Ohio Soccer Tourney

We have just returned from a weekend in Columbus. Keion had his first soccer tourney with the new travel team he made. It is a step up in competition from what he has been doing. The boys on his team are awesome but Keion holds his own.
He scored a goal in the first game and had two assists in the second. The game they lost to go to the championship, he played defense the ENTIRE time. He really could have used a water break with the temps in the high 80's. Over all the team played well and are ready to start league play.
Here are a couple photos from one of the games.

Check out this picture...
..now look at it more closely. Ok. Keion's face somehow looks freakishly weird, I don't know how I caught it at that exact moment but that is not what you should focus on. Check out that thigh muscle!! He gets it from me..he he he.

Of course we would have liked to bring home some hardware but there will be other times for that. We did have a chance to visit the Sorensen's while we were in town. I didn't have my camera at dinner so I didn't get to take any pictures. I wish I would have had it, the boys are getting soooo big. I couldn't hardly recognize the baby- Luke. I just love being able to see friends especially those who are far from me.

Tomorrow we are taking the day to relax and soak up the last day of freedom before school starts. Much to do with little time...it's the story of my life! I hope you all had a great holiday weekend.

First Day of School

It was the first day of school, for me anyway. Keion doesn't have to start until this coming Tues. after the holiday.
What a crazy day. I came home two separate times to check on Keion (I work a mile from home!) and found him to be sitting on the couch watching t.v. or playing xbox, so he was more than happy that I wasn't home monitoring his time! He did snap a picture of me on my first day but forgot to ask me how my day was when I got home (refer back to this post).
The day started early with all of the school district employees meeting together at the high school for a message from the superintendent. It was amazing. People were crying all over the place.
They started with the National Anthem, which was sung by the group Peaceful Authority, a group of police officers from Flint. They were dressed up in suits and wore their badges, for some reason it added to their amazing voices. It gave me the goosebumps.
After, there was a couple short messages by board members and then a video presentation that was put together for the teachers. The video was a gratitude video with past students sharing who their favorite teacher was and how they had influenced them for the better. It was put to music and well done.
There were several teachers who were honored for various reasons. A select school choir sang the song "For Good", from Wicked and then the Peaceful Authority sang with the choir the song, "Angels Among Us". It was very moving.
If the point of all the production was to make us feel inspired about working with students, they succeeded. I can't wait to start working with these kids.
In fact, I don't think I've clarified as to what job I'm actually doing these days. It's hard to keep up with me when I change jobs every other day!
I've finally committed to working with at-risk students at the high school (local). It is exactly what I wanted to do. I love helping troubled students realize what they are worth and what they are capable of. There is no greater reward than seeing one of them succeed.
Here is a little time line on how the job hunt went down:

Aug. 5th- Interview at the gym

Aug. 7th-Phone call from gym offering me the job.

Aug. 11th- Attend a 2 hour training at the gym. Hate it terribly.

Aug. 13th- I'm suppose to go to the gym again but call in and quit. Yes, after only 2 hours. I didn't even ask to be paid for those measly training hours. Oh well.

Aug. 15th-Interview at Davison High School. Same afternoon they call and offer me the position.

Aug. 18th- I go to Davison to fill out paperwork. I continue to look for a job because this is a 25 minute drive from my house. I hope something will come up.

Aug. 21st-Interview for position at local high school.

Aug. 22nd- Phone call from Van Y elementary asking if I would like an interview. I decline thinking it is far away (since I already have the other job). I run downstairs and google the school. I realize it is much closer than the current job I have so I call back the school and ask if I can renig on the decline. The principal schedules me for an interview.

Aug. 25th- Interview at Van Y elementary. As soon as I return home I get a phone call offering me the job at the local high school. I gladly accept.
I get another call from the local schools asking if I would like to come for an interview. I've officially decided to stay at the high school so I politely decline. It's one thing to quit a school district for another but I just didn't feel right about doing that within the school district, plus this was the job I wanted most.
I also waited until I knew the staff would be gone and then called and left a message with Davison schools to tell them that I decided to take a different position. I was suppose to start the next day. I felt horrible but it was better for me.

Aug. 26th-I had to hurry and call the Principal of the Van Y elementary to let him know that I was no longer interested in the position. During the interview I felt as if he might offer me the position and since I already had to call back and ask to be interviewed, I didn't want him calling me and offering me the position when I made it seem like I really wanted it. I did but not after I got the local high school job. No more interviews, no more switching jobs.

I'm committed. I've been to training for more than 2 hours :-) and I love the teachers I'm working with. You can't beat the school schedule, summers off, extended holidays, and done by 3:30 everyday. Oh ya, no weekends!!!
Plus I get a fat bonus in Dec. for not being able to use the insurance. Something about not being able to do double coverage and since Kylan's insurance is awesome, we are sticking with his.
I'm sure I will have stories to share so check back in a couple weeks, well check back before that but not for school stories!
Whew, that was a long one. Sorry for all the details, many of you have asked about the job and what has been going on. In Ohio I couldn't find a job to save my life, here, I've been overwhelmed with opportunities...I'm not going to complain (although going through all those interviews was torture).

More Saturday Adventures

This past Saturday while I was at the CRIM race, Kylan took Keion golfing. They had a great time and the course was a smaller par 3- 9 hole course. Perfect for Keion. He made it until the 7th hole and then had to have Kylan carry his bag for him. Spoiled rotten, he better not get use to that because I'm not going to pay for a personal caddy! Thanks again to his grandma who bought him his first set of clubs for Christmas. The boys are finally able to put them to some good use.

While the guys were busy playing golf, I was with my friend Valerie checking out the big race. I just had to go watch two of my friends that were running the 10 mile race. Especially Allison, considering it was my bright idea for her to run it. I planned on running with her until I hurt myself. By the way, I do believe that is finally starting to feel better.
She rocked it. I was happy to be able to see her on mile 3 and then 1/4 miles from the finish line.
Valerie and I logged our own 4 miles trying to get to the different spots of the race. Shocking, I got us lost. That is why we had to walk so far. We were drenched in sweat and I'm not sure how the runners did it. It was so hot and muggy. Yuck.
Here are a couple pictures from the mile 3 mark. You would think that by this time the pack would sorta thin out...NO not at all. Gobs and Gobs of people.
This was awesome. There were some guys handing out Krispy Kreme donuts. Boy did I really want to grab one. A couple runners took the donuts for some much needed fuel.This was the mile 3 entertainment. You MUST click on the pictures to make them bigger to get an up close and personal encounter. I would hate to keep all the goods to myself!!You thought you had a sweet drill team. You got nothin' if you can't dance in high heels like these girls. I was diggin' the gold, big time.Here is Allison on the final stretch. She is in the green shorts and black tank top. GO ALLISON GO!Going...

Going...
and GONE!
It always feels good to accomplish a goal, so awesome job Allison. Maybe next year we can run together.

I can't wait to write about my job hunting and interviewing experiences. I'll try to do that tomorrow. Today I'm off to get finger printed and get a few things done before I start work on Thurs. and get ready for Keion's soccer tourney in Columbus. Already, we are heading back to Ohio!

Birthday Bash

Our friend Micah just had a birthday. His wife put together this little party for him...it was an adult version of those little kid theme parties...I loved it!!

Last time I forgot to take a picture of the spread before we ate, this time I remembered. Sara does such an amazing job making everything look delectable. The added bonus is that it taste just as such.
We had bacon wrapped jalapeno poppers, salad, watermelon, cheese covered potato wedges, hot dogs, hamburgers (sooo delicious, there was some secret ingredient that made it oh so yummy) brats and a to die for chocolate cake.


Check out the fingers...that's a sure sign that the girls are having fun!The night wouldn't be complete without another game of Bocce Ball. Here is the birthday boy, Micah, with his super yummy cake. The person who sang Happy Birthday the best won a prize. Ya, I didn't even attempt. Kylan was going all out, but he had some tough competition.I just love this shot and why is it that only guys are singing to Micah??

Keion won several prizes. One of them was a 50 pesos bill (Sara just returned from Mexico). He's so confused and just not sure what to do with it. I guess we need to take a trip!The puzzling continues..Keion got some Necco candies, he has never seen such a thing. Deprived.
Maren looks like she really likes her prize.
Yippeee!
One of the prizes Kylan got was a coupon for unlimited root beer floats (inside joke with the Pullins).
This bag was awesome. The front said- For Kylan: If by chance he may win a game!
We had such a fun night. We didn't get home until 1:30 because we stayed up late playing games. I'm getting a little too old for that, my recovery the next day took ALL day. Kylan did survive his 48 hours without sleep. (Thanks Tharren for taking his pager for a couple hours so he could take a long nap).

Keion had a soccer scrimmage the other day and scored 2 goals. That helped him feel a little better about being able to hang with these boys.

I start work Thurs. I'm working at the high school here...yes, I quit another job. I'll have to post about all of that later.

We are too die hard. Last night we stayed up to watch the men's basketball team bring home the gold. Not such a great idea when you are on the eastern time zone and even more of a bad idea when you have to go to work at 6:00 in the morning.
Poor Kylan is on call today. He might just be pulling 2 all nighters in a row. I can't imagine he will make it. In fact, he is probably already taking naps (if he gets one).
My eyes are on fire and I feel sick to my stomach. I know I'm not really sick but dog tired.
I'm sure we will all be a bundle of joy today.
Did any of you stay up late to watch the game? I'm happy the Olympics are over so that I can get back to a normal routine. No more late nights.
What are we going to do with our selves now??

Girly Stuff

A bunch of girls got together to make tutus and hair bows. So why in the heck would I tag along?? Keion really loves to dress up. Just kidding. One of my girlfriends was making two tutus so I said I would come along and help her. Plus I usually just go to chat with the gals anyway.
Some of my nieces would really love these tutus and they only cost $5 dollars to make! Plus I love that you can pick out the colors you want. The more bright and funky the better.
I was wondering what they looked like on so we grabbed the only kid who was helpless enough to allow us to put it on.
I think his dad will be happy to know that he did not enjoy the tutu at all. Look at that face..

..he was not happy with me but I changed that around.!(do not look at my greasy hair, Kylan was post call and was asleep when I got up and I didn't want to wake him up by getting ready, so yes I have a little bit of bed head going on.)

Just check out the cute tutu. Wouldn't all of you with girls just love to have one in every flavor (color). The fact that they were super easy to make with NO sewing (this is the kicker for me) anyone can do it. And you know if I say that, it is true!

The Cool & Not So Cool of The Olympics

The epitome of cool...Michael Phelps. What he has done and the show he has put on has been spectacular. We have cheered, yelled and jumped with excitement over his races (ok, me more than the guys but they fully enjoyed the races too).

Very cool that Shawn Johnson got a gold! Not so cool that the judges have been jacking up the scores. What a rip. Women gymnasts have represented themselves well. Men weren't too shabby either. Freakin' cool.. the men's basketball team. They better bring home the gold this time or else. What I would give to be there and watch them.

I'm going to be screaming my head off for these girls tomorrow. They HAVE to beat the Chinese and for obvious reasons it's going to be tough. (Doesn't every female wish they had a body like these two? I know I do.)

The extremely UN-COOL of the Olympics.

Fencing? What is up with this sport. I cannot figure it out for the life of me. Why can't they sword fight like in the movies? They look like astronauts in those outfits and I can never tell who hits who. Not a fan, if you couldn't tell already!
And where was this event when I was young? This is something I could have done. I was master of the trampoline. The big question is how did this become and event and what do we have to do to get an event approved to be in the Olympics? What about the unicycle or juggling? It seems as if anything goes.
The biggest not cool of the day...Lolo Jones (my favorite) with the biggest disappointment of the day. Blast that 9th hurdle. She had it in the bag and then BAM! she tripped up and it was over. The shot of her crying under the stadium afterwards was so sad and heart wrenching. I wanted to call a redo.

I want the games to go on and on but I'm not getting much accomplished these days. School is going to start soon and I'm going to be dragging butt. I can't stay up past 1:00 in the morning or midnight every night watching these games so it will be nice when they are over.

What do you think the closing ceremony is going to be like? I can't wait!

New Hoop

We finally got Keion a new basketball hoop. He use to have a portable hoop that we didn't move with us. Keion didn't like it and it was time to upgrade.

The hole for the hoop needs to be 2 feet deep, according to the directions on the box. Well, where we live the the frost line is a little over 3 feet deep. Well that stinks because now our hole needs to be 4 feet deep. Kylan and Keion started strong..
..Keion did more observing than working!


The boys dug about 2 feet deep and the ground became hard as rocks. No tool was going to get through this dirt, at least not at the rate Kylan wanted it to. Today they started digging again and it wasn't long until the little boys in the neighborhood wanted to hang around Kylan and see what he was up to.
The boys were talking about using the hole as a hiding spot when they play night games.

Kylan dug a few more inches today and the called it quits. He decided to call the sports store and see if they had any referrals for someone to come put the hoop up (I suggested this from the very beginning but Kylan being...let's see what would be a nice word here...frugal, thought it would be just as well doing it himself).

Hopefully someone comes soon. I don't think the neighbors will enjoy the dirt pile in the driveway for too long. Kylan did a great job and could have finished it but who has time to dig 1/2 inch per hour (really that's how hard the ground is), not him and no way am I going to do it. On a side note, Keion tried out for a select travel soccer team tonight. He did awesome and of course made the team. Now we just have to decide if we have the time to commit to it.