Playing catch up

I have been reminded by several people that I haven't blogged in some time so here is a catch up post. The last week or two have been hectic as usual. To begin with, I was without a computer for a week. That was super neat. But I will say that I adore the Apple Store and I am a complete Apple devotee. My hard drive was going out and I was in a frantic state to save my data and couldn't. They not only saved it ALL, they changed out the hard drive and reinstalled everything and also some updated software I would have otherwise had to purchase - all for free. Hallelujah and thank you, Jesus for ProCare and Apple Care that saved me a small fortune on these repairs! We had Chachi's 10th birthday, I went to Austin for a mini vacation with girlfriends, my 35th birthday and our 12 year wedding anniversary. Soccer, soccer and more soccer. School, homework and more soccer. 

For the birthdays, we just did dinners this year. We have so much going on that it leaves little time for anything extra. For our anniversary, we went to Bing Crosby's for dinner. Can I tell you I love Bings more than chocolate? They have incredible food and amazing drinks! Plus, we got to spend some time without kids. We didn't stay out long because, well hey, there's not much hopping on a Sunday night at 6:30 PM. But we got a little time at least. 

My trip to Austin was a blast! I got to spend the weekend with friends I hadn't seen in a couple years even though my best friend didn't get to make it from Alabama because of last minute changes in her husband's work schedule. Boo. My lovely friend, Jerusha, taught me something that I've been wanting to learn for years. It's actually been one of those things I wanted to learn/do before I die. She taught me how to KNIT! Yes, I am a knitter now. I'm a terrible knitter but a knitter none the less. I'm going to work at getting better but until then, I shall work on my little square that will eventually be mailed to another friend of mine in Virginia, Deanna Raybourn. (please see the link to Deanna's blog on the right)

I decided I was tired of having a million Christmas CDs that I only listen to a few songs off each so I've begun the process of moving the songs I want from each into my iTunes program. I have been merrily listening to all my favorite Christmas music for days now. I am in bliss. I adore Christmas music and I am so ready for the holidays. The baking, decorating the tree, the whole feel of the season. Did I mention the baking? I can't wait to make pumpkin bread, Christmas cookies, and all kinds of goodies to enjoy and share. Plus, I get to teach the girls some recipes that I love to make. Good times... good times. 

Chachi is doing a Walk A Thon at school tomorrow to raise money for her 5th grade Outdoor Education program in November when the entire 5th grade goes to camp in the mountains and studies nature. It's a fantastic experience for them and they learn so much. I think an equal amount about nature and themselves. 

Anyway, I have got to scoot but I promise I won't wait so long to post again. I have lots of ideas for posts in the hopper so be on the look out! 

Sometimes I think I have *too much* to say

Are there ever times when you are speechless then other times you just have too much too say? Too much too say and not enough will power to realize you shouldn't say anything at all? Yesterday was one of those days for me. 

As you know, my girls play soccer. They are good at soccer. Which makes me expect a great deal from them, especially Chachi. I really push her hard. Harder than I should, I think. At her game yesterday, she was lagging. She has had a vicious cold all week and has been feeling like garbage the whole time. I should have cut her some slack, should have, but I didn't. I was riding her like a cowboy rides a bucking bronco - spurring her the entire first half. Watching her miss opportunities to make some plays really was frustrating me and instead of saying, "Hey there self, maybe she doesn't feel 100% so she doesn't have 100% to give," noooooo, I have to get down the field and holler at her and make her feel worse about her performance. After yesterday, I am a shoe in for the Mother of the Year award. 

I know good and well that I personally haven't been giving my 100% this week around the house. It looks like an atomic bomb went off and left havoc and chaos in trails all through the house. I too had this cold and I didn't feel like making the effort I should have so I didn't. I expected my husband to show me some grace and not ride me about what I wasn't doing because I didn't feel good. But I wasn't able to extend that same olive branch of grace to my child who wasn't shirking responsibility but playing a GAME of soccer, for enjoyment no less. As I sit here, I realize that I need to internalize that fact that we put her into soccer for her enjoyment, not ours. Even though it gives me extreme pleasure, enjoyment, pride and excitement to watch her, we do it for her, not for ourselves. 

The next step is obvious, I need to apologize to her after school and let her know that I was in the wrong. I shouldn't have said anything to her during the game. That's why she has a coach, to tell her what to do, and by me sitting on the sidelines and snapping at her doesn't help her game or her self esteem. She wasn't letting me down, and I need to tell her that. Yep, Mother of the Year... that's me. (insert eye roll here.) 

It just brings it out in me

The weather has cooled off here the last few days. It's been an unbearable 100*+ for weeks and now we'll be lucky if we push 80* today. I really am a warm weather girl. Going on vacation? Give me a beach and a margarita, thank you so much. I'd rather be in hot and humid than cold and wet any day. But seriously, the past few weeks were much too much.

So, with this cooler weather and my friend Jennifer Baker who inspired me to get in the kitchen to cook, I have been all about the cooking and making comfy food things. I decided this morning that I would go all out for dinner even though we have to be at 2 soccer fields at the same time and at 5:30 PM no less. I got out of the house early and got to the grocery store, came home and can I tell ya, my dinner is 99% finished already.

I made chicken in the crock pot, mashed sweet potatoes and garlic bread. Then I put together a Apple Crisp from a recipe my darling friend Debbie Turner gave me last Fall. Cooler weather draws me into the kitchen to make all kinds of breads, muffins and desserts that I can't make during the summer because it's too hot. I love how it makes the house smell, filling every nook and cranny with cinnamon and sweet apples. And the warmth from the oven radiates out of the kitchen and pours into the dining room as we're having dinner. 

It's going to be a, "Quick! Hurry up and eat!" kind of meal tonight but at least when the evening is coming to a close and soccer games are won and practices over, we can all come home to warm Apple Crisp and sleep well with full tummies. 

It's the Steel Magnolias and Lava Girls battling it out!

Saturday was the kick off to soccer season. (get it... kick off... soccer... never mind) It's been hotter than the face of the sun here and the weather didn't give in a bit for either game. Chachi played at 9 AM but by the end of the game at 10:20, we were sweating like crazy. Tiny played at 3 PM and by then, it had reached over 100*. But let me assure you that it didn't slow those girls down one single bit!

Chachi's team is the Steel Magnolias. Don't you love it? She got to kick off the first ball in her game, that was exciting. Her game was fantastic! She was out there, running her heart out. She played goalie the last quarter and did fabulous! She doesn't usually play that position but man, did she rock it! One thing I love about watching her play is she isn't afraid to go up against the bigger kids and she isn't afraid to take the shot. So many times, you'll see kids who will take the ball all the way down the field, they get to the goal and won't take the shot for a goal. They would rather not take the risk of missing it and failing to score. Chachi just goes all out and if she scores great, if not, at least she got out there and did her best and you better believe she will score next time! 

Tiny is on the Lava Girls! They are too cute for words. You see all these girls from the time they are itty bitty and running around the field in a little pack to actually understanding the game and making sweet moves on the field. Even though Tiny plays in the Under 8's, she's starting to play like she's in the older age group. There's strategy there and, man, has she improved since last year. She was out in front all the time and she scored a goal in the last half. It was a fun game to watch!

Chachi also had a game on Sunday with another league she is on locally. They are The Warriors and 99% of the kids in this league are Hispanic and can I tell you that the soccer they play is head and shoulders above what she played previous seasons. It's a whole other ball game. First of all, she plays on a team with all boys except her and another girl who is the coach's daughter. Most teams they will play this season will be mostly boys and these kids are MAINY when they're on the field! They all use their heads to field balls being thrown in or kicked down field. They are fast as lightening and have skills beyond belief! Chachi's game on Sunday was amazing to watch. These kids are so PASSIONATE about the game. They love soccer and they give 100% all the time. Chachi's coach complimented her saying that she plays harder than the boys because she wants to stay in the whole game and never complains and it's the boys who are always asking for breaks and to be taken out of the game to rest. 

All in all, this season is starting with a BANG! I love soccer season. I love watching my kids play the sport the love. I love seeing them excel and grow and get better with every game. Be ready for more soccer updates as the season progresses and if I can ever figure out how to post some video, I will try to post some clips from games! 

Product Review time!!!

I'm finally doing my first product review segment. First up, Nic's Sticks by OPI. I have to say, I love OPI polish. Love it. It lasts a long time, they have great colors, good price point. It's a wonderful product... usually. I belong to a group called SheSpeaks where I get to test drive products and say how I like them and share that info with others. I was chosen to try the Nic's Sticks. I hated it. It's basically nail polish in a tube. You click the bottom of the tube to release product onto a very wild bristled brush that puts polish all over your finger. If you click the tube too much, there's nowhere to put it unlike with a bottle, you just swipe the brush in the rim of the bottle to put the polish back into the bottle. This just gets gloppy and a mess. Next is the color. Didn't look like the bottle color at all and the polish itself was more plastic than polish. I know it's meant to be used in a pinch to touch up but I found myself touching up the polish more after application because that dang brush smooshes it everywhere. Very little control. I give it 2 thumbs down.

But let me tell you about my new favorite mascara. I love mascara and I have tried them all. From the $4 pink and green bottle Mabelline to $25 tubes from Prescriptives. I was out of mascara and in a pinch, I decided to try a tube that was on sale at Target. It was around $6 so if I didn't like it, no harm no foul, I wouldn't feel too terribly bad for tossing it away. What I picked up was Rimmel's Glam'eyes in Midnight Black. This stuff ROCKS! My lashes have never looked so good and that's saying a lot because I have puny lashes and it's difficult to get them to look decent let alone fabulous. I am a true fan and I will definitely be buying my fare share of this stuff to keep them in business for a long time!

Last, I would like to share my deep love for the Swiffer Sweeper Vac. I know I have shared this love with many but it has revolutionized my life. It cuts sweeping time in half. It vacuums up all the larger bits like a dust buster on the front of a Swiffer Sweeper. I have recommended it time and time again. I would like everyone to rush to your local Target or Wal-Mart and get yourself one. You won't regret it. I think if you go to their website, you can download a coupon. Do what you need to do but make one of the things you NEED to do is pick up a Swiifer Sweeper Vac. It's amazing! 

Aaaaannnnnnd... THEY'RE OFF!!!

Yesterday was the first day of school. I woke up feeling like it was too soon then once we got going (and I had some coffee), the excitement built and then whoosh... we were off to school with smiles and nervous anticipation on the girls' faces. Mei Mei and Papa both walked with us down to the school for the big moment. It was a gorgeous morning and it couldn't have gone smoother. 

First we dropped off Tiny who was so elated to see her friends that she hadn't seen over the summer. All the girls were jumping up and down in a Ring Around the Rosy fashion, just as you would expect 2nd grade girls to go. There was also much screaming and hugging all around. We left Tiny to line up with her class so we could go see Chachi off to her class. 

We got over to the upper grade blacktop and all the fifth graders were lining up before the bell rang. You could see they were happy to see one another but there was a sense of nerves you could almost feel radiating off of them. The expectations on them at the fifth grade level is immense and I think most of them knew it. But they were all standing in line, chit chatting and comparing summer activities but there was no jumping, screaming or hugging. But there was a lot of "playing it cool, calm and collected." Which made me chuckle because there was a group of girls standing just in front of the class and I KNOW they would have liked nothing more than to be holding hands and talking about how freaked that all actually were. 

We got to see them both off into class and then it was time to go. To leave them to their new environments and  Papa, Boobs and I headed off to Starbucks for a white mocha and bear claw. We walked home and stopped at the park. Boops got to go down the slide about a hundred times and ran himself until he was dead dog tired. All in all, it was a great morning and after school, we got rave reports about how their teachers were great and all the nerves seemed to be for not. 

First Day of School Blues

Me. Not them. We had a whirl wind of a day today. Chachi started Liga Latina tonight which is a predominately hispanic soccer team. Can I tell you how incredibly AWESOME this is going to be. First off, she's playing with 8 boys and 1 girl on her team. OK, there are 2 girls but one of them is her so I didn't count her. That rocks all in itself because it's going to give her so much confidence to play against the girls. Plus, she's so rough and tumble as it is, it'll be a total non issue as soon as she gets the hang of it. THEN, this is the best part... because it's mostly hispanics playing, there are some of the traditional foods there. Well, need I say more on that? Because you know I love Mexican food in unnatural ways. Then to have these things on a cart, roaming around... yes, sheer nirvana. I got my most favorite coconut popcicle from this one guy and I wanted to get corn on a stick but we had to scoot off to Chachi's other soccer practice for our local AYSO. They played a mock game with another team that practices at the same time. She was all over the place, making sweet plays. I can't wait to see how she does in season play after being taught by the Liga Latina coaches. They are amazing! But since most of the kids and coaches speak Spanish, all I want to know is where are uncles Juan and Cris when we need them? If I'm not careful, I fear I might order banana ice cream when I really just want to know what time practice is over. 

Tiny and Boops were along for the ride but they make their own fun wherever they go so it was good. And they got popcicles too so that's bonus for them. Tiny was taking weeds and making some dish and pretending she was Giada from the Food Network. It was too cute. She was talking like her and making her dish extra special with "premagan cheese". Yes, I meant to spell it that way. I spelled it like she said it so it is technically correct. Boops just ran around like a mad man, being taken in and completely fascinated with the dogs running around. Yeah, by the way, if I haven't mentioned it before, my son is totally taken with dogs. He loves them. Love in a complete and total unconditional kind of loving way.

Anyway, all this excitement tonight got us home late and we made a quick dinner so we could throw the girls in for showers and Boops in the bath to get ready for... drum roll please... the FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL tomorrow! Dun dun dun... I thought I was so ready for them to go back and get back into the routine but all day today, I've had this nagging feeling that I flat out need more time. More time with them being little. Time is flying by in ways I never could have fathomed before children. It's like someone took my life, put it in a hourglass and turned it over. Before I knew it, half the sand had already poured with reckless abandon into the other side and I have no clue how to get any of it back into the top, where I want it to be. Where I want it to stay. 

It's kind of cliche I know, but Days of Our Lives has had it right all these years, Like time in an hourglass, so are the Days of Our Lives. I watched that drivel for years all through high school and the like and not once did the smooth voiced commentator stop and tell me, "Hey you, there, sitting on the couch, I'm not saying this for my personal benefit. You're going to want this information later on. Bank it, buddy." Not once. I will tell you that my parents *did* tell me, though. But I failed to listen, as it usually went when I was a teen. Man, I could kick myself for all the millions of times I should have listened to them when they told me the basic things like "time goes by fast, cherish it." "These moments will be gone before you know it." and "You won't be friends with all these folks forever. You move on and so do they." 

I say all this because I had the revelation tonight that this is the last day of summer of Chachi's last summer as an elementary school kid. This time next year, she'll be going to middle school. She won't be under my wing anymore. It will be her time to climb out on the edge of the nest and learn to fly a little on her own. Not that I think she's going to jump out of the nest and fly to Bermuda or something. (If you know her, you know that could be a possibility with her because that child can do anything she puts her mind to) But she will be preparing to move on to the next phase of her life. A step closer to all the things that come next. Out of the comfort and safety of elementary school and putting her foot into the door that leads to the real world. 

I laid with her for a long time tonight. Smelling her hair and holding her hand while chit chatting and enjoying being with her. I'm going to cherish those moments forever. I'm going to lock that snippet of time away in my heart and when I'm old and grey(er than I am now) I will recall that quiet moment we spent while she was still *little*. I've had a pit in my stomach since this morning and now I know it's a bad case of the First Day of School Blues. Where's Bo Diddley when you need a theme song played, hun?