Take Me Out to the Ballgame...

While Jacob and I were at work/tryouts, Scott, Jared and Gabe were filming a music video with Gretchen Wilson. Yes, you heard me correctly. I'm a little sketchy on the details, but from what I understand, Gretchen Wilson and three other country stars are competing to see who gets to sing Take Me Out to the Ballgame during the MLB All-Star game. Here's were I get sketchy...are they playing all four videos or only the star chosen? I don't know. Regardless, Jared and Gabe were in the shoot a ton, with Jared leading his team running toward Gretchen on the pitchers mound and Gabe high fiving her (they did several takes of that shot). Make sure you watch ESPN a week or two leading up to the All Star game as well as baseball tonight. I'll let you know if I learn any additional details.

High School Here He Comes

Jacob had tryouts today for the high school basketball team. It's official..we now have a high school athlete. Monday he has baseball tryouts with his first basketball practice Monday afternoon. Way to go Jacob!

Schooooools Out for Summer...

Wooo hooo! Today was the last day of school. I know, who goes to school on Saturday? We were only there for two hours to hand out report cards so one Saturday with the promise of a whole summer ahead of us wasn't too bad.

The 'Ol Underwear on the Head Trick

Monday was the day I was summoned to appear for jury duty. I picked Gabe up from school early to take him with me for fear I would not make it back to pick him up after school. We arrive with two minutes to spare and had to sit in the front row. They ask us to stand, raise our right hand and swear us in. I see the bailiff and court clerk grinning at us, and I glance at Gabe to see him standing at attention with his right hand raised. Very cute. After filling 10 panels of 12 jurors each, Gabe and I still sat quietly. It was down to me and one other and they called my name, we approached the bench were I explained that while I am not trying to shirk my civic responsibility, I have 3 children that depend on me for care as well as transportation to several events and could I be deferred until a later time when my children are more independent. The judge asks, "How old ar your children?", I respond with "6, 11, and 13". Gabe's little voice pipes up with..."Jacob is 14". I then have to explain that he just had a birthday at the end of April and I am not yet used to referring to his new age. (Geat, now I sound like I'm lying.) Anyway, I didn't have to be reduced to wearing underwear on my head and singing "That's the sound of the man workin' on the chain gang..." in order to be defered thankfully. A word of advice to all of you with small children who tend to fidget, if you lean down and whisper in their ear, "You know that judge can throw us in jail if we don't sit still and listen" works like a charm.

Awaiting a Harvest

I hope everyone had a very happy Mother's Day! Mine was wonderful. I was able to greet the day with my mom, which is a rare treat. Mom and Jack headed back to Illinois and Scott and the boys took me to breakfast and on to Lowes. They had big plans to plant a garden for me on Mother's Day and wanted me to pick out the plants. I thought that was the perfect gift...as I watch the vegetables grow I will likin it to their love. What?...was that a bit too thick for ya? They planted 5 rows of corn, 3 rown of green beans, 4 tomato plants, cilantro, basil, jalapeno, pumpkin, watermelon, and cucumbers. I can taste it now!

Book Recommendation

I recently finished The Kite Runner which I would not recommend. It was depressing and I disliked the main character. He was weak with no moral character. For whatever reason the next book I chose to read was A Thousand Splendid Suns by the same author (call me optimistic or maybe a blockhead would be more accurate). A Thousand Splendid Suns was ha, one thousand times better. It's about a girl growing up in Afghanistan. It gave some insight into the culture and how stifled the people in that region of the world have been (especially women). It is a sad at times but the main character always perseveres with a sense of hope for what lies ahead (unlike The Kite Runner). It was excellent!

The Juror

Have I mentioned that I've been summoned for jury duty? While I think it would be a pretty interesting experience, I can't imagine how to fit it in to our life. Gabe rides the bus to me at work after school and we rush like crazy to pick up Jacob and Jared. I called today to see about getting dismissed but was told I would have to appear on May 12th and let the judge decide. I explained that I would have to take my son out of school in order to be there otherwise he would get off the bus and I wouldn't be there. They didn't seem very concerned about his school attendance. It looks like we'll be making a trip to the courthouse. Wish me luck!

My New Favorite Beauty Regimine

A friend at work told me about this great product she's been using so of course I had to try it out. I must agree with her that it is quite spectacular. I have no idea if my skin actually looks different but it feels a ton better. The product is Olay Regenerist Microdermabrasion & Peel in one system. It resurfaces your skin's texture, activates cell renewal, balances skin tone and regenerates your skin's appearance....at least that's what the box says. I will say that my face feels smoother and the stuff smells pretty good. Well, that's my plug for the month. I'll let you know if I break out in huge cystic acne or if I return to the supermodel beauty of my youth. :) HA!

Johnny Appleseed

We planted our very own orchard yesterday. Okay, orchard may be a bit too ambitious. We planted two apple trees, two peach trees and two plum trees. I can already taste the pies, jellies and sauces I'm going to make. The boys, however, see work in their future which makes them a little less excited about our new orchard. Hopefully the deer won't eat our trees before they have time to mature.

Gabe...dating?

I meet Gabe at the bus earlier this week and we had a very interesting conversation.

Mom: Did you have a good day at school today?

Gabe: Yes

Mom: Did you do anything exciting?

Gabe: I'm going on a date Sunday.

Mom: Really...with who?

Gabe: Eden....(pause) but she's not ready yet.

Gabe: She didn't know what a date is.

Mom: What is a date?

Gabe: It's when you go somewhere with someone.

From there Gabe asked if he could call Eden. I gave him all the reasons why he didn't need to call a girl the biggest one being that he's in kindergarten. So if he can't call her he wants to know if she can call him. So I had to pull out my "girls aren't supposed to call boys" speech that my mom gave me that I thought was really dumb at the time, but seems to be the way it's supposed to work. Does the "girls aren't supposed to call boys" rule still apply? Just wondering. Anywho...Gabe is NOT going on a date Sunday even if Eden calls and asks him.