Staying strong!

As some of you know, I have had a really hard time dealing with the hand that life has dealt me. I still am, but today I am feeling stronger. One foot in front of the other. That's the best I can do, right? It's been hard to accept that I don't know when or if things will ever get better. There are times I feel angry and times I feel jealous and even resentful of others and what they appear to have. I know it's not right or fair, but it's how I sometimes feel. But today, I don't have any of that. I am still broke and my hubby is still dreadfully underemployed and nothing has changed, but I am trying to be grateful for what I do have.

Besides, JT won Survivor and Kris won American Idol, so things can't be all that bad, can they?

Oh, on the funny side, at least to me it's funny, Jonathan always says he bombed his finals in a class or two and I always tell him that he does better than he thinks. He said he bombed the science final and I laughed and told him he would get an A like he always does. He was very insistent that he failed so I was starting to believe him this time. He just texted me that he got a 100%. Silly kid! that's a perfect score, sooo far from bombing! He is funny, to me!

Anyway, I am trying to find humor and fun in this crazy and depressing time in my life. I hope you can all do the same in the bad times and make sure to recognize and appreciate the good times. Whenever they are!

Meet the New Vice President!!

Kaitlyn won!! I am so excited for her! I honestly did not know if she could win because there were 9 kids running and we have only been here for about 8 months. SHe was so happy, she came in the house and said that another girl won and she looked like she was trying to be happy. In reality, she was trying to contain her excitement! So, yeah to my smart, beautiful, kind daughter who was brave enough to go for something she wants! CONGRATULATIONS!! You Go, Girl!!

Super Duper Kaitlyn Hooper!

Kaitlyn has decides to run for Vice President for next year. The campaining starts this week and she has to do a speech on Thursday. I am proud of her for putting herself out there and trying for this! Her slogan is "Super Duper Kaitlyn Hooper for Vice President!" Note the Superman logo with an H instead of S. We thought it was clever! Voting is either Thursday or Friday, not sure, but good luck, Kaitlyn! We love you!!

So busy! So loud!!

Man, I don't seem to have 5 minutes to myself now a days! So busy here! Every night baseball, meetings, YM, grocery shopping or whatever. I will be glad for things to slow down! And the noise! There is always someone laughing/talking/singing/crying/wannabe beat boxing or whatever! Sometimes I would just like to stand in my living room and scream "BE QUIET!!" Lol! Oh well, that's not gonna happen! Mostly the sounds are happy, but mix that with the TV and it's like chaos exploded in my home! I have had my nephews a bit more than usual, my sil is battling something and is stuck in the hospital. Going on 4 days with no end in sight. She should be ok, but I am still worried about her. Her boys are being good, but they really miss their mom. 4 days without seeing her tiny girl and sweet boys! Poor kids and my poor brother! He doesn't like being a single dad!

On another note...tonight is the first night in about 2 months where we don't have to go anywhere!! Yeah to being home! I am gonna catch up on laundry and start to empty my DVR. It is exploding! How old am I getting when I am so happy to stay home on a Friday night? At least I am in a good mood!! Yeah for cheering up and so happy to have my hubby home soon!!

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!