Goobers is 15!

She is so grown up now. A friend walked up to me the other day and pointed out that Goobers had become a woman. I agreed, but I wonder when it happened. She is a beautiful, kind, loving, caring young woman. She is a quiet and strong leader. She has so many strengths. She is creative and notices people. She loves her faith but doesn't need the social aspects to develop it. She didn't want to go on the retreats but will spend hours with Pooker and other friends discussing her faith. Goobers doesn't need to be noticed but she is. She is the behind the scene person making it all happen. She has also grown into a lady of beauty and kindness. I am so proud to be her mom.

I love you Baby Doll!

Cuda Awards Ceremony

The night was upon us. We were ready to attend the ceremony. It was given much fan fare and we prepared with much anticipation. I was there to act as the Paparazzi, taking non-stop pictures of the stars as they performed and received their awards. This was a night to honor our stars and celebrate the season. That is exactly what we did. What a night.

The season was a huge success for our Cudas. The team ended with a win to loss ratio of 4 to 1. We swept the divisional meet. Our kids were shinning. The coaches were honored and the scores revealed.

The Jr coached treated us with a huge surprise. They had created a song that summed up the season. The performance was outstanding. I swelled with pride. Most of the creation of the song was from Goobers. She did a great job with the words and with putting all the ideas together from all the other coaches. It was so cute. The parents stood as they ended. They performed it so well.

Then we moved into the awards. Each age group was called to the stage. Every single child got their own award from the season and then four special ones were given out. The most Improved Swimmer, High Point Winner, Most Spirited Cuda, and the Heart of the Cudas were given out in each age group. I was there to take pictures as each age group was given awards. They went from youngest to oldest.

Princess was beaming. Bagel received a trophy but didn't join the others on stage. That was only appropriate considering she never swam in a meet. Pickle was one of the high point receivers but not the highest. He did win the Heart of the Cudas Award. The next two really were the heart of the entire team and not just their age groups. Moogie and Sugar did not leave with any extra acknowledgement but they were there every day offering 101%They were not given the official awards but I don't think it would have been fair if the T family won in every age group. They sure had tons of fun. Moogie and Sugar were happy to be a part of their teams. Bear took the award of Most Spirited and then so did Goobers. Next it was Pookers big win. She also was a contender for high point but was awarded the Heart of the Cudas.

Pooker's group was the last group. As her group walked off the stage she grabbed the mike. No one knew if she was supposed to have it or not. She decided to give an impromptu acceptance speech. I was surprised that no one cut her mike as she thanked all the Cudas for joining her in her last season, she thanked the coaches for all their hard work, she thanked all the parents for all the volunteer hours they put in to make the team work and then she thanked her Father and I. It was a crazy moment but J and I both were very proud of her.

Then the mike was returned to the rightful speaker. Next thing to do was to pass out the Cuda Scholarships. Pooker made us very proud again as she received this one time cash award that she will apply to her college costs. The group of seniors all had tears in their eyes as they left the stage. This was it for them.

The night ended with a wonderful video tribute to the 2009 Winning Cuda Season. This was a beautifully done creation that put interviews and commentary to music. It looked professional and each of the swimmers loved it. Dad and I again had that moment to swell with pride. Bear was the director and editor of this creation. As the night ended and everyone left we received complement after complement on the high quality of this creation. We were so surprised and pleased as well. Bear just might have a future working within this type of field, he is extremely talented. He might never be an Olympic swimmer but swimming just might have introduced him to his calling through the creation of this video.

(I hope to add video soon.)

What a night!! It took me an entire week to take in the glory and write about it. I am so thankful that the children had this outlet and were able to discover so much about themselves this year. It was also fantastic that Pooker got to go out with a bang. Way to go Cudas!!!! We love you all. Now where are we going to put all those awards?

Do you think Jumba looks like his dad?

Dad around 2 years of age.



And Jumba at around 2 years of age.

Mimi Picks a favorite!

Growing up we all knew that Mimi favored KeeKee and today she proved it. After 38 years Mimi bought herself a new home. Considering that today is also her birthday I think it is a special day for sure.

Why do I say that she has picked her favorite . . .? Mimi's new home is right next door to KeeKee. She decided to pass on the offer to move next to me in Texas and I doubt she ever considered the offer. She wasn't interested in moving back to California with my other sister. My brother will still have to come around and do all the work even though he isn't just next door. We always suspected she love KeeKee most. My sister is so lucky. She will get to have Mimi's help with decorating, babysitting, cleaning and laundry. She is so lucky to have won the mom lottery.

I know that Mimi loves all of her children. I am just kidding to say that KeeKee is her favorite. She loves us all the same amount but in different ways. Kerry gets the almost full time version. Not to mention that KeeKee had a very cute one story house for sale right next door and rest of us didn't. All kidding aside I must say that we are so happy for Mimi. She has found a very cute house that is just one story. She will not have to aggravate her sore knees going up and down the stairs to wash her clothes. She will have everything at her fingertips. When and if something goes wrong she will be close enough that she will have Keekee and her family for support. It really is a great day for my mom and my family.

Even though it will be hard leaving so many memories behind she will make many more in this new home. Way to go MIMI. I am happy for you and I can't wait to see this new home.

Prayer for the Home

Visit, we beseech Thee, O Lord, this dwelling, and drive far from it all snares of the enemy; let Thy holy Angels
dwell herein, to preserve us in peace; and let Thy blessing be upon us forever.
Through Christ our Lord.

Amen.

Happy Birthday J!

We had a blast over the weekend. J had a birthday. He is still only 23 years old and the kids are not sure how that is happening. We started off at Church with a showing of Horton and Who. The older kids headed to another movie while dad and the younger bunch headed out for ice cream. Saturday we let the bird go and did errands all day. Sunday was his big day. We went to Mass after a big breakfast. Pooker had to work but made sure it was at Dad's favorite pool. The kids all walked up to the pool and called dad to let him know that it was pretty much empty.
As we walked into the pool area the few families that were there stopped and joined our kiddos in singing happy birthday. The T children had all gone to the store the day before and with their own money had purchased an endless supply of pool toys for dad's gift. They told him it was because they all loved spending time with him at the pool. I think he has used those gifts every day sense. They all love the pool so much! He spent that afternoon playing catch with our kids and everyone elses. He really did have a blast. Happy birthday big guy! We love you.

Baby leaves the nest

The past few weeks my children have been working on their own little science project. They stumbled upon a baby bird that had fallen out of the nest about 3 weeks ago. This was such an ugly little creature that no one wanted to even look at it. With the help of their dad they did some research. They learned that they could feed this little creature softened dog food with tweezers. They also got a dropper to give it water. They suspect that it was dehydrated when they found it. This is not a surprise as the area has been without water for a long time. I watched and grew concerned that when this little one died my children would be reminded of the pain of death.

After three days of feeding this ugly little thing every two hours it began to get it feathers. The look wasn't as bad. Then it began to beg for them when it was hungry. The cries were annoying but my children were faithful in going to take care of it.

Then the bird started jumping and flapping its wings. I warned the kids that soon it would need to be released. They assured me that it would be OK and they worked hard to identify the kind of bird it was. I hear it is a wood pecker. I was now concerned as to how humans could teach a bird to fly.
Leave it to my children to work out those little details. No one wanted to push the bird. They all loved it too much. Pooker being wise, knew that it needed a push. She moved it to a grassy area and tried to get it to release from the platform. She had to pushed it all the way off with her siblings crying their concerns the entire time.

The bird fluttered its wings and stayed above the ground for just a moment. Pooker then starting lifting it higher and higher from the ground and letting it go. The little one fly to the tree. She then continued to let it practice as she would back farther and farther away. We all clapped as it flew to the tree the first time.

These flying lessons took place over and over again. They would let it fly farther each time. Each child learned how to encourage the bird to fly. After a strong week of these practices it became time to let the bird go. We were all worried that our little wood pecker would not know what to do in the wild, but he wasn't going to stay in the box too much longer.

We were all playing outside and we let the bird fly around. It went from tree to tree and then began to climb. After it was out of ladder reach we knew the time was today. We kept track as long as we could and then we just had to say good bye and wish it well.

This was a great experience for the little T family. I got to watch them love one of God's creatures enough to sacrifice their own sleep. It was a pain to make sure someone was taking care of this baby every few hours. I am proud of my little one who did a great job taking care of this little bird. Way to go guys! Goobers, Bear, Sugar and Moogie all did a great job.