Golf!

Annalise on the driving range for her first lesson - She did awesome!

Practicing after the lesson was over - that tee is tricky! It took a lot of work to get the ball to stay up there long enough to whack it with a club!

Air Justin

Nana takes flight

Volleyball is much better than dinner on a perfect summer day

Justin's last stop at the snack bar for some candy on the way home. So...t.i.r.e.d....

The kids and I are on a 3 week road trip from San Diego to Denver and on to Michigan before heading home to start school again. We're having a great time so far! We spent two days getting to Denver and we arrived last night to a nice, homecooked meal and lots of TLC! My favorite part of the drive was when Justin took his headphones off, set down the DS, and thoroughly enjoyed "my" mountains. He was underwhelmed until we got to Glenwood Springs (after driving through Utah). Once he saw the Colorado River, saw the rafters, and saw the green on the hills, he was very interested in watching. He told me a few times, "Mom, I agree - your mountains are beautiful!" Annalise was plugged in the whole time...

We slept in this morning and then enjoyed some time at the pool here at Nana's house before heading to Columbine for some golf and even more time at the pool. Annalise had her first golf lesson on the driving range and I passed the time chatting with Mom and several of her friends that stopped by to meet us. Papa took Justin out for a round on the Par 3 Course and we met up afterwards. It was HOT out today so we headed to the pool for some more lounging.

Annalise worked hard on swimming today and Justin fell in love with the diving board. I'm sure I'm not crazy when I say he spent about 3 hours diving and must have gone off there at least 50 times. When it was time for dinner, we ate at the pool and lost Justin to a game of Volleyball with some new friends. After that, he hopped back into the pool to play a championship round of WWF with several of the kids in the shallow end - it was crazy! There were 5 kids climbing all over him and he kept right on playing with them. At one point, he got kicked in the eye but he went back in. One Mom told me, "Wow - he's a great sport!"

We're headed to bed a little early tonight for a second round at the pool tomorrow.

All That You Do (Guest Post)

This is a guest post by John and it is my amateurish attempt to figure out exactly how Lisa spends her days while I am gone. I think I've got it now.

All That You Do

Showers, breakfast, cleaning up the spills.

Making lunches, grab a coffee, give Jasmine the damned allergy pills.

Dirty laundry, funny hat day, four trips back and forth to school.

Volunteering, making copies, “Mom can’t we go to the pool?”

Is that all that you do? Is that all?

Team photographer, editing pictures… long past bedtime.

Making a difference, for your kids and others, too tired to finish your glass of wine.

Take Annalise to ballet and Justin to football, time for some more laundry.

Take Annalise to soccer, someone asks “We need a coach. Are you free?”

Is that really all that you do? Is that all?

Get the dog fed, get the kids fed, oh and remember to feed yourself too.

Fix the sprinklers, mow the lawn, but first you have to pick up the dog pooh.

Fix the plumbing, repair the electrical, and in the meantime make the house a home.

Remove a sliver, ice a twisted ankle, give kisses to your daughter who stepped on a stone.

Seriously, is that all that you do? Is that all?

Paint Annalise’s room, carry a bed down the stairs, go to the grocery store.

Lead “Walk to School Day”, finally the laundry’s done… oh wait there’s more.

Reboot the crappy computer so your kids can talk to Dad on Skype.

Staying patient with your family when all they do is gripe, gripe, gripe.

Is that all that you do? Is that all?

Being kind and patient, a mentor to a very special young man.

Showing him how to see a new world through the camera in his hand

Staying up late, crunching numbers, all for a smile and a thank you

Helping a friend succeed in her life’s work just because it’s the right thing to do.

Please tell me that is not all that you do? Is that all?

Taking care of the family finances, making sure we can retire some day.

Getting passports and booking trips to make sure that we also have a chance to get away.

Being a loving and caring Mommy and raising your kids to be good and true.

Never forgetting to let me know that you love me. That is all that you do!

Freedom of Speech

The kids attended a City Council Meeting with me today and they saw government in action for the first time. The reason we were there, dressed in Game Jerseys and Panther Gear, was to voice our opinion regarding the increased fees that were to be imposed on the use of city fields for practice and games. Had the fees been implemented, it was likely that both kids would lose their sports programs for this year.

The experience was a once in a lifetime lesson because they had a first hand involvement in the issue that was being debated. They heard the comments, saw "The People" voice their concerns, saw the vote happen, and realized our victory. Upon leaving, they could explain simply, "We fought for our fields!" but Justin understands a little more of the issue. He knows that because he voiced his opinion, his sports program was saved and he seems to take ownership in that.

It was a parenting moment that I stumbled on but one I'll always cherish. They got a taste of how important it is to fight for something you believe in, how fortunate we are to be Americans, how powerful it was to hear that whole room recite the Pledge of Allegiance, and how lucky they are to be proud Navy Kids who give a little every day to defend these rights.

In kid terms, they describe Freedom as "not having to do what The King decides we have to do when we don't think it's right." Simply put, I'd say they get it!

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Text from the article which, in my opinion, conveniently oversimplifies the issue and misses many of the main points. If nothing else, it shows what happened today:

CHULA VISTA, Calif. -- The Chula Vista City Council voted on Tuesday to put a proposed youth sports fee increase on hold.

Concerned parents, coaches and kids packed Chula Vista's City Council chambers to express their outrage over a proposed increase that would have raised field rental fees 5,000 percent.

More than 10,000 kids play on the city's 50 fields and many parents said the increases would prevent their kids from participating in sports.

"What they're doing is just not fair, not only for Joe Blow who has 3.5 kids but even for everybody else that is a single mom like myself," said parent Deidad Covarrubias.

The city said it needs to generate $375,000 to maintain the fields that many kids enjoy. Without the money, officials said they would have to close fields.

They proposed raising fees that would amount to about $25 to $35 per child to keep the fields open. Right now, the cost is about $1 per child.

"Our going back to the people… to the parents of the people who are playing is not something we cherish," said Chula Vista Mayor Cheryl Cox. "We just want to make sure that these fields are in good condition."

The city manager met with representatives from the city's Youth Sports Council to listen to concerns.

Following the city manager's recommendation, the City Council suspending the fee increase until November to allow further discussions about alternative ways to cut costs and make the cost-sharing more equitable.

The vote will keep the fields in play this summer but does not guarantee they will remain that way without a fee increase.

The council will take up the matter again in November.

Summer Days

Justin's Door

Annalise's Room

Joining Forces

It was a day when I was battling that ever present television at the same time I was trying to salvage my quickly dwindling patience. As you can see by the "No Grouches Allowed" sign on Justin's door, it wasn't pretty.

The two of them were told that they had to find a non-electronic way to entertain themselves for 2 hours before I took them to the pool. You would have thought I'd asked them to live in exile for the rest of their lives for the tantrums and drama that followed. The bike riding idea was out because, "All I can do is ride laps around the dumb neighborhood!" and the reading idea was quickly ruled "waaaaayyyy too boring!" Imagine my delight when they settled on performing an Irish step dancing routine to the recorder (played by Justin) for me. That was when I declared myself a grouch and they were sent to do something that was not only non-electronic, but quiet as well. I was not a fan favorite at that point. The resulting activity was the two of them sitting in Annalise's room together, making signs to keep "The Grouch" (and each other) out of their rooms since I promised to leave them alone as long as they were in there.

Tonight, after the pool and dinner, they allowed each other past the "keep out" signs and linked themselves together to play a football game. They were on the same team and I heard them both giggling and groaning at the same time depending on how the play went. They were so happy in there playing together that they managed to weasel an extra half an hour out of their mean old Mom. For all the fighting they do, when they join forces against a common cause (generally me), they sure do make a great team!

June 2, 2011

Breakfast and Balloons for the Birthday Boy!

Breakfast and Balloons for the Graduate!

"Happy Birthday" from two of his third grade buddies - Skylar and Braden.

A proud mama at the graduation ceremony.

Annalise and Mrs. Lidstone, a fantastic teacher, best known for turning our girls into "voracious readers!"

Annalise sharing her Graduation Day with Daddy in Doha.

Justin's teacher, Ms. Hansen, opening her last day of school present. I was the Room Mom for Justin's class so it was a great moment for me to see this smile. We gave her a class photo framed by notes from each of the kids in her class.

Justin distributing Birthday Doughnuts to his friends.

Post Graduation Pool Party

The Kindergarden Moms who made my year without John so much more manageable. I can't say enough how thankful I am for all of their love and support.

Birthday Cupcakes for the football team.

Sometimes it gets a little bit overwhelming, but being a football mom and soccer coach are two of the greatest experiences I have ever had. This was a fun evening for me.

9 Year Olds may act tough, but they come running for cupcakes every time!

For me, this is what it's all about.

After a very full day, Nana put together a final celebration for Justin. Presents and cake! Presents this year still included Star Wars Legos, Transformers, and the big one from Dad...Tony Hawk SHRED for Wii.

Birthdays and Big Girls

No, you did not read that wrong. It's really the end of September and I'm just getting around to telling you about that day. I'm pleased to admit that I've been delinquent in updating our adventure log because we've been busy having more amazing adventures!

So June 2, 2011 was a big day for this Mama...My little man turned 9 and my baby girl, "Chicken Little," graduated from Kindergarden. I bought lots of balloons and too many cakes, ate too many of the celebratory doughnuts and sweets, and I may have cried a time or two. Or three. Who's counting?

The morning started with a surprise trip to the McDonald's drive-through before they got up and both kids were welcomed to breakfast with balloons and junkfood. They both looked twice to make sure I wasn't pulling a joke on them because I'm generally a stickler on rules for a nutritious breakfast. With grease in their bellies and smiles on their faces, off we went to start our big day.

Justin asked if he could come to the Graduation with us and I was so pleased that he wanted to support his baby sister. Go figure that when he realized that there was plenty of sitting around waiting for it to get started (boring), he was ready to get back to class. At that point, he was treated to an obnoxious lecture based on the "do you know how many football games and practices your sister sits through?" principle. We happened to be sitting next to another Panthers Head Coach who chuckled and admitted that his son was also there watching graduation for the same reason. After some major kindergarden logistics and challenges, Annalise graduated, we cheered, and then Justin went back to Third Grade. Annalise talked to her Dad on the phone and then we headed to the after-party pool party with all of her friends. I brought doughnuts to Justin's class so that he could celebrate and then headed back to the pool party. Justin was flying high from the sugar and "Last Day of School" elation when I picked him up and we spent the afternoon playing in the pool at Erin's house.

After all of this excitement, Justin headed off to football practice and I delivered the next dose of sugar in the form of a cupcake cake for his team. It was the best part of his birthday from what I could see. He smiled a big happy smile during a painful version of "Happy Birthday" from his team before they lined up for their treats. They all slapped him on the shoulder pads and gave him birthday wishes that only other 9 year old football players can deliver. I don't remember exactly what they all said but they were generally wishes for good presents, more cake, and staying up late.

Nana was here to celebrate the day with me and I couldn't have done any of it without her. She's funny, that Nana. She never lets an occasion go by without appropriate notice. She demanded a full cake/presents birthday party for Justin after fooball practice so she spent her afternoon wrapping and planning for the end of the day celebration. I'm sure I would have skipped this last one from exhaustion but Justin was very happy to rip open all of his packages and end his night in front of the TV enjoying one last treat - cookie dough ice cream cake from Cold Stone.

This life sometimes seems to go by too fast for me and I'm glad I took the time to sit down and remember all of this. So much changed for me that day. I realized how much Justin has grown, we all missed John terribly, I finally accepted that Annalise would be in full time school from now on, and I felt great pride when I stopped to look at the lives they were able to create over the last year. They both faced a challenge head on, didn't stop to feel sorry for themselves, and they made new friends in a heartbeat after moving across the country and sending their dad off to protect the world. I know they are growing up and I look back on these days with the normal bittersweet feeling a mother has when she sees her kids reach those big milestones. I hate the speed at which they become independent, but I'm pretty proud of the kids who are growing up under my roof. My wish is that the many birthdays and graduations to come are filled with the same happiness that I felt that day.