Happy Birthday Papa!

Yes, another bday in the family! My dad turns the BIG 55 tomorrow! We celebrated this last weekend as my sister, Melanie, {or as I lovingly call her, Smelly} came to help us celebrate it. It was fun to have her here with all the kids. This is Landon and Talon checking out the book I got for Papa. Lots of pictures in that one.

Mackenzee was in heaven and I got replaced as the official "best friend" by Savanna. Sigh. At least I'm back to the #1 spot today. :0)

Yes, this is a picture of my daughter opening up her Papa's bday present. Sigh. She just took it from him. Fortunately for him, it wasn't anything she wanted so she gave it back to him.

So, Happy Birthday Papa! Hope you have a wonderful day!

Tiger Power {clap clap, clap clap clap}

So, I'm a little late in posting this. BUT...

Friday night was the big district finals game between Burley and Jerome. So, we all went over to Jerome to watch Jordan play.

She's #10 here in the picture.

Can I just tell you what a CRAZY game that was? From the first second of the game till the last dying seconds it was FIERCE. I had no idea that a girls high school basketball game could get that way. My brother in law's face was red, eyes watery as he screams at the idiotic referee not protecting his daughter from the barrage of fouls coming her way. Even Jaysen's dad got into the yelling. {not as loudly though} Towards the end poor Rita {Jaysen's mom} was getting physically ill because it was getting so intense. And, I will have to say {though I didn't YELL it} I was "talking loudly" when they missed a shot {oh no!}, or threw a bad pass {good passes guys!}, or when one of Jerome's players got smacked in the head by a bad little Bobcat and the ref didn't call anything {WHAT? Did you just see that Jaysen? Does that happen ALL the time? Holy cow! Is that not considered a foul? It is? So that a bad ref huh? You know, he was my Vice Principal when I was a senior in High School. No, I can't tell him to be nice to the girls. He probably doesn't even remember me.}

Both teams have a lot riding on these games as they decide who goes to state and in what ranking. Currently Jerome is ranked #1 in their district and #2 in the entire state. They are good. :0) Yes I am bragging on my neice. Her little teammate Aubree Callen is amazing as well. They did a great job of holding off the Bobcats and basically driving them crazy. It wasn't a high scoring game, and most of Burley's points came from foul shots. :0) It ended up at the end of the game again, just as last time, though no at the buzzer basket for Burley to send it into overtime. So yay! We won! Barely...but Jerome still won! Mackenzee shook those little orange pom-poms like crazy rooting them on too. :0)

Unfortunately, Burley won their qualifying game yesterday, and so now they have to match up again this next week before they go on to State Tournaments. We will be going again to cheer on our Tiger. Pom-poms and all. Maybe I should bring some Tums for Rita.

Blessed

I had a hard time waking up this morning. Grogginess left my eyes unwilling to open. After several attempts, they finally opened to see that it was later than I thought and if I did not hurry, Landon would miss the bus. Sigh. So, I stumbled out of bed and proceeded with the usual morning ritual of hurrying my oldest along through his morning. "Hurry and finish your cereal! You don't have your pants on? You have ten minutes until the bus comes! Stop watching cartoons and get your teeth brushed!"

Then comes the "Put your hood on, it's cold outside! Don't forget your backpack! I love you! Behave yourself at school!" And off he goes down the sidewalk to the bus. The house is much calmer now, and quieter without all of my pestering. Just Dora and Boots on the tv entertaining my daughter. Time for my morning hot cocoa and email. One of my favorite parts of the day. I am fully awake by now and soon must get going with the rest of my day.

Mackenzee bath time, Mom shower time, the rush of getting ready to go. I call the contractor working on our basement to let him know I won't be home when he gets here, so he should just let himself in. And...we're off!

I make it to Landon's school just in time for the meeting with the carpenters we've chosen to build the new bookshelves for the library. Poor Mackenzee has to come even though she is not feeling well. I feel guilty as I silently am grateful she is sick and under the influence of Tylenol cold. She sits through the 45 minute meeting quietly and falls asleep at the end. Unfortunately she is awake by the time we get to the car as it is FREEZING outside and the cold shakes her out of her warm slumber. Sigh. Off to the book store to get this years Primary CD-ROM so I can get my lesson ready for church on Sunday. 5 year olds....sigh. I have been officially asked to teach this age group of children AGAIN. I continue to remind myself that if I would just learn to have more patience then God would stop doing this to me. :0) He would realized that I've learned this life lesson and let me move on. I sigh knowing it will never happen and resign myself to being in the Primary for the rest of my life.

I must still get to the bank with the PTA deposit, but feel I have dragged poor Mackenzee around enough today. I turn around in the car at the stop sign and see her sad little face and offer her a happy meal. Was that to make her feel better or me? I'm pretty sure it was to help me not feel so guilty for dragging her out while she's sick. Her smile at the suggestion wipes away my "bad mom" feelings and off we go to McDonalds.

My phone rings...Landon has a stomach ache, could I pick him up from school? Sigh. The chronic faker strikes again. A bowl of Cocoa Puffs for breakfast and we're sick? Ok. I'll pick him up. Thank you for call me.....{I sigh in frustration thinking...couldn't he have gotten sick 30 minutes earlier as I was already at his school?}

The contractor is banging on things in the basement and I'm hoping Mackenzee will still take her nap with all of the noise. I have the kids lay down on the couch with their blankets until it's time for naps.

I realize the day is half over and think of all the things I have left to do. And then I hear, "Mom! come take our picture!"

And then I realize...forget about my list, about what I didn't get done this morning. Who cares about the lists!

They fell asleep together. Four pillows, six blankets, five stuffed animals, two kids and a sippy cup. Isn't it great to be a mom? Sick tummies and all {whether real or not}

I am blessed.

Sucker!

You see this guy? Remember him? I just told you all about him. But there's something I left out.....

He's a sucker for this girl. I don't think I ever truly understood the phrase daddy's girl until Jaysen and Mackenzee. Now, I know my daughter loves me. Even though she told me, "You mean mommy!" just this morning. She loves me. The kisses, hugs, and cuddles tell me she does. But, there's just something about her daddy.....She "knows" when he gets home from work. Like a little beeper goes off in her head. We were in the kitchen and all of a sudden she screams, "DADDY!" We were nowhere near a window, had not heard a car....so I told her that dad was not home yet. Two seconds later...he walks through the door. What???? She KNOWS. Sigh. And she knows just how to push his buttons to get what she wants too. He falls for it every time. The new nickname I have given him is "sucker" because it's sooooo true. Her new "win" over him is at bedtime. EVERY night she cons him into laying down with her in OUR bed until she falls asleep. It's a 30 minute ritual. Why? Because he just can't stand to see her sad face when he lays her down in her crib. It "breaks" his heart. Yeah.....it doesn't break mine. She doesn't want to go to bed, so she cries. Just like EVERY other kid in the world. She'll get over it.

And that's why she tells me I'm mean. How can I compete with daddy? There's no way. He's the nice one. At least I've got Landon that loves me....oh, wait. He tells me I'm mean too. Sigh.

There's no hope for me.

He's still a sucker.....

Happy birthday jaysen!

Today is my husbands 34th birthday! Happy bday old man! (For those of you that don't know, my hubby is about 5 1/2 years older than me. So, though I do not really think that 34 is old...he's just older than me. I have to poke him about this frequently. Just for fun.)

Anyway...I thought that I might share 34 things you may not know about Jaysen so that you CAN get to know him a bit better. So, off we go!

1. He is the youngest of four children

2. Had his own hay baling "business" in High School

3. Was a point guard on his High school basketball team

4. Is a Boise State Bronce football fanatic. Go Broncos!

5. Has a degree in photography that he doesn't get to use. :0(

6. He's a real estate appraiser instead. That's why.

7. Went to California on his mission

8. Was a daredevil as a child (this must be where Mackenzee gets it!)

9. Had a secret crush on Kirsten Dunst when I met him. (He even owned Bring It On!)

10. Changes his mind more often than a girl does!

11. Favorite food is Mexican. He would eat it every day if he could.

12. Has a tape fetish. No, not music tapes...sticky tape. He rolls it into balls and likes to have it stick and unstick to his fingertips. (Don't ask me!)

13. Wishes it would be 75 degrees year round. He hates the snow as much as I do.

14. Makes crepes for breakfast every Saturday morning. Yum!

15. Doesn't "do" the whole email thing. (and he married me?)

16. Loves to play golf. He would play year round if he could.

17. Doesn't like baked sweets. He'd rather have ice cream.

18. He's an expert milk shake maker.

19. Doesn't like scouting. He blames it on horrid childhood memories. I think this is why he's been called into the scouts twice now. :0)

20. Pushover when it comes to his kids.

21. Doesn't have a favorite color (who doesn't have a favorite color? oh well!)

22. Can't stand being in hospitals. He's passed out in one before.

23. Very supportive of his wifes scrapbook addiction. :0)

24. LOVES peanut butter cups.

25. Snores like crazy due to a deviated septum.

26. Has an awkward sense of humor (I could tell you stories...but it's one of the reasons I love him so much!)

27. One of the hardest workers I know.

28. Keeps his friends for life. He has friends from elementary still.

29. A kid at heart.

30. Is as bad as I am in keeping a surprise a secret.

31. Avid movie fan. He watches at least 3-4 DVDs a week.

32. Would do anything for his family.

33. Loves 80s rock.

34. Best hubby in the world!

Happy Birthday Jaysen! We love you so much!

It's Basketball Time!

Today was Landon's first basketball game. They get a 45 minute practice session and then the game is for 30 minutes. It was so much fun watching the boys try to figure out how to play a "real" game of basketball. This is the first year that TF Parks and Rec has allowed kids grad K-2 to play basketball. It was always 3rd grade and up, which was so disappointing for us. Anyway...though they don't keep score, our team won and Landon even scored a basket! We are so proud of him!

And, even better, the coach was so cute! So I got to watch my son and the hottie coach out on the court. No better way to spend a Saturday morning if you ask me! (For those of you that don't know my hubby...this is him coaching the kids. He volunteered to do it this year and he does such a great job! Such patience that man has!)

Go Rockets!

Peeker!

I wasn't expecting Jaysen to come home so early tonight. He's been up in Boise all day taking "continuing education" classes. So, I hadn't gotten his bday presents wrapped and put away. And in he walks....spotting the boxes. Sigh. It was over. The stinker. He peeked!

Jaysen's bday isn't until tomorrow. But, since he was peeking anyway...I just let him open the box. The shoe box of boys size 3 shoes didn't even fool him! :0) Oh well.

Happy early birthday Jaysen!

We love you! Even if you do peek at your presents!