All Girls/Mothers should see this

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hibyAJOSW8U">

Scholarships

Masaru's in soccer for the next two seasons, Autumn and Spring.

He LOVED playing last time in Moscow and wanted to play again.
It was time to look into registering him.

Can I just say that soccer is EXPENSIVE!!

We hummed and haaaed about it and if you registered him for the two seasons you got 30% off.
So we did that.

So I get the initiation email and he also needs

#1 A soccer ball (don't have)
#2 A uniform (don't have)
#3 Soccer cleats (don't have)

More money.
So I emailed them and told them we were poor and they gave us a brand new soccer ball and a brand new uniform for FREE on scholarships from other kind people.
It was like $70.

So after bursting into tears of appreciation Masaru has his first practice tonight for AN HOUR AND A HALF.
This should be interesting to see what they do with 5 year old for that long.
We'll see I guess.

Then I decided to apply for a scholarship for him to learn how to ice skate, so he can play ice hockey in the next couple of years (I know more money, but Dru will be a lawyer by then right?)
Turns out we qualify for a 90% scholarship for him to learn how to skate.
It's a 7 week course we'll do Nov-Dec.
I'm so grateful and really excited for Masaru this year.
He was so excited about it.
Now he can skate like Dad.

I'm very grateful for scholarships so Masaru can have opportunities like this.
I'm excited to see him learn how to skate and to watch him get better and better at soccer.
Hopefully he won't be the best in his team this time and he'll have to work for his goals.
It'll make him that much better.

I was thinking of what to do with Yuki in a couple of years when she's 5.
She's not a dance type of girl.
She hates the tutu dresses and refuses to wear them.
So I'm thinking something like Ta Kwon Do or soccer/skating for her as well.
I hear there's free Ta Kwon Do sessions here.
Can you imagine Yuki in Ta Kwon Do?
Not only will she have her attitude BUT she'll also be able to kick all the boys butt's.
That should be enough to keep the boys away for a while!!

Yuki

So it's just me and this one in the afternoons now.
Here she is sporting the hat I made her yesterday.
I figured I should make my own kids hats as well as the rest of the world.

I know I give Yuki a hard time about stuff or is it the other way around?
Anyway I really do love her.
She's a good helper. She'll clean the living room up, often, during the day.
She loves her brothers.
She'll tell me she loves me and give me hugs when Dad's not around, or anyone else for that matter, so it's hard to prove she really does love me.
She loves being read to and drawing pictures.
She loves playing with Masaru and watching movies.
All the nursery leaders she's ever had LOVE her and can't get enough of her.
She's not shy, super social, and the more and more she grows up the more I see her as a little mini me.

She doesn't like anything princess or frufru.
She plays with trucks, cars, books, dressups and letter games.
And I like it that way. No princess stuff is just fine by me.
She's our little princess though and sure knows how to act like one!!
LOL
Jokes man jokes...................................well actually......................................!

Memory #26

INJURIES

I've had next to no injuries in my life time.
The first one I can remember was when I was 4 and I was watching a softball game with my Auntie.
This kid decided to climb up the net that was stopping the balls from flying behind the backstop.
For some reason the net was just there, no poles holding it up, just there.
He told my bro and I to climb with him.
So we did.
I can't believe no one stopped us?
I guess they were all free range parents right? LOL
Anyway the net fell on my brother and I and the kid who told us to climb with him got out of it before it got him. Little punk.
Anyway the game was immediately stopped and my brother and I were rushed to hospital.

Turns out they thought my ankle was just sprained but my brother head was split open.
So they did stitches.
I can't tell you what it was like to sit there and watch them stitch my brothers head up while he was screaming.
Llewellyn still has the scar, to this day.

Two weeks later I was hopping out of the bath when I put weight on my leg and fell down crying.
So mum took me back into hospital.
Turns out my leg was broken. I had been walking around on it for 2 weeks............broken.
It was cracked from around my knee all the way around by the bottom of my ankle in a diagonal crack.

I was in a cast up to the top of my thigh for a few weeks. I can't remember how long. Maybe 4 weeks, 6? I'd have to ask my Auntie or my mother.

The second huge injury I had was when I was 14.
I was in highschool and playing around 4 sports.
Netball, softball, volleyball and basketball. Our family all played sports our whole lives, starting when we were roughly 4 years of age.

So I'm playing basketball, I loved basketball, and I got the ball off the opposing team. I'm going down the stretch and go to do a layup and this girl steps on my foot while I was turning.
So my foot stayed there while my knee kept turning.
Not good.

Turns out I stretched my knee ligament really bad and had it in a brace for a few weeks and got physio on it.
They suggested I get it operated on where they would've actually torn it so it could've healed itself like new again.
I said no.
It meant I would've been out for 12 weeks.
That was too long for me.
My knee has been bad and popping out ever since.

I had to give up all my sports, as it just kept popping out.
No more sprinting, Masaru could beat me in a race.
No more basketball, netball or softball.
Just too hard on my knee.

That's about it.
That's about all my injuries.
If this was Dru, he'd only be beginning. That man and his concussions. It's a wonder he's normal.

It saddens me about my knee.
I really think I could've kept playing basketball and been alright at it.
It would've been nice to have played indoor soccer, things of this nature, but I just can't.
Oh well.

Zoo

So yesterday my mate asked me if I wanted to go to the Zoo.
I really considered saying no.
But then I thought of the kids, plus it was half off and would only be like $6 for all of us, and we were only gonna be there a couple of hours, so said yes.
We went right when it opened up.
GREAT IDEA.
No one there man. Perfect timing.
This tortoise is so old no one knows how old it is.
No one has lived long enough to know.
You can't tell, but it was HUGE. The biggest one I've seen.
Porcupines. I've never seen these bad boys either. They are huge as well. I wouldn't like to come across them in the wild.
The little birds in the nest.
Yuki was cold.
Masaru was smart and brought a jacket, only to have it taken off of him and told to put it on Yuki.
So he did.
Great kid.
She's wearing a dress under that, although you can't even tell.
There was a volunteer hanging out on the grass with this little tortoise. So we went over and gave it a pat.
How cool is that?
Then this is us feeding the goats. For 25c and about 8 little biscuits, you can feed the goats.
The kids were scared at first but I showed them how and then they were all good.
It's just like feeding a horse.
Palm flat and let them eat off of it.
Just like I'm demonstrating in this picture.

Masaru and Carter were in Walmart Uniform today with their T-Shirts.
Hyena's.
Looks like a tough life for the Hyena's.
It was a little tougher on Lion King as I remember.
I forget what this bad boys name was.
Did you know there's over 300 animals native to Aussie that are no where else in the world?
All of them are in between a mouse and a Kangaroo.
Pretty much, make up in your head, an animal in between a mouse and a kangaroo and it'll be living somewhere in Aussie.
Here's Masaru driving away as fast as he can from a herd of Elephants.
Well............that's what he told me anyway.
We left at 11am and it was crowded.
We saw so many cool animals man.
Perfect time, perfect weather, perfect company.
I enjoyed it and MIGHT consider going back!!

Bevin's mission pic's

Another shot of the 4 wheeling.
I don't understand how you can make it through that.
But you can.
Bevin and his companion/trainer.
He's from California and is half Japanese.
I hear those half Japanese people are hard workers, so it should be all good.
Watch out though Bevin, he's probably A type!!!
Bevin's face in these last two shots crack me up.
Look at his pants as well.
He's got them tucked in for biking.
Nice look Bevin.
I didn't know we were sporting the cross above our church mailboxes now.
Aussies walk to the beat of their own drum, I tell ya.

Me+Fred Myer =Anger Managment Classes

Fred Myers suck and I don't think I'll be going there anymore.
I DON'T CARE IF THEY HAVE A PLAYLAND!!
I'm not doing it.

Fred Myer is a grocery store here in Boise like 'Countdown, Foodtown, Dicks Market, Albertsons'
You get the point right?

Anyway LAST TIME I went there some untrained check out dude took 20 MINUTES to do all my processing.
I had WIC checks (Women's Infant Child support checks) and he had the tougest time with that.
THEN HE BOTCHED UP MY FOODSTAMPS CARD.
People already think we're a menace to society, bludging off the government.
And I could feel all the eyes booring into the back of my head as he took FOOOOOOREEEEEEVOOOOOR to do all my stuff.
Turns out the manager had to come and ring up ALL OF MY STUFF AGAIN, repack it BLAH BLAH BLAH.
You get the point.

So tonight I go, get all my stuff, go to pay for it by check and she asks for my drivers license.
I don't have it, but no worries, I have something better MY PASSPORT.
Apparently it's not good enough.
IT HAS TO BE A DRIVERS LICENSE!!

So my government official documents aren't good enough?
You want a license that any person could forge off the street, SUPER EASY, THAT'S WHAT YOU WANT TO KNOW THAT I'M WHO I SAY I AM?

Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiight.

Dru's there sorting it all out while I type this as I am not in the right frame of mind to go back there peacefully and retrieve my stuff.
They're damn lucky I sent Dru.
I told him to pick up a complaints form.
They're gonna get it.

I wish I could tell EVERYONE TO NOT SHOP THERE. And people would listen.
That'd teach them to be incompetent.

But I can choose not to shop there right?

Unless they apologize profusely and offer me free gifts.
I can be bribed, for the right price ;)

Masaru

So Masaru started school today.
I was late, I didn't bring anything on the cute list, for his teacher.
His clothes and bag aren't named (it's a buzy bee bag from NZ, if someone nicks it WE'LL KNOW MATE!!)
He chose his outfit and it was an outfit I would've chosen for camping in Moab.
But who cares right?
That's who Masaru is. Doesn't care about fashion and why should I start now, it's cheaper.
Luckily I changed him to the PM class so there was a kid from our church there.
He was being my shadow until the kid came up to him and asked for him to sit on the mat.
Then Masaru was like "See ya Mum" and I walked out with the other two kids.

The instant I'm out of the door I'm like bawling.
Yuki's like "What's wrong mum?" And I told her "I'm just gonna miss Masaru"
She goes "Me too" and started crying as well.
So we're walking home crying about how much we're gonna miss Masaru.
It was a sight to see.

I'm not confident I've done the best mothering job with Masaru this first five years of his life and this is part of my worry.
Have I taught him everything?
Will he be ok?

I asked Dru last night if he could make him stop growing.
He said he couldn't do it for me.
Some husband he turned out to be.

Jokes Dru jokes......................... sort of.

You have to be A type

I've decided to be a fantastic crocheter you have to be A type.
Crochet = perfection
Or it looks funny.
You have to get EACH.AND.EVERY.STITCH.PERFECT or when you sit back and FINALLY look at the end result thinking AFTER THE FIFTH TRY that THIS IS IT....................SURELY IT'S PERFECT, and realize IT'S NOT, that I just have to change my personality OR practice, practice and MORE practice.
I dunno if crocheting is for me man.
Although after, what feels like ONE HUNDRED MILLION failures I think I might be kinda getting it.
Man knitting was WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY easier.
Although I haven't knitted a top, or toy, or things of this nature PLUS with knitting, once you've lost those stitches man, good luck getting them back, whereas in crocheting it's easy to find the stitches or to go back and re do stuff.
Knitting...............not so much, you're kinda locked into having a little mistake or spending an hour trying to go back and get that stitch.
So I dunno man, maybe they're both about the same.
I ended up with this spiral joining line all the way around part of the hat.
And at first glance this hat looks cute but then take a closer look at the ears.........................yep that's right folks the one on the left is better..............why? Because it was the second ear I did.
The first one I sewed on inside out so it doesn't look as nice and it looks slightly smaller.
In a way I feel like giving up, but it eats at me, not being able to get it PERFECT.
So I'll keep practicing like a sucker until I can get it to look good man.
Maybe I should move onto knitting a few things, trying cable and knitting in the round again.
Maybe I should get out my sewing machine and do that.
Maybe I should get my scrapbooking done.
Maybe It's time for a good book.

On a side note, Masaru got out the ABC puzzle today and put it together, with Yuki's help.
It sounded like this..........................."Yuki, find me the B. Yuki find me the D"
I'm not too sure if she did but they worked as a team and got it done.
Then Masaru went around the house collecting toys and putting them on the letter they belonged to.
I got a picture then deleted it by mistake.
Bummer man.
I guess he really is ready for Kindy tomorrow.
That's a whole other post mate.

Wow, this was a ramble.........................................congrats if you got down to reading this far.
True friends.

Best 70c spent Grandma

70c butterfly nets from Grandma, equals, hours of fun had by all trying to catch them!!!
We just had butterflies everywhere in our front yard, so it made for a great activity for the older kids to do while the two young ones were sleeping.
There it is.
I told Masaru he wasn't allowed to catch them and put them in a jar.
He was just allowed to catch them, look at them close up, then let them go.
It made for a funner time and me not having to get up and go get a jar, put holes in it, wonder if it's been let loose in the house, or if it's died and I'll find it in Takeshi's mouth a week later!!
'No Carson the butterflies, not the kids!'
But who cares with a face like that.
Catching another one.
I think they caught four or five of them.
LOL
This pic cracks me up.
It's like 'alright we'll look up for your stupid picture, but we don't have to smile. Can we get back to the butterfly now?'
That night we watched movies with popcorn.
With the discovery centre and butterfly catching and movies with popcorn, no wonder they all went to sleep without a peep.
Love it.

Discovery Centre

The next day, of the Crandizzles visit, we went to the Discovery Centre.
The kids loved it.
Masaru most of all, I think because he could understand how cool the stuff was more than the other two.
Well lets get serious, Takeshi hardly got out of his pram really. But Yuki thought it was ok.
But Nat told us that each Friday for a while it's free, so we were all over that like stink on poo cause it's usually like $7 for adults, catch that up.


Looks at that face. Great shot Jen.

Us figuring out colours.
Pretty cool man.
They had a smoke tornado and this HUGE bubble making thing and a shopping area at the end where the kids could pretend to shop with Albertsons stuff LOL
Good times.

The man made beach in Boise

So there's this man made beach I've been telling everyone about, here in Boise.
It's about 10 mins away and is FANTASTIC.
It's $5 a car to get in and it's worth every cent.
I went two days in a row this week.
One with my mate Nat.
Then the other with Nat and my mate Jenny Crandizzle.
It has these fountain things the kids can play with.
The water come from the bottom of the lake on the other side of the dam.
So it's pretty cold man.
Smile Yuki!!!
Takeshi did really well both days.
Masaru had the time of his life.
Here's the three musketeers and Takeshi in the corner with a random kid on the other corner trying to get in our pic.
Where's his mother?
Masaru and I trying to brave it and get out to the BIG fountain in the middle of the lake.

Here's the kids from the next day. Masaru, Yuki and Carson.


Takeshi hanging out with his orange $1 bucket I got for him.


Masaru decided to bring his squirt gun this time.


Fun in the sun.
Ryan (Jenny's hubby) took Masaru out to the fountain. Mighty nice of him.
It was just a really good time and I was told you can get a pass, so I think next year I'll just get a pass and go like 3 or more times a week.