Beach Fun

Since my oldest finally got her cast off, we decided we needed to take a trip to the beach. We go to the military beach most of the time, because it is so NOT crowded there and I can feel safe letting my girls play and not be constantly looking for them. Hubby took the day off and came with us too, so that was VERY nice.

My youngest had a BLAST in the water and playing with the boogie boards.

Enjoy your summer, we are finally starting to enjoy ours.

All Done...........For Now............

All-Stars is done.

I am a bit sad about that. I have truly enjoyed watching all the games and getting to know the parents. Even though it was such a huge committment, every single day (sans one or two here and there) I loved it. And the eldest, after complaining for the first couple of weeks, loved it just as much. It was so hard for her to sit out of playing the last two weeks.

Soccer is coming up next month, and then "Winterball" (softball in the fall), so she'll get to play both again and then we'll be back to a busy schedule again!

I just hope I get my house in order before then. :)

Giving Her Something To Do

Here's what happens when you let the little one play with the camera............

The Secret Keeper

Starting back probably in high school, and probably earlier, people have told me things.

Confidential things.

Things that no one else knows about.

And according to me, they won't know. At least not from me.

It wasn't until just recently that I realized that I have become somewhat of a "Secret Keeper". Lately people seem to feel that they can talk to me and tell me things. Or vent, or whatever.

I was talking to one person about this a few weeks ago and aloud wondered why they come to me and tell me things.

This other person, who was venting and talking about things said, "You're approachable".

See, I've never really thought of myself as approachable.

Growing up I always felt like the person in the background. Second fiddle.

Although I certainly know that back in high school and beyond, after drinking, I certainly would approach people. Alcohol seems to do that to people.

Ahhh, you know, sometimes I do miss drinking. It's been years since I had a drink.

Part of the reason is because I have high blood pressure and it's certainly not good to drink.

Also, because I remember one of my friends, who had a little one, was drinking and got quite tipsy and was around her and I swore that I would not be like that around my children.

And considering the fact that I was with them almost 24/7 in the beginning, AND breastfeeding, there certainly wasn't the opportunity to drink or the desire. Oh sure, every once in a while, like at a New Year's party, or a Tupperware party I would have a drink or two, but the last time I got drunk was the night before I got married. (Hey, it was an AFTERNOON wedding, so it was okay, and it wasn't like I was having second thoughts or anything, it was just a night out with the girls).

But now? Sure, I wouldn't mind one every now and then.

Anyway, back to present day.

Lately, with all the wonderful therapy I have gotten in helping me deal with my mom's death and how it affected me, I feel back to "ME", you know? Like I found myself again. I found my confident self again, and my "social" self again too.

Being on the softball board, I have met so many nice, good people. People that I probably wouldn't have crossed paths with, had I not get involved. And maybe it's because I don't have an "agenda" by being on the board that I can listen, without judgement to people.

And by being called "approachable", I take that as a compliment.

I take that as coming full circle and being "me" again.

I certainly feel so much more relaxed about myself and a lot of things.

So I'll be the Secret Keeper. And I'll listen. And I won't tell anyone. It's not my place to tell.

I'll be your friend.

A Bit of This, A Bit of That

My oldest is trudging along with her broken hand. As least she can still play Guitar Hero......

Hubby went and bought Guitar Hero 80's Edition the other day, so they have been having fun with that.

We also got a new toy for the whole family too........

Let me just say the Wii Fit is WONDERFUL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I LOVE it!! Yout get to do so much with it! The youngest one loves doing the yoga on it! I tried it out this morning and did a little running and hula-hooping. Let's hope this is the kick start to help me get back in shape! It keeps track of your weight and time spent on the Wii Fit as well! (I do do other stuff as well besides just the Wii Fit)

And THEN!, yesterday at my oldest's game (we still go watch and support the team) I brought my camera to take pictures and one of the coaches has an older daughter who went to the Brooks Institute and has this amazing lens (pictured below). Well, he saw me taking pictures last weekend and this weekend he brought up the lens for me to use! I was in HEAVEN!! Plus hubby just bought me a 4gb Compact Flash drive for my camera so I had PLENTY of space to store pictures. He said he's going to let me use it tomorrow too. Yippee!!! The quality of the pictures was SO much more amazing than the ones I took with my regular telephoto lens. It also has a hood though, so that might have helped as well. I'm going to get a hood for my lens and see if that helps too. But this is my next purchase, for sure. I am going to save up for it. While I would LOVE to have a sports lens, those are like $6,000 and I certainly don't have the money for that. I'll settle for this, thank you. :)

It's a Good Thing I Brought The Camera

It was a VERY hot weekend this weekend, but I did bring the camera so I could get shots of my oldest playing softball.





She had a pretty good day for the most part. She had some FABULOUS bunts (she is the queen of bunting after all), some great catches, but it was a LOOOOOONG day.


We got there at 6:30 a.m., and didn't leave until 7:30 p.m. If they had won both of their games at 10:00 a.m. & 2:00 p.m. they got to go home. Unfortunately that wasn't the case. They lost the 2 o'clock game, which meant we had to stay even longer to play a 6 o'clock game. Talk about a LONG day for the girls! They played 3 games already and then they had to play ANOTHER game.


By the time that last game came around the girls were just spent. You could tell. They just didn't have the energy like they did earlier.


Then mine came up to bat. She was watching the ball pretty well. She swung at one and got a strike. Then the next one she swung at and it fouled (at least that's the way it looked) and her 3rd strike she didn't even swing at. And I thought that was odd she didn't even swing.


So she comes back to the dugout and you could tell something was wrong.


Turns out that 2nd strike that we thought was fouled? It actually hit her hand. And in softball, if the ball hits your hand, it's considered part of the bat, so she thought she was going to be called out if she said something. And the reason she didn't swing at the 3rd strike was because her hand was hurting so bad she couldn't swing.

She was CRYING when she got back in the dugout. She looked at me and you could SEE the pain in her eyes that it hurt so bad. We iced it up. We had the coaches look at it. We all thought that her pinky was the problem.

After the game (and no, she didn't go back into the game), I decided that I wanted to take her to the emergency room, JUST to get it it checked out. Better to be safe than sorry.

So we headed on down there and got there around 8ish.

We didn't leave until 1 a.m.

If you bored and like to people watch, go down to the emergency room on a Saturday night.

Because you're going to find some interesting people down there, because we certainly did!

After we finally saw the doctor, they took x-rays. While we were waiting, my oldest and I got very giggly and silly because we were so exhausted from such a long day.

We both thought it was probably just a bad sprain or bruised or something like that.

The doctor came back in and said, "It's broken".

Both of us were in shock and dismay.

We didn't REALLY think it WAS broken.

And then they told us that she needed a cast.

She was DEVASTATED and started crying.

She LOVES softball and there is 2 weeks left in All-Stars.

But now she has to hang up her bat.

I knew something was wrong though. I could tell.

It's called Mother's Intuition. I keep telling everyone it's a powerful thing.

But she said she is still going to practice. She can run and she can catch the ball, she just can't throw it or bat. She will be in the dugout cheering her team on for these last 2 weekends, and watching with envy, wishing she could be out there.

Bur for now, until practice on Tuesday, she is on the couch and elevating her hand.

And this cast will be a part of her for about 3 weeks.

Next Stop, 1st Grade...

My baby is no longer in Kindergarten.

Wow, how time flies! I can't believe she's already done with Kindergarten!

Softball, Softball, Softball

This is my life these days.

And has been for the past month.

And will be for another month.

But I actually don't mind.

I have very much enjoyed getting to know more parents on the teams.

And I enjoy watching the games.

I think I am very much going to miss it when we're done next month.

We'll go from softball every single day to nothing, in about 4 weeks.

Wow, what will we do with ourselves then?

And this next tournament this weekend I AM going to finally bring the camera.

Ways to Entertain

This is just one of the MANY ways my youngest entertained herself at my oldest's softball games this past weekend.

Other ways included riding her scooter, coloring, coloring with sidewalk chalk, running up and down the grassy hill, and cuddling with me. I'm just so glad that she is finding ways to have fun, having to be dragged around every weekend to softball games. I'm also glad that the fields that we have been going to have grassy areas, and sidewalks to color and ride on. That makes it easier and funner for her.

Sarcastic Comments....

We were in the car driving home today and my oldest was talking about how it's not fair that she's younger than "everybody" else in her class. Yea, not everybody baby..

"Yea mom, when everyone else is having their sweet sixteen, I'll be having my Quincinetta!"

I laughed so hard at this comment!

Especially since we have no ounce of Spanish or Mexican in our blood.

"Field Day"

Today is "Field Day" at her school.

Which means the Junior High kids get to wear tank tops, flip flops, and even their bathing suits under their clothes if they want to, to school.

After lunch, they all get to go outside and basically play in the water. They have this HUGE water slide (Sue, similar to the one you had), and lots of fun water activities for them.

How fun is that for them!!

I think the most fun for them, is getting to wear tank tops and flip flops! Heehee!

They used to be able to wear flip flops to school, but now they can't. Don't know why they can't, but they can't. Well, at least when she gets into high school, she can wear flip flops every day if she wants to. Unless they change that rule by then...................

Counting Down...............

Soon hubby will be off the ship.

Less than a week left.

Finally we will all be together again.

And then we are going to shoo the kids somewhere so WE can be alone. :::::::::::smile:::::::::::::

Even Still, 26 years later

I was flipping through the channels tonight and E.T. was on Nick At Nite. It was the last 1/2 hour of the movie, so I sat and watched it.

Still, after watching it countless times, I still cry when he comes alive and gets to go home.

Art in the Schools

My oldest is taking art as her elective this trimester at school. They've been working with clay and this is her latest project she brought home:

Isn't is so freakin' adorable??!!!! I love the lips on the fish!!

I'm so proud of her and all her accomplishments!! She's a Straight A Student, has made the All-Stars team for both softball and soccer now, and she has that creative gene inside her to be an artist as well! She wants to learn how to sew this summer, and so I'm going to teach her. I hope that she picks up on it quickly. The only thing she needs to have with it is patience and willing to sit and listen to the little details.

New Cousin

Yesterday we drove up north for the day to go to my MIL's surprise birthday party. While we were there I got to see my newest niece. She's the Christmas baby in our family. We were so excited to meet her and so was my oldest:




She loves babies. She reminds me of me. :)

Even though I spent about 5 1/2 hours driving that day, it was actually a nice relaxing break from our usual, which happens to be softball. Every....single......day..........

Don't get me wrong, I love that she's in All-Stars, but it's definitely something we have to get adjusted to.

Thank goodness hubby will be home in less than 3 weeks though!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Party Invitation

My youngest is VERY excited to have her birthday party. Never mind that it's like 4 months until her birthday. She's getting to have it at a place called "Bears, Buddies and Toys". It's like a "Build-A-Bear" place. She so wants to have a sleepover too, but I'm sorry, I'm not going to have a sleepover party for her until she's a few years older. I'm not that crazy. She's even started making invitations though:

Let's just hope this invitation isn't a sign of things to come when she's a grown up........

Tickle Me

Out of my youngest's mouth, who stayed home from school today..............

"You know what would make me feel better? If someone came and tickled me.....but not my feet"

Come on, can anyone resist that???


Yea, neither could I.

All-Stars

This is the face of my oldest who just found out that she made All-Stars for softball. :)

Giggling...

I would have taken a picture of them tonight, but I didn't want to interrupt them.

My oldest was reading a story to my youngest and then they started goofing around with each other and laughing and laughing and giggling, while I was in here on the computer checking something.

As much as I wanted to go take pictures of that, I enjoyed, I mean REALLY enjoyed just sitting here the other room listening.

Listening to them together when they are happy like that makes my heart swell with joy and love.

That even with the bickering they do at times, they get along still.

And that's what matters.

I want them to always have a good relationship with each other, throughout the rest of their lives.

I Got My Present

Okay, so today is a much better day, starting off. :)

The girls made a Happy Birthday sign and blew up balloons for around the house. My eldest made me breakfast and got all my stuff together. Isn't she so sweet!!!

Then I stopped by the post office this morning, hoping that they hadn't taken my package out for delivery yet, and it was there!!! So when we got to the girls' school, I opened it up, and this is what was inside for my birthday.....

And here's the box that was inside the bag.....

And here's what was inside the box......

I had told hubby that I wanted a bracelet like this and to have the girls' names and birthdates engraved on it. I read about it in a magazine just a couple of months prior of how this woman decided to to get herself a bracelet for herself for her 40th birthday. Well, hubby said that he wanted to do that for me.

Thank you SO much my wonderful husband!!! Even though you can't be here with me on this day right now, you are with me and I got your present on my birthday and that's the next best thing.