Wondering what got me started coaching Volleyball?

Let me lay it out for you...

One day Miah came to me with a permission slip for Vball. She said she wanted to play. I have been actively been trying to keep my kids busy throughout the year with athletics in order to keep them in shape and to prevent them from getting bored/lazy (like me).

I've always encouraged my kids to try any and everything that catches their interest. My philosophy is...you won't know if you like it or are even good at it unless you try.
So, they try...and I pay for each and every registration that comes across my lap.

Right now, Devyn is playing flag football (which he wanted to combine with soccer but the time frames would have overlapped) and Miah is playing Volleyball.

I went to the Boys and Girls Club to register Miah and the staff informed me that they were looking for parent volunteers to coach the girls for Miah's school. Come to find out, the surrounding schools are getting a head start on athletics and they aren't waiting until middle school. Elementary school is where it's at.

I was a little wide eyed and taken back but I asked Miah if she really wanted to play. She said, "YES" so I let them know that if the school gets enough members to make a team, I would be happy to coach.

No, I don't play volleyball on a daily basis (or even a yearly basis).
Last time I remember playing was round 7th or 8th grade.
Ehhh...what is there to teach? Just fundamentals, right?
No big deal...

I waited a week, almost two to find out if there were enough students.
Finally, I'm told that practice for my "team" would be taking place the following day at the school. I would meet up with the school P.E. coach (who would become my assistant coach) and we would get started.

I was happy to find out that we had a team.
Total girls on my team...19 girls.
They had to divide my girls into 2 teams. So...now, I have double the responsibility.

Practice has been good. Only took me about 3 weeks to learn every one's names. (gulp)
I think I'm more excited during the games than the girls are.

I'm the type of parent who will do anything for their kids. I think I'm liking this coaching thing...

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We started decorating our house about a week ago for HALLOWEEN!!!
Ya'll know how I love my holidays!
My mom used to always decorate and I wanted to pass that memory on to my kids.

Here's what the house looks like so far. I still need to get my dang pumpkin carved ( I mean, I still need to purchase that damn pumpkin).

Here are some graves that I haven't finished. I haven't put up the tombstones yet because it's been windy and they get knocked down.

Dom usually helps me put up the decor.

This year, instead of putting the spider on the ground, I secured it on the side of the house like it was crawling. Its electric so the legs move.

Here we have most of the decor put up. Once we finish it all, I will post more pics.

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Last, but not least, on Tuesday Devyn ran track for his elementary school. He was 1 of 4 people in the 400 meter relay. He's the first leg. Here's the video. He's counting down the days till May when they do the cross-country race. My boy loves to run.

That's it for now. I'll be back after Halloween!!

Here we go...again...

Hey Everyone...
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I think I heard an echo.
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.I definitely hear crickets.

I knew it, there isn't anyone here.
That's alright. It's my fault. I haven't been here in a long time anyway.
I'm still going to post an update anyway.

So...this is ME!
It's been awhile but I pretty much look the same!


The kids are getting much bigger and we have been super busy with sports. Devyn is currently playing flag football for his elementary school. All of the surrounding elementary schools have started getting the kids involved in sports at an earlier age.

Here's Devyn. He's pretty awesome!

My baby girl Miah!

Now, I know you never really expected to see Dom looking like THIS!

Especially with all the past posts with his PURPLE HAIR and his BLACK JACKET but check him out!

I've been keeping myself busy staying active in my kid's lives. Here I am, just call me Coach Hernandez. I now work until 2 or 2:30 each day and coach 3-5th grade girls volleyball for Miah's school. This picture only has a few of the girl on the team but now I currently have 19 girls and the school decided to make 2 teams for me.

We're at one of the scrimmage games.

This past weekend my girls had were in a tournament. We started at 11 am. We won that game and continued to win the next 5 or 6 games in a row (I lost count) and were finally defeated at the end giving us 2nd place overall in the tourney. We didn't finish until 7 PM and the girls were WORN OUT!

It was one of the best days....ever!


Here is a part of a video of one of the games. My team is on the opposite side of the net and Miah is the one serving.



ANYHOO...there's an update on our "activities".

I'm about to go outside and start putting up my halloween decorations.

I LOVE HALLOWEEN!

I'm all about the free candy.

No one really knows that it's the reason I have 3 kids. I needed to increase my army of "candy getters" and attack their bags as soon as they get home and pour all the candy out on my bed.

I roll in it sometimes....

...just kidding.....

...well, maybe just a couple of rolls.

Here's Last year's HALLOWEEN POST. Check it out

I'll be back, let me know what's going on with you guys!

2 MORE DAYS...

Two more days people, then we are O-U-T!

Angel was able to get tomorrow and Friday off to tie off any loose ends before we hit the road.

We are almost all packed with the goodies to keep the kids quiet and us happy.

(by "goodies" I mean tranquilizers)....ok, so I'm just kidding.

Ok...so, maybe I'm not...

But I might just pack some turkey sandwiches and make that all we have to eat during the journey. You know, sleepy-time foods. I don't really have any trouble with the kids riding and getting along. I just wish that they would be more like me. You know...just sleep. No need to be called upon to go to sleep, just do it naturally.

NOPE.

Devyn wants to be running and jumping and riding all the time.

Miah pretty much keeps to herself.

Dom wants to be watching TV with me all of the time (when he knows it's nap-time)..geez.

This Friday is the kid's 3rd track meet. As always, I'm excited and can't wait for my kids to do their stuff.

This post's focus is on Devyn...

Here is Devyn putting on his spikes getting ready to head over to the high jump mat.

Here he is again with his friend Bernie. They compete against each other during practice. It's so cool to watch them push to do better. They encourage each other without even realizing it.

(Devyn is on the right)

Here is a video of the boys jumping:

I know you can't tell that there is a video there but there is. Just click on the "play" triangle for those who are unsure of how to maneuver through this.

The boys cleared 3'6" at their last 2 meets. This time the bar was raised to 3'8" and they cleared it. Then...raised to 3'10" and they were struggling to get past it.

I

If you are like me....

You are curious about the people who are working so closely with you kids. SO...I did my research.

The coach in the videos is none other than....WILL LITTLETON (<---Click there)

Here is a video of him doing his THANG!

Yeah, I have to admit that it's pretty much an honor and a privilege to have this man and his status teaching my son everything he know.

Unfortunately, he won't be able to be at this week's meet because he will be competing in a meet of his own.

GOOD LUCK WILL!

When I get to NY, I will post the results of the high jump as well as Miah's shot put results. The next post will be about her!

PROUD MAMA!

There has been a change in our household. A change that I was hoping for but wasn't really holding out for.

I know you are all curious as to what it is...so I won't keep you in suspense.

THE CHANGE IS....

DOM (my oldest) IS ACTUALLY INVOLVED IN A SPORT!

I know what you are thinking..."WHAT?!?!...SAY IT ISN'T SO...COULD IT BE TRUE?"

Yes, people..it's true.

My big boy has voluntarily decided he wanted to join the summer track team.
(this is after seeing his sister and brother's first track practice and learned that they will be doing the pole vault)

I was pleasantly surprised when he asked me if he thinks the coach will allow him to join. The coach said YES and I got the info to fill out. Just hearing that he wanted to participate made me excited to go shopping for gear for HIM.

I've spent a lot of time shopping for Miah and Devyn for their sports gear and apparel that I felt guilty not buying Dom these same things.

WELL...NOT ANYMORE! WE WENT SHOPPING!

I took off to Academy and got him some gear. (don't get me wrong, I still had to shop for 3 kids but we came away with their necessities).

Here are a few pics (you know they were coming) of the kids at their practice.

Here are all of the kids waiting for practice to start.

Devyn has turned out to be a true runner. I know he ran cross country for his school this year and he's run in a couple of relays but running everyday is AWESOME (sure wish I could run).

He's been running along side the distance runners until he gets to his point and then he cuts across back to the track. I believe he runs for 15 mins and it's about a mile or a mile and a half.

Regardless, I don't want to be running for 15 mins non-stop.

Here is Devyn on his run. It's called the Texas Lap. I tried to follow him in the truck but he was WAAAY out there. He's in the center of the pic and the rest of the group is ahead of him. He's the only 8 yr old running this. There are two 12 yrs old boys and the rest are high school kids. The high school kids run a longer lap but he keeps up with them during his run/distance.

(if you click on the pic, you may get a better look)


This is Dom's second day and he's looking a little pooped! Poor guy. He's gonna make it though! I think he was actually feeling a little sick (common cold) so he could only run so much that day but he still participated in the exercises and running the bleachers.

Miah started crying her first time (the first day) around the track. I think she made it 1/4 of the way around and then walked most of the way. She did one lap and then came straight to me and cried. She needed encouragement to continue but she did. I told her that running takes some getting used to and she will build up her endurance as she continues. She's now on day 4 and she hasn't cried anymore and I can see the changes in her already.


I gotta tell you guys. I'm super proud. All of my kids are involved in the same sport and I get to be at one place throughout! Their first meet is this Friday! I'm anxious to see how this all turns out!

I know...I know...

I know you guys want to cuss me out for being gone for awhile.

I haven't really been on Twitter and I've been MIA on this blog for awhile.

I don't really have a good excuse but just like my kids, I'm gonna pull one out of my ass.

Ummm...let me see which one works better...

I KNOW!....I have been majorly busy and haven't had time to tweet or blog.

No, that's a big-time lie.

Uhhh....I've been sick and haven't been able to get out of bed or do anything productive?

No, that's a lie too. (although, I have been feeling pretty crappy in my throat lately)

Alright, I'll just say it.

I've been addicted to facebook.

There, I've said it.

No, not staring at my long lost friend's pictures and hoping they would pop up in the chat list so I can catch them for a chat.

Nope, I was playing Farmville and Yoville.

I know they are child(ish) games but my brother called me up one night and I was already asleep. He asks me about farmville and told me to check it out (and he's OLDER than me). I went back to sleep but you know when I woke up I checked it out and started playing.

Damn addicting games.

I won't get into it but that's where I've been. Although, I have to say I have a pretty sweet farm back in Farmville but for some reason my friends in Yoville keep asking me to "take it slow" and "come back tomorrow". All I wanted was another kiss.

Oh, yeah..the catching up with old friends is nice too.

So, What's been going on with me you ask?

Workin, same ole same ole.

Devyn has started playing football. Tackle football. He's 8.

Right now, he's too nice. He is either afraid to get hit or afraid to hit someone else. We'll have to work on that.
See @studiogenious he does look cute...to me. (check out my boy's blog: The Infamous Nobody. He's got the insight on why men do what they do on his ManFive Fridays).

So here's Devyn at practice.....so cute.


Here he is at his first game. Not sure if he knows what he's doing but still...ughhh..so cute.

He's here at his first high school pep rally. No, he's not a child genious (yet), his coach took him to his high school and it was the homecoming pep rally. Devyn's team was mentioned as the upcoming Wolverines.

look at that sweet face..

I've also been nursing sick dogs. Chupa and Roary have been sick and I've been going back and forth from the vet with them.

Here's Roary. He was throwing up for days and I had to take him to the vet and hope he wouldn't die. I wouldn't be able to handle that again.

He was barely able to drink water days later. He still threw it up.

Then Chupa got sick. He got Parvo. I'm guessing Roary had it too but the vet said No.

I had about a week and a half of doggie vomit and sickness.


I'm so glad they are better now.

NOW, I want to tell you a story:

Saturday, Angel got rained out from work and came home and told me about a tiny black kitten that hangs around his work yard (an hour away from home). He says it comes around all the time and meows and they feed it and it hangs around his truck.

I was like, cool..you gonna bring it home?

He said,... maybe, if I see it tomorrow when I go to work, I might bring it home.

Alright, done.

So, I'm napping and a little while later, Dom comes and wakes me up to tell me that there was a kitten outside the house.

He brings it in and Angel recognizes it as the kitten from his work (an hour away from home).

Apparently, the kitten hitched a ride somewhere in Angel's engine (without getting chopped up) and survived and hour long ride on the highway all the way to my house.

(WHAT?! Angel was going to bring him to me anyway)

Angel may seem like a big barbaric heavy metal dude but you guys don't see him cuddling these animals.

It was meant to be.

I also want to officially give my sincerest CONGRATS to Dana over at Boy Oh Boy!

She's just had her 6th baby boy and I can't see how she does it! I am wishing her all the love and joy and patience. Check her out and give her some support and advice and whatever coupon sites you guys have.

Welcome to the dark side.

Well, I've been holding on to my children for as long as I can while trying to keep them from crossing over to the dark side.

And when I say crossing over, I mean keeping them from doing the same things that Dom does.

Don't get me wrong. Dom is a great kid. He's smart and funny. He just likes to stay in trouble a lot. You know, grounded for stuff. Dom is constantly grounded for one thing or another.

But this post isn't about him.

It's about Devyn.

I know what you are going to say LISA..."Not Baby D!"

YES BABY D!

Everyday the kids (Miah and Devyn) call me from the Boys and Girls Club to pick them up...early.

Miah called and I told her I would be there when I finish my patients and she says, "Oh yeah, Devyn got suspended."

Oh man.

So I go and pick them up. He hands me this paper that says he's suspended for 1 day. Apparently he was placed in time-out 3 times throughout the day for not listening, running on the bleachers after being told not to or misbehaving. This was on Wednesday. He can't go back on Thursday.

I don't play that.

I tell him that since he got himself suspended, he was grounded until the day he could go back to the B&G Club again (which was Friday).

I laid out the rules.

NO watching TV

NO crying about being grounded

Stay in your room and read.

Easy enough, right?

He thought so...at first.


Then he kept coming out of his room wanting water.

Then he kept complaining that he was bored.

Then he started whining about having no one to play with.

Then, at night when I was sleeping, I get freaked out to find him standing on my side of the bed just staring at me talking about how he can't sleep and can he sleep with me.

UH...NO...it's bed time, go to your bed little dude.

Then he starts crying and I have to threaten to get the belt.

The next day I had to take them to my mom's because he couldn't go to the B&G Club, he got to watch TV there and he didn't want to leave. I brought him home to finish out his punishment.

Geez, getting an 8 yr old to stay grounded is hard!

That night, as I was asleep again, Dom barges into my room talking about, "Devyn is standing in Miah's doorway yelling at us and telling us MOMMA SAID IT'S TIME FOR YOU TO GO TO BED!"

I had said no such thing. I was sleeping, geez.

Devyn was taking matters into his own hands because he was jealous that everyone else was still up and watching TV.

Maybe next time he won't get suspended!

Reminds me of when I thought Miah was crossing over too.

Poor Kitty!

Recently, something has happened to my Miah's kitty... Tattoo.

Saturday I had to take him to the vet (this is AFTER hunting down the vet for hours). I was freaking out because the cat's eye was watering and clear liquid was leaking from his nose. I looked it up on the Internet and there were comments that pointed to "allergies". I let it go for now because we went to Devyn's B-day party at Peter Piper Pizza.

(I will tell you a little story about that later in this post)


After the party, we came home and I checked on Tattoo and this is what I saw:

He was lethargic. I could hardly get him to move. I would pick him up and get him to stand but he would just drop where ever he was. His nose just kept dripping blood. I told Angel I was taking him to the vet and that I needed him to go with me.


The vet looked at him and said he suffered some kind of massive head trauma. His brain was swelling and it was causing the fluid to be squeezed out of his nose, mouth and eyes. He gave him a couple of shots to help reduce the swelling and I guess help with any pain he was in. He said he has a 50/50 chance. I needed to take him home and make him comfortable.


Great.


First the puppy and now this.


I don't think I can handle this.


It was Saturday so I was happy to stay at home in my room with the cat.
Poor thing had so much blood coming out of his nose that it finally dried and crusted up inside so the cat had to sleep with his mouth open.


He snores.


He's doing better. This picture is what he looks like all day long for the next few days. I took him back to the vet yesterday and the vet says he is doing much better because now he is aware of his surroundings. Last time, he had a concussion and was disoriented.

He gave him another shot and sent us home. He said he will be like this and getting better for the next 48 hours.

At least he's drinking water and this morning he ate a few bites of food. He won't eat because all he smells is blood.

Doc says, he should be ok.

I wonder what Bastard did this to my cat!

CHANGING THE SUBJECT...

Devyn's birthday party was pretty fun. His cousins got to spend the weekend with him.

All Devyn came and asked me for his birthday was a little pool. I went right out and got it for him. I had a hell of a time blowing that thing up because I didn't have a pump and I didn't know how to turn the shop-vac into a blower. I couldn't find the instruction manual so I had to look it up online.

We ordered the party pack for Devyn's party which consisted of everything we needed ...even tokens. The kids got there, ate played I handed out tokens left and right. Devyn opened his presents and he got $20 in birthday money. He held out his wallet for me to put the money in and I did. I was so glad my son liked to walk around with money in his wallet in his pocket.

I still had half a cup of tokens left so any kid that was around got more tokens. I handed like 5 of them to Devyn and he said, "Um, no thank you, I already have some." And with that, he patted this BIG wad of tokens in his front pocket so that it made this jingling noise.

I was like a big kid when I saw that! I was like, "WOW, Where'd you get that from?" My mouth and eyes were wide open and I was in awe. I thought someone had given him more tokens. Then he said, "My money."

That's when my eyes drooped and my jaw dropped. I was like, "WHAT? YOU USED ALL OF YOUR 20 BUCK ON TOKENS?!?"

He said, "Umm hmmm."

I went to Angel to tell him that and Angel said he saw Devyn at a corner table divvying up a huge pile of tokens amongst his friends. He just didn't know it was from his birthday money.

Not much we could do about it after that. I came home and Angel stayed with the kids so that they could all play the games. Angel was having a ball on Devyn's birthday token money.

Another Devyn Post

In honor of Devyn's birthday, I thought I'd tell you one of my favorite Devyn stories.

For those of you who know Devyn, you know he talks with a LISP.
My brother and I used to have a lisp when we were children but we took a few lessons in our younger years and it was corrected......at least, mine was.......

ANYWHOO...

I was still attending college at the time and I had summer SPEECH classes. Devyn and Miah were curious about what my class was about. I tried to explain it to them as best as I could and it must have come off sounding like you needed help speaking.

This was also the time I was into making homemade sushi for the family and myself. The kids love it. They were always asking me to make it for them.
Well, one day, Miah came to me asking me if I was going to make some....SHUSHI.

I tried to correct her and tell her that it's pronounced...SU-shi. She tried and tried a few times but it still came out SHU-shi.

That's when Devyn came around the corner laughing at her and telling her, "THUTHI Miah?!
It'th not called thuthi! ....IT'S STHUUUSTHIIII! You can't even thay it right! You need Thpeech!"

We all busted out laughing at how Devyn was the one to dictate who needed speech.

DEVYN

TODAY IS DEVYN'S BIRTHDAY!!!

My baby boy had just turned 8!
What am I going to do? My kids are all growing up!!
Who am I going to swaddle, NOW?

So you guys all know what happens on Birthdays!!
Please, please....contain your excitement!
I have it all set up for you!

Let's start....shall we?

I couldn't find any tiny baby pictures (and believe me, I looked) so I got the next best thing.

Baby in a costume...

Devyn was a DUCK for his first Halloween. We figured it was easier to throw a costume on him and just push him in the stroller.
I gotta tell you, he was the coolest and quietest duck I'd ever had.


We took him to the park after he turned 1 yr.
Yes, as you can see, he IS a lot lighter in skin color than the rest of us.
I was often mistaken as "the nanny" when I would take them with me places.

And like true babies do...they stick everything in their mouths.
This was also the age where he would take off his pamper in the middle of the night sending his little caca balls bouncing to the floor. Me, being the light sleeper would hear the velcro tabs being pulled off and would dash out of bed to catch him before it was too late....but I was always too late. By the time I'd get there, he's already bouncing in his crib naked and smiling while I tried to avoid the landmines he has just planted.

He has so much hair. It was beautiful and curly and light brown. He was the only one in the family who had that hair color. All of us have jet black hair.

My father in law would tease Devyn and tell him he looked like Lyle Lovett. This was after his first hair cut. He still had that curly hair.

His smile would light up my day. His cheeks were so puffy and he was always a sweetheart.

He still looks at me like this everyday before he gives me a hug or a kiss.

This picture was taken at his head start. He loved it so much and he was very smart. I'm lucky to have kids who NEVER fight to stay home from school. As soon as I wake them up, they are ready to go. Devyn usually has to be dragged out of the bed but once he's up, he's no problem.

Devyn was 6 yrs old in this picture. He looks so much older in this view. Thank goodness his skin color caught up with the rest of us so people could stop staring!

This was around the time that he HATED having any kind of long hair. He always wanted a haircut. So we played around with his hair before we cut it.




Here he's with the neighbor kid (Devyn's the one in the blue hat with his eyes closed throwing the "peace" sign) I don't know when he started doing that but I DO know that this is the first one that I actually captured. Then Devyn was on a spree of "peace"




His latest school pictures. He never felt self conscious about smiling in front of the camera...with or WITHOUT teeth!




Devyn TODAY with his momma, On his birthday.




HAPPY BIRTHDAY BABY BOY!!

We have a party planned for him this weekend so maybe I will let you in on some pics from there.

Maybe.