Baseball Mom

With all that you have...

Please pray for baby Stellan.

Welcome...

Today, as I ran around in the 90 degree heat, picking up kids and dropping them off, my youngest started complaining about having to accompany me to the bank.  It went something like this, "Whyyyyyyyy do we have to go to the bank?"  followed by, "Whyyyyy do we have to go to the stoooooore?"  I explained that THIS is what I do when YOU GUYS are at school.  Welcome to my world.

Not MY CHILD!

I love Mckmama.  I've been riveted reading about her and her family's strength during baby Stellan's hospital stays, and I still read now that he's finally home for them to enjoy.  I love the idea of her newest thing:

 because, as we all know, my children do (not) do anything crazy.  Nope, not them. 

for example:

>my kids were NOT running through the house naked with squirt guns this morning, and eating frozen pizzas for breakfast.  No way, no how.

>my kids are not mounting a sneak attack on the mailman with water balloons right this very minute.  No.

>my kids do not sometimes take showers in the sprinkler in the summer, with shampoo and everything.  I don't allow it.

>my kids never stay up 'til midnight now that it's summer vacation.  Not my kids.

>my kids do NOT drink coffee.  Ever.

See?  It's simple and fun.  Try it, visit Mckmama and sign up...you'll like it!

Randomly Rambling

I have sooooo many things running around in my head lately, I'm going to make an attempt at a coherent post.  Here goes...bullets-just for you.

>We had a great time camping, and had good weather for the first two days.  The third day was like 90-way too hot for this girl.  E and C went and bought a little kid pool and brought it to the campsite, and we put our feet in it and drank margaritas-hahaha!  You should have seen the looks we got...I think people were jealous!  The fourth day we woke up to rain, and thunder/lightning.  It continued throughout the day, and we were pretty much trapped inside or under our awning.  We ventured out between rainshowers to sit by the fire.  I was thankful we were not in a tent...we would have been going home!  We watched movies, played Yahtzee, and I read a lot.

>T starts his glassblowing class on Monday.  It runs for three weeks, two hours a day, and he's doing it with his friend, the other T.  Local glass guy Dale Chihuly started this program in our middle and high schools, and built two hotshops for kids who are interested in glass work.  The camp is totally FREE-which I love!  It's hard to get in, and i"m glad he gets to go.

>T is done with baseball and we are all GLAD! It was a tough season, with our kids being the youngest team with the least practice time together.  Most of the other teams had had a season with another league, plus a few tournaments already, and were much better.  We had quite a few parents who were not committed to getting their kids there on time, if at all, and not showing up to practices.  We decided to end it after the last game, and have the kids sign baseballs, and they got a team shirt.  People were starting to leave town, and a big party would have been too hard to work out, plus our hearts were just not in it.  There are teams that you get attached to, and this was not one of them.  Last year, I took hundreds of pics of each kid, and so did our photographer friend, and we had picture frames made for everyone with these pictures.  I just wasn't feeling it this year.  I don't think I even took one picture!  Only three parents said thank you for our efforts, and they were people we knew!  The rest just walked off, and didn't even say goodbye...sad.  Two of the kids didn't even stick around to sign baseballs or say goodbye to their teammates.  It sucked, and I am glad they won't be back.  We're definitely going back to our old PONY league next year, where there's more commitment on everyones' part!  Especially since it looks like my letter writing campaign did some good, and they're restoring their Pinto division, so Alex can play there too.

>Coach has a hurt back.  He hurt it a little bit while we were camping, and then tried to lift our garage door up and hurt it much more.  He has been crabbing around here, all in a bad mood, which, it's hard for me to be sympathetic when he's trying to do things like tear out the trailer floor (we have some soft spots and have to replace the plywood-the guy ripped us off).  I finally dropped him at urgent care this morning, and he got some prescriptions for vicodin and muscle relaxers...thank goodness!  Maybe he'll take a nap or something before I commit murder.

>Some people just amaze me.  A family member is of the type that has to be in everyones' business, and was talking to someone else in the family about my financial status.  It pisses me off!  Why in the heck is it anyone's business but ours, if we don't ask him or anyone else for money?!  Get a life and stay out of our business...we're just fine, thank you!

>On the 16th, it was two years since my dad died.  I can't believe it!  I was thinking about it all day that day, reliving his last day in the hospital, and how awful it was.  I remember my brother telling him there was nothing they could do, and him reaching his hand out toward us and shaking his head, saying, "Hmm-mmm, Hmm-mmm" like he was saying no!  Not yet!  I am sure he had a lot of regrets about the way he lived the latter part of his life, and what he missed out on because of alcohol.  What a waste of a smart and kind man.  I hope he's watching us from above, and feeling much happier and healthier.

T and my dad  

Alex and my dad playing lemonade stand

SCURRYING

I've been running around like a madwoman today, trying to get ready for camping.  We went to my parents' place at Hood Canal for the 4th, and it was awesome, as always.  Fireworks are legal out there, and the kids can light them on the beach, so it's not a fire hazard.  I just have to worry that they will blow their body parts off with their illegal Native American fireworks.  They were, surprisingly, good at being safe while lighting them off.  We spent the night there, and came home for two days, then we'll leave tomorrow for camping.  I can't wait!  We're spending five nights, which is the most we've ever spent.  It will be nice to be able to unpack and actually not have to pack right back up again!  I also can't wait to turn the kids loose and let them run around, while I have some peace and quiet.  We'll see, anyway.  The past two days, they've been sort of hellish.  They have been home, together, so they are fighting occasionally, although no one's lost any eyes or anything.  They may, when I'm done with them, however.  T's EEG was a week ago, and yesterday they called to tell me that it was still a little bit abnormal, but with a 'general trend for improvement'.  Okaaay.  Really, what that means is that hopefully by next year, his brain structure/neurons will have changed enough that his seizures will be gone.  I hope so!  I was really hoping for them to be gone this time, but at least we have hope that they WILL be gone.  The MRI last year showed no structural abnormalities, so he should grow out of them eventually.  I am just thankful that his meds, low dose that he's on, are controlling them.  No visible seizures for four years is a GOOD thing!  Now I'm constantly watching Alex, to see if he develops them.  This was about the age that T's showed up.  T has a ball game tonight, and then only two more.  I, sadly, am glad.  This year, as I've said before, has just been sort of off for baseball, and while I'm usually wanting more when the season ends, not this time.  I think it's because his games are still going on and school is out, plus they're really late at night (8-10).  Allstars was different last year, even though it went on all summer,  because they had practices once a week, and tournaments every other weekend, so it was manageable!  Hope y'all have a great weekend! 

am i an idiot, or what?

I just got back from BigLots with the kids.  What was I thinking?  I woke up thinking that we'd go out and get them some water shoes for camping and the canal, and maybe look for some rafts since our campsite next week is right on the beach.  I didn't think about the fact that 1) they are constantly arguing, just for the sake of bitching at each other, 2) they can not keep their hands off of each other, 3) they ask for the stupidest stuff, just for the sake of asking, and 4) Alex NEVER shuts up.  I mean, the stream of chatter is endless!  Last night, he was tired, whiny, and crabby, and he drove us crazy--even Coach, who is not with him ALL DAY like I am!  He feels the need to control everyone's every move, especially his brother.  Sometimes I have to tell him to just BE QUIET AND MIND HIS OWN BUSINESS!  We accomplished our mission, and I was glad that I took them to try the water shoes on, because they are nowhere near the sizes that they wear in shoes!  Last year, I bought them on my own, and they were way too big, this year, T needed a size bigger than his shoe size, and Alex needed a size smaller.  Whatever.  It is super hot outside, or I'd make them go and stack wood like Coach wants them to!  Our pool is out of commission, so we only have the sprinkler, and I am planning to sit in front of the a/c for awhile and watch the eleventy million shows I have on the dvr.  It drives coach nuts that I tape all of these shows, like "the 220 lb. tumor" or "I am my own twin".  Hahaha, that's why I tape them, so I can watch them alone without anyone saying how dumb they are!  Last night I bbq'd chicken on the charcoal bbq, and I ROCKED it!  It was awesome, if I do say so myself.  So was the zucchini I bbq'd.  We had jasmine rice with it, and it was great!  Saturday we leave for the canal house for a night, for the 4th.  It's fun-there's a reservation right up the road that gives good deals on fireworks, and the kids can light them off the end of the dock.  It should be warm, so they can spend the day in the water, once the tide comes in.  Last time, T was on a raft, and a baby seal came up under him and nudged his hand.  So cool!