We finally got a Helton!!!

We've been Rockies fans for a long time now. My daughter was born into being a fan. At 6 months of age Neifi Perez signed the butt of her little outfit and posed for a picture. 4 years later, he signed a ball glove of hers and posed for another picture. 1 week later he was traded.
There were a few years where Tuki didn't care if she got an autograph or not. These past few years have been quite the opposite though. Oh what a sad day it was when she found out Matt Holliday had been traded. She now says Oakland is her favorite team because of him. She never got a Holliday autograph, but that would have been sweet for her.
The one that has caused us the most pain and frustration is Todd Helton. He's been with the team for awhile, and people seem to flock when he comes to the side to sign. A couple of years ago, we were in a bad spot at the end of a long line of fans. It seemed we'd have no luck getting any of the players down where we were. As luck would have it, Helton decided to start at that end. Tuki was right down front right up against the railing. The next thing I new, kids and adults were crowding around and I could no longer see my daughter. People were pushing and shoving. Todd was telling the kids to quit hitting his arm in hopes of an autograph. I was pulling people off my daughter as I could now she she was squished underneath a small crowd. I went into mommy panic mode. Todd had enough with everyone and walked off. The crowd dissipated and my daughter was in tears. Partly because her hips were bruised from being crushed against the railing, but mostly because all that pain didn't even get her a Helton. I was frustrated that greedy people don't care who they hurt physically, so long as they get what they're after. I think my daughter felt the same way.
Last year we tried for autograph's and I learned to stand right behind my daughter with my mommy elbows ready to backfire on anyone ready to lunge. We had no luck.
This year, we finally went to a week day game. We figured out the key to autograph's. Go on a slow day and stand right by the dugout. First we got Ianetta to sign Tuki's baseball. Next was Stewart. Oh there's Helton in the dugout. He ran out and waved to the fans at the rail, then went on his way to stretch and warm up. About 15 minutes later, oh wait, is he walking this way? I think he is. He'll probably turn to the dugout last minute. Nope he's coming right toward us. He started a couple of people down and worked toward my daughter. All the fans were so polite. Tuki got her autograph and I asked for a photo op for her and what do you know. No one got injured or got their feelings hurt in the obtaining of this coveted autograph and picture. Success!!! We got a Helton!!!
The last autograph was with Fowler. He also warmed up first, but once he was finished, it seemed he picked Tuki out of the crowd, because he ran straight to her for the autograph. ( I think it's a black thang. He saw a little sista and thought he'd give her his first autograph of the night.
To top it off, the Rockeis won. Helton got a home run and Stewart got a grand slam. I think it had to do with my baby having contact with them before the game. I'll forever believe that as fact.

I have nothing to wear!!!

How many times have I heard that phrase? Too many. There's nothing like a constantly messy room and a garage sale to bring out the truth. It wasn't that she had nothing to wear. She had option overload and her poor little brain couldn't decide from the millions of choices. So, we weeded out more than half her wardrobe to make life easier.

Happy Mother's Day!

To any moms who happen across this blog, "Happy Mother's Day!" I remember at age 16 my mom would ask me what I want to do in life. "I want to be a mom." That's not a job, she would tell me, and again ask what I wanted to do after school. " I want to be a mom!" That is what I wanted. During the few years before I gave birth to my daughter, I had this recurring dream of me playing with a little girl. I was sitting at the end of the bed and she was sitting on my lap. I would lean her back and ask her, "Do you love me?" She would giggle and say "NO!" I would lean her back again and ask, "Do you love me?" Again she would giggle and respond with "NO!" A third time I would repeat, "DO you love me?", and she would hug me and say "I love you mommy." I knew that was my future daughter. I had told a friend of mine about that dream, and in my third month of pregnancy, before the ultrasound, I stated that I knew it was a girl and it was the girl in that dream. I never again had that dream.
I don't know if I'm meant to have anymore children. If I meet the right man and if God has it in His plan for a larger family for me, then I am all for it. I do want more, but I am more than blessed to have my "dream girl."
That dream kind of symbolizes my relationship with my daughter. We giggle and joke and it always comes back to love. In a time when I was being young and independent, I did get caught up in a moment and that moment had nothing to do with love, but the end result was love in pure form. There are so many days I wonder why, when I was so far from praising and pleasing God, He chose to bless me with such perfection. Thank you God for allowing me to be a mother. Most of all, thank you for the perfect gift of my daughter! God is Love!

Isn't she Beautiful?!

Here are the pictures I took of my daughter right before we raked up the leaves this past fall. I told her to run in and change into something photo worthy. She knew what she was doing, and I just love the way they turned out!

Memories of OK

I know I just wrote a book on the last post, but it got me thinking about Oklahoma. More specific, I had brought up the scars on my toes and now I am thinking aobut all those scars and how I got most of them.
I kinda liked growing up out in Yukon. I remember most of all, I loved rainy days in Yukon. Very rarely was there lightning with our rain (something we see on a regular basis in CO. We even have thunder snow). I remember, my neighbor and friend, Michelle and I would wear our Underoos (sp?) out in the street, and when her brother would bug us about being outside in our undewear, we'd swear it was our swimsuits. Who were we fooling? I loved my Wonder Woman Underoos. Anyway, we'd sit right next to the curb where the water would rise. I remember it being warm rain too. Then we would race each other up and down the street and kick at the deep water by the curb to make it splash. Can you see how I'd end up with cut toes? Sometimes I'd drag my feet while running which would scrape a toe. Even so, most of those cuts came from playing in the rain.
I even remember the few times my feet were affected from things other than the rain. Our housing area was brand spanken new when we moved in. Other than the show homes, we got one of the first houses built in that subdivision (we even have polaroids of the entire building process) Too bad it now looks very run down. The house right across the street from ours was still being built when we (myself, my sister, and our 2 neighbors) decided to climb the mountain of sawdust left on the front lawn. Well, along with the sawdust were boards and NAILS!!! Yikes! I remember my bare feet feeling so good in the saw dust. I also remember taking a step right on top of a nail, then while trying to back of the mound, I stepped on another nail with the other foot. The neghbors' mom was "watching" us that day and I remember her having some ointment that stung like crazy. I was dreading having that put on the bottom of both feet. Maybe I passed out or something because I don't remember the pain after that. I don't know if I hobbled around for awhile, or if I picked up and ran off down the street ready for my next injury. I just don't know.
I do know that I wear my toe scars with pride. I think it needs to warm up here so I can wear sandles more often so I can look at my scars and smile!

Been Awhile

Wow! Talk about a hiatus. What can I say? I've been busy. Life has been busy. I forgot all about my blog in the midst of everything. My sister reminded me of the important things in life...all of which have to do with the internet. Should I recap the past couple of years? I think not. I'll just pick up from here, meaning the fast few months, with thoughts from way before then.
For a couple of years now, I have been toying with the idea of moving. As a kid and teenager, Colorado was the place to be. I loved coming out here to go skiing. When dad got transferred, I honestly believed I would spend everyday on the mountain. Classes would take place at the top of the slopes (kind of like the Sunday services most resorts have). All my friends would be ski bums and we would hang out in lodges while not skiing. My wardrobe would consist of ski pants, cute Swiss sweaters, and the brightest colored sunblock stripe right down my nose. Oh yes this was going to be the life. Funny, it never happened that way. In the entire 155 months I have lived in Colorado I have maybe been skiing 10-15 times total.
This part of Colorado is the complete opposite of the ski bum's dream. I am in a suburb of people who are too busy to say "Hi", wave or give common courtesies. My daughter goes to a school full of kids who are growing up faster than I ever did. I'd like to blame it on the water and all the extra additives in food, but plain old busy parenting is what's to blame. Suburbia is a place of "see how much one can pack into a day!" My daughter wants to have a birthday party. Well, this all depends on the soccer/hockey/lacrosse/football/baseball/softball/musical instrument/choir/you get my drift schedule. Yes, my daughter fits into two of the above categories. Most of her friends fit into 3 or more of those categories. I feel like my head is spinning. I feel like my 11-year-old has no idea what it's like to be an 11-year-old.
So, two years ago I was looking at Nova Scotia. My grandfather was born there so why not? Reality is, I'm not ready to change my citizenship. Maine was appealing too, but who lives in Maine? Virginia? I've lived there in the Army, loved the weather, but crime rate is high and I don't see me raising my daughter there. Tennessee I was very close to considering just a couple of months ago. They have an elephant sanctuary there and I would love to get the entry level position working there. But, it's nothing I've ever known. As much as I want to work with animals, elephants are a HUGE responsibility (pun intended). Due to the fact that part of my moving is to get away from some family members, I was under no circumstance going to agree with them that Oklahoma would be a great place to live. I think I wrote it off just because they suggested it. I looked at all the above mentioned places again and again, but it came back to what feels right. Oklahoma feels right. Not that the OKC/Yukon/Mustang areas sound right, but Oklahoma sounds right.
Here I am looking at the greater Tulsa area. Everyone I know says it's a beautiful area. I want to live outise the suburbs. Close enough to civilization I can run into town for the needs, but far enough away to have peace and quiet. I want my daughter to run outside barefoot and play in the rain. Those are my best memories of growing up in OK and I have scars on every single toe to prove it. I want my daughter to realize it's okay to go outside and find a grasshopper so interesting she forgets she's been following it for over an hour. Thus begins a trip down memory lane. Somehow, I pushed Oklahoma so far into the "I don't wanna go back there" corner, I've forgotten what was so great about growing up there. I wish I could rewind some of my daughter's life so she could go back and learn to be a kid again. I feel like she has been forced to hurry and grow up that I find myself telling her to "grow down." Yes, I say this to her all the time.
Now is the time (Okay maybe not right now, but in the next few months). Oklahoma is the place. How it will happen? I don't know. What work will I find? I don't have a clue. How will I afford to start over on a single income for 2? Pray, pray, and pray. I am lining up applications in hopes of setting interviews in June. We'll see what the future holds.

Time Flies!

Takyra is already on her first break of school. Since she is in year round school she has 4 breaks throughout the year. This is a 3 1/2 week break. She has already been in school for 9 weeks. CRAZY!
Yesterday she dealt with some bullies. Takyra went out for morning recess and snack time. She left her food where she had been sitting and decided to go play for a little while. Whlie playing she noticed some older girls had her food and she went to tell them it was hers. The girls ran off with her food and she chased them, teling them it was hers. They decided to make a gameof it and tossed the food back and forth in a game of keep away. Takyra's food ended up all over the playground and I got a call saying I needed to bring her some lunch. " I don't think so!!!" My response was that the two 5th graders that thought it would be fun to take her food should have to pay for her lunch and the families should be aware of the actions, and consequences of their daughters' actions.
The day ended on a good note and now Takyra can live the next 3 1/2 weeks bully free.
I have just had both my big toes worked on ( ingrown toenails) and am hobbling around everywhere. Once I can stand to wear regular shoes again, we'll be heading back to Six Flags and making me queezy on the roller coasters. Takyra is a die hard fan of thrill rides while I have lost my touch and stomach for them. Who knew?
I'm jsut trying to live life day by day and trying to slow it down a little. I cna't believe we are in the final stretch of the year. From here on out there are holidays and functions that make the rest of the year fly by. I'm not ready for Takyra to turn 9, but I have no control over that.
man time flies!!!

Fall Softball Season

I finally put Takyra in softball. She loves it! She is playing on an introductory team, which means every game is a lesson for the girls. They range from 6-8 years of age and their attention spans show it well. The girls rotate positions so that they can learn each one for the more competitive teams in the future. Before the season started, I began practicing with Takyra at the softball fields close to the house. We had practiced slow pitch all along. I later found out it is fast pitch softball. Luckily Takyra was ready for it. It is coach pitch and he pitches according to each girl's ability. The coaches are out in the field telling the girls how to make the plays when the team is on the field. When up to bat, there is the pitching coach, 1st and 3rd coaches and one can stand behind the catcher and coach the batter. Total instructional softball. Next year, she moves up to competitive level. As much as we both loved gymnastics ( me watching her, and her doing it) we like softball even better. Even with my shoulder still sore, I love going out and helping with the practices. I am the assistant to the assistant coach. The assistant would be my dad. Yes, it is a family thing and we love it. Takyra has decided she likes catcher best and she wants to continue with softball from now on. I was wondering when she would figure it all out. It just wasn't natural to be from a line of softball players and she had nothing to do with the sport. it jsut ook getting a team together for her to realize how much fun it is.
It has it's moments though. Some of the girls have such short attention spans, they can't help but get distracted. The coaches daughter is the best at this. She maybe lasts 30 seconds before she's sitting down scribbling in the dirt. This past week we were practicing and Takyra was up to bat. I had informed the coach that Takyra was hitting fast balls at the batting cages and could probably handle him pitching faster to her. So he did and she hit it hard. Guess who wasn't paying attention? The coaches daughter!!! She took the ball straight on the hip. Tears were flowing and the brat of the team decided Takyra needed to be scolded. So Takyra was crying too. I informed the girls that none of them are good enough to hit the ball exactly where they want to, so it is nobody's fault that someone got hit. The coach in turn said, " The more you get hit, the stronger you become." He wasn't worried about it and made sure the girls realize they are going to get hit in this game. They managed to make it through practice without anymore injuries.
The season is only 7 weeks long, but we are enjoying every minute of it. It's been good for the whole family. Who knows what sport she'll embark on next.

First Day of 3rd Grade

Takyra was up at the crack of dawn today. I'm surprised she got any sleep at all. When I fell out of bed, she was already dressed and had her lunch packed. She looked at me and said, " I can't believe I'm growing up. I'm not your baby anymore." I couldn't believe my ears. She quickly recovered, " Well, I'll always be your baby. Even when I'm 16 and get my license, I'll be your baby." She proceeded to list all the stages in life when she will still be my baby.
Her ensemble for the first day of school is quite a site. She has several back to school outfits, but she couldn't help, but pick the brightest and wildest of them all. She has blue camouflage pants, a purple camou backpack, a pink camou lunch box, and green Converse hi tops ( The one pair of shoes she thought she could never live without). She has camouflage overload on today. Even so, I am certain her teacher will be able to find her.
We walked to school and quickly spotted her classmates. With year round school, she keeps the same classmates, only this year her class went up in size by 4 kids. The boy who sits next to her is new to the class, but was at the school last year. His mom is the art teacher. When I asked if they knew each other, he replied, " Yeah, I sat by her on the bus to field trips last year and she was annoying." Oh really now. "I mean she was kind of goofy." Good recovery boy. I might have had to pull his chair out from under him when he sat down. Even so, Takyra wanted her picture taken with him and I won't be surprised if he is her crush of the year. We unpacked all her school supplies, which overflowed off her desk. Kids were running everywhere making sure they got their supplies into the right piles. It isn't the way it was when I was a kid. We had long summers and there was so much to talk about when we saw our friends again. Takyra's class has only had a 5 week break and her day camp is at the school, so she has seen quite a few friends during that short time. So, not much catching up to do between her and her friends. After I got a few pictures of her and her classroom, I decided it was time for me to let her be a 3rd grader. One of the other moms came in and said it was pouring down rain outside. I thought about waiting to walk home, but figured a little rain never hurt anyone. If that was pouring down, I'd hate to see what she thinks when it really does come down. It was a light rain. One of those rains that you love when you are hiking or camping. Just enough to cool you off, but doesn't leave you wanting dry clothes. As I walked home in this "downpour" I was thinking that it was very significant of a fresh start. God was showing me the gentle freshness of a new day. I loved it, and I am not at all worried that my baby just started 3rd grade.
My only complaint about school in this day and age is how much "stuff" there is. We bought everything except the teacher's wardrobe this year. I know when Takyra gets home there will be plenty of papers to sign and at least 4 things that require payment of some sort. Yes, it is the start of a new school year. There are no black boards in her school. All dry erase boards. There is nothing like the smell of chalk. I guess when Takyra looks back and remembers school, she'll think there's nothing like the smell of dry erase markers. By the time she has kids it will be all computerized. So long as my daughter gets a good education, I don't care what means they use. I'm sure she is enjoying her first day, and it is only a matter of time before she is tired of the work involved with 3rd grade. Multiplication, cursive writing, and lots of homework. My next entry will be about stressed 8-year-olds.

Out of Nowhere!

Ever had one of those days where everything is going okay, and out of nowhere the world turns upside down? Today was one of those days. I went to work and was having my usual fun day. I was enjoying the customers and all was going smoothly. I went to lunch and mailed a package during my one hour break and even had time to spare once I got back to the salon. Then "IT" happened. I went back to work after lunch and had a walk-in client. ( How else he would have come in, I don't know) Anyway, back to the seriousness. I called his name, "Jackson." He was so excited to be getting his hair cut and he knew exactly which car he wanted to sit on. For those of you who don't get that, my salon has little battery operated cars for the kids to sit in instead of your basic stylist chair. Now, Jackson is a new 3-year-old and it seems that his 3-year-old body wants to move faster than his feet. They must still be in the 2-year-old phase. Jackson rounded the corner going straight for the 4-wheeler. Aagh to feel like a big boy on that big piece of machinery. He had so much speed going and about 3 feet in front of the 4-wheeler, his feet didn't know what to do. He tripped and went head first into the pedal of the 4-wheeler and after a huge thub of his head hitting he landed on his chest on the hydraulic pump. As soon as I saw him trip my body went into protection mode as I went sliding on my knees to get to him and I hit my head onthe exact same chair. I picked him up and had him in the arms of his mommy in seconds. She was walking right behind us pushing her baby's stroller. Jackson screamed so hard. I immediately saw the bumps on his head and mommy was looking him over. She asked if we had any ice and I ran over to the Panera Bread in our building and got him a bag of ice, which he did not want. He wanted nothing anywhere near his eye. By the time I got back, he was bleeding and one could plainly see he had split the corner of his eye on the outside. Everyone in the room obviously knew something had happened. The thud of his head hitting the car alone sent everyone into a bit of a shock, but no one saw it except me and his mom. Our receptionist asked what to do and I told her an incident form would be best. As I tried to tell her what happened I was a bit overcome with emotion and started to cry for the boy. I think the adrenaline wore off and gave me a little mood swing. Unfortunately for the boy, his sister had a dance recital this evening and the mom really wanted her hair fixed for it. So, she wasn't going to leave immediately to get his eye taken care of. I bribed him with a lollipop to help stop the tears and it worked. Mommy had brought Oreo's which made it even better. I had suggested she make sure he didn't need stitches or surgical super glue (which she hadn't heard of). While I sat there with jackson I asked him quesitns and at one point he looked like he was lost in thought, not really looking at anything. I went into nurse mode, making sure he wasn't having signs of a conucssion. I had to get right in front of him to get responses to my questions. I once again told the mom she should get him to the doctor and have him checked out and that along the way she needed to talk to him and get responses from him. She decided to call his dad and have daddy come get him. I know the recital was important, but come on. I convinced Jackson to lay his head over on the ice pack and he looked as if he could go to sleep at any minute. Finally, daddy got there and whisked him off to the doctor. Jackson's response to leaving, "Can I get my hair cut?" The parents called back and Jackson got stitches.
Amazing how everything can be just peachy and a split second later you're diving head first into a 4-wheeler. I got my heart beating back at a normal pace again. Tomorrow, Jackson will be coming back to me to get his hair cut.