Whatever

I keep thinking I need to blog again, but I have no idea what to say. When the bad seems to outweigh the good, sometimes it's better not to say anything. So here is a brief rundown of life instead. I have friends who have lost their jobs, family members who are worried that they will lose their jobs and me, who is not sure how long I will have the one I have too. I have sick family members and those who are struggling who shouldn't be. Then there are those pesky migraines that may not be as frequent, but still so potent. The last one landed me in the hospital and I have still not been able to shake it. There is so much stress in my life that sometimes I don't know if I can handle it. It has definitely come between me and my other half and that is really upsetting as well. Without his support, I am not nearly as strong as I used to be. So, there it is. Reality sucks. I don't think I can pretend today, sorry! I probably should have taken my own advice and said nothing.

Teenagers really don't have it easy...

I used to think that teenagers have it pretty good, you know, they usually get most of what they want and get to come home from school and lay around or just unwind or whatever they want to do for the next few hours. Sounds good to me, right? If only it was that easy. After having a conversation with my oldest son, I am really worried for all of my kids. Yesterday was national weed day or something like that. So many of his friends and acquaintances were taking drugs in one form or another. Smoking it or weed laced brownies (really popular with the girls, I guess) and other ways I am not sure I even understand. He was upset to see so many of his baseball team high and so many of his acquaintances were also high. The hardest part was seeing the kids that he felt were "good mormons" high or talking about getting high later. Even high during seminary. Many of these kids were giving my son a really hard time about not participating. One time won't hurt they said. They went so far as to laugh at him and tell him he is an idiot.

He just blew it off the best he could, but he was still upset this morning. He asked me why so many people make Mormons out to be so weird and something that people would make fun of. I told him that Satan wants to destroy anything good and this is one way he goes about that, but that wasn't enough. I wanted to talk to him for a while, but he had to go in order to catch his bus. But this conversation left me shaken. How can I teach my child to be strong and to be a good example when EVERYONE around him at school is telling him how stupid or weird being a good Mormon is? Even other Mormon kids? Some of the kids he thought were strong were so weak. He is hanging out with more of the "popular" kids at this school than at his last school and if this is what it means to be popular, than forget it! Who needs those kind of friends? I would rather him go through high school with no friends than be like these kids.

I used to think there was a lot of peer pressure when I was in school, but it is so much worse now. It's not just drugs and dating and such, just being a Mormon anymore is a cause for ridicule. My son is being told frequently that Joseph Smith is wrong/crazy or whatever and that Mormons believe things that we obviously don't. He will correct these kids but they just tell him that he doesn't want to admit the truth. He knows it is futile to try to change these kids opinion of the church, but he tries anyway.

I am proud of my son, he has already dealt with a lot in his life, and I really hope he is strong enough to stand up for what is right through the rest of his high school years. I tell him that it may feel like things are really hard and that it won't always be this way. High school may feel like forever, but it isn't. It's just 4 really tough years. Stay strong, hold your head high and hang on to your values. Follow the teachings of the Lord and you will come out of this all right.

I think these 4 years will be really hard for him, but I believe he will make it through ok. But how much worse will it be by the time my younger sons enters high school. That's 5 & 10 years from now. Will they be strong enough to stand up for truth? What about my beautiful daughters? I worry about the pressures put on young women even more. How difficult it will be for them to remain virtuous and righteous young women? My daughters are trusting and kind (most of the time) and so sweet. I hope I can teach them and instill in them enough to get them through the crazy teenage years.

Is anyone else worried too or am I overreacting? Give me your thoughts, please. Thanks everyone!! Now, I am gonna go and play with my younger kids and my nephews. We are busting out the playdough, quickly followed by some paint!

Baseball pics!

If I am not at home babysitting or at church, then I am at one of my kids baseball/softball games. We have 4 kids playing this year so I am posting pics of each one! Bryan is the best photographer in the family, but I actually took some of these posted here. I am kinda proud of a few of these pics, esp the action shots of the boys!

First is Jenna (with her Dad as an assistant coach) playing for the Ironbirds T-ball!

Next is Connor, playing for the Owlz in the Minors division! Check out his pitching sequence...he is awesome! (Yes, I took the pitching sequence. Go me!)

Next is Miss Kaitlyn, also in the Minors division but she is playing Softball! She is doing really good and just got her first hit!!

She is in the middle of this pic, playing 2nd base.


Next up in Jonathan, playing for the freshman team at Shepherd Jr. High. He has worked his way from not playing much to playing quite a bit and even starting some games! (I took the pics of Jon when he is in the blue jersey.)

He is now in the blue jersey and base running on 3rd. This pic is best enlarged, but the look of concentration on his face is awesome!
He started this game playing first and if you look right above his throwing arm, you can see the ball.Again, this pic is best seen enlarged, but look closely and you can see the ball coming off his bat. It was a nice line drive over short stop's head for a single!!
Jon and his best friend, Stuart, when he was really young. Stuart plays for Taylor and we killed them in this game! Shepherd is still undefeated this season! Way to go Shepherd!

And lastly, this is what Alex does to keep himself entertained during the games!

This is how I can tell when Bryan has been taking pictures. There will end up being an airplane and always some nature shots!

Anyway, baseball has made us crazy busy, but we enjoy watching the kids play and it won't last that long!!

Have a great day!

Job Interview!!

Bryan has an interview with the IRS!! It was scheduled for Friday, but they have changed it to Thursday. I don't care what day or whatever, it's an interview!! He applied about a month ago for an irs agent positon and then was invited to take their online assesment test about 2 weeks ago. Everything we have heard says that it takes abt 3 to 4 weeks to hear the results, let alone be invited to interview, so we are pretty excited! I think he must have done a really good job on the assesment test, which took over 2 hours! This is a job he has always said he would love to do, so that makes me happy! I hope the interview turns into a job, he deserves it! Please send thoughts and prayers our direction this week! We will let you know what happens!

Hard work and patience pays off!

While I wish the payoff was in the form of a good job for my husband, it's not. However, I am really proud of Jonathan and wanted to share why. He worked really hard to make the Shepherd Baseball team and was told by the coach early on that he wouldn't play very much but that if he worked really hard and never gave up that he would have a chance to play sometimes. He was really discouraged by this and it was really hard for him to go back the next day. He thought about quitting, but loves baseball and doesn't want to be a quitter. He went every day and worked as hard as he could and tried to always be positive. Not much changed for a while, but slowly the coach started putting Jonathan in the games as a pinch hitter or runner. Then he let him in at 1st base towards the end for an inning or two if the team was ahead. During this, he never gave up and always tried to get better. He would get down sometimes, but he always kept trying. Tuesday during batting practice, Jonathan hit a couple of home runs (over the fence) for the first time. He was so excited! Then at yesterday's game, coach told Jonathan he was starting as 1st baseman and against his old Smith team even! He was so happy about that. Jon didn't make any errors in the field and played the first 4 of 5 innings with 2 singles and got on base with a pitch that hit him in the calf (ouch!!). Shepherd won the game 14 to 3.

I just want him to know how proud I am of him for not giving up, even when he thought things would not get better. Times have been a little rough for him lately, in life as well as baseball. He has been such an example to me of enduring through everything. Never giving up. I have been so close to giving up so many times, but I know I can't and I won't. How can I when I have 5 amazing children and my best friend (my sweet hubby!) counting on me to keep going even when I feel like things won't ever change. Someday things will begin to look up and I have to be strong until they do. Even if it takes a really long time! So, thanks to my family and friends for always being strong for me that I may follow your examples! I look at so many of you and an strengthened by your courage. You are truly good and kind people! I love you all!

Here are a few pics to for you all to see Jon at first base, although this was the game before the Smith game. We couldn't make it to the Smith game. :(

I couldn't help throwing this pic in. Bryan was focusing on the field and Alex popped up there. He is fuzzy but the face he is making makes me laugh every time I see it! So I hope you laugh too!

Have a great day, everyone!!

Culture Pass

Well, I heard about the Culture Pass that's being given out at the Library and I thought I would go and see if I could get passes to the zoo. Friday there is no school and the weather is nice so I wanted to do something fun! So I loaded up the kids and we went to the library on Tuesday morning. I had overdue books anyway, so I figured I wasn't wasting my time if they had no passes. Well, I get there and find out the passes are put out every Wed. morning as soon as they open and it is a first come first serve free for all. Sounds intimidating, but I figure I would try so that Friday would be something fun and different. I will have the kids I babysit too, so I wanted to change things up a bit and have some outside of my house fun!

Well, I get there this morning with my four boys in tow and see a pretty long line already. I am like, "Great! I hope there are plenty of passes!" Not so, I learn. One of the women in line in front of me tells me there are only 5 passes released for each place, including the zoo. Also, only one pass was allowed per card with each pass admitting 4 people. I am realizing that I am about the 30th person in line and thinking I am not going to get what I want, since I am hearing people in the front saying they are going for the zoo, too. So, I figure I am there and might as well just see what happens and then they open the doors. I grab the boys hands and tell them to stay close and don't let go! They were so awesome and stayed close and totally obeyed! They were probably a bit overwhelmed by the experience, I sure was! People just ran to the kiosk and started grabbing the passes not really looking at what they were for. The first pass I grabbed was for Cave Creek Museum and was like, "no, not even!" and went for the only one that said children anywhere! I got the Children's Museum of Phoenix. I figured that would have to do and got out of the melee! There were people grabbing 5 or 6 passes at a time and then choosing what they wanted. Kinda annoying, but I guess I don't blame them.

After you choose a pass, you have to wait in the customer service line to check the passes out that way and not in the kiosks to check out books. So then the line for that was pretty long and the boys had been good enough, so we went to the puzzle and toy section and played there until the line was gone. That was the best thing!! So I check out my pass (which is now just a small receipt looking thing) and am going to the Children's Museum of Phoenix on Friday with my friend Laurie! I am actually excited that I got this one instead of the zoo. I have never been there and some of the kids have been there on field trips and loved it. So, I will bring my camera and show you all about it! If anyone else wants to go, too, let me know! The more the merrier!
If anyone is curious about the program and what places are available to visit, I have put a link to the culture pass website at the bottom of the post.

Bye for now!

http://www.showup.com/culturepass