High School!

Can't believe it's been so long since I've posted, but here we are.. AJ is 14 and starting High School. I thought since this is such a huge deal, and he's changed so much, that I'd try to start blogging again. I'm not sure I'll ever be able to go back and catch up on all the years that have passed- but I can at least post about where things are now.

During Middle School, at ACS, AJ had a challenging time for many reasons. He didn't enjoy school very much- especially in 8th grade. He had friends, but lacked confidence and therefore didn't do well in classes and really seemed like he didn't care. It felt like we were constantly fighting him to do his work- do it well, and just try to get passing grades. For reasons I'm not entirely sure of, his struggled with his main group of friends and found a new group to hang out with who he really seemed to enjoy and who accepted him. That first group didn't like that and gave him a lot of grief which was hard on him- a lot harder than we knew. Looking back, I wish I'd have paid more attention to that- though, I'm not sure what I could have done about it to be honest. I just hoped he could be stronger and stand up to the kids who were giving him a hard time- we had many talks about it and tried to show him how to do it. We were very worried about him. To the point where the teachers called a meeting with us to discuss how different he was that year compared to the years prior- how his grades were so low and seemed not to care about anything. It was tough. 

What AJ did have that was great, was track. We had NO IDEA how fast he was until 6th grade when we pretty much forced him to do soccer through the school. He didn't like soccer- which was fine- but he realized how FAST he is. We were all shocked- because he never really did any type of running before so how would we know? He was pretty stoked to get the feedback and praise about his quick feet. On his own, he decided to get into track. He joined the Rec Center track team in the summer and did great! He ran the 100, 200, and the relay. It was fun for him to get out there and meet friends and do the meets on the weekends. Something new to try. 

Because of track, he decided to branch out and give football a try. Jason had been trying to get him to do wrestling, but that wasn't his thing. He's really not that aggressive, so I was surprised he'd want to do football, but he was all in. He started playing with the Raptors team- practicing 4 times a week- again meeting new friends and having to listen to the coaches yell at him. He did really well at practice- but got very little play time in the games which was frustrating for him (and us). 

A few months ago, I was at happy hour with a friend and she was asking me where AJ was going to High School. I told her he was going to our local HS, Castle View. I just assumed he'd go there. She brought up how she was thinking about sending her daughter to Lutheran HS in Parker and started telling me all the reasons why. It's private, much smaller, the kids get a lot more attention, unlike a bigger school like CV, kids who don't speak up if they need help, don't get lost in the shuffle. And so many other things. As she was telling me about it, I was getting so excited about it. I could see AJ going to LuHi in my head. It seemed like the perfect place for him- so positive- which he needed. Plus, he could play football there, as they don't have any cuts on the team. (I know how bad that might sound, but at the time I wasn't sure if he'd make the team at CV and he didn't need that for his already low confidence).

After A LOT of convincing on both Jason and AJ's end, we went on the school tour, and AJ did a shadow day at LuHi, where he spent an entire day there with a freshman, we decided it was the right fit for him- and I was so excited! It just felt right. 

School starts in a month, however, football started a week after 8th grade ended and I can't begin to describe how AJ has already completely changed. He's standing tall. He's happy. He's responsible. He's remembering to do things (not all, but more!). He's excited. The team is currently having practice 2x a day. 6a-9am and then again 6p-8p and not once has he complained about it (other than how sore he is). He wakes himself up, gets ready on his own. He's getting compliments from the coach about his speed- and it builds his confidence. He's even a little cocky, which is so great to see. He's got a bunch of new friends. And he's HUGE! The kid is working out 5 hours a day and he has almost 0 fat on him. He's got a 6 pack, veins popping out of his arms- it's crazy. I look at him and wonder who is this kid?!

I'm so incredibly proud of AJ. I have always been. I'm just so grateful to see him grow into this amazing young man, with confidence, and desire to be better. I'm so hopeful that wanting to please his coaches is going to make him want to work hard in school this year. I truly believe it will.

That's all for now. 

Hello! It's been a while...

Well, it’s certainly been a LONG time since I last blogged. I’ve said it before, if I stop for too long, it’s hard to get started again. There is too much to catch up on and I can never get to it all. But I figure if I keep waiting, I’ll never start back up.

Here’s some of the things that I can remember that have happened in the past year:

AJ is just finishing up 4^th grade. Yes, I said that. School ends this month and then he will officially be a FIFTH GRADER. I have no words. It goes by so so so fast…. This has been a rough year as far as school goes. His grades have not been that good, he seems to not really care about fixing them- or he doesn’t seen to care enough. Just last month we started with Huntington Learning Center 2x a week. We got to the place where Jason and I were getting frustrated and disappointed way too often and realized he needed more help. While AJ doesn’t seem to care too much about his grades, I know he wants to do better and not have to have more conversations with us about his grades, etc. The tutors at Huntington are very confident that this will be a major help for AJ and get him into 5^th grade on a good start. Jason and I feel good about it and AJ actually enjoys going. It does make for some very long days tho. Tuesday and Thursdays he in in some kind of class from 8am-6pm.

This summer we will not have a nanny like we have in the past (BUMMER), so AJ will be going to MANY weekly camps. He’s excited about it and will be hanging with friends the entire time. He’s also doing swim team again (Cruisers) and VBS. Since my mom moved her (yep, that happened!), she’s going to be helping out with him during the summer too. I know they’ll do a lot of fun things together.

AJ is VERY into video games and watching YouTube videos. I know this is normal for an almost 10 year old, but it’s still weird to me. He’d rather watch YouTube that do things we used to do- like baking things, bike rides, play games.. etc. We still do things together and have fun, but it’s just different. One thing that he and Jason have REALLY gotten into is Air Soft. I haven’t gone with them, but I like to think of it as something similar to paint ball, but they are dressed in camo, wearing helmets and body protection, and they go around shooting people with air soft guns. I’m sure there is much more to it, but that’s what I picture. It’s been a wonderful thing for them to do together and we’re hoping it increases AJ’s assertiveness and confidence. He’s SUCH a sweet boy, but that also makes him a little timid in certain situations.

We didn’t ski as much this year as we’d hoped, but when we did, we had a great time! We went to Steamboat Springs with our friends Celeste, Jeff and their son Luke. We also went to Copper for a weekend with them. Before the end of the season, AJ told me he really wanted to learn to snowboard- he’d mentioned it before, but this time he really meant it. So, I took a day off work and took him to Eldora for an all-day lesson. HE LOVED IT. In fact, he said he’s done skiing… I’m happy no matter what he does, but he’s such a good skier and he can hang with me- I’m hoping he picks up snowboarding quickly. He had a great lesson and the instructor said he’s a “natural”.

We went to Universal Orlando and Disneyworld over New Years- it was a really fun time! Surprisingly, it was REALLY cold there and AJ was afraid of a lot of the rides- which was frustrating, but we still enjoyed it. Our original plan was to do another cruise, but we changed our mind when the hurricanes destroyed the Caribbean. We spent 2 days at Universal and 4 days at Disney. We were exhausted! As usual, we had a great time together.

Some other big news.. WE ARE ENGAGED! Yep, that happened. And I was totally shocked. Jason asked me to marry him (again) on Christmas Eve. We’ve been happily back together for over 5 years and we call each other husband and wife all the time- so I guess it’s time to make it official again! I’m really happy and AJ is too. When we told AJ he was very happy and the first thing he said was “please don’t tell me I’m getting a brother or sister!” hahah! Funny kid. For the record- he’s not. Our plan is to have a small ceremony in Breckenridge over Labor Day weekend. Casual and easy- but fun too!

That’s all the update I have now. It’s time to start planning summer fun days- like AJ’s 10^th birthday party and vacations with friends and family.

More later- hopefully not THAT much later.

Grades Are More Important

As you read in a previous post, AJ made The Rock swim team a few months back. We were all so proud of him and though we knew life would be hectic, we thought we could manage. Turns out, we were wrong. 

I am really sad to report that we have taken him off the swim team for the time being because life was just too busy for us. I say this knowing that other families have more kids, more activities and such, but for us- it was too much.

Our schedule normally was this: Wake up by 7, get AJ to school by 8, then pick him up at 4:30, RUSH to get some homework done by 5 at the Rec Center, swim from 5-545, then come home and figure out dinner, unpack all our bags, finish homework, eat dinner, shower, maybe watch a little TV, repack our bags for the next day and then bed by 8:30. This was 4 days a week. AND to top it off, when Jason traveled, we’d be up by 6, out the door by 7 and then do all the rest. 

We were able to do this for a few months but I started to notice a few things. AJ and I were fighting daily. Fighting because I was always trying to rush him to get here, get there, do your homework, eat your dinner, etc.. It was truly one thing to another. I was also noticing AJ wasn’t progressing all that much with swim. Sure, he’s a good swimmer, but we weren’t doing meets and he didn’t really love it. I sat and watched him each night and it seemed to be the same every day. 

The kicker was when he got a D on his math test. This just about killed me. I knew that he knew the answers; he just was rushing and not paying attention. I got to thinking, we rush around all day and we don’t spend any extra time on homework. I wasn’t even really checking it to be sure if it was accurate. I just needed it done. We didn’t practice spelling or extra math and we stopped reading books. By the time it was 7:30, I was spent! (We all were!)

It took me some time to really make the decision to quit. But it does boil down to his grades being more important than sports. So, last week we took a break and you know what happened? He was the nicest, sweetest, kindest boy. We didn’t fight. He didn’t argue. We didn’t rush. We did extra homework and he’s been getting A’s and B’s on his tests. We had a GREAT week! I think we both feel a sense of relief, but I know we both miss swim. He really did enjoy seeing his friends each night. 

So, going forward, he will still do Cruisers this summer- it’s more fun to swim outside anyway! And who knows, maybe he’ll get back on the team next year. Or maybe not. Maybe he’ll do some fun after school classes he has done and enjoyed in the past.

I feel like we made the right decision.

Thanksgiving 2016- SO THANKFUL!!

Family, football, food, ocean views, and wine… These are words that describe our Thanksgiving. What a wonderful time we all had! It was truly a vacation I won’t forget.

The 3 of us headed to see my Dad and Cory at their house in the Central Coast of California. Matt and Kristin were there along with 2 of Cory’s boys, Eli and Simon. It’s been YEARS since we’ve all been together. We flew out on Wednesday and got to their house after lunch. As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, we love going to their house. It’s so calm, and breezy, with very little things that we have to do. We love being able to walk around the yard, hang with the cats and chickens (who are friendly to each other!) and just be. There is never any agenda, or solid plans. It’s always about doing what we want to do, when we want to. Hence, we spent a lot of time eating, watching football, playing video games and wine tasting. Sounds perfect, right?

Jason, AJ and I stayed at the Spyglass Inn in Pismo Beach which was about 10 minutes from my Dad’s. We had the perfect amount of “us” time hanging at our place, walking on the boardwalk, and playing at the beach a short walk away. But we also spent a lot of time at my Dad’s too. Matt and Kristin and I also stayed at the Spyglass Inn so we had some time with just them as well. We were even lucky enough to have AJ stay with my Dad and Cory one night so we could go out on the town. (THINK OYSTERS!!!)

The view from our ROOM!

Doesn't get much better than this!

The first morning, checking out the ocean

Morning hair :)

Just outside our hotel.

On Friday, my Dad rented a minivan so we could all fit and go wine tasting in San Luis Obispo. It was AMAZING! We didn’t have any plans, or know really where to go, but we found a map and made the most of it. We started out at Talley Vineyards and had the BEST time learning about and drinking wine with our new friend Terry. He was so knowledgably and told the best stories! We also went to Kenzi and Baileyana vineyards too. What an awesome day!

The winetasting crew! (AJ and Pop were our drivers)

Eli and AJ had the best time together playing and talking video games

Love this guy!



Matt, Kristin, Jason and I after nearly 3 dozen oysters.. OH MY GOODNESS!



Our last day.. We had so much fun!

2 of my MOST favorite people!

We would really love to make this a yearly tradition if possible. I wouldn't change a thing about this trip. We had beautiful weather, some rain (which never happens in CA so it was neat), played blocks, watched football and just had quality family time. Couldn't ask for more!

Disneyland Vacation 2016

For Fall Break, we decided to take a family trip to Disneyland! While we've been there a number of times, this time we stayed at the Grand Californian Hotel, which was AMAZING. I haven't ever stayed on the property before and this was fantastic! We could get into the park early, come back and rest, and go back to the park for more fun. We were able to go to both California Adventure and Disneyland.

Cars Land!

Lunch at Rain Forest Cafe

Ready for the Materhorn!

Crazy Driver! Autopia

Riding the swings with Dad- Mom cannot handle swings!

We were also really lucky that we got to go to Mickey's Halloween Party. They shut down the park and only people with a special ticket can come in. We went trick or treating and went on rides and watched the amazing Halloween Parade!

Kylo Ren

Trick or Treating with Dad

Rae, Kylo and Iron Man (Jason isn't big on dressing up)

This is only SOME of the candy he got

Grandma came to visit us for a few hours in Downtown Disney. She and AJ made this awesome remote control car- Thanks Grandma!

Lego Hulk

We had the BEST time and really didn't want to leave.