Saturday...no games

Well, today is Saturday aka BASEBALL DAY! However it has rained a couple of inches the last couple of days...which makes today HOUSE CLEANING SATURDAY! The kids are LOVING me.

We had a great time at the Sock Hop last night. Kiley enjoyed getting dressed up and Rich even got into it by wanting to roll a pack of cigarettes up in his shirt sleeve. It didn't look so great so he ended up taking it out before we left. Oh, and it was just a pack of cards! I saw some there with a box of raisens rolled up in the sleeve. The girls were all dressed differently...some in poodle skirts, some just dressed up, and others in their jeans rolled up with a big white shirt on (Kiley!). As for the boys.....there must have been 100+ boys there with white tshirts and jeans on. A few were dressed like Elvis for the look alike contest. The kids had fun trying to blow a big bubble with 2 pieces of Double Bubble in their mouths. What a job it was just to get the gum soft enough to chew, much less make a bubble out of it. I think we spent about $15 and had a great time from 6:30-8:45. Again...I'll post pictures once I master it.

The 6 weeks ended yesterday...meaning 6 more weeks of school left.

Kiley made Highest Branch in her class. Her teacher even called me at work to let me know how proud she was of Kiley for her much improved behavior at school lately. When Kiley's name was announced on the announcements for Highest Branch in her class Mrs. Clevenland said she stood up and started crying saying her Mom was going to be so proud of her. She is right I was! So, a miracle had occurred. She went all week without pulling her stick. I stopped by and picked up the Mamma Mia soundtrack for her as a treat and we've heard it nearly nonstop since. Even Mike is going around singing "Dancing Queen...". A little scary, I know.

Tonight we are heading over to Tricia's for Storri's birthday celebration. She is so sweet to be 12, but always wanting to make sure Kiley is going to be at her birthday. Last year I threw her a big surprise party. Lots of fun it was!!!

Been a Busy Week!

Had great intentions of updating before now....but I'm really needing to figure out posting pictures!

Monday......Back to school! Kids were tired...mom was tired....and even the ole dad was tired! But we survived AND both kids had ball practice.

Tuesday......NOTHING! No games and no practice, just some homework.

Wednesday......NOTHING! Again, no games nor practice. This time we just worked in the yard and did a little ball practice in the yard. Great weather. Kiley and I went for a quick trip around the block.

Thursday........2 games! Kiley PLAYED second (notice the heavy PLAYED....that is what she mostly did at second.......no plays were made there, but she had some great circles drawn in the dirt). She got 1 hit driving the 4th run of the inning in which is all they allow per inning. I think we were scoreless the first 2 innings, then we started getting our 4 then 4 more. We may have scored another time or two, but ended up losing. Rich...I missed most of his game and we were down when I showed up. Then Ronnie got a HR and a few more runs were scored. Then when our boys took the field, they made some really NOT METS/MUSTANG type plays that literally cost them the game. Ended up losing 5-4, I believe. Either way UGLY! We were staying for the next game, but Rich had homework to finish (subtracting fractions by borrowing from the whole number......I basically had to teach him from home as he didn't get it at school. It takes so long to get the answer, he forgets some major steps like bring down and calculating the whole numbers ~ you know, the easy part!) plus there was some pretty major lightening cancelling the Astros/Cardinals game.

Kiley hasn't had her stick pulled yet this week and has even earned some stars. I have no idea what the stars mean, but this is the first I've heard about them. Should she go all day today (which is a long stretch for her, but she has done well all week!) with leaving her stick in the holder, she'll get a treat. Not sure what it will be, but I've told her it will be something. We have tickets to take the kids to the Sock Hop tonight at school. (Fundraiser of some sort...of course!) Kiley is looking forward to it as she WAS going on a double date (more on that in a minute) and Rich for some reason now WANTS to go. I had already bought him a ticket in case he changed his mind. He was all for going when he thought it was a 5th grade 'dance' and not a school wide family event. Then he wanted nothing to do with it. Now if it is a bust and people see him there, he can say his parents made him come since they were taking his little 1st grade sister!

KILEY SAYS....
OK, on to Kiley's double date. One day this week when I picked her up she was all excited because she had a date for the dance. I was EXTREMELY shocked to say the least! I asked WHO was taking her to the dance. She told me Nicky / Picky was. This is a boy that she calls Picky because he pics at and on her all the time. I reminded her she had just asked the teacher to be moved AWAY from Picky recently. She said, she knows, but now she likes him and he wants to go to the dance with her. So I go along with it. I asked her if he was picking her up and do we even need to go along. She said we HAD to come because parents HAVE to bring their kids and stay. But as soon as we got in the building she would go find Nicky and Hannah. I asked HANNAH? She said that she was going on a DOUBLE DATE. Who knew she knew what a double date was???? She assured me I would love Hannah, she is a nice girl, really smart, blah blah blah. I'm still floored by the double date situation. So, I said who are YOU double dating with. She said (ARE YOU READY FOR THIS....) "Oh, I'm not double dating. Nicky is double dating. He is taking Hannah AND me!" Whew! THAT kind of double dating. I didn't think it was the right time to explain 'two-timing', we'll just leave it at double dating for now.
But it gets better....
Thursday when I picked her up she let me know the double date was off. So, I'm thinking NOW WHAT? I asked her why. Her reply, "Oh, Nicky SO dumped Hannah today. I don't know why, but she is so dumped!". I told her she (Kiley) must be so sad because Hannah is a great girl, blah blah blah and they're friends and she is probably crushed Nicky would DUMP her right before the Sock Hop. Kiley said it was no big deal because she is still going with Nicky!

Should be fun tonight at the Sock Hop! I'll report back with updates after the big Hop! With the whole date situation, I'm sure Daddy is looking forward to it, too!

Easter Sunday! Many Blessings!

This morning we all parted ways for the morning to come all together for lunch. Mom, Storri, Kiley, Levi, and Andy's bunch headed out to Church. Shana, Bill, Weston, and Chris headed out to Shana's Church. Mike and Rich made their way to the Catholic Church in Dublin. Daddy, Tricia, and I stayed back to get the food 'blessings' prepared. YUM-O!!!
Kids had 250 eggs to find. Fortunately the weather while it was stormy overnight, turned out to be a beautiful afternoon. Enjoyed every minute of being outside. Some baseball was played, some keep the ball away from the horse next door and the dogs was played, and some good old fashioned mud puddle jumping! Yes, Levi found a great mud puddle to wander through. Weston wasn't too far behind him, but was stopped. Rich and Storri tied for most eggs found with 52 each! God knows they are too competitive, which is why I'm sure He kept it even! Kae was a little upset the younger ones out did her. Love ya Kae! Ak and Kiley weren't too far behind the bigger kids. As for Levi and Weston....they just wanted the goods inside the eggs.
Kiley got Mama Mia in her basked so we started watching it tonight. 2 hour movie, so we'll have to watch the final hour during the week. Seems to be a great movie and Kiley LOVES it. We love watching her facial expressions as she watches and sings the songs. Grandma Due would be so proud of her!
Back to school tomorrow....Only 7 more weeks of school left!!!! :)

OH...and Storri opened her iron this afternoon. Blondie so didn't get the iron joke. But has assured me she knows how to read clothing labels for care.

Good SATURDAY 11-April

Good because I got tons of things baked to take to my mom and dad's for Easter dinner. Kiley and I decorated some mighty cute cupcakes (and they were yummy, too!). Took all day to bake, decorate and pack! All to leave the house by 4:30 for Rich's baseball game.
As for the game....GREAT WIN!!! 24-12. Our boys came out STRONG showing their bats! Took a big lead in the 1st...had a rain delay in the 3rd or 4th I believe...just as the other team was starting to catch up. The closest the game got was 17-12, I am told. Then our boys closed out the 5th inning with more lightening...from their bats, that is. Rich was 3 for 3 at bat. He had some nice plays at 1st and even tried for a double play at 3rd, just being beat by the runner there. His last at bat, he was on second. Ball was hit directly at him. He had to do some quick maneuvering to get out of the way and on his way to 3rd. He did it! All the boys seemed VERY pleased with the results of the game. The last 2 games, they have scored 47 runs! 63 runs so far this year (31 runs have scored against them) in 4 games...nearly 16 runs on average a game!!! Yes, I love the number game.

Good Friday! 10-April

Today was Storri's 12th birthday! While we didn't get to celebrate with her on HER day...she got a new iron and $10 for a pair of new shorts. Seems the girl thought she could iron MESH, ATHLETIC shorts! Left a big hole in the shorts and some nice, stinky, burnt mesh on the iron. She now knows how to read clothing labels regarding what can and can't be ironed. WE LOVE YOU BLONDIE!!!

Kids both had friends over this evening as Mike and I worked in the yard. One day soon it will be looking nice and green.

Rich Field Trip! 9-April

Today was Rich's 5th grade field trip to the Cook's Planetarium in Corsicana. He claims it was boring...but sure seemed excited talking about the movies they watched!

WIN!

Kiley's softball team got their 1st win!!! She batted in the number 1 spot on the lineup and got to hit 3 times. She had great hits all 3 times! Scoring only once, she still did a great job offensively! Now, defensively...I'm not sure she had much action. Or maybe she just didn't take much action.

Way to go Kiley!!! Mom and Dad are very proud of our baby girl.

Today was Math TAKS for Rich! He claims it was easier than he thought it would be. Time will tell!

Had A Cold One....and I don't mean an adult beverage 'one'

Monday brought on another baseball game. And Kiley was supposed to have practice...but I made the decision she would miss softball practice since it was so cold so she could go run around and stay warm at the baseball fields. Oh, and I could watch Rich's game. And honestly they both had to be different places at 6.
BUT before I report about the game...I should report on the kids' day at school. Rich...boring and MORE review for math TAKS Tuesday. He also had his last day of after school tutoring (hopefully!!!!). Kiley had to 'sign the book' for either not following directions or playing around. Her reply..."I had a partner!". Yes, she is taking Spencer down with her! I asked her if it was the 1st time he had to sign the book and she said, "No! Trust me he has signed the book more times than me." Now, Kiley and Spencer are two of the smartest kids in the class (I think...since they were in the same reading group...just the 2 of them reading 2nd grade level material at the beginning of 1st grade...must be the awesome Kindergarten teacher they both had!). Kiley likes to have a good time and it seems Spencer is easily led. Poor kid!
Now on to the game! Very boring. They were ahead by 4 runs for awhile. We got 1 here and there and then 4 runs in an inning putting us up. Top of the 6th inning came (we were visitors) and their team was out of decent pitchers. So we ended up with 17 runs in 1 inning. Most of those walked or stole home on passed balls from bad pitches. And most of them came with 2 outs already in the inning. The other team was so beat down. They finally put in another kid to pitch and got the 3rd out to get us to bottom of the 6th. Fortunately for us they were at the bottom of their line up and it was 3 up, 3 down, go home winners!!! And all that came AFTER the other team's coach wanted silence during pitches in the game! NO CHATTER? WHAT THE HECK??? AREN'T WE AT A BASEBALL GAME???

OK...today is Tuesday.........MATH TAKS!!!! We are praying for you Rich!!!! GOOD LUCK!

We'll see what exciting happnes in Kiley's softball game tonight. She might be benched for missing practice. I am just hoping to stay on both feet all night...hmmm...did I blog about that for Saturday????

Much better Saturday!

Kiley played a great game Saturday. While her team didn't win, she enjoyed playing 2nd base. She made 2 plays at 2nd!!! Before the game, Coach Alisha asked her if she wanted to play in the infield. She told her no because she didn't want to have to catch the ball. The 1st play she made was snatchig a ball hit right to her and running the girl going from 1st to 2nd down and out of the baseline. OUT!!! Second play the ball was rolling towards 2nd and Kiley actually moved to the ball and once had it in her glove stumbled over 2nd base before the runner tagged it. OUT #2!!!! Her first at bat she had a great hit and ended up scoring a few hits later. Her next 2 at bats were strikeouts. When she hits, she does a good job...

Rich's team beat the Nationals 15-4!!! His 1st at bat he was hit by a pitch. His 2nd at bat was an infield single. He scored both times. No plays were made in the field by him. Yawn...our pitcher just kept striking them out! Not a bad problem.

We ended up being at the ball fields (or back and forth!) from 10 Saturday morning until about 5 Saturday evening. My nice little sunburn reflects the amount of time we were out in it.

finaLLy ! ! !

Both kids got their first games under their belts...or in Kiley's case 'drawstring'! Neither came out on the winning side of the score. Hence,the emphasis on the L L in finally in the title.

Rich struck out both at bats. I left for Kiley's game in the bottom of the 4th. I wasn't there for the painful 11-1 loss! Throws weren't being made and the boys took some really great pitches and let them go right by! Crazy things. Hopefully they get that all behind them and come ready to play on Saturday and ready to PLAY THEIR BEST (aka - WIN!!!!). They are a better team than 11-1 and need to show the others to build their confidence back up! Rich has to have a new bat as his old one was inspected by the umps and has several cracks in it. He thinks it is COOL, but wants a bat IDENTICAL to what he already has. We'll see what we find bat shopping tonight.

Kiley's game is always much more relaxed. Their score was 11-5. Those 5 runs were very proud, earned runs!!!! They really started hitting towards the end. Kiley had a great hit her first at bat. Unfortunately it was hit right to first baseman. Her 2nd at bat she struck out. BUMMER! She played Center Center field. We had 5 playing oufield, but she got the center. I'm not sure any balls came her way or if she made HER way to any balls. Either way she had fun and was bummed they lost, but was glad everyone was going to have matching hair ties that her mom made!

Are we EVER going to get to play ball????

FIRST! Tuesday night was the MIDDLE SCHOOL ORIENTATION for INCOMING 6th graders!!! All 3 of us (thanks to Erin...we were minus Kiley!) came out feeling great about next year. The principal is so UPBEAT and it seems the kids really respond to him. AND one of my former high school teachers is a counselor there. She won't be Rich's counselor as she has kids with last names L-Z. Mrs. 'G' has been with the district since 1976! I think she knows what she is talking about! She even taught and coached my cousin Kay. Back to the orientation, I only teared up twice. I can't believe 6th grade is just around the corner. We may have to take some 'extra steps' to get there, but God willing, he'll be there! He has chosen his electives to be Pre-Athletics (to satisfy his PE for the year) then Health, Art, and Music. Should TAKS scores not be satisfactory for math, he may end up instead in an extra math class all year. I'm fine with that, but will be bummed for him for missing out on health. He is really looking forward to that.

We are hoping TONIGHT is the night both kids get to play their 1st games of the season. We did get a little rain last night, but hopefully not enough to cancel. They are ready to play. Well, Kiley is ready to wear her cute purple socks (which no one will be able to see tonight as we are making her wear PANTS!), of course.

Kiley is on her 1st grade Field Trip to the Science Museum. A classmate's dad works there (he is a paleontologist...AND he is Italian!!) so the kids are ready to go she 'O's dad at work. They will be seeing Coral Reef at the theater there. Kiley is CONVINCED she is going to get sick watching the movie because her teacher mentioned she can't watch them because they make her sick. I'm a little freaked out about the bus ride to and from DOWNTOWN DALLAS!!!! I've not received any calls, so I am assuming they made it safely. I did remind her (for my own nerves) that she should remember what they learned about bus evacuations and IF something happens to stay calm and start praying. Rich's comment was..."you better just worry about getting off the bus!"