Crazy Bunny Lady

I'm not sure anymore which nick-name fits me better... Insane Soccer Mom or Crazy Bunny Lady. Oh well, if I have to give my children something to tell their therapist it might as well be that their mother loved the rabbit more than them.

Here's some of my favorite pics from this week:

Peek....

A Boo!!!

Streeeeetch...... Just a little mooooore.....


AH! Got it!

Wash, wash, wash.



And don't forget behind the ears!




Taking 5 for safety.




I swear laying in the dirt is Beck's favorite thing to do.


Eeek it's a scary hay monster!


Oh, it's just you, Beckham.


This is his, "You're going to try to catch me and make me go night-nights, aren't you?" pose.

Hello Summer

Sorry I've been MIA for a while. We've been busy with soccer, baseball and summer! On Memorial Day S3 ended up marching in a parade with the American Legion which was pretty cool.

Waiting for the parade to start:

Here they come:

School let out at the end of May and besides all the sports, we've been hanging out with Beckham, gardening (pics of both coming soon) and swimming at the pool. The water is freezing and I don't how the kids can stand it but they do.

Look at the look of pure evil on S3's face. Splashing his brother.

Holy Sports Weekend Batman

I must be nuts. That's the only reason I can come up with for why I would say yes to two kids playing soccer and two kids playing baseball all in the same weekend. Here's how my weekend looked:

Friday 6 PM Ty had baseball at our home field
Saturday 7 AM Ty had soccer 30 minutes away
11:20 AM Ty had another game - same field
1:30 G had soccer 1.5 hrs away - 1.5 hrs back to...
4:20 Ty had another soccer game - same field as before.
Sunday 7 AM S3 had baseball 1.5 hrs away.
12:30 PM Coaches for S3's team decide to play a double header
5:30 PM Ty had another soccer game 2 hrs away.

I put somewhere around 250 miles on my minivan iin two days. That was a lot of running, even for me. And now onto the pictures...

Ty is the one with orange sleeves and black socks.

I'd forgotten how much I like to watch him play. He really focuses on the game and plays hard and even though they usually lose, he's always in a good mood afterward.

Waiting to sub in.

She hasn't been terribly aggressive with the bigger girls but when the ball comes near her, she wins it every time.

I've decided I must need to invest in some catcher's equipment because look who else decided to give the position a try...

Honestly at first I was a little disappointed because he's so good in the 2nd base/short stop position plus I really felt like it was cool that Ty had something kinda special by being catcher but once I saw S3 play I stopped being disappointed. He was fantastic.

It must be genetic. My dad was a catcher too.

Poor E. Doesn't she look totally worn out by all the sports?

The girls were driving me crazy by the end of the day so I let them play with my camera so they'd let me watch the soccer game. G accidentally caught a generational pic. It's not a great pic of any of us but I thought it was kinda cool.

So that was my crazy weekend. Now I'm going to go crash. If you need me, I'll be in bed.

Rage Home Opener

It was youth night at the Rage home opener so G put on her uniform and we went to watch the game. She got a free season pass and my ticket was only $7 so it was a cheap date! They had the really little kids and the U-10 girls make an alley on the field when they announced the starting line-up. G looked so small out there. Rage ended up beating the Virginia team 2-1 so it was a good way to start the season. Some pics from tonight (the mascot is a bull btw):

Who Is That Masked Man?

Ty's baseball season has officially started. They had their fourth game last night and Ty seems to have fallen somewhat naturally into the catcher's position. It's really nice to see him trying something different from his brother. I don't remember ever seeing S3 in the catcher's position.

He needs some work; he's still not sure what to do with his other hand while he's catching but last night he caught more than he dropped and he really seems to enjoy it. It's so awesome to see him really get into the game.

Ty has been an every-other year player since the first time he picked up a bat and glove. Every other year he says, "Oh, I don't want to play baseball this year" and then we'll go watch his brother play and he'll say, "Oh I wish I had signed up for baseball!" This year is an on year and I think it might break the every-other pattern.

It's funny, neither of my boys are very strong batters but they're both above average fielders. I'm not sure why that would be other than maybe it's easier for them to practice catching than it is batting. Ty had some batting instruction on Saturday but he still looked a little awkward at the game last night. I know he will improve as the season progresses.



I'm late in blogging this but I didn't actually miss the event. Ty turned ten years old on May 4th. We went with my grandfather out to eat at Friendly's and Steve (who pushed to get home for the special day) took him to the driving range. We let him pick out his own birthday gift at ToysRUs and he chose a Nerf semi-automatic dart gun. I think having his dad home for those couple of days was the best gift though. It never fails to amaze me (no matter how good I think I'm doing) how much a boy needs his dad. No pictures. I accidentally deleted them when I was taking pictures of Beckham on his first day home. {blush}

Happy First Decade Ty!

Ty Makes Life Interesting

I'm not sure what got into him this morning but after he got dressed for school and ate breakfast and packed his lunch he started cleaning out the refrigerator. Do not ask me why because I really don't know. He had the water filter out and filling up and he was asking me, "What should I do with this salad dressing that's dated from three years ago?"

Finally I said, "Ty the bus will be here any minute. You need to stop worrying about that and get your shoes on.

He said, "Ok but what should I do with this cream cheese that's dated last week?"

I said, "Ty I am not kidding with you. Put the cream cheese down."

At just that moment G (our lookout of the day) yelled, "BUS!" G and S3 took off but Ty ran around, panicked like a headless chicken, still with the cream cheese in his hand. So I came and helped him calm down and grab his things but he was running so far behind he had to carry his shoes. I saw Eileen the bus driver laughing when he got on the bus.

You can't say it wasn't an interesting morning. And at least I have a half clean fridge now. And a box of outdated cream cheese sitting on my couch by the front door.

I've Been Tagged (twice)!

Both Margaret and V have tagged me with 7 Things About Me.

Here are the rules: Each player starts with 7 random facts/habits about themselves. People who are tagged need to write on their own blog about their seven things, as well as these rules. You need to choose 7 people to get tagged and list their names. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they have been tagged and to read your blog!

So, here it is:

1. When I was younger I didn't want to be a mom. I don't like kids and I didn't want to be tied down.

2. Since I now have four kids, people tell Steve he should have been a salesman.

3. There's nothing I like better than being a soccer mom. I love running my kids to games and practices even when it's really stressful trying to get them all to different places at the same time. It's still absolutely my most favorite thing to do.

4. I really wish someone would submit my mini-van on "Overhaulin'" or "Pimp My Ride" because if I have to drive a mini-van, shouldn't it be cool? But I'd have a hard time choosing between Chip Foose's classic style and getting to meet Xzibit. I would hope that my van would end up some combination of pink and orange.

5. My best and worst quality are the same. I have a terrible memory.

6. It's my best quality because I don't remember to stay mad or hold grudges and I don't remember what you did or even that I was hurt. I don't remember any of the bad stuff. I don't remember a lot of the happy stuff either but I tend to assume most everything thing so far in life has been happy. It makes me easy-going and forgiving.

7. However it's my worst quality because I miss important dates and appointments. I forget my anniversary and what time of day my kids were born or how much they weighed. I forget that my SIL had major surgery and I never call to see how she's doing. I don't remember to check up on my friends or to send sympathy cards. I think it makes me seem uncaring.

I'm going to tag....
Vicki, Deb Hannicks, Miss C, Emmie, Jer, Chris (who I don't think has time to play but I hope she does anyway) and the next person who comes up when I click the "Next Blog" link at the top: M.W.

Even MORE Baseball Drama

So I told you about S3 and the school team and S3 and the City-County team right? Well the Jr. Legion guy called and said he also really wanted S3. I said thanks but we've already accepted another offer. That's when he started telling me how Ex. has instituted a "no tolerance policy for those who leave the league."

I was like

So he goes on to tell me that if S3 leaves Ex. to play city-county, he can't come back and play for Ex. ever again. Freaked me out. Maybe I misunderstood but I don't think it matters because no matter what he said, that's what I heard.

So I called one of S3's old coaches who I knew had older boys that had gone thru the program and I said, "What the heck?" because I signed up with Ex., S3 had try outs with Ex. and the C/C coach got S3's name from the Ex. signs and trys so how are we leaving the league?

The ex-coach explained it all so that a first-time mom could understand and long story short for a number of really valid reasons (one of them being I have FOUR children in different activities every night of the week and the practices were close enough for S3 to walk) we decided to stick with C/C and called the Jr. Legion guy and declined the position.

The next day the C/C coach called and said he was really very sorry but they couldn't field a team this year. Really. Veeerrrrysorry. Really.

I went to bed and cried for an hour. That's the truth. I couldn't do anything but lay there and cry I was so stressed out. I just can't believe all the politics and headaches that are going along with my child playing Little League. I mean COME ON PEOPLE! What's with that? He isn't 30 and playing for a million and half dollar contract; he's 13 and I have to pay a million and half dollars for him to play.

So here we were, turned down from or turning down four different teams in one season. Everyone wanted him and noone wanted him all at the same time. OMG how does that happen?

I called that poor Jr. Legion guy about 100,000,000 times and finally he called back four days later and said S3 still had a spot on his team if he wanted it. So I'm saying this very quietly because until I see the uniform on my kid, I don't think I'll believe it but S3 is playing Jr. Legion this year.

Whatevah.

David Beckham Has Come to Our House

"David Beckham?" you say, disbelieving.

Yes. David Beckham was pooping on my kitchen floor just hours ago. I swear it's true.

What? You still don't believe me? Well see for yourself.











Meet Beckham, the newest addition to our family. We picked him up yesterday at the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival. He is a German Angora Hybrid in the color "chestnut agouti." We debated the whole way home between Beckham, Donovan and Hartman (my favorite goalie) and then because he's German we threw in Barrack but the kids all thought he looked most like a Beckham so Beckham he is.


He doesn't seem so very happy to be part of our family just yet but I'm told it can take a while for a rabbit to get used to a new home. He's a lot bigger than I expected but at almost a year of age, I'm told he won't grow any larger. When I first held him (the first bunny I ever held!) he winked at me and then kissed my nose. I knew he had to come home with us.

I know this probably seems sudden to you all but I have actually been preparing for more than two months and getting an angora was the reason we went to the festival. I'll leave you with a few more pictures of my baby.

Look at his adorable big feet!

10 Things I Learned Today

1. When the moon is full, it will rain the minute you step out of the car to change a flat and stop raining the minute you are at the repair shop. Also it will be the one day of the month that instead of wearing your typical black, you will be wearing white and powder blue.

2. Monroe doesn't put the lug nuts on so tight that a girl can't get them off.

3. Dummy tires don't have a label on them that says, "This side toward car," but there really is only one way they'll go on.

4. Camera phones and email come in real handy when you can't figure out how to lower a jack and your dad is and hour away but sitting in front of his computer.

5. When you lower the car, do it slowly or you might startle yourself and the kid strapped in her carseat inside the car.

6. My husband (it's his car) is a slob. Or a pack rat. Or maybe both. Either way, there was a lot of junk in that trunk. On top of the spare.

7. I realized if I ever planned to murder someone, I couldn't risk putting their dead body in the trunk of the car.

8. Tires are heavy.

9. If you are wearing eye make up and changing a tire in the rain, you have to look carefully at all your fingers to decide which is the cleanest one before you can lick it and clean the mascara from your cheeks so that the repair shop guys don't think you were crying.

10. After 15 years (half my lifetime) I can still change a flat tire.

Now That's What I Call BASEBALL Baby!

I know we had some issues with S3 and our school league but the fact is, S3 had intended to play two leagues this year and so it was frustrating but no big loss to step away from the one. Saturday S3 had tryouts for three teams. When we signed up way back in January what they told me was this:

Lowest level: Senior's league
Mid level: Junior Legion (about 10 boys from this township would make this team)
Highest level: City-County (about 4 boys from this township would make this team)

So I figured, sure S3's pretty good. He has a good shot at Junior Legion. No way is he going to make the City-County because the odds are against him, right? Tonight I came home to a message on my answering machine.

My son is on the City-County team.

I swear this is one of the proudest moments I've ever had as a mother. And I can't help but feel a great deal of satisfaction that for one lousy month the school team could have had a player of his caliber. Ha.

I Made A Ring

Successfully this time! Sunday my mom and I took a "Making A Ring" class at the Jewelry Arts Expo held this year at the very nice Chase Center on the Riverfront in Wilmington, DE. The man running the class is apparently someone well known in jewelry circles but since I don't tend to run in jewelry circles I didn't realize it at the time. His name is Alan Revere and he founded the Revere Academy of Jewelry Arts. He was a very good instructor and I think that was the most successful class I've ever taken.

Somewhere around lunch time we were to have our rings soldered at the seam and this being my first attempt at jewelry soldering, I was a nervous wreck. It came out beautifully, it was a heck of a lot easier than I thought and frankly when I look at the inside of my band, I can't even see where I joined the ends of the ring together. After hours of filing and sanding (and I mean that literally!) I used the narrow end of a cross peen hammer to make the textured outer edge of the ring. My mom, after hours of filing and sanding, took the wide end of the hammer to make a hammered edge. We laughed about all the work we'd done to make it smooth only to mark it all up again with a hammer!

We took the rings home and put them in the polisher but I think it could still stand to have a little hand polish done. When Alan polished his in class with some rouge and a felt stick, it really shined!

So without further ado, here is how my ring started:


And here is the final result:


I am so proud of myself!

Cute But Evil

I bought E a new shirt last week that says, "Cute but Evil" and she's spent the last week proving it true. We were at Friendly's for dinner on Saturday night and Ty started up a game of hangman while we waited for our food. Ty picked the first word then I picked a word and finally E wanted to pick a word. Well E doesn't really know how to read or spell and the last time we played hangman she spelled her name.

She made her hangman's gallows and then started drawing lines for the letters. I was spelling along in my head as she was drawing the lines, "E-V-E-L-Y....." but she stopped at five dashes. Not enough spaces for her name. Hmmm. I thought, "Well it's probably going to end up just being some random letters because she can't read and she can't spell."

We guessed a few wrong letters and finally she said, "Here, let me give you a hint" and she drew the letter "L" in the first space. I was still thinking she'd probably just made up a word of random letters that wouldn't actually make sense but G perked right up when she saw that "L."

"OH! I know what it is! I know what it is," she called across the table. "How about the letter 'O'?" E put the letter "O" in the next space. G said, "How about 'S'?" and E put the letter "S" in the next space. G said, "I know what it is! I know what it is!"

She can't read and she can't spell but she knows the word "loser." That's enough to make any mama proud.

Oh My Aching Back!

Today the kids and I got up and did our Saturday morning clean routine. It is mandatory; no matter what else is going on in our lives we all must clean on a Saturday morning. Why must we clean on a Saturday morning? Because if we don't clean on Saturday then I have to do it alone on Monday.

Anyway after that my nephew, "the boy" came over to help with a project we had to get done today. I'll explain that in a minute. See this great big huge trailer that belongs to my BIL John?


Well being the wonderful man that he is, he went and picked up two cubic yards of mulch for me on Friday night. However, his dad needed the trailer tonight so we had to spread two cubic yards of mulch by dinner time. Which is why it's now empty. And why my back hurts. I was in charge of shoveling the mulch out of the trailer and into the wheelbarrow. S3 was in charge of wheeling the wheelbarrow to the garden and Ty and The Boy were in charge of spreading. G and E got us drinks and tissues as needed and generally were cute and entertaining.

But what really amazes me about this whole project? Two cubic yards didn't cover my whole front bed. I still need probably another cubic yard to finish just the front. The back yard is a whole 'nuther back ache waiting to happen.

So now I'm just sitting in my rocker, quietly moaning to myself and playing with my jewelry stuff. The kids went to the park for a while and I think when they get back and get cleaned up we'll go visit my grandfather in the hospital and have some dinner. I just wish it would be this beautiful outside all year long.