Just when you think you have a plan...plans change. Dreary, rainy weather threatened, then succeeded to cancel our baseball plans for the evening. We are now settled in for the evening with Jared's favorite meal (chicken & dumplings, mashed potatoes, corn, and rolls) almost ready to consume. As I read that menu, I have to ponder...should I add another starch? lol I think a pan of 7 layer cookies would round out the meal quite nicely. After the dishes are neatly placed in the dishwasher (or or thrown randomly, I don't really care), we'll snuggle in to watch 9 hopeful American citizens sing their hearts out on American Idol. Who are you betting on to win? My money is on Danny...you know the one with glasses. Dad, do you think you could work us up an American Idol pool?

Whew! That word pretty much sums up our first day back to school. We managed to get out the door without any yelling, threats, or accusations of who was going to make who late. We even had a heavy frost on the van that we had to defrost and yet, we delivered Jared to the bus just in the knick of time. The first day back is always interesting. You spend a good portion of your day trying to figure out where you left off...not in a bad way, but just trying to get your footing. I don't know if everyone feels this way or if it's just me. Most of the time I can't remember things one day to the next without a million post it notes written to myself. I'm not sure if this is called aging, or if it's all the Diet Coke I've consumed eating away my brain. For once, I hoping it's old age. Wow, how did I get so off topic? About our day...

I met Gabe at the school bus after school. He called Jacob's name (who just happened to be walking across the parking lot to the baseball fieldhouse) and waved to him. We shut the door and sped away to pick up Jared with just one quick pit stop at Exxon for a couple of Gatorades and beef jerky or as Gabe says "The Exxon Tiger Mart" since he now reads everything and that is what is written on the sign. We get Jared to his field in time to wish him well with an over the top, "Kick some Dickson tail!" (yes, I actually said that). We return to the high school in time for the first pitch of Jacob's game. After Jacob's JV game I was signed up to work the gate for the Varsity game. This is a perfect example of biting off more than you can chew. I counted my money bag...grrr...$4.00 over. I mentally blame the $4.00 on the person working the gate before my shift to make myself feel better while gathering Jacob and Gabe into the van. We make a quick stop at Sonic for a nutritious 8pm dinner, getting Jared a meal to go. We make it to Jared's game just as the lights are turned off and we're homeward bound.

Once home, we call Scott in Ohio. (he's on a business trip) The boys take turns talking to dad and taking showers. It's a finely tuned dance of Gabe showering while Jacob talks to Scott, Gabe reading me his book from school while Jared talks to Scott, Gabe talks to Scott and we say Gabe's prayers on the phone and tuck him in for the night.

As I wait for the baseball uniforms to finish their wash cycle, I'm enjoying a little quiet time. Today was especially crazy with Scott out of town and two kids playing in two different parks at the same time, but it was a very successful day. I got to see my boys laughing and enjoying their friends while playing a game they love. To add icing to my content little piece of cake, my husband left a love letter for me to find after he left. How did I get so lucky?

Good night everyone...
we do it all again tomorrow

A Successful Hunt

My mighty hunters came home successful. In true warrior fashion, they added a few meals to our freezer. Jacob "won" a turkey hunting vest in the silent auction at the Governor's Dinner/Auction on Saturday evening. He's now referring to it as his lucky vest.

Scott, Jacob, and Jared headed south for their annual turkey hunt with the "Awesome Kerm", a.k.a. Danny Kermicle. I told them they were a little dressed up for hunting. If I was a suspicious woman, I would question just what they are hunting for. They explained that there is a fundraising dinner tonight with the hunt being held tomorrow. One thing is certain, Scott will return with at least two turkey's in tow. (the same two he left with)

Jacob cheeses for the camera.

Jared poses for a picture, but refuses to show his teeth.
I don't know why since his teeth are straight and white.

Well, who's this handsome guy?

With dad and the big boys gone for the evening, Gabe and I decided that we are going to watch a movie and have a picnic. We headed to the grocery store where I told him he could pick out whatever he wanted for our picnic. I was fully prepared for a dinner consisting of ice cream sundaes, chicken nuggets, and chocolate chips cookies. Surprisingly, we will be dining on somewhat healthy fare (healthier than my expectations anyway) of cheeseburgers, baked potates, and donuts. I must go...my dinner and date await.

XBOX & Netflix

The boys got an XBOX for Christmas and they have been wearing it out! They play their friends online--pretty cool technology. We recently subscribed to Netflix. I was a little skeptical as to whether we would get our monies worth out of it, but after two months I would say it's worth it. We receive one movie at a time, keep it as long as we want, and return it. Within two days, we receive another movie. In addition to receiving movies by mail, we can choose certain movies to watch instantly. Whenever we go online using our XBOX, we can watch the movies without waiting. I highly recommend Netflix!

Twilight

Is there anyone out there hooked on the Twilight series written by Stephenie Meyer? They are soooo popular, but I haven't been able to convince myself to read a book with one of the main characters being a vampire. However, curiosity got the best of me and I rented the Twilight movie. Against the boys wishes, we watched it this evening and I will admit that I've been missing out. What a great love story! Of course the boys won't admit that they liked it, but I know they did. I will definitely be checking out New Moon (Book 2 in the series).

Time To Catch Up

Yes I've been hiding. Not really, but we have been on Spring break the last two weeks and laying low. What have we been up to you ask...

--Cleaning with several trips to Goodwill
--Painted two closets
--Doctors Appointments & Haircuts
--Baseball Practice
--Playing Video Games and Watching Movies/TV
--Opened the Pool
--Weeded the flower beds & trimmed the Crepe Myrtles
--Ordered our passports for our summer vacation

Nothing too noteworthy, but very relaxing. We head back to school on Monday. I can't believe there are only 9 weeks of school left.

Baseball Tryouts

Basketball season is officially over and Spring is on its way. You know what that means...time to break out the bat and glove. Here is a picture of Gabe hitting a few balls before he went to tryouts. Jacob and Jared have started their seasons.

Gabe played basketball for the first time this year. He really had fun. He had a great coach who announced the date for team pictures and then laughingly said "Wear your mohawks for the pictures". That was all it took for 8 seven year olds to break out the gel and hair color.