Tammy's Fabulous Blog

Soccer Season 2010 comes to an end…

mnmmom — Sun, 21 Nov 2010 16:22:07 +0000

Last years soccer season was nothing really to write home about, don’t get me wrong, the team did fantastically; they actually won every single game. So you’d think, wow Max must have had the best year ever… not the case, Max had his worst year in soccer, and all due to “Coach Mike”. Mike is a very hard-core coach, what we call a competition coach. He’s in it to win it, and that’s it. It’s an ego thing for him, and anybody who isn’t the best 11 on the field suffers for it. He’s got a set of rules for the parents as well as the players, its out of control. Needless to say at the end of the season, we were all glad it was over.

As this year’s season approached, we were all anticipating the team assignments, and before they were even sent out, I got a call from Coach Mike. He wanted to know why I did NOT ask to be moved off of his team. I told him that Max was not a quitter, Max would deal with anything he was dealt, he has learned to persevere through obstacles, and make the best of it. Mike said it was admirable, but that he didn’t want Max on his team and he was going to ask for a transfer. He said he felt Max did not respect his coaching style and liked to have fun more than be disciplined. And I reminded him that this league was a Recreation league, and if Max was in it for the competition, he would have sign up for the Comp League, and Mike said, you cant just play soccer for fun. UGH, so I said, do what you need to do.

Weeks later I received a call from Coach Russ, might I call him a “breath of fresh air” he was all about the boys, he didn’t understand the reason behind what happened, but he welcomed Max to his team.

Max was apprehensive of going off to the first practice, but it took only that one day for him to remember how much he loved soccer! Wow, we all noticed a difference in him.

The soccer season was a great one, we all had so much fun watching the boys enjoy playing every game, and the coach letting the boys play the game, not calling every play by-play from the sidelines. All the parent loved calling out their son’s name from the side lines…”Good Job Max” unlike the previous season where Mike was the only one who got to speak.

Coach Russ taught the boys how to hold their heads up high as long as they did their best, we had some wins, losses and ties, it was an awesome season, a season that ended yesterday, with the last game. It was a cold Saturday morning (34 degrees!) and threatening rain/snow… but we were ready, excited actually!

The team ready to rock in 34 degree temperature!

This game was a slim one in players, there were only 11 boys on Max’s team, just enough for the team to play, and each one of them had to play the full 90 minutes! But at 34 degrees, at least it kept them warm. It was a well matched game… To the point that it ended in a 1-1 tie… yep a tie…. but the boys could not let it end that way and they talked to the other team and decided on a Sudden Death kickoff. I’ve never seen this done before… they pick 5 boys from each team, and 1 by 1 alternating, they try to make a goal, just against the goalie… after the 10 kicks… it was 3 to 3… another tie…. and if that wasnt enough… They said this is it… one more, who ever makes it in the goal wins…

Ugh (mind you it had started raining about 20 minutes prior… and at that point probably freezing rain) but the boys didn’t feel a thing. The kids were all chanting Max’s name… I looked at Donato, I said… “are they saying Max?” and sure enough, I pleaded with D not to cheer him on, as that would make him more nervous, so he didn’t. Remember, Max is a defense player, so goals are not his thing…. But still, he apparently was up for the challenge.

My heart was pounding because being his Mom, I was feeling his anxiety, he hates this kind of pressure… but he did it any way… he kicked the ball, and it was a perfect goal, right over the goalies head. OMG, I was so proud of Max, it was a moment he will always remember, not because he made the goal, but because all his teammates knew he could do it! What a way to end the season…

Thanks Coach Russ for giving Max the opportunity to shine!

2010 Summer Post

mnmmom — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 19:48:39 +0000

Wow how the time has flown. Its been a very different summer than any other…

Economy has kicked our butt… Donato was laid off in December and after many applications and follow ups… still unemployed.
Benefits to this is that he is home with the kids.
Learning to live within our means, another benefit, and definitely a life lesson for the kids.
I am the first to admit that the kids really do have more than they need, and live their lives needing nothing, and working on chores to earn money for all their WANTS.
Well… with this change in income, we really had to sit down with them and explain living within our means, and learning to make choices.
Typically we have a couple short weekend vacation and one longer vacations per summer… this year we were able to just take one vacation weekend, and we were fortunate enough to stay at a friends vacation home, saving us some money, and helping with the lesson.

We had a truly spectacular time, and a few pictures to prove it (see below). Also below the pictures, are some quotes Ive been trying to live by in these challenging times… hope you enjoy

This digital slideshow personalized with Smilebox

Broke Is not Broken
Being broke is not the same as being broken, losing money is not the same as being lost, and finding your balance is not something you can do on a balance sheet.

Having Less Doesn’t Mean You Are Less
Don’t confuse having less with being less, having more with being more, or what you have with who you are.

Savor Life and Slow Down
When you’re in a hurry, go slowly. The faster you go in life the sooner it is a blur.

Courage Is not Absence of Fear
Put your faith, and not your fears, in charge. Courage isn’t the absence of fears but how you wrestle with them.

Embrace the Future
If you’re busy hugging the past, you can’t embrace the future. Don’t let the past kidnap your future.

Change Is the Only Constant
This too shall pass. Change is the only constant. In order to take a breath, you must release your breath.

Make a Difference
Do what you can, but never forget that letting go is very different from giving up. Of all the things you can make in life, remember you make all the difference in your life.

Embrace Happiness
Tough times don’t require you to be tough on yourself. Find the courage to embrace happiness.

You Are Great
Things don’t have to be good for you to be great.

Until next post… happy summer!

Hip Hop to Tortilla soup

mnmmom — Fri, 21 May 2010 15:59:41 +0000

Sure been awhile since I’ve posted to the blog, geez with all the other tools out there, twitter, facebook, email… who can find the time… maybe i will get better about posting here, and use facebook and twitter to promote my posts… ah what a concept (although its just not as easy to do that). I have two things to post… the girls practicing their hip hop routine for their 4th grade talent contest, and what the girls called their favorite chicken tortilla soup recipe… so there ya have it… both are below…

click the link to see the video Hip Hoppin Girls

Chicken Tortilla Soup Recipe

1 pre-roasted chicken (everyone’s favorite)
1 large can of green enchilada sauce
1 small can diced mild green chilis
2 cartons of low sodium chicken broth (enough to fill the crockpot at the end)
1 bag of frozen corn kernals
2 tsps crushed garlic
3 TBLS chopped cilantro
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp chili powder
1 bay leaf
salt & pepper
1 can of diced tomatoes (optional, i did not add when served to the girls)
1 diced onion (optional, i did not add when served to the girls)
pull off as much chicken from the bones as possible, shred and add to the crockpot
add all other ingredients, filling the remaining room in the pot with chicken broth
turn on the crockpot (low if cooking all day, high if cooking less than 4 hours)

serve soup with
squirt of lime
crushed tortilla chips
sour cream
shredded cheese
chopped cilantro
diced avacado

Mango Salsa Recipe

mnmmom — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 21:36:27 +0000

Homemade Mango Salsa

Here’s the recipe that I often whip up for quick get togethers!

1 firm mango cubed
2 small avocados cubed
1 lime (sqeeze over salsa)
1/2 red onion chopped
1/2 pint pre-made pico de gallo from deli section
1 cup freshly cubed pinapple
1/4 cup fresh chopped Cilantro

mix all ingredients together, serve with either Celery to dip, or Tortilla chips.

try it, come back and let me know how it is

Our Family Reunion

mnmmom — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 18:53:02 +0000

Here we go… it has been as much as 13 years since I had seem some of these folks. And what a hoot it was. We met new cousins, our kids all walked away with new friends/family, and everyone was ready to plan next year… so it was definately a success, and next year the group will be bigger as we did have quite a few last minute no shows (illnesses mostly). Until next year… savor in the pictures

Make a Smilebox slideshow

San Francisco Weekend

mnmmom — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 17:39:28 +0000

Late in posting this (as it was last weekend) but I didnt have access to the pictures till this morning
here are a few memories of our weekend
we really had a good time, and the kids are at the right age, where Museums are actually interesting to them (love that)!
The King Tut museum was the best, as Max knows he is going to study that this year in school, so he feel ahead of the game

take a look, enjoy with us

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Antique shopping at its best

mnmmom — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 00:06:59 +0000

This spring I was visiting some friends in Capitola for a Spa Weekend, ah… it was great!
One of the days we walked down to the beach past a few antique stores.
Went in and saw a great little item hanging on the wall
I was definitely intrigued and played around with it a little, and figured it out…
here’s what it looked like:

A beautiful decoration to our backyard

Now, one might ask… why did you buy that? Well it is not because everything in the store was 1/2 off (therefore it was $17) but it was that i had figured out the coolest use for it… then it was… EUREKA for me
here’s a photo of it in use:

I feel very good about the great deal and the uniqueness of this addition to our backyard!

Haloumi, Melon, and Avocado salad with lime-mint dressing

mnmmom — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 13:58:00 +0000

I am an avid reader of a blog by the name of Design Sponge, she’s great with twitter and great with photos… yesterday she had a very unusual, but seemingly simple recipe posted by Melina Hammer, and i just had to share. Follow Design Sponge

Haloumi, Melon, and Avocado salad with lime-mint dressing

mixed emotions

mnmmom — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 13:25:47 +0000

As most of you know I was called to Jury duty in June. I went in of course thinking I would be excused that day, then the selection process went into the second day, but even then i thought they either wouldnt get to me, or i would be excused. There was a pool of 350 potential jurors, what were the chances I would be selected as one of the 12? After-all we are talking about a Child Molestation case, and being a mother of 2 young children, I am obviously going to have a biased opinion… right?
Not according to the 2 attorneys nor the judge, they thought my work experience and the fact that I was a mother would help me make a fair and impartial judgement, and they sat me in the box! Yikes… I was up in this box with 1 other women 10 men and 4 alternates (all of which were men I might add). Tues and Wed. till noon, was jury selection, but by 1pm on Thursday, they had opening statements and 3 witnesses, so at that point I must say, I was quite impressed by the efficiency in which they were moving through this.
The court system only holds long jury trials on Tues/Wed and Thurs of each week, so after our “first” day of trial, we were set for a 4 day break. But, that wasnt all… we had to break for actually 11 days, as the judge was taking the following week off for a training class. Odd I thought for us to come back expecting to have remembered all that was said, and these were not unsubstancial witnesses. But we all did it, I guess with a trial like this, its hard to forget all the details.
We reconvened that following Tuesday and Wednesday and Thursday, and lucky for me my parents were there to help out, giving my kids the attention they needed throughout, yes, i could have taken them to daycare, long 7am to 5:30pm days, but i think emotionally i probably wouldnt have been there for them, as i was mentally exhausted each and every day. So thanks Mom and Dad for helping out and being there!
The last week we heard final witnesses, closing arguments and then on thursday at about 2pm we were given the trial to deliberate. There was no possible way we were going to come to a conclusion that quickly, so we scheduled ourselves back tuesday (yesterday) at 8:30am. By 2pm, we had made our decision. It was unanimous on all counts. Guilty. The sentencing is not scheduled till august 28th.
Hard to believe I went through all that, hard to understand why someone could do something so awful to family members, and good to know that our justice system works, and happy to be a part of it, in a small way.
Unfortunately hard to get this off my mind, i witnessed sad, scary, emotional and disgusting testimony, i heard words I’d never heard before, I learned about medical terms like suggestibility and confabulation, not to mention legal terms like preponderance of evidence.
Yes i know we made the right decision, was it easy, no. But the justice system works, and we all have our civic obligation to do this, I just got stuck with a sad, sick case.

Another proud moment

mnmmom — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 03:00:41 +0000

Mady had her Dance Recital this weekend, it was a long day, but it was a good one.
Mady took TapII this year and enjoyed it thoroughly and practiced constantly on the kitchen floor, she knew her routine inside and out… backwards and forward… with and without music.. until it came to dress rehearsal, when she got up on the stage with her 7 other dance partners and drew a blank, she was a bit lost. And needless to say, after that was over she was extremely anxious about getting in front of 350 people and messing up.
But Mady, mess up, nah, she got out there, and remember every single thing about the routine and nailed it, I dont think Ive ever seen it done that well. We were ALL PROUD! good job Mady!
here are a few pictures of both the practice as well as the performance!
enjoy!

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