Soccer Season Has Begun

Soccer season Stiber Style has begun. It consists of four children, all in different age groups, all playing soccer.
Jinelle #2, is on the "Dolphins" team in the Tiny Tot division. She has had two games so far. In the first game, she scored three goals. This past week, I lost count! She is an awesome player....as she should be. She's had a soccer ball at her feet since before she could walk. This is her second year playing on a team. She is lucky enough to play with her best friend, Emily. They would do everything together if it was up to them. Jason and I coach this team.
Noah #3, is on the "Dragons" team in the Under 6 age group. He is awesome. He is a great goalie and an even better player. He mde three goals (HAT TRICK!!!) on Saturday, which was his first game of the season (first week of games he had a Bye). He has a great team, including his friend, Drex. Jason and I also coach this team.
Ari, #4, is on the "Sharks" Under 8 Girls team. She scored her first goal of the season (technically) this last week. (The first week she scored but the other coach called it no goal.) She is an awesome goalie as well. She isn't afraid to dive and grab the ball when other players are coming right for her. She is loving playing on a girls team, especially since Jessalyn, her best friend in the entire universe, is on her team. If she could, she would probably be with Jessa every waking moment of the day. Jason is assistant coach for this team and I am team Mom. The head coach is a friend of the family.
Aiden, #5, is on the "Mustangs" under 10 team. He is a great player as well. His team isn't doing so hot, but Aiden is a great player, nonetheless. He is one of the best on his team, and like his siblings, is a great goalie and player. He can play any position and for any amount of time. If he doesn't get to be a sub, he'll keep playing the entire game. Like Ari's team, we assist this team, with the head coach being the same family friend as Ari's team.
So what time means for our family is a lot of busy busy days and nights. On Monday and Thursday, my three kids and Jessa (she rides home on the bus with the kids on soccer days) get home from school at about 4:10 and I have dinner on the table. The come in, sit down, eat, change into soccer clothes, and get into the car. We drive to soccer....homework in hand. While Ari practices, Aiden does his homework, and while Aiden practices, Ari does hers. We
practice until 7:30 pm, and then come home, bathe (cuz they have been running around all night) and start getting ready for bed. Thank goodness they go to a new school and don't start early! And on Saturday mornings, we get up, usually fairly early, and spend the day at the soccer fields....plus usually have some sort of activity going on in the evening...like a birthday party the past two weekends. I love it though. The kids are active, and the running is great for them. I think they sleep a lot better too, cuz they are worn out by the time we crawl into bed.
Desi came and watched the kids this past weekend and got a god shot on her camera of Noah scoring. It was a difficult week, cuz we had overlapping games....so we didn't get to see all of the games for all the kids. Hopefully next week I will remember to take my own camera and take some pics of the kids. All four kids have the same jersey...a perk of being a coach is you get to pick the team colors. They are white with dark blue flames on the shoulders this year. (we've been bright orange, neon yellow, kelly green, and & blue with red and white stripes in past years)I have always had all my teams in the same color and they always have the same numbers... #2, #3, #4, and #5.( I guess if another Stiber baby comes along, they will have to settle for #6!) They are all so cute. So, until then....we wish them luck!

Back to School

We had a wonderful trip to Oregon. When I get the chance I will try to post more pics. We were gone for 9 days instead of 10....because I got anxious to come home and drove straight through 15hours to get home before Jason had to leave for work. We had a lot of fun. The kids got to spend a lot of time with my cousins from Oregon. We went to the Benton County Fair where my cousin Hailey had her pig up for auction. She got a wonderful price for her pig.....made about $660 over what she spent raising the pig. The kids got to ride on the rides and eat tons of junk. We also went berry picking and the kids actually ate some berries! I brought home some blueberries and some raspberries. I will be making my first home-made blueberry pie tomorrow! We got to go to the Portland Temple where Chelsey and Chris got married. Hailey had the task of watching the kids while we were inside. Thanks Hailey!!!
Then we partied at the reception! My girls looked so adorable in their dresses. I had so many people say they could just keep Jinelle! But of course, I wouldn't let that happen.
Now the kids are back in school and its back to our hectic lives. Soccer started while we were gone, so today is our first soccer practice. We have four different teams this year, so we will be gone a lot! Our Saturdays from now until November are booked solid!!!!! The kids are at their new school, Cypress Academy of the Arts, and were really excited to start. Aiden says he'll like school until his teacher gives him homework, while I have a feeling will be right away. Ari and Noah were excited, even about getting homework. Noah was most excited to be able to ride the bus home. He's been waiting to be allowed to! I will still be taking them to school everyday, but they will ride the bus home. It's our family compromise! (If it was up to me, I would take them and pick them up!). I took pics this morning as well, and as soon as I have a free moment, I will download them as well.
I have a full day of stuff today. I have to go shopping since we were gone for so long. We need to stock up the fridge! Then I have to catch up on laundry, cook dinner, and have it on the table when the kids walk in the door from school, eat, change, go to soccer, come home, bathe the kids, and off to bed they go. Then maybe I will get to relax a little before I go to bed. Then its a whole new busy day tomorrow!!!!

As summer comes to an end....

As summer is quickly coming to an end, I was just thinking of all the fun we had this summer, with our family and friends. We got to spend a lot of fun days at the river, with my parents, as well as friends. I had a blast, and I think they all did too. I had another surgery, but was able to recover quickly, largely thanks to a wonderful, caring husband, who took care of everything around the house so I wasn't tempted to. I got to spend time with my kids, just having fun. We swam a lot and now all four kids are fish. Jinelle can jump off the diving board and swim all the way to the other end by herself, and Noah is also swimming like there's no tomorrow. They all got super tan. A few days ago, I got to take the kids to Mojave Narrows with friends and just have fun. 21 kids with our group alone was a lot, but the 6 pizzas we brought seemed to help. Then having friends spend the night was a hoot....even though the sleep was limited. Now as we get ready to send the kids back to school, I am thinking this summer went by way too fast. I will have three kids in school full time. No more going back to school for kindergarten pickup...at least not this year. Noah will be in first grade, Ari in second grade and Aiden is in fourth grade. It seems like only yesterday that Aiden was born and I was still pregnant with Jinelle. How time flies!!!
Now that summer is almost over, we are almost ready for school to start. All four kids have backpacks, lunchboxes, and all the wonderful school supplies that all the kids want for a new school year, thanks to my mom. They have lots of new clothes from my favorite store, The Children's Place. I don't know how I would do it without my mom. She watches my kids whenever I need her to, she buys my kids so much, she calls everyday to just check on me, and she is always there for me. She also took all four of my kids to the river to give me a few days off last week. The kids had a blast and Aiden also learned to kneeboard. My mom and dad are so brave. They not only took my kids, but three of my brother's kids.
All that's left to do is meet the kids teachers, hopefully tomorrow, pack, and just spend some quality time together before me and the kids leave for Oregon. Jason has to stay home and work. Plus, his step-brother is also getting married, so he will attend that wedding while we are gone.
I will try to update again before we leave. Not sure if I will get around to it. It all depends on what we decide to do with the kids this week on Jason's days off. Until then, hope everyone had a great summer and enjoys the time off they have left.

Another Update

Well, as many of you know, but some don't, I had yet another surgery just under two weeks ago, exactly 3 months after my first. My LP Shunt had stopped working for unknown reasons. I had a Shunt evaluation done a few weeks prior where they insert Nuclear Dye into my spine via a spinal tap and then watch it go through my spine and shunt via hour long x-ray times two. Needless to say, it didn't go through my shunt, therefore, the doctors thought my shunt was not working. So I went under the knife again, thinking I was going to be completely replacing all my shunt and tubing, or at least the tubing if that was the problem. But, when the doc cut my same front incision open (thank you so much.....only one horribly ugly long scar instead of two) my shunt was dripping. So he disconnected it, flushed my shunt, reconnected it, and sewed me back up. I didn't come out of the annestesia very well this time. My recovery nurse pushed three different meds at the same time and I had a reaction to one them....but since they pushed three at once, they didn't know which one. So 90 minutes later and a bunch of other meds, I got to go to post-op and then go home a little later. Home recovery was much better, most likely from only one incison and no horrible bruising. I still have to take it easy for the next few weeks and Ican't go swimming until I am completely healed :( but overall, I am feeling much better. Now I just hope that it stays unplugged and working well enough to let me have relief.
On other news, I will be leaving for Oregon in 13 days for my cousin's wedding. All four kids, my mom, and I will be driving 16 hours over two days to get there. We are hoping to get most of the way there on Friday and then drive in Saturday morning so we can go to the fair with our family. Then, Sunday, we will attend church with our cousins and have a family dinner. Monday will be our fun day to go do something, not quite sure what yet. Tuesday we have pedicures for the girls, as well as the bridal shower I am throwing at night. Wednesday morning will be spent chopping and preparing food. Wednesday night, late, we will go set up the reception at the building. Thursday morning, more decorating. Thursday at noon, pack up and head out to Portland, check into the hotel (we have a family suite), meet up with my dad and sister, and head over to the Temple for a session. Then out to dinner with all the family....ours and my new cousins family. Friday morning will be an early arrival at the temple. Only one session was open for them to get married, at 9 am. I guess the 08-08-08 date I suggested is extremely popular!!!! Then luncheon at Olive Garden with all who come to the sealing, and a two hour drive back to Philomath to finish setting up for the reception for that evening. After the reception, bathe all four kids, put them to bed and pack up the car. Rise nice and early Saturday morning and head back to Cali. Drive as much as the kids will allow, and finish driving on Sunday, hopefully arriving home as early as possible. Kids start school at their new school on Monday morning, so we will have to have all our stuff ready for school before we leave.

Lake Havasu Fun

We just got back from our vacation to Lake Havasu. We were there for a week. The first three days, we were with my parents. Then on Father's Day, they left and our friends came out. We had so much fun on the Lake riding the inflatables, wakeboarding, kneeboarding, swimming, and just hanging out. It was a lot of fun, but we are glad to be home. A week away is hard...we missed our dogs, our bed, our home, our friends who weren't there....and my cell phone. We get no cell service at the house and very limited on the Lake, so no calls! :( We, actually, Jason, lost my car keys at the bottom of the Lake. So somewhere, some fishy has my keys! But luckily, Liz and Charlie stopped by and got our extra set from home and brought them out to us. We tried to get a new one made out there, but they closed at 1 pm on Saturday and were going to be closed on Sunday, so it was just easier to just have them bring them out to us and then we have to go get one made so we have a spare.
But all and all, it was great fun. The kids had a blast. I will post more as I go through the over 500 pics I took and get the pics Heather took. As for now, I leave you with a pic of all 10 of the kids on the boat in front of London Bridge.

Summer Vacation

Sumer vacation is finally here for the entire family...well almost. Jason has only one more night of work before his four week vacation! So as of 9:00 A.M. Sunday morning, our entire family will be on summer vacation......except me. I don't get a vacation. I still have to do everything I usually do, just hopefully not so early.
But speaking of early. Since the kids have been on vacation for over a week now, I still have not gotten a decent night's sleep. Its either the phone ringing at 7 A.M., someone at the door at 7:15 A.M. or the kids jumping all over me in bed, wanting something to eat, drink, or to tattle on each other! Needless to say, I'm exhausted!!!!! I can't seem to get to sleep easily at night when Jason isn't home, so hopefully after tonight, I can rest easier.
Back to vacation....we have some fun and some not so fun things planned for the next four weeks. First priority is for Jason to finish the dog house for our two dogs. We just finished cross fencing the yard to keep them off the grass when we aren't home, since Jetta has decided that no matter if we take her out to pee two minutes before letting her on the grass, she still has to mark her territory. So, to save our grass, a fence went up and the dogs went out....so now they need more shade for the back yard, hence a new dog house big enough for both of them. That has to be completed by Wednesday! Then its off to the river house for some much needed away time. We are going with my parents for a few days, then they are leaving to come back home and two families are coming out to join us. My mom and dad think we are crazy....six adults and TEN kids in their river house....and Aiden is the oldest kid. We will have kids ages 8, 7, 6, 5, 5, 4, 4, 3, 2, and 2 at the house. It should be lots of fun though. All the kids get along great and the boat can hold us all. So we will be trying out all our new toys we talked my dad into buying last year. I think we now have 6 different inflatables, two sets of adult skis, two wake boards, two knee boards and a kids horseshoe ski. We are most looking forward to using the new UFO inflatable! It is going to be a riot! Ari is looking forward to skiing again. Last year she got up a few times and enjoyed it. This year she wants to try to get up more and maybe graduate to the next step up of skis.....which we will have to talk grandpa into getting. (Shouldn't be hard to do...all the kids gotta do is ask him!).
Then when we come back, its on to the not so fun stuff. I need to have a shunt study performed at Loma Linda sometime on Jason's vacation. They are going to try and figure out why my shunt has stopped working for me. I am hoping it won't be too painful, but I know it will be. It includes yet another lovely spinal tap and inserting dye into my spine to see where it is going....through the shunt, or though my spine....and to see if there is a kink or something restricting the flow. Then Jason has some not so fun stuff to do as well.....all I'm going to say about that is that hopefully a baby will be joining our family sometime next summer! (June or July is our hope!!!!)
Well, I guess that is all for now. It's off to drop the kids off at grandma and grandpas for swimming and onto a baby shower for me.

My three smart little cuties

Well, school is almost out for the summer....which translates to a lot of time for mommy to spend at school the next two short weeks helping out as much as possible and being there for every little thing. But three big things happened over the past two days. All three of the school-age kids got awards! They were all so excited and proud. Jason, my mom, and I attended all three separate assemblies. Noah's was first: Monday morning at 8:00 am. Yes, 8:00 am. He received a Certificate of Achievement for academic excellence. (Just to add a bit, his teacher made sure she stressed that no matter what anyone said, she knows he was ready for kindergarten and did so great. He was in the top group in his class! Way to go Nutty-Butt-Butt!) Then Aiden's awards started at 9:20 am. It was a waste to go home just to turn around and come back, so we sat in the science pod and chatted (well, my mom and Jason did, Jinelle and I went into Aiden's class) Aiden received the Principal's Award. He was so proud. Only one student per class gets this, and it was him! Then on Tuesday (Today) at 8:40 am, Ari had her awards assembly. She received a Certificate of Achievement for Math. I was surprised....she likes math and is great at it, but she excels at reading. But I guess since she got a reading award the first trimester, her teacher wanted to recognize her for Math as well. She is such a smart little girl.
So now the next 5 school days left will go way to quickly. I am sad but excited. Sad to be leaving Eucalyptus. It really has been a great school. I LOVE my kids teachers this year. I wish they would come with us over to Cypress.....and I have been working on them...probably as much as they are working on me to get me to stay. But on the other hand, I get to sleep in for the next two months. Then when they go back, they will be at their new school, learning piano and art, and Spanish (Spanish is the one thing I could do without....but am most excited about Piano).
The next few days are filled with the following activities:

• All three the kids have a yearbook signing party tomorrow.
• Aiden has his Multiplication Sundae party on Thursday (he past all his tests! All multiplication from 0 - 12 memorized!!!)
• Friday and Monday are NO SCHOOL! But I will be babysitting.....at 5 am.
• Tuesday is Noah's Kindergarten Carnival, A baby shower at 11:30, and babysitting.
• Wednesday is Field day (depending on how I am feeling I will be helping with Kindergarten kids for this...and depending on if I have the baby again) Then I have my 6 week post-op check-up. I believe I have to have a spinal tap at this appt. (UGH!!!!)
  
• Thursday, depending on my appt the day before, I will be at school helping not one, or two, but three class parties.
• Friday....SLEEP! (Hopefully!!!!)

So, thats all for now. I need to get some rest. I will try to fill you all in on what's going on medically with me as soon as I know more. As of now, all I know if that my Shunt MAY have stopped working. We won't know for sure until I get it checked out. Don't know exactly what all that entails, but it doesn't sound fun!