bad luck toes

Back when I was a kid, THREE summers in a row, I hurt my big toe.  The first time it happened when we were playing tag in the front yard and I didn't have on any shoes.  I don't know exactly what happened, if there was a piece of glass or a sharp rock, or just something, but the WHOLE entire skin on the bottom of my big toe got ripped/cut off.  The next summer, I was in the garage while my mom and dad played ping pong.  I was standing next to the work bench area and my dad had a vice bolted to the wood.  I wondered what would happen if I unwound it all the way, seeing how far it would open, thinking it would stop when it got open as far as it could go....but it didn't!  when it got to the end, the whole thing just fell ... down... on my BIG TOE.  Of course, I was barefoot.  Lost my toenail on that one!  The third summer, my brother and I were out in the driveway sitting on the hood of the car.  I was a bossy big sister and I remember telling David to go shut the door, which was opened.  He did what I demanded of him, but my big toe was somehow there, in the way, where the door hinges connect the door to the car, and got smashed AGAIN....I lost the toe nail again.  Ever since that summer, my big toe nail on my right foot is not connected all the way and is big and thick and ugly. 

Now, I think I have broken my other big toe.  At soccer practice on Friday, I was playing goalie during a drill.  I guess I didnt know exactly where I was standing or how close I was to the goal post, but I went to kick a ball, which was going into the corner of the goal, instead, I KICKED the goal post!!!!  Hard!!!!  Right when I did it, the shooting pain through my whole body, I KNEW I had broken my toe.  I haven't gone to the doctor for it, but I am self diagnosing that it is broken because I google image searched "broken big toe" and pictures that looked like my toe appeared.  It looked fine at first, then swelled, swelled so much that I couldn't even see my toe prints (like fingerprints), then it started to bruise, now the bruise goes all the way around the toe, but the swelling has gone down.  It hurts when I hit it on something or Bradley bumps it, but it is feeling a lot better. 

I'd share pictures, but my feet are ugly and I dont want to gross you out!!!!

youth hunt

Today was the Youth Hunt in Alturas.  Scott brought the boys and they shot a lot of ducks and geese.

Sam the dog enjoyed his day, too.

Andrew was tired when he got home.  He brushed his teeth and put himself to bed!  He said he had fun, though. 

Quakes (part 2)

I know I blogged on Wednesday during the San Jose Earthquakes vs. the Portland Timbers game...but now that it is over, I need a addendum to my words.

If you remember, I was STEAMED that Chris Wondowlowski was "benched" at the start of the game.  I KNEW it was a game the Earthquakes could win...and I KNEW it was a game that Wondo could score some goals to add to his goal total.  (the Timbers were playing a makeshift line up and their goalie was playing in his first ever MLS match).  As the game went on, Wondo sat.  As the second have begun, Wondo sat.  Timbers led, Wondo sat.  He looked fairly happy in his ski cap and winter coat, but I know athletes do NOT enjoy time spent on the sidelines while a game is going on, so I figured the smile was just for the camera....little did I know that he had A PLAN.  He was going to fit 90 minutes of playing time into 30 minutes.  He was saving up for an outburst of skill and passion.  He said in an interview that he really appreciates his teammates who come in as subs and help out the team.  He was prepared to be one of those this game. 

About 3 minutes after he entered the game the Timbers scored AGAIN.  So the Quakes were losing 2-0 with only a little bit of game left.  But, Wondo scored a BEAUTY.  It was a left footer from outside the box.  The Quakes pressed hard for their second goal, but were stopped over and over again because all Portland was doing was defending and stalling.  At the 92nd minute (with 5 minutes of stoppage time) Wondo scored AGAIN.  This time it was a header goal from fairly close range.  SO EXCITING.  2-2.  The rest of the game was more Timber stalling and a lot of yelling and screaming.  RIGHT AT THE LAST SECOND....Portland went down the field and had a 3 on 1...they got past the 1 and pretty much had a 1 on 1 with the goalie out of place and the Timber guy MISSED.  Game Over.  Tie score.  In what looked like a Quake loss ALL NIGHT LONG....turned into a tie.  And Wondo scored TWICE. 

So I was happy!  All season long the Quakes have been stressing me out with late goals and comeback wins...this time was a tie, but after thinking it would be a loss, to a bad team, in a game they could and should have won....I was thrilled.  Especially happy that it was Wondo with the beautiful goals.  He now has the same number of goals scored as the whole Chivas team.  He leads the league by 7 goals.  WOW!

Quakes!

I am upset and no one is home to complain to, no one on Facebook is an Earthquake fan, and no one on Twitter ever writes to me....so, I'm using my blog to air out my frustrations.

The Quakes are playing a game right now against one of the league's bad teams-  the Portland Timbers.  They did not start Chris Wondolowski.  He is on the bench, though.  He is not injured.  The coach told the press that he is benched due to "lack of production"!!!!  He has 19 goals.  He leads the league in goals.  Few other players have ever scored over 20 goals in a season.  HE HAS 19 right now...19.  He scored in the last game.  He has his career high in assists.  When he is in the game, the defenders have to watch him so closely that his teammates get lots of opportunities.  He is the best player on the team.  Even as a striker, he always comes back on defense.  He runs everywhere and is never lazy.  I am so frustrated. 

I would be able to understand if he was given a rest because they have already wrapped up a playoff spot.  I could see giving him a rest if he was hurt.  I can see starting him and taking him off as one of the first subs if they wanted to save him for Saturday.  But I do NOT understand the "lack of production".  They are playing a bad team...let him play and add to his scoring title chase.  Get a big lead, then let him rest.  I do not get it!

I have always thought of myself as an Earthquakes fan, not just a Wondo fan.  But I must be a pretty big Wondo fan because I am mad now. 

Here are my favorite Quakes in order-
Wondo #1
Salinas
Beitashour
Garza
Chavez
Gordon
Busch
Bernardez
Morrow
Hernandez
Cronin
Baca
Corrales
Dawkins
Ballouchy
and the rest.

Good Soccer Day

Bradley

Today was a great day for soccer.  The weather was super beautiful, still hot, but nice, enjoyable weather for the fans (the players were sweaty and red faced)...but it was also a good day for us because both kids scored a goal in their game.  Bradley's game was first and he scored the first goal of the game.  He has one teammate who he works really well with.  They pass and move and communicate.  The teammate was able to draw all three defenders over to him, then he gave the ball to Bradley who was wide open and took it in for a bit of a break away 1 v. 1 with the goalie...he put the shot away far corner.  Beautiful!  His team won the game 3-0, so his goal was actually the "game winner". 

Andrew

Andrew has declared that he is "NOT a soccer player", he's a "football player", but he really is a VERY good soccer player.  Today he played the WHOLE game.....in the heat....he was exhausted at the end....and he did play the first half as goalie, but he really played well when he was a field player.  I don't agree with the coach's decision to play his two best players at goalie, but every coach has a different philosophy, and I am not coaching, so I wont complain about it....but the goals are so much bigger than the kids, that all a player has to do is kick the ball over their head and it doesn't matter if the goalie is good or not, he's not going to stop it, so may as well put a bad player in the goal and let the good players control the game on the field, hopefully away from the goal and scoring goals.  Anyway, Andrew has somehow learned a few moves like stepping on the ball and changing directions...he fooled a couple of defenders that way.  He also is really sneaky with staying far side or back post and being opened for crosses or even rebound shots.  He's also one of the taller players, so he can tough his way to some balls.  I think he had fun, even though his team lost and even though he wont admit that SOCCER IS AWESOME.  Andrew's goal was pretty exciting and spectacular for a few reasons.  At half time the score was 3-0, Andrew's team LOSING.  They came back in the second half and pretty near the end of the game it was 4-3, with Andrew's team (the Dolphins) behind.  One of Andrew's teammates took the ball up the right side of the field, right all the way to the goal and shot a GREAT shot, which the goalie blocked, but didn't stop, that ball rolled out to Andrew who BLASTED it HARD into the back of the net.  The crowd went WILD.  (at that point, I was happy with a tie, I thought Andrew's team should have just used stalling tactics and be happy with the tie, but they gave up another goal....the good sportsmanship of Andrew was pretty cool, though, because it was his classmate who scored the winning goal (I thought he was WAY offsides) on a one timer volley (which was something nearly impossible for a 10 year old to accurately do), so Andrew congratulated him and even admitted that it was a great goal!  (Bradley would have been super upset over the missed offsides call!!!!!) 

It was a fun day to be out in the sun, sitting in my lawn chair, taking pictures.  My tan on my face with the rings caused by my sun glasses is ridiculous, though!

Flag Football

Ok, here's your chance to help me...it's the start of about 10 weeks of kids sporting activities.....do you like the individual photos in the blog, or do you like when I take all the game pics and put them in a photo collage? 

Andrew's team lost today.  The other team scored two touchdowns and Andrew's team scored one.  Andrew's team has a lot of room for improvement.  Andrew did make one spectacular catch and did one very good defensive play....but he was out a lot and not many plays were sent his way.  He's a good player and the tallest guy on the team, the coaches need to see that, but since he missed the first practice and game, I think it might take a while for the coaches to start favoring him, like they do a few others!

Ocean Fishing

our So. Cal. trip

I am going to try to write this more like a summary than try to share every detail.  *we'll see how that goes.

We left for our vacation as soon as school was over on Wednesday.  Andrew had early dismissal, so he came home on  his own.  We picked up Bradley and headed out.  We drove to Fresno and stayed Wed. night with Rob and Rachel and their wonderful family.  The kids all had fun in their gigantic yard and house.  It was so cool how they all got along even though their ages are all spread apart and they dont even know each other, except for our one day visit last year. 

The next day we got up early and drove to Six Flags Magic Mountain.  We met Melanee and Dax there.  They had come to San Diego on Tuesday.  (there was a miscommunication on the dates we were supposed to vacation, so they got there before us and left earlier than us, too).  Magic Mountain has 12 big roller coasters and tons of other rides and attractions.  Dax and Bradley went on ALL of them.  Scott and Melanee went on most of them.  Andrew and I went on some of them.  (Andrew actually went on more of them than me!)  Andrew also had a lot of fun on the bumper cars and I liked the water rides! 

We had to drive through LA traffic to get to Vista, where Mark's house is located.  I do not like TRAFFIC, at all!  I don't like being in a car, especially when it is stopped and moves only inches at a time. 

We got to Mark's house early enough to say "hi" to just about all of them (the little guys were asleep).  The next morning, Scott, Mark, Bradley and Andrew went out in the ocean on a fishing boat.  Melanee, Dax and I went to Sea World.  After we all got back, we went to the beach.  Paige and all the kids came along, too.  On Saturday morning, Scott, Mark, Bradley, Andrew, and Sheridan went dove hunting.  Melanee and Dax were picked up by one of Dax's friends and taken out to breakfast then were taken to the airport.  After the hunters returned, everyone went to the waterslide park.  I stayed home.  Mark said I could watch tv.  (it had been turned off the whole time up until then).  They also have NetFlix, so I had so many choices of shows to watch I could hardly decide!  But, the tv went out twice and the Wii, which I was using for NetFlix, went out two or three times.....sorta frustrating.  After everyone walked in from the water park, I smelled a strong electrical smell.  I wondered why they smelled like that...then Scott asked why the house smelled like that.  We looked in the front room and it was starting to get smoky.  Scott searched around and found that the tv had burned up.  He unplugged everything.  He was calm, so was Mark.  But I felt really bad for blowing up their tv. 

Scott, the boys, and Sheridan went back to the beach.  Paige, Kiersten, and Audrey stayed longer at the water park, the little boys took a bath and Mark and I got a different tv set up.  I felt bad the whole time....but I didn't really do anything to cause it.  I wish, though, that I hadn't watched tv.  Then it would have just happened while they were watching! 

The next day was Sunday.  We went to church, then after church we watched all three "The Work and the Glory" movies.  We also played games and ate good food. 

We came home early Monday.  We left at 5 am to get home in time for Andrew's flag football practice and to beat traffic. 

I know I left out a TON, but this is the condensed version.  Let me know if you want DETAILS!  haha!

vacation

https://picasaweb.google.com/111289069371069149283/SanDiegoTrip#

since no one read my Giants game trip recap because it was "too long".... here is our vacation...in pictures not words!  Go take a look!