The Eventful part of the tournament...

I know this is long past but it was in my draft folder and I forgot to publish them.

Ok so let me just say I really try to get along with my ex and his family.  I try to never tell them they can have or take my son anywhere they ask.  And I absolutely do not talk about them in front of my son.  I have always been that way.  I feel that it was my choice to leave his father and every boy should have the chance to know and love each of their parents.  That being said I know my ex and his family talk , not necessarily about me but about my husband, our friends, and my sons coaches. 

I had been talking to a family friend (that married into my ex's family). I told her about my sons baseball game.  Since they were playing in  the town that his grandparents live in I thought they should know. I made my son who hadn't gone to his fathers in a while call him up and let him know that he would be playing and to make sure he told the grandparents.

In the last few innings our pitcher wasn't doing so hot.  My sons grandfather decides that he is going to start talking crap about our pitcher. Um Hello that is your grandsons team. You don't talk crap about your grandsons team.  As he is yelling about the pitcher the coach tells him to come on. (yes I know he shouldn't have. But at the same time I cant blame him.  He is going to stick up for his players)  The game ends the kids come off the field do the hand shake thing but my son doesn't.  He is already in tears about what is going on.  How insulting and embarrassing.

Then it gets even better.  My ex and his father think it is just fine to go out onto the field in front of all the kids and confront the coach.  They start to walk off only for my ex's father(we are going to call him D.) to go back out onto the field as the coach is telling him to wait he will talk with him after he is finished talking with the kids.   D announces to the whole team he is sorry. Then tells everyone who he is and what he used to do (which he hasn't don't in like 5 years). Then he says "my sons name" Papa loves you.

I am so made at this point I can hardly see.  Then my ex and his father go out to talk to the coach again.  IF you don't already know my husband is also a coach for the team and has walked away twice because my son has gone off crying. With all the crap being said he says that's enough. Don't do this here and walks off.  (I was proud of him at this point because usually he would have already been fighting).

It didn't help matters that my MIL was there talking about how my ex should be more respectful of my husband. He is after all the one raising my son and takes care of everything my son needs or wants...which is true but man do you need to add fuel to the fire?

Then my ex starts to chase after my hubby. Not a good idea.  He is only going to walk away so many times.  Had it not been for a friend of ours stopping my ex and telling him he didn't want to do that I am certain my husband, the baseball coach, the ex and his brother would have gone to jail/ hospital. While I am grateful for our friend stopping my ex, the whole time he is talking to my ex I am praying my ex doesn't say something stupid because the friend, well lets just say he likes to scrap and he doesn't mind spending the night in jail.

Out in the parking lot my husband told my son he needed to tell his grandparents and his father bye so he did.  My ex's father came and apologized.  I accepted and when he asked if I was still mad I didn't answer.  Hell yes I was still mad but it didn't need to go any farther.  The hubby is the one that let him know after I calmed down it would all be ok. He was right. I still feel like I am not the one they need apologize to.  I was embarrassed but the wrong doing wasn't done to me. It was to my son, our coaches, and the team.  They took what should have been an exciting moment for the team and destroyed it.

My personal feelings about all this is it had nothing to do with what happened on the field or anything to with baseball. It really has to do with my ex not liking my husband, and therefore not liking the coach because he is our good friend.  It was escalated because my ex isn't really the greatest dad.  He hates that I let my husband have input on decisions about my son and I really don't care what the ex thinks or says.  Sorry about his bad parenting. We take care of him, we buy him everything he needs, we pay for everything he wants to do, we make sure he is where he needs to be when he needs to be there, we feed him, we cloth him. So WE make those decisions.

My son finally saw his father again a month later.  The only reason he went is because I made him. He had gone to spend the weekend with 2 of his uncles (my ex's brothers) so I told him he needed to go to his dad's as well.  In six months (since baseball season started in March) my son has seen his father 4 times. 2 weekends, and 2 games (this being one of them).  He thinks he has a right to make decisions...I think not.

Really?

Ok, so this is a rant....a short one. I called Academey today. I went through their little press one for....thing then whoever was suppers to answer the line at the end never did. So I waited for the operator to pick up. No big deal. I am not really in that big of a hurry and really want some information without having to drive 45 mins to get it. Long story short I was disconnected, hung up on, and then they just let it ring. So the next time I asked to talk to the manager and am told yes they have what I am looking for. She will send me to the department for the pricing I am asking about. Wait they aren't answering! She lets me know she is with them right then and they will answer. A) if she is there why can she hand them the phone she is one! B) better yet off she is in the department why cant she answer my question? Any way the kid finally get on the phone. This part of the conversation made me want to pull my hair out. Kid one the phone(kid): May I help you? Me: Yes. I am wanting to know if you have integrated football pants and a price on them. Kid: Yes we have them. Is there a band you would like to know about? Me: I just need a price? Kid:is there anything else I can help you with? Me:I just need to know how much the pants are? Kid: is there a certain brand you are interested in? Me: no. Kid: is there anything else I can help you with? Me: the price. Kid: yes we have the pants. Can I help you with anything else? After about 5 mind of talking to this kid I gave up. Told him I guess he couldn't help me and I would go spend my $10 thousand dollars in uniforms and equipment somewhere else. As I am hanging up I can hear the manager in the background asking for the phone back. I want good customer service no matter how much I am spending, otherwise when I have big orders I will take them somewhere else. You aren't worth the trouble. **** Before someone freaks out about how much money that is. It is for all of our town football teams and its not really that much. However I am finding that it is very expensive to buy all the uniforms. Who knew a Jersey with names and numbers we anywhere from $.35 to 50? And unlike most thing insure goes up in cost per kid them more of them you have. Ok so maybe this is longer than I thought it would be....sorry! Oh and my computer is broken but I have lots of stuff to tell about when I get it up and running again.

Wow! Its been a really long time....

• School has been out for a while now. Its been a pretty great summer so far.
• I cried like a baby the last day of school.
• Leaving the Elementary I realized I will never have another child go there. It broke my heart that my babies are growing up so fast.
• Then I picked up the rest of the kids and realized I wont have any in Middle School next year either.
• OMG! My babies are in high school :/ Ekkk!
• I never did get the older boys report cards. I didn't really bring the topic up because I am pretty sure they didn't do so well the last six weeks. Some of it their fault and some of it the teachers.
• I am not one to place blame on teachers normally but if you don't post your grade until the day before they have to be turned in then I have no idea there is a problem until its too late for me to ask you about.  Also IF my children have more than one or two missing assignments there is a problem and its kind of their job to keep me informed.  Its not as if I am not involved.  I talk to my kids teachers at least once a six weeks and email and every time I think my kids can do better/more.
• Enough of that!
• My kids have been playing tournament baseball.  They do really really great on the first game, ok on the second game, and then bracket play starts and they suck it up.  I mean really really bad.
• I even quit keeping my books one game.
• Then the last tournament they played they in game one they did ok, game 2 terrible, and bracket play started and they played good.  In the semi finals they almost won against a team that run ruled everyone else.  Only lost by one.
• There was one poor kid on the team that had a really bad game though.  He missed 3 fly balls and just could not  adjust the the calls the umpire was making at the plate.
• There will be a separate post about this tournament too....eventful.
• We will play one more tournament this summer. I am excited to see how they do.
• I downloaded an app to keep score on. Its called Game Changer. It is awesome!  Love it. All the kids want to know their stats and it creates a recap story after each game. Win or lose.  I hate reading them after we lose even though it never said bad stuff about the players.
• Its a great app if you like watching and keeping up with stats for little leagues.
• The last week has been a lot of fun but very busy.
• Because of baseball (and football too, I guess) we have become friends with 2 families. 
• I absolutely love these two families. They are sisters.
• They have the most well mannered kids I have ever seen.
• We have cooked out with these two families 3 times in the last 5 days.
• Lots of food, fun, family, and beer.  Oh yeah, fireworks too !)
• Its even better because all of our kids get along and play really well together.
• I am glad to have new girlfriends to hang out with.
• This summer is all about good times with family and friends (that are becoming like family). Making memories I hope my kids will cherish when they get older. 
• We are truly blessed.

Papers...

• My eighth graders have to write a research paper.
• They have been working on it for around 3 weeks now.
• One of them has not done the steps. He is having trouble.
• I think part of it is they have never done research and their first time to do it is a long paper. 1800 words.
• The one that has written all of his paper.. well lets just say its not so great. He uses the words "This is just stupid."  more than once while talking about his topic.
• I remember writing research papers with a ton of had written notes from my research and all the books, magazines, and Internet printouts scattered everywhere for reference.
• The only thing close to that is the boys have note cards they wrote a few facts on.  But 20 note cards is not going to make an 1800 word paper.
• Their papers also don't flow and when I tell them that they just look at me like I am dumb.  One even told me he couldn't move the two paragraphs together because they say the same thing just different words....well duh that's what I am telling you. You jump around repeating yourself for six pages.
• I typed the papers for them. Yes the papers have to be typed but the actual typing is not part of their grade. And it was the only way I could get through the papers.
• I feel for the teachers having to read 120 papers.
• I dont think my kids learned how to do a research paper very well.
• I think easier topics, a smaller paper, and more direction would have been a beter way to start them off.

It's been a while...

• It is hard for me to get on here any more.  All the blog I used to read stopped posting.  It is almost depressing.
• My life is consumed by baseball, baseball, and more baseball.
• It's a good thing I love baseball!
• The boys are doing good. I would say great but since they can't seem to get their school work done they are about to be grounded.
• The oldest one is umpiring the baseball games.  I don't really like it too much.  Parents and coaches get way to out of control.  I don't talk to my kids like that and I don't want someone else to either.
• He is pretty good at it though.  Not perfect.  His strike zone is a little low sometimes.  He calls it the same for both teams though so what more can you really ask for from an ump?
• He would also remember every rule if they gave him a copy of the rule book to read. Man it's like that kid has a photographic memory or something.
• The older boys are going to play on a select team.  The boys wanted to be called the Rejects or the Benchwarmers.
• Thank goodness the coach said no.
• I have spent the last few days looking for camo jerseys.  Its not going to happen.  I am still not 100% sure what colors the team will be but we are getting close.  The coach just needs to tell me which jerseys he want to order so we can get them in before their first tournament.
• The school year is winding down.  There has been alot of stuff going on at the schools lately.
• I was even subbing when they had a lock down drill. It was interesting.
• Between testing, awards, play days, and field trips I don't have much time for anything else the next couple of weeks.
• I cant wait to get the results back for the STARR testing the boys have finished taking.
• We have made new friends.  We had a great time just hanging out. The kids played (they have kids the same ages as ours!) and we had a good time. 
• I think my hubby is done coaching our other favorite sport in the house. (Football)
• Shit is about to hit the fan and we want to stay as far away from it as possible.
• The guy running it has stolen all the money. He didn't pay the bills and next year he wanted to hand it off to my hubby and tell him to start new with all the debt. 
• Not going to happen.  He needs to return the money or face charges.  Plain and simple.  I just don't understand how you can steal from kids and think its ok.
• OH. The hubby is finally getting his promotion! They gave him a date for him to start.
• It took them a while and he had to consider other jobs ( a really good one).  Then his boss said ok I really have to replace my assistant.  I cant keep up with all the meetings and stuff that has to get done.  That is the job he will be doing.
• He is so excited and I am excited for him. Now I just have to get him a new wardrobe so he will look up to par for all his meetings.

I think that's it.  At least for now. Good Night all.

I have been busy! :)

• The kids had baseball almost every single day for a while.
• We got a break for the STARR testing last week though. I loved it.
• My kids got the results back for the testing they did in March this week.
• I am happy to say that both of my boys passed.
• The principle I don't like called the other day.  At first I was thinking on of the boys were in trouble but nope. He just called to let me know the one that the school and I had been working and worrying about so much had passed the Math and Reading STARR.  He still isn't my favorite person but he gained some points with me after that phone call.
• I have been subbing every day for 2 weeks now. I have at least one or two more weeks to go.  I might get to stay the rest of the year.  I am only sorta kinda hoping for that because it means the lady I am subbing for cant work.
• She broke her ankle. I am getting attached to the kids.
• I also will be looking for full time employment soon.  I seem to be happier working.
• I have always known that when I quit working I had lost a part of me.  I never realized how important that part of me was though.
• I do miss my Chelebell time though. I don't know what I am going to do about that.  We will have to work it out though. 
• I know its short and I have some stuff to tell but I have to get some stuff done today.  So let me recap the important stuff for you:
• I am working so I have been really busy but much happier, the kids and the hubby are doing well.  Baseball is now back in full swing. 
• Oh yeah my  husband can be an ass and I  say so all the time but then he does some amazing thing and reminds me why I fell in love with him. 
• So I know I didn't talk about him in this post or complain about the kids and the stuff they are doing ( and they are doing it) but I do in others (and might about homework and school stuff later) .  I am truly blessed to have them all and love them dearly.

sigh....

• Yep I am too bummed to even use capital letters in that title.
• I typed out a long post and cant seem to find it :(
• It was about a political issue.
• Guess which one.
• Here it is in short.
• Let them get married.
• Who are they hurting?
• Why shouldn't they be able to get benefits for their family the same I get them for mine?
• Yes I even mean SS and other government funding.
• Do they not pay into the same tax system as I do?
• Do they get asked about their sexuality before Medicare, SS, and what ever else they deem fit to take out of our paychecks?
• Everyone has a judgement day and on that day not I, nor the government will be there. It is not my place to judge them on their sexuality.
• As for those who disagree on religious reason why don't you start changing the thing that people actually choose to do.  Sexuality is something you are born with, not something learned, not something that is chosen and not something people just wake up and decide one morning.
• However, it is a sin to wear clothing made of more than one material or color, to masturbate, to have premarital sex, or to marry more than once.
• Those are all things that people choose to do.  They can change the clothes they wear and their actions.  They can make a choice whether or not to divorce (even if they are unhappy, and I am not saying that is what people should do) and to remarry.
• People are not protesting and the government is not making laws about the choices that people can control.
• Why is that?
• Because time changes people. What once was traditional is now a thing of the past and we as people are creating new traditions.  What is traditional to us will one day become a thing of the past as well.
• Let them be married and live happy lives with one another.

(and yes this was the short version, I was on a rant when I wrote the first one)

Finally Better!

• I am feeling so much better! I still have a little bit of a cough but not to bad.
• I had to go back and look when I started talking about being sick because I feel like it has been months.
• I was pretty close to right.
• Played cards with some friends last night. We are blessed to have such good friends.
• I keep telling them I want a baby so they need to have one. :)
• I think the guy is ready to kill me. Sorry.
• Spring break wasn't too bad but we didn't do anything so the kids were restless and fought they whole time.
• Maybe not fought; just picked at each other.  So the other one would whine.  I am ready to pull my hair out and ready for them to have some time away from each other.
• My oldest son went with the debate team to state.  He didn't get to debate. He went as an alternate.
• I never knew parents went to debate meets and golf tournaments.  I guess I need to start going.
• Debate I thought no one was allowed and why would you go just to sit and wait outside the room.   I can be encouraging from anywhere. (If he will let me)
• Also they walk the golf course and if I cheer or talk to him he will be disqualified. 
• When I heard about other parents going I told him I would go watch him too.
• His response "Uh. You don't have to." and "NO! That's ok." 
• I was both disappointed and happy about that.
• My boys are becoming young men.  They are also driving me nuts.
• They want to go do stuff so we let them but they set up things with their friends and offer people up to do stuff they haven't agreed to yet and just assume that they will do it.
• For instance.  One of the boys went to a birthday party. He was supposed to be picked up by noon.  He asked his other parent if it was ok and it was.  So he said they would be picking him up Saturday (it was the other parents weekend).  Well when I checked to make sure that he had been picked up he hadn't.
• So I picked him up and he was ready to go to the other parents house but would I mind taking him.
• GRRRRR!  Had he just asked the other parent in the first place I am sure they wouldn't have minded picking him up while they were in town (because they were in town that morning).
• My stepchildren never answer my phone calls.  One I think because he leaves his phone everywhere and runs off to play.  He always calls back when he sees that he has missed a call though.
• The other one not so much.  I call him and he doesn't answer so I text him.  He never calls back or responds.  It drives me nuts. I have to have his father call and get the info I need from him or to check on him.
• It down right pisses me off. The only time he will call me back is when he needs a ride home or to somewhere.
• I think maybe I wont answer my phone anymore....yeah right. I would be too worried.
• That's it I have stuff to do and I already need a nap.

Getting better...

• ...but still sick.
• At least I don't feel like death is near any more.
• How did we start Spring Break?
• With 2 kids being sent home early. Poor things.  I hope its only a 24 hr bug.
• I was in Fort Worth when the school called for the second one.  I was trying to find someone to pick him up because even if I turned around where I was it would have been over an hour before I got back.
• My husband the sweet man that he is decided he would call all of our friends to see if they could help us out.  When they were unable to guess who he called (without talking to me about it.)! 
• Did you guess his ex wife?  Because that's who he thought would be a good idea to pick out sick son up from school. He has no idea why I wouldn't like that.  We have helped her out with her kid why cant she help us out.
• Its not that she helped us out. I am grateful for that. It bothers me that he still thinks of her to help him out. ( He also calls her when he knows she will have info that he wants but is really none of his business. That too drives me insane.)
• Ok so maybe that makes me sound a little crazy and jealous.  But shit it doesn't seem like that long ago she was trying to figure out what went wrong and to get him back (uh yes that happen, and it was long after our, the hubby and I, children were born.)
• Enough about that because I am going to get myself all worked up again.
• Youth baseball have officially started back up.
• They have started practicing, we have schedules, and Opening day will be March 30th!  I cant wait.
• What I could wait for is the next week of practices. 
• This is how my evenings have gone this week.
• Sunday after noon ball field.
• Monday ball field.
• Tuesday ball field.
• Wednesday ball field in 2 different places.
• Thursday ball field in 2 different places.
• Friday sick kids
• Tomorrow ball field.
• Yep that's 6 out of 7 days at the fields. I guess that's what I get for having so many dang boys!
• Have you seen Pitch Perfect?  IF not its a great movie.  I think I would like to see something like that live.
• Oh and I think I may have done something bad to the hubby.  He wants to watch vampires more than I do.

OMG I am SICK!

Its getting worse not better :(  I would love some ideas for how to cure a nasty cough and chest congestion.  Oh and about 7 every night I start getting head aches and a fever. Its gone by morning though.  And  I have now started sharing it with Alex and Jim :(

Any ideas  I need help....oh and don't say see a doctor because that isn't going to happen.  I am not paying $160 for a cough...unless it literally starts killing me, which it might be because I feel that way sometimes.

Today was a big day...

Today was a huge day for me. I would say Jim too but he didn't really seem to have any problem with it.  Today we bought a SUV....for our son(T)!  Its the first of many cars we will be purchasing for our children since we have five. This being the first it has made me feel old (all of my friends as well because they just cant believe the boys have grown up so fast). It is scary thinking of one of my children being on the road on his own. I thought of nothing but that when we were searching online for something for him.  What is safest? What gets good gas mileage? What will it cost to insure? Will we find something he likes?  We looked online at different cars, trucks, suvs, and anything else that came up for about 2 weeks. I was think one price range and Jim another.  We talked. I agreed and my price came down.  He is going to be ruff, he is most likely going to tear it up, or even wreck it.  We don't want to buy anything to expensive or something that we cant replace.  After all of that I still felt unprepared for our adventure today.

Skip the blue if you don't want all the details just the out come..

We started out local (well in the county and near by) but they didn't seem to have anything in the price range we were looking for so I asked.  I soon found out that car lots think of that price range as cash vehicles. Totally ok with me because that's what I had in mind. The problem with that is they tend to show you crap. I was thinking there is no way we are going to find a car for this price.  After all that talk about the price my mind was made up that was it we are not going over it. ( I have to be that way or else Jim would see something like it and not care how much it cost and get us into all kinds of trouble)  So the lady shows us a truck that might work for me. I got all kinds of excited because T had said he wanted one but I was against it.  He would be happy right? NO.  You mean you can hear those loud pipes and feel the vibrations from the big tires when you drive down the road? I thought they just looked cool. Well DUH!!! 

So on we go.  To Grapevine because that the next car lot that Jim had found "a lot" of good looking cars online.  PSH. We looked there for all of 15 mins.  What he had was way over priced or look like shit. It was nice of him not to hound us though.  Then where to you ask?  All the way to Keller.   What about all the other car lots we past?  Nope we aren't bothered to look at those because they weren't on the list (of 4- Decatur, Grapevine, Keller, and Arlington...really?)  Keller has some decent cars in our price range. Jim and I are checking them out.  T not so much doesn't seem the least bit interested in them. Then his interest only dropped off more when we learned the car he wanted to look at had been sold.  What 15 year old boy doesn't want to help pick out his car?!?!  After going through our list of one we thought might work for him we come across on that was already marked off the list but I cant remember why...oh yeah it was standard... We test drove it anyway. The door rattled when it shut though whats that?  So we look and there is shattered glass all over the ground a few shards in the nooks under the seat.  So of course I ask if anything was stolen.  Stuff gets messed up when you try to rip stuff out in a hurry. What did the sales guy say?  Nope not that it was a different one.  He continued with that story until I showed him the glass in the floor.  Then he didn't have much to say about it. 

We look at and talk about some other cars but end up leaving. This time we stop at the other car lots! Thank goodness.  We find nothing we like but Jim is still thinking about another car at the other lot.    We test drive a few more but they had something wrong with them or something we (Jim and I) didn't like.  T wasn't happy about one of those. 

We finally find one that he like but it will be just over budget with TTL. We go for it anyway. This is when I learned that there is a limit to the number of test drives you can have in a day. Really? You think I am going to come find one car in the lot drive it once and take it home? They are used cars!  There is no way I am going to keep looking at your lot if we find something that would work for us and you wont let us drive it.  If I cant drive it I am not buying.  We drove it. Jim approved, T loved it, now we just have to agree on the price.  (I had help with the research for pricing... Thanks Chelebell!)  We talk we agree to a price, tell the guy and he says...no :(  He ended up coming down some but not alot. It was ok though. TTL put us over our price range but not too much and nothing even close to trouble (even lower than my starting range).

I think he got his money back though. They charge $125 paper work fee!  Really? I just watched you print them out and sign them. It took less than 5 mins. Also, I looked at the taxes and they look right but then the government fees were high.  I know because I did my homework and call to find out what fees we have to pay and how much each was.  Should I have made him change them or take them off? My mom would have been proud but at this point I was ready to cry one of my babies is about to get a car!!!! So I didn't. The guy was nice and after putting up with me and my questions he earned it anyway.

It turns out we got a Saturn Vue.  T loves it, it drives great (when T isn't behind the wheel, we have lots of work to do before he is to be unleashed on the world in August), looks good, and is completely paid for and ours...his one day.

Life and Stuff...

• So I have had a cough for what seems like 6 months now. It has only been 6 weeks though....Did I really just use the word only there?
• I cant get rid of it. It starts to go away but then comes right back full force.
• I decided to go to the doctor today but when I got there they said I had to do new patient paper work and would need to play $160 instead of the $60 office fee. Why? Because I haven't been sick enough to go to the doctor in over 3 years.
• Sorry but I take my kids there all the time and even though I haven't been there since I changed my last name when I made the appointment she asked if I could be under my married name. Uh yes but I didn't know you had updated my file because I hadn't been in yet.
• So I am in their computer, they have my updated information but I am a new patient? I don't get it. I also am not paying $160 for a cough!
• I am currently looking for a new family doctor. Dang people pissed me off.
• All that being said. I cant believe it is the end of the 4th six weeks already. It seems like it just started. Also that Spring Break is in just 2 weeks.
• You know what else I cant believe? We are looking at buying our first child a car!
• Baseball is starting! :) :( :) :( :) :(  I know I cant decide how excited I am because its a lot of practices and running around for me but I love the game!
• That's it for now because well I am tired and feeling sick....

Oh one more thing!  Where did everyone go? Why did everyone quit blogging?  I mean I know I am sporadic and all but still I miss everyone.

Life and Stuff....

• I am still working on getting rid of this nasty cough. Ugh.
• Otherwise I feel great.
• Valentine's Day was great. My hubby bought me 2 pair of pj's.  One of them are footed!
• They are not exactly my style but he he gave it some thought and a try.  Love him :)
• I also got flowers from my parents :) Love them too.
• The hubby got at card for golf.  Blue Sky Golf Pass. If you enjoy golf this is a great thing and you can get them for discounts if you look or in my case hunt the guy down and ask really really nice :)
• I called the guy so I could pick them up that day. Them because I also got my friends bf one for her too.
• This is the same thing they got last year and they love them. This year I threw in one of the weekend trips on the pass.  To be booked in the future. His choice. All that I ask is that it not fall on a special day...birthdays, anniversary, or family holiday.  He was happy.
• I am addicted to a game on face book....geez.
• My kids have found me to be impossible lately.  For a week and a half I told them about their grades and that progress reports were coming.
• Now they are grounded until they bring me a note that they have no zeros in any class or that all grades online are posted.  They also have a few test to go in and retake.  They are non to pleased with me.
• 2 have been grounded from everything but one hour of tv a night.  The same 2 that kept giving excuses about their work and why they couldn't get it turned in or didn't know about it.
• IF they fail to go by my grounding and I have to remind them they can explain to their father why they are grounded.
• Needless to say I have not had to remind them.
• One keeps asking if grades have been updated. He insist that he has turned in his work now.  Sorry he should have brought a note home like I asked him too.
• The other big boy isn't grounded yet. He has until Monday to bring a note home.  His excuses were real and I had to call the school to figure out what to do.  The teacher was in a wreck. A bad one and is still out . They have brought in a permanent sub but it took some time to get grades up for him and for him to figure out what she was doing.  I spoke with him on Friday and he has until Monday to fix it.
• The break from sports this weekend was a much needed one.  Baseball sign ups are next weekend. I am not sure what the 14u group is going to do.  It doesn't seem like there are as many this year and everyone that has signed up wants to play for the same team. We will see.
• That's it for now because I am sleepy!

Life and stuff...

• I guess I am only allowed one day to be sick. Then I better be over it enough to function because apparently no one else can function with out. The other option is plan ahead for being sick...sigh.
• My son had his last basketball game today. They lost. The only time this year.  Poor little guys, some of them were really upset.
• Not my little one though because they are still the best.  "First is the worst. Second is the best.  Third is the one with the hairy chest!"
• Got to love that kid!
• After the game the hubby took the big boys to spend some money.  New batting helmets, bags, gloves, shorts, golf clubs.. You know all that stuff they have to have.  The good news is they bought most of it themselves.
• I still have this hacking cough.  It is killing me. My chest, sides, and back hurt from it. Not to mention my throat. If its not better soon I am going to have to go to the doctor. Yuck, I hate going to the doctor.
• I have some advice for someone but have been told its non of my damn business and need to stay out of it. So I will leave it here for everyone else.

Your actions today may leave lasting marks on your life as well as others. Do not do something today that you cant take back tomorrow unless you are sure you are ready for the consequences.

Blessed...

I am blessed with 5 boys.  I am their taxi, maid, cook, and their tutor.  I am the mean one. I had out and enforce most discipline in the house. (even though mine is never as harsh at their fathers) I do everything for everyone.  I hate telling my kids they cant go somewhere or do something (within reason).  Well today I am just not up to par.  So today I saw disappointed faces when I said no you cant go to the dance because I wont be up to get you.  I saw sad pouty lips when the answer was no I am not going to the park.  Its cold and I don't feel good :(  Even though you can see the disappointment in their face, not once did any of the complain about the answer.

After diner I said good night and went to hide away in my room to have a shower and get some rest. That's when I heard my hubby, the sweet man that he is, ask one of the boys what he is doing. I can hear him right outside the door.  The answer: "I just want to ask momma for something."  Nope.  No one is to knock on the door all night.  If they need something they can ask him. :)  This is the same man who dug the heated blanket back out of the closet because I couldn't stop shivering last night and sent text though out the day to check on me because he couldn't talk. Oh and he is the one that suggested the shower too, because I look like hell and it would probably make me feel better too.  Got to love him!

Sometimes what I need has to come before what they all want.  I am glad I have a husband and sons that understand this so well.

Life and stuff...

• Its tax time.  I love this time of year. We get a refund.  Which is nice.
• I find it odd how most families that live paycheck to paycheck like paying more in and getting some back rather than the wealthy keeping every dime they can and then paying in.
• I guess that is because paycheck to paycheck you really cant afford to have a large expense at one time.
• I love my magic tax lady! She also happens to be my best friend and cousin :)  Just makes me more so blessed.
• I have been subbing like crazy lately.  Teachers are out sick because the kids are passing around the flu.  They also are doing workshops and helping with Starr practice testing.  Its crazy though because there are not enough subs for them all and other employees are having to take the classes.
• Oh well. I am looking forward for the next 2 paychecks.  Combined they will be almost more than I made all year last year...I know that's not much but hey it might give me a girls day or two. :)
• I am getting sick. I don't know if it is the flu or not yet. Just alot of chest congestion and coughing. Along with hot and cold flashes.  Its driving me nuts.
• Basketball is almost done!  Just one more game. The Championship!  My 3rd grader is so excited.  The other are just eh so what no big deal.
• The only problem with basketball ending is baseball is starting.
• Don't get me wrong I love baseball. I am more than ready to see the Rangers.  What I don't like are the practices (for 3 teams) and late school nights.
• My kids and their grades are going to get them into trouble. I always think my husband over reacts about their grades but one of them is about to get it.  And he will deserve every little thing he gets.
• I told him so yesterday only to get another notice this morning about more 0's he has.  Yes I said more and added a s to that.  When I told him I got another notice he said oh I know she told me yesterday!
• I thought my head was going to explode.
• Don't get me wrong he is not the only one but his are the worst right now.
• One of my sons teachers is out for an unspecified amount of time.  She was in an accident.  She is ok (if ok is alive, I assume she has some major injury since she will be out for a while).  I had to call and ask about it today because of course my son has some papers he needs to redo/do that should have already been done.
• They have brought in a certified teacher to take over her class until she returns.Well wishes to her.
• Oh I cant find one thing in the news or on the net about the accident.  It is driving me crazy.
• Ok the meds are kicking in I am going to take a nap....

Stuff...

• Had a good lunch date with my Chelebell today!  Man we always have a good time and we say some pretty funny stuff.

Man why is it so hard to suck it out?

Let me see your boob. (yep I got to see it right there at the table)

Its too big and too hard.
 

• There were more but for the life of me I cant think of them right now. Oh well
• My kids had a basketball game tonight. They lost. It wasn't a surprise.  But the good news was they looked like a basketball team.
• One of the boys wants to quit. Its because of the other one. I was talking to our friend about it and he stopped and talked to the one causing problems ( I love having such good friends, not only do we have a good time but they truly care about our kids).  Of course he said that nothing was going on.  Ha. Its time for me to talk to the coach about my own son :| how is that going to work out?
• That being said is it wrong for me to want my own kid to get knocked down a peg or two at school?  He is getting arrogant, cocky, and almost what I would call down right mean to others.
• I have already had a talk with him about it and the next step will be punishment and friend interventions.  I am not having it and he wont be allowed around those encouraging it.
•  I have been subbing more lately. I like it.  It gets me up and running and out of the house.
• Baseball season is about to start! I am so excited.  The boys are going to start practicing in 2 weeks.  And the Rangers start in April. EKKK! 
• Oh and there have been some stuff going on in the youth baseball league.
• Decatur pulled out of the group so they could play pony league.  (really I think its because they didn't get to be over the county and they wanted to change the drafting rules so they could what would amount to stacking a team)
•   The rest of the county have been talking about going that way too.  Not splitting up just joining pony league.
• I cant wait to see what happens.
• The boys team did some tournaments last year. They were fun. Alot of work and expensive but fun.
• This weekend I am going to make a big change to my hair.
• Its past half way down my back and it is getting chopped off to chin length. And I am either going blonde or red. I haven't decided yet.
• News stuff:
• Who would leave there baby at home alone so both parents can take another child to the doctor?  Just dumb.
• And who is stupid enough to make threats on facebook for the world to see?
• Really? You need to burn down a house because you are pissed at your grandmother?
• That's it for now. I have to get to bed.

 

AHHH

Let me start this by saying I am not perfect by any means and I know it.

I do not understand what is happening in our schools. How is it that you can graduate from high school without knowing how to speak? Without knowing how to read? Without knowing how to write (type)? Without knowing how to add, subtract, multiply and divide?  Those are basic skills needed in life.  I have had to unfriend a few people on facebook because reading their post makes me so pissed off.  They just finished high school last May, I don't understand how one can post things like :

Got love wake n being sick so I guess I well get up n pick up the house n take a bath then back to bed I go n sleep all day );

Had a good day with them (: I love having a day with them thanks you mom for let me had a day with my baby girls (: love y'all baby girl (:
 

AHHHHH!  I know I make mistakes but every single one of her post are like this.  I also know her and know she can not add or subtract money.  I blame the school for letting her graduate.  Don't get me wrong, I know its take the school, teachers, and parents to educate a child, however it is the schools job to make sure they are educated before giving out diplomas. 

Some teachers drive me crazy.  It's not ok for my kids to do an entire six weeks worth of work in one week.  No mater how many times I get on to them about their school work, if you keep letting them get away with that, they will continue to do it.  If the only time you post grades is at the end of the six weeks, I don't even know they are doing it until its too late.  I think children should get the grade they earn.  If they do half the work they should get half the grade and if they don't bother to do it in the first place they should get a big fat zero.   If they didn't study for the test then they should keep the grade that shows it.  Now I am not anti help the kids.  I know sometimes they are going to forget but let there be some kind of consequence for it.  If they forget their homework one night let them complete it turn it in, but give them an extra assignment too.  If they fail a test let them retake it but make them come to tutorials twice (on their own time not classroom time) and then retake the test. Instead of multiple choice make it fill in the blank or essay. Only give them the extra opportunities so many times and then let them be stuck with what they have earned.    A diploma should be harder to get than just showing up (some don't even do that). It should mean something.

Oh and by the way, I don't care if my kids are not allowed to play football, basketball, baseball, or any other sport because they didn't pass their classes. If they don't pass them they will be lucky to see the sunshine until they do pass them.  I spend anywhere from one to three or four hours doing homework with my kids each night ( I have five so sometimes it takes a while),  I get on to them when I see a zero or even a low grade posted,  I ask about homework and test.  I am concerned, interested, and involved in my children and their education.  I am not the parent that will blame a teacher because my child did not pass. I am the parent that wants to know if they are not doing their work or they are struggling.

My poor babies...

• My 8 year old woke me up early Wednesday morning not felling well. He had a fever.  It was controllable so even though the flu is going around I didn't take him to the doctor. That was the only thing wrong with him.  He was a happy camper as long as he had Tylenol  through out the day. 
•  Around 5 he started to cough and sound terrible.
• To the doctor he went first thing the next morning.
• He ended up having some bacteria infection (his limp nods were swollen), type b flu (which is the old flu, not the N1H1 stuff), and that nasty cough was Croup .
• Poor thing :(
• We moved kids around because we didn't want the whole house to get it. So he got a room all to himself for a while, which was really cool until he realized he had to stay in it and no one could come play with him.
• That night before I went to bed I went into check on him. He sounded horrible.  He was wheezing and it sounded like he was gargling.  It scared me.
• He sat in the steamy bathroom with me for about 15 mins before I would let him go back to sleep.
• It wasn't peaceful though because every 15-20 mins I was in there checking on him. Finally he just moved to the living room with me and I let him sleep while I watched...all night.
• The croup is far worst than the flu.
• Before morning I had another one with fever.  The doc just called me in some Tamaflu(?)
• That stuff is expensive!  And it doesn't get rid of the flu but man is it worth it.  One day of fever and he was still a little queasy but that's it.
• We still have a coughing 8 year old, (Doc said 7-14 days and he is contagious until he stops coughing),  one that has been coughing but with no fever only sore throat, one that is just starting to get the flu (fever, complete ickyness), one recovering quickly, and one that is happy go lucky.
• I have no idea how I am not sick.  (Beside the headache from all the noise of sick kids needing something and the hubby home with the TV so loud you cant hear the person next to you)
• I am ready for this to be over and for the kids to get back outside to play.

Need to get back..

I need to get back to posting.  I have started a few post and then just end up saving them for later.  I can't seem to share what is on my mind lately. I get the kids stuff in here and then just quit. In short here are the post I was going to make...

• My kids had a very busy but great Christmas. I did too.
• At one of these Christmas family things my aunt removed a plate from the trash so she could wash it and load it back up with food.
• We all had a good laugh and made jokes about it, well because she already had the nine containers she brought with her full, what the hell how much stuff could she need?
• I enjoyed most of the holiday. My husband is off the same time the kids are for the most part. He went back a few days earlier.
• I do enjoy my family but I was really looking forward to having some peace and quiet when everyone went back.  It still hasn't happened. I have been so busy that its not even funny.
• I want to apply for a job that a friend just quit. I am not sure my reasons are honorable.  I want to know if it was really just shitty or if it was because she is really ditsy and couldn't do the work needed. 
• Those are not the only reasons...I have been thinking I want to go back to work for a while. The problems is I don't know what I would do with my kids. I mean I could put them in a after school program or something but by the time I paid for that and gas and food and wear and tear on the car....oh and don't forget new clothes, you cant start a new job without new clothes :)  I wouldn't really be making enough money to justify not being with the kids and not being able to the the house work and other stuff.
• My kids are getting older.  Grown up.  Doing things and getting caught.  The hubby has to deal with that because I can seem to stop turning red  and/or laughing.  There is a story but it shares way, and I do mean way to much information.
• My baby out grew me a few months ago but he is now at least 4 or 5 inches taller than me :(  I was telling my sister where he used to hug me and put his head on my shoulder now he hugs me and I put my head on his shoulder.
• The kids are playing basketball.  Having lots of fun.
• Our oldest has hit a huge mile stone in our lives.  He is getting his permit today.
• Who knew there were so much paper work do get the dang thing.  11 items plus the written test at DPS. Geez.
• That's it for now.