Just some cuteness...

I have got to get a better camera phone! Sorry these are so blurry! Aves and Kole-man from the other day.

Such a little man already. Mouth stuffed full and has to have the remote. Annie said today he lifted his leg and farted then sighed. Ugh... he is sooo his grandpa's boy!


He is so freaking sweet I can barely stand it! He has started walking A LOT this week. Friday afternoon he walked all around the family room for about half an hour! And you can just barely see his blond hair sticking up. He's actually got quite a bit of it now, but it's so light you can't really see it in the pictures.




And our little Avery girl! She's such a cutie-pie with those HUGE blue eyes! She kept saying 'no, not take a picture' every time I asked her... but as you can see I (with a few cookies) am very persuasive and she eventually gave in :)

I cried like a baby...

Yeah, so I broke one of my number one rules and cried in public at work on Thursday. I rarely ever cry and never in public. I couldn't hold it back though. I put my favorite little boy on the bus for the last time (he's starting kindergarten in the fall). I know it is good for him to be moving on, but I was sooooooo sad. I'm going to miss him so much. We had a great last session though. I had him last that day and luckily for me he was in a very cuddly mood so I spent a lot of time holding him and cuddling him close. We played a lot and had a lot of fun, so at least I was sending him off with good memories. But alas, I teared up as I put him on the bus (of course after getting one last big bear hug). I held back the tears until I was walking back inside and one of my co-workers asked me if I was crying. No but I am now... thanks! At least I wasn't the only one, there were about three of us with tears just rolling down our cheeks. At least I didn't feel like such a sissy. I know there will be more kids that come to us and I'll love them all too, but man, I sure will miss my boy.

Another Drama Update...

So from what I can gather, Uncle J was arrested today for disorderly conduct. No big surprise there, we've been waiting for it to happen. It's strange when everyone in a family is just hoping for another family member to get arrested. At least this way they'll be able to get him the help he needs. And I have to say, I am so glad it finally happened. I am so tired of all the manic babble about all these big plans and money making schemes. Hopefully they'll be able to get him to take his medication and get everything sorted out. If not, at least locked up he's not a danger to himself or anyone else.

And as for my BS ticket, I called on it yesterday and thankfully it's not going to cost nearly as much as I thought it was. I guess there's always a silver lining right?

Bitter Sweet...

So as the last few days of work approach I am having such mixed feelings it's not even funny. For those of you who don't know, I work in a special ed preschool with kids with severe autism. Whenever I tell anyone this the first thing they say is 'how can you do that? It must be so hard.' And honestly, some days I wonder how we're going to make it through the hour, but the good days so far outweigh the bad. Whenever I see something about Autism on TV it's always focused on tantrums and how hard it is to deal with the behavior. I've never really seen anything that looks beyond the behavior to show how really sweet and lovable these kids can be. They laugh and play just like other kids, but a lot of times just in a different way. And the joy it brings to watch them discover new things and learn new skills is just indescribable. I had one of those Ah-ha moments a few weeks ago when one of our parents came in to pick up the child I was working with. As they were about to walk out the door, my little guy suddenly broke away from his dad and ran back over to where I was sitting and threw his arms around me and placed a big juicy kiss on my cheek. I'll admit that I had to hold back tears... kids with autism have delayed social skills and for him to spontaneously show affection like that reminded me so much of why I do what I do and I love it so much.

But now the school year is coming to an end and more than half of our kids will be moving on this year. It's going to be so hard to let them go. I feel like I'm letting go of my own kids and can't help but wonder if their next teachers will be good enough. If they'll keep up with their programs and keep them going in the right direction. To relinquish that control on them will be hard. And not to mention how much I am going to miss these kids. I've spent 30 hours a week with them for the past year and you can't help but form an attachment to them. While it's great that they're progressing and moving on, I am soooo sad to be letting them go.

Whoo-hoooooo!!!!

Our boys got a win tonight! 21-12 over the Yuma Scorpions. Ryan had 2 home runs (back to back), Brandon got one and Claudio got one. Soooo much fun at the game tonight.

Oh and as for the game I was searching for a few nights ago... turns out they couldn't broadcast because they were in the middle of nowhere and couldn't get a phone line, much less a wireless signal. They ended up winning like 30-16. In the recap I got, Ryan had 3 Home runs (with like 7 RBIs), Trever went like 5-7 or something crazy like that... that's all the details I remember. I was pissed! It would be a great game that I miss!

Last night they blew an 11 run lead. It was painful to watch. Poor Devin... I hate watching a pitcher struggle, especially one that's usually great. Then even our closer, Pluta, struggled a bit. That is soooo rare I think I was a little in shock. He's usually right on. But everyone has bad nights. I've been there... in both positions... being the pitcher that's struggling and being in the field as you watch your lead slip away and feeling helpless and frustrated because there's nothing you can do about it.

But we came back with a big win tonight and it was nice to see them light up and go for it. It was crazy though, every one of our home runs tonight followed a walk. You know what they say, those walks always come around to bite you in the ass. Better them than us :)

Okay, I'll stop boring everyone with the baseball rundown... I know no one who reads this cares but me :) Thanks for hanging in there :)

Like a crackhead searching for a hit...

Oh my God, I searched FOREVER for the Roadrunners game tonight. It wasn't on the radio, wasn't on the Internet radio, wasn't on the other team's Internet radio, wasn't on the league website. I seriously looked everywhere I could think of to look. Don't know what happened, but no broadcast for me tonight so I have no idea how the game went or if it got canceled or what the hell happened. Oh well, they'll be home tomorrow... I am so ready for some live baseball!

Painful...

I'm listening to the Roadrunners baseball game on the radio and they are down 15-1 in the bottom of the 8th inning. It has been a rather exciting game as our pitcher Shannon was ejected in the 4th inning after hitting a batter (which was BS... i would have hit that mother fucker too after the previous batter jacked a grand slam that still hasn't landed. As long as it's not a pitch beamed at someones head I think there should always be a warning first). Then in the 6th inning the new pitcher hit the same guy that Shannon had hit in the 4th. The guy charged the mound and there was a bench clearing brawl... I swear I miss them all. They had a huge fight at home last season and it just happened to be one of the like 4 games that I missed.

One of my dad's friends who has season tickets behind us says that it's funny to watch me at the games... I wonder if it has anything to do with all the cringing and yelling I do.

WHOOOOO-HOOOOO Ryan just scored... now it's 15-2. 14 more in the 9th inning with one out and we've got the W.

Mmm... yeah didn't quite work out. We lost 15-2. New field tomorrow new luck. Shake things up and see what happens.

Inspirational Posters...

Because some times you just have to laugh at other people :)

This one is my favorite:

Way to go PAK (Punk ass Kobe)


This is just wrong... I hope he has good bladder control.


DOH!


I would rather puke on the floor... I have never been drunk enough to puke in a public bathroom. Well you know... other than that one time ;)


Hmm... think he got off with a warning?


Hmm... this is where the gene pool could use some chlorine

Who is this big boy?

Kole has just shot up in the last few weeks. He's starting to loose that baby look and starting to look like a little boy. He's starting to walk... he took about 10 steps today before falling down. He'll be a year old in about 3 weeks.

Update on the drama...

So thankfully Dad decided to come home early last night and I had never been so happy to see his truck parked in front of the house. I was so glad to be able to hand it over to him and wash my hands of the whole thing. Somehow today Dad managed to talk Uncle J into going to the hospital to be evaluated... ( I think it had something to do with the fact that when J said 'I could kill you' dad stood up and said you can try, lets go... J backed down pretty fast after that). Anyway, Dad got him to talk to a doctor and they prescribed medication and apparently he is taking it. The doctor said it will take 3 to 4 days for it to take affect. The sooner the better... I have the biggest headache from listening to his rambling when we took him out to dinner. I need an aspirin and a stiff drink.

Some Emails come at just the right time...

My sister Amber sent me an E-Mail: 29 lines to make you smile... I love these ones:

TWENTY NINE LINES TO MAKE YOU SMILE

1. My husband and I divorced over religious differences. He thought he was God and I didn't.
3..Some people are alive only because it's illegal to kill them.
4..I used to have a handle on life, but it broke.
5.. Don't take life too seriously; No one gets out alive.
6..You're just jealous because the voices only talk to me
7..Beauty is in the eye of the beer holder.
8..Earth is the insane asylum for the universe.
10...Out of my mind. Back in five minutes.
11..NyQuil, the stuffy, sneezy, why-the-heck-is-the-room-spinning medicine.
12.. God must love stupid people; He made so many.
13..The gene pool could use a little chlorine.
14..Consciousness: That annoying time between naps.
15.. Ever stop to think, and forget to start again?
17..Wrinkled Was Not One of the Things I Wanted to Be When I Grew up.
20..A hangover is the wrath of grapes.
21..A journey of a thousand miles begins with a cash advance.
22.. Stupidity is not a handicap. Park elsewhere!
29..I smile because I don't know what the hell is going on.

Thanks for the smile Am, I needed it :)

My life is a bad horror movie...

My crazy manic uncle is livid that we tricked him into going to the hospital to be evaluated and I wouldn't be in the least surprised if he came and tried to kill me tonight...

Mmm yeah, so my crazy (and I do mean off his rocker FUCKING crazy) uncle J moved out here two days ago. My dad left yesterday morning to go out of town for a few days. What happens today? I get a call while I'm on my lunch break that J is down at my dad's office and agitated and talking crazy. (Of course he is, he refuses to take his meds and insists there's nothing wrong with him). So after several phone calls it's pretty much clear that I'm going to have to deal with this shit. I stopped at work just to tell them that I had to leave, then headed over to deal with this crazy fuck. I talk to my uncle M (who works with my dad) and get the full story and try to decide what to do, but when I come back out, J is gone! Where the fuck he went I don't know. My brother returns my call just a few minutes later and I fill him in on what his happening. He tells me he'll try to figure something out and call me back. I head home to try to decide what to do and right before I get there my brother calls back and says he's on his way and he'll take care of it if I'll just help him find the crazy nut. He tells me not to stop him if I see him, but just call and tell him where he is and he'll take him to the hospital, willingly or not. I turn around and head back the direction I'd come trying to figure out which way he'd gone and as I'm stopped at a red light not even 5 minutes later guess who crosses the street in front of my car. Yep, uncle J and I'm spotted. So I get him into my car, using the excuse that it's too hot (106 degrees) for him to be walking around and I'll take him where he needs to go. Where does he want to go... my house. Perfect. So I distract him with random crazy people conversation (lots and lots of nodding and smiling as this crazy fuck he has bought everything from an apartment building to a car today and is pissed because he thinks someone stole his shotgun... thank god for small favors) as I slyly pull my phone out and text my brother that I have him to meet me at the house. I get him into the house and get him a drink and thankfully my brother walks in not even 2 minutes later. My uncle falls very neatly into our story line... asking my brother if he'll take him to see where he works. My brother comes back with a line about needing to go to the hospital first do something. So happily crazy uncle J agrees to go along and climbs into the car with him. Too good to be true... you bet your ass.

I go to my grandma's house to fill her in and assure her that everything is going to be okay (damn it, I jinxed it) and it's while I'm there that Jake calls to give me the update. It didn't take J long to figure out what was up once they got to the hospital (since we'd done the same thing to his wife... what like 3, 4 years ago when she had an episode) and when ape-shit. Then of course when PD shows up at the hospital J plays it cool and will not speak to them, knowing full well they can't legally detain him unless he shows some sign that he's completely FUCKING CRAZY. So since he won't talk and there's no legal reason to keep him, PD just lets him walk out. So now he's out there wandering the streets again, crazy as hell and now livid because he knows we set him up. So as I type this I have locked myself in the house (checking all the doors and windows) and locked myself in the master bedroom (so i don't even have to leave to use the bathroom) with a great big knife... just in case this crazy fuck decides to come vent some of his anger. (As he already threatened last night to kill my step-grandfather). I doubt I'll sleep well tonight; you can bet I'll have one ear open and a hand wrapped around the handle of that knife.

Holy Baseball Batman!

So everyone knows that I'm a baseball freak. And yes, I readily admit to listening to them play on the radio while they're on the road. I have to know how they're doing... who has good games, who has bad games... all that stuff. I even keep a score book at the games(though I don't as readily admit to that) 1) to help my ADHD ass pay attention and 2) because I like to be able to look back at past at bats against pitchers and from the other team to know what to expect. Baseball geek... yes, I already admitted it.

So anyway, last night I listened to the Roadrunners playing in Long Beach and holy crap, the game lasted 4 hours! They went 13 innings, tied most of the game at 1-1! It was such an intense game and I listened to the whole damn thing! Unfortunately in the bottom of the 13th inning, Long Beach managed to score and come out with the win. Still... hell of a night of baseball... good thing they had today off.

Holy Freaking Crap!

IT IS SO FREAKING HOT!!! When I got in my car after work today it was 111 degrees. With a black car and black leather interior it was not a nice ride home. I pretty much drove home with two fingers, my steering wheel was too hot to hold onto. Annie and the kids found a way to beat the heat though...

And by the looks of this Avery is just a Girls Gone Wild Spring Break Edition waiting to happen

Apparently his looks aren't the only thing Kole inherited from Uncle Jake... he's a nature boy through and through.

The week from hell that just won't end...

At this point I'm almost afraid to ask 'what else can possibly happen?'. It just keeps getting worse and worse. For the past seven days, one shitty thing after another keeps piling up... every event worse than the one before. What has happened? Here's the rundown...

• Wednesday- Fall down the steps into the family room (5 hardwood steps at that) while holding baby Kole. Thanks to my superman 'save the baby' contorting in midair, Kole was fine (only a little shaken up). My wrist was a little tweaked for a couple days and will still throb occasionally.
• Thursday-Get pulled over and get a BS ticket. I was profiled... apparently they were pulling over EVERYONE blowing through that crosswalk. Damn-it!!! No really, I seriously thought that school crosswalks were only valid during the school year. Who knew? Besides, grown ass men should know how to cross the street without walking out in front of cars.
• Friday- Kole gets sick... Annie won't be able to go camping. Which I'm sure sucked for her more than us, but we really did miss her Saturday on our father's day camp out.
• Saturday- Get pulled over again. Yes seriously. Thankfully no ticket that time... had a break light out. How do they expect you to know that? When are you ever behind your car when you're break lights are on?
• Sunday- Fall down the steps again! Seriously... I wish I were kidding. Although thankfully this time I did not completely bust my ass. I actually just surfed down 4 steps wildly out of control until I managed to catch myself, skinning the hell out of my elbow in the process. Full of grace I tell ya.
• Monday- Just when I thought the week couldn't get any worse, we found out today that a good family friend of ours is very ill. He was recently diagnosed with cancer and the prognosis isn't all that great. We're hoping for the best and praying he'll come through okay.

So after all of this... and a few other things as well I am teetering dangerously close to having a nervous break down. Add to that that my team has gone 1-4 on the road, not even baseball can lift my spirits at the moment. Rather than jinx myself by saying things can't get any worse, because I know there are worse things in life, I'll just settle by saying I hope that they get better soon. I don't know how much more bad luck I can take.

Father's Day 2008

We had a great Father's Day this year... much more laid back than usual. As a change of pace we had our father's day camp out up on Dad's mountain property rather than at the lake. Without the water around, the kids were pretty much able to run as far and wide as their little legs would carry them. They spent most of their time begging adults for 4wheeler rides... which we gave all day long! It was fun though :) Dad and Smitty built a tire swing for the kids, which at least Damien seemed to enjoy. They could only go on it one at a time as Aspen trees don't have the strongest branches and we were afraid the thing would come crashing down. I personally spent almost all of my day (when I wasn't acting as a 4wheeler chauffeur) relaxing in the hammock under a nice shade tree. Definitely my kind of day.


It was much cooler in the mountains than at the lake, which this time of year is a relief... I am not a 100+ degree kind of girl... which it has been here for several weeks already. It's hard to believe it's only the beginning of June.

I took a ton of pictures yesterday... here are a few of my favorites.