of riding boots yesterday. Snazzy! She has to wear them around the house to break them in before they can go outside. (and also to make sure her feet don't grow anymore in the next few weeks). Size 8.5 now! Yikes. Almost catching up to me.
We have a soccer meeting to meet her team and coach this Thursday and then practices will be Tuesday and Thursday. Greg has practice Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday starting next week. Ok, that means we have Monday off. And toss in there homework and school projects, games, Kumon and a little bit of family time and fun time, we will schedule in the riding lessons.
But I do know it's better to keep kids active and into activities rather than have too much time on their hands. Now, has anyone found a way to clone themselves yet? I would like 2 more of me.
Way to go Evelyn!! And thank you Grandma!!
Now for Mr. G..... I think I will start a point chart for him for things he needs to accomplish and work on and think of a good reward for him at 100 points. He wants riding lessons now too. But we explained that he has really wanted to play football and now he is and it takes a lot of time and a lot of money and riding lessons would really be better when he is 11 like Evelyn. (that's a lot to say in one breath!)

happy Wednesday! And my daily thought just came in:

Promises are like the full moon: if they are not kept at once they diminish day by day.
— German proverb

Have you seen the beautiful full moon?

What did you do last Tuesday?

You know what we did? The kids and I went to a taping of Curtoon Time at Cox! Yep, on a real tv show. Tom had put the kids name on a list quite awhile and we got a call the other week. Of course, the kids want to be on the show. Didn't even have to ask about that one.

Tuesday morning kept the kids home from camp and made sure they got dressed in nice summer clothes. Nothing mis matched or dirty or ripped and made sure Greg had matching flip flops on (he likes to wear mis matched flip flops - maybe it is because when he takes them off he flings them off his feet and they land anywhere. Guess we should call them fling flops. )

The studio where the show is filmed is small. They also film some of the other Cox Channel 3 shows there. The kids sat on a mat and were each given a clip board with a piece of paper and a marker. The parents quietly sat in chairs, cameras posed cell phones off, not too far from the kids. Heebie and Jeebie played their songs while Rodney the Rocker showed the kids how to draw 2 different cartoons. One was an Acai berry and the other a pomegranate. The show was shot in 2 parts. I'm not sure if it was 2 different shows or will be one.

the kids got to show off their drawings and say their names to the camera. Whoo-hoo! Greg had is pictures autographed by Curt Visca, aka Rodney the Rocker and host of the show. Evy was too shy. But both kids got their pictures taken with Heebie and Jeebie and Rodney the Rocker.

I am not sure when the show will air. They were not even sure at Cox. But we will get an email when it will air and will be sure to let everyone know when the kids have their TV debut!

And now, the kids drawings are neatly displayed in frames up on our wall of fame! (aka , a wall in the hall way) And picutures from the show are posted below:


Camera man, Heebie & Jeebie and Rodney the Rocker opening the show.

Rodney the Rocker during instruction time. Greg is closest to the eisel, with his head down. Evelyn is in the lower right of the picture, looking at the eisel with a polka dot head band on.

At the end of the first segment, the kids got to display their drawings for the cameras and say their names.

Heebie & Jeebie in Reah Search's lab playing with the time machine. Reah Search was not there but they just filmed H&J entering the lab and messing with the time machine.

And the stars of the show: Greg and Evelyn with Heebie, Rodney the Rocker, and Jeebie.

Football highlights 2nd scrimmage

Saturday was a very long day! Had to make sure everything was ready for pictures and later on , the game. Bags everywhere!!

Around 10:30 we headed off the Opening Day for football. Talk about crowded! We found our booth and spun the wheel a few times for raffle tickets, played some games at other booths and then Greg headed off with his team for pictures. Needless to say, out of all the raffles we entered, did we win???? NO! Evelyn did win a coupon for a free dessert and a free appetizer at Carino's a new Italian restaurant. Ok, so we will go for appetizers and dessert one day.

We did have a super bbq hamburger from Lone Star Restaurant. Best burger I have had in a long time.

Headed home for a short rest period. I had to be back at the field for my 2 - 4 snack bar shift. Time went by fast. Then over to the game. What a nice surprise to see Eric, Chrissy, Nate, Jake, Deni and Ed at the game too!

Our guys played tough again and got scored on 2x. Way to go Benevides for scoring our TD!!! Greg had some good tackles, knocked a guy out of bounds hard. He chased him down the field for the tackle. Got a good picture of Greg's feet in the air for that one! Greg has a new position so is carrying the ball more on offense. One play he got hit hard and got knocked out of bounds. He was laying there for awhile and got up holding his arm and side. It was on the other side of the field so I really didn't know what happened. But Greg got right back in to play. Later he told me he landed on a water bottle and got the wind knocked out of him.

Greg gets the tackle
Greg's legs. The out of bounds tackle.
Bevevides for a touch down!!
After the hard out of bounds land on a water bottle tackle, being assessed by coach Allison and Jones.

As a result of this game, even more bruises on top of old bruises, a scratched leg and small abrasion on his elbow. But Greg's a tough guy and think he likes the sympathy of people looking at his bruises.

We went to pizza at Round Table after the game with Eric, Chrissy , etc... then some ice cream from Skimmers. Jake and Nate had fun playing with their big cousins. Then Jake decided to play lick tag with the kids. yuck!!



Sunday the kids and I did major errands getting shoes, etc... for school. Didn't get any for Evy. We have to continue our search. She can not wear flip flops to school. Tell ya, her feet are growing every few weeks.



Thanks for checking out the highlights. Sorry not to get them posted earlier. It was a busy weekend and not much time on the computer.

Have no fear.........Ungerdog is here!!

No football practice today (jump for joy!) so the kids and I went to an early show of Underdog. Loved it! Two thumbs up. Kids really liked it too. It was a fun movie to see. And, make sure to stay for some out takes during the credits.

I will admit that I loved the cartoon when I was a kid and would love to see the cartoon again. The movie just wasn't the same, but I still enjoyed it.

That's about it in the movie dept for me. Except for many viewings of High School Musical 2 which I am already tired of. The first one was much better. But that's just my opinion.

Bears game schedule ready!

Well, we have our game schedule. Most of the games are early :) Like that. Away games are in Pasadena, Yorba Linda, Cypress, Montebello and Rancho Santa Margarita. Little bit of driving to do.
Look to the link at the left for the schedule.

Remember, game 4:00 this Saturday, August 25 and Los Alisos.

Greg has a new offensive position now. He scored 3 td's at practice last night! That made his night.

Go Bears!!
Go #88

Let's see if this works, video highlights of last weeks game:

http://web.mac.com/jfpd/iWeb/SVBears/scrimmage1.html

Give it a few minutes to load, then click on the triangle to start playing. Make sure you have volume. No numbers on the back of the shirts. Bears are in white. Greg is wearing black arm guards. He is in a lot of the plays. In one play where the ball pops up, Greg made that tackle. In one he chases the runner to tackle him in the upper left of the screen. Some other good tackles and blocks about half way through. Sit back, relax and enjoy :)

I did it

I did it. Yep I did it!
What is it you ask?
Well, I made a iced chai tea latte, non fat please, just like Starbucks! Yum -O-O-O.
You see, I love Starbucks. I don't like coffee but love chai tea, hot, iced. Love it. So I started experimenting to see if I could recreate my fav drink. And I finally did this summer.
Want to know the secret?
Ok, I will tell you. I like to share. And since this is my secret and not someone elses, I will share with you.
Mix equal parts Organic Tazo Chai (tazo tea latte) this is the liquid in the box with non fat skim milk and pour it over lots of crushed ice. I like the Tazo chai tea from Henrys and prefer the organic non fat skim milk also from Henrys (or Whole Foods market). That's all there is to it. And for less than the price of 2 ventis I can make an entire weeks worth. Did I say Yum-o-o-o?
Now for the hot, the best I have found is the Safeway brand powdered spiced chai at Von's. Mixed with super hot water is just perfect. Trader Joe's also has a pretty good blend too. I stock up when they go on sale at Von's.
So, if you are a Chai tea drinker, try it and let me know what you think.
I also like the chai tea bags to brew hot tea and it even makes a good iced tea. Oh, idea..... I drank the rest of my iced tea last night so will brew up a batch of chai iced tea today. A lot less calories than the stuff I prefer.

No daily thought today from Real Simple :( I need one today. Mid week crisis. So, I browsed through DD's list (DD is my dad) and found a good one for today. He sent me another one of his stories that he sent into a magazine. I can just picture his brothers perfecting this stunt. Can't wait to read them all in print one day!

“Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can.” John Wesley

Daily thought

Everywhere is walking distance if you have the time.
— Steven Wright

Oh, to have the gift of time. But I do like to walk. Even run. It is relaxing for me.

Kids and I are off on a little adventure today. Will see how it goes before I say anything else. But if nothing else, it will be fun.

Changed around the teams last night at practice. Also changed positions. Greg is now a one back. According to Greg, this means he gets to run with the ball. Just what he wanted to do too!

Have a great day and take time to walk.

Daily thought

Success is how high you bounce when you hit bottom.
— George Smith Patton

Well, have not hit bottom here. But a lot of bouncing going on. Kids are loving the trampoline. Tom and I got the safety net up yesterday. My fingers are sore from tieing all those straps! Greg can't wait until Janet is home so she can come over and jump too.
Halley, Hope and Harrison finally were home and able to come over and jump yesterday. The girls then proceeded to make a cool "house" under the trampoline. Yep, it is nice and cool under there. Hope even made a bed out of one of the boxes. She really wanted to take the box home too There are so many fun things for a kid to do with boxes!!

I have perfected my spin in the air jump, my land in a sitting position and jump back up and land on feet jump and my butt kick jump. Next I guess will be the Greg jump: jump high, land on your butt and then throw yourself forward to do a hand stand and then back on your feet or if you laugh too much continue handstand over to do a somersault.

Kaydee loves laying under the trampoline in the heat of the day. Stays cool under there. I like laying on the trampoline at night and looking up at the stars.

We managed to get a lot done yesterday. It was a productive day. I even consolidated my many piles in the office into one and tossed a lot of stuff I was saving for whatever reason. Most of it is filed and put away. this is just stuff I want to read so will stick it in a bag to tote around with me and read when I get a chance.

Oh boy, getting late. 8:15 and Evy is still fast asleep. Need to leave in 1/2 hour to get the kids to camp. I tried waking her up about 1/2 hour ago and no luck. Well, sleeping beauty just walked in. Looks like she grew about 2 inches last night.! If she keeps this up, she will be taller than me by Christmas. Greg is growing too fast too. Kids always have a growth spurt at the end of summer and all the cute summer clothes are gone, but you can buy a ski parka when it's 100 degrees out! Go figure.

Have a marvelous Monday!

Football highlights first scrimmage

In the heat of a Saturday afternoon, Greg had his first scrimmage. He is on the gold team (gold and blue teams). They were the second team in to play defense. Interesting scrimmage. Most of the coaches were on the field. The guys played 10 plays and then switched teams. So, after 20 plays it was half time.

Greg had some really good hits. I didn't capture all of them but took 55 pix and did get some pretty good ones. One hit that I wish I had was when Greg raced around the pack and got in front of the running back and full on forward tackled him. Hear the crowd say, "it's Murphy again".

Don't really know the score as no one was keeping score. And Greg knew 2 boys from the other team. Goes to school with them. Greg's team is white with blue helmets. They are wearing their practice uniforms so don't have any numbers on them. I knew Greg as he was wearing black arm guards and I have gotten to know the way he stands on the field.

Here are some of Greg's favorite pictures:

Greg gets the tackle
Another tackle before the goal line. Greg gave a good chase and got him!
Greg carrying the ball. He got pretty far before getting tackled.

We came home after the scrimmage and rested up for about an hour before heading out for the team picnic. That was fun! Got to sit and chat with other parents while the boys played flea ball, water balloon toss, baseball and just got to goof around and hang out.

Came home exhausted. But we still did some jumping out back. Found many bruises on Greg's arm.

Well, off to bed. My eyes are very droopy.

First game today

Well, today is the big day. First scrimmage game. Oh my. I already have butterflys in my tummy and I am not already playing. Shhhh.. Greg is still asleep. Hope he sleeps till at least 8. He is tired. And says his back hurts.
I just got up and am starting to get things ready - camera, chairs, sun screen, water, snacks. Like packing for a trip.
Evelyn stayed the night at grandma's last night as she has an 8 am riding lesson. Lucky girl. She just loves horses. Maybe this will be her thing afterall. They will meet us at the field.
I slept great last night. But was up till 1:30 scrapping!! I got 4 pages done and another 2 started. I had a lot of interruptions, but that was fine as I knew I would and decided last minute to scrap and got off to a late start while Tom and Greg were still at practice.

Now for some serious stuff folks. Our neighbor Babak, his sister in law had a stroke last night. Doesn't look good. Please say a prayer for her and her family.

Hurricane Dean is heading for Haiti. If you check out the blog link to Theo's work you can read more about Haiti and Theo's Work and Project Hope. Project Hope is a orphanage for boys, and some girls. They can not leave the island so are buckling down and preparing for the hurricane which should hit Haiti today. Unless it has changed course. Need to click on the tv and see. Prayers for all who are in the path of Dean.

See you at the game today.

TGIF

Well, it's finally a Friday. Another day I did not want to get up. I am just so exhausted and my body just doesn't want to get moving.
Last night with the help of Janet and Babak we finished putting up the trampoline. It was easier than I thought and didn't take much time with all of us working. It was a rare night that all 4 of us were home. The directions said 3 adults were needed. So, with Tom pulling the bungies and 2 people pushing in the frame, it was easy to get the hooks around the frames. No springs on this baby, bungies. Put the pads on, pulled the weather tarp over the pads and frame and it was time to bounce! Boy is it fun and a work out too! My legs are sore. Janet and Paul came over and Janet was bouncing away with the kids. Got some great pix to post later on. (lazy again)

I ventured out this morning before the kids were up for an early morning jump. Kids were up early and bouncing away. We still have to put up the safety net and will do that this weekend.So, this weekend. Practice tonight. Game Saturday at 11 am. Have to be there at 10. Evy is going riding again with Grandma and has an 8 am ride time. No sleeping in tomorrow. Saturday afternoon is Greg's team potluck at the park. It will be fun to meet some more of the parents and kids.

Sunday... not a lot planned, yet. But thinking of going to the concert at Pittsford park. Nice way to end the weekend. Also thinking of painting Greg's room. We started doing some more work and then stopped as we got too busy. Room needs another good cleaning and he has been asking to paint and change it around. Sunday may be the day. Can we do an overhaul in half a day? Guess we could start on Saturday.

I really wish I could go back to bed and sleep for a few more hours or just chill and watch a movie. Tired, crabby, and just not in a very good mood. I went to Target this morning after taking the kids to camp. Browsed around and got some new captains chairs for games, a new pair of flip flops for me, and lunch baggies for school. Wow! Very exciting and nothing to change my mood. Bla!!

Here is another good quote from my dad's list:“Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing.” Helen Keller

so, on that note, I will go out seeking adventure today. Hope that will change my mood. Or maybe I will just crank the air when it warms up this afternoon and take a nap and dream of adventures. Have a fab Friday and a great weekend.