Happy Holidays

Had to get some photos for the Christmas card...and here are a few of what we got.

Box Boys

The boys disappeared for over an hour one day and this is where their imagination took them. They scared the dog half to death when they walked out of their room.

a new JibJab Sendable

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Mission Bay Tri

This is Vivian and her swim buddy Eric before she started the Mission Bay Triathalon. She finished this year in 1 hour 32 minutes. We bought her a better bike this year and it made all the difference. Once again , she was the youngest competitor and she finished 8th in the 15 and under age group.

Little Slugger

This was Gabriels first year playing base ball. He did great. HE hits really well and loved playing first base. Troy helped out a lot with the team and it was nice to see how well they all progressed from the begining of the season to the end.

US Womens Triathalon Series

This was a supersprint that she did in October. She finished third in the 14 and under age group and 82 overall.

Back to Crazy

Yep, we are playing base ball for the fall season. NOt just Henderson either, both boys ,on different teams. This is Henderson's team, the coach is the woman and she is amazing. She really teaches the kids the game, not just hitting, catching etc. She talks to them about always thinking about what they are going to do if they get the ball. I am so glad he was drafted to her team.
Gabriel is playing too, I will post some pictures of him once I recharge my camera battery. He is a little slugger. He knocks the snot out of the ball. His coach has been very happing with is hitting and his hustling to the bases.
So life is again crazy for me. Troy was out of town last week, and I had 3 kids to get to 3 different practice/games/play practices. Plus manage homework/projects/swim team board meeting/working 2 days/ minimun days on Tuesday and Wednesday/dentist appointments/ car wash fundraiser blah blah blah....Here it is Sunday, and I shoudl be catching up on house work. I don't know how single Moms do it week after week. I was exhausted . I am so very lucky that Troy and I have worked out a life for ourselves that don't normally look like that. Ususally we divide and conquer and at least I get to prepare a meal for the family in the evenings. LAst week, it was Chick fil A, Subway, microwaved nuggets, mac and cheese and other varieties of crap.

Palm Springs Airial Tram

In Palm Springs there is a high speed tram that takes you from the desert to an elevation of 10,000 feet in a matter of minutes. It was 100 plus degrees when we left and was in the 60's when we arrived at the top. The floor of the tram slowly spun so that everyonr would have the chance to look in everydirection as we made our way to the top. Once up there we took a short hike for about an hour, took some great photos and then zoomed back down for my brithday dinner at this Hawaiian restaurant.

Palm Springs Wekend

Over the Labor Day weekend we took the kids to the Marriott Shadow Ridge resort in Palm Desert. The heat was pretty intense and so we spent most of our time by the pool. It was a huge infinity pool with a waterslide and a kids club for the kids. The room was a villa with a kitchen and seperate living area, so it was very nice to be able to spread out and not have to go out to eat for every meal.

That weekend also happened to be my birthday and on Sunday I went alone to Paseo Blvd for a little shopping. You may not be able to tell from the pics, but since May I have lost about 30 lbs and my clothes were getting too baggy. I was on Nutrisystem from May til July and now am continuing on my own by eating smart, no crap, very small portions of meat, and no bread products with less than 5 grams of fiber. I feel great.
Troy managed to get a round of golf in at the resort course. Normally in the winter months the greens fees are 145.00, but during the heat they drop to 35.00. So he braved the heat,for the opportunity to play a Nick Faldo designed course.

Very Long Weekend

Vivian and Henderson had a swim meet this weekend. It was a championship meet that lasted all day both days and the temperature was well above 100 degrees. They both did great....Vivian got a Junior Olympic time in her 50 meter freestyle. This is a huge deal except for the fact that she will be 11 before the next Junior Olympics in the spring and then she will be in a different age group. If she had posted this time in the spring, she would have recieved an invite for the summer Olympics that were just held last month in Long BEach. We are still very proud of her and she now has a goal for next summer. All in all she won 8 medals and a few ribbons. Henderson did great too considering this was his first long course meet. He got a first and third place ribbon in the only events he swam. Way to go kids!!!!

First Day

Here they go, of to school. Gabriel to kindergarten and Henderson to 2nd grade. I almost started to cry but I don't know if they were tears of joy or sadness. I am glad that I am working on Mondays and Wednesday mornings because I think 5 days alone at home would be boring. Henderson's teacher is a friend of mine, I know he will have a fabulous year.

Gabriels teacher is Mr. Youngdale. He is loving having a man teacher. I though he would respond well to a man, so I requested him. Gabriel will not kiss me goodbye on the playground before school. He says he is a big boy. It kinda makes me sad.

Not Funny

While we were in Nebraska our good friend and practical jokester Chris Jourdan filled my fridge with coke. He did this because he knows how much I hate havingsoda in the house because the kids go into this weird obsession and hound me for soda. Plus it makes people fat. So when we arrived, there was coke everywhere. We found them under our pillows, in drawers inthe bathtub, in the cabinets. I couldn't go to the grocery store until the cokes were gone, and fortunately the food pantry in our area was holding a huge food drive. I called them and they said they would be glad to have it , so off it went to the shelves of the pantry. That bag in the fridge, on the botton shelf is 2 dozen ears of corn I brought back from Nebraska. I threw coke away to make room for it.

Ponca Nebraska

Finally I am posting pictures from our trip to Nebraska. It has taken me this long because I forgot my camera and Jeanine did too. Finally she found her Mom's and so the pictures that follow are from our last few days of the trip. It was an amazing time for my city kids. They could run and play outside for acres and acres without worries about traffic, perverts, snakes, bugs or anything else that could harm them. We all had a lot of firsts. The kids got frogs and participated in a frog jumping contest right inthe middle of town. Vivians frog won for her age group. Her prize was a coupon to the local soda shop for a malt, or milkshake. This was not like going to Coldstone, this was a pharmacy with soda shop in the back, just like in the days of old. I remember going to one in New Bern when I was little with my mom, but it closed many years ago. Each night when they were so dirty from the day they bathed in an old cast iron claw footed tub, no showers. The dirt ring aroung the tub was unbelievable. We ate corn pick that day that was the sweetest best tasting corn I had ever tasted. Each kid ate at least 3 ears each. Troy took the kids exploring on the back p[art of the farm. They discovered a series of beaver dams that went farther and farther down the creek to control the water flow. They could see all the gnawed trees the beavers had left behind. Troy said it was quite impressive. GAbriel got bucked off a horse and was made to get right back on. Jeanine's uncle ownes two huge Belgian draft horses that he hitched up and took us all for a ride throught the rolling cornfields of Nebraska jsut at sunset. It was beautiful. Pictures of that will post as soon as they are forwarded to me. All in all it was an amazing trip. I just wish I had not forgotten my camera.

The Farm

Here is Larry and Donna's beautiful pond where we spend many hours relaxing and watching the kids while they played outside. Vivian is holding the kitten that was part of a litter of 4 when we arrived but on the first day 3 of them ran off never to be seen again. It was very sad. Their farm was 300 or so acres and the kids spent a lot of time on the Kabota or driving the tractors all over the place. That is Gabriel with Larry and Adam on it in the picture.