MY DAZE

Hi mom

i love you a lot because you give me strength to do my best and i like that even if i have hard times at school i still love you
i think you are the best at every thing .

THIS is why you should get THE BEST MOMMY AWARD even if you are having a baby i still love you tomorrow me and you should have a
daughter and mother time

/love you very much

love you daughter kyla mae

Soccer is in full swing. I wish I had more and better photos, but the battery charger is not currently working for my camera. I borrowed a friend's camera to snap some shots of this game, but I would really like more and better pictures to choose from. I'm totally jonesin' for my camera to be in working order. Of course if it was working, I would just bitch that I don't have a 70-300 lens with image stabilization to capture shots all the way across the giant fields these pre-teens play on.

I hope to grace this blog with some more fabulous soccer imagery before the season ends. However, if my photography skills don't improve too drastically, softball is right around the corner.

All of the neighborhood children are equally impressed with the new swingset. This welded together contraption can support full grown adults and all manner of underdogs.



I also plan on getting a hammock swing with a swivel to add to the fun, but until then Riok happily wanders back and forth between the swingset and hammock.

A few moments ago, my daughter came in my room to give me this.

In case the writing on the skirt is hard to read, I took a close-up photo of it too. My heart is melting.

My two year old, upon hearing all of my sighs and cheers about what a wonderful daughter I had and how talented she was, quickly came running into the room with this.

I love these moments. It's times like these that ensures that my dear children do not get thrown out with the weekly trash.

Spring soccer includes A LOT of rain. A LOT!!! I try to be a good mom. I try to be there for all of the games. I am not the parent that drops her child off at the field, considering sports to be code for "Two Hours Free Babysitting."
My daughter had a game today at 10:30 am. It was cold. It was wet. It was raining sideways. I dropped her off at 10:00 to start practicing. I sat in the car with my toddler for half an hour, then got out to watch the game. My darling 2 year old son ran towards the parking lot full of cars 3,000,000,000 times. When I tried to hold him or convince him to stay near in any way he screamed (or is it screeched) at the top of his lungs non-stop. I couldn't decide if trying to keep him from being hit by a car, listening to his piercing screams, or the looks I was getting from other parents was worse. I eventually gave in and went back to wait in the car as I was losing strength and patience to continue holding down a 2 year old.
When the game was over and it was time to actually drive the car, my sweet little pumpkin reminded me how he felt about being strapped down in carseats. By this point I was ready to explain to him how lucky he was to not be one of the many children on leashes. He hit, kicked, bit, and continued the SCREAMING.
Why am I sharing all of this? To illuminate how excited I am for the next one. Can you imagine the fun of this day with a newborn in tow?!?!? I am imagining an exorcist type of look to overcome me. I imagine I will just go through my days with my head spinning and spewing the fluids of insanity.

I have a two year old and a twelve year old. I often worry that my twelve year old will feel a lack of attention due to the difference of attention that one would show a twelve year old compared to a two year old. I don't oooh and awww over her ability to flush the toilet, for instance.

Yet yesterday morning, I woke up ooooh-ing and awww-ing over my adorable daughter. I am on the edge of a cold and haven't been feeling that great. I was still in bed when she came in to tell me good-bye on her way to school. She then tells me, "By the way mama, I made you some coffee for today." I stumble out within the 1/2 hour, ready for a mess or some really terrible coffee or both. Yet, it was delicious and there was no mess to be found.
Next, I stumbled to my laptop. We had snuggled last night watching old episodes of Bones. I have been exhausted lately and fell asleep halfway through the first episode. Yet, when I opened my screen, we were halfway through the second episode. I had to laugh to myself that my daughter had continued watching TV via the net after I fell asleep, reaching over my sleeping body to click into new screens.

After all, why wouldn't a child want to continue watching a drama based on anthropology late into the night and then wake the following morning to brew the daily coffee?

My daughter's school planned on having a winter concert this year to celebrate the holiday season. It was canceled due to snow, ice, and school being out for an extra week. Both the new music teacher and all of the kids were a little disappointed. However, after the holiday break, they rescheduled.
This was the coolest public school concert I've ever seen. They did not just stand up there and sing. They sang different parts, harmonies. There were solos. There were different sections that did recorders or drums during various songs. There were readings by individuals and groups on different holiday traditions. There was a point when tons of kids paired off for some type of swing dancing to "Boogie Woogie Santa Clause." It was amazing!!
Here is a photo of my baby up on stage...ALL BY HERSELF...reading one of the winter traditions.

Thanks to the superior camera stylings of Baz, her amazing editing skills, and the genius of lightroom, I now have more soccer photos to share that don't suck.


These were taken last season, as SuperGirl is now playing basketball.


These photos are much better than the ones I captured for a couple of reasons. First, Baz has become quite skilled at shooting in raw and capturing the moment. Second, she has several amazing camera lenses to choose from with incredible zoom power.



Go ahead Nike, call me.

...on October 30th!!!
Happy Birthday Baby Girl!
Pregnant, a little over 12 years ago....*sigh* (I'm SO old!!!)

Beautiful new baby girl.

Mama loves you, baby

Look how big you are on your first day of school!!

This is one of my favorite all time pics. What a cutie!!

Mommy and Kyla camping.

This is one of Kyla's best friends. They have been together since he was born and he was also here for her 12th birthday party. How awesome is that?! Most of us, as adults, often have a hard time keeping friends for 12 years or more!!

I sewed this BEAUTIFUL creation for Halloween. The fairy wings that went with it are not in this photo, but I worked my butt off on this! I wish I still had the energy and positive thinking for undertakings of this grandeur. I suppose it truly is time to start exercising. *sigh*

Kyla, you truly are a SUPER GIRL!!!

We are a silly family. Thank goodness. I'm not sure I could get through this life sometimes without your laughter. So much of who I am, I owe to you.

You are so strong! You went through several levels of swimming during one season. The older you get, the more I enjoy watching you succeed through physical activity. I am envious of your natural ability at sports. Of course, I'm also a little shamed that you turned a former 'stoner' into a soccer mom.

People say you look like me. Don't worry baby, they're full of crap. You are so much prettier than your mama could ever hope to be. As you're nearing your teens, I am VERY nervous about how absolutely beautiful you are.

The girls on Mother's Day.

See.....SO PRETTY!!!

Kyla with Aunt Chelsey and her brother, Riok.

On Mommy's 30th birthday, just a few months ago...

As Kyla's birthday is so close to Halloween, we often have costume parties...Kyla decided to be a cheerleader for her party this year.

Earrings from Claire's. She also raked in a ton of cool stuff from Hot Topic.

She was equally thrilled and disgusted upon opening her tween gift of sports bras and a shaving kit. Think how shamed she'll be when she reads it online! *gasp*

Happy Birthday Kyla.