Absolutely exhausted.....

This is what happens after playing soccer when you're just getting over pneumonia and you have asthma.....not to mention getting up early every morning for school because you have to be there at 7:30am....I just couldn't resist taking this picture.....

I had to take her cleats, socks and shin guards off of her while she was still sound asleep. Then she slept in her uniform. And I really did try to talk her out of playing but to no avail....she is a true athlete and gives it her all every time.....

And why do I do this???

So here I sit after another crazy night of soccer.....after of course a very long day of work and not enough sleep at night....and why do I do this?? It's simple....I'm a mom and I have kids. Does that just say it all?

I was really ready for this soccer season to be over 2 weeks ago. When I signed the kids up for soccer I didn't realize that I would once again be coaching a team of rowdy little boys. (I think I have "sucker" written right across my forehead)...but aside from that, having 3 kids playing soccer can be quite a juggling match some nights. Tonight just happened to be one of those nights. 3 kids playing soccer and 3 games in one night can make a person crazy....(just by reading this post you can tell I don't make any sense....LOL) Talise had her game first at 5:30 which I had to leave before it was over to go and coach Jacob's game. I missed Kaitlyn's game because of the coaching deal because her game was also at 6:30. The only good part about it I guess is that we are all at the same place, but on 3 very far away from each other fields. I did however get to watch the last 15 minutes or so of Kaitlyn's game which pretty much took place in the dark.....do they make glow in the dark soccer balls??? LOL!!

My kids absolutely love this game and so for them I involuntarily coach soccer, cheer like crazy when I'm at their games and let them know that I think they're the best player out there. And what do I get out of it besides being absolutely exhausted?? I get the satisfaction of watching them do something they love, make new friends, learn new skills, and have the time of their life doing it....win or lose they love the game.

And that is why I do this......

My favorites mosaic.....

OK so I've seen this on a couple of my friends' blogs and it looked fun so I did one of my own.

If you want to do your own mosaic, here are the rules. Go to either Google images or Flickr and search for images with the answer to the questions below. (for instance, if your name is Jenny, go to one of the sites above and search Jenny) You must select a graphic from the FIRST page of your search. Pick out the best one, or your favorite one and go to http://bighugelabs.com/flickr/mosaic.php and set up a 3 by 4 mosaic and enter the URL of the picture you selected. Have fun!


Here are the questions:
1. What is your first name?- Lori
2. What is your favorite food?- Chocolate (it IS a food!!!)
3. What high school did you attend? Buena High School (and yes I was in the marching band)
4. What is your favorite color?- Purple and Blue
5. Who is your celebrity crush?- Orlando Bloom
6. Favorite drink? - Starbucks Iced Caramel Machiato
7. Dream vacation? - Paris
8. Favorite dessert?- Razzleberry Pie
9. What do you want to be when you grow up? - Happy
10. What do you love most in life? - Family
11. One word to describe you? - Crazy
12. Your nickname? - Spaz (they didn't have anything for Kriedo)

May we never forget......

With today being the 7th anniversary of 9/11, may we all take some time and remember those that lost their lives, those that gave all in the rescue attempt, those that continue to go on, and those who are fighting away from home to protect our freedoms and stop the war. May we never forget......


Kaitlyn took these photos when she went to New York. She said the artist's picture of the twin towers was painted 12 years before 9/11. If you look closely at it the haze reminds one of the smoke from that eventful day 7 years ago....

School and illness.....

Wow what a roller coaster ride we're all on....starting a new job at a new school with a new curriculum is not easy. In fact it demands more time in a day than there are hours....(if any of you know a productive way to work in your sleep please let me in on the secret). This coupled with the fact that I have 4 very active kids that go every which way after school and I'm the only parent home makes life interesting too. Even with the new car I still find myself having to do a lot of driving especially since Branden got a part in the school production of Roger and Hammerstein's Cinderella. He now has rehearsals every day after school until 5. There went my grand idea of not having to do all the running around.....!!

So also with a new school you get new germs to deal with.....can you say "We're all getting sick". We have had a lot of sick kids and teachers over the past couple of weeks and now it has landed at my house. Talise hasn't been feeling very good but I just chalked it up to allergies, asthma and lack of sleep. On Monday after school she was complaining of a bad headache but being the mean mom that I am I made her go to gymnastics anyway. She was doing fine (well sorta) until I got there and then she lost it. Here were the tears and the take me home I don't feel good.....so I took her home and that night she was burning up. We stayed home from school on Tues and Tues night she spiked up to 102.8 which for her is very high. I took her to the doctor yesterday and the diagnoses......pneumonia!!! So I just won the bad mom award for making her go to gym on Monday, but then redeemed myself by taking her to the doctor and getting her a little porcelin doll at the hospital gift shop after her x-rays. She'll have to stay home the rest of the week but by Monday should be good to go again. So for now I'm working from home and helping other teachers on my team get their paperwork caught up....

School and illness.....they go hand in hand.

New and exciting things.....

So now that I'm back in the world of blogging I better keep it up better. I've had a couple of exciting things happen this past month and just as recently as yesterday....the biggest news is that I finally got a full time teaching position. When I was ready to be done with it and figured I was never going to be a full time teacher it happened. There is a new charter school here in Cedar City and I had applied but had not heard anything. So on Aug. 13th I had an interview with the principal of Gateway Preparatory Academy. The interview lasted approx. 15 min and I was hired. What a whirlwind experience that was.....I then had to call the Iron County School District and cancel two other interviews I had for that day for part time positions.....what a wonderful feeling that was. I then went home to arrange things for my kids and went back for a training that day. To say that life change a lot on that day would be an understatement to say the least. Thus began the roller coaster ride that I'm currently on, and as stressful as it is I don't want to get off.

The other exciting thing that happened just happened yesterday.....we got another car. I bought a 2002 Saturn SL2. With my new job mom's taxi sort of had problems. I don't get finished with work until 3:30 but Kaitlyn and Branden are finished at 2:40. Then with all the activities the kids do I realized that for it to all work Branden was going to have to do some driving. Plus the fact that they don't like to sit at school for sometimes an hour and a half waiting for me when they could be home doing things like eating and chatting with friends.....LOL!!! OK so they do do homework too so they can go to bed early enough at night to get up at 4:30am. So now we have a charcoal gray Saturn that I now have to teach Branden to drive. Yes it's a 5 speed!!! Wish me luck everyone as I take on this latest lesson in life.....I'll let you all know how it goes and will post pictures when I have some.....