A Post!

It took the most perfect day to make me post, I guess! Today was the opening of the season for Little League. Both the boys wanted to play this year and we signed up just in time. Two weeks of practice got us to this day. I know, what a sacrifice! :))
We arrived at the field this morning for opening ceremonies and Tom had a game right after. Sitting there, waiting for the ceremony to start, I really realized how happy I am that we moved here. THIS is the environment I want my family raised in. THIS is what was missing from our lives. At the last practice, one Mom told me that we should arrive really early because parking would be crazy. We got there 30 minutes early and it was fine. We found the boys' coaches and set them loose. Dan, Nikki, Ann, and I found a front row seat on the bleachers and waited. We sat talking with all the other parents, watching kids run around, listening to country music on the sound system. They opened with a prayer (which actually mentioned God and Jesus), the pledge of allegiance, and the National Anthem. Then the Little League pledge. It was just gorgeous.

Tom had a great first game. The boys' were amazing. Yes, I'm easily impressed since I can't catch a ball or throw it in a direction of my choosing. Tom got to bat once but got hit with the ball and walked. He played second base for an inning. Jake watched the catcher closely since he would be playing that position later in the day. Tom was very happy. He says he is going to play professional for sure. We do need to get some more practice in. There is a minor league team in Palm Springs we HAVE to go see.

Jake's game was amazing! Watching those little guys play was so fun. Jake is the oldest on the team. Next year he will play in the Minors, but this year he is in the Rookies. He played catcher for the first inning. Not bad. And he hit the ball! He got to first and then scored later! Wow! He was pretty amazed. The game was short since they don't play long in the Rookies and the last team ran long, they were short on time. I learned to keep "score". Fun stuff.

Dinner is done. Dan is helping Tom with a model engine. Nikki and I are exhausted. And Jake is drawing pictures on demand! Someday I will make a slide show of them. :))

Another beautiful day! Wow! It was so gorgeously warm today and yesterday. It has been so cold and wet for the past month or so that I couldn't get outside to do any work at all.

We got chickens! There are six of them and I have managed to keep them alive for four days now. We had them in the mudroom but they stink so bad that I had to put them on the porch. They have a nice box and a heat lamp until they are bigger.

Today we had our first family tennis lesson. The kids and I are taking lessons from the same woman that is teaching Tom's group lesson on Wednesdays. We found her through Parks & Recreation. It is so much fun. This is what PE should be all about, learning something new and getting some exercise all together. It is worth every penny!

We just watched the Super Bowl Half Time Show. Wow! We were watching the game and the only reason I knew it was super bowl Sunday was that the grocery store was cleaned out of chips and dip! ;)) Grandma Ann called the kids and told them that “The Who” was on and they scrambled to turn it on. They are big fans. The show was awesome! Tom and I were totally impressed by the cool lights and fireworks. I was a little bit too excited maybe. But it was pretty cool. It made me miss doing shows for sure.

It rained all day yesterday, so we were stuck indoors. Dan finished the gate to the back yard since it was under the porch roof. Today it was really cold and wet out and we are all bored. It’s a serious lack of exercise and good eating lately. I really need to work on that.

Tomorrow is a big day. We need to be up and out the door by 8am! The crack of dawn around here!

I really need to blog more often! Once again, I am starting over and not even bothering to try and tell you all that has been going on since I last blogged. But I will say that we are officially moved into our new house. Yay! I love this house, but I am tired of moving in. I’m sick of finding places for things. We don’t have a dishwasher here so I’m learning about washing dishes after every meal. It’s nice. You only need a few dishes! I wonder now why we have more than three coffee cups!

Today was spent watching movies, doing laundry, and cleaning the front bathroom really good. It hasn’t been cleaned since we moved in and once I got close up, I was pretty grossed out. Nasty bathroom! It is nice now. ‘70’s decorations aren’t half bad when they are cleaned up. Wait until you see what I’m going to do with that bathroom to spruce it up!

It was rainy and cold this morning. It is starting to clear up now, but still pretty cloudy. I didn’t know it rained so much in the desert. It is going to be a beautiful Spring!

Wow!

What a busy day I had! I loaded the truck with stuff from the garage this morning first thing. At 9:30 the kids and I took it over to the house and unloaded it. I brought them back, did some more chores around the house, made a giant chocolate chip cookie!

I went back to the house alone and finished cleaning the kitchen. Yay! Mom and Grandpa gave me a great headstart. Mom! I used comet on the cabinets and it went much faster. It is amazing what a little hot water and elbow grease can do. Nothing works better, although I do wish there was a chemical I could just spray on and wipe off. :( I unloaded a small load of kitchen stuff while I was there.

When I got home, Tom and I cleaned up the back yard a bit and folded the laundry. Then we headed off to Jake's first gymnastics class. Tom was miffed because Jake didn't want him to take the class too. He insisted on coming with us to watch but then grumbled the whole time about being bored and wanting to join the class. He was completely not interested last week when we signed up, but now that Jake is doing it, he wants to do it too. He has tennis lessons starting in two weeks. Jake was amazing in the class and he loved it. He was the biggest kid there (and they were all the same age) and not the only boy, so he was happy. He came home and showed Grandma and Nikki all the stuff he did. He was very proud to be doing something without his brother right next to him.

When we got home, Dan was working at the new house and Grandma was watching the puppy. When we started talking about the class and Jake was jumping around showing off, the older two dogs got in a fight. I'm not sure what do about these dogs. Kiara (the oldest at 11 years) just attacks Whiskey (1 and a half years) whenever there is any kind of excitement. Now with our new puppy, she attacks Whiskey if the puppy cries or if Whiskey tries to play with the puppy at all. It is just crazy. I have an appointment to have Whiskey fixed on Thursday and I'm hoping that will help ease the tension between them. I'm going to ask the vet about Kiara too. Maybe there is some kind of doggy Valium to help her relax.

We all had leftovers for dinner tonight, so dinner was easy. Chores are done, kids are clean and ready for bed (and frankly so is Mom) and I'm going to relax for a bit before I wrangle them into bed at 9pm. Yes, we have a bed time now. If Jake isn't in bed by 9pm, he falls into crying fits and just can't get along with anyone for any amount of time. This bugs Tom because he could stay up for days without sleep and still be as rude and belligerent as he ever is. :)) But they know they need their sleep and Tom reads in his bed with the book light under the covers until he gets bored (not sleepy, he is never sleepy, since birth).

Tomorrow, we start all over again!

Sunday

Still working on the house! My Mom and Grandpa came to help me today. That was fun. It is always fun cleaning with my Mom. We harass each other the whole time. The kitchen needs a good cleaning. It is filthy! So we spent the afternoon scrubbing cupboards and baseboards. Grandpa brought the steam cleaner and went to town on the drawers.

Dan has put a new door on the side of the garage and fixed the doors on the bathrooms so that we close right.

I'm getting excited to move in!

The boys spent the afternoon with Grandma Ann. They aren't much help with cleaning. Tomorrow we plan on loading up the truck and finishing up the kitchen with Grandpa.

We went to a skydiving simulator!

The big surprise from Grandpa and Grandma was a flight in the skydiving simulator in Perris!! Oh wow! The kids just about freaked out when we pulled up. I have to admit right now, I did not go. I took pictures. But everyone else did! Even Dan. I thought for sure that Tom would chicken out but he ended up being so excited about it thsat he wants to go skydiving for real. :( When we got there they all had a training session and then suited up. They go in the wind tunnel with a helper. The fan goes on and they try to balance on the wind. It was amazing to watch. The kids loved it. The guides were awesome. They went in and did tricks. They looked like they were flying.

Afterwards, we went to Grandpa and Grandma's house and had lunch and played for a while. It was a great day and a Christmas we will all never forget. I'll have more pictures soon. My camera died and I was using my phone for a while. Then I used Melissa's camera.