The Latest....

I realize that I haven't posted in about a week, and the reason for that is that I have been busy. I finally decided that I would no longer put my education on hold. Its far to important to keep procrastinating and wasting the days away when I could be working towards a degree. My very first day 'back to school' was last Wednesday. I was a bundle of nerves, but I was also really excited. I've always liked school and learning new things. I am trying to get a Bachelor of Science in Health Science. I haven't exactly figured out what I want to do with it, but obviously it will have something to do with the health field. I am going to school 100% online with a great university. I needed an online school because....well, because I have 3 kids. Do I really need another reason? lol. Between taking Taylor to school; spending 5 out of 7 days a week at the baseball fields; cleaning house; spending quality time with the kids; cooking; grocery shopping and taking a shower everyday; I don't exactly have the time of day to spend going to a traditional school. I can't imagine sending my kids off to a sitter or missing a game because I had to go to a physical school. Therefore, online is best for me, especially since we are possibly moving to Florida. Keep your fingers crossed. So, anyhow, I am going to a great university, and so far it has been great. The professors have been awesome and they have so many additional resources to help you out in pretty much every subject imaginable. One of my first two courses that I am taking are Academic strategies for the health care profession. This is basically a class that will get me accustomed to attending school online and it will teach me what is expected from me. It also goes over ethics and things like that. My second course that I am taking is Chemistry. Yikes! It isn't that bad. My book is confusing as all heck, but all of the videos I watched pulled it all together. Tonight was our first seminar, in which I have to sit at my desk for one full hour and participate in class. Since I had done my 'homework', I knew what the professor was talking about. About half the class didn't watch any of the videos or read anything, so naturally they were all lost. I at least knew what the teacher was talking about. Now, the equations, well that's something else. lol. I'm not good at math. I stink. Taylor is probably better at math than I am. I know that's sad, but hey, I'm being honest. After figuring out the problems, it really wasn't so bad. I received a 70% on my first self assessment that I took. Not bad considering I still feel pretty confused. I can take the assessment numerous times to better my skills, and I plan on doing that. So, that was my spiel on school. Yay me! I'm very proud of myself for finally taking the plunge!
The boys are still doing baseball. They don't have any practice for the rest of the week. They both had practice today. Taylor's coach took my suggestion I gave him last week and turned it into reality. He said that he wanted to have a fun practice where everyone could just goof around and have fun. I suggested he bring water balloons and tell them to catch...thinking they would be catching a baseball and then just smack them with the balloon. He liked it and okayed it with the other parents. The kids had fun. I had fun watching, until one kid tried to throw a balloon at his dad, missed and hit me in the neck, therefore soaking my entire right shoulder and torso area. Yeah, and of all days, I wore a white t-shirt. HAHA, laugh it up. You couldn't see anything; obviously since I am not a trashy woman who goes around bra-less. lol. Austyn is still having fun with baseball. He definitely needs to move up to the next level. He hits about 7 out of 10 balls that you pitch to him. The kid has an arm from hell. Not only does he throw hard, he throws fast and accurate! Watch out! lol. And then there's Ryeigh. That girl has more attitude than a high school cheer squad. haha. She cracks me up though. She is getting so much better about being around strangers. She actually will approach a stranger and say hi. She doesn't run away screaming when they look at her either. She has come a very very long way from her stranger induced anxiety days. I'm happy for her.
Mark is out on the ship...again! He'll be home in a couple of weeks before its bon voyage for deployment. We still don't know anything about the Blue Angels, but we are keeping our hopes and spirits high. He is very confident with the way his interview went, and I'm very confident in him as well. As one of our acquaintances said, "Pfft! Mark's going to get it. That guy can charm the pants off of anyone!" Well, that's definitely one way that he has never been described. lol. He is very charming, personable, friendly and likeable, so I get what the guy was saying. Other than that, not much else is going on over here.

It went too fast!

This was one crazy weekend. Friday night Taylor had a game. They played the Astros, with whom they were tied for the #1 spot thus far in the season. He played an amazing game. I swear, each time I watch him play, he improves. He's getting a lot better at hitting, and his fielding skills are immaculate. The game went really good until there was a mix-up in the batting order and the other team caught it. Our coach's wife should have caught it since she was the one keeping score. No big deal, right? Oops, we screwed up, that's a 3rd out, you guys are up, lets keep playing....right? No! Next thing you know, she rips her (Yankees) hat off of her head and throws it onto the field. (Where's the respect for the team lady?!) Then she storms off, grabs her stuff and walks away...pissed. Someone asked her what happened and her reply was, "I got fired....because I quit!" I'm not really too sure how that makes sense, but whatever. So, then the game is going to continue on but she comes back and screeches her son's name. She wanted to take him with her. Her husband (the coach) says to just leave it, and go home and instead of just doing what he suggested she yells, "No, this is bullshit and you know it!" So then our coach calls the game....because of her! I was a upset. Not only did she show poor sportsmanship, but she also showed poor judgement and poor leadership, while breaking the parent code of conduct. No one offered any explanation as to what happened or why the game was canceled, much less an apology. Today is Monday, and we have yet to get an apology from anyone. The kids were robbed! All they wanted to do was play baseball, and that was taken away from them for something that wasn't their fault. I hope that today they offer an apology, and she should not be at the next game (per the code of conduct.)
Saturday morning, Austyn had a game at 8:30. I love those early games. haha He played awesome, as he always does! It just sucks that Mark wasn't there to have seen him play. This is the 2nd year in a row that Mark will have missed every single one of his games. Its such a shame too, because I think he would really appreciate and love the way Austyn plays the game, and to see how much he loves the game! After the game we hit concrete heaven for about 6 hours. Mark was on his way from Pensacola to San Diego. This was our last chance to see him for the next month. He had a friend pick him up at the airport and we arrived shortly after he did. We pretty much all just hung out and recovered from our traveling adventures that night. I also got my Mother's Day gift from him that night. He gave me some bath stuff, ie. shower gel, body butter, lotion and stuff like that from a place called the Body Shop. The stuff was made witth Florida Oranges. It smells amazing and it left my skin feeling like a baby's behind. lol. It was a very sweet gift, and I'm sure that everywhere I went, people were wondering who smelled like oranges. =) I loved it. He had to do his own shopping in FL, since he didn't have any other chance to do it.The next morning, we woke up and Taylor brought me his gift that he made at school. This was the sweetest, most hilarious, most awesome best gift ever! I've never laughed so hard in my life. I will keep this book forever and I will show it to him when he is grown. I'm sure he will get a kick out of it too. Mark also gave me a card that morning that was pretty sweet. We had planned on going to breakfast at Denny's that morning, but the Denny's we found was packed full of people that looked like they possibly ran across the border. There wasn't even space to wait for a table. So, we opted for the next best thing....McDonald's take out. It was actually my first suggestion for breakfast, so I didn't mind at all. We were lazy and hung out all day until Mark needed to head to the ship. We took him to the ship and then had dinner with Elvis and his family. After that we headed home. We didn't get in until after midnight, but we made it safely!
All in all it was a good weekend, but it didn't last long enough. We always seem to be longing for more time with Mark. He won't be back until June, and then he'll be home for a little over a month before its sayonara for deployment. Oh, the life of a Navy wife. Anyhow, I thought I would share Taylor's book with you all. I really enjoyed it and I think that you guys will get in some good laughs as well. So, here goes: His answers are in bold and my feedback is in italics.

This is the front cover of the book!This is all about ME:
Her Name is Stacie
She lives at Viking Street
She is 26 years old.
Her Birthday is September 25. (he says he forgot when my birthday was, so he just picked a day instead. Gotta love it.)
Here are five words that tell about her
1. Crazy (I can see that) 2. Shopping Freak (I am not!) 3. Oprah fan (It looks like it says Oprah fart, but he insists that it says fan!) 4. Fancy (that's cute) 5. Math (I HATE MATH!)
My Moms Favorite:
Color she looks best in purple. (I don't think I have anything that is purple!)
Animal she likes crab. (does anyone even like crabs? My favorite animal is a turtle!)
Ice Cream Flavor vanilla. (That's sort of right)
Sport she likes to play baseball. (I think I'd be ousted from the family if it were anything different!)
Day of the week Saturday
Things to wear earrings. (I'd say flip flops)
Food to eat salad. (Really? Do I eat salad that much?)
Place to visit Las Vegas (I've only been once!)
Song she likes to sing Boom Boom, got to get that. (I don't even want to know what his teacher's response was when she read that! It's the song by the Black Eye Peas..Boom, Boom, Pow.)
Love
There are many ways my mom makes me feel loved. Here are some ways....
She calls me bling bling boy. (I don't think I have EVER called him that!) She buys me video games. (I thought it said she bugs me!)She helps me cook. (He loves cooking in the kitchen!)Things to remember
The nicest thing I ever did for my mom was....Gave her breakfast in bed. I cook for her. (He's so sweet!)
The nicest thing my mom ever did for me... Let me play video games. (something tells me, I've done more than just let him play video games! What am I....evil?!)


Three Wishes
If I could give my mom three wishes, I would wish her:
1. I hope you get colored gold. (apparently I want to be gold and didn't know it!)
2. I hope you get one million gold bricks. (That would be something!)
3. I hope you give me a smarter brother. (WHAT?? Austyn isn't smart enough? This one cracked me up beyond belief!)
And last but not least, a Picture of my Mom. The jet flying over my head is carrying a sign that says I "heart" MEN! I am shown wearing a blue Yankees hat with my hair sticking straight out, and my shirt matches the sign!! I asked him why on Earth he would put that on a sign and a shirt and he said because he couldn't remember what any of my shirts said. For the record...I don't own ANY shirts that say I "heart" anything! I have a bag that says I "heart" recycling!! LOL. Anyway, this was by far the best gift ever! It was hilarious, and I cried from laughing so hard. I'm going to keep this and show it to him when he is grown!

My Boys Have More Than JUST Heart....They Have Talent!

Okay, so this is obviously all about the boys! =) Opening Day was on Saturday for Taylor and he and Austyn both played their first games. The ceremony were great and I think it really made the kids feel special. They definitely out did last year's ceremony! After their pancake breakfast, they marched in a parade with police, ambulance and a firetruck escort complete with sirens and lights. I will say that we skipped out on the breakfast because last year's pancakes weren't very tasty. lol. We stopped at McDonald's and grabbed some hotcakes. Much better. Once the ceremony was over with, we headed over to the neighboring field for Austyn's game. I didn't think we were going to make it to his game, but they were running behind. Anyhow, Austyn did awesome! He always does. He shows so much promise and talent and best of all, he loves the game. One of the dads said he was going to start calling him Barry Bonds. He is only in t-ball and he hits the ball into the outfield on a little league field! I told Mark this, and he said, well, without the steroids of course. I jokingly said, well actually, he did have some steroids before he was born, so maybe that's it! Anyway, I crack myself up. So, the kid is seriously talented, and everyone that has seen him play has told me, so I know that its not just me being a proud mom. =) He throws so hard and has amazing accuracy. Oh, and did I mention that he is a lefty? I know, Mark's practically peeing in his pants at the thought of an MLB player for a son. haha. He hits both right and left as does Taylor. Mark insists that they learn to hit both ways. Taylor also helped out with Austyn's team, as he always does. He is such a great encourager! He was first base coach and cheered for the kids and guided them. He also made sure he gave everyone a high five! What a great big brother he is! Later that afternoon, Taylor had his game. His team won 4-0. He struck out twice out of four at bats. He was bummed, and blamed it on a lack of batting practice. He's probably right, so I think we'll head to the batting cages this weekend. He played 'pitcher', short stop and first base. He's a pretty good infielder. Oh, and I say 'pitcher' because he doesn't actually pitch. For now, its machine pitch, but half way through the season they will have the kids start pitching.

That brings us all the way up to today. He had a game at 5 this afternoon. It was a fun and intense game to watch. They played the Astros. I don't think he struck out once. He played pitcher the entire game and made some pretty awesome plays too! He caught a pop fly, tagged a runner out at home and made countless plays first! Amidst all of his baseball greatness, he took a line drive to the forehead. He hit the ground, and laid there. It took a while for the coach to get to him and see if he was okay. I did his hardest not to cry and sat in the dugout for the remainder of the inning. The dad inside the dugout said, well the good thing is that you are okay, but the awesome part is that you have the seam of the baseball imprinted on your forehead! I totally thought that he was kidding, but yeah, he wasn't!! I took a picture once we got home since I forgot the camera. Oops. But, all in all, it was an awesome game (even though they lost) and I think that is the best he has ever played!! Enjoy the pictures!

Can you tell that it was super hot out today?

Closer look without the hat.

And an even closer look.

HaPpY eAsTeR!

We hope that everyone had a great Easter holiday. We had a fabulous one! Mark was able to make it home this weekend to celebrate with us. We were so happy and excited to see him, as well as thankful that he made it home safely. He got in around 10, Friday night and the next day we dyed our boiled eggs with the kids. We did it in the driveway because we knew they were bound to make a mess of it all. Ryleigh was probably the messiest of all. She opted to drop her eggs into the cups rather than dip them gently into the water. After that we, had lunch, took naps and headed out to the mall. I was in dire need of a haircut so I got one. We also needed to buy Taylor some baseball pants, socks and a belt for the baseball season. For whatever reason, his coach decided that it would be best for everyone to just buy their own things. Last year our coaches ordered from the catalog supplied by the little league and it came out to $16/player. This year it cost us $45 for the same amount of items. Not to mention the coach must not have any fashion sense at all because the uniforms are going to look ridiculous. The shirts are navy blue, the hats are navy blue, the pants are grey, the belts are navy blue and the socks are white. WHITE. White socks. It just throws the entire uniform off. Oh well. We bought Taylor long pants so you probably won't even see his socks. Okay, anyway, so after the kids went to bed, Mark and I got to work setting up all of their Easter goodies. They all had their own basket with their own personal things in it and then there was a bunch of stuff on the coffee table that was for everyone. They got Bedtime Stories (Mark and I really liked this movie!), The Secrets of the Furious Five, and The Tale of Despereaux, along with new play-doh, a dart board that the boys have been asking for, and some little toy guns that came along with the dart board. They also got 45 feet of drawing paper (each). Its basically like a 45 foot roll of a coloring book. They loved those. They each got new markers to go along with it. They also got new birdhouses to paint. I don't know why, but they really love painting birdhouses! Taylor got a set of practical jokes that he thought were hilarious. He got me with a fly on the toilet paper roll. I will say that he got me good on that one. Austyn got a miniature version of the "Gone Fishing" game where you have little magnetic fishing poles to catch the fish with. The boys also had these sling-shot airplane things that were a pretty big hit. Ryleigh got dress up jewelry and a cute bag. And then there were the hidden eggs. They each found a golden egg with a ribbon around it and they all had a $5 bill and a ring pop in it. The contents of the filled plastic eggs varied. Some had coins, while others had jelly beans or Reese's pieces in them. Overall the kids had a blast and really enjoyed themselves. Mark and I really enjoyed seeing them so excited over such little things. It was a great day and we were lucky to have him home with us. He did have to leave soon after. It won't be much longer before he'll be home again for a short week. Then he heads out to interview with the Blue Angels for a week, and then its off to the ship again. Wish him luck with the Blues!!! He's looking forward to it and I think he'll do a great job. He's pretty amazing at what he does anyhow, so I doubt that he won't do well! Enjoy the pictures. They are also posted on our Facebook.

Anger is Unhealthy, & I Can't Help But to be Angry!

So, there I was in our truck with Taylor, Austyn, Ryleigh, a huge suitcase, a bag loaded with Easter goodies, Mark's bike, blankets, games and snacks. We were driving to Fallon to visit with Mark. They are doing work-ups and I hate them. Basically it means that we get to see him 2 weeks at a time with runs months in between where we don't see him at all. Sometimes we aren't able to talk and have to settle for emails to communicate. Well, he's been gone for about 2 weeks now and we wanted to visit with him since Easter is coming up. We were to drive about 6 1/2 hours northeast to see our favorite man in the world. We traveled along the 99N until we hit the 80E. We already hit traffic twice before, so I was a little thankful that traffic was at a minimum. We were just trucking along (no pun intended), when we literally just hit a traffic jam. It was bumper to bumper and there were no signs of budging. We didn't move for at least an hour! We at least had a good time and cranked up the tunes and goofed around until my migraine would no longer allow me to listen to music at a deafening volume. I read somewhere that banana peels help to relieve headaches, and it just so happened that I had bananas in the car! I peeled one and stuck a piece of peel to my forehead. Taylor was embarrassed and amused and Austyn and Ryleigh thought I had finally lost it. I don't know how long you are supposed to leave the peel on your forehead, but it didn't help at all. During that time, a swat truck, about 10 or 15 highway patrol cars and sheriff cars and an ambulance all drove by. At first I thought maybe it was a very bad accident, but then realized; that many police cars and a swat truck don't exactly spell out fatal accident. One of the digital output signs was flashing saying "Turning all traffic 1 mile ahead." This wasn't good news for me. We only knew of a single way to get from point a to point b. We finally started moving along and were quickly detoured onto a road which led nowhere. Actually, it lead us back onto the 80...WEST. The complete wrong direction that we needed to go. After finding an AM traffic radio station, I finally figured out what all the hub-bub was about. Some lunatic con decided to hold his entire family hostage. I posted the article I found about it below. So, thanks to this "Jason" guy, I would be lost and forced to head the opposite direction of my destination. Mark didn't have the slightest clue as to where to go, nor did any of his friends. His suggestion was to find a gas station and ask someone for directions. That didn't sound like a plan or even a good idea at that point. It was cold and raining, the only gas station was a hole in the wall that had port a potties for restrooms and it seemed like everyone was in the same predicament as I was. Oh yeah, not to mention that I would have to drag my 3 kids around with me while I tried to rely on a complete stranger for sound traveling advice. I don't think so. So, I decided to utilize our OnStar services and called them for directions. I clearly stated that we were heading to Nevada and not California. They quickly had me back on the road with turn by turn navigation. What a life saver, right? That's what I thought. Well, the genius who helped me out must have accidentally set my directions to our account address instead of to NAS Fallon. I was heading south and didn't think much of it, because I knew I'd have to head south a ways in order to cut over to a sufficient route. Well, a couple of hours later, I am instructed to turn onto the 99S....this road takes me HOME! So, then I thought, okay, well maybe they are like really taking me a roundabout way. I called Mark and told him I was half tempted to just go home. He said he wouldn't blame me if I did at that point. Then I called my good friend Jessica and asked her how far Lodi was from Lemoore. Yes, I was a mere 2 hours from home. Are you kidding me? At this point, the kids were all sound asleep, I was irritated, aggravated, stressed, angry; anything negative, you name it. This was not turning out to be my day. The OnStar navigation told me that I had left my route and said it would come back on when I neared my route. Low and behold, it tells me to take the 41S, which again is straight towards home, and then it tells me to take the 198W, which heads straight for the base. Once on base, it tells me that I have now arrived at my destination. Are you serious?!?!?! Oh I was livid. That genius man who set up my directions deserves to be fired for sending me home instead of to my husband. I was beyond angry. So, I slept on it for the night and tried to recover from my migraine. Which, by the way was so horrible that I had to pull over to vomit. Appetizing, huh. When it rains it pours. So, this morning I called OnStar and their quick band aid fix is to give me two months free of service. Honestly I feel like I deserve a hell of a lot more than just two months of free service. A trip to Fallon, NV which should have taken me 6 hours took me 10 1/2 hours and the only place I went was home. So, do you see why I can't help but to be angry? All I wanted was to spend some time with my husband, but apparently the universe didn't want that to happen yesterday, so hopefully he can make it home to us for the weekend and for Easter. We miss him terribly.

I-80 Standoff Suspect Surrenders to Authorities

FOX40 News

April 9, 2009

NORDEN, Calif. (AP) - A man who had been holding his wife and three children hostage on a freeway near the Sierra summit has released them to safety before eventually surrendering himself, officials said Wednesday night.

The tense standoff with an armed man with a shotgun lasted with about eight hours and shut down the main northern artery linking California and Nevada near the summit.

Andrew Jason Rosas, 32, of Sacramento, released his family members first before finally surrendering peacefully to authorities, said Stan Perez, chief of the California Highway Patrol Valley Division.

"There were several heroes tonight," Perez said. "The SWAT team negotiators saved five lives, including the bad guy's. I've been doing this job for 32 years and to see the baby coming out in a blanket in the arms of a highway patrol man is what this job is all about."

Sacramento County Sheriff's Capt. Scott Jones said Rosas fled as deputies tried to arrest him on a warrant after his $70,000 bond was revoked. Rosas was scheduled for sentencing Thursday and faced more than 15 years in prison, Jones said.

After deputies spotted the man in his vehicle at a fast food restaurant, he led them and CHP officers on a chase that reached speeds of 80 mph, said Sacramento County Sheriff's Sgt. R.L. Davis.

A spike strip stopped his sedan on Interstate 80 near Norden, about 90 miles northeast of Sacramento.

Officers brought a relative from Sacramento to help in negotiations and Rosas released his wife and children, ages 14, 9, and 11 months, into the hands of CHP officers. Rosas surrendered about two hours later and the freeway reopened shortly after.

"They were feet away from a man with in shotgun and willing to risk their lives to save the children," Perez said. "It was a great day for the highway patrol."