Yellow

Last night at karate, JR was able to earn his yellow belt.  He was very excited, and we were very proud.  He had actually been qualified to test since March, but on that particular evening the head instructor was not there and that is the only person who can give the test.  Then between being grounded (yep, lots) and baseball starting he hadn't been able to be there.  JC is very excited for him, and I know that she is also anxious to follow in his footsteps!

So much for plans

I've learned that making plans is just a suggestion for how I would prefer things to go.  It's by no means a definitive timetable/action schedule.  It's taken me years of motherhood to accept this, but now I just sort of roll with it.  For instance, I mentioned in my Saturday post that I hoped to get back on the computer and write about last week.  Well I am, just 48 hours later than I thought I would be!  In addition, I am supposed to be working again today, but JR is home sick.  I'll be honest, I don't mind one bit being at home.

I worked every day last week, except Monday when HT was home sick with a bad cold.  We also had four baseball games last week which obviously occupied our evenings.  The boys are really, really enjoying being coached by their dad, and my husband is really enjoying coaching them.  It's a really great experience for everyone.  We also had an IEP meeting for JC last week.  She's been on a speech IEP for years, but we are finding that there may be a few more issues in how she processes things.  So far she is doing fine in school, rather well in fact, but I have just noticed some things that concern me.  Her teacher and speech therapist all agreed that giving her extended time for her testing, particularly standardized testing, would benefit her.  I'm not so much worried about the time as I'm pleased that she'll be removed from the classroom and placed in a small group in order to take the test.  I think that will be very good for her.

The kids had a very exciting weekend.  HT was invited to the birthday party of his very best friend, and not only was it an overnight party, but they were kicking the evening off at BounceU.  Needless to say he came home Saturday morning absolutely exhausted, but he had loved every minute of it!  JR went straight to a scout overnighter after his Friday evening game, and didn't return until Saturday evening.  He was able to move up a rank in scouting, and there wasn't a whole lot of sleeping happening there either.  Saturday afternoon was a 5K walk/run to benefit JR's soccer coach who is battling cancer.  JR wasn't home early enough to participate, but JC walked.  I'm very proud of her for completing her very first 5K!  She went along with her best friend, and I was home with HT and the younger children of many of our friends.  All together there were six kids here, and that was when I thought I'd be on the computer.  They were all enjoying the outdoors though, and I was outside getting some yard work finished while they were all here.

My kids had asked what I wanted for Mother's Day and my answer was simple...I wanted to sleep in!  Because the kids had been so worn out from there activities, they all slept later than I did!  It was funny when JR woke up yesterday and came downstairs at nearly 10:00.  He said, "I thought you wanted to sleep in."  I replied that I had slept in, but that he had slept even later!  We drove to my grandmother's and had lunch with her, my parents, sister, and my aunt.  My sister and I decided to run up to visit my other grandmother who had been hospitalized late last week.  We were surprised to get up there and discover that she was being discharged and was just waiting for someone to take her home.  Got to love the communication in the family!  So our quick "how are you visit" turned into quite a bit more.  We are glad that she is home and resting though, and that it doesn't seem to be anything serious causing her to feel poorly.  We still had to help my parents move some things at their house because they are having the entire house painted starting today, so it ended up being a much longer day than I had anticipated.  I mentioned to my husband that maybe next year, we would celebrate me being a mom on the day before the actual Mother's Day, because the day itself never seems to be terribly relaxing!

I think that pretty much catches us up on everything that's been happening.  We have more ball games, work and karate lessons this week, and who knows what else the week will bring!

He's out!

There is so much too write about, and it was one of those weeks with not nearly enough time.  I expect to be able to get back on here and write about some other things later today, but this post is about our lives with baseball.  We had four games this week, and both our boys' teams look GOOD.  In fact, our older team is becoming referred to as the "stacked" team.  I'm not sure that is really the case, but in all honesty, the don't have a player that is a guaranteed out at every bat.  That's not to say they are all great players because they aren't, but there none that are really bad.

Last evening JR had a game.  It was an absolutely perfect evening for baseball.  We have several friends with kids on the same team, so it was a really nice way to spend a Friday evening.  We were the home team, and therefore in the outfield first.  Joey was our pitcher and he had a very efficient first inning pitching only nine pitches.  It was capped off by a spectacular catch in the outfield by Michael, the son of our very good friends.  Our boys were also doing really well at the plate, and by the end of the first inning we were up by a few runs.  In the bottom of the second, Joey gave up a few hits, and a run managed to score.  A player came up and hit a ball to left field, and as I told my husband last night, I'll always remember it in slow motion.  It was as if we were watching a movie frame by frame.  The opposing team's player began running down the third base line towards home (this would be where it would be good to know that JR is playing catcher, and doing a nice job of it!).  I remember looking at JR who was standing to block the plate.  The left fielder hit the cut off man, and although the cut off man made a decent throw to home, it took JR away from blocking the plate.  The runner was almost home when JR caught the ball, and made a diving swipe to tag the runner as he slid into home.  The place literally went silent for half a second as we all looked at Jarron (it's a small town and we all know each other.  The ump's wife used to babysit my kids and we work together) and waited for the call.  And the call was OUT!  I remember jumping up and everyone in our stands started cheering.  I'll be honest, I get a little teary eyed that my son had made such a great play, and my friends Krista, Jen and I all mentioned that we had goose bumps.  It was such a great moment for him!  Of course it was still early in the game and there was still plenty of baseball to be played, but it was so awesome that he had that moment...and it was also really nice that we went on and won the game!

700!

Wow, this is my 700th post!  Apparently I flatter myself into thinking I have things to write that people want to read about!  Seriously though, I do hope that everyone enjoys my stories about the kids, and I appreciate having a place to vent when that is needed as well.  My big 'ole 700th post will simply be about life and what we've been up to lately!

On Friday evening, the JR and JC were able to attend a Dayton Dragons game as a reward for the year of service in Safety Patrol.  The Dragons lost, but you'd never be able to tell it by how excited JC was when she got home!  I was concerned because she doesn't have a lot of friends, and I was afraid she wasn't really going to have anyone with whom to hang out.  She's definitely my girl though, and I'm finding that she prefers hanging out with friends that are boys rather than girls, and the boys are willing to let her.  She loved every minute, and I'm pretty sure that when she fell asleep that evening she was still talking about it.  JR enjoyed it too, but it was his third year, and Heaven forbid he get excited about anything, especially if his sister is excited about it.

Late Friday evening we received a call that the opening day baseball games on Saturday were being canceled, but that the parade was still on.  Some might think this is absolutely absurd, but I long ago learned that this board is going to work on getting the parade in no matter what.  In that regard it was a relief that they went ahead and got it in Saturday morning.  It was also the fastest parade I've ever seen as every truck/float drove by at breakneck speed!  Since the games were canceled, we drove up to my parents who were having a garage sale.  An aunt and both grandmothers were there to help, and I was very glad to hear that it was a very successful day for them.  They were exhausted at the end, but they were very pleased they were able to get rid of so many things.

Saturday evening found us at the First Communion party for the daughter of my best friend.  It was such a fun evening.  My friend's family was in town, and I hadn't been able to see them in years.  Most of them hadn't met our children, and it was wonderful to be able to catch up with them.  We hung out and visited, and the kids ended up with another late evening.

Yesterday morning was the wrap up for Sunday School at church.  There is always a year end picnic that is thrown as well.  I enjoy it, but since I'm not currently crazy about attending church, it seemed hypocritical to show up for just the picnic.  The kids had another "full of fun" afternoon, and they were pretty wiped out by this evening.  Early bedtimes all the way around!

HT woke up this morning not feeling well at all.  I'd had a miserable cold last weekend, and since I wasn't scheduled today I decided to let him stay home.  If he felt anything at all like I had, there was no reason for him to suffer, and since this is the only day this week I'm not scheduled, I decided that to keep him so him while it was convenient, instead of having to deal with it being inconvenient later in the week.  His cough is better this evening, and we've been using the nebulizer because I can tell it's causing his asthma to flair.  It also works out well because this is the only evening all week that no baseball games are scheduled.

And that brings us current...and ready for another crazy week!

Twenty more days

I don't particularly like the fact that with four weeks left, I'm counting down the school days.  To be honest, I've pretty much been doing this since spring break.  I don't like wishing time away, especially as big a chunk as couple of months.  And yet, I'm longing for summer and the key word is definitely "break".  I worked every day last week with the exception of Tuesday when my aunt had surgery and I was at the hospital with my family.  I was originally scheduled every day this week, but there was a scheduling snafu and I was told Friday that I wouldn't be needed today.  I tried not to cheer out loud!  And that makes me feel guilty.  If I don't work, we absolutely can not afford any extras in life whatsoever.  We did fine up to a few years ago with just my husband's salary.  However, inflation of what we purchase and no increase in salary has made that a distant memory.  I'm not complaining...we are still better off than many, many people and we are very blessed.  And I LOVE subbing at the schools.  However, I also recognize that I'm not always a terribly nice person at home when I have to work all day every day.  See where the guilt comes in?  I certainly wish I could do a better job of handling stress and enjoying each moment!

HT's First Communion

As we quickly approached HT's first communion, I commented that you could tell he wasn't our first.  When JR had his first communion, all three kids got new clothes, the reservations were made well in advance, and we gave lots of thought to his gift (which, four years later, I have no idea what it was).  Nine days before this one I was sitting with the mother of HT's best friend, who has three children the exact ages and genders as mine.  We were both commenting that the big event was only a few days away, and we basically hadn't given it the first thought.  I knew that both godparents, my in-laws, and two sets of family friends would be there, and that was about all the thought I had put into it.  After days of nagging, my husband finally made our lunch reservations and I knew that everyone had the clothes they needed.  JR and I went the Friday evening before (just about 38 hours prior!) to pick out HT's gift, and for the most part we decided on a small token and cash.  I spent about 45 minutes on Saturday evening trying to locate HTs' dress socks (seriously, this was cutting it a little close) and that was about the most effort I had put into it.  Then, this adorable little class of six second graders walked into Mass Sunday morning.  I had already taken pics of HT in his suit, and enjoyed seeing another of his friends, but seeing our friend Sophia did me in.  I've known her for so long, and seeing her dressed in the beautiful dress and veil put me over the edge.  There I sat bawling like a baby!  I'm sure many people thought I was emotional that my youngest was making this big first step, but reality was it was the others that made me so emotional.  That, and the fact that this really is such a great group of six kids and HT is good friends with almost all of them.  We were so grateful to share the day with so many good friends, who truly are like our family.

Our lives

It's definitely the end of the school year.  It's absolutely crazy busy around here, and I know it's going to get even crazier.  Yesterday was my one day off in the midst of about three solid weeks of working.  I specifically took the day off so that I could be at the hospital with my family while my aunt Cathy was having surgery.  I absolutely adore this aunt, and while it was expected that everything be okay, I couldn't bear the thought of not being there if, God forbid, something went wrong.  My mother (it's her sister) and grandmother were there, along with two of my cousins (my aunt's daughters) and the husband of one of them.  Fortunately, everything went fairly well and she is resting comfortably.  We've pretty much been doing baseball practices non stop, although we've had some evening showers this week that have somewhat curtailed what can be accomplished at these practices.  My husband is out of town today and tomorrow, which just adds to the craziness.  In addition, my in-laws were here this weekend and we celebrated HT's First Communion.  That, however, is an event worthy of its own post, and I shall try to return here soon to share that story as well!