An Entry About Nothing

So far this summer, I have found it very hard to find something to write about. My life was so busy during the school year, but has come to a grinding halt. The Memorial Day weekend did me in sleeping wise. I have a hard time falling asleep each night, so sleeping in is a big no, no. I slept in every day this weekend until at least 9 AM and I haven’t recovered since. Late to bed and late to rise makes me feel like I am not accomplishing anything. I am trying to take the “guilt free” approach to this problem and remind myself that I don’t really have anything I have to do, so enjoy it while you can.

As a quick note…I was thrilled this afternoon to finally hear that Roger Clemens (7 time Cy Young Award winner) will be joining the Astros again on June 22nd. He is such a great competitor, but also seems to bring a unique sense of unity and spirit to the team. I will be at that game on June 22nd, who wants to join me?

Summertime

Memorial Day is not until tomorrow, but summer has definitely begun at our house. The last day of school was Wednesday and we have been swimming everyday since. The kids are really enjoying their free time and haven’t caused too many problems yet. Sam is finishing up her last few swim lessons this week and is swimming like a pro. She doesn’t need her floaties anymore and is constantly swimming across the pool to one of her brothers (I think they are growing tired of this new game fairly quickly). She loves to jump off the diving board! I know that Josh could swim by this age, but for some reason she seems so young to me to be able to swim so well. She can even do the freestyle…I think it all goes back to her unhealthy lack of fear. I am enjoying the swimming, without the extra worries and without having to get in the pool!

Disappointment

Sadly…Josh lost the championship last night. Wait, back up…I should say that his team won 2nd place out of 17 at the end of their incredible season of growth, improvement, hard work and dedication. These are definitely the words I used to console a weeping nine year old all the way home from the ballpark. Josh doesn’t usually let sports get to him that way, so I was a little taken back. I think most of his emotions stemmed from the fact that we had been at the ballpark for five hours straight and we didn’t get home until after 10:30 PM. He was tired and disappointed, but mostly just tired. He played a great game and I was so proud of him. He is such a sweet little boy. Seeing him so disappointed made me want to crawl into his bed and snuggle him like I used to when he was still a baby.

This morning, all seemed well with the world once more. He was up bright and early, showered and ready for his last day of 4th grade. I am optimistically looking forward to summer and praying every minute for a hidden source of patience I know I will need. Josh got off the bus this afternoon and within two minutes (and I am not over exaggerating) was complaining because he was bored and didn’t want to stay home and watch television while his older brother (who always gets to have all the fun, whah) goes to his class party. If you don’t hear from me for a few days, I may be locked in my closet still searching for that hidden source of patience!

5th Grade Recognition Night

Tonight was Helmut’s Fifth Grade Recognition night. I cannot believe my baby has finished Elementary School. It seems like just yesterday that we slept through our alarm on his first day of kindergarten and the poor boy had to literally run to catch the bus (that hasn’t happened since)! He is definitely not a baby anymore.

He wasn’t too happy about having to wear church clothes to the awards ceremony. It is a good thing I called the school to verify what he was supposed to wear, or he might have pulled one over on me. We got there 20 minutes before the kids were supposed to arrive (40 minutes before it was supposed to start) and there wasn’t one real seat left. We ended up sitting in the back at the lunch tables. The room was set up for about 200 people and there were easily 350 there. To top it off the air conditioning was broken, and Josh informed us it hadn’t been working all day. Josie came with us and was a real trooper, she didn’t complain once during the entire hour and fifteen minutes.

The ceremony started off with an interesting rendition of Mariah’s Carey’s “Hero.” Then they handed out a few awards before all the 5th graders received their completion certificates. Helmut received the Presidential Academic Achievement Award (I can’t remember the exact title, but it was something like that). He was pretty happy because he didn’t think he would get it. In order to receive the award, a student had to have a composite score of 90 or higher at the end of the 4th and 5th grade and receive a 2200 or higher on the Math or Science portion of the TAKS test. Helmut has already requested we frame the certificate (which he is sure President Bush signed personally) right next to his D.A.R.E. certificate. The ceremony ended with an encore presentation of “I Will Dare” (originally performed at the D.A.R.E. graduation on Friday afternoon…snoozeville!). Big Helmut loved the song, be sure to have him sing it for you the next time you see him.

It was a good night and I was really proud of Helmut for all that he has accomplished. It isn’t easy to move back to the US and into a new school with only two years left. Many of his classmates have known each other since kindergarten. He hasn’t skipped a beat and is enthusiastically looking forward to Junior High.

Covered Up With Baseball

It has been forever since I posted and I blame baseball. We have been at practices or games almost every night this week. I am the kind of Mom who absolutely loves to watch my boys play sports, but it is even getting to be too much for me.

Earlier this week we were scheduled to replay the last inning of a game we played last week. We never got our last "at bat" due to a time limit, and the league commissioners ruled we could replay it. I was on my way out the door to drive Josh to the ball park when I got the call saying the ruling had been overturned and we would not be replaying the inning. Of course, I was steaming mad. I kept my mouth shut on the way to our new game (scheduled for that same night) for fear my bad attitude would rub off on Josh. Because of the ruling, we dropped down to the loser's bracket and had to play the #1 ranked team in our division in order to advance to the Championship game. This team (the Indians) had just beat us 11-3 two weeks ago. I admit, I did not have high hopes for the game. Those 9 year old boys didn't bat an eye, they went out there and whooped that team 8-3. Those smack talkin' Indians were crying like babies (literally) by the time we got done with them. We are set to play in the Championship game this Tuesday night (against the team we were supposed to replay the inning with...Sparks will fly...Their coach said tons of rude things about our coach and even sweet little me in his emails).

As if that wasn't enough baseball drama for the week we also had an extra tournament against the Klein/Spring league this weekend. We had a game on both Friday and Saturday night. We have a final game on Sunday afternoon, but I emailed the coach to let him know we wouldn't be playing unless Josh's absence would cause the team to forfeit.

To top it all off, the Astros lost again tonight. I am sure I will miss watching Josh play baseball once the season is over, but I am looking forward to the break.

Mother's Day

I had a great Mother’s Day yesterday. All the kids slept in, so I got a little extra sleep. Church was fine. I was in charge of the getting the Mother’s Day gift for all the women of the ward. I wanted some nice chocolates, but the budget dictated that we could only afford Russell Stover. They ended up tasting pretty good. It’s the thought that counts. I am hoping to pawn off that job next year to someone of the male gender…it seems only fair.

Helmut worked his tail off in the kitchen (while I watched the Astros game on the couch) from the time we got home until we had dinner at 5:00. His meal turned out so yummy! He made peppered steak with chimichurri sauce, black beans, fried plantains, sweet onion and avocado salad, corn fritters and grilled pineapple ala mode for dessert. It was divine! Needless to say, I am back on my diet as of this morning.

The kids were fairly good. I can remember when I was a younger my Mom saying, “All I want for Mother’s Day is for you kids not to fight all day!” I feel her pain now. The boys did help their dad with the dishes and clean their room, so I know they were trying. Sam, on the other hand, was in complete meltdown mode from 5:00 to 7:30. She kept breaking down in tears saying, “I ruined Mother’s Day.” Poor baby, she is only four years old. All in all, it was a good Mother’s Day. I have a stinking suspicion that my husband never reads my blog, but just in case…Thanks honey for making it a special day!

Donna Downey Rocks

I just got back from Waco late last night. Sarah and I drove up for the weekend to attend a scrapbook class at Crop, Paper, Scissors given by the Famous Donna Downey! We had the best time. The classes were fun and the projects turned out perfect (or that is what I keep telling myself). I hope to get them completely finished within the week and I will post them when I do. I have a lot to say about the trip but it is Mother’s Day and my husband and children are downstairs slaving over a special meal for me. I had better go down and show my appreciation!

Lucky Boy!

Sometimes I think Josh is the luckiest boy in the world…

Last night we had game two of the championship tournament. The team we played was seeded #8, but had beat the #1 seed in game one, so we were not sure what to expect. It was a tough game. We were neck and neck the whole way through. Josh had a great game. He smacked a killer triple in the bottom of the second inning.

We were tied at the top of the fifth inning and had to win it. If you are still tied after time expires they start to go through a list of statistics to determine the winner. We had fewer defensive outs and would have lost. We put a new pitcher in and he struck out three boys out in a row. It was amazing considering the amount of pressure this poor nine-year-old way under.

So it is the bottom of the fifth inning and we are still tied. The first boy gets up and strikes out. Josh gets up and gets two strikes right away. I could tell he wanted so badly to hit that he couldn’t keep himself from swinging. Luckily, he found some patience and was walked to first base. The next boy up is our best player. He hit a great double down the first base line and advanced Josh to third base. The next boy gets up to bat…by this time the pitcher is tired and throwing some pretty wild pitches to the back-up catcher (their starting catcher got ejected from the game in the second inning after striking out and throwing his bat and batting helmet to the ground on his way back to the dugout). A few balls got past the catcher, but he was able to get them fairly quickly. On the third pitch, the ball got past the catcher and Josh ran for home. That boy can run fast, but the pitcher and catcher made it to home plate before he did. He slid in hard and the catcher tagged him…then bam, out falls the ball. He inched his foot to the base and was safe.

By that point I felt like I was going to puke! He was so excited and I was a pretty proud sports mom…like I said, that boy is lucky!

Freedom From Guilt

Yesterday was my birthday and I tried to treat myself to a guilt free day. I ate what I wanted (which made me sick to my stomach), didn’t clean up or do the dishes and laid around the house all day. It made me consider the pros and cons of living my real life in a more guilt free way.

The other day I was having a discussion with my husband and I mentioned to him that whenever we fight, I get a sick feeling in my stomach that won’t go away until we make up. He looked at me like I was the Man on the Moon! Clearly, he doesn’t get that same guilty “the Lord doesn’t want you to be fighting with your spouse” feeling. I feel guilty about so many things…when I eat the wrong foods, when I don’t workout, when I yell at my kids, when I spend too much money, when I stay up too late, when I watch too much TV, when I don’t keep my house clean, when I don’t read my scriptures, when I spend too much time on the computer…so I am going to try and motivate my life with some other tactic. I’ll let you know what tactic when I figure that out.

Smelly Boys

I was at Abercrombie yesterday buying a swimsuit for Josh and saw the cologne at the counter. Josh has mentioned that his favorite part about getting clothes from Abercrombie is the way they smell. I figured it is never too early to help your preteen boys out in the body odor department, so I bought a bottle for the boys to share. When I gave it to Josh this morning, he was ecstatic. I informed him that the No. 1 rule to wearing cologne is "never wear too much!" He seemed okay with that.

I heard the garbage truck coming down the street and asked him to RUN and get the trash to the street. When he came back inside, he said to me (out of breath), "I got really dirty taking out the trash. I better put on more cologne."

I could be in trouble!