Random Update

It's been a crazy few days. Both Gabriella and I are sick..again. Add the wounded hand to the mix and let me tell you, it's been pretty miserable.
But a lot has happened so here is my random update...

Brandon's weekend wrestling tournament was a success. He placed 2nd on Saturday in Freestyle and 3rd on Sunday in Folkstyle. As a team we took 1ST PLACE!! Way to go Team GV! Besides wrestling the boys all got to go to the beach for a few hours on Saturday afternoon too. Lot's of fun!

Gabriella's hand is getting better. She has another appointment tomorrow morning with the hand surgeon. I am confident that the ultimate decision will be no surgery necessary. We'll see what he has to say. She also has a follow up with her pediatrician on Friday.

Alyssa is trying out for the cheerleader team for next school year. I went to the parent information meeting tonight...if she makes it I have a feeling it will be tough to juggle everything with dance, cheer and confirmation classes. We'll see.

The kids are on track break now. I'm enjoying my days I get to sleep in (aka sleeping until 6:30am) They go back to school on the 13th. I can hardly believe we'll be in the last stretch of Alyssa's elementary school career. Where did the time go?!

Kids are finally in bed. Brandon pulled the "I need (insert any random need here)"
about 200 times so to know he is finally sleeping (in his own bed may I add) I guess I better turn in too. :)

Happy Birthday Jeffrey!

Today is my husbands birthday (hence the title of the post)
I just wanted to take a minute and share with everyone a little about the man that is my husband.

When we first met Jeff was 21. He drove a low rider and was in a car club. Much of our first phone conversation revolved around how he wanted to fix up his car.
We dated a short time, got married and had Alyssa, I never have once questioned his feelings for me or the reasoning behind our marriage when I was 5 months pregnant.
My husband is a stand up guy...he has always put us first. Now, don't get me wrong...Jeff has his moments. His housekeeping skills are terrible and his hobbies make me crazy. I've learned though over the last 11 years to just let little things slide (not always easy)
I feel lucky to be Jeff's wife, to share our life together (all the ups and downs)
I love watching him with the kids and know God couldn't have given them a better father.

Happy Birthday, Jeffrey!!
We love you!

Girls weekend...

Well, the boys are gone to Long Beach and the girls and I are ready for a great weekend...
Well, we were ready for a great weekend.
We had yet another appointment with the pediatrician today. Besides the hand issue, Ella has been running a fever since Wednesday. We have been to the doctor everyday since Tuesday...the hand is not infected so we are betting the fever is part of some lovely virus. Perfect timing! Thankfully tonight she did manage to eat some dinner so I'm hoping tomorrow the only demon we will be battling will be that of the hand.

I also feel lousy tonight so I've convinced Alyssa the "fun" thing to do tonight would be to lay in bed and watch TV...
this translates to me falling asleep and her watching TV...hey, I'm trying!

The boys are safe and sound in Cali...
They are facing two long days of wrestling and I'm so jealous I'm not able to be there. I know Team GV will represent well and I know Brandon will hold his own. GO GUYS!!

Ella Update

We had a visit with the pediatric hand surgeon this morning. It went as well as to be expected. He confirmed that the burns on her tiny hand are 2nd degree burns and possibly a few spots of 3rd degree. She will go back in a week to reassess. We will discuss then the possibility of doing a skin graph to help the healing process.
We are of course praying for a full recovery...surgery free.
Besides feeling a bit groggy from the pain medicine she continues to play and eat normally. She has a new found love for books so thankfully she is content to sit and "read".
I know kids are resilient and they bounce back quick. I can't wait for that day when she is better.

More pictures from state...

These little guys are tough...

All three state championship medals

Brandon with his buddy Colt

We love LaLa

Just a quick picture of Gabriella and her Elmo.
She is in love with Elmo and calls him "la la"
Besides seeing a clip from You Tube that I pulled up for her once she has had no other exposure to the little red monster. Funny how she is so attracted to him.

Poor Gabriella....

I have heard the warnings about treadmills and I have always worried about using them with the kids around...today was a huge smack in the face and reminded me that they are not something to mess with.
Gabriella got her hand stuck in our treadmill earlier today. THANKFULLY, Jeff was standing right there and was able to stop the treadmill immediately. Both him and Alyssa were watching her, but she moves quick and accidents happen.
She's ok...
Thankfully the only damage that was done was a burn like abrasion to the palm of her hand and three of her tiny fingers. I say thankfully cause I am well aware it could have been so much worse. She's acting her normal self, playing and eating so that's a good sign. She will have a follow up with her pediatrician on Thursday morning as well as a visit to a pediatric surgeon just to be sure nothing was torn.
I hate that this happened to our Ella, I look forward to her feeling much better...soon!

Sometimes I just feel lucky....

I had a terrible day with Brandon yesterday...it involved whining and crying and me dragging him out of church in the middle of the service. (not my proudest moment)
He knew he was in BIG trouble...
Jeff and I were supposed to go to dinner but cancelled those plans, no way was I going to reward Brandon with a fun night at grandma's.

Gabriella was getting into everything yesterday...I mean EVERYTHING. She wanted up and down about 20 thousand times and cut her usually long after noon nap in half.
By the time bath time came I was relieved to confine her into the tub and knew it wouldn't be long until she was fast asleep for the night.

Alyssa...well, besides her trying to mother her two younger siblings ALL THE TIME...Alyssa is a good kid and hardly gets under my skin. (knock on wood)

So, why do I feel lucky??

First of all, it goes with out saying that I am beyond lucky to have my kids to make me feel crazy sometimes. What would I do with a Sunday afternoon if I had no baby to pry a Lego out of her little hand 100 times or a 6 year old to build a martian with and fly to far away places...
Or a 10 year old who makes me laugh and reminds me how simple life can be. She does like to mother but I realize in her own ways she is only trying to help.

Second, besides a few times that I would like to scratch his eye balls out I have a great husband. We traded in our night out for a night in and he went and picked up Applebees. It can't get any better than eating good food cuddled up with the hubby watching Desperate Housewives...all with the romantic glow of my newest Glad candle. :)

The best part of last night, Jeff and I each received a card from Brandon. Jeff's said "thank you dad for making me strong" and mine said "I love you mom 100%"
It's times like that that make the ugly and unpleasant parts of parenting all worth it.
I wouldn't trade a minute of my life for anyone else's. in our tough times or in our good times. No amount of money or extra sleep would ever be worth it.

Wal-Mart Rant...

So, today I made my weekly trip to Wal-Mart. As usual I was equipped with my list and my coupons...lots of them too.
In an attempt to give Jeff a little more time to sleep I took all the kids with me. Two of the three are no problem to shop with...one of them. Well, I'll just say by the time we leave the store I'm ready to pull my hair out. (can you guess which one that is)
So, we managed to make it through each isle, checking things off our list and answering for the millionth time "no, we are not done yet". I get to the check out and present my coupons. The girl at the check out immediately hits her nifty blue light and says "these are counterfeit"....
HUH....what?! I use these all the time.
The manager comes over, she scans my coupons...all but one for $1 off. She looks me in the eye and says..."This is a scam"...
to which I reply..."lady if I was gonna scam you it would be for more than a buck"

Good golly!

I know Wal-Marts prices are the best...but I tell ya, the help there leaves a lot to be desired.

Oh, and in case you were wondering...we left the store with a savings of $33!

Happy Birthday Ryan!

Jeff and I are blessed with one niece and one nephew. They are great kids and we miss them a lot. Today is our nephew, Ryan's 6th birthday.
Happy birthday Ry-Ry. We wish we could be at your party to help celebrate...it sounds like you'll have a lot of fun with all your friends.
We love you Ry and can't wait to see you again.

State Championships-Day 3

Today was folkstyle...Brandon finished 3rd in the State.
So, to recap the last three days for you...he took 3rd place in Greco, Freestyle and folkstyle. To me he was a true champion. He wrestled with everything he had and even in his losses he came off the mat with the pride of a champion. I am so proud of him...such a little man, my "toothless wonder"

I'll post more pictures tomorrow...we just got home and it's 3:30am...better get some sleep. :)

Hint hint...

Jeff broke my trusty camera so I am now camera less...
I would really love an SLR camera...nothing fancy just something that will allow me to capture every dance step and gator roll.

PS. I am aware the picture quality below is not great but it's the best I have.
To see more great pictures check out the team website. Click the links button on the left hand side of the page and then the tournament picture button.

Pictures...

3rd place state champion..Freestyle



3rd place state champion Greco Roman

Pictures

State Championships- Day 2

Today was Freestyle day (and it was a long day).
We arrived at the event center at 8:30am and Brandon didn't wrestle until about 2. That's a lot of sitting and waiting..and waiting...and waiting. He did an awesome job though and took 3rd place in the state.
In case you missed it...he took 3rd in Greco yesterday and now 3rd for Freestyle. Tomorrow is folkstyle which is a much bigger class. It promises to be an even longer day and to make it even more "fun" after wrestling all day we get to make the 8 hour drive home.
I am so proud of you buddy!

State Championships- Day 1

Today was Greco Roman day. Brandon has never wrestled this style before and has only been practicing for a few weeks. I'm not 100% sure about all the differences between Greco, Freestyle or Folksyle. I do know Greco is all upper body strength...no shooting for the legs for take downs. You just have to "throw" your opponent and you get points by exposing their back to the mat.

That being said..
Brandon placed 3rd. That is awesome and we are very proud of him. He had some crazy cool moves that I had never seen before like a gator roll and some of his throws...they were great!

Tomorrow is Freestyle...another long but exciting day.
Good luck Team GV!! Keep up the good work!

And we're off....

We leave tomorrow morning for Winnemucca. It's finally time for the State Championships...it's been a long time coming and the boys (and parents) are ready to go. This is what they have been working towards all season.

This morning Jeff took Brandon to the doctors to have a rash checked out on his leg. Turns out my poor boy has strep throat too! YIKES! He had never once complained that his throat was sore...he never even mentioned it. Thankfully the doctor gave him an antibiotic and reassured Brandon that we would indeed be just fine to wrestle this weekend.

Wish us all luck...we're driving and it's about a 8-9 hour drive. Jeff and Brandon are driving up with the team and the girls and I along with my mom are following...
I'll be excited once we get there.

Good luck Team GV!!
Let's kick some butt :)

Fashion Wars...

After wandering the mall for what seemed like hours Sunday, Alyssa, Gabriella and I returned last night to return Jeff's shirts and buy Alyssa new shoes.
The battle for shoes has been an ongoing one. Alyssa wants DC Shoes. I can't stand them. They are clunky and ugly and in my opinion not meant for a girl. Alyssa likes skinny jeans and ultra girly tops and I'm sorry, DC shoes do not go with "her style". So...we wandered...after visiting every last shoe store we returned to the first one we went to on Sunday and ended up buying a pair I had showed her the day before. They aren't DC shoes but close enough. She got a really cute pair of Roxy shoes. Still a little bulky for my taste but I compromised (and the mall was closing)
I can already feel it coming...it's a place I know I have been. It's where you as the child are so cool and your stuck with a mom who has no clue. Poor, poor Alyssa...trust me...you'll make it through and I promise I'll do my best not to embarrass you. (I'll leave that up to daddy)

What have we been up to...

I wish I could bring you an exciting story from our weekend...
But...nothing really exciting to report about. Instead...I'll bring you a few of our highlights.

*it was our first Saturday in a long time that we did not have to wake up early for wrestling. Instead, we woke up early to go buy the tickets for Alyssa's big dance show in June. It's usually a long and somewhat drawn out process but not this time. I was thrilled to see I was the only one in line and I was able to get great seats. Thanks to all the other families who choose not to read the newsletter. :)

*The weather was beautiful and the kids had a chance to ride their bikes and play outside. Something that we usually don't have a lot of time for and when we do it's either too cold or way too hot.

*I made a huge dent in my laundry situation. I say situation cause that is literally what it is. I'm not proud to admit it but I had dirty laundry stashed everywhere. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel but somehow I have a feeling with us being gone this weekend I'll be in the same boat. Oh well..

*We went as a family to dinner and shopping yesterday too. I love Jeff's new schedule. Though it leaves him with even less sleep during the week it's great to have a day off together.

* Shopping with both Jeff and Alyssa is not fun. Alyssa is usually my shopping partner but lately her style choices are changing and let's just say I'm not "digging" it. (Do people still use that word?!)
Jeff...well...shopping with Jeff is painstakingly frustrating. We find ourselves wandering aimlessly from rack to rack of T-shirts...searching for his style..Which who knows what that really consists of anyways...in the end I choose three shirts for him...and two of those are going back tonight.

So...there it is. Our weekend in a nutshell...;)

To counter the last post....

Ok...so I was clearly feeling yuck last night. Today is a new and better day...
so, I now present a punch list of things that I am happy about...

*the weather is starting to warm up a little. Next to fall, this is my favorite time of year.

*We're going to the State tournament next week. As of right now my time off work has been approved and I'll be able to watch him this year. I am very excited about that.
I'm also happy that my mom is coming along. That will help break up those long days.

*the auditors at work will be done Friday! Besides them being a bit annoying I'm just thankful for the fact that they don't smell this year. :)

*Gabriella is feeling better. She's walking everywhere now. Yeah, NO physical therapy!

*Brandon has had several "great" days at school. My sticker chart is working!

*Alyssa's bangs are growing out. Trust me, this is something to be happy about!

Last but not least I am most happy about my Jeffrey. He did a load of laundry yesterday!

Just venting....

I'm just in one of those moods, I figured might as well share it with everyone...
I present to you a punch list of things that make me nuts...

*people in the morning at school who drop their kids off in the middle of the street or better yet, double park and block you in.

*dirty dishes piled in a sink...

*at the moment...my cats!

*the fact that I am sick again for the second time in two weeks. I've attacked every possible surface with Lysol...next step...quarantine!

*the pile of laundry that never seems to dwindle...who wears all these clothes?!

*teenagers that want to sell magazine subscriptions for $60.

*my husbands work schedule...

*2 hour staff meetings that cover NOTHING of interest...

pretty much everything is BLAH tonight...hopefully tomorrow will be a better day...