Champion Goalie

Tristan has grown so much this past year playing competitive soccer. He has become a terrific goalie. I miss him playing on the filed. He is quick and fast on his feet. He scores on breakaways. I have grown to LOVE him in the goal. He has become more aggressive and is not afraid of the ball or the guys kicking the ball at him. The season is finally over. With one more tournament to play this weekend. As of a few weeks ago, Tristan was the best goalie in their division. He had a rough game, and was passed by another goalie by one goal. We are waiting to find out the final standing on goals. What an accomplishment for Tristan. To have his first year as a goalie be as great as it has been. What soccer mom couldn't be happier???

Introducing.........

NOXIOUS FUMES

SUPER VILLAIN !!!

He wants nothing more than to spray the world of his noxious fumes to kill all man kind.

( yes, I did spell Villain wrong.... oh well)

Beware of the lightning that strikes after each toot. You are not safe with a gas mask. Lightning strikes have been known to kill.

Noxious Fumes has captured his enemies!!

He will wait to kill them.

He wants to torture them with his fumes.

I WILL RULE THE WORLD!!!

What will happen next? With sweet innocent little girls lock away in his secret caves, who will come and save them????? Could the world be doomed? For Noxious Fumes to take over and rule?

TO BE CONTINUED............

( please wear a gas mask and run as fast as you can! The smell will burn your eyes)

Halloween Fest- 2009

Watch out forwards.. you don't know who you are messing with!

Azzurri Diablos won both games today at the tournament! Tristan was scored on once, which was a penalty kick. ( um.. should NOT have been, but we all know that referees are somewhat blind..) I am proud of my boy. He is growing and getting better with each game he plays. It's amazing at the amount of confidence he has now. He knows he is a great goalie and it shows!

Can't wait to watch the boys play tomorrow. We are hoping for a Championship game!

Project: ERUPTO VOLCANO!!!

When Tristan came home from school a few weeks ago, he was so excited to tell me about a project that his class was doing.... VOLCANOS!!!! Each student was asked to make their own volcano. Because we are a crafty family, we searched the internet for cool ideas. How I LOVE the internet! We found a neat video on youtube. Tristan really liked the style of this volcano. On the back of the volcano, he made a diagram of the inside of the volcano. ( silly me, I forgot to take a picture of that. It was WAY cool) I am still waiting on the report of how well the volcano erupted. It's been raining for the last few days. Hopefully, it will be nice for the class to go outside and see it erupt.

We are planning on erupting it ourselves once Tristan brings it home. I'll post video of that!

I am so proud of Tristan. He works hard on all his projects. He does a neat and careful job. He pays attention to detail. ( don't know where he got that from....)

Don't Go Mom

My sweet little Melena. She was crying this morning because I am going to Utah for a week.... without the kids and Brian. She asked me not to go. Broke my heart. I told her to put her silly face on.... she won't miss me if she is being silly. I don't think she bought it. It doesn't work well with a 5 year old. She is too smart now!

She was perfecting her silly face in Redding, CA. at the glass bridge.

13 years of wedded bliss

Today Brian and I are celebrating our 13th year of being married. WOW! Has it really been that long? It's sad because, we are celebrating apart. You see, Brian is working weekends now. So, he has been at work all day. I took the kids to church and have spent the day with them. Making spaghetti and sour cream cookies. Doing the "mom" stuff.

I am hoping we will be able to celebrate by going out on a real official date. We don't go very often. hmmm... I think I need to plan dates and tell him he is going! I got that tip from my good friend Laura! :)

Here is the "story" of us:

Brian and I knew each other growing up. Kind of. Not really. I lived in Santa Maria, CA. he lived in Lompoc, CA. We went to the same church. Which meant we were at the same youth dances and youth conference's. I even went on several dates with one of his good friends. Even though we were always at the same youth functions, I never danced with him or really talked to him. Just saw him and his twin brother around.

Fast forward to the year 1995. My BFF Nicki and I are hanging out at the institute playing pool. In walks a few guys. On being Brian. He introduces himself to me and we all chat for awhile. I learn that Brian is a returned missionary. He just got home. We go our separate ways.

Our singles ward had a camp out. Brian shows up not planning on camping out. We end up talking all night by the fire. My BFF Nicki and I convince him to stay the night. So, he does.

The next morning, the "gang" wants to spend the day in Morro Bay. I had other plans and really wanted to stick with what I was planning on doing for that day. Everyone ganged up on me, and I ended up going to Morro Bay and having a blast.

From that day at Morro Bay, Brian and I were "together". Brian asked me to marry him 28 days after we started hanging out. He took me to Pismo Beach for dinner and walked me out to the pier where he asked me that question all girls want to hear . We married in the San Diego Temple on September 13, 1996.

We have 4 amazing and beautiful children. Tristan 10, Melena 5, Kylie 3, and malia 15 months

Our last date together was the No Doubt concert. We had a blast! It was a nice evening out and away from the kids. I felt young and crazy!

Here's to our 13 years and to 13 more.... I love you Brian. You are my everything. For without you, I would be nothing.

Botox treatment

Kylie went to Shriners hospital in Sacramento for Botox injection "surgery." We got up way before the sun even came up. Kylie was scheduled to be at the hospital at 6:30 am. Because we needed to drop Malia off at my brothers house, we got up an hour earlier to get her there. Despite Kylie waking up earlier than usual, she was happy and in a great mood.

Here Kylie is in the parking garage at Shriners hospital. It was a little chilly. She is holding on tight to her daddy!

Once we checked in at the front desk, we rode in the elevator to the 4th floor. It's amazing how quiet the hospital is at 6 am. Kylie doesn't like to stand in the elevators at this hospital. It is a little too quick and she falls each time it stops. Good thing daddy was there to hold her!

After we checked in with the nurse, she put on one of Kylie's favorite movies of all time. Can you guess what that movie might be??? Come on, I bet you can!

Yep, the movie is Tinkerbell. What a lucky girl to have this waiting room all for herself and to be able to watch her favorite movie!!

We waited about 2 hours in the waiting room. Most of the time we waited was going back and forth into the nurses station room. Kylie was checked out by 3 different nurses. Asking the SAME questions OVER and OVER again. One thing I can say about that hospitals, they don't take any chances of messing up! Kylie also was able to play with a therapy nurse for awhile. The nurse showed her a doctors bag and a teddy bear. They played doctor with the bear. Everything she would see in the operating room was in that bag. It was neat to see how calm Kylie was.

Once 8:30 rolled around, we were in the room waiting for Kylie's doctors to come. Kylie picked out her sisters horse to bring with her. Very sweet of Melena to let her bring her horsey.

Once Kylie was sitting on the bed, she really wanted to look at the wheels on the bed. The therapy nurse told her all about a bed with wheels on it. Kylie was very excited to be wheeled down the hall on that bed. Since Kylie couldn't see the wheels, I took a picture for her and showed her on my camera.

The nice nurse had a portable DVD player handy so Kylie could continue watching Tinkerbell. Tinkerbell went into the operating room with Kylie.

Kylie's doctor was running a bit late. I caught Kylie yawning here. By this time, she had been up for 5 1/2 hours. Once the doctor came into the room he talked with us about the procedure and the effects it would have on her. We kissed Kylie good bey and off she rolled out of the room and down the hallway. Smiling and giggling because she was on a bed with wheels.

The injections took about 5 minutes. The whole procedure was 30 minutes. I was able to go back to the recovery room with her. She woke up happy from the "sleepy" stuff. ( that's what I told her the doctor was going to give her) I was with Kylie for about 10 minutes in the recovery room. The nurse said we could leave since Kylie was doing so well. We just needed to hold her so she wouldn't fall down.

Brian and I looked at her arm, and we really couldn't tell she had anything done! A few spots I could see a poke mark, but it didn't look bad at all. Kylie said she wasn't hurting.

I am so thankful the botox treatment went great. I was very nervous, and had mixed feelings about the entire thing. I know now what a trooper Kylie is. She can handle anything and is a fighter. I think I have more of a difficult time with stuff! Being a mom is tough!

It's been 12 days since the procedure. I have seen a huge difference in her hand, thumb and arm. She doesn't keep her hand fisted anymore. Her hands lay flat in her lap. Her arm can be raised without shaking and it goes straight up. She can now turn her hand over palm up. We have lots to do with Kylie. She goes to Occupational Therapy 2 times a week. I also work with her at home on a daily basis. We are hoping to retrain her brain and muscles to work the proper way. The botox is used in children with Cerebral Palsy to help loosen up tight or overactive muscles. Botox is injected into a spastic muscle to weaken it for a while to have less spasm or tightening of the muscles. The goal of botox is to decrease muscle tone that may be painful or interferes with function that makes dressing and hygiene difficult, to increase range of motion, to improve brace fit, and possible delay the need for surgery. Botox helps children walk better. The effects of each shot last about 3 months. Sometimes even as long as 6 months, before another shot is needed.

Life as a mother to a disabled child has opened my eyes to a whole new world. I've needed to learn to be patient, and to be strong. I've also learned that life isn't perfect. If the laundry doesn't get put away, or the dishes are piled in the sink. My time driving to and from therapy, Dr. appointments are far more important than the day to day stuff. I am striving to give Kylie to best life she can have. I hope and pray that God will be with her and allow her body and mind to overcome.