2 Cents Tuesday and Baseball

Everyone wants to win and I understand that winning is fun. But winning is not fun when you don't get to play. My boys are on a 3rd grade team and the coaches are so obsessed with winning that anyone who doesn't play like Babe Ruth doesn't get to play. My son asked to play a base tonight and he was given one inning to try it out, which is all I wanted or expected. The bad part was that because he didn't do well he was told if he couldn't do it right he wouldn't be doing it at all. It was his first time to ever be on base. Where is the learning curve? Practices are held in a batting cage and only focus on batting. Where is he supposed to get these super skills they are looking for? Not everyone has a dad who wants to get out there and throw a ball and not everyone lives in a neighborhood with access to other children they can practice with. What happens to the kids who fall to the wayside with no way to gain a better skill set? They should just not play childhood sports or learn to be happy stuck in the outfield scoping out the grass? What a failure of our country. They always say things are as American as "baseball" and "apple pie", what is American about only letting the BEST players have a chance to build up their self esteem. This seems to be a long way from where the sport started out when it was played for children to HAVE FUN. I am very disappointed in the reaction of the coach. The sport shouldn't be a jockeying contest with him and his cronies, it should be to take pride in TEACHING children the sport and HELPING them excel.

As for me- it was 49 and raining so while my children froze their little bodies off standing in the outfield not being the BEST, I sat in the car with baby boo watching out the window. He's a cutie. We ended up with me and 4 kids in the car who turned it into a jungle gym. I might have been smarter to stand out in the rain myself. ;0) hehe

Brothers play baseball, Logi plays peek a boo!

Happy Sunday

Today was rainy and cold. It was actually an incredibly boring day. All I accomplished was working on a birthday invite for my friend's daughter who will be turning one. It isn't much to accomplish in a whole day, but it turned out beautifully and just how I wanted it, so I am going to count it as a successful days work.

Caleb stayed the whole weekend with his friend, Braxton, and he got home this afternoon so it was nice to see his little face. I miss them when they are gone.

Dean and Aaron spent the day working on my "new" car to get it finished. I have not had a car since Christmas. I cannot wait to get it on the road. It is two different colors because this one was totalled and we had to use pieces off my car to fix it. I am not so keen on that aspect, but just having a car of my own again will be heaven even if it was 6 different colors. I appreciate them so much for doing it. It's nice to know that they care enough to spend the whole day working in the rain to do something nice for me. When I count my blessing I am thankful for both of them.


My 2 Dads

I am feeling better finally from being sick. If I wasn't nursing I would probably be well by now, but when you are nursing there are not many medications that you are allowed to take which gives you a much longer suffering period, but that's what being a mom is about - right?! I had to go out in the cold rain to clean out the car so it can go to the junkyard. Brrr my hands were freezing off. Where is summer hiding anyway?

I hope everyone else had a great or at least uneventful Sunday like I did. Hope Monday treats us all nice too! *smile*

When it rains it pours.

Today didn't start off too bad. I woke up early to go watch my oldest play soccer. I love that kid and everything to do with him.



After soccer is when it started to go wrong. We came home to play on the swingset and since it was a nice day I decided to go get food so we could have a family cookout with my mom, aunt, little cousin Eddie, and my grandparents. When I came out of the grocery store I saw my jawbone bluetooth headset beside my car. I was so happy and I said to Ian "I am so blessed that I didn't loose my headset." After I said that I started looking at it and I realized I wasn't so lucky. Apparently it had fallen out when I went in the store not when I came out and someone had ran over it. It was cracked in about 4 places.

So, I tried to keep on with my day and I came home to have fun with my family. As soon as we pulled in the driveway it started to pour down rain. We sat in the car waiting for the rain to stop, but it just kept coming and coming. I finally decided to go home and at least plug in my cellphone because it was going dead. When I started to pull forward I felt the tires hit something. I asked Ian if they had left a bike in the grass, but his reply was that I had hit our dog. I could see that the dog wasn't fatally injured but he was limping. I brought him home and dried him off and I couldn't see anything wrong, but clearly not a good deal.

By this time I was done trying to have a good day. The baby got his new shoes I ordered in the mail today and he wanted to put them on, but once I put them on and he started walking around I noticed one the squeakers wasn't working. Really, was I surprised, I have to say no.

This day boiled down to "sometimes you are the windshield, sometimes you are the bug". I think I have more bug days than windshield days really.

I guess this day is one of those days that you have to look at and wonder is the glass half full or half empty:

My headset got ran over by a car, it looks like crap but still somehow functions.
My picnic got rained out after I bought all that food, but hopefully there will be a nice day next week and I can try again- or have like 6 cookouts with my kids if everyone else can't make it. ;)
My dog got hit by a car, but he only seems to have superficial injuries.
The baby's shoes are defective, but they are real leather and look really cute on him even though only one squeaker works.

I want to try to find the good, but I keep wondering why do I have to find the good in the BAD. Why can't I just have something good happen all by itself.

The only thing that really bothered me long term about my crappy day was I snapped at my son when he was trying to tell me the bright side of my headset getting crunched by a car. No matter how bad my day is I love my boys with all my heart and I felt like a real jerk and apologized no less than 10 times to him for being a horrible mommy to not try to be thankful for his silver lining. I always try to teach my kids to be happy and positive. It's just so hard sometimes when you are completely frustrated to switch gears into mom mode and try to put on a smiling face for your little ones.



What did manage to make me laugh today though was that Jake came up to Logan and said "I am so sorry you had surgery Joe Bunny. I wish I could have come, but it would have been too painful for me to watch." That boy can make me laugh no matter how bad my day is going. What a funny kid. He was totally serious too.

Baseball, boys and girls.

Tonight we went to Jakey's baseball game. He is the cutest baseball player I have ever seen. Just an adorable kid all the way around really.

I walked up to the concession stand to get something real quick and when I came back down Ian and Logan were waiting for me with a surprise. I love my boys. Always so thoughtful and amazing. There are so many moments with them that my heart just swells with love and pride at what great little men I have.




While we were there we ran into JAZZY. Jazzy is obsessed with Logan and the love is quite unrequited. He hates Jazzy to touch him. His little skin crawls at the thought of her kisses. He just had oral surgery yesterday, so brother Ian was trying to protect Logan and keep... oh what is that cartoon character, she says "I wanna squeeze them and love them and squish them.... I will have to think of her name, but that is Jazzy with Logan. It ended in Jazzy wrestling Ian to the ground and then when they got up she full fist punched him in the face and bloodied his nose. I learned to things from this 1. I think Jazzy will be a woman who can defend hersef. 2. My son can take a punch like a man! But wow is it hard to have to say "you can't hit girls" when you end up in a scenerio like this.




My gma bought them a fabulous new swingset today. They were very excited and having a great time playing on it until Jake coined the phrase that Ian was a "flying asshole". oyyyy. 4 boys- no peace! ;)

Theater Thursday

I have been wanting to see My Sister's Keeper since it came out in the theater and I finally got the chance last night. What an amazing and heartbreaking movie. I think Cameron Diaz did a phenomenal job in her role as a mother trying to save her daughter and do right by her other kids in a horrible situation. Has anyone else seen it? Did you have a favorite part? I loved the part at the beach when the family came together and you could just feel the love between them. I am definitely going to watch it again.

I have done a lot of work with families who have lost children and it made me think of all of them. So many mother's going through this today. I encourage everyone to check out St. Jude Children's Hospital and think about becoming a partner in hope, every penny counts. Something else that is really important is organ donation. I am sure moms with healthy children don't think much about it, but when your child is hanging on to their life waiting for a life saving organ it becomes a very different story. Hug your children an extra time today. They are so precious and I know sometimes I take that for granted when we should always treasure every single day.

Two Cents Tuesday

I know it is a hot button right now, but my Two Cents Tuesday is about Bin Laden. I have no sympathy or sorrow that Bin Laden is gone. I truly believe he got what he had coming, where my pet peeve comes in is the general 'celebration' of the American people. I am sure many people are glad he is dead and they have a right to be glad. I don't want to take that away from them. What bothers me is I remember how they looked celebrating the loss of our citizens. I felt like they were little better than savages to be happy innocent people had lost their lives. Bin Laden was /NOT/ innocent, but it felt the same to me to see people celebrating his death. I am not a big church goer, but I do try to be a christian and it didn't feel like God was smiling on the attitudes I saw being displayed on facebook. It seems to me some things should be kept private within your circle of friends and family. I am not GLAD Bin Laden is dead. I am sad that he did something so horrible that he deserved to be put to death. What would have made me GLAD is if Bin Laden had taken a different road and 3,000 of our people were still here today hugging their moms, dads, kids, and spouses. Their God may tell them to kill us, but that is not what my God tells me.

Meningitis Awareness

Meningitis Awareness day is April 24th.


What does meningitis mean to you? Honestly until about 4 years ago it didn't mean much to me. I can't say that I knew the symptoms or really what happened when someone got it. I associated it with a stiff neck, an infection in your spinal fluid and I knew you had to have a spinal tap to confirm it. I wasn't even aware that there were different kinds. 4 years ago in 2007 I met Lacey and meningitis came to mean something very different to me. Meningitis came to mean losing a child you love more than the whole world within a day. Meningitis became synonymous with Landan in my life.


Landan Harris was born on August 17TH, 2003 and at age 3 he contracted meningoccocal meningitis. He left this world on November 16th, 2006 after fighting this preventable disease for 23 hours.

Landan's mom, Lacey, is an amazing person. She loves her kids in a kind of way that you can't stop from touching your heart. Her kids become your kids after reading about them and you can feel her love for them in everything she writes.

Today I ask ALL of you to read about meningitis. Become familiar with the symptoms, the causes, the types, and the fact that there is a vaccine available that our children are not given until age 11. This disease is DEADLY. Even children who survive from it are maimed for life.

On April 24th get out your burgandy and support this cause. Pass the link on to your friends and make a difference. Let's keep our children safe. NO mother should ever have to lose her child to a disease that we can stop.

Sending all my love today and everyday to Lacey, Angel Landan, Little Layne, and the great husband and father who stands behind them all Andy.




<3 Fly high precious boy. <3


Please click the link and learn about Landan and educate yourself on meningitis

Handspun amazingness!

I have said before how impressed I am by my photographer. I truly love everything she does. She did these product shots for me of my new handspun hats and even though they are very simple I love how they turned out. Handspun yarn is so amazing. It is nothing like regular yarn at all. The texture is such a delight to the senses. It's so hard to sell hats that are so pleasing to the eye and the touch as well. I just want to keep them alllll. My photographer told me I can't do this, but maybe you guys could talk to her..... hehe. (If you are in the Idaho area and need great photos check her out. Her link is to the ----->)

Fun Fact Friday

A comet's tail always points away from the sun.

Now to me this only makes sense? If there is something that could "burn your tail off" it would only make sense to point your tail away- am I correct? Now sometimes their are other situations I have heard of like "tails being burned off" by eating... say jalapenos then you are just screwed. LOL ;)

Two Cents Tuesday

It is Tuesday and time for my two cents. However, instead of doing my usual pet peeve I want to offer my 2 cents about a more important issue today. April is Child Abuse Awareness/Prevention Month and today this horrifying story came to my email about an amazing child who's life was cut short by a violent offender. This should *NEVER* happen on this planet at all, let alone in our country. Please think about who you leave your kids with. I know none of us can ever be sure that nothing bad will happen, but just try to double check in your mind if you really feel you would trust the person watching your child with your very life. That may seem extreme, but truly that is what it boils down to in cases like this. Sometimes hiring a babysitter seems so trivial, when we are in fact trusting them with the thing we hold most dear, the one thing we could never live without. This little man's story breaks my heart. He was born at only 3 lbs 6 oz and 14 inches long. He fought bravely for his life only to have it snatched away by an animal his mommy trusted to watch him.





Please join his mom's page in support of Haydon and help fight for legislation to implement stiff and unbending punishment for those who harm our kids. Hug your babies tight. One child is everyone's child.




Any "person" who harms a child should never see the light of day again.



click here for Haydon's Story

God Bless you Haydon- fly high with the ^i^ angels.

Update Monday

Today was the book fair at school. I love it that my kids get exciting about reading. We spent about 45 mintues there while they window shopped. I can't imagine how long they might spend in Barnes and Noble. LOL I gave them both $20 to spend. My 2nd son spent only $9.45 and my older son spent $19.88! They are so different. I scored a pug bookmark from the older one. I am actually really excited about it because I love my pug more than I can say.

It is horribly rainy here today, so at least baseball was cancelled. Tomorrow my 3rd son has his kindergarten screening. I am really nervous about that and crossing my finger, toes and praying that he does well. I think preschool is so important and he missed out on that due to a long waiting list. I am going to try my best to make sure that my baby gets in to a preschool to give him a leg up.

I am working on some hats that I am really exciting about this week. This is my first handspun creation. I think it turned out so beautifully.




How's everyone else doing?

Fun Fact Friday.

Pollsters say that 40 percent of dog and cat owners carry pictures of the pets in their wallets.


I admit my dog has had professional photos taken before. :)

Wacky Wednesday

Me: "Jakey, your pj's are inside out."
Jakey: "So?"
Me: "Well, it looks kind of silly."
Jakey: "It's SpongeBob. How could SpongeBob look silly?"

Kids always make me smile. :)

2 Cents Tuesday

My 2 Cents Tuesday gripe is dads who don't help out with the kids. Is your hubby hands on or do you feel like a single mom??

Update Monday

1st I want to say congrats to both my latest contest winners: Tori Wild and Amber Keller-Beer. I'm so happy for you guys.

I also wanted to share my post office run from today- some really cute stuff, including my first ribbed beanie. I really loved how it turned out.






This week my family is back into baseball. Our first practice is Wednesday. So we now have boyscouts on Monday, karate on Tuesday and baseball and awana on Wednesday. Soon we will be adding one more baseball practice and soccer. Oh boy- busy days ahead! What sports do your kids play or activities do they like to participate in? Is your favorite the same as theirs? Personally I love watching the boys play baseball, but that is their least favorite one. ;)

Fun Fact Friday

Banging your head up against a wall burns 150 calories an hour.

Anyone want to join me? ;)

Theater Thursday

For my birthday I got my wish to see "Red Riding Hood". I thought it was GREAT. I was really happy with the whole movie. It kept you guessing all the way through and I haven't talked to anyone yet who guessed "who done it". A couple spots were very sad, a great Romeo and Juliet love story, great acting. I give it a strong A. Has anyone else seen it yet? Any thoughts to offer?

Wacky Wednesday

I was watching "The Littles" with my 3rd son and he said to me that they were RATS! I am a huge fan of The Littles, I was a little offended at them being called rats. ;)

2 Cents Tuesday

My 2 Cents Tuesday complaint is wind. It is so scary and destructive. I am terrifed not only of tornadoes, but strong winds in general. Any weather that worries you guys?

Update Monday and Austin

The boys are on Spring Break- FINALLY. :) I am always sooo happy for Spring Break and thrilled when the school year ends, but this year is the last year of elementary for my oldest and I find more often than not I am fighting back the tears that he is growing up too fast. I love him so much and getting out of elementary seems only a hop, skip, and a jump away from graduating and moving out. I can't imagine my days without him. Darn kids- why can't they just stay little. They always have to break your heart, even when you are amazing proud of them.

Onto more important things than my motherly woes- there is a little boy, named Austin, who would use your help.





Not long ago this was Austin when he was very sick. He still needs to have a transplant and you can help. As a mom my heart goes out to his family. I can't imagine being in his mother's shoes. Please read his info below and check out the other blogs participating in helping this child.




Austin is an amazing little three year old in need of a kidney transplant. Last summer he contracted a deadly strain of E. coli that caused his kidneys to shut down and is very lucky to have survived. He has been through so much this last year with tests, operations, in and out of the hospital, and dialysis three times a week. It truly is heartbreaking how much this little boy has already been through. He is scheduled for a much needed kidney transplant sometime this spring or summer. They are currently testing family members for a possible donor. Cortney, Austin's mother, was hoping to donate her kidney but last week something in the tests showed up that will no longer allow her to do so. Even through all their struggles and trials this family and Austin have stayed strong and positive. They continue to be grateful for the good things that come their way. The entire family is amazing and inspiring.

Here's how you can help. While the family does have medical insurance there are a TON of expenses that will either not be covered or will still leave them with a lot of bills. The family and friends of the family are hoping to raise $50,000 to help with the transplant and anti-rejection medication. Crystal's Craft Spot is hosting a fundraiser. She has some amazing prizes! Prizes from handmade to big names such as CSN and even a pillow pet! There are some awesome prizes and even better we are helping this little boy and his parents.


I am offering 10% off any hat to everyone who donates $5 and 25% off any hat to every person who donates $10.

Donating can also get you:

A free pattern at Inner Hooker (today only) and an entry into a $25 Amazon gift card drawing:Click here to visit The Oxford Family Blog for details

And you can enter to win many more prizes here:Crystal's Craft Spot

ALL FOR HELPING ONE SPECIAL LITTLE BOY!! :)
You can read his whole story here: About Austin

Fun Fact Friday

The electric chair was invented by a dentist.

Now why am I not shocked by this?!

Knotty Baby Wear - Big Huge Giveaway

4 Squared is participating in another giveaway. Go and check out the great shops. :)

Just click here

Wacky Wednesday

My oldest son said today 'Uniforms are stupid- they take away your personality.' when I asked him to put on his Awana shirt.

I found his statement very thought provoking, even though I knew he just wanted to get out of wearing the shirt. It's hard to argue with such a profound idea coming from a child. ;)

2 Cents Tuesday

My pet peeve for today is those who take more than they give. I don't understand what makes some people feel so entitled. They can not be bothered to do anything for anyone else or even make an effort to be a good friend, but they are always happy to ask for something. It makes me kind of sad.