Let the season begin!

A new season is upon us.  I wish I were only talking about spring.  I do love the fact that the weather is getting warmer (most days, today the temperature is chilly) and the sun actually has some heat behind it.  Green is taking over brown and grey as the most popular color. And it is light outside when I take the dog out in the mornings.

The season I am referring to is baseball.  We are still doing school, karate, and Awana, but now we have thrown ball into the activities list.  Not just one team, but two!

Matt is playing t-ball (which half way through the season becomes beginners coach pitch).  Mikey is playing coach pitch with outs, runs, the whole nine yards.
Matt plays first thing in Saturday mornings.  Mikey plays first thing Saturday afternoons.

Please don't get me wrong.  I might be complaining (only a itsy bit), but I do love how much my guys love being out there on the field chasing the ball and making the plays.  Watching them swing the bat and connecting to send the ball flying is an utter joy to behold.  

So while most people are enjoying watching winter change to spring, here at our house we are enjoy the change between basketball and baseball seasons!

April Fool's Day

Yesterday started with a note.  My husband went into our oldest son's room to wake him to get ready for school.  He was buried under the covers and a note lay on top. 

"There is nobody here.  It is just us guinea pigs!"  A seven year old's April Fools joke. 

I made it through the day only being slightly caught off guard when my mo told me her hair stylist had accidentally turned her hair green.  The rest of the day, I managed to remain unfooled.  Then it was my turn.

We had burritos for supper last night.  Before I rolled up the guys' meat-filled, veggie-less shells, I lined them with wax paper.

They didn't notice until they had taken two or three bites.  For a moment they got mad.  Then they realized Mom was getting them with an April Fool's Prank.  Then they laughed. Kinda.

Next year, I better be prepared for revenge.  They are already coming up with ideas.

My favorite place.

Driving home from karate yesterday, I explained to my 7-year old it was going to be a guys night at our house because I was going out with some other ladies for a "Mom's Night Out" at Olive Garden.

"Oh Mom," he said. "That's your favorite place!"

"Well buddy," I replied, "it's one of my favorites."

"What is your favorite place?"

"I don't know. There are lots of places I like."

"Oh, I know your favorite place." My boy is always thinking.

"Where?" I asked cautiously.

"Walmart.  You shop there all the time!"

Love

I

 I just wanted to mention how wonderful my husband is.  I am truely spoiled.

I love you Sweetheart!

Valentine's Day (and more snow)

Today will be my catch-all post.  Since Christmas break from school, actually since 2010, we have had 8 snow days.  Our school calendar accounts for three snow days.  When or where we are going to make up the other five will be interesting to see.

Anyway, I wanted to mention what my wonderful hubby got me for Valentine's Day.  Now I know most of you will groan and send feelings of sympathy my way.  Please, do not.  I went to purchase this item for myself one evening and was severely disappointed when the store was out and the shelf was bare.  My man, knowing me like he does, (and me knowing how much he hates shopping) went back to the store a few evenings later and found the elusive item.  It brought joy to my heart when my two boys guided by my man came around the corner carrying....

A Stir Crazy Popcorn Popper.

We had popcorn for dessert on Valentine's Day.  The boys were almost as excited as I was.  I read the instructions and prepared the popper.  The guys lined up to watch the show.

They waited and waited.  The popper stirred and stirred.

Then...

it started to pop!  You would have thought the boys were watching  the funniest movie they had ever seen.  Matt almost fell of his chair laughing.  It was great.  It was a great gift of love from my man for Valentine's Day.

Today, since there was no school yet again and I didn't have to drop off or pick anyone up, I thought I would help my hubby out.  He had mentioned he wanted to get the snow off the deck.  The weight of the snow needed to be moved elsewhere.  

 Jedi really didn't want her picture taken.

As you can see, the amount of snow on the deck is impressive.  It is at least 3 feet deep at the lowest point.  So, being the good wife that I try to be, I shoveled the deck.

This evening, my honey will have more time to play with the guys.  He won't worry about the snow collapsing the deck. Another perk is that Jedi has more room to run while she waits for me to get my boots, coat and gloves on to take her to do her business in the yard.  Now, if I could just teach her how to go up and down steps, we would be rolling.

First Karate Tournamant

It would appear most of my posts lately have been about the snow or karate, but that is the news I have to share. So here is another karate post.

Saturday was Mikey's first karate tournament.  I sat this one out.  He competed against four other boys in his block of white, orange, yellow belts.  (Just a reminder: Mikey is a yellow belt.)

Mikey competed in forms:

 
 

His moves were crisp and he knew his form perfectly. Not that I am biased in any way.

He competed in one-steps (which is the introduction to sparing at this level).

 
 

There is no contact and only one person is actually moving at a time.

He also made up his own form for weapons. 

We don't have any pictures of this and the video I haven't figured out how to download yet.  His form had to be less than 30 seconds long. He worked hard on it and messed up just a little but stuck with it.

At the end of the competition,

 
 

Mikey had earned first place in all three categories!!

I love you my karate kid!

Let It Snow!?!?

Due to the snow I reported in my last post, and the 6-8 inches we received after that, my two boys (think energetic as most boys are) have not had school all week.  We are still holding out hope for Friday (tomorrow).  Big deal you say, just bundle them up and send them out to build snow men, snow forts, sled ride, snow board, and any other winter activity you can do in a hilly yard.  And we have done that.

 

This is the tunnel leading from the driveway to the backyard.  With all the snow that was shoveled so we could move the cars, the boys couldn't get to the yard to play.

  

 

 Matthew throwing his snowball at Dad.

 

Mikey has become very adept at snowboarding.  His favorite run is actually down the hill that is our front yard.

Once they had all the wet and cold they could stand, they moved to quieter endeavors in the house.

 
 

Mikey chose to read by the fire.

 

Matt spread out his favorite blanket to warm up on. 

We have shoveled the driveway multiple times, as well as carving  a path across the deck and around the yard for Jedi (who stands about 12 inches high from the ground to top of her head).

 

Mike and I are both at the tail end of nasty colds and not too excited about being out in this white stuff. But we both will admit it is pretty and oh so unusual.  I mean really, how often do you get 20+ inches of snow for a week at a time.

 

 

While it is beautiful and amazing,  after a week with no school, no church, no other activities, we are ready for a break in the weather. We need to get back to our somewhat regular routines.

By the way, during the process of writing, downloading photos, and editing this post, we got the news that school is canceled tomorrow too!  Okay, maybe we will go out and color the snow some other color than yellow, right Jedi?