Moving on up

Ryan's eighth grade graduation was held last night in the Icardo Center (the gym) at CSUB.  He was so excited, he even got a hair cut for the occasion!  (He really did get a trim, although you probably can't tell)  He is a little nervous about moving up to high school, and most of his school friends will be going to a different high school-- our rival as a matter of fact.  I keep telling him it will be fine, but then Zachary comes along and says mean things.  Not sure how they are going to do, being back at the same school again.  I can't believe we have TWO high school students. 

We are proud of Ryan, he works hard and does his best.  Good Job son!

I pulled into the driveway this morning just as the busses to Magic Mtn were headed out.  I couldn't resist grabbing the camera and taking a picture.

Portraits 2010

Don't know that I should be giving them such a fancy name as "portraits" because I took them, and did all the editing myself. I have a lot to learn. Family, I will get some high resolution pics printed up, and I am planning on bringing copies out to Texas (I know you are so shocked right now, please don't pass out), when I come.

Took Ryan to the Doctor today, seems he has been going a lot lately. He has strep throat. Josh and Ryan didn't have school today, and Ryan's appt was at 10:45. I could maybe have left the younger kids home with Danny, but then I would be pushing getting home in time for him to go to work. So I took all three of them. It is amazing how quickly I have forgotten how much work that is! After the Dr visit we went to Target to fill Ryan's prescription, and get stuff, Caleb started screaming at the checkout because he didn't get to put the box of band aids on the conveyor belt, and kept it up all the way out the door, meanwhile Ryan was loudly proclaiming, "we don't know this kid we just picked him up in the store". They were hungry, I know that was mostly why they were acting up. But I did have to point out to Ryan, "When he was Caleb's age" (I think I may say that a lot) we used to drag him kicking and screaming from that very same Target wishing we didn't have to claim him. Then we ate, went to Winco, which was better, and headed home.
Also, we don't know what is going on as far as moving goes. No time frame just yet.

Hard Headed? I guess not!

For all his stubbornness apparently Ryan's head really isn't that hard. Yesterday at school he had a crazy accident. He was walking, someone else was running by, somehow they got tangled, he tripped, she was still running, and her knee came up and hit him in the side of the head. Hard. He didn't tell anyone, just spent the last two periods of the day with a really bad headache, while seeing funny spots. He called me to come get him after school when he started feeling sick to his stomach, and realized he wasn't going to make it through basketball. By the time I got there, he was laying on the bricks by the flagpole, and couldn't open his eyes because the light hurt too much. We got home, and I called our pediatrician to see if I could get him in. She is out of the office until next week, they recommended urgent care. So we headed for Northwest Urgent Care, because I like that one, even though it is on the far side of Bakersfield. And I know where all the hospitals are between here and there if he suddenly got worse. By the time the Dr. saw him, he was feeling somewhat better. The Dr. said watch him for 24 hours, gave me a head injury information sheet, and said bring him back tomorrow to follow up. He stayed home from school today, he is still a little pale, but says he his head doesn't really hurt and his eyes are okay.

Thumper's dad was right

After more than a few phone calls and text messages over the past 6 (or so) weeks I am considering running this ad in the local paper, and possibly the church bulletin.

Do you know this child?

We do. He is ours. And we love him. We think he is pretty great. He loves his brothers, he is funny, and smart. No we are not being naive, we know he is having a rough time lately. He is not done growing or learning, and some lessons are harder than others, and some kids choose to learn them the hard way. He may have been mean to your son or daughter, but we don't need the details, so don't call us. We know what he is doing. We are working on it. Of course if you have something nice to say, please, by all means let us know!

Thanks,

Ryan's Mom and Dad

School Day Observations

Spent the morning in Josh's class. Always fun. I worked on their reading fluency today. The system we use has the student read a selection for 1 minute. Then I ask them to tell me about what they read. The stories are told in the first person, and do not indicate a gender. Almost all the kids, boy or girl, will retell the story as if it is about a boy. I find that curious.
Then I walked down to Ryan's school, to sit in on the class he is having "behavior issues" in. (I should say the class he has the most problems in) My being there didn't seem to affect him very much, he still got talked to and then asked to move to an empty spot. I know as he looks around at what others are doing and getting away with he wonders why he is getting in trouble. In my opinion, the reason he is getting in trouble is... because he has no excuse for his behavior. Meaning; he KNOWS better, he is capable of proper behavior, he is smart, and he has the ability to be a leader. He has been taught better, and his teachers know that. I spent a few minutes talking with the teacher after class. I asked her to start a weekly behavior report/contract. Then I went and talked to his basketball coach about what the consequences to that contract will be (no playing in games). Now I feel a little better, we'll see how if goes.

P.S. Mom I am very sorry I acted crazy and stood on counters in Mr. K's class when I was in Jr. High!

Last Games

Football season has come to an end. It has been a rough one, and I've questioned why we let our kids play more than once. I've answered myself a few times as well. Here is what I've come up with this year, (keeping in mind that Josh has had a lot of fun, and he is young enough these "lessons" may not apply just yet, mostly this is what I've seen with Ryan).

• The value of teamwork, which applies to most work places and family life too, you may be the best player out there, (and I'm not saying mine are) but without the rest of the team doing their job, you get no where. The flip side of this is, sometimes you have to depend on yourself and not expect someone else to be there to help out.


• Never give up. No matter what people say or do to discourage you. Sometimes being a winner simply means you stuck with it.


• Do your best, if you know you did your best you can walk away with your head up.


• Encourage others. By word and example.

I know these all sound like they belong on a poster somewhere but they are all true, and I know there are plenty of other ways to learn them. For the most part we enjoy the sports our kids have chosen to play.
Josh makes a tackle
Ryan getting up from a tackle he made

Ryan's Birthday

Ryan turned twelve October 22. He has one of the latest birthdays in his school and church class, he is one of the youngest kids on his football team, he spends a lot of time wishing he were a little bit older. I don't see that changing anytime soon (the wishing to be as old as his friends) but someday he will enjoy it!

Ryan loves sports, we go season by season, football to basketball to baseball. He says football is his favorite. He turned himself around this year and is doing great in school. His little brothers look up to him, and try to be just like him (sometimes that scares us).

He makes us laugh, even while he is exasperating us!

This year his birthday fell on a Thursday, so after school and football practice we had chili dogs and a lemon cake that Zachary made. After his game on Saturday we had the Grandmas, Uncle Mike, Aunt Cassie, Katie and some of his friends over, we had pizza, a football cake and ice cream.

Last Times

I read a book a couple of months ago that talked about a mother wishing she had kept track of all her children's "last times" as well as their firsts. I don't know if I have been thinking about it more since then or if we are just going through lots of lasts. Whichever it is I am having a hard time with some of them. Ryan will be twelve in less than two weeks. That means he will be graduating from primary at church. Today he gave his last primary talk. I cried. I sat there looking at him dressed in his suit and matching tie and my mind flashed back to his first primary talk. The one he wouldn't even stand up to give, and I did it for him. It seems like we were just there, and all of a sudden he can stand up and seriously deliver a talk he prepared by himself. Last times make me feel like I have fallen and skinned my soul. I am not ready for my boys to grow up and away. I know it's normal and good and right, but I don't like it.

Just sayin'

So Ryan and I, we had a good day. That's all but it needed to be said.

I took Ryan to the Dr. today. He is still not feeling very good, and the cough and stuffy nose aren't getting any better. He threw up again Saturday, and ended up sitting in the stands for his game. The stomach thing was just some nasty bug, and she put him on allergy medication for the other stuff. She said it might make him drowsy (Is that a draw back I ask), sure enough he fell asleep on the way home. So maybe he'll be taking it before bed. She said that was fine. But, I wonder, does it change the effectiveness at all?

Zachary decorated a cake for the Fair, he made a big red barn. I'm told it turned out well. We made all the fondant and frosting here, then he took it and did the decorating in Home Ec. He left his phone home that day and couldn't take a picture, I have no idea what it ended up looking like.

While we were mixing up the fondant Caleb wanted to help. Then he informed me his friend wants a cake, and he needs to make it. When I asked who his friend was, he said he didn't remember but the cake had to be done "tomorrow". The next day we made a cake, I told Caleb it was okay to want a cake for himself, that made him happy. I wondered what he would have done if I packed it up to take to a friend. We made a rainbow cake. We were out of fondant, but he was fine with frosting and sprinkles.

Josh needs more sleep. He is grouchy when he gets home from school.

I am going to stay for lunch on Thursday when I go help in his class, because his lunch table keeps getting in trouble and the teacher asked if a few parents could take turns coming to lunch this week. It's not him specifically (he says he only got talked to once) but they sit by class, and his is mostly boys. I know how boys behave at the table...especially when they are with buddies and there is no Mom sitting there.

We eat, sleep, breath, live football around here right now. I love watching the boys play, but it's so much better on the field and not in my living room. The other day the boys (all 5 of them) were watching a game on TV, and I hid in my room and watched "chick" stuff. So do I embrace it and watch with them so I can at least say we did it as a family or do I go my own way? Just a side note here...I am never going to "get" football. Oh well.

Some cute pictures from Saturday;

Saturday was mostly a fun day, even though it was long. Danny was off and got to see an away game. Christine and Madison met us in Mojave. The kids climbed all over the bleachers and then played on the sidelines. Josh and Caleb got to be water boys for the Senior game. They thought that was sooo great.

Ryan was a team captain this week, and got to decline a penalty... his team had the ball and ran it down the field for a touchdown, there was a penalty called on the other team, he could accept the penalty, and get 5 yards and a 1st down or decline it, and keep the touchdown. He chose the touchdown.

He says he brought this player down so hard his (the other guy) shoes came off. I didn't see the shoes but it is possible.

Football Pictures

Today Ryan was the only one that had a game. I am tired and I will probably write about the day later, but I told Ryan I was posting a certain picture and I don't want to disappoint him. Actually he told me I should NOT put this up. He spent a lot of the game in this position. We really do have linemen, they were just taking the day off... which is why they are no where to be seen... (He is #4 just in case you wondered).
I was going to put just the one of him getting sacked, but these go together, the top was just a split second before the bottom. Honestly I feel a little bad about putting pictures like this on here, but we should remember bad days too, not just the good ones.

First Games of the Season

Football went well today. We played Trona at home. Rookies are still so darn cute! (We don't keep an official score, but they won). Ryan's team also won 44-12. Ryan is looking good out on the field.

Ryan

Josh

Back to School

Everyone in the house (except Caleb) was up by 6:30 this morning. The first alarm went off at 5:15, Danny took Zachary to church for seminary which starts at 6:30. I'm not sure how he got to school, (bus or car obviously, I just don't know which one) but I do know he made it there. High Schoolers don't particularly want to be seen having their mommy walk them to class so I had to let go a little. No tears though!

Ryan was excited the "new" middle school is up and running, I got a bye thrown over his shoulder as he headed that direction.

Josh let me, walk him to class, and take a picture, and give him a kiss when the bell rang.

All in all I think we had a smooth morning, we'll see how tomorrow goes when I have to take Zac myself. No pictures of Zachary this morning, I was not quite awake enough to think of it before he left.

Caleb and I went to "Tank Park" and then to Primo's for lunch. He is sacked out on the couch right now, and I think I may join him!

Are you ready for some football?

The 2009 football season"Kick off Bowl" was this past Saturday in Mammoth. I headed up Friday with five boys (two of my own and three extras). Danny was working, Zachary was on a Scout camp out and Caleb went to Grandma M's for a sleepover. We stayed with the Bushlings, which was SO much easier than a hotel room (THANK YOU).

Josh's little team is so cute (yes I did just say football was cute). They did really well in all their scrimmages. I still don't know very many positions, and probably never will so I can't say what Josh played other than quarterback. He ran the ball for a touchdown, very exciting. He was exhausted by the end of the fourth scrimmage, but loved every minute of it.

A nice handoff.Long pass, almost made it!
Running for a touchdown.

Ryan's team now knows what they need to work on, I think practice this week may be a little tougher. Ryan did a good job all around, he had a lot of tackles on defense (linebacker) and he is handling the ball really well on offense (quarterback). I can see a difference in his confidence this year as quarterback. We'll see how he does as the season progresses.Pass!Blocking.

We're ready! I think.

We are done with school shopping! And the boys had no part in it. I know that probably makes me mean, or a control freak, but they loved everything we brought home so it worked out just fine (even the shoes I picked out for Ryan). This is very unusual for me, most years find me doing shopping after school starts.
They have way too many clothes and I haven't sorted any of it for months. We spent part of yesterday and today going through everything they own. Some went into the trash (lots and lots of socks) but most of it is in a pile for Goodwill. I've given up on saving very many hand me downs. The boys are so different in sizes, it mostly isn't worth it, and I just end up with a pile of stuff that doesn't get used.

All the stuff we are getting rid of. Horrible, I know.