No, I haven't fallen off the face of the Earth. Just been a BAD blogger. In my defense, though, I notice my last "real" post was April 23, which happened to be the day before Little League started. And wouldn't you know it, yesterday just happened to be the last day of Little League play-offs. Wonder what has been occupying my time in between...
So, you know how it goes: long, random thoughts/updates to follow. Get comfortable.
Both of our boys played Little League this year. Isaac played for Little Caesar's Pizza in the minor leagues and played all over the place (lots of time at short and outfield...in the minor leagues it is hard to define exactly "where" in the outfield a player is playing.) He got to pitch once which was definitely one of his favorite things. He was a whiz on the base paths and I think we may have a future Ricky Henderson.
Gabe played in the major leagues for USWA. He played lots of first base and left field as well as doing some pitching. His team's coach has a great record and this year was no exception. They won the first half of the season which took them to the play-offs at the end of the year. They won first place in the Bay County tournament. Gabe had 3 RBI in the final game and got a mention in the newspaper and on the local news.
Completing the school year meant Laura finishing her first year of public school as a freshman at Western High. She had a great year, finishing with a 3.8 GPA. We are so proud but not surprised. She also took choir and is learning how to develop her natural vocal talents. Gabe completed 7th grade, meaning, if he follows in his sisters' footsteps, that we will have just one more year at home with him. He enjoys the sleeping in but is looking forward to high school sports. Isaac completed 5th grade and I can see the beginnings of some maturity with him. There was such a difference between the beginning and the end of the year!
Starting in May I took the online photography class at
Jessica Sprague dot com that I've been wanting to take forevah! I followed it up with her portraiture class. It was GREAT to finally learn some basics about how to use my camera but let me tell you I have LOT of work to do! The main thing I've accomplished thus far is to be able to recognize what it is that I don't like or isn't working about my photos. Practice, practice, practice! So glad I'm learning this in the digital age and not having to develop rolls and rolls (and rolls) of film! One of my assignments:
May meant both boys had birthdays! Isaac is now in double digits at 10 and Gabe is onety-three. (Some refer to this as 13 but I've decided we have enough teenagers in the house so I'm sticking with onety-three for now thankyouverymuch.) Apparently that magical birthday caused him to start sleeping in and his voice to start changing. Even though this is my third child it is my first time going through this process with a boy so it is fun to be experiencing it almost like the first time.
Let's see...in June we finally broke down and replaced our non-functioning oven and are the proud owners of our first gas stove now! It seems as if appliances just don't last as long as I think they should. I'm not sure if it is a sign of today's workmanship, the workload our family places on them, or a combination of both.
In June I also had the pleasure of hosting a Hasbro Game Night, thanks to
House Party dot com! They offer a fabulous program in helping companies publicize their products and I was selected to receive the just-unreleased latest Trivial Pursuit game,
Bet You Know It! The company provided me with a free advance copy of the game as well as two more of their games and lots of snacks and coupons to share as well! I think everyone had a great time and I must say that the twists in the new game were a lot of fun and made it very fast-moving for a Trivial Pursuit game! There is betting involved and a chance to win a wedge on every turn. You ought to check it out when it is in stores August 1!
The week prior to our Game Night Pablo very graciously offered to paint most of the interior of our house. When we first painted right after moving in in 2003 I wanted a gold color but chickened out and went with a paler yellow. I was never really happy with it. Well, we never finished the painting and after all these years even the parts we had done were in need of touch up. Since we needed to repaint all of it we decided it was time to rectify our prior mistake and go ahead and make the change! So, after many experiments with color we finally found one we were happy with and Pablo has repainted the entire main level and just has the small hallway upstairs to finish, plus some red accent places for which I need to purchase more paint. Looks so much warmer and richer and happier now!
The end of June was spent at what we've come to think of as "our" summer cabin, at
Rose Hills Resort in Rose City. It has become such a tradition that going there feels almost like going home. We stayed a full week but as always it felt too short. It was especially fun this year to see Lillian and Isaac's advances in swimming. Elaina loved the water as well! A couple of personal highlights...I caught the biggest fish (excluding Lucifer the catfish) and I was told that I got as 'dark as vanilla' from all the sun. I also got my picture taken with a dandelion almost as tall as I was.
Speaking of Elaina, she is teaching her Mama and Dada what us more experience parents already know...how very quickly babies grow and change! She is sooo happy and is pretty much crawling. She may not look too smooth with it yet, but she wants to get places so bad that she gets the job done.
This summer has also seen us returning to work with the youth group! I've missed the kids so much and it is fun to get opportunities to hang out with them again. I hope they don't mind too much having us around again!
And just to share one recent glimpse of all my babies all together...
By the way, if you are not particularly sensitive to language and are in a silly mood, scroll down and play the video clip below, "Ninja Say What?"
Lillian's history/geography will be along the same lines - Intro to World Cultures. Here are the books I'll read to her
For Science, Gabe will be studying Physical Science with this program (one of the few things I'm not having to purchase new this year)
Isaac will be using the elementary version of the same curriculum and will spend the year studying astronomy. (This is another thing I'm re-using.)
Language arts is where it gets more complicated.
because I think we will like at least certain aspects of it and will get some use out of it--
Our copy is so well-loved that the binding is completely worn out. It is currently hole-punched and in a 3-ring binder.
Gabe also has a little logic book to work in
