$100

Mario has been offering $100 to the first kid to beat him at Chess. I wasn't too worried about the $100 because Mario has been playing Chess forever and he is pretty good. The kids have taken his challenge seriously and are even doing things like scouring the internet for Chess moves to beat dad. Erin wanted to join the Chess club so she could get extra practice. But she has karate on the same night, which was a relief to me.

Now Nathan has really been concentrating and trying to figure a way to earn himself the $100. Nathan told me about his simply strategy to beat Mario. I asked him to tell me his strategy. So using his pillow as a mock chessboard, he explained his plan. Nathan did exactly what he told me he was going to do and actually beat Mario. But being only a beginner, Mario forgot to tell him one important rule. He didn't explain that you have to say "check" when you are one move away from capturing the king. So Nathan beat Mario but he didn't say "check" first. Mario apparently told Nathan that didn't count since he didn't say "check." But the kids didn't think that was fair. They think Mario owes him the $100. What do you think?

I asked Mario how he could possibly lose to Nathan so quickly. I guess Mario was not paying too close attention to the game. That lack of attention probably just cost me $100. I think even Mario is agreeing now that he will have to pay up.

Mario isn't the first in the family to lose a $100. I lost $100 to Erin a few years ago when I told her that I didn't think she could pass Eric in Accelerated Reader points. I promised to buy her an American Girl Doll if she did it. I should have know better. Erin is an extremely hard worker. It didn't take her long to overtake her brother.

"Specials" birthday

Well Nathan had a birthday party for Pooh. So it was Zach's turn to have a birthday party for his dog which he hasn't named, but I have nicknamed "Special." Anyway, for Pooh's birthday we went to Chuck E. Cheese and then had birthday cake. Zach wanted to do a little better for Special's birthday. He wanted a dog pinata too. Mario was under the impression that pinatas were expensive so he had the "brilliant" idea to make one. Unfortunately he didn't get it done with the cousins here, but he did finally get to it this weekend. I am glad he is finally done with it because my kitchen was a paper mache mess for a couple days. We finally get to break it tonight for FHE. Sorry Justin, we will miss having you with us. Uncle Mario owes you a pinata! He may decide to buy it this time since he found out they only cost $10 at the BX. In our house we like ugly steaks, ugly cakes, and now we can add a new one, ugly pinatas. But as Justin would say, this homemade one is "made with love."

First Day of School

Yeah, one of my favorite days of the year! I think my kids love it too. They were all ready to walk out the door a half hour early. They weren't thrilled with my back to school pictures (for some reason Eric thinks he is getting too big for these, little does he know, I will be there for the first day of college too!) but here they are:

Horseback Riding

Erin has been obsessed with horses. She has been begging for us to buy her a horse. I told her to find out how much it costs to board a horse since we can't have a horse at our house. She came back with "it only costs between $250-$300 a month, and that includes food." Apparently she thinks we are rich or we don't need groceries this month! Anyway, I told her that as soon as she could afford to pay the monthly boarding cost, Mario and I would buy her a horse!

Mario and I decided that since we don't think she will ever be able to afford the boarding cost, maybe we could pay for her to go trail riding occasionally. I grew up with horses and took them for granted. My parents got rid of our horses after they got sued when a friend got hurt on one of them. Then they finally got horses again a few years ago. This time I got hurt when I was thrown off the horse for trying to make it go a different direction than it wanted to go. I hurt my knee and had to go to the ER. So needless to say, my last experience with a horse wasn't a pleasant one. But I agreed to go riding with Erin.

Erin was so excited, I don't think she slept the whole night before. Our ride was at 9 am. When we got there, the group before us was just returning. The lead horse was not gentle at all. In fact, when the rider went to get off, the horse acted up and the lady fell off. I didn't have a good feeling. What was I thinking bringing my 9 year old daughter to ride horses. I was nervous she would get hurt. Fortunately her horse "Tiny" was very gentle, but not very tiny. They call him Tiny because he is good for tiny riders. Again the lead horse wasn't that great and gave the wrangler a bit of a hard time. I was extremely nervous that it was going to start rearing up and kick Erin's horse which was right behind her. But fortunately Erin and I had no problems and we had a great ride. But I told Mario he can go on the next one.

The first picture is Erin on grandma's horse five years ago (the time when I hurt my knee). The rest are from Saturday's trail ride. Isn't she adorable? She is a natural too. She is not like me, a nervous wreck on top of that horse.

Melissa's Visit

I haven't blogged in a while, so I will catch you up.

My sister Melissa and her two kids, Max and Justin, came for a visit. Justin is about 6 months younger than my twins, so it was like having triplets for 9 days. Max is the tiniest but cutest little 9 month old. We went to Chuck E. Cheese and the water park. But the kids favorite activity by far was spending almost everyday at the neighbor's (Brother and Sister Park) pool. Our family really enjoyed their visit and hope they can visit again soon. Mario and I were very impressed with Melissa. She is a great mom to her two kids. They are lucky to have her.

The summer is coming to an end for my kids. School starts on Monday. The twins will be doing another year of kindergarten due to their late December birthdays. The cutoff for 1st grade is Sept. 1. Another year for them to mature will be great, plus I am not anxious for my babies to leave me to go to college any sooner. The real tragedy is that kindergarten is only 3 hours. What can I possibly get done in 3 hours?

Most of the kids are enjoying karate. Sometimes it is a little rough for Zach. Some days are better than others for him. He can't really decide if he likes it or not. On Wed, he refused to participate. But next week is his belt testing and so part of the requirement is to go at least 2 days a week. He was really worried when I wouldn't sign his form stating he had met that requirement. He apologized to the teacher and his instructor agreed to let him test next week. Hopefully he has learned his lesson. I think he was tired on Wed. He has been getting up very early everyday to play with his cousins.

Eric has us a little concerned. He has been having some bad headaches accompanied by vomiting. It has been happening monthly until this past month and now happening almost weekly. So we took him into the dr to have him evaluated. We are thinking that it is migraines caused by eye strain from reading too much. He has read The Work and Glory Series twice over the summer break. We are hopeful that the eye dr can confirm our concerns. But the dr ordered an MRI just in case. So we are waiting for those results. I am confident he will be just fine. Eric continues to be such a great example to Mario and I. He is a very black/white person. There is no middle ground for Eric. He keeps Mario and I on our toes.

Erin has had a good summer. Mario has made an effort to give her even more attention. Anyone that knows Mario knows that he already gives the kids lots of attention. But he is trying to give her even more after reading the book "Strong Fathers, Strong Daughters." He highly recommends that book for all fathers. Erin continues to be a huge help to me and I thank Heavenly Father everyday for a daughter. She has developed a love of horses from her Monterey friend, Hailey. She and I have reservations to go trail riding tomorrow. She is very excited.

Nathan has been struggling a little with our recent move. Out of the 4 kids, he struggles the most. He has been a lot more aggressive since our move and showing a lot of anger. Most of the time he is fine but once in a while he shows us he is upset. I am hoping it is just a phase. He is such a sweet child normally. In the past it has taken him 3 or 4 months to adjust to our new home.

Zachary used to be the child we struggled the most with. He is a very strong willed child. Fortunately he is very attached to me and we have a special bond. He has improved greatly the past few months. He reading continues to improve each week. I adore Zachary (and of course the other three also.) He is almost always willing to help me with whatever I need.

Mario is enjoying his new job outside of Communications. He finds his new job very challenging but in a good way. He will now get to travel a lot to South America and the Caribbean. I am hoping he collects lots of airline miles so we can go back to Hawaii or Alaska or maybe even Europe. Mario is a wonderful father and husband. What I like about Mario is that he tries hard never to become complacent. Even though he is already a good father and husband, he is always trying to find ways to improve even more.

I am excited about the kids going back to school. I have had the twins home with me since April. So I am ready! I have been going to physical therapy for a torn meniscus in my left knee. I had one in my right knee about 5 years ago. Obviously I am doing something wrong when I run. Maybe PT will help me fix my problems. Otherwise life is good. I love Tucson (mostly because I like it warm.)