#11

Today is Travis' 11th birthday! Happy Birthday, Travi! I can't believe I have an 11yr. old son. We've been through so much and I am so proud of my little man! Travis is kind, smart, helpful, hard working, compassionate, fun and handsome! He's one that I can always rely on to help me out, and he is so patient with his little sister and brother. He's shaping up to be a great athlete and most importantly a man of God.

I remember when you were a cute, round little baby, you always were smiling, & happy, & would shamelessly flirt w/pretty girls. They could be our waitress at a restaurant or at church, or out at the store, where you always got tons of attention! I had to fight strangers off because they always wanted to hold you. People I didn't know! It would always take me a while to figure out you were sick because you still would be smiling & my only clue was if you got a little fussy. Thank you for being such a good baby and boy. Your first year and a half was tough, and you always knew when your mommy was upset and you would just let me hold you and kiss you and you gave me a reason to keep going and not settle for anything but the best for us.

My prayer for you, Travis, is that you will continue to grow in your relationship with God, first & foremost. I hope that you will continue to excel in school and sports. I hope that this next year will be fun and exciting, and that you will turn to us when things get hard or when you need help & reassurance. I will always love you with all my heart. You are special to me because you are my firstborn son, and I cherish every day that I have to see your beautiful eyes and smile, and of course that cute dimple!

Now a trivia question for my 49er faithful:
The 49ers won 5 Superbowls. Can you name the years & the opponents?

Exercise & Motivation

I recently joined a gym. I participated in a "fitness study" where she kept $20 to ensure I would complete it. I was required to a certain amount of days for three weeks. We set up a schedule and if I was unable to keep said appt. I would call and re-schedule. So, my three weeks was up, I loved it, I joined! That was Friday. I didn't go Sat., Mon, I slept in this morning. Maybe she can keep holding money hostage and writing out a schedule for me? I really enjoy the workout, which is shocking to me, and I don't mind getting up at 5:30am to get there in time to do the do and head off to work. So why haven't I been back?! Ok, it was just a minor set back. I brought my gym clothes and I will head over after work. If the traffic isn't too bad...

BTW-I highly recommend Ladies Workout Express. You don't get bored. You get to work on a variety of machines & thereby muscles. They change the time on machines and the resistance levels daily. It's not a meat market.

I had a date tonight that I was really looking forward to. I got my two older kids to their grandma's house and I was all set to spend some fun time with my Hunter. He fell asleep. He went to sleep around 7:30 and that's the last I saw of his beautiful brown eyes. Such is my life now. My poor little guy had such a rough week in school, I guess I can't blame him. I used to be all for the all day kindergarten thing, but now I'm rethinking this whole idea. If he had only been going half the day would we only have had half the stupid re-direction slips sent home? His school has a system where when a child does something wrong they receive a re-direction slip. If they get 3 in one month they are not allowed to participate in a day they have each month set aside called, Fantastic Fun day. My son has never gotten to Fantastic Fun Day. Granted, he is a handful, and I loathe the people you see on T.V. that say, "My son is a good boy. He didn't mean to kill those people. He's never really been in trouble before." Meanwhile it turns out he's got a rap sheet 20 pages long, but "he's still a good boy." Anyway, he gets a note sent home for standing on the slide on the playground, or for throwing sand(not unprovoked) or wrestling. What happened to taking away a recess or making them write some sentences? Why can't some of this stuff be addressed at school, while they remember what they are being punished for? Why did some stupid, overbearing parent have to sue for the dumbest thing and now we all have to pay because we've stripped the schools of any authority? Yet parents still expect the school to teach their child right from wrong and basic manners and all the things they should be taught at home, so teachers can teach! It's been a rough week for all of us. I'm tired of my son always being in trouble because he's a boy. I'm tired of this whole movement to take away all the characteristics of what makes a boy a boy, and try to make them behave like girls. They aren't girls and they shouldn't have to be made to conform. They are aggressive and loud and rambunctious and sometimes they might have to solve problems by getting physical. Do I want my son fighting? No. I think they need to have some kind of outlet though that allows them to act like boys. And why isn't anyone taking into account that these kids are FIVE years old?! They are just learning how to be in a class setting and how to interact and what's acceptable behavior. Rele and I take very seriously our role as parents and we are pretty strict and when our kids misbehave we correct them. I just think that calling a parent and sending a note home everytime a child spits on the ground is sad. My son has been in trouble 4 out of 5 days this week. Even his teacher says, "they are just being boys." So handle it and move on! I know teachers have a very tough job and they don't have all the answers, so I will add them to my prayer list because they are so important and deserve respect and admiration. I guess we will just keep trying to work with H's teacher and hope that he will get the hang of things. Of course, school will be out in a couple of months and there's always next year.
Hunter-I love you with all my heart. Dad and I are proud of you and we know school has been a difficult adjustment, so keep looking ahead and focus on the positive. You are a precious little boy and I pray that you will grow up to be a man of God. In the meantime your a lousy date!

first time blogger

I'm new at this.
I asked my kids how to start my very first blog and that was the response from Travis.
I really don't know where to start! I've been pestering my husband for weeks to help me
get it started.(the blog) He has. Now what? There's so much I want to "talk" about. My kids, the public school system, church, annoying drivers-please, please, Use.your.blinker! I don't want to start in right away though with my pet peeves and how irritated I get and how much my blood pressure must go up and how much I need to pray through that. No. Let's start with something positive. (long, agonizing minutes ticking by...)

I'll try again tomorrow!