Homecoming, Senior, Sadies Fun

It was going to be a big night. Not only was it Jason and Josh last JV game of the season but it was also Homecoming and Senior night. I knew before it even started it was going to be a long day of fun and maybe even the occasional tear.

Homecoming at our school happens twice a year. Its not just during Football Season but its also during Basketball Season. I think that is pretty cool that they do it twice a year. Gives more opportunities for the kids to be on Homecoming Court.

This year we were lucky enough that two of our four teenagers were on the Homecoming Court. Jackson, our Senior, was prince this year for his grade and Cassie, our Junior, was princess for her class. We were proud to see them. Here are a couple pics of them with their dates for the night. I love that Jackson rocked the  bowtie and I thought that Cassie looks so beautiful.

It was also Senior night. Senior night means its the last home game of the season for well Seniors. They got to be announced over the intercom and also come up to shake their dads hands and give their mothers a hug and a rose. I am glad this time I didn't cry. Football Senior night I did however.  cant believe Jackson is a Senior and in just a couple months he will be graduated. Heck I cant believe he is going to be 18 in less than a week. I am SO OLD! He has grown so much and we are so very proud of him.

After all the games and festivities the kids had Sadie Hawkins dance. Did I tell you it was a long night haha! Lots of fun and lots of things for the kids to do. Sadie Hawkins is the dance where the girl asks the boy to go. Instead of dressing up all fancy they buy matching shirts or couples shirts. Cassie had asked her friend Chad to go with her. She did it in a unique way since he loves Tacos so much. Even gave him a Chocolate Taco Ice cream along with the invite. Man kids are clever these days.

Jackson was asked by his GF Kayla. She asked him at a previous basketball game and got all the kids to help with it. Too cute. She even gave him his favorite Reece's snacks. They didn't last long in our house. Thankfully Jack shared.

So the events started at 4pm and ended at 1am. It was a good day of a lot of memories. One that we will continue to do for the next three years with the kids. Josh next year will be our Varsity Basketball player and Jason wont be the newbie anymore on JV. I love seeing them play and thankfully I have a couple more years of watching it! Love all my kids.


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I have NO time Why you ask?

Seriously….and I do mean seriously…I have no time! This is the time of year that I feel like we are driving or sitting at all times. All our boys are in Basketball. Cassie decided this year that she was opting out of it as she really just likes Volleyball. Jason and Josh are both on the JV team. I love that they are on the same team and get to play Basketball together. Jackson being a Senior is on the Varsity team.

Have a small school there is only one Gym for the High school. Well that means that Varsity gets it before school from 6-8am, the Girls get it after school from 4-6 and then the JV boys get it from 6-8. No problem right? Well actually its chaos for us haha. That means Jackson drives himself to school. Then an hour later we are driving the rest of the kids to school. Then he drives them all home but an hour later I am driving the younger boys back to the school for 6pm practice. No big deal right? Well it takes us 50 minutes just to get to the school. Haha! I tell you….they better love us.

We are spending more time in the car than anything now a days. The good part about that though is we get a lot of one on one time to talk to the kids about their days or what’s been going on. Basketball season has just started and I am already thinking when the end of it is haha!

I love watching the kids play. I love that they are active and want to play. Most of all I love that all the kids play on the same day. Again because it’s a small school the girls and boys play on the same night no matter if its JV or Varsity. It leads for long nights but they are so worth it.

These are the days of never ending laundry even though you feel like you don’t see the kids that much. These are the days of eating at 430pm just so you can eat as a family which is very important to us. These are the days of a lot of KLOVE music in the car (I will know all the songs by the end of the season). These are the days……..

These are the days we will look back on and think how we ever did it with four kids. How did we manage their schedules with school, sports and family time? I am thankful and blessed for these days!

So as I sit here taking a break from laundry. Waiting on one child to come home and the other three have fallen fast asleep well before their bedtime of 930, I sit here in silence thinking about how fast life goes by. I can’t believe I think this is so chaotic and hectic and in just 4 short years all of the kids will be out of the house. I have to treasure these moments. Why? Because…these are the days!

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Mini Basketball...What exactly is that?

I really do love our school but what exactly is Mini Basketball I asked when my son called and said he wanted to coach it. His exact words were "I want to Coach Mini Basketball and you cant say no". I laughed. He told me what it entailed and I thought it was great. Of course I said yes.

So our school as some of you know is small. From K-12 (even though there is an Elementary school and a separate High school they are right next to each other) there is roughly 200 students total. These 200 students come from 4 towns that we call Big Valley. We have a JV team when we have enough players in High School and we have a Varsity Team always. After Basketball Season is over for the High schoolers they have a Mini Basketball Season for 3rd-6th graders. Its a week long after school. They start on a Monday and have a tournament on Friday.

4 amazing teams and all their helpers!

Its so cool seeing how many kids come out to do this. I don't have kids in elementary school anymore but if I did they would totally do this. How exciting for the kids to play and the parents to watch. Why is this special to me personally? The teenagers get to coach. So my oldest son Jackson (17) stayed after school to get to know the kids and coach them for the tournament.

Kellen on left, Jackson on Right and the Wolves!

The tournament is four teams and they get to play two games each. The Big Valley Lions Club sponsors it which is amazing. They supply the kids with all their T-shirts and all the stuff they need. We are very lucky to have them sponsor us. Its so gracious of them. Also, my good friend Becky also works really hard getting it together. She would die if she knew I even wrote about her. She is one of those people who never wants to be thanked and hides if she thinks someone is going to. Thank you though Becky!!

With a small town you always have a lot of helpers. We had the Basketball Coaches from high school helping, parents, Ms. Silva and lots of teens too helping with being a Ref or Announcer.

So Jackson had a hard first day or two when he went. He really wanted to be able to do more with the kids. We had a family discussion about how they look up to him and he needs to keep on keeping on. By Wednesday Jackson got his team which made him feel more like a Coach. At dinner he was talking all about each child and how excited he was. Heck his excitement made us excited. We were excited about him and the kids in his team.

Jackson became Coach Jack to them.

Friday came fast. It was a half day at school. Jackson stayed after school along with great volunteers to help his kids decorate their shirts. His team was now known as the Wolves. There were also three other great teams that they would be going against. Its funny to see siblings on different teams or bests friends. Its all in fun and each child got to play and play a lot. Go Wolves!

As a parent I was excited at the game watching my son be excited while he coached. I thought he did a stellar job always pumping them up, high fives and good jobs everywhere, and a big smile on his face. When one of his girls made a basket (she is really shy) he jumped up and down screaming. It made my heart swell! At that moment I wished it wasn't just a week. He had a plan on how to have every kid play a lot. They did too! I am smiling just thinking about this event yesterday.

Go Team!

They won both their games but even if they didn't they were all winners. The kids had so much fun. It was great seeing all the teenagers coaching. I loved being in the stands watching. It was a lot of fun. Really shows the lil guys how much fun Basketball can be and gives them someone to look up to also. Whoever started this event years ago was ingenious.

I was a proud mom. I was proud of my son and how he behaved with the kids. I love how he got a technical and talked to the Ref in a good manner. I love how he pushed his kids to do well and to lead them into doing well. I love how those kids became his friends and how he said on Monday he is going to keep it going by telling them how awesome they are. I love that he gave Gatorade to all his team. It was funny to hear the kids tell their moms they didn't need water because "My Coach bought me Gatorade!". So funny.

I never thought I would be the "sports" mom but I have been for awhile. Yesterday Jackson told me I was now the "Coaches" Mom. I really hope he does this again next year too. Its an amazing event. Couldn't be more proud of my kid and his team!

Thank you to BV Lions and all the Volunteers from Jackson

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39.....a weird comical birthday.

This Birthday was so not a typical birthday to me. Usually its full of fun and lots of activities etc. I just turned 39. That means I am almost 40....FORTY! Actually to be honest I am not someone who cares about how old they are getting. I figure having four teenagers is either keeping me young or I am so old the number really doesn't matter ha! I think probably old but maybe it will make me young eventually right ha!

My birthday was Monday. The weekend before we went to a memorial for Ryan's Grandma. It was a bittersweet moment where we got to pay our respects...grieve...share stories. She is going to missed so much! My husband, my MIL and my husbands siblings are still grieving a lot so I am being respectful and not posting about it. It was really good to see all his family and have all the cousins together.

Driving home....

On the way home however after two days there we decided to stop at Cattlemen's Steakhouse for dinner. This was going to be my family birthday dinner since on my birthday we had a lot to do like sports awards for two of the kids. We don't normally do this but this time we told the kids they can order whatever they wanted. Happy birthday to me.....not happy bday to our bank account:) Its good to really treat everyone every once in awhile. Josh and Jack decided that they were going to have a whole rack of ribs. I asked if they would actually be able to eat it because I didn't think they would be able too. Jason and I had steak and shrimp scampi. Cassie had shrimp and Ryan got a big ol steak. All I have to say is the strawberry lemonade there is to die for!!! I am literally drooling thinking about it. Hold on...be right back. Need to clean off my keyboard.

Josh and Jack....one rack each

yummy

Jason and I had shrimp scampi and Steak

Its my strawberry lemonade.....it was the BEST

Josh couldn't finish

Jack swore his stomach got bigger

We had a good dinner and I was really happy we did that even though we ended up getting home at midnight from our weekend trip to his grandmas memorial. I had to hurry and sleep because I would be getting up on my birthday at 445am to leave by 515 to drive two hours to a doctors appointment. I really should of taken a different day but I wanted to get it done with.

As most of you know I am in remission from Cushing's Disease. I had a tumor removed from my brain (in my pituitary). It messes with your immune system. Messes with a lot of things. 11 hormones to be exact. So you gain a lot of weight, have low immune system, bruise, stretch marks, insomnia, brain fog etc....  lets just say its no fun! If you want to know more about it check out www.cushingstories.com. Its a site that my friend Rachel and I co-founded to help others.

Anyways...I had to go to a pulmonologist to get my airways checked. I have been having problems breathing. It wasn't the best way to start the day but it needed to be done. I would of driven 2 hours anyways because I was able to get Starbucks! Do you hear the heavens opening and angels singing? I do when I think of my iced coffee drink! ahhhhhhhhhhh....*angelic singing*

Breathing tests

I hate plugging my nose but it was still thumbs up

Once I got home I found out that my favorite lamb passed away:( I was so sad. I always love my underdog animals. Then for all of  you guys who think you have had a crappy day (no pun intended) I walked outside barefoot to grab something out of the car and stepped in some doo-doo. YEP you hear me! I screamed! I jumped up and down screaming ehw ehw ehw! I hopped all the way back in and didn't care about what it was I was going to retrieve from the car. I hopped to the shower and that was that! Then my mind kept going to how was that even in the yard...the dogs cant even get there. EHW! I am grossing myself out again ~! Strawberry lemonade.....just think about strawberry lemonade.....ahhh. Ok now I am better!

So the day wasn't going as planned but I still had a good day! We went to Josh and Jacksons sports awards. They did a really good job and won different awards for Basketball! Very proud of those two. Josh is in JV and Jackson is in Varsity. It was a good ending my night.

So proud of my boys

I had tons of phone calls and birthday wishes from friends, family etc. I opened up some fabulous presents. I did chuckle to myself because my dad, my sister and mother in law know me well. They got me exactly what I asked for...more kitchen stuff. I am going to bake and cook everything! Ryan got me some snazzy stuff too and also some dresses I have been wanting from Ross. Hey I shop at Lane Bryant and Torrid but Ross is definitely my go to store. Why pay full price if I don't have too!

I obsessed with Green and Live Love Laugh things

My friends and family got me great gifts also and I really felt loved. It was a good ending to the day.....

39! Its going to be a good year! Watch out world! Rae-Rae is getting older! I never said more mature....just older!:)

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Seriously they are weird!

My kids seriously are weird! Just like Ryan and I. Today was their last day of finals! Woot Woot! I never saw bigger smiles to be done with finals this whole week. Josh was finally cleared to play Basketball after his concussion from practice so Josh went to an away game tonight. Jackson went the other way to another away game for the Varsity. When both of them are in two different places we stay back with the other kids.

We picked up Cassie and Jason and took them food shopping tonight and to do some errands. They are seriously funny kids. I am so happy they get along so well. They are always laughing and teasing each other. Just plain ol having fun. On the way to the store I said that I am kind of tired to Ryan. Cassie pipes in with "that's because you have four kids duh". Then Jason asked, "why did you have so many anyways?" I said it was because I had Cassie and Josh and then these two boys came along that I loved just as much. I love you all. Then Jason laughed and said ,"Enough to never be able to sleep again?" I just laughed and told him of course!

Jason and Cassie

Its been a kind of interesting day. I found out from my Dr that I am low on a hormone that might make me have to take shots for the rest of my life. They are really expensive too (1500 a month). Thank goodness insurance will cover it but its not something I really wanted to do. I will find out more on my next Dr visit. I am growth hormone deficient. Yes adults have this. Its from probably when they took the tumor off my pituitary they might have gotten a little too much. So we will deal with it as we go. Might help my tiredness every morning. I swear ppl think I sound like I am sleeping till like 11am ha! When in fact I get up at 445 with Josh most days for Basketball.

Anyways I have been working on my website for CUSHINGSTORIES.COM with my partner Rachel who is also a Cushie. We are almost complete although its taken us almost 3 months to get enough stories, videos, blogs....
I am rather excited about it! I think its really going to help others with this disease. Plus it gives hope with stories of remission (like me). Between having a family of 6 and everyone being pretty active it has taken us along time to finish it. This Sunday though it will be complete so check it out.
www.cushingstories.com

While I was working on the website Ryan asked what we wanted for dinner. I think that is so romantic when a husband sees you are working hard on something and instead of asking what's for dinner.....he asks what you would like:) Steak Salads it was. We love steak salads and since I am trying to low carb it a bit this sounded super yummy to me.

After our delicious dinner Ryan and I went crazy ha! Have you ever lost something that you knew you JUST had? Our debit card was by the computer because we had just finished paying off our cruise and we could not find it ANYWHERE! We both saw it at the same spot. Then you start to hypothesis where it could be. I seriously thought maybe we threw it away and looked in the trash. GAG! After hand washing and him walking around in circles looking for it. BAM....there it was. He had moved it with some of his work paperwork to his desk LOL. Seriously I think the kids thought we were crazy but we were getting more of a work out looking for it in the house than they were playing Wii HA! Thankfully we found it and all is good.

Here are Cassie and Jason playing Wii......Dancing to a song! Dance Dance 2015
click here...Jason/Cassie Dancing to Wii

The night is winding down. Jason and Cassie are still playing Wii. Ryan is working on work paperwork and I am just waiting for the phone call to go pick up the boys from the school when they get back. Seems like a normal Friday to me. Both Jackson and Josh won their games. Jackson got all 4 free throws and Josh played hard the last quarter of the game!

Jack getting ready for Free throw

Defence! Joshua

Except for this.......shhh....and its a secret. We will see how many of you actually read this but I am thinking of getting another puppy that was born 4 weeks ago. She looks like my dog growing up and is so cute! Thinking. My heart says yes and my mind says no since we already have four dogs that we love very much. Jackson has Ninja, Jason has Maggie, Josh has Jasper and Ryan has Sierra. Cassie has her cats out in the barn she is not a dog person. So that leaves me lol.....right??? What wins out? The heart or the mind. A good friend of mine once said to think with my head not my heart because I am such an animal lover.

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Allergies and Basketball

First off this was a great day because we didn't have to get up at 445am to take Joshua to Basketball practice because the JV and Varsity have games tonight.

Jackson and Cassie had Dr appts so I drove them to Canby to see our family Dr. Dr Edmonds is an amazing Dr to me. He treats our whole family, was the one to diagnose me with the Rare Disease Cushings and is so nice to our kids and really listens to them. I love having him as our country community Dr.

Jackson had to see him because when he was coming back from his mothers on Christmas break back to our house he had a headache and took some of her over the counter Migraine medicine. Well needless to say we (all three parents) were all worried when he boarded the plane starting to get hives and his lips blew up to four times the size they are. Thankfully he had Benadryl and all ended up okay. I made an appt that day to get allergy testing. It wasn't something we ever wanted to repeat again. This is Jacks Shoulder and lips. (he said of course I can use this).

Jacks hived shoulder

Jacks lips...no its not duck face

After seeing the Dr we found out that he is highly allergic to Aspirin. So we are all going to be VERY diligent on that. He said the next time his throat could close because he has such a bad reaction. We always give him Tylenol based stuff at our house so we never knew he had this problem. The Dr talked to him a lot about reading the labels on everything. Being contentious of taking meds from anyone or if they are mixed with others that could be aspirin. A lot of cold and flu medicines have that in them and migraine medicines also so we will have to worry about that. Once I got home after taking them back to school I went through any meds we have to make sure. I am glad we found out though. We know that it is in the top 5 for allergies. It cannot go away by taking small doses like some allergy places will do. He said its as serious as a peanut allergy so to be very careful.

Jack dressed up for BBall at Drs

Cassie was able to go in after wearing her back brace (from her cart accident) and finally get it off. We had to do an Xray and exam but she is able to now not have it. She still has very limited activity for 3 more weeks. She was so happy to have her brace off and be able to bend finally. We will be starting physical therapy this next week for a couple months to strengthen her back again. I am just glad that her fracture has been healing properly. We also got medication for her because she has ovarian cysts. Those are so painful and I feel bad she gets them. Its hereditary and I got them at her age also. PAINFUL....not a good thing to have pain in the stomach all the time. All in all we ended up getting everything done.

Cassie happy her brace is off

After taking the kids back to school I came home to bake brownies and deal with some school things so I could  be back at the school by 330 to watch Josh and Jacksons basketball games. Ryan was to meet me there at 330 as he was working.

The games I was happy with. We won both games. Cardinal pride was at its finest as usual. Bake sale went off great for the Junior Class. Once again I swear we had our kids coming and asking for money every two seconds to eat. All four kids were there. Jason only got to see the last game as he has basketball practice after school daily. I was proud of my kids. Josh and Jack both played well when they were in. I love being able to cheer on everyone! yelling for all the kids along with mine. Its an exciting time in the kids lives and I am happy we can be there to watch it. Cassie was hanging with her friends. Jason after getting bunch of food was sitting with his and the other two were playing. Next year will be great because all four kids will be playing on the same day. That will make things so much easier and hey...money saving because they wont have to pay to get in the game haha!

Josh shooting

Josh JV basketball

Jackson happy playing

Jack practicing his shot

Running Fast to get shot (Jack)

All in all it was a good day. I am glad that we have a good Dr., a good school, a good life. I love sitting with our friends on game days and all of us cheering on each other kids. This community may be small but its definitely a strong one.

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Question: Do you have a family Dr? Or do you go to whoever is available at the time?

CHA CHING.....!

Three out of Four with Braces




 

Today was a great day! Every month we make at least one trip to Redding which is a 2 hour drive away for the kids ortho appt. Today however our 3rd out of four kids got their braces on. Thankfully Joshua is the only one who doesn't need braces. I cant image 4 in braces lol. Its expensive but I really feel that teeth are VERY important! If we were super poor I would work hard to get them braces because when others look at you talk.....they are looking into your eyes or at your mouth. So its very important to me. A little discomfort for a beautiful smile later is so worth it.

Jackson has been in braces for oh I don't know...what seems like forever. He has been wearing them since 8th grade and now is in 11th grade. I think most of that has to do with the fact that he is a teen and never wants to wear his rubber bands. He thankfully is almost done with them though.

Cassie has been in them for almost a year and a half but has a ways to go. Her mouth is looking pretty good but she had to get her palate expanded which was not the easiest thing to do and four teeth pulled. She has a small mouth like me (even though we both talk a lot ha) so she didn't have room for the normal amount of teeth. She also had a open bite where her back teeth didn't even touch each other.

Joshua....free and clear from having braces. He is lucky!

Then Jason got his on today and he is so happy because they said he only needs them on the top. Only for 6 months also. So he is pretty excited. He has a bit of a bite problem so this will fix it and also give him that great smile:) Not that they all don't already have a great smile.

Usually we have all their appts on a Saturday because Ryan is working and we don't want to take them out of school for their teeth. This month however to get them all in at the same time it has to be on a Thursday. We took them out two hours early and went on our two hour drive to Redding. Talking all the way we made our plan of what we needed to do since its not often we go there besides getting their teeth done. All four kids were with us because Josh had to get new basketball shoes and needed to try them on since he has grown out of his I swear in the last month. That's what you get when you have a 6'1'' fourteen year old I guess.

So Cassie and Jackson were in and out pretty fast which was a small miracle in itself. Ryan took Josh to go shopping for shoes while I waited with Jason. After X-rays and imprints of teeth etc. we were ready to get the choppers in line. Here are a couple pictures of the imprints and then the getting the braces on. Ryan and Josh were back by then so Ryan could be there also.



getting ready for brackets



Ryan and Jason Saying Cheese

After the Braces were on we had already accomplished a lot. Josh had his new shoes that he thinks will help him jump higher and run faster. He thinks they are the coolest basketball shoes in the history of life so that is good since they were on sale! We have four kids and every season all of them are in a sport which means new shoes and equipment for all four every season. They had all gotten a new pair of shoes for basketball in November but Josh already grew out of them. I refuse to pay more than 100 for basketball shoes and even then I think that is a lot. He found these for 80 dollars. Whew! We do have kids at our school that pay 300plus for shoes. I think that is crazy especially because everyone's feet is still growing but I am sure there are ppl who think we spend way to much too. These are Josh's shoes. I am rolling my eyes because they look like solar system shoes or something but what do I know I am just the mom. He loves them though and that's what counts.

Josh Bball shoes ....again lol



After everything was said and done we went out to eat before everyone's mouths felt sore. Chinese it was. Buffet....okay that's fine because everyone can just get what they wanted. It really was a fun dinner. I know that sounds odd but we were all laughing, smiling and having a good time. We talked about the Cruise we are going to go on, about colleges and what each of the kids want to do. Jackson teases with us about how he is going to make us tons of money by being in the Coast Guard. We asked how he thought he was going to do that since we do know that his dream is to go into the Coast Guard. He said well when I die they have a large life insurance policy. He started to tell each of his siblings how they would get 10,000 each and we would get 35,000. Then promptly told us that we all should be really nice to him. HA!The kids all decided that we were germaphobes because I told Cassie that I would freak out if someone used the bottom of a spoon where your hand goes to eat something.  I have decided we have the weirdest discussions.

After Dinner we ran to Walmart real quick to pick up some odds and ends stuff. I think we lost track of time because soon its 8pm and we needed to go because it would be past the kids bedtime when we got home because of the two hour drive. The kids were too funny they were ready to leave until they saw Marvel cups and wanted to have one or two or three lol. We grabbed our stuff and a couple CDs to play in the truck and were out the door. Thats another thing.....I swear no one buys CDs anymore everything is on ITunes but sometimes I just want a good ol fashion CD. We listened to music....rocked out....and finally almost all the kids fell asleep. They have long days with Josh getting up at 445 and the rest at 600am.

It was a good day. I love the days were we all go somewhere and have time in the car to talk. I have always felt its important to take the time you can get as a family especially now a days where life is so hectic and GO GO GO. We always sit down for dinner together. No Tv on....no phones allowed. Just us, some good food and a whole lot of conversation. The time in the car is a good time to do that too. Putting your phone away (of course driver never on phone) and looking at the scenery. Looking up and ahead. One on one time in the car with your kids is great too. You never know what you will learn.:) All in all this was a great day.....

Josh happy about his shoes

Cassie touching Koi fish

Cassie, Jason and Jack feeding koi fish

Jasons new braces

Jack tired at Walmart