The Clubhouse...

Before I get started here... I have to admit, this is a tad bit embarrassing. But oh well! I would tell any of you about this, so you might as well get the full effect from the pictures.

I have an interesting troop of children, to say the least. And they have an interesting set of friends. I have been hearing about them playing in the "common area." The common area is the little park in the middle of our subdivision. It's really an eye-sore... just some grass, big rocks and a pathetic looking tree. But the kids love it down there so... whatever. For the past several days, I've been hearing about this clubhouse, but I never bothered to check it out. So.... tonight I get dinner made and I yell out the door for the kids and after no response in a few minutes, I decide that I will have to pull up my panties and walk down to the common area to fetch them.

Can you say... the Home Owners Association is gonna be all over me for this in a heartbeat?? My hooligans, I mean, dear children, had made a shanty that a bum wouldn't live in!!! I was a little angry at first, but then I thought, "What kind of mom am I if I don't take pictures of this??" So that's exactly what I did before I forced them to clean it up. Oh... and that nasty purple afghan that I'm worried that my mother or grandmother will dig out of my trash, clean up and USE if they see it, I'm grabbing it and Briyanna says, nonchalantly, "There's pee on that." Oh, golly... thanks for letting me know AFTER I TOUCHED IT!

I'm givin' myself a pat on the back!

YAY! I made my first batch of strawberry freezer jam ever! And it turned out. Rob was sure I wouldn't do them and end up throwing them away, but I did it. I had a flat of strawberries (4 lbs.) and ended up with 22 pints. Here's a picture of them. It's from my phone so not the clearest. And the frig and stove are dirty so ignore them :).

Soccer tournaments and a nice injuury!

Briyanna had her soccer tournaments today and tomorrow in Boise. We went in knowing we were going to pretty much get killed. The first game, we played the #1 U-11 team in Idaho. They're so good they play up to the U-12 level and still win all their games. So yeah, they beat us, 8-0. Briyanna had played the entire game up til the last 10 minutes... when her team mate collided with her. She went down. All of her team mates stopped to look and make sure she was fine and the other team went in and scored. Good job, ref, for not noticing the kid flat on her back! So she gets pulled off the field and I'm watching.. no blood and no wave from the coach indicating that I'm needed. So after the game I go over to get her, and the coach says, "I'm pretty sure it's broken." Yep, there's a nice lump on her nose. I take her to the hospital and of course there is nothing they can do, but I did find out that the cartilage separated from her bone and settled on the right side of her nose. Yeah, it made me throw up in my mouth a little too. Now, we have to wait for the swelling to go down and see if it goes back to normal.

On a funny note, as I was trying to get her into the van I was moving stuff around to put her bag down, I grabbed a mug that had broke in half and cut my finger open. I was gushing blood and could only find a dirty sock to stop the bleeding. So when we get to the hospital and go up to the registration desk, the nurse sees my hand and bloody sock and says to me, "Oh, my! What did you do?" I was kind of flustered and moved to the side so she could see Briyanna and said, "I'm fine. It's the kid with the ice pack on her face that needs help." We must have been quit the sight.

OH! And they told us she could play if she feels like it. Back to the games we go and get there just in time for their 2nd game. I told the coach, "Ehh, use her only if you need to." She played half the game... with a broken nose!! She played great, a little more timid than normal, but consistent as usual. Here's a picture taken after the second game. She will be thrilled if she sees I put this on here. It's not her best picture.