SLACKER!

So since the Holidays have come and gone - I'm not doing the "look at my tree and my gifts and my cuteness" post, even though I should because my tree was silver & black & white this year lol

but...

I was working so hard at the home show these past few weeks, that I let a most important date go unrecognized on my blog.

January 8 was my princess Brookes 3rd birthday.

She was such a sweetheart - Dee brought her in to see me at the show, I bought her some cupcakes and a candle and she unwrapped her gifts with me there. We did a joint Birthday dinner with Carlye (her's was the 11th) at Iggy's on Monday the 12th. It was fun because my lil sis Bird had to work, so she was our waitress and I really hope mom tipped her well because we were so obnoxious.

Brooke has been through so much - she is a special girl to my entire family and a blessing beyond any words I can express. We love her so much and value every moment with her.

We love you Brooke Adriane Rodriguez!

Seventeen

Yesterday was Camerons 17th birthday - WOW where did all the time go?

He has worked really hard lately to get back on track with school and we are so proud of him! He is a great kid! He is so funny, loyal, and caring.

He is so sweet with his nieces - and they love him so much!

He is also excited to start playing indoor football this spring - and I'm excited to watch him lol. I think of how much time has already gone by, and then I stop to think about the fact that in one short year, he will be a high school graduate! I can't get over that!

Well, anyway - chris' birthday is on the 19th, and that weekend also happens to be the last home game of the Raiders this season. Sooooooooooo - I surprised them both with tickets to the game - they are both so excited!

I'm so grateful for having such a wonderful family to be surrounded by daily. : )

Rodriguez Holiday Photos

Ok - so I hate getting my picture taken, so we are just getting the granddaughters done - there are many more to come because I couldn't even wait for the disc - but here are two and they are too cute to wait (if I do say so myself!)

FYI - KRISTEN SPENCER IS GENIUS! ;)

PRIVACY PLEASE!

Ok - I have post-poned this long enough - I need to put my blog to private and I need everyones email addresses por favor. I would rather you send them to my email so sneaky eyes don't see it -

I'm going to set it on Monday - so be dear, sweet little lambs and work with me on this one, ok? ;)

Love you and such!

Sunshines Football Party

Soooooo - the season is over, but there is usualy the end-of-season "banquet" - most of the time held at a pizza place, the coaches get up and talk to the kids, you know standard stuff.

This year, the Coaches had all the kids meet at Winner Motor Sports to do some go-cart racing and just have fun. No speeches, no presenting of the pictures, blah blah blah - just pure fun for these boys who worked so hard this year.

It was cool to see them all bond on a different level and just have a blast trying to beat each others times. The coaches had an awesome idea and the boys just loved it!

Andrew (sorry these are a little blurry!)


Andrew, Zach & Sinks




THE TEAM & THEIR COACHES

LEXIE LOO WHO

I FINALLY have some new pictures of Lexie - she is getting so big! She is over 9 lbs already and barely a month old.

She is smiling and cooing and all the fun stuff - oh yea, and POOPING! SHEESH! ;)

Anywho - Love you all!

For The Love Of The Game

Andrews team got to play at Rio Tinto Stadium last night (Real Salt Lake professional Soccor Stadium) - we sat in the stands - they announced his entire team as they entered the field from the players entrance by full name and jersey number - its was AWESOME! The boys got to sit in the locker room before the game started and it was just a really cool experience. The lights were on, the scrolling ads were on, they even had their concession stands open for business.


They played Skyline - it was a 100% good, clean game!!!!!! The refs were GREAT - Andrew had a BLAST and that is what matters! Oh, and they just HAPPENED to win 14-0 lol

Well....this is sadly, but finally it.....the very last game of the 2008 season is Thursday, 8:00 pm at the stadium.


What a season this has been! The highlights, the low-lights, but wow - the entire team had AWESOME sportsmanship - the coaches were wonderful and this season was up there with one of the best.


All of my boys played football from 8 to 16. While I believe whole-heartedly that every sport is important and teaches kids great lessons - I LOVE THIS GAME! The commeradery of the team, the sportsmanship lessons that can only be learned on a field, the life-long friends they have made along the way, and all of the coaches who have come into their life have each made permanent impacts on my boys life.


Cameron is trying out for high school ball next year - this was a hard year for him because he decided he didn't want to play - He had a rough time with that decision. He has a passion for this game that I have never seen before. I can't wait to see what he does with it.
He would be an amazing coach -

Andrew is debating on staying with little league one more year, or going into the High School program next season.


I can't believe this might be the last time I drive one of my little league football players to practice 3 - 5 times a week or to the early morning games after looking for the one long lost sock that inevitably is where I told them it was in the first place, and being late because of it.
Or even getting all the way to the field, only to learn that one of them left a helmet or their cleats behind!

Learning early on that you MUST keep a stock of mouth-pieces on hand at all times because you never know what excuse they will use about where it possibly could be - cups, cleats, water bottles - all missing at one time or another - haveing to switch out pads from the practice pants to their game pants at 7:00 in the morning because, even though you told them to do it the night before - they "forgot" - almost DYING from the stench that comes from football pads when they remain zipped up in their bags overnight in the middle of August - fighting with them to try to get them to understand that yes, practicing for 3 hours a day, 6 days a week is NORMAL and it should be FUN - even when they are sweating from head to toe, and come home so exhausted it's all they can do to shower and eat without passing out! But man - once those game jerseys were on, the under armour adjusted, the socks just right, the cleats tied and double tied, it was worth every minute of it!

I couldn't and wouldn't replace this experience for the world. It has brought our family closer - and its just a great, great game.