Didn't realize it had been so long

I didn't realize I had been away from the blog all week!  We had a busy week, but it was a nice and rather relaxing week.  I spent the early part of the last week finishing spring cleaning the living room.  Andrew's parents arrived Tuesday afternoon and we drove to Cincinnati for a belated Father's Day dinner as our gift to his father.  It was FABULOUS!  His father was very pleased and everyone had a great time...including our server, I'm sure, because the bill was unbelievable and she earned half a day's sub pay just with our tip!  Anyway, Andrew and his parents took the kids to the Air Force Museum on Wednesday while I was attending a business meeting (I'm doing a little "free lance accounting" to help out a life long friend who is attempting to set up his own business).  The entire purpose of the my in-laws being here was to see Robert's ball game Wednesday evening, but a MASSIVE storm came through it and killed those plans.  Thursday we had breakfast with Andrew's parents before they left town, and then I began the painting project in our upstairs bathroom.  Per usual for us, day three of this project has arrived and we are about 1/2 way through the chaos.  Then when we are done, we can start the much larger chaos of Andrew painting the entire bathroom while I paint the dining room.  Craziness!  Robert's game was cancelled again last night and we decided instead to hang out with some friends.  While it's been crazy, it's still been a very nice week and I'm so grateful for the summer beginning to slow down from a scheduling standpoint!

Unplanned time

Today there is absolutely nothing on our calendar.  This does not mean that we have nothing to do, it simply means that no one has to be anywhere at any specific time...and I love it!  I spent the end of last week spring cleaning the living room, and I've got other rooms picked up as well.  I've even been working on getting things stored back into the attic and Andrew is doing a lot of work outside.  He managed to run a few errands this morning, and even though I slept until 10:00 this morning (AWESOME!) I feel as though we are having an incredibly productive day.  His parents arrive tomorrow and we have tons of ball games this week, but it will be so nice to have today without a schedule...it's what I love most about summer!

Disappointed

I'll be honest, I'm disappointed in the way this baseball season has gone.  Robert is not playing much, but that I expected.  While he is not a bad player, he is far from the best player on the team, and of course as a teenager who does not have a passion for the game, he chooses not to work at it.  Don't get me wrong, he ENJOYS the game and has fun, but he does not have a passion for the game.  That's fine.  I get that.  The part I am most disappointed in is how my husband has been treated by the head coach, a man that considered Andrew his best friend.  This man has shown no respect for my husband of his opinion, and it's gotten worse as the season has gone along.  I know it stems in part from a difference in coaching philosophy.  My husband feels that even though this is a select team, it should still be about developing the boys as players and that they should not be called out individually in front of the rest of the team for their errors.  He feels they should be motivated and built up while being given constructive criticism.  I've seen my husband pull players aside and talk to them individually between innings when a mistake was made as an effort to teach without embarrassing.  I suspect that because of my husband's enthusiasm for the positive (which is truly part of his nature) this man sees my husband as "soft" and not committed to winning.  This man's body language towards my husband offends me, especially since this is a man I considered a friend.  Sadly, at this point my husband just wants this season to end, and frankly so do I.  We would never quit because that is not the right thing to do (although I'm fairly certain this man wouldn't care if we did since Robert isn't playing much and he doesn't seem to respect anything Andrew says), but we are both looking forward to the end in two weeks.  Next year if Robert wants to continue playing we are back to rec ball...it's a better fit for our family, and Andrew can be the head coach again if he wants.

Sleeping in? Laid back relaxing summer?

While we've been out of school almost two weeks (and for Andrew and Robert, three), there has been no sleeping in during the week (we've been able to a little on the weekend) and not really so much laid back or carefree time, even on the weekends.  Sleeping in?  Nope.  Yesterday and today were the first week days where I've actually been able to sleep in until our "normal" school wake up time...the other week days I've had to be up even earlier than a school day!  I feel like we've done very little, if anything at all, fun and relaxing with the kids.  Most of that is the fact that last week Andrew and Thomas were at scout camp and this week Catherine is at basketball camp and Andrew is taking a grad class that requires driving over an hour each way every day this week.  In the meantime on the home front, our printer quit working and our house has been attacked by aunts...not at all how I pictured spending my summer days!  Next week should be more laid back though, and Andrew's parents are coming to visit...it will be very nice to see them!

Perfect Attendance

We are so proud of Catherine.  She had perfect attendance for this school year!  Unfortunately, because she received a flu shot one morning and arrived to school less than ten minutes after it began and with a doctor's note she was not recognized by the school as having perfect attendance.  Apparently they would have preferred that I sign her out 15 minutes prior to her appointment, drive to the appointment, get the shot, and drive her back to school...all of which would have taken at least 30 minutes.  Yep, if I had done that, she would not have been counted as missing any school, but missing the part of the day when they are choosing their lunch for the day counts against her.  SO frustrating!

Anyway, she also had a fabulous report card, and was the only one of our three to do so for the fourth quarter.  Combined with her perfect attendance, Andrew and I have decided to do something special for her.  I'm having some difficulty coming up with what exactly that will be, but since she's at basketball camp this week I have some time to come up with something.

She really and truly is doing absolutely great in so many areas right now.  For her basketball camp, she is getting her clothes out the night before so she is ready quicker in the morning, she is packing her lunch, and she is putting herself to bed at a reasonable time, all without being told do so!  She is just amazing us right now with her maturity, and I am just so very proud of her every day!

It was harder than I thought it would be

This morning, bright and early, we were all up and at 'em to drive Catherine to basketball camp.  It's only about a 25 minute drive and it's only a day camp, but I almost cried when I left her.  There she was, a little girl in a big gym.  She is SO shy and quiet around strangers...almost painfully so.  It was so hard to leave her there.  I'm concerned that no one will reach out to her, and I'm afraid she is too shy to reach out to anyone else.  I suddenly began to wonder if this was all such a good idea.  She's very excited though, and I kept asking her if it was okay if I left (I wasn't allowed to hug her in front of everyone).  I just want her to have fun and be okay!  I think the fact that I was on a college campus (and it's the one my husband and three cousins attended) added to my emotions.  Suddenly, a vision of dropping her off at college FOR REAL was in my head, and it was way too vivid...and way too soon!

An almost magical evening

Saturday Robert had another baseball game.  The nice thing about this one was that it was fairly close to my hometown, so my mother, grandmother, and sister attended the game.  My mother had mentioned that perhaps the kids could stay over with her and Dad after the game.  To be honest, I was pretty convinced that Dad wasn't going to be up for it, so I had never mentioned anything to the kids.  On Friday when Mom called she mentioned that Dad wasn't up for it (surprise!) but that my grandmother had volunteered to keep them over night (not the same one she brought to the game.  This grandmother is my amazing 82-year-old grandmother.  My mother was hesitant, but I thought it was a fabulous idea!  My kids love being at her house, and I know that she loves having them.  She is the most able-bodied and competent 82-year-old I've ever known, and it's not exactly like my kids are so little that they require constant supervision.  We dropped the kids off after Robert's game, and it was already nearly 7:00 by the time we arrived.  She had planned a dinner of their favorites, hot dogs, baked beans, macaroni & cheese, chips, and of course BOTH cookies and ice cream for dessert!

In the meantime, we went back home and decided to venture to our favorite steak place for dinner.  It was such an incredible evening.  We weren't constantly watching the time because either we'd promised a sitter we'd be home by a certain time or we had left the three together and know that after two hours Thomas can begin to unravel.  We had the entire evening to do whatever!  As we were driving home, we drove through a neighboring town on the river.  They were having some sort of festival, and as we came into town, their were fireworks being set off.  We parked and walked about a block and were able to watch the entire show.  We then purchased a bottle of wine, and we even got to sleep in Sunday morning!

We were so grateful to my grandmother for helping us out.  She had a blast and so did the kids!  She even mentioned since it had gone so well that we could do it again sometime.  I have such great memories of spending the night with her and Grandpa from when I was a kid and I'm just so grateful that my kids were able to spend that time with her.  She is absolutely amazing!

I really want no part of it

I'm a pretty competitive person...in fact there are few people who hate to lose more than I do and when I'm participating I WANT to win.  However, win or lose, I also recognize it's a game and life goes on.  As I suspected select baseball is not a good fit for our family.  I thought that since Andrew was one of the coaches, it would be fine.  I was wrong.  I understand that select ball has standings and a tournament and it's about winning.  I get that.  But isn't it MORE about the boys?  I get really tired of some of the coaches who seem to think it's about them.  It isn't.  I understand there are two boys on this team who have a legitimate shot at playing ball beyond high school.  However, that is two out of twelve, and it's not a slam dunk...they have a shot at it if they develop.  And this is a prevalent thought throughout the league.  Intense coaches are the norm.  We've pretty much decided that Robert is going back to rec ball next, IF he even wants to play.  That's the sad part, this has not been fun for him, and we aren't at all sure that he'll want to play next year.  The good news is that Robert is NEVER afraid to try something new and between band and cross country (which might lead to track) I'm sure that he'll move on and have plenty of things to occupy his time.  In the meantime, I just find myself disappointed in adults.  Sadly these days, that isn't really anything new.

How they've grown

Every year when school is out (or hopefully shortly thereafter) we measure the kids' heights.  We've been marking them at the top of our basement stairs each year.  Oh, and whenever I think about moving, this is the #1 thing that makes me cry!  Anyway, yesterday we managed to squeeze it in between scout day camp and Andrew and Robert leaving for their baseball game.  Thomas had grown two inches and is the exact same height Catherine was at this age two years ago.  This doesn't really bode well for him.  She is short for her age, but it isn't as big a deal for a girl.  Hopefully he'll have a growth spurt soon!  Catherine grew four inches since this time last year.  She is still short for her grade, but I did notice she seemed to be catching up.  I pointed out to Andrew that the last time I grew was sixth grade, so I'm hoping Catherine can do "better" than that!  Robert also grew four inches since last year.  He is now over 5'5", a full 5 inches taller than I am.  He likes to remind me of that all the time too!  I'm pretty sure most of those four inches of growth happened in the last six weeks.  He's outgrown his baseball pants that we just got him this spring, but will have to make due as I'm not buying another pair for the last month of the season.  Several parents have commented on how he shot up and one even asked if I'd been feeding him miracle-gro!  It's so much fun to have this record of their growth through the years.  It won't be the same, but I'll be certain to take a picture of it before our moving day!

The middle of the week

I don't feel like I've accomplished much this week, and if you look at my house it doesn't seem like I've accomplished much either!  Thomas and Andrew have been off to scout camp this week, and it requires getting up earlier than a normal school day.  I've spent my days entertaining our friend's daughters, and while we've had lots of fun, we've been out and about most days so I haven't been home to get things done.  Today I have lunch plans with a friend, and I'm looking forward to that.  Right now I COULD/SHOULD be productive, and yet here I sit on the computer, typing about, well in all honestly, absolutely nothing!  I am WAY too good at procrastinating when it comes to cleaning!  Oh well, it will all get done eventually!

First official day of break

Since Saturday and Sunday are always the weekend, today was the first "official" day of break.  Ironically, we had to get up earlier today than we do on a normal school day!  Thomas is doing scout day camp all week and Andrew is accompanying him.  They have to meet to caravan prior to 8AM, so it's an early start for us.  In the meantime, our school's teachers still have to work today and tomorrow so I'm helping out a friend by watching her girls the bulk of the day.  Today we ventured to the local children's museum.  Tomorrow I believe is going to be bowling (the kids are all signed up for two games of free bowling per day all summer).  Next week Catherine is attending basketball camp and Andrew has to drive to Cinci for a grad class.  Lots going on, but I'm still enjoying the summer...at least so far!

It's officially summer!

The kids have been home about a half hour.  Thomas especially was THRILLED!  He ran into the backyard yelling, "Yey, it's finally summer!"  It will be so nice to have the book bags and lunch bags put away for a few months.  This evening we are ordering pizza in and enjoying our life together as a family.  The next two weeks are absolutely insanely busy, but it's still nice to know that summer has arrived!

Can't wait until they get home!

I am SO looking forward to the kids getting home...even if it's still over four hours away!  As absurd as it may sound, I am so looking forward to our summer officially beginning, and it can't do that until they are both here!  It's been a really great school year, but I'm ready to have summer officially underway.  Looking at our calendar, I'm not really sure there is going to be much sleeping in or downtime, but for the most part we get to be together, and that is always the way I prefer it!

Communicating

Last night we were sitting there when my husband's cell phone beeped indicating he had a text.  After about 10 minutes I'm asked him to please check his phone.  I know it drives him crazy when I do this, but at the same time I get irritated when whomever has texted him then texts me and asks that I have Andrew check his phone.  We then discussed the differences in our personalities.  Andrew couldn't care less whether he ever checks his texts or emails.  I, on the other hand, practically live for such messages!  And this is where it is somewhat ironic.  My husband is clearly, without a doubt, an extrovert, yet he doesn't particularly care if people are attempting to communicate with him.  I am, in spite of my outgoing personality, a true introvert at heart and actually much prefer quiet time at home to just about anything else.  I didn't use to be this way, but I am becoming more so as I get older.  Thank goodness for Andrew who forces me to get out and have fun...which I always do when I'm with my friends but I have to be somewhat "urged" to get out and make it happen.  Anyway, despite my introvert nature, I LOVE getting texts and emails and communicating in that way...I guess it's because I don't have to be "in person".  We just found this to be a very interesting facet of our personalities!

Done with subbing

I have officially declared myself done with subbing for the year!  I was stunned when I was requested yesterday, but I couldn't go in because I had a dental appointment.  I was even more surprised when I got called again today!  I didn't have any plans (other than to get things done around here with Andrew and Robert) so I went in...I hate to turn down the opportunity!  It was art in the 4/5/6 building and by the end of the day I can definitely say UGH!  The kids have just completely shut down (I don't blame them...I get it) and there weren't really any lesson plans.  VERY long day.  Tomorrow and Thursday I have lunch plans, and there is no amount of compensation that would convince me to be there on the last day, so I'm officially done for the year.  I really did enjoy it, and I'm very grateful for the extra income, but right now, I'm so looking forward to rest, relaxation, and downtime!

Graduation

Yesterday was a busy day!  Robert had a scout meeting first thing in the morning, and Catherine got to attend a field day for the local minor league team.  Andrew took her and she loved every minute!  After lunch we made an appearance at a grad party for the daughter of some friends, and then we traveled home to gather things together for our late afternoon and evening plans.

We headed north to attend the graduation party of a cousin.  I am SO very blessed to have such a wonderfully large and gracious extended family.  Riley, the graduate, is my second cousin once removed.  Yep...I've had the wonderful blessing of growing up with not only first cousins, but also my second cousins and watching their children grow.  I had to laugh as I watched my kids play with their third cousins...how often does that get to happen!  I loved how excited my kids were to see some of the various cousins they have remembered from gatherings and visits in the past.  I am so absolutely grateful for the relationships with these people, as well as the generosity they have shared with our family over the years.  We ended up being there for six hours, which changed our evening plans in that my sister volunteered to take Catherine to the ball game we had tickets for last evening.  I thought it was very cute that both of the boys were having so much that they didn't want to leave the party...even for a baseball game!  I'm sure we'll make it to a game somewhere along the line, and I'm very grateful that my sister was so willing to take Catherine so she wasn't disappointed.  So many laughs and good times were shared last night!