Out of the Mouth of Babes....

The boys are on Fall Break this week which is a major bummer because we are in between paychecks and don't have $$ to do anything really fun. So, I figured I would make them tag along on my hike this morning...LOL

They were great, we all got to the top before any major meltdowns but once we started heading down the complaints started....

Noah kept talking about his aching feet, etc. So in distraction I asked him what he wanted Santa to bring him for Christmas. Noah's reply was......

"A feet massage" LOL I almost fell I was laughing so hard. He is too smart and too much like me when it comes to the smart alec responses... :) I'm not sure Santa has ever heard a request quite like that from a 6 year old!

Football, Football.....More Football and a Changing Pre-Teen!

This weekend we once again had numerous games. Christian and I took Noah out to Anthem for his 8am game. He was phenomenal! Noah must have taken 15 flags during the game which is a huge fete... :)

We then dropped off Noah with a friend and raced to Christian's game where we met up with Jason and Ryan. Ryan won his game and got to run the ball....of course, I missed it! bummer!

Christian's game was insane! I have never seen or heard a harder hitting game in Pop Warner in my life. We were really worried about the boys for awhile but it worked out and they won! Christian had a blast....he helped block for the quarterback and took the QB down a time or two. At the end of the game Christian was laughing at something a teammate had said and I caught it on camera....LOVE that pic.

During this fabulously crazy weekend, we started to notice a difference in Christian's speech......he must be hitting puberty because his voice is changing! Fluctuating between high, low and cracking...LOL I told him it was okay, that it was a part of growing up but I didn't have to worry about him till he got armpit hair. To which he calmly pulled his shirt up and showed my blond hairs! AAAHHHHHHH
He is twelve.....a huge 12 I know....but still 12 and I am just not ready for all of that yet!!!! URGGGGGG.....

Unfortunately, because I wasn't at Ryan's game there aren't any pics of him and because I had to take stats during Noah's game there aren't any of him either.....we will have to make up for it next week....enjoy the MATURE shots of Christian! :)

Out of Sight...Out of Mind

Yesterday I was at Waldenbooks....(Big Surprise, I know!) While I was there I decided to check the kids section for the boys. One of the sections was labled "Things to Know". As I started to walk past I saw three different books on OBAMA right up front facing outwards.....urgg. Personally, I would never put him on a list of "Things to Know" for my children but it doesn't surprise me that he is EVERYWHERE right now.

You might be wondering what I did when I saw those books....... well...... I calmly acted like I was looking at a different book while I hid all the Obama books in the back of the shelf underneath three books on Guiness Records....LOL

I know, so bad......but it felt SO GOOD! :)

Out of sight....out of mind!

"The Most Represented Family"

In True Shaver Fashion...the kids and I participated in a Family Talent Show at their school on Friday night. We had a blast! Noah and I sang Alvin and the Chipmunk's "Witch Doctor" with Noah as Alvin and Mom as the DJ...LOL All throughout the song I kept hearing, "He is so cute"....(I agree girlz!)

Then Ryan and I took the stage singing a Nickleback song. I was so impressed with him. He isn't usually up for something like this and I thought it was great that he wanted to do it. He also had a wonderful time playing air guitar in the middle of the song...LOL

Christian then took the stage playing, "Sweet Home Alabama" on the electric guitar. It was amazing, with a great solo in the middle.

Drum roll please.......BMS took the stage next. (BMS is the name of the Band that Christian and his two best friends created. It stands for the first initial of each of their last names!) They played "Rock The Hurricane" and brought the gym down...LOL Of course, it helped to have their parents sitting front row chanting BMS with rock hands waiving....LOL (We jokingly said this was the first of many performances and we can say, we saw it!) I was so impressed with all of them.

At the end of the night that crazy Shaver Clan took home....."Most Represented Family" to which Jason replied, "Great, now I have to get involved in the spring so that we can be reigning champions"....LOL

Saturday was of course filled with football for 12 hours but Ryan and Christian's teams both won so it was a great time!

On a personal note...I think it is so great how GFF's Heaven Bible Study is changing my relationship with the Lord. I find myself being so thankful for His presence in the oddest situations. Last night something happened at the football field (sigh...yes we are always there..LOL) and I thanked the Lord outloud in front of a group of friends for putting blinders on Jason during something. It was the best thing at the time for the situation and it just felt great to (A) realize that God had a hand in it and (B) be able to openly thank Him for being there with us without worrying about what others may think. Very cool!!!!

Fun, Sun, Exhaustion and a Mini-Heart Attack!!!

This weekend we actually had all three boys playing on the same field which is a minor miracle. BUT......the day started at 7am and we didn't leave the field till almost 7pm...YUCK. We were so tired by the end of the day we were falling asleep in the stands.

It started with Noah's Flag Game

Then on to Ryan's Game

We ended with Christian's Game

Yes....Christian got hurt...urgggg. He tackled someone and fell on his hand wrenching his wrist. The Coach made him stay down till the medic could check him out. I was up, running down the bleachers, jumped the fence and was on the field before the medic was fully there! My heart was POUNDING in my chest and I was chanting, "please don't be broken" over and over. The referree looked at me and was trying to get me to go back to the stands when I told him. "You don't understand, he broke his leg in two places on this exact field a year ago and was in a wheelchair for 16 weeks" He looked at me and said, "Okay Mom, lets just stay here and wait for the medic together" LOL Sheesh talk about scary. After the fact I found out that Christian was okay but the Coach was having the same flashbacks I was and made him stay down when he wanted to get up! We were able to tape his wrist and he wanted back in the game.

The next day we had team pictures and Christian's arm was starting to get pretty swollen. By 4pm from the elbow down was so swollen his fingers were turning blueish. So off to the ER we went to have xrays where the nurses and doctors tell me they are pretty sure he is broken. Thankfully the xrays told a different story. HE IS NOT BROKEN....just a bad sprain and he needs to get the swelling down. So thankful he is not broken, but on the other hand.....I was not happy to find out he didn't wear the arm/wrist guards I had bought for him on Friday. Had he worn them this could have been alot different! Trust me, he will wear them next time. LOL

I wish I had a fun family moment for you all...but unfortunatley it was just busy, busy with lots of dramatic effects to keep us on our toes...LOL

So Are The Days Of Our Lives..... :)

So the past week has been insanely busy, AS USUAL, in our household. I won't bore you with the complete details but suffice it to say we managed to have 3 people with fevers, one child with strep & impetigo, 3 football games that lasted from 7am to 5pm on Saturday and a junior high dance....to name a few!

Knowing that I will never have a girl has been a bit sad for me but I love, love, love my boys and couldn't imagine life without them. As they are starting to get a bit older I found myself missing those 'Baby' moments with them especially with the influx of babies we seem to have at church! :) But I am happy to say that there is something wonderful about seeing your children mature and start developing the character that will frame them throughout life. This weekend I realized how amazing it is to be so close to Christian. As a mom, I of course think the world of him but I just can't express how great it feels to see how he acts around me and away from me. Point of reference: On Friday, Christian met 'Destiny' at his 1st junior high dance. At the end of the dance she asked him to come meet her dad. All their friends started making noises and laughing at Christian telling him not to do it. But Christian went with her and even though he was extremely nervous this is how the exchange went:

Destiny: "This is my Dad..."
Christian: "Hi Sir, I'm Christian Shaver and I am Destiny's friend"
Destiny's Dad: A long pause......."Christian, thank you so much for being a
gentleman and actually introducing yourself to me and calling me
sir. I am glad that you are friends with Destiny."

HOW AWESOME IS THAT!
Those little things we have been trying to instil in him have taken hold and he uses them! Then on Friday night Christian and Noah are watching TV in the living room when I hear this:

Christian: "Noah, you need to pray to God that he heals you tonight for your
game tomorrow. That is what I did last night so that I could go to my
dance."
Noah: "God, please make me better so I can play my first flag football game
tomorrow, AMEN"

LOVE IT, LOVE IT, LOVE IT

So far all the ladies that are worried about losing the 'baby' feeling......there are still profound moments waiting for us with our children. I just can't wait to see how they turn out!

Ryan has had a difficult week with behavior but is hopefully turning it around for the better. He wants to audition for the talent show at school....(Wonder who's genes gave him that drive? LOL)

Here are a few pics from Saturdays games.....

In A Funk!

Have you ever just been in a FUNK for no apparent reason? Well......that is me this weekend. It was a crazy/busy weekend as usual with Certifications from 5pm - 8:00pm on Friday night. We then raced Christian and Ryan to their friends house for a party and took Noah and his friend to dinner. Saturday morning had us racing back to get Christian and Ryan by 7:30am so that we could race to Anthem for a Scrimmage. After the scrimmage, we drop Noah's friend off and race over to the Grand Opening of Fans & Fashionistas for a fundraiser for North Association Pop Warner. We had a few moments of rest in the afternoon and then we did chores and settled in for a family movie. Of course, ALL THREE German Shepherds had to fight about who layed next to me until finally I had one between my legs and one on each side. (Honestly, its like I have 7 children sometimes......the boys, the dogs and Jason...LOL)
Sunday morning comes and before the sun is up I am up and out of bed at 4:15am in order to make a 5:00am Training Walk. I walked 14 miles and then raced home to take the family to the pool for a few hours.
I am looking forward to relaxing my tired legs and just resting when we get the call that Jason's Dad is coming in tonight at 8pm. I really like Larry but oh....I don't feel like cleaning. What is it about us women that requires us to go insane and snipe at the entire family while we hurry around cleaning the oddest things when someone is coming over?
Needless to say, I didn't get my rest in today but I have managed to put together a PowerPoint slide deck for my 6am Video Conference Call tomorrow morning, make salsa, wash 7 loads of laundry leaving 5 more left to do and clean everything in site.

This all leads me back to the FUNK......the funk occurred when I realized that nothing Fantastic happened this weekend it was just the same CRAZY,BUSY Shaver lifestyle. Nothing terrible happened, no one is fighting, I'm just in a FUNK. Maybe I am exhausted and my body doesn't know it yet.... LOL Maybe its sadness for not being able to join my Extended Family from GFF at Family Camp. Who knows......I'm hoping the FUNK goes away once I finish writing down my rantings on life this weekend. Pathetic I know...but sometimes writing it down helps cleanse it all.

In conclusion.......here is to the disappearance of the FUNK! :)