Just for me

I've been working on a little project for myself. I wanted something involving bright colors, pinks and flowers, and screamed out "FOR GIRLS ONLY"! Some of the seams don't match up and the stitching is crooked, but that just makes me love it all the more. I love walking into my bedroom and seeing it there across the end of the bed, just waiting for me to snuggle up for a nice nap.

Out Field Antics

There are things about playing T -ball that Rowan takes very seriously. Like listening to his coach.


And finding out the batting line up.


And batting, he takes batting very seriously.


And he keeps that seriousness up as he runs to first base.


But once he gets on base the silliness returns. Looking at his hands and the way he's standing, I can tell he's headed back to silliness.


Here he is with that finger up again. He was talking to himself the whole time, so I think he must have been using it to make a point.


Rowan tends to loose his focus on the game once he gets in the field. He starts doing things like practicing his karate.


And watching the game going on on the other end of the field.


And pulling his hat down so far that he can't see what's going on in the game.


He also likes wiggling his loose tooth, he spends lots of time wiggling his loose tooth.


But at least he's really good at keeping the batters from the other team entertained. I'm sure being on his base is the highlight of their game.

Paying it forward

In following Shannon and Jenn's lead, it's time to do something different.
Pay it forward!



The first five people to respond to this post will get something made by me! My choice. For you. This offer does have restrictions and limitations:




I make no guarantees that you will like what I make!




What I create will be just for you.




It will be done this year. You may have to be patient.




You will have no clue what it's going to be. It may be a story. It may be poetry or maybe even some creation I haven't invented yet. I may draw or paint something. (you better pray that I don't). I may bake you something and mail it to you. I may even sew something for you. Who knows? Not you, that's for sure!




I reserve the right to do something extremely strange.




Oh, the catch is that you must re-post this on your blog and offer the same to the first 5 people who comment on your blog. (Or if you don't have a blog I will just trust that you will do nice things for 5 people this next year.)




I am excited to create something just for you! Hurry quick...comment! Then go pay it forward.

PS- Family members and lurkers are encouraged to play!

Power Hitter

Things to ponder while sitting in the middle school parking lot at 10 :00 PM

Earlier this week Fuller had a track meet over on the coast (a couple of hours away), and I'd be lying if I said I was completely comfortable with him going. Paul and I had been really against him having a cell phone this young, but I was really thankful that he had one on him that night, since they didn't get back until after 10:00. I'm having a hard time with the whole "letting go" thing. I just don't really think I'm ready for him to be out and about in the world so much, without me. A few years ago a good friend gave me a sweet little book called "Growing Up and Other Vices". For some reason the title of that book has been stuck in my head lately. Growing up really is a vice, a bad habit that children have gotten in to. As much a I would like to keep my kids little, I see the writing on the wall, resistance is futile. Having a sixth grader has made that clear to me. This seems to be the year where everything is changing. I can't deny the aging process any more. Fuller's school is currently taking part in the Stars program (Students Today Aren't Ready for Sex). The other day his homework was to discuss with a parent the effects that a teen pregnancy would have on his life. What happened to conversations about the new line of Lego's coming out? I want to go back to THAT stage. This week I also went to a parents meeting about Outdoor school. In a couple of weeks I get to send Fuller off to camp for three nights. Fuller's never been away for that long without Paul or I. I know he'll have fun. I LOVED Outdoor school when I was a kid, but that's going to be a hard week around here. Not being able to even talk to him from Tuesday morning until Friday afternoon will be torture. The even harder part is realizing that this is only the beginning, I still have so much more "letting go" to survive. In the Fall Rowan will be in school all day, and that will put an end to my relaxed mornings of snuggling and reading stories. I'm going to need to get a puppy or something.

You're never too old to follow your dreams

After hearing other people talk about her, I looked up the Susan Boyle video on youtube. If you haven't seen it yet, YOU MUST! So touching! You can see it by clicking here.

The Joys of Running Away

This weekend I ran away from home, and I took my sister with me. We decided to meet about half way between our homes, which ended up being the lovely town of Olympia Washington. I've never really been there, except to drive by on the freeway,so it was fun to see what it has to offer. We stayed at a hotel right in the downtown area, so we could walk everywhere. I was very impressed with the shopping and restaurants. There are blocks of funky little boutiques and yummy restaurants.

We were also really close to the waterfront. We went for long walks, and even took our books down and sat by the dock to read.

This is the view from our hotel room. That's the state capitol building on the left. Our view was fabulous and the location really couldn't be beat, but DANG! that hotel had some rock hard beds.

It was so nice to have some uninterrupted time with my sister. The last time we went somewhere without husbands, children and housework was almost 18 years ago. Much too long ago! It's pretty wonderful to get to walk around and shop and talk all day, and have the most difficult decision of the day be which restaurant we want to go to for dinner.

I just had to throw this photo in here, I love this statue we saw down along the docks. It was called "Motherhood."

It was also nice to know that the boys can survive without me. Although when I got home they were all complaining that Paul had made them clean. Ack...the horror of it!

Sushi Night

I am so thankful that I have children who are adventuresome diners. Sometimes their culinary desires are a little hard to fulfill out here in the sticks, so we're getting pretty good at learning to make things for ourselves.

When it comes to sushi I'm pretty much a California roll kind of gal, but the boys wanted to try some different things.Rowan made a really yummy shrimp/cucumber roll. From the comments he was making while rolling it, I'm starting to think he might be watching too much "Iron Chef".

A very fun evening that we will definitely be repeating!

Pride

Yesterday was Fuller's first home track meet, so I finally got to see my boy run. He did his mama proud. Not because he came in first, (because he certainly didn't) but because he persevered. Even after crashing early on in the hurdles, he got up and finished strong(with bloody knees and a sore wrist).

I was so impressed by his attitude. I had expected him to be really down about falling, but instead he complimented himself on how well he finished even though he fell.

Being in track has been so positive for him. He's really pushed himself, and has learned to love it. He has friends who quit after the first tough week of conditioning, but he stuck with it and is excited about how much more endurance he's gotten.

And he almost never admits he's tired, even when he clearly is. Here he is catching his breath after a strong finish in the 1500.

Easter weekend

This Easter weekend we went to our local egg hunt. It's one of my favorite things about living here. Even in years when it's been pouring down rain, the kids have always enjoyed the Easter egg hunt. This year was a little sad since it was Fuller's last year. It's hard to believe he's getting too old for such things. Fuller had to go to his area alone, while Paul went with Grayson and I stayed with Rowan. We were running a little late this year and arrived just about 10 minutes before the hunt started. But even with that short of a wait Rowan was very impatient to get started.


As soon as the siren sounded starting the hunt, it was chaos. I lost sight of Rowan in the swarm very quickly.


But pretty soon he came back with a basket full of candy filled eggs.


Then it was time to empty the eggs and look for prize tickets. Fuller was the lucky one this year. He found an egg with a ticket in it, which he exchanged for a gift certificate for a free pizza. It was fun having him treat us all to lunch that day.




Then later Saturday afternoon we finally got around to coloring eggs.


Fuller was SO EXCITED about coloring eggs!


By Saturday night Paul and I were both feeling pretty cruddy, so we were really lucky the Easter bunny remembered to come.

By Sunday morning Paul, Fuller and I were all really under the weather, so Easter was pretty uneventful. We made some calls to cancel our dinner guests and pretty much spent the whole day laying around in our jammies. The Easter ham never got cooked. I heated up some canned soup and went to bed instead. I guess we'll be having a belated Easter dinner later this week.

The next Edwin Moses?

This year we have a new sport to watch here at our house- track. Fuller is competing in the 1500 meter run and in the 100 meter hurdles. So now of course all of the boys at our house are big into track. Fuller had been a little concerned about falling and crashing in the hurdles, so last week Paul built him a hurdle so he could practice at home. These videos are from right after it was finished. They've all gotten much better since then (well except for Rowan, who still pretty much just runs right into it.) I'm happy to report that Fuller did well in his first track meet this week. He didn't fall at all during the race. This was a great relief after the bloody knees and elbows that we've been seeing after practices.

Cheep-cheep

It started out simply enough. I wanted to try and make a cute mama and baby chick that I had seen.

But she was so cute that I had to make more.

And pretty soon they were multiplying like crazy!

I had a difficult time parting with some of these gals(so I kept them!) But most of them are now safely off in the mail to some nieces and nephews. If you want to make your own flock go here for the tutorial.

T-ball Opening Day

Today was the official opening day of baseball. We attended opening ceremonies in the morning, where the teams were introduced, the national anthem sung, and the official first pitch of the season thrown out. Rowan's only comment on things was,"they talked too much and I had to go to the bathroom." Later in the day he had his first game. After watching his team practice the last few weeks I was doubting that they'd actually be able to make it through a game, but their coach talked them through it and they did surprisingly well. (And when they didn't do so well it provided good comedy for the spectators.)

Rowan may not look like he's paying attention out there in center field....




...but he's got really good hustle, and he's always ready to run wherever the ball goes.


Rowan was one of the last players on his team to bat, so he was chomping at the bit by the time he got up there. Coach Jim had to help him get lined up with the T.


He was SO intent on listening to his coach's instructions.


Nice hit!


And he's rounding second! I was so proud of him for running in the right direction and touching all the bases!(Not all on his team did that.)


Dang batting helmet! So uncomfortable!


He couldn't wait to get that off!

One game down, 14 more to go.

The Face of Defeat

Grayson's first pinewood derby didn't quite live up to his expectations. He didn't have fun. About half way through he curled up on my lap and asked to go home. His car tied for last place. Tears were shed.

Lucky for him he has a dad who knows the value of a special trip for a hot fudge sundae, even if it was already bed time.