Evaluations

Baseball and Softball season is just around the corner and that means it's time for annual evaluations. Where our kids play each child is evaluated and given a number rank one to five. Then the coaches select their players based on what they saw at the try-outs and their number. They do this in attempt to make the teams more evenly matched.

The kids both did very well this year.

Bethany's coach from last year was actually running the evaluations and said he was very surprised and pleased with her improvements. We're kind of hoping to get him as coach again this year because he was so encouraging of all the girls last season.

Although I didn't talk to Elisha's coach later on we saw him too and he looked pleased with Elisha's improvements. Last year he really struggled at batting, even when the coaches pitched, but at evaluations he hit 4 out of 5. The boy is definitely stronger this year. I've had my hand stingin' twice when I caught the ball wrong in my glove while practicing with him. He can throw harder and more acurately.

Oh boy, I am ready for the busyness the season is going to bring with it? Probably not. But I also LOVE to watch my kids play, and even though I dread the lack of extra time and the fact that Saturdays really kind of disappear, I wouldn't trade these days for nothin'.

Five Question Friday

Okay so today I thought I'd try out linking up with Five Question Friday over at My Little Life. Problem is I'm linking up kinda late so by the time most of you read this it will be Saturday, BUT at least I got in there before Friday was actually over!

1. Would you ever vacation alone?

Nope, probably not. I like to do things with my family too much and if I plan a vacation it always includes my kids and husband.

2. Do you go the speed limit?

Mostly. I mean there are those stretches of road when we go to Oregon each year that are forever straight and flat and when I am driving during that time I have a hard time not speeding. It's so boring I just want it to be over with.

3. Why did you start blogging/following blogs?

I first started blogging when after being encouraged by a friend to do so. She had a blog and she always posted pictures of her family on it. Since we are a state apart it was a great way to see what they were up to. So I decided to try it out. At first I didn't like it so much as I really didn't know what to do. But then one day I discovered I loved it! I've blogged on and off since then, going through times where I do it constantly and other times where I'm not so interested or have nothing notable to say.

I started following more blogs, other than the friend I mentioned above by blog hopping, clicking on one blog link my friend read to another and another until I began to discover there were some I really liked and came back to over and over again. Some of those started visiting and through that some friendships have been born. It's funny because even though I don't really know these people in real life, I feel like I know these people.

4. Where do you shop for yourself?

I'm a lame shopper cuz' I don't really do it. You have to have money to shop and it's not exactly something we have in abundance, but when I do it's usually at Target or Wal-Mart.

5. What was the song that you danced your first dance with your spouse to at your wedding...or...what song would you like your first dance to be to?

Again I'm lame, we didn't dance at our wedding. I'm a little to self conscious for such things and unfortunately Yohn's not a great dancer so we chose not to embarrass ourselves.

That's it for this week!

Braggin' About the Kiddos

Can I just take a quick moment and brag about my kids? Yes? Good I was hoping you'd agree. My kids take music lessons after school on Thursdays every week. Bethany is learning the keyboard and Elisha is learning the drums.

Each week, I'm told that Bethany is ahead. Her teacher always has good things to say. She is focused (for the most part, she is only six) and wants to get it right. She has surpassed other kids who started at the same time she did and they are older than her. She loves to play keyboard and does it all the time. Her teacher told me today he is so proud of how far she has come so fast. He originally was hesitant to start her this fall because he usually starts at age seven not six but decided to let her try because she talked to him about it last year every time she saw him on campus (he's our maintenance guy too). Now he's glad he did. She memorizes notes quickly and is always happy and excied to be there. She was telling him today that she wrote her own song and while it was a short little melody he said she had it all memorized. She played it over and over, without hesitation, so he knew she didn't just make it up then and there.

Then there's Elisha who, since seeing the older kids play on stage at Christmastime has talked a lot about the day he gets to play drums on stage. Well, Joel (the music teacher) was just telling me today he lost three kids in the older band group (remember the kids' small school goes all the way to high school) and so he had to do some re-arranging for an upcoming performance. This meant getting some new additions in Jr. Band which is usually 5th graders and jr. high. He said while it's most likely too late for Elisha to be any help in the upcoming performance he wants to give him a try on the bass drum (I think it was called the bass drum) for senior graduation this year. Now that may be a long way off but he wants to give him time to be properly prepared. Elisha was ecstatic when I went to pick him up today. So much so he kept interuppting Joel to tell what he learned and what they had talked about him doing. He told me, "Mr. Joel said he knows I can do it because I practice just like he tells me to!"

Joel also told me that he's going to do some different drills with him to see how ready he is on stage but he thinks he'll be fine. Elisha may be quiet and not talk a lot so coaches and teachers aren't always sure if he's paying attention or ready for things, but he's certainly on the way to proving he can do this and is very excited to give it a try. If he can there will be many more opportunities for him in the months to follow.

Okay, hopefully that wasn't too sappy. I'm all done now!

Wow! It Finally Happened...

This was recently e-mailed to me and I cracked up at it so I thought I'd share it:

And you thought it would never happen! That's what happens when God is in control!
Luke 1:37

True Story Tuesday

This is the first time I've participated in True Story Tuesday although I've been thinking about it that last few weeks. This one is seriously embarrassing but really funny. Okay, here goes...

Last year at about this time our family was shopping at Wal-Mart. The kids were kinda hyper and my husband was ready to leave, but because I needed certain female undergarments I convinced him to stay a few more minutes. He sent Bethany with me and took Elisha with him to the DVD section.

Let me just state now that until my daughter is old enough to need a bra of her own I am NEVER again taking her shopping in the bra section of any store.

Okay where were we? Oh yeah, I'm looking at the bras because I've neglected to buy new ones and now the three that I had were getting kinda saggy. While I'm looking so is Bethany. And she's not only looking but she's admiring and touching and caressing. I'm trying just to ignore her and go about my merry business when she starts wanting to have a conversation about them.

"Mommy! Mommy! Can you buy this one with the animal colors it would look pretty on you!" she shouts and I mean SHOUTS in the bra department of Wal-Mart.

"No, Honey. I'm not buying that bra."

"How come?"

"Those ones are made a little too small."

"Oh. Your boobies are bigger than that Mommy?"

"Uh yeah. Can you just let Mommy look?"

So she gets quiet again and starts touching other things and again I'm trying to ignore her when she hollers again, "Hey Mama! Will you buy this for me?"

I turn around and she has a lacey camisole hanging from her neck (she stuck her head through the hanger) and is caressing the lace and feathery things and telling me what a beautiful dress it would be. Now at this point I notice another lady and who knows how long she had been there with her hand over her mouth quietly snickering. After telling her no and having her put it back I decide I just need to hurry up. But she wasn't done. She grabbed some sexy thong underwear off the rack and asked me why I don't wear my panties like that and who would want to have that string thingy up their butt. The lady who was standing there lost it and turned around to walk away, and me, well, I noticed there were other people looking who were just passing by and laughing. And if you know me at all I don't do embarrassing very well so I grabbed the nearest bra that was my size and we left that area of the store.

And you know what else? That bra is one of the worst bras I've ever owned. It has a stupid seam right down the middle that is visible in almost anything I wear except a bulky sweatshirt. Thanks Baby Girl. I will certainly never forget this day. Ever.

Where Were We?

Have I kept you in suspense long enough? Okay here goes...

On Sunday evening we drove about an hour and a half away and stayed overnight in a condo (remember Gene and Susan have a timeshare). Then the next morning we drove another hour or so, and got to play in this:

Look like fun? Okay maybe not for those of you who actually live where there is snow, but for those of us who are snow deprived it can be a very exciting trip.

Especially when you are six and seven years old and have never seen a real snow flake in your life.

Jewell looks so happy in this picture. Too bad she didn't last long.


It snowed and snowed and snowed and never stopped.


These pictures you see I took within the first five minutes because I did not want to risk damage to my camera. Don't they all look so happy?


I miss this part of the snow. The snow falling and how pretty it is. These two really enjoyed themselves until the cold started setting in. Remember I have California kids here.


He actually lasted the longest because we made a big snowball and played tackle football.

Look closely and you can see that Yohn had just thrown a snowball at Elisha when I snapped this picture.

Poor Jewell decided that after just five minutes she was through. Her hands were cold and she couldn't deal with it.

Bethany didn't last too much longer than her. She learned how to make snow angels and we attempted a snowman but the snow was just coming down too hard and it was slightly breezy making the girls colder.

So after about twenty-five minutes we finally went to the nearby store to warm up and strip some layers so we wouldn't get so hot in the truck. It's funny, I even missed this part of the snow, the driving part, that is. Well, until it started snowing so hard it was almost a white out and we couldn't see the road. That part I don't miss because I really don't enjoy getting stuck. That part I do not miss at all.


Pictures at the restaurant we stopped at for lunch.

There you have it. I know to some that's not as exciting as I made it out to be but for someone who used to live where it snowed every winter and has been missing it for ten years, it was a big deal. I think we had a great time although if you ask Bethany she's not so eager to go back. Next year (if there is a snow trip next year), we'll try to go sledding and then, well maybe then, she'll love it too!

Got Snow?

 As evidenced

 by these pictures

 I took of the kids

 on Saturday,

we do not

have any snow.

 But,

we weren't home

 all day on Monday.

 And maybe, just maybe, we went somewhere fun, and I can't wait to tell you about it!

I don't regularly practice torturing my children...

But on occasion I will put them in their place!

Christmas Vacation - The End!

Elisha, wondering why in the world I was taking a picture of him. Well by golly son it couldn't be that the first thing you did after getting dressed was put on your Mickey Mouse Ears to eat your breakfast!

Passing the time while Mommy and Daddy get all of our things all packed and ready to go.

Bethany was upset that she did not have a long sleeved-black shirt because she wanted to be Minnie Mouse. I told her she was just as cute in her black clothes with her short-sleeved shirt that no one could tell the difference.

And there you have it... Christmas Vacation The END!

Christmas Vacation - Christmas at Disneyland Part 2

Now where was I....

On Christmas Day we stayed at Disneyland the whole entire day and did not break for lunch and naps like we did on Tuesday. There was a lot to see but there were also many more people than the last time so we did a lot of wondering through crowds. We were going to take the girls to get their pictures taken with the Disney princesses but the wait was going to be two hours! Bethany and Jewell both said they did not want to see the princesses that bad. So instead we went early to get a spot for the holiday parade.

We were only allowed to sit if you were on the curb, otherwise everyone had to stand. Fortunately Susan snagged us a spot on the curb. Unfortunately there was only room for two of us, so Susan and I sat on the curb with Jewell and Bethany on our laps and the boys had to stand. My legs were starting to fall asleep from the way were sitting before it was over.

I'm not sure which parade was better. The light parade was pretty and a lot of the Disney characters were in it.

But the Christmas parade had us laughing and giggling a lot, especially Goofy and Max and Chip and Dale.

The girls loved the dancing princesses...

Elisha loved Woody and Buzz.

After the parade, we got dinner and then rode a few of the rides with shorter lines.

Still no luck with seeing Small World come to life right on the hour but....

...it was still pretty enough to use as a nice picture background.

We headed over to watch Fantasmic, which we waited a little over an hour for. Just like at the parade you were not allowed to sit down, but just try telling that to a tired six year old. My dear little girl decided she was too tired to wait for the show with the rest of us so she used my backpack as a pillow and her daddy's jacket as a blanket and took a nap on the cold, hard cement. It's crazy the places that kids can sleep.

I woke her up when the show go started because I did not want the crowd to press in and have me accidentally step on her. She did not truly wake up until Peter Pan came in on Captain Hook's ship when the big cannon went off and made us all jump. Then she was awake and enjoyed.

It's too bad the pictures of Fantasmic did not turn out at all but the fireworks just ten minutes after the show was over did (sort of).

I never really did figure out why the smiley face ones were always sideways.

And here's the kids just a moment after we were all piled into the car, I'm sure with visions of Disneyland dancing in their heads.

The End!

or maybe not....