Spring Sports

This spring all 3 kids are in sports - makes for some hectic running around but it's fun to see them all doing different sports.

Mason ran track and did great for his first year (especially since he wasn't a runner before practice started). He beat his goal of under a 6 minute mile.

Ella is playing soccer and Justin is coaching again.  She does a great job of going after the ball and elbowing her way in on plays.

And Silas is playing t-ball this spring/summer.  Justin and I are coaching and it's QUITE an experience!  I came home black and blue after the first practice, as bat control is not in the skill set at this early stage in the game.

Doing some base running...

And some batting practice - this time he hits the ball and not me!

Parties, Baseball and Zoo Fun...

Well, I did an update last Thursday and already, more to update again because of such a busy weekend. It's hard to keep up with the blog when I'm so busy DOING stuff!

Saturday we helped Sam celebrate his 2nd birthday!

My kids are the ones that never smile!

Sunday we went to the Clippers game. First time at the new
Huntington Field. Very nice! Very expensive food!
And it was VERY hot out.

Chowing on some cotton candy

Kevin and Mason looking too cool!

Monday, Jen and I took Mason, Tyler, Sam, Ella and Silas to the zoo.
I didn't get any pictures of the kids but got a few animals :-)

This stingray was eating lunch - I've never
seen a stingray eat, or even realized where the mouth was.
He's much nicer looking from this angle, when you can't
see his long stinger.

And Mr. Monkey guy was very cute and even
smiled at the kids (seriously!)

'

Today was Margie's 3rd and hopefully final surgery! It went very, very well - it did not take as long as Dr. L said it might and he was practically tap dancing when he gave us the post-surgery update - he was very pleased with how well it went. Thank God and thanks for all the prayers!

This week is busy with getting everyone ready to get back to school.
All 3 in school this year - wow!

The Weekend Marathon

We have survived the weekend marathon - unpacking (kind of), the 4 Saturday parties, more unpacking and the Clippers game this evening. Justin and I are beyond exhausted, the kids are wiped out and will hopefully get back on schedule this week. School starts on Tuesday for Mason and Wednesday (I think) for Ella.

A weekend overview:

Saturday morning Silas decided he was still on vacation and took his oatmeal and juice out on the deck to eat (in his pj's of course).

This is how the sunflower looked upon our return. We did miss the peak bloom but it's still cool looking.
Today Justin and I both went into the garden and picked. We ended up with 6 HUGE cucumbers and 2 massive salad bowls full of Cherry tomatoes. YUM!
Ella and Jaden at their cousin Aliyah's 2nd birthday party (party #1 of the day) - they are the best of friends!

We then rushed over to party #2 - Kelly's 6th birthday party. Great fun!

Party #3 was a pool party for Abbi and Alli - they have a January birthday and decided it's be fun to celebrate it (as well as going back to school) with an end of summer pool party. (Thanks Beth for the picture!)
Birthday party #4 was great fun - we helped Sam celebrate his 1st birthday!! As you can tell, he had a great time!

We ended the weekend with a Sunday evening Clipper's baseball game. We lost but it was a great game with loads of stadium junk food (hot dogs, cotton candy, ice cream...yum!)And now I am going to bed early, before I turn into a pumpkin. Looking around at the house and at the week ahead, I've got that stressed out feeling that only a good night's sleep can repair!

My Husand Swings Both Ways...

between the Indians AND Yankees that is. He grew up in Upstate NY as a Yankees fan, moved to Cleveland in middle school and became an Indians fan and we've been Indians fans forever.
It appears that now he is finding his inner Yankee-ism again and I cannot say that I am happy about it. This is what happens when I'm out of the house (I'm sure Grandpa J will love this...). Personally, it makes me want to file for sole custody...or maybe I'll just become a Denver Broncos fan this NFL season (the team any loyal Browns fan loathes)...




__________________

On a side note (or maybe I was passive-aggressively trying to punish my husband), I broke a personal record today for the longest time spent at Target in a single visit. When I was checking out, the lead cash register guy (the one that walks up and down the check-out isles and makes sure all lines are flowing smoothly) stopped short when he saw my stuff piled on the check out counter and exclaimed (and I quote) "HOLY Mackerel!" and then started bagging my stuff for the poor cashier. I'm not sure if I should be proud or hightail it back for a 2nd round of Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace classes.

Hey batter, batter!

Silas is obsessed with playing baseball these days...and watching it too. I laid him down for a nap on Monday and when I went up to check on him, he was no longer in his crib - he was in my room watching baseball on TV.

Here are a couple videos of him "pitching" with Uncle Tim on Memorial Day

Back to the Grind...and Opening Day - woo hoo!

or I should say, Wahoo!The Indians had opening day in Cleveland. Great game and Casey Blake was the man - we beat the Chi White Sox 10-8 (but I have to admit it was great to see Thome - even if he did get a home run - man I miss him!). Silly, but it makes me giddy that it's baseball season again! It's my version of reality TV.

Speaking of baseball, we are going on a family trip to see the Indians vs. Yankees in May - at YANKEE stadium! This is the last year at the stadium and Justin really wants the kids to experience it - as he remembers doing as a kid growing up in NY. So we'll be packing up the minivan and heading to the Bronx for a 5-day trip. I really wish Joe Torre was still coaching for the last year there...it would have been cool to have him finish out the stadium.
Today was also back to school, work, sitter, etc. It was nice to get back into the groove of things but I really could have taken another week of just doing whatever. Though it was nice to have Si taking a nap again. He's a bear to get down for a nap at home. Last Tuesday or so, we told him

"nap time, Si"
"no nap" he says
"when will you be ready for a nap?" - dumb parent asks.
"when I go to Kelly's" he replies.

We batted around a .500 for naptime - great if we were still talking baseball - but not so great for nap stats!

Mason has to take some baby pics into school tomorrow for one of his classes. Here are a few we dug up:

This one looks SO much like Silas

A fall Upstate NY trip
Love the dimple :)
Many of you will remember BATMAN!
First Day of Preschool
By the way, Mason DID get a haircut tonight - still longer than his norm but looks MUCH better!