Yes, there IS crying in baseball, my thumb isn't so brown after all and give me the lake any day!

Blastball has turned out to be a hoot!!

Little Man has finally taken to it and doesn't need half the game to get warmed up anymore!  He's been having a GREAT time playing and I'm still working like mad to get some pictures while trying not to laugh the whole time.

Here are some favorites from the last few weeks...

At first we were a little unsure of how our hands are placed on the bat...

 I took my own headshots of the team since during team picture day, Little Man was SCREAMING.  Of course, when I take them it's ok :0

 Finally go the hands straight!

BIG HIT!

Big Run!

 SAFE!

 But even the best baseball players can get a boo boo....

Dad is there to wipe the tears...

 And our buddy is there to help us shake it off...

So Blastball is a TRIP.  And he loves it!

Onto the garden!

It's not dead, see???

And the boat...

AWESOME!  We're really enjoying our time together, unplugged :)  (one reason I haven't been as regular on the posting side...)  And after the first few times out, I took the camera, of course!


This ginormous thing is call the island.  It's about ten feet across, but has the mesh middle, the boys LOVE it!  And yes, they were in the lake April 9th!

Great opportunities to watch some beautiful nature...



So there's my overly photo filled post :)  Hard to get caught up after such a long time!!

Enjoy your Sunday!

Dad's Gift

It's been a while since I wrote about Dad.  And that's not good I realized.  Cause the last time I wrote about him, we felt he was at death's door.

But he wasn't.

In fact, the turn around can only be described as a miracle of epic proportions.  The gift of extra time is such a blessing.

I have got to tell you, admittedly, there have been some maddening times.

He has moments, days now, where he is spot on.  He's the Dad I remember, talks on the phone with friends and is the image of his former self.

There are days, moments, that he drifts away.  He gets caught in hell again.  He gets bitter.  Says things he doesn't mean, and doesn't remember.  I'm not quite sure how Mom has coped this whole time except that I think she must be a superhero in her soul.  Ok well, that's a given.  She was MY mother.

The past few months he's been well enough that Mom has felt she can take on one boy a Friday night again.  they've really enjoyed this time, as they are getting to know littlest buddy like the know the big one.  Both boys can't WAIT to go each week.

And the part that melts my heart?

Well, before the... experience, Dad wasn't very interactive with them.

But now, he is. 

He talks with them.  He touches their hands.  They crawl in bed with him.  They play cars together. 

They aren't afraid.

Cause... it's just Granddad.  Like he used to be.

I made dinner for them tonight (a casserole, don't think I'm a chef.)  It was nice to eat with Daddy.  But when I went to leave, he held out his hand.  And it shook.  You know, the elderly shake.  And fear struck again.

What's our time frame?  Another year?  A month?

Will I be ready?

I choose to push that out of my mind for now. 

I'll watch my boys light up when they are there and enjoy them enjoying their time together.

I need to force myself to put my time and life on hold because no one's time is for sure.

It's only a gift.

The Silence is deafening... and fattening.

I haven't admitted outloud yet I didn't make my 60 day run goal.  So...

I didn't make my 60 day run goal.

In fact, I stopped one day cause my back just couldn't do a mile that day... and never got on again.

That's been a couple of months now.

See this?

This is my treadmill.  I'd like you to note that there aren't any clothes on it etc.  We've actually never done that in the three years we've had it.  However, that 5 lb. ball in the middle?  It has dust on it.

And there's the view, not bad?

It still has dust on it.

See this?

(The Scream, Edvard Munch)

This is what I do in my head each time I see it, or I look at my belly in the mirror. 

I'd love to say I have the motivation to go do something.  But I don't.  I'm really happy eating my pizza and chips and drinking my Dr. Pepper and wine. :)

But, I will get it done at some point.  I don't feel as good as I did when I was exercising.  I don't look as good as I did.

And my clothes sure as heck don't fit either!!!

(I even bought two pairs of fat pants.  Shh. don't tell.)

Sad isn't it????





Choose your identity?

First of all in the past week or so, I've somehow creeped up over 1,00 views to my little blog.  I'm so flattered :)  So if you're a reader, regular or not... thanks for stopping by :)

Also, I haven't fallen off the face of the earth, but with the boat and all, we've been busy ;)



The other day I was replying to blog I had read (since sometimes I just can't keep my mouth shut,) and it said:

Choose your identity:

REALLY?

Do you know much fun that would be to wake up and choose your identity each day??!??!

So if I got to choose....

Carrie Underwood.  Have you seen her legs???  My legs look like bread dough.  And she can sing (I would really love to be able to sing.)  And she's from Oklahoma.  Ok out of three isn't terrible?

Did you see her thighs?

Or maybe...

Do I really have to explain this?  I mean, my own plane???

I know, this one is weird...

This one is mainly because I want to give $20,000 to anyone I want, anytime I want.

But if I had to trade, I'm pretty sure I'd just want to be this one...

Open mouth, insert foot.

A couple of months ago I wrote about things I won't do for my kids.

Things like not giving them a second dinner.

Not letting take the easy way.

Not letting them be glued to the tv.

Apparently I forgot to mention what I have been doing to my kids.

As of late, I noticed that my kids are acting like brats.


*ugh.  That hurt.

Now, I'd like to start by saying that the "half" birthdays each year tend to be the hardest.  I also know that before a milestone, kids get fussy.

I'm guessing my kids are about to earn the nobel peace prize going on their fussiness lately.

But my main issue is WHY they are fussy.

(ok, littlest bit had a fever last week.  big deal.  three days.)

We have had the ability, and opportunity, to make two major purchases in the last few months.  A car, and a boat.  I will go on record to say that I believe my hubby has earned every cent of this, as have I.  And why it may sound spoiled to talk of such things, after the last year, I think a little bit of fun is deserved.

These big things, are not really the things I'm worried about.  These are for the family.  They are for making memories.  The boat is the PERFECT way for ALL of us to be unplugged.  (heck no you aren't using my phone to play games on the water.)

It's the little ones.

The fit we throw when we don't get to watch the dvd player in the car.
It's the fit we throw we we can't watch something on tv right now.
The fit we throw when we don't like dinner.
The fit we throw when he has the car I want.
The awww! I get when I ask them to do something for me.
The sigh I get when I ask them to put something away.
The blatant ignoring that I get when I ask them to PLEASE stop climbing on the furniture.  or stop playing transformers.  Or stop doing anything.

When did I lose control???

I used to take pride in how well my classroom was managed.  And also how we have dealt with my oldest.  He has a temper a mile wide and the brains to go with it.  I joke that he'll move mountains someday, I'd just prefer he wait till he's 25 thank you.

I will admit that with the first, since he was so hard, we had to be hard too.  Our discpline was firmer and black and white because that's what he needed.

With number 2?  He's sensitive and I took that as he didn't need as firm a hand.  And we're paying for it now.

When 1 was little, he left his room at night, it was a come to Jesus meeting.  Possibly spankings if needed.  (not our preference, but they worked for him.)

Our mistake with 2?  We thought he didn't need it.  Just telling him would work.  blah blah blah.

We're more tired now.  Our patience is lower.  Yet, he leaves his room and gets nothing really except "stay in your bed."

SEE????

I looked at Hubby last night and said, "You know if that had been the oldest, he would have had severe consequences."  And he totally agreed.

So now what?

I have to retrain my three year old.  And I have to train my six year old on reasonable expectations.

but I don't know where to start.

I need to start, cause at the moment, my mommy patience is running low, and we are all paying for it. 

And then of course they have those brilliant days where you go, oh, they're not so bad!!

Was talking with my bestie the other night that perhaps, it's not really spoiled, but our lives now have so much STUFF to HAVE.  Video games, toys, iphones and touches.  Just stuff.  So while we didn't have stuff growing up, and we weren't in the poor house either, maybe it was easier to stay grounded?  We didn't really find the answer to our predicament cause there was wine involved.

So, while you figure out my problem for me, I'm going to go get my kids ready for nap... after they put all their stuff away.