First Semester of Skate Class Over

On June 22nd Malachi had his last skating lesson of the semester AND his big test. He had to pass a series of tasks in order to get his certificate to move on to the next level.

Chi had to skate across the rink, skate three strides and then hold, skate three strides and then dip down and hold, skate three strides and then stop immediately and lastly do this sort of wiggle across the rink with his feet together.

He did sooooooo well and passed everything!! He got a little certificate which he immediately brought to me. He was so proud of himself and I was just as proud too!

My little man is quite the athlete!!

The End of Soccer Season

June 13th was Malachi's last soccer game for the season. He has grown so much since his first practice. He is by far the fastest kid on the team and in my opinion the most competitive. Chi usually has to sit out a few minutes of each half in order to rotate all the kids in. This drives him absolutely nuts! He wants to play every minute! Chi is definitely a offensive player though. And when his partner in crime, Ben an awesome defensive player who can get the ball away from anyone, and he get together... No one can stop them!

His last game he scored 3 goals and the game before he scored 4!!

Malachi received a trophy for his participation and I think he is starting his own kind of messed up tradition. Just like with his baseball trophy... Chi managed to drop his soccer trophy but minutes after receiving is and busted it is 3 places. It's a good thing I have a large supply of super glue and I put it back together again. Silly boy...

Learning to Ice Skate

Malachi has taken on a rather difficult task as far as I am concerned. He wants to play hockey so I enrolled him in skate class. I think he thought it was going to be a piece of cake. Knowing that he would probably end up a little more challenged then before, I gave him a big pep talk before he got on the ice.

At first he went right out and was all for it. But after he fell on his bum pretty hard twice, he was a little discouraged. But my talk helped, and he kept on trying and was doing it by himself by the end of his first lesson.
I am sooo proud of him! Is there anything this child can't do??? I'm starting to wonder....

Walk for a Cure

May 2nd was the Walk for a Cure. Chi and I met the rest of the team at the office at 630am for coffee, juice, and bagels before we headed out on our 3k walk. Malachi was so excited to "race" and to be a "winner". We explained to him that everyone is a winner in this race.

First the timed runners started. It seemed as if they never ended. They kept going and going and going. There were so many of them. It was really emotional to see all the people come out and support such a hard topic of discussion. PLUS, everyone that was wearing a pink t-shirt was a cancer survivor, and seeing them brought a tear and a smile to your face. I felt honored to participate in such an event.
Some of our team.... "TEAM LINDA"
Chi and I on the go...
Theresa and Erin!
Linda's daughters, Shawnte and Dee, Theresa, Erin, Jane, and half of Bob (sorry).
Just when we thought we had ran out of motivation, the firemen ran by. Some of us joined them for a little bit. WOW!
Strutting his stuff!
One hour, eleven minutes, and forty eight seconds for 3K! Not bad not bad!

A Big Hike for a Big Boy

WE FINALLY DID IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Every time Chi and I go to the park, we look up at the Mountain's Edge trail and say.... one day. Well this finally was our day. We grabbed some water and the camera and away we went.

This is a glimpse of the adventure we were about to take on. That shading area you see is about half way up and then the actual top is more to the right (sorry I cut it off).
Malachi decided to pose for me along the way. My cutie pie!
See, even the desert can produce some beautiful things!
Up up and away he goes!!! Where does this kid get this energy??? He practically ran the whole way!
There's the strip and down town. The street you see is Rainbow.
This is the park and then way out yonder and to the left is my house somewhere.
Awww... another Chi pose!
Red Rock from the top of Mountain's Edge Hill

It was a nice hike. I was very impressed with Chi's continuing ability to accomplish adult tasks. He is an amazing kid! How lucky am I?

Soccer Man

This Spring Chi started playing soccer. I wasn't quite sure how he would take to it but I was very encouraging. Practices were absolutely hilarious! No one knew who was playing against who and they all seemed to want to put the soccer ball in the same goal.

Games were a little better. I think the different colored uniforms helped. Yet, it seemed as though it was every man for himself.

His first game, he put on his uniform, and I just lost it. He looked sooooooooooooo adorable!!!! I just wanted to squeeze and hug and kiss him. No no no... I can't.... I needed to get him to the field...

Chi's in there somewhere. It was a cluster the whole time. Everyone wanted a piece of the ball.
The entire team was so cute. What a fun time!

Komen Southern Nevada Race for the Cure ~ May 2nd, 2009

Dear Friends and Family,

I recently accepted the challenge to raise funds to support the Komen Southern Nevada Race for the Cure® on May 2, 2009 in the fight against breast cancer. One in eight women will be stricken with breast cancer in her lifetime and the more we raise, the more the Southern Nevada Affiliate of Susan G. Komen for the Cure can give back to fund vital breast cancer education, screening and treatment programs in our own community and support the national search for a cure.

Click here to visit my personal page and pledge your support.

Please join me in the fight by pledging in support of my participation in the Komen Southern Nevada Race for the Cure®. Your contribution is tax-deductible and 75% of the proceeds will remain in our Community as funding for Southern Nevada organizations dedicated to serving uninsured and underinsured women and men affected by breast cancer. 25% will be sent to Komen National to support the Komen for the Cure Research Grant Program. It is faster and easier than ever to support this great cause - you can make a donation online by simply clicking on the link at the bottom of this message. Whatever you can give will help! I truly appreciate your support and will keep you posted on my progress.

Thank you so much for your time and support in the fight against breast cancer! Together, we can make a difference...and we will!

"Breast cancer knows no boundaries be it age, gender, socio-economic status or geographic location"

To sponsor my participation online, click here.

BOWLING!!

Saturday night after mass, Malachi and I met up with a few of my friends and went bowling at the Orleans. I had taken Chi once before but that time we went to Red Rock. I think next time we will go to the Red Rock again. The Orleans is ghetto now. A bunch of little hoodrat kids running around with absolutely no respect for anyone or any of the equipment they were using. Plus they didn't have cosmic bowling and there were a couple of older men beside us that were getting cranky with Malachi running around. Other than that we had a blast and none of those things seemed to bother Chi at all.

This time Chi got to wear the special bowling shoes. He thought that was pretty darn cool.

Chi did all kinds of bowling techniques. He did the grandma roll, the sideways grandma roll, and even managed to throw a few down the lane.

After every toss, Chi was so excited and did a very inspirational happy dance which he continued until the ball would finally meet the pins. It was after all a good 45 second process.

He really enjoys bowling and so do I. It's a fun hobby to do together. But next time you will find us at the Red Rock...

Mommy and Son Time

For reasons I'm not going to discuss, Malachi and I stayed home together on Friday. Since our day wasn't going so great, I decided to step it up a notch. So we went and had breakfast at our new little favorite breakfast place (For Ron ~ It's called A New Day Cafe). After I enjoyed eggs and sausage and Chi the smiley face pancakes, we went to Home Depot and picked up some flowers for the backyard.

After the snow this winter, the majority of my flowers in the back were killed. I let Malachi run wildly throughout the nursery and pick out several different kinds of flowers. I do have to say, he did really well. A very nice variety and beautiful colors.

So then we headed home and we started to prep the back flower area. Once we started to till the soil, we discovered that we had new little friends living in the soil. There were several night crawlers squirming around. Chi thought this was sooo cool! I did too and was thankful that these plant helping creatures were now residents.

We planted all the flowers and even saved a few for a new pot to put in the front.

SNOWBOARDING!!!

One of my long time friends arranged to take me up to Mt. Charleston yesterday to teach me how to snowboard. I have been dying to go for a few months now and I finally got the opportunity. We met at her house in Pahrump at 7am (I stayed at my moms the night before), and drove up. We got there around 830 with just enough time to rent equipment and gear up. The sloped open at 9am and we were ready to go. I least I thought so...

Dana first taught me the basics of keeping your balance on you heals or toes and the the majority of the movement was in your hips, like when you are dancing - she kept telling me.

The first time down the bunny hill was ok. That is until about half way when I totally ate it and did a face plant into the snow. It was like instant headache. Plus I landed on my left wrist pretty hard and that was now throbbing.

**Waiting in line at the lift**

**Eating Snow**

**Getting the hang of it... kind of**

**Givin Dana the thumbs up**

But I was determined. So, I jumped right up and over and over again I tried. We must have went down about 7 or 8 more times before noon and I was really starting to feel comfortable and have controll. I just had a little problem with getting on my toes. It's kind of hard to exlain so just bare with me.

I started to get a little frustrated and Dana decided we should take a break and get some lunch. After we ate, we we both thought we should take a shot to 'warm us up'. I also thought that maybe it would loosen me up a bit and help me not to think so much. So we both had a shot of Southern Comfort and a Captin and Coke.



I felt good and was ready for round two. After 3 more times down the bunny hill and very minimal mishaps, Dana convinced me I was ready for the bigger slopes. I was scared out of my mind but I figured I had to push myself to get better. So up we went.

We chose one of the slopes that seemed to not be so steep. We got to the top and I nearly had an anxiety attack. The first little part down was very intimidating and I threatened Dana with just hopping back on the lift and taking it down. After a couple deep breaths and a lot of reassurence from Dana, I went. I didn't do to badly either. However, I did stay on my heals the entire time. Which by the way is hell of a quad work out.

**On the lift up to the bigger run**

The next time up we tried a different run. It was one with part of the skate park attached. They have little jumps and rails for more experienced skiers and boarder to use. I of course didn't go with in 20 feet of them. But I did get some video of Dana attempting the rails. She did good.

On our second time on this run I got the courage to try to carve on my toes. There was this perfect little area that was a borderline half pipe and it really helped.

**View from top of one of the runs**

**Dana taking a break**

I finally did it! I carved a few times on my toes and I didn't fall!! I was sooooo proud of myself! And Dana was really excited for me too.

We figured it best to end on a good note and decided to call it the day. I was coming down closer to the lodge with my head held high when all of a sudden, i hit ice right around the lift. BAM! My board slipped out from under me and on my butt I fell. Actually it was right on my tailbone and on the ice. I was in tears because it hurt so bad.

So much for ending on a positive note!

Oh well. I had a blast and I really think I have the concept down. I can't wait for the next time!!!

A special THANK YOU!!! to Dana for being a patient and helpful teacher. I LOVE YOU!!!

Sherrie's coming to Town!!

Thursday evening my mom's best friend for years and years, Sherrie (aka Aunt Sherrie), flew into town. She got an incredible deal on Southwest Airlines and decided that it was time for a visit. She is staying for a week so I decided to take some time off of work and spend some quality time with her and Chi.

The catch is that my mom has NO IDEA that she is here. We are surprising her tomorrow. She is coming into town for Candice's baby shower and meeting me at my house so that we can car pool. The plan is to have Sherrie waiting in the garage when she arrives (She usually comes thru the garage when she comes over) and just be standing there. She is going to freak! HAHA! They haven't seen each other in a few years. It's going to be great!

So Thursday we just relaxed and Friday we ran errands mostly. Then Friday evening my sister Kaylie and her dad came over for dinner. I BBQed chicken and it was really good! After dinner we were all entertained by Malachi, as usual. Then slowly but surely the night came to an end.

Today we all got up and decided it was a beautiful day out and didn't want to waste the entire day away inside. So I put Chi's bike in the trunk and off we went to the park. Sherrie took a stroll up the actual 'Mountain's Edge' hill and then Chi and I did laps around the big field. Diesel even came too!

Chi took his first spill on his bike. He got going too fast down a little slope, turned a bit, and down he went. It was a great slide, he was definitely safe! Haha! Good thing he had his helmet. Chi was left uninjured and he jumped right back on.

After lunch we all took a much needed nap. Then we all got ready and went to Saturday night mass. This was Malachi's first mass and he was actually very intrigued and enjoyed it. I was so please with his behavior! What a good lil man! After some great Italian food, we made it home. What a great day. I can't wait to see what tomorrow brings!

A Walk in the.... down town Las Vegas?!

Clarice is in her final stretch for her lil boy coming into this world and as most know, the better you stay in shape during your pregnancy, the easier labor will be for you. So Clarice has had the desire of walking during lunch time to get in some of that needed exercise. This has consisted of running errands at lunch while parking far far away from store and then doing laps in the store while we are there or power walking thru the mall. But since I have started my bikini shape routine we decided to just go for a walk outside during lunch.

The original plan was to walk down to the outlet mall, walk around in the mall, and then return. Well once we hit Bonneville and Grand Central Pkwy I suggested that we make a right and go towards Jason's Deli and then loop around onto Main Street back to the office. Meanwhile I had decided to do lounges some of the way and then sprint back up to catch Clarice. Once we got about half way thru our journey I realized that maybe I had too high of expectations for my friend. I repeatedly asked if she was alright and she ensured me that she was fine and everything was good. I started having thoughts of Clarice stopping and looking at me and then screaming cause she was in labor. That, I did not want to happen. So we slowed down a bit and made our way around the corner to Main Street where we were greeted by Las Vegas's finest. I was then hoot and hollered at. I looked over at Clarice and kiddingly said, 'do you think you could run the rest of the way?' We won't be taking that route anymore.

I'm out next week so hopefully Yelena and Kristi will join her and then continue to keep me company once Clarice's lil man is brought into this world.

Time to Get in Shape!

Today I start my routine to get in bikini shape. I will be cutting 98% of junk out of my diet and working out profusely a minimum of 4 days a week. This means yogurt or special K breakfast bar for breakfast, salad for lunch, veggies for snack, and a half my usual proportion dinner and lots and lots of water. Usually I would have a friend mentally, emotionally, and physically help me by doing this with me (Clarice), but I am on my own for the time being. Clarice will be happy to start with me come mid-March (YAY!). It will be hard for the first couple of weeks, especially because of all the goodies everyone likes to bring to work.

But I will be strong and I will be wearing my itsy bitsy tiny weeny yellow poke-a-dot bikini! HAHA!