our view from our hotel

...because Kensey Rae has this way of wrapping you around her finger. She did this to the Hotel Manager at the Jupiter Beach Resort....long story short...she told the manager she wanted the penthouse...we said no way....she told him she had never seen the ocean, she had played against giants all week...and she had never stayed at such a fancy hotel...he was smitten...we got the penthouse for the price of a regular room...yep that is our Kensey Rae...if she only knew.....

BEACH!!

This doesn't need a lot of stories. How can you not enjoy the beach? It was the first time for the kids to see the ocean. They were amazed and instantly fell in love. Kensey Rae wants to move there and Cody says it comes in second to Colorado. He is a mountain boy. What a great three days! We were able to visit with Jeff and Jennifer (my cousins) and hang out with them. We visited a "sea turtle rescue" we saw Donald Trump's house...(HOUSE? try planet) HUGE! We just had some great family time. Awesome memories!

FINALLY...Disneyworld!!

What a great day! We spent 14 hours at Disneyworld!! It was so much fun!! I think there were times I was the 5 year old little girl totally smitten by the Princesses!!

on our way to Disney.....but didn't make it

John and Sheri Roster and their kiddos and our family decided to head to Disneyworld between games....well you have to understand, we headed their first on Tuesday, but had to pull over because the rain was so bad. I looked at Richard and said, "when you can't see the road, is it really a good day to actually head to disneyworld?"

I am not high maintenance. BUT EVEN I HAD NO DESIRE TO HEAD TO DISNEYWORLD IN THE RAIN.

So bring on Wednesday...

We headed with the Rosters again to the "place where dreams come true"

We were sitting at the stoplight. Sitting. Minding our own business. An idiot apparently didn't see the stoplight was RED...and slammed into the back of the Roster's vehicle. (Kensey Rae was in the back of their car.)Their vehicle pushed our vehicle about three feet forward.

Needless to say....our dream didn't come true....:~)

and the rest of the story..

Well I kinda left you hanging....

We ended up losing the next two games. Kensey Rae played her heart out. I was so proud of her. As I was watching her play against girls that were just so much bigger than her I watched the Esely woman come out in her. I saw the determination of Jodi in her. Jodi played with such an intensity in high school and college. Kensey Rae sat in the stands for years desiring to be just like her, and well, she is, just like her. I watched her play smart, just so on top of her game, playing defense-not allowing her girl the opportunity to even think of scoring, she played smart like Jill. Jill played smart. She was always cool as a cucumber-in charge. The girl you know you can count on--kensey Rae was cool, smart and took charge of her defense. She was just like Jill. She smiled when her teammates did something awesome.....her smile looked just like Mom's smile. The smile that makes you want to smile too. A catchy smile. Then, came the look. Yep, the look. The look that says you have ticked me off one too many times. You have messed with the wrong girl...yep, that came from me. I knew it. I giggled. I think deep down, she knew it too. :~)

Score one for the Esely girl.

sometimes you just don't have it......

We fell short tonight. We lost by 11 to a team from Maryland. We had a hard time getting the ball up the court. Their press was intense, and it just stopped us in our tracks. Kensey Rae played a good game. She certainly has stepped up her game down here, which has been awesome to watch.

The other team was coached by a girl who played for Syracuse. She towered over our coaches who are 6'3" and taller. A parent came up to us after the game and complimented Kensey Rae's intensity in her defense. That was a nice ending to a rather disappointing day.

We play tomorrow morning at 10:30. Because we are seeded third out of our pool, we have zero chance of advancing in the actual championships. We are now playing in the "classic" bracket. We have a double elimination rule beginning tomorrow.

I think we will probably head to either Disneyworld or Sea World tomorrow after the game.

Florida is hot, humid, and busy. I will never ever complain about the Missouri heat ever again. My poor hair. I cannot even tell you what it is doing. I think Annie or curly would be an understatement. Rather sad.

Day 4...and game 2.

Well...we lost. We played hard. Kensey Rae played her heart out, but it just wasn't enough. Alabama got the best of us. We are playing Maryland tonight at 6:00 Eastern. I hear that it will be another tough game. Bummer. I was really proud of them though, we were down by 30 points and they never once gave up. We fought to the buzzer..and that is all you can ask out of them. Kensey Rae is number 13.

yes, they are my children....

Cody's DREAM WORLD!!

you know how he loves his chocolate!!

LEGO land..totally awesome!!

After the game...

We went to Downtown Disney World and hung out with my cousin and his wife, Jeff and Jennifer.

Day 3--First game

We played the Raging Rhinos from Tennessee. I think you could consider us the underdog. We played so well!! We played as a team. Kensey Rae had an awesome game!!! She had 7 points, 9 rebounds and 7 steals! We won the game 30-27. It was a pretty tight game, so of course my camera was the last thing on my mind!! SORRY!!!!! Richard did record it, and you all will have to stop by and watch it!! (Iknow I know, you really don't care, but let me brag anyway!!) She played AWESOME!!!!!!!!

Let me back track.

The beginning of day 2 we also registered as a team. This was our first glimpse of our competition. Now please remind yourself, these are 10 year old girls!! However, if your birthday fell just right, some could possibly be 12 by now...this is what we saw when we got there...yep, she is 6'1".

Night time DAY 2

I just had to put this one in....Richard was worn out!!! Serious worn out!! Poor Richard!!

Night time DA

Saturday--Day 2 --OPENING CEREMONY...

The opening ceremony took place at Walt Disney World Wide Sports...and it was really fun! Each team was announced and "paraded" around the stadium. Our girls had a great time!! It was one of those goosebump moments! They dressed alike in their cycylone shirts and had their hair braided. The moms had gotten together previously and made flip flops, so they wore those as well. It was really really cool!! Kensey Rae was all smiles!!

The girls brought pins that had CYCLONE Basketball-St. Joseph Missouri. They traded their pins with other teams. Kensey LOVED that part. She was being very social, as you might imagine!!

Day One of Florida

Day One

We headed out of KCI without any problems. Jill and Jo met us at the airport to see us off. Kensey Rae talked a mile a minute, which is nothing unusual except this time, it lasted much longer!! Another girl from our team flew out with us. Marnie and Kensey Rae talked all the way to Florida!!


Cody was eager to get the vacation started. He claimed he called window on the way down, I never heard him. So, I was a nice mother and let him have it anyway.





and we were off...

Florida Bound!

...and we are off!

We have way too much luggage. I tend to pack more than I need...like will we really need snowsuits in Florida kinda thing..if we are sick at all, I have the medicine, if we have stains, I have the tide stick, if we are wrinkled, I have the Downy spray...get the picture? :~)

I will keep you all posted while we are down there..please pray for safe travel!


Blessings,
Jen

I hate the thought of packing...

I am NOT a traveler.

I really love being home. I know that may come as a shock to those of you who know me, because I am rarely at home, or so it feels! However, I am ALWAYS home to sleep in my own bed. We are going to be gone for 10 days..TEN....how does one stay away from home for 10 days?

I have started writing out everything I need to take with me when we head south. I have started writing out what the kids need to take, and what Richard needs to take, and what we need to get ready for Jaxson Bo....and I have come to the conclusion that it will take about 20 suitcases. AT a rate of an extra $15.00 per bag for the first bag and a steady rate of $20.00 for the ones that follow, we should only have to pay about an extra $380.00 for luggage on the flight.

How does one pack for ten days? Good grief, what if you have to change your clothes several times a day? What if it is so hot you sweat and need a new shirt to put on, (or ketchup gets on your pants, not that I would know anything about this)...WHAT IF?

I hate being away from home.

I have always been that person who needs and desires to feel secure..safe and sound...whatever you want to call it. So I just have always loved being home.

Another problem....crowds.

Ok, I know I can talk to a brick wall, but I really don't like waiting in lines, or the dirtiness of public places. I cringe at the thought of public bathrooms at Walt Disney World...icky icky icky. I have watched way too many 20/20's that show WHAT the public bathroom, hotel rooms, and airplanes REALLY have on them....NASTY NASTY!

The other problem... I hate heat.

I just get plain grouchy when I am hot. I don't understand it, but I turn into this crazy person when I am hot. I hate it. Do you think it will be hot in Orlando in the middle of JULY?

All of this together equals one thing.. you must pray for my family, they need need need your prayers!

Luckily, we rented a condo, so we have laundry facilities there, so I can wash clothes if need be, I will take clorox wipes with me in my purse, and I will be drinking a lot of water and have a lot of pony tail holders.

The countdown to Florida--one week from tomorrow.

Blessings,
Jen

Responsibility.....and the lack thereof...

Kensey Rae and I went to eat at Nancy's house Monday night. Nancy, Becky,Ginger, Renee,Maralee and Andrea were all there with the whole clan...several girls within the age of 5 and under were bouncing ALL over the place and several of the "older" cousins were playing outside as well.

Kensey Rae had planned to go home with her Aunt Ginger and spend the night, so she had brought her cellphone along. I suppose that was a good thing. She has the phone so that I can get in touch with her NO MATTER what. Right?

Apparently sometime in the evening she lost the phone.

Richard and Cody stopped by to pick us up and as I was kissing Kensey Rae good bye, she whispered, "I can't find my phone".....of course, I, the calm, rational, and positive parent said, "Well, call it"...then..."Mom, I turned it on to vibrate only." This is where I started to lose it. "Kensey Rae, why on earth would you put it on vibrate only?" Kensey Rae answered, "because I don't like my ringtone and you won't let me buy a new one."

Now this is where somebody needs to take this child aside and explain to her that it is not her right that she have a phone at the age of 10!

I said, "Kensey Rae, WHO was going to call you anyway? Everyone who calls your phone is IN THIS STINKING HOUSE!"

That is when the tears started.

So, Richard and Cody start calling the phone. We listened for vibrating noises. No luck. A few minutes pass by and Andrea and Nancy enter the room. Then Ginger enters the room. We keep calling the phone and calling the phone. No luck.

We now start tearing apart all of Nancy's furniture.

At this time there is not a cushion on any of Nancy's furniture. The younger kids are screaming in Grace's room. The dogs are helping. My temper is starting to hit the danger zone. Kensey's face has developed the "red bumps from crying".....and still no phone.

Richard calls the phone again.

Andrea and I think we hear it, so we start flipping over furniture...in the meantime I find it completely ok to tell Kensey Rae that "this is the most ridiculous thing I have EVER heard of in my entire life!" I then start in with something like "I am so embarassed that my daughter isn't any more responsible than this"....I was tired, give me a break.

Anyway, I am not sure if Cody and Nancy went outside to escape my tantrum, or if they were searching for the phone. They keep calling the phone, we keep calling the phone, heck, the phone probably keeps calling itself. IT WAS CRAZY!

Richard keeps telling Andrea and myself that we are crazy and that we DID NOT hear the phone. Of course we argued that YES, we did hear the phone.

THEN...after a lot of time has passed...we hear...WE FOUND IT!

Apparently, Kensey Rae sat it on the window ledge OUTSIDE of the living room window by the swing.(SO YES RICHARD WE DID HEAR IT VIBRATE!!) AND of course, when Nancy found it...Kensey immediatly pipes up and says, "oh yeah, I remember setting it there" (is that where a day late and a dollar short phrase came from?

I just walked over to Kensey Rae and looked her in the eye and said, "this was very irresponsible, do you realize that? You need to keep track of your stuff, or I will keep track of it for you, do you understand me? Now, you need to thank Nancy and apologize to her as well for wrecking her house looking for that stupid phone...and if you ever lose it again, it's Mine. If you forget it somewhere, it's mine. Know where your stuff is, period. Are we clear?" Sigh. It was such a good Cindy line from my younger years. I had remembered it line for line. I was proud of myself.

So, after giving hugs and kisses Richard and I left, and Kensey Rae left with her Aunt and cousins.

I made it to the car.

That is when God decided to get down to my level and look me in the eye as I had just done with my daughter. I felt His precious hands on both sides of my face as he reminded me of something very important.

I left my purse inside that stupid house.

I quietly got out of the car. I walked slowly back into the house to find everybody wondering what I was doing back so soon. I walked slowly to my purse, took a big breath and said, "yes I forgot my stupid purse, and yes she gets it from me, and I am headed home." I closed the door and I was OUTTA THERE!

Responsibility....rolling eyes.....

Blessings,
Jen

Cody's Mom reporting in...

Where is the summer going? I DEMAND to know!

It is flying by and I am afraid that school starts NEXT MONTH! Double Ugh.

I need to know an answer to a question. I have pondered on this question for about a month, and I STILL do not know the answer! HOW IN THE WORLD AM I OLD ENOUGH TO HAVE A FRESHMAN?

I am too young, right?

Wasn't it just yesterday that I was at good ole SHS? Serioiusly. I feel like yesterday walking the halls with my 80's hair. (let me just remind you that my hair was the PERFECT 80's hair...big, CURLY, and did I mention BIG?)

Sigh.

Now, I have a son walking the halls.

Here's the thing....When I went to SHS, I was Jen Esely.....I had a name....people knew me....I walked into the weight room to get Cody last week...and the UNTHINKABLE happened to me.....I heard this..."Hey Cody's Mom....he's in the gym"...Cody's Mom? I am now just Cody's Mom.....no name...no idenity of my own...just Cody's Mom.

I am Mom, hear me roar.

So, in the meantime....Cody's Mom is running the roads with Cody and Kensey Rae....and I am smilin' about it...until I fill up my gas tank.

Blessings,
Jen