Frank the Tank is now Sterile Jerrell

Vasectomy is a surgical procedure in which the vasa deferentia of a man are cut for the purpose of sterilization.

This is serious stuff. Frank watched the procedure on you tube and freaked out. I wish he hadn't. This procedure was delayed a good year.

When Frank and I first got married, Frank thought we would have 2 kids. I disagreed. Neither on of us ever thought 7 wonderful children were in our plan. We are thankful for each of our kids and would not have it any other way. After child number 5 my family would joke...."Is this it?"or "You know how this happens right?"

Yes...The milk man comes and miraculously I get a baby... Right?

I think the reason we held of for so long was how permanent the procedure is. It is done in the doctors office, but let's face it. It is in a sensitive area.

Frank did really well. With a sript for vallium, he was on his way. For almost 2 days!!!I did not notice it til I got home, and he stepped out of the car. Instantly, he reminded be of Jack Sparrow from Pirates of the Caribbean. You know the crazy walk Johnny Depp pulls off in this movie? Little too much rum....

This doctor did so good. Frank has had little discomfort. I have not given him tylenol or ice packs. I am truly amazed. Less than 48 hours later Frank was convinced he could go play golf. I had to convince him it was not a good idea and told him to go sit down. He gets a cold and I have a 47 year old baby, he gets a vasectomy and he is invinsible!!!

Cute story

At bedtime Brie'el says to me,"Smell my bangs"
I am confused. Not sure what to say I respond "What do I smell?"
"Brenlie Mom....My bangs smell like Brenlie. I used her shampoo."

This one is about Kyler.

Kyler comes downstairs dressed for school. Usually I pick out his outfit. Today he has on long pants and a black guitar hero shirt. I am thinking he is going to be hot. I say nothing. Then he yells "I forgot my socks" Then he runs up and grabs these long socks!!! If you know Kyler well enough you would know he is particular about how tight his socks are. They also can not bunch at the toe. Then he does this guitar hero move and says "Hey mom.... do these socks go with my outfit?"

Only Kyler would worry about his white hanes socks matching his outfit!!!!!



This is Kelsey... "MOM I want that movie. you know Sleeping Booty"

I did not know Aurora had a booty!!!!

Shadow your student day

I went to DRJHS yesterday with Kilean. Kilean wanted me to go this year. Not sure if it was out of guilt from last year. Here's how last year went...
Jodi: Looking at her calendar...."Kilean when is shadow your student day?"

Kilean: Muttering under her breath "Last week"

Jodi: (I already figured out I missed it)"So you did not want me to go?"

Kilean : "I did not think it was a big deal"

Jodi: "To you or me?"

Kilean: (She has now figured out she stepped in it)"Mom... I am sorry. I thought it would be too much for you." (with Brenlie in all)

I never said any more about it. I was clearly bummed about it. I love to do those things.

So this year she made it clear she wanted me to go!!!

I have to say I do not miss going to junior high. My heart bleeds to all the unnoticed children at this school. I wonder what life is like for them. One girl never included themselves in any activity. They were avoided by the kids and the staff. They wanted to be avoided. (Or do they?)

I saw this on one of the walls in the band room.

Being popular isn't always right.
Being right isn't always popular.

Amen to that. I can remember in school wanting to be included. My fear was standing by myself, sitting alone at lunch, or not having anyone around. I moved twice in junior high-high school and "girls" in particular don't accept the new kid very well. It took a lot of time for me to find my niche.

It's funny... when you are in school you meet people because of circumstance. You attend the same school so your lives cross. When you graduate life moves on. It is no longer convenient. You make a choice to continue a friendship. Or not to continue the friendship.

But the kind of person you end up to be is influenced by your high school friends.

That is why my philosophy is to include everyone all of the time.

My only hope is that I have raised my kids to be kind and considerate. To be inclusive. If they are not....well lets just say "They will answer to the BIG UGLY!!!"

Soccer soccer soccer

Kyler had his 1st soccer game today.(He was sick last weekend and missed the game) We played a team that let's just say might be "older than most of our team" They were very good and 1st to the ball. The nice part is we really did not care!!!

Kyler had a blast. He scored the only goal. It was a whole bunch to 1. Great job Kyler!!!






We might have to buy our own shorts.... Kyler spent most of the time pulling up his pants.



Bryce's team did well also. He was in the goal and did not let one past him. The score was 6-1. Good job Shamrocks!!!!






Bryce did referee training this month and refereed his first game today. He left too early for me to get his picture(sad face), but I will get one next time. I am proud of him. He loves being on the field. He met us at Kyler's game and one of the parents mentioned they were almost out of cold water. Bryce proudly says "I will go to the ref tent and fill it if you want" Proud mom here. That's when you know you have done something right:)


I am leaving for Tuscon in just a little bit. Brie'el has a tournament there. I am going for the 2nd game. They won their first one 8-0. Luckily my Mom and Dad have a house in Tuscon so we have a place to stay!!!(Thank you) I was hoping the weather would be cooler there......but I was told it is not!!!!

Pizza dough

I love this.....Basha's will sell you pizza dough. It is very good. With so many in our family, we seldom agree in our pizza toppings. I can not remember the last time I ate a piece of pizza with exactly what I wanted on it. Not any more....


I made 4 pizzas yesterday. They charge 1.99 a piece. I divided it in half and made two.

We were all happy! I think I may be the last one to know about this wonderful deal...... but if I am not I want you all to know about it:)

Chocolate!!!!!

You are never too young to appreciate chocolate......

Me too!!!!

Kelsey wants to learn and be big so bad. She wants to copy everything we write down. She also wants to know how to spell your name,write your birthday, your favorite color...... on and on and on. I finally had to tell her to copy what she sees. I love her willingness to learn, but I am not in the mood to spell everything we see or do.

Today Brie'el was doing her homework. Right next to her was Kelsey. She was copying her work. Brie'el was drawing a picture of molecules. So was Kelsey.!!!!





She sat down next to Kilean and drew a picture of the both of them. It would be great if we finally had an artistic kid in the family. I most certainly am not!!!




On a side note.... Keigan got the job at Subway!!!!He will work at the one on Ellsworth. We are excited for him to start earning his own money!!!! Good Job Keigan!!!!

I'm so pretty!!!

Every time I get Kelsey and Brenlie out of the shower, I put lotion on them. Brenlie gets baby lotion(my Favorite) and Kelsey goes between baby lotion and something from Bath and Body Works.




Kyler has to "smell good" also. Frank "questions" why Kyler needs baby lotion. I know he is now in the 1st grade, so we have changed things up for him. He gets sprayed with Tag.






Today out of the shower I did my routine spray and he got dressed. This time he took a deep breath and says, "Yum!! I smell so good. I almost smell like a man!!!"



Too cute I say!!!!

Subway

This is a funny story......

In the back of your mind you have to wonder is my son smart? or is everyone out there "not so smart!!!"

Keigan turns in his application at Subway. He speaks with the manager. He asks him a few questions. Why he wants a job at Subway and a few math problems. Counting back correct change that sort of thing. He asks specifically, which bills and coins would you hand out for the change 6.45. Keigan says a 5.oo bill, a 1.00 dollar bill, a quarter, and 2 dimes. the guy was impressed.(remember he manages a Subway) Keigan was the first kid that did not say 6 1.00 bills. Keigan thought that was so funny. Why would I hand out 6 ones? He went in for an interview last night. The other kids that had an interview tonight did not show.

I'm not sure what this guy is waiting for. Does he realize Keigan is in Ap math? What percentage of kids who work at Subway can count back change?

I love it when I give the cashier enough money to get a quarter back and I get a blank stare, or when they hit the incorrect amount in the til and they have to come up with the amount on their own. Basic math people!!!

Hopefully this will all work out. I'm voting for the job at Basha's. They will be hiring in a week or so. We shop there all the time. If he gets the job our family will get a discount on groceries!!!!

Frog and Toad

I have tried for 2 days to get a good picture of these guys. Without taking them out of the tank...

For the moment this is the best I can do.

Before Kyler went to school today I heard him say. "Frog and Toad I love you".

I hope they live awhile. I can tell you they love crickets. The small ones. Unfortunately I can not give them the ones in our yard. They are too big. Shucks, I have an endless supply!!!

It's Official!!!

Keigan is now an official Arizona driver!!! He got his license today. He had to wait 6 months from getting his permit. Since we did that so late in the game, this seemed to take forever.


I am no longer scared to have him on the road. He does a good job. I am a little worried about his reaction time to other drivers. It's a big thing to finally get to the point where one of your kids is on the road all by themselves.

I am excited about our new journey in parenthood. I am headed towards new territory and have no idea what to do. I will follow my gut and pray it all works out. Oh, and hope that everything I have taught my kids all these years stick!!!

The past few days....

I realized that I have not taken Brenlie to the park much. I'm sure it is because of the heat. I do not like to go to my car let alone purposely stand outdoors when it is so warm out. She loves it. I can not wait to start taking her more.







This picture says it all. She was so excited. Her little hands white knuckled around the chains. The expression on her face was priceless!!!



Of course I was giving Brenlie so much attention... Kelsey was in her swing yelling CHEESE!!!! That was her subtle hint to include her in the whole picture taking thing.



This weekend was spent at the soccer field. I told Kyler he should go because there is so much to do and kids everywhere to play with. So he went and brought his bug catcher. The first night he caught a huge grasshopper and a moth. We proudly brought them home. To my surprise he let them go in the morning. He will catch more. I agreed and off we went the next day to watch soccer.

Not more that 5 minutes on the field he catches a toad. Exciting!!! Then this kids had to leave and he has another toad in his hands. Now we have 2!!! Frog and Toad. That are their names. We brought them home. Bought them an aquarium and set up a tank. We bought them baby crickets and they ate them. I know you are all thinking just say no. I could not find it in my heart to tell him no. He LOVES them. He will tell you which one hops more and who is more friendly. They are "wild" right mom? So we will see. If you are wondering ...yes we still have the tortoise Kilean brought home awhile back. Who feeds it? Well that would be me most of the time.

The toads are small. I will get pictures tomorrow...



climbing trees



I'm not sure why they always want to get into trees. Are they monkeys?




Oh by the way the girls came in 2nd in their tournament. I did not have my good camera, so I am without soccer pictures this time. But do not worry this is just the beginning:)

My reunion...

First of all I think my idealistic view of class reunions may have been a little off. I have watched one too many movies for sure. I had huge expectations. I assumed everyone after 20 years would have grown up, had kids, and would be generally happy. Not so sure about that. Some grew out, some were very proud of the fact they had no kids, were never going to have them, and loved their cat!!!!

I'm sure my face said it all when meow was my only response. I wonder if that cat will provide any good grandchildren. Or if it get presents under the tree, or if it decorates Easter Eggs, or dresses up for Halloween. Meow

I did have a good time with a select few. We ate before we got there. I was pretty thankful about that since the food was good enough for the cat. (OK I am having too good of time teasing my cat friend....acquaintance.)



This is my great friend Heather!!!! I had the best time ever with her. She is the reason why we went.



Denise and Nyla were the other 2 reasons why I went. I am so glad I got to see everyone. The rest were all fun to watch.

Overall I am glad I went. I will not attend another. That is for sure. There is a few that would still like to get together, so we will do it on our own..



This is Lake Washington. We are on the floating bridge. Seattle is so pretty. I love this city.



This is Bellevue. Not Seattle. This city has grown up so fast. When we were driving home on the 405 I had to do a double take. Are we in Seattle or Bellevue? Big changes since we have been gone.

Frank and I really enjoyed our visit. At one point in time he wanted to move back. If it was up to him we would. Then Sunday came.



This was all day.....



Then he said, I think there are some things in Arizona we would miss. Yes Frank like the sun!!!!

They remodeled the airport and put these in. Kyler would have gone nuts over these.

Momma Mia

I went to the movies last night and saw Momma Mia.

You see this guy? He's a hunk right?



James Bond 007..... cool and collected?

I agree....not so sure about his "musical" efforts in Momma Mia. Stick to action my friend!!!!

Back to the movie. I liked it. Growing up, I listened to Abba all the time. Then awhile back the A TEENS redid a ton of Abba material. The girls were into that and were impressed I knew the words. Am I cool or what?

I would recommend this movie for the girls. No men allowed. They will not appreciate the acting. Or the singing for that matter. I laughed and that is all that counts right? Thanks girls for a night out!!!!

I'm Back!!!!!!!

I had a great time at my reunion. I will talk about that and post pics tomorrow. But I am so very excited I got my computer back today. I am so behind on everything because of it. I now know how much I rely on my computer and email.

So I get home.... my computer is locked up. In normal fashion no one knows what I am talking about. I used it yesterday... Worked fine for me. So.... am I the only one who can not get it to work? I dunno Mom. Does anyone know!!!!

So the next day I find Kilean. Did you use my computer? Yes she says. And it did the funniest thing. I was using it and all of a sudden bugs were ALL over the screen. I just turned it off!!!! I don't think it works. Really?

So when you get a virus, there are bugs all over your screen. Is that a sick joke? I was lucky enough to not loose a thing.

Now it is fine tuned and fast. We has 264 spyware infections. I am looking at it like a car. How long can you use it until it may need a tune up? I have had that computer for quite awhile. So that is where I have been. Lost!!! Without my computer.