Halloween

Halloween was a low key fun event. Ty went Trick or Treating with his friends so it was just Wyatt that wanted to go trick-or-treating. I made Taylor and Kyley go with us. They threw a costume together, Taylor a peace loving hippie and Kyley a gangster from Perry. Wyatt was a ninja skeleton, (he left his ninja mask at school so he had to improvise.) We didn't hit our "neighborhood" as it would take us an hour to hit 10 houses since they are so far apart. We went to the kid's school neighborhood.

Wyatt was so excited for Halloween this year. He started looking at the ads circling what he wanted to be about a month ago. One day as we were coming home from school he said "do you know what would be freaky?" I never know what Wyatt is going to say when he starts a sentence that way. Anyways, he continued, "If when you go to a house to trick-or-treat and you knock on the door you say "trick-or..." and they pass out like you were dead. The people passing out candy would totally freak. I better go practice" he says, and he runs in the house and practices "dying". Wyatt even saw his 1st grade teacher but he didn't do his trick, he did get a full size candy bar though.

Taylor and Kyley looked a little old to be out trick-or-treating but I hid as often as I could and it just looked like they were taking their brother out. I had fun since it had been a few years since the girls had gone out with me and not their friends, one of the perks of Halloween falling on Sunday. The best part, beside the candy was after about 45 minutes the kids were done, my feet didn't even hurt this year.

Ty Turns Ten

My oldest boy is now 10, double digits, a decade. I can't believe it. I think he had a good day. He woke up at 5:00AM to open his presents. It was a good thing since my parents were at our house at 5:45AM. They had a doctors appointment down the road and asked if they could come by. We are awake that early since Taylor has to be at school by 5:55 AM but celebrating a birthday complete with cake at 5:45 AM was a little odd. I love my parents, my Dad played Wii with Ty while I visited with my Mom. They ate cake and were out the door by 6:15AM.

It is tough to shop for a 10 yr old boys, they don't want the transformer toys or Legos any more but they are still too young for I-pods and such. Ty is so into football that we focused on that, he got a rug for his room that looks like a football field all 100 yards and football players, ASU football shirt, and Cardinal posters for his room. That night we took the family out to Carraba's for dinner. I love my Ty, he is such a good boy with a good heart that works hard at everything from school to football. I am so glad he was born.

Diamondback Game

September 3, 2010... My children had never been to a professional baseball game that they remembered. When Loren worked for MCSO he had an off duty gig at the Cajun House a night club in Scottsdale, the players would come in and leave tickets for him at the will call all the time. We would go and take our girls but they were little and don't really remember. Kristin, my sister-in-law called and had 6 tickets to the D-back game that they couldn't use - do we want them. Heck ya, not 2 or 3 but 6 enough for the whole family. It was a Friday, Loren didn't have to work, Ty's football practice was canceled, it looked as if the stars had aligned.

We rode the Metro into Phoenix, that in itself was cool. There is something about a pro-stadium, the excitement, the field, the sounds, it was so cool. I liked watching my kid's faces as much as I liked watching the game. The D-backs were playing the Dodgers and at first Taylor and Ty said "can we cheer for the Dodgers?" I forbade it, I said you can like the Yankees and the D-backs. We will always cheer for the home town team. The D-backs lost but it was a good game and my kids are old enough and have played enough so they understood the game and they were totally into it. It was such a fun family night.

Rain and Perry

Today was my first day back at work with students after a two week break. It is tough getting back into the swing of things then add rain to it and the kids were crazy. Second hour they come running in so excited, ( now these are high school kids 16-18 yr olds) "there is a double rainbow did you see it so cool" I had missed it being trapped in my room with windows the size of shoe boxes, then a teacher sent out the e-mail with the picture of Perry High School and the double rainbow. It was cool!

I thought I am so lucky. I love Perry High. I have been teaching for 18 years the last 4 at Perry. It was the best move I could have made, I feel like I belong. I opened the school when we had 6 math teachers and 800 students, we now have 16 math teachers and 2100 students. I have realized no matter where you go there will be drama, new curriculum, district mandates blah blah blah but I am a part of Perry. I have the best co-workers, and best friends working with me, it is a mile from my home and best of all my daughter Taylor is there. I get to see her at school everyday, she pops into my room at random times. I know her friends, her teachers, when she has a boy friend, when the PSATs are and all that stuff. What is even better is next year Kyley will be at Perry too. I love it.

Horses

We have been at this horse property for 4 years and Loren got us a horse within a couple of months. This March we sold all our horses and were going to focus on raising cows. The kids weren't riding the horses and you can't eat them. Anyways, friends of ours needed a place to board their horses between gigs and we said "bring them over!"

It has been fun to have horses back on the property again and the kids have loved it! Our friends offer horseback riding lessons and Wyatt and Ty get to jump in any chance they get. They are learning so much. They are gaining balance and confidence.I even hopped on a horse, I had forgotten how much fun it is to ride.

On Monday Taylor and our friend's daughter, Lani when on a horseback ride around our home. They rode to the canal, up the banks, and around the neighborhood.Taylor was in heaven, she loved every minute of it. She had taken many lessons but she said this is what she wants to do, just go out and ride. I am so glad that my kids have these types of opportunities, I hope they realize how lucky they really are.

Go Ravens!!

I never questioned whether my kids would play sports, I just never realized how hard it was being the parent not the kid. Ty signed up for tackle football this year, I asked and asked if he really wanted to, he assured me he did. The first three weeks were torture. The coaches were tough, made them work, conditioning two hours a day four days a week, running til they puked, muscles so sore he could hardly walk and Ty is 9 years old. Ty said, "why didn't you tell me it would be so hard?" I didn't know. I started questioning our decision worrying about Ty and his confidence, his headaches, his love for the game. I would love to say it was all worth it and they are having a winning season but alas their record is 1-4.

Ty has practiced as receiver and he loves that position, he has good hands and he is quick. There have been ups and downs. They ran a reverse with Ty(see picture) and he gained 8 yards, he loved it! There have been downs like when one game they put him on the defensive line, he is 68 pounds going up against 120 pound kids. He was a bit discouraged. Last game they lost bad but Ty was beaming. They finally threw to him, he caught it of course, amidst at least 5 defenders and ran for a few more yards for a total gain of about 40 yards. It is little moments like these that sports are all worth it.

Here I go...

Here I go - venturing into the wonderful world of blogging. I can thank my sisters Dyan and Karrie for the encouragement. I don't know what I am doing but I do know that I want the little stories that happen on the farm recorded somewhere. Life on the Chesley farm is never boring. With one husband, four busy kids, 3 dogs, one cat, 5 goats, 2 pigs, 2 cows and several horses, there is never a dull moment. I hope I can capture a bit of our life right now. I don't know what the future has in store but I look forward to it.