Ahhh...Baseball!

We had a great day today...well, a good day anyway. I guess great would have been winning three out of three. All in all though I think we were all just happy to be there! Sam had a good day. He had quite a few good hits and at least one AWESOME catch! This was not it obviously :)

The boys lost their first game (vs. Cardington Grey) by 1 run in the 6th inning. They really should have won that game!

Maggie went to her birthday party, I was able to drop her off beforehand and she rode to the party with the birthday girl. She had loads of fun, got to swim and eat pizza and had a wonderful day!

The gang WON their second game against Marengo Red...8-5. They were VERY excited, please keep in mind that they won 1 game ALL YEAR last year! So a little celebrating was in order!

Great sportsmanship all around ~ all these boys go to school together, so there were good natured "You guys sucked" flying after the game ;)

We all held up remarkably well considering that we were at the ball fields for 8 1/2 hours today...better than Katie, she was in a van that whole time (and still is ~ on her way home from Disney!).

Unfortunately, they lost their last game as well, by 1 run AGAIN! It was against one of the best teams in the league though and they played a great game against them so we have high hopes for a winning season ~ it is still very early after all!!

I am red like a lobsta!! I kicked off the baseball "tan" in a BIG way today! Love to you all ~ I'm POOPED!

Caution: BUSY Weekend Ahead!

Well ~ we have quite the busy weekend planned. Actually, today my primary goal is to figure out HOW we're going to manage to do it all without disappointing any of the kids! After I work out today I need to head to Mt Vernon to do some shopping. Tonight we have Liam's ball practice in Chesterville 5:30PM and Mag's has practice in Sparta @ 6:30pm. Jon and I will split up for that, it gets hectic but is not the cause of my problem. The problem comes Saturday...Jon is leaving early to go to Springfield to pick Mason up, however they will not be back here until late, because Mason is walking dogs for a couple hours at a local dog shelter first. He has decided he wants to do something along the lines of zoologist/vet when he grows up and has been volunteering walking dogs. At noon, I have to have Sam in Marengo for his first baseball tournament of the season, it's just a round robin, but will probably last most of the day. At 3pm Maggie has a birthday party (for one of her FAVORITE friends) at the Apple Valley Pool...I don't know where that is, but I can't imagine it's close being Apple Valley and all :(. Jon will definitely not be back by then, so?????? Crap! Right now the only thing busier than my body is my mind, I'm sure it will all work out though.
Yesterday, after I did my regular workout I spent 42 minutes on the WiiFit. I took the body test again and got my age down to 42...improving!! I was SORE when I went to bed last night. A little too much hula hooping! Love to you all!!! I'll take pics this weekend and get them posted of Sam's tournament! BTW, Steve, Sam used his new batting gloves at practice last night and told me on the way home that he loves them...and so did everyone else, he's the envy of the entire team ;) ~ thanks again!

Wii are SO not Fit!

Well, first off let me say "Thank you Thank you Thank you" to Dad and Anne ~ we have a new version of family game night! We got the Wii Fit last night and let me tell you, if laughter is a form of exercise you don't even have to get on the board to get a work out!!
Sam set his guy up first...he was healthy weight and the only person in our family who's Fit age was close to his real age ~ it actually was right on, it said he's 12.
Maggie on the other hand was healthy weight, but TOTALLY uncoordinated and came out of the test 18 yrs old.
She loves the yoga and went immediately to that section. She really impresses me with it, she's actually a yoga natural!




Liam's assesment made me doubt the validity of the whole thing. He was rated at the very high end of normal ~ just a hair away from in danger of being overwight. Any of you who know Liam know that he is no where near that! He IS extremely muscled ~ so I'm thinking perhaps the Wii does not account for possible muscle mass. Anyhoo, his Wii Fit age was 32!! Obviously, he did very poorly on the balance test as well!
I was assesed as 47! and Jon was 49 ~ so we have our work cut out for us...
Here's a few shots of the kids having some fun. There isn't one of Sam, he took his turn last and I was making supper by then, so I'll get a pic of him up here soon!

Liam started out REALLY strong with the soccor ball balance activity. But, ...

Then he started having problems and as you can see...


he got hit by so many cleats and panda bears that he tried to shield his head when he saw this head flying at him. It was SO FUNNY!

Again, thank you to Dad and Anne! We are having so much fun with it!!

Love to you all!!

Wrap It Up

Well ~ vacation is over...time for me to wrap up the blogs about it. Here's a pic of the kids at Kings Mtn Military Park. Liam told me he was excited to go there because there were a bunch of dead British guys buried there. That comment cracked me up...between that and him trying to burn bugs and leaves with the magnifying glass Dad got him, I've decided Liam and Anne make a dangerous, though amusing, combination! LOL \
From left to right: Maggie(bottom), Sam, Liam, Sarah and Matthew~ We spent all day Saturday with Dad and Anne. The kids played with their WiiFit and supplied us with MANY laughs while entertaining themselves. Let me tell you something ~ watching Liam attempt to hula hoop can make you pee your pants! It's hilarious! It was wonderful to have some time with them...Dad grilled steaks for dinner and Anne made twice baked potatoes and broccoli w/cheese sauce, DELICIOUS!
Sunday the kids hunted for their Easter baskets then we got ready to split the day. We headed over to Dad and Anne's first for a little more time with them on our last day in NC. Then, we packed the kids up and went back to Mom's. Got all our laundry done (thanks Mom and James for doing some of it while we were gone!) and started packing. A very good friend of mine from high school stopped by on his way back to Raleigh from his families Easter, Jason Williams. I got to meet 2 of his children, Samuel and Cora and they were adorable. It was great to see Jason again! After he and his children left we ate supper and the kids watched Bolt. We also spent a little quality family time in the hot tub...

Of course yesterday we drove home ~ that drive is bittersweet. Maggie was very homesick by the last night...so she was very excited to be driving home. We had to stop at Walmart to pick up milk and eggs ~ we had really planned just right for the perishables to last only until we left...therefore there was nothing left at home in the fridge when we left!

So, we're home! AND LET ME TELL YOU, IT SUCKS!!!!! It's 40 degrees and raining and will be all day. I missed my "home" while we were gone, but I don't think I'll ever be able to accept the nature of Ohio in the spring. Spring is the only time of year that I don't LOVE Ohio. I just have to remind myself that I wouldn't want to be anywhere else come summer, fall and winter!

Today, I have to go with Jon to return the rental and get us completely unpacked. We are eagerly awaiting the WiiFit Dad bought and had shipped to us (THANK YOU DAD AND ANNE) ~ we are really excited to get it! Love to you all!!!

Thursday and Friday Fun

No pics , no time to download them. I will update you on what we've been up to though.
On Thursday, we spent the day with Mom, James, Steve and Carolina. We went to Concord Mills Mall and shopped and attended a movie. While shopping we were able to attend a wedding dress try on for Carolina. She looked beautiful! Jon, Maggie and I saw The Hannah Montana Movie and the rest of our group saw Race to Witch Mtn. The Hannah movie was cute and Maggie really enjoyed it. Mom bought Bedtime Stories while we were out and we headed back to her house to watch it and eat pizza. It rained that day; it was still warm early, but by the time we got out of the movie it was quite cool and almost felt like Ohio!
Friday when we got up the weather had much improved. Yesterday was gorgeous! Warm and sunny and we met Carolina and Steve at Dad's house. Then we all met Tracy, Sarah and Matthew at Kings Mtn State Park and learned a bit about the revolutionary war as it pertains to the Carolinas. It was great to see Tracy and Kings Mtn was very interesting. The kids had fun walking the trail. Our nerves were shot by the time we left there but I think we wore all the kids out! Marley did exceptionally well. I do believe she's been on her best behavior this week out of gratitude!
Well that's all for now...Happy Easter everybody!!! We will be going to Dad's house this morning and then coming back to Mom's this afternoon, in an effort to spend some time with everyone before we head back to Ohio tomorrow. Love you all!