College already? She is just a Senior!

I am seriously freaking out. Wouldn't you? Ok, as most of you know I have four teenagers. Jackson graduated last year but we didn't do applications for school or scholarships as he is going in the US Army. I love the fact he is going to serve our country and get a great job Welding. I mean heck they give you every certificate so when he decides to leave the Military he will have a great paying job. I am so proud of him!!

Next is Cassie. She wants to go to a UC school. She also wants to be a Nurse. Its amazing how much UC Davis or UC Irvine or UCLA is! I mean MAN!!!! Its crazy!!!!

Cassie thankfully has the grades to get into those schools. She has a 4.14 GPA. Today we literally spent hours upon hours doing the application to the UC schools. It amazes me that she is a Senior ....Its ONLY almost OCTOBER and we are having to turn in all applications by Nov. 1st! How are parents suppose to know this stuff? I am so glad today we decided to sit down and start looking for scholarships for whatever nursing program she decides to go into. She would like to get a Bachelor in Sciences for Nursing.

I actually pulled my other two boys into the kitchen today to talk to them about what Colleges are asking for. Its not JUST GPA but also extracurricular activities, Awards, Jobs, Volunteering for your community, and much much more. Seriously you have to be an all around child to get into College these days. It was cute to see the boys talking about what they have already been doing and what they were going to add just to be able to get into college in a couple years.

This year Cassie graduates, next year is Joshua and the year after that is Jason. I swear by the time Jason graduates I will be totally a pro at this! You need a scholarship! Bam here is one! You want to get into what college? Oh I know the deadline! Bam! :) I cant help but to laugh at myself.

I feel like everyone can get into some sort of College or University. There are so many programs to help pay. Even Scholarships! Did you know we filled out a scholarship because Cassie's Great Great Grandfather was in WW1 for more than 4 months. YES THEY EVEN HAVE A SCHOLARSHIP FOR THAT! Crazy huh!

I am thankful I have good kids. We are lucky this year with Cassie since she does always have straight A's. She also has played sports (Volleyball, Basketball and Softball). She has been on ASB and also Class President and Leadership. She has worked during the summers and all our kids have always volunteered in our community. Makes me feel good like we are doing a semi good job. All our kids have always gotten good to great grades, sports, working and volunteering. Oh and lets not forget they do have plenty of time to be crazy teenagers too (and even sleep in). Totally off the subject but I probably am the only mom in Big Valley that has a 930 bedtime for my kids. Ten o'clock if your a Senior. I think with all the stuff the kids do they need to have good sleep!

Anyways, I am excited and yet a little nervous about the up and coming months to get this all done. I hope that Cassie and I are organized enough to get everything done in a timely fashion. You should see how many things are on my calendar now just for deadlines. Man! Deadlines! Yikes!

Its kind of fun though because you are spending time with your child. Each year I will have that time with each of my boys too. By the time Jason Graduates I am going to be a pro~!

Pray for us so we get into the right schools for what she wants to accomplish in life. If you know of any Scholarships opportunities please make sure to write to me in the comments! We could always use the help!

Tuesday will be the ending of the Gift Certificate to Starbucks Entries. So make sure to comment to get more tries for yourself. Sorry I didn't blog for two days but I had migraines! Hate those!

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Swing Batter!

When you are a parent of four kids and they all like sports its an interesting situation. This year Jackson is in Varsity Baseball and Cassie is in Varsity Softball. I love watching them play ball. Its both their first year in High school for the sport.

The only thing that is hard for us is when they have home games. You would think that was easy right? Wrong! They both play double headers at the SAME TIME. So we find out who is starting first which is usually Cassie and go to her game. Once we done watching her play for at least half the game we drive quickly over to Jacks game and watch him for another half of the last game. Then we continue to watch for the first part of the second game. Once its halfway there we head on back to Cassie game. Are you confused yet? I sure am!

I always feel bad when we miss a great hit or something. I am hoping they just both remember how we were in the stands cheering them on as we eat our sunflower seeds. I think Josh and Jason love home games too because they get out of school an hour early to go watch their siblings play. Cant beat that right?

I am pretty excited to see Jackson play his Senior year. I am glad his friends talked him into it.
He use to play in middle and elementary school but never wanted to play in H.S. Baseball is so much faster than Softball I am always amazed at how he hits or catches the ball.

Cassie I am proud of because this is her first year ever playing Softball and she is doing fantastic! It nice to see a sport she comes home excited about and is excelling in. I cant wait to see her play next year too. They haven't had a softball team for many years and finally have enough girls to play! YEAH!

Who doesn't love watching their kids play. Who doesn't love hotdogs and sunflower seeds. Who doesn't love watching your kids get way tanner than you are. Wait...I don't love that one but they do ha! The home game happened. This season is going by so fast. I am thankful to be able to watch them though. Next year we will have Cassie playing again and Jason too! It will be another great year!


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Awards

Have you ever had one of those days where your heart wants to burst with happiness just from being proud? That is how I always feel every time we go to an awards ceremony. This time it just so happened that it was Jackson, Jason and Cassie awards for Fall Sports.

Jason got the award for participating in Football. It is his freshman year and to play Varsity 8 man football is a big honor. I loved when the Coach talked about how much the freshman meant to the team. How it’s a big deal to be playing with seniors as you are just starting. I loved watching Jason’s face smile as he got his award. To think he has 3 more years of Football really excited me! He is going to keep getting bigger and better. I am so proud of him for deciding to do it as the end of 8^th grade he wasn’t going to at all. He really enjoys football now. Even makes me watch Football Life on TV ha!

 

Cassie is in Varsity Volleyball. She is a junior and a participation award and also an award for having great grades while playing. Right now she has a 4.10 GPA which is pretty impressive considering all the games they go to through the year. I liked how the coach talked about her team and what fun they had. Volleyball actually had enough of a team to play JV and Varsity which is great. Cassie really strived hard to continue to get better and would go to both practices. I am so proud of her.

 

Then there is Jackson. Yep, my senior and his last Football Sports Award. He got his participation award. I loved hearing the Coach talk about no matter what you asked him he would go and do. He said he was so respectful, never talked back and always wanted to play. Ryan and I laughed when they said he never talked back. We even teased him later and Jack laughed. We were really proud because he got Honorable mention for All League and then out of all the kids on the team he got the Coaches Award. That was a pretty big honor. I am so proud of him.

 

I am proud of all three of my kids, their awards and the kind words said. Joshua didn’t get to play Football this year as he was making sure his knees would be good for his sport..Basketball.

It was a good night and I am glad we were there to experience it with them. Until next season. Basketball has begun. All three boys are playing and this time its Cassies turn to sit out.

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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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BV Championship Game

Before Thanksgiving Break there is this one Friday that is so important to the Collins family. At least it has been for the last two years. Our sons have made it to the Division Championships in High School Football.

Last year it was Jackson and Joshua who were at the Championships. It was pouring down rain and I thought for sure everyone would end up with Bronchitis. Joshua was just a Freshman and Jackson a Junior. We play 8 man here, usually Seniors are doing the playing. It’s the whole team though that is winning or losing. You can see it from the sidelines….even if you are covered by some weird poncho thing to keep from being soaked.

This year was a very special year. Jackson is a Senior which makes this his year for football. Jason this year is playing as a Freshman. Freshman don’t get a lot of playtime but they are learning as they are in a Varsity team. I was excited to see my boys playing. They were going against the same people that we went to Championships and won last year too. It was an amazing game! This time it was a nice day! Thank God!

Watching the team play and cheering them on was amazing. The thing I kept thinking about though besides this is Jacks last game is how many people from our family drove up to root on the boys. Family is everything. Will they remember that game…..yes of course. Will they remember more that their family was there rooting them on….even more so!

Josh, Kelly, me with Mariah, Jason, Jackson, Cassie, MIL, Ryan

Boys with their Mom Theresa

Boys with Ryan

I was so proud of Jackson and Jason. They had their Grandma Sally cheering them on (MIL), their Aunt Kelly and cousin Mariah, then there was us (Ryan and I and their siblings Cassie and Joshua) and of course their mother was there too! That is a lot of people loving on them! We drove the shortest amount which was 2 hours. Everyone else came from 4plus hours away to see this event.

Aunt Kelly, Cassie, Me, Mariah, Ryan and Sally (MIL)

 

Cassie playing with her cousin Mariah

I am proud of the Cardinal team. They may not have won this year but they won in the hearts of Big Valley. They did a great job playing and I am so very proud of them all.

Jackson #15

Jackson looks MAD lol

Here are some highlights of my son playing and some good old fashioned family picturesJ

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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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Super bowl is about Basketball?

Ok I know that Super bowl is about Football but this Super bowl weekend we had 5 basketball games for our kids so I am going to say its more about Basketball:)

Friday was Homecoming night. In our town we have Homecoming for Football and also for Basketball. Seniors had the feed for which I was grateful because I didn't have to help work it since I have 8th thru Juniors in my house. Juniors did have the Bake Sale and Sophomores were doing a donation 50/50 so we will still busy. I was happy that I was able to really sit down and watch the games. High School played Friday. Josh is in JV and did really well. He tried to make two shots which was awesome that he got out there. This is his first year playing he is a freshman. Here is the link to see his tries Josh Shot 

Josh making a shot

Jackson is a Junior and in Varsity. I love watching them come out because all the little kids line up at the locker room to make like a tunnel. You know that has to make them feel awesome. Its easy to explain but better to show so here is the link.....Varsity Coming In

Josh and Jackson both won their games. After they had a Homecoming dance and we had two extra kids spending the night at our house. I kind of like that our kids don't really go to other ppl houses to spend the night but rather their friends always want to come here. Makes it fun and also I can always keep my watchful eye out:) Gosh MOM I know right! :) Here is Jackson getting his groove on in basketball too....Jackson Playing 

Jack making a shot

Friday was a long night with the kids coming home at 1am from the dance. Then we had to get back up in the morning early because Jason had a game and the 8th graders were doing concessions the whole tournament. I left early with a couple of the kids and Ryan brought the rest right before the game. The 8th graders did good at selling the concessions for their 8th grade graduation and big trip. Jason's team did really well at both of their games. They lost BUT they made more points than they ever have. This is Jason's first year of basketball also and he made a shot in both games. I was so proud. Here is that video....Jacks Shot! 

Jason making a shot

At the end of the events I actually wasn't feeling well. I had felt that morning I was coming down with something but my head was pounding away by the time we got home. Ryan ended up taking Jason to go get his first ever steer for 4H. I don't know what he is going to name him yet  but I am sure he will come up with something clever. I love that Jason is going to show a Steer this year and sell him later. How it works in our house is we will buy the animal for the kids, we will buy the feed too. Everything is marked down though in our journal and when Jason sells the steer we get our money back in full and he gets to keep the rest for himself. If he is smart he will use some of that to buy a steer for the next year and keep making money. You can make 1000 plus dollars. Ryan jokes with me that we should get a bunch and sell them for more money for the kids college. I am starting to think that is a good idea and not so much of a joke. Here is Jason's Steer....:)

Jasons new steer for 4H

Also Saturday night Jason got invited by his good friend Cooper and their family to go to a College Basketball game. I think was a great thing because even though they had scored more point than they ever have at their game today the boys were pretty bummed out. To tears even for my 8th grade son. Its all a learning experience and he has fun 99 percent of the time and was feeling fine after the game. Thank you Albaugh family for taking him. He had a great time and is still talking about it and what he had learned!

Is the weekend over yet? Nope! I know right! You think with all of this we would be done but we are just onto Sunday now ha! We were going to go to church and also to a Super bowl party at our friends but ended up staying home in our PJs because I was not even close to feeling well.

I am thankful I have the husband I do. He made Nachos and wings for the kids and we all piled in the family room to watch the game. I took a long nap before the game started and he woke me up just in time. We had a great time watching the game together. Would of been a lot of fun to be with our friends but didn't want to be spreading those germs. Josh and I were rooting for the Seahawks and the other four were rooting for the Patriots. We laughed though because midway Cassie said that she was going to root for the Seahawks that she was confused because of the color of their jersey. Football is not Cassie's thing. She is an Anime, drawing lover through and through. She likes Anime so much that when I walked into the bathroom I saw her Wig that she does Cosplay with hanging up because she had washed it ha! Yep that's my Cassie Girl!

Cassie cosplay Wig

The day ended well. Only thing I didn't like about the Superbowl was at the end when they were throwing punches. We were all talking about how that is so unsportsmanlike and how its not something we would do in our household. It made how much they tried and did a good job (both teams) look foolish and took away from the great game they had.

So super bowl is over now. We have Katy Perrys song stuck in our head and I am ready for Bed again. It was a good weekend!

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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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Seriously Dying!

My Mouth is on FIRE!!!! All I can say is you cant have a romantic lunch date with your husband when your eyes are watering, your mouth is on fire and you are practically crying and drooling! HA!

I am dying!

Today I went to the Chiropractor. My neck has been out for some time and I just wake up from the pain of it. Ryan came with me today and got adjusted too since his rib was out again. We decided to have a nice lunch before we had to go back and pick up the kids. They have been off school half days this whole week because of finals. Its not like they can get off the bus and just walk to the house because its miles....

Anyways Ryan was laughing so hard. It started like this....Me telling him he looked cute. He decided to do poses for me since I said I was going to blog this lol. BEFORE I even knew I was about to wish I had a fire extinguisher for my mouth. So it started normal just like these pictures.....

And ended up with me looking like this.....

I couldn't eat it if I tried. The lady who served us said to me that it says "Diablo" which means "Devil?" like Devil HOT!!! My goodness my shrimp was so hot. Did I say it was so hot yet? HOT HOT HOT! Anyways I put it to the side to take home so Josh could eat it because that kid LOVES hot food. Apparently my Cajun ancestry skipped me and went to him. Even the spicy eating all the time child had a hard time with this! I took pictures to have proof. HA!

Josh thinks its way hot too

So moral of the story is...ASK! Ask what really is in there and if you are going to have to sit next to a fire hydrant to be okay after you eat it.

So much for trying to be low carb right now ha! I probably would of been better with a taco or enchilada. :)


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