just keepin busy

now that our evenings aren't filled with baseball,
it's been easier to keep busy during the day.

this week we spent one morning at the bowling alley ...



it was there that ...
a. ben insisted on bowling WITHOUT bumpers.
b. i actually got all 10 pins down for the first 4 frames!! (that's rare for me!)
c. and i learned that each of my kids sticks their tongues out when things get intense
(so bowling, playing video games, etc)
you can see drew and alex modeling this in the video game pics

another afternoon we met some friends at chuck e cheese



can i just say ...
that place is PERFECT during the week.
it isn't busy
(i think we were 2 families out of 5 that were there)
so ... the kids just wander and play ANY game they want without waiting
we stayed for 3 hours,
the boys came home tired,
AND full.

i told the boys about how when i was younger it was showbiz pizza -
and how all of the animals made a band and played a 'show' every 15 minutes or so.
how we would get so excited and rush to the table just to watch them 'perform'.

now poor chuckE just hangs out by himself and sings along to videos.
guess the economy really has hit everyone hard.

a reminder

... it's notes like this that make it all worth it ...

the final pitch

it's official.

baseball 2009 is over.

we ended it with a weekend long tournament.




a few #'s to help explain our weekend ...

4 - games played on saturday.

2 - games played on sunday.

2 - where drew's team was seeded, of 15, going into the tournament.

4 - large pixy sticks used to keep the boys busy ;)

8 - balls pitched to drew in one inning, due to LOTS of foul balls back to back.

1 - game ball was given drew.

5 - games scheduled on 4 fields at one time -
forcing ben's team to play their last game at another park.

2 - games drew's team won.

2 - games drew's team lost.

3 - games were played by ben's team but i can't tell you if they won or lost ;)

20 - minutes ben waited after getting home before asking stacey to go outside and practice hitting

3 - boys that were very tired by sunday afternoon due to the busy weekend in the sun

too many to count - the number of friendships we all made over the course of the season



it's hard to believe we have been going strong with baseball since april.

it really was a fun season.
the boys had fun players on their teams.
they had GREAT coaches.
and
we had great parents to spend our time with.
(which is REALLY nice considering that we were out on the field EVERY single night of the week)

ben is already asking if he can do baseball camp
and
drew ... well, he's moved on to football

TOTALLY not ready for that.

catching up

we headed back to wisconsin on thursday morning.

basically i feel as though i ate my way through the day thursday
on all of the delicious bars that people brought over

THEN ...
friday brought our time to say goodbye.
i won't lie.
it wasn't easy.
(but ... is any funeral??)

it was well put together
and ended up being a really nice tribute to my grandma.

my mom asked me to read my blog post.
i was a bit nervous about getting through it,
but i would say overall it went well.
just got a little rough at the end.

OH ... and then there was the fact that as i walked away from the pulpit the tears started flowing,
my vision got blurry, and i had to manuever down the stairs in my heels ;)
not an easy task.

drew also got to take part in the service.
my mom asked him to read Psalms 121.
and he did EXCELLENT.
he walked right up there and did his thing -
without thinking twice
and then came back and sat next to me, where he sat for the entire service.
near the end, stacey had to get up to escort the casket out.
instantly, drew put his arm around me and it stayed put.
he held me the entire way out of the church.
he didn't need to say a word -
he just knew that stacey was gone -
and i needed someone -
so he stepped up to the plate.
seriously ... i'm not sure what made me cry harder - my grandma's casket leaving the church -
or knowing that my 8 year old knew enough to be there for me when i really needed it.
and as i sit here now -
i think ...
every now and then i need days like this to give me a little perspective.
here i have this almost 3rd grader.
some days i wonder if anything i say ever really sinks in.
then a day like friday comes along -and i am reminded.
he may get crazy.
he may never really ever stop talking.
BUT ... he is an amazing kid.
i know i'm a LITTLE biased - but give me my moment ;)
and i'm pretty sure that what happened on friday is one of those moments i won't ever forget.

----------------------------------
on a side note -

since it isn't often that we are all in one place at one time ...
we took this opportunity to capture a few pictures of all of us together.
i've come to the conclusion
although i'm sure many of my family members disagree and probably get annoyed with me
that you can't take too many pictures.
i am SO thankful that on the day of my grandma's birthday party
i took as many pictures as i did -
because look where we are now.

SO ...
with that in mind.
enjoy :)
(and if you want to see them bigger ... just click)

friday was a nice day.
it was hard.
but it was perfect.

i'm thankful that we were able to come together,
comfort each other,
show my mom and my aunt that my grandma was an amazing lady
who will be missed by many,
and ultimately celebrate the fact that she is in heaven.


thanks for the prayers
and for your support throughout the past week.

sweet emotion

as i sit here tonight i am not TOTALLY sure of how i am feeling ...
yet i want to try to put it into words.

this afternoon, i got a call saying my grandma had died.

since then, my emotions have been all over the place.

i am heartbroken thinking of her spending the last year alone in a nursing home.

i am frustrated when i think about how over the past few years ...
as her health has declined,
common tasks which seem so basic,
had become so frustrating.

i am sad thinking of how i will no longer be able to hear her ...

see her ...

hug her ...

or eat her INCREDIBLE sandwich sugar cookies :)
(i have to think a LITTLE about me here ... right?!)

YET ...

i am happy

because i like to think that my grandpa was there waiting for her with open arms ...
and that from a distance he WHISPERED her name and she heard it!
(and didn't have to ask him to repeat himself)

i am thankful

that she played such a role in my life growing up
and that i got to have SO many years with her ...
and that my kids did as well.

i am grateful

that just a few months ago, we were all able to come together and celebrate her life of 90 years!
(even if for the past month or so she swears we got it wrong and she turned 100!)

and most importantly

i am at peace.

she is no longer alone.
she is no longer in pain.
she is no longer frustrated.
and she is in a place that i cannot even BEGIN to imagine
with our ONE and ONLY amazing God..

i know that one day,
she will be there waiting for ME with open arms.
she will pack me into her little brown station wagon
she will drive me to her very own bakery ...
and there we will be ...
talking ...
eating homemade kit kat bars, heath cake, and angel food cake.
and hopefully drinking starbucks lattes
together
(a girl can dream ... right?!)


grandma,
i love you.
i am so thankful for you.
and i am going to miss you.

don't forget the ketchup!

we grilled dinner and were sitting down to eat.

alex asked to pray and of course we let him.

as always it brought a smile to my face ...

'dear Jesus.

thank you for my strawberries.

thank you for my milk.

thank you for my beans.

thank you for my hot dog.

and ...

OH NO ... (imagine alex beginning to freak out) ...

i forgot ketchup.

i need ketchup.

(so stacey gives him some ketchup.
he INSTANTLY calms completely and says ...)

OK ...

and thank you for ketchup.

AMEN.'

it's their fault ...

WOW ... a whole week without a blog update.

i'll apologize first.

then i'll blame these handsome men...



my dad and stacey played in a golf tournament this past weekend.

that meant that last week was filled with lots of golf ...
packing ...
traveling to WI to prepare and play in the tournament ...
and not a lot of computer time ;)

it placed me on single parent kid duty for a LOT of hours ;)
BUT ...
we got to play with the rest of my family ...
and they had a lot of fun ...

AND ...
i'll make sure they make it up to me.

i'm thinking hawaii in march will be just fine.

note to self

the living room is not a smart place to try and nap

when alex has just been given a sheet of stickers that he is looking to use

for fun - just add water

this afternoon proved to be another gorgeous day ...

and what's better than some serious water fun ...



(the latest fascination the boys have is sitting by the sprinkler and making it look like they can pee really far ;))
... boys ....*smirk* )

they played in the sprinklers for a while -
and then 'supplemented' with the pool.
it still amazes me how they want the little pool blown up
and how 3 inches of water can entertain all 3 of my kids -



chewy even got in on the pool fun for a bit!

each and every day i come closer and closer to the conclusion that we are living in the wrong place.

we LOVE summer.
we LOVE warm weather.
and we LOVE playing outside.

to think we only get 3 months a year where we REALLY get to enjoy that stuff
is a little on the depressing side ;)

how to improve your golf game - according to me

this weekend the senior/champions PGA tour was in our neck of the woods.

drew and ben have been spending a lot of time getting into golf this summer,
so we decided to take the boys and see how they would do.
i was a bit concerned about the whole 'stay quiet' thing
but thankfully they proved me wrong.

drew and ben were interested in everything going on around them ...



and ...
alex just fell asleep
(WHEW!)



i thought it was a really fun way to spend the day.

the weather was beautiful
and there was so much to watch!

we walked part of the course,
watched some of the more exciting holes,
and
even stopped to do some of the activites along the way.

the best part ???
while alex slept -
drew, ben and i did a small putting contest that a radio station was putting on.
although the 2 guys (golfers) ahead of us made 0 out of 4 shots ...
i got 2 out of 4 ...
ya baby!
gotta do what i can to impress my boys ;)



while we walked and watched -
i also conducted my own mini fashion assessment of the fun outfits the golfers were wearing.

this golfer (in the purple) wins my award for best dressed.



AND ...

i have decided if stacey had pants like these, his game would be GREATLY improved.

what do ya think, stac?
this weekends tournament -
maybe get some argyle socks to match??

run. splash. play. repeat.

the past 2 days we have kept very busy ...

(really ... what day DON'T we keep busy ... but anyway ...)

on tuesday alex had a doctors appointment so we met kelly and crew at the splash pad afterwards ...
it's amazing how a few buckets and some running water can keep 3 boys VERY busy!



they finished up at the park and drew was SO helpful -
alex and adison LOVED going down the slide OVER and OVER and OVER with him -
bonus for us -
he took them and we didn't have to :)



all 3 boys crashed on the way home -
and woke up just in time to end the day with a fundraising dinner for team mullen



(look at these 3 year olds!!
i can actually get a picture of them BOTH looking and smiling :)
as for alex and grabbing himself ... all i can say is ... we have a house full of boys!)

-----------------------------

today ...
we continued the fun with my friend julie and her boys.
she may live ALL THE WAY in wisconsin (*wink wink*) but it's still fun to make the drive and see them.



AND ...
an added bonus is that getting that many boys together is guaranteed to burn some energy!
all 5 boys were sleeping within 5 minutes of us leaving their house!
that's worth the drive right there ;)

a reason to celebrate!

alex turning 3 gave us the perfect reason for an afternoon at the beach!

we met up with a few friends and celebrated alex.



it was the PERFECT day!

we had ...
sun,
sand,
snacks,
drinks,
a park,
a lake,
friends ...



and ...
cupcakes!!!
mmmmmmmmmmmm :)

can't ask for much more!

hope you had a fun birthday, little buddy!

THREE!!!!

HAPPY 3rd BIRTHDAY ALEX!!!



i can't believe that you are already 3!

you were supposed to be my baby that didn't ever grow up ...
did you get that memo?!

apparently not because you are getting SO grown up!!

you are fully potty trained ...
you can count ...
and you even wrote your name for the first time this week ...

you are such a fun, and quirky, kid.
you know exactly what you want and won't back down until you get it.
you are either completely hilarious and loveable or really crabby and stubborn - there is no in between.
you say the funniest things and you know exactly when to say them.
you absolutely ADORE drew and ben -
and are completely lost without them.
you have become a little sponge and copycat -
which is a bit scary at times.

you love ...

hot dogs,
backyardigans,
chipotle,
chewy,
candy,
chocolate milk,
mickey mouse,
adison,
cars,
the trampoline,
cocoa puffs,
and
me (a lot)

i am loving watching you grow
and seeing how much you change each day.
although i remember and LOVE thinking about the 6 pound baby that i brought home from the hospital 3 years ago ...
(well the HAPPY side of that baby) ...
i wouldn't change where we are today.
you are loving...
you are loveable...
and you are the PERFECT littlest brother for this family.

we love you SO much baby alex .... or um ... 'regular alex'
happy birthday, buddy!

happy 4th of july!

our 4th of july fun started nice and early ...

we met up with the mullen kids and cheered mom and dad mullen on in the lakes 8k.
(i'm pretty sure alex and oliver, with their cowbells, won best cheerleaders ont he course)
they beat their goal ...
(and i have decided i can never run with deby because she'd kick my ... well you know ;))
NICE JOB GUYS!



we then split up for a few hours ...
stacey and drew had to try out drew's new clubs ...
and ben, alex, and i got to hit up the MOA for a bit.

we met back at home to finish up our laying mulch project
(FINALLY!!!)
and to chill out a bit before heading to the fireworks

we ended the night in the perfect firework watching spot ...
to find out where we watched,
you'll just have to come with us next year!!

all i will say is that it involved a bunch of people,
and a sprinkler system that was MUCH smarter than they were ;)

HAPPY 4th OF JULY 2009!!!