Got a bullet? A knife? I”ll even take a pillow over the head!!

Bleh.  I hate being sick!!

Alexis was the first one to come down with the flu.  She was puking on Tuesday morning, but wanted to go to school so she didn’t get too far behind.   There is no way she was going to school a mere 2 hours after she ran across my bedroom holding her vomit in until she reached the sink.  Good aim, honey!  Love ya for that!!

She felt great the rest of the day, but that next morning she was feeling nauseous again.  Two mornings in a row.  No fever.  Just puking and then she would feel better.   So, she stayed home again on Wednesday.  I was out of town, so John was in charge of tending to our puking child.

I was having a great time in Rapid City.  Had a nice social outing with my friends/coworkers and got to bed around 12:00 midnight (I was a good girl).  At 5:00am, I woke up and wasn’t feeling all that hot.  It took all of 15 minutes for me to go from “not feeling so hot” to “freaking kill me already!!”   There I was, out of town, in a hotel room praying for death.

I sent Alexis a text message stating, “You made me sick.  You are grounded until I feel better!!”

She’s all better and I’m still not feeling too hot.  I might just lick her toothbrush when she is sleeping and give this gift back to her.

Say it Loud and Proud, Tyler!

Happy Halloween!!  What a fun day!  The kids carved their pumpkins and did a great job.  The seeds are soaking in salt water, as I type, and we are all trying to relax from our night of trick or treating.

Tyler was an alien for Halloween and he looked great!  He is our last child to trick or treat.  The official end to trick or treating (in our house) is 5th grade.  Once you get in middle school, you are a bit too old.  Alexis came with to walk with Tyler and I.  Of course, some houses offered her candy too.  At one house, Alexis said “Mom, I think she might think I”m 11″.  Alexis is 12 — so that wouldn’t be a far stretch, but whatever, right?  The next house, the lady said, “Hello, girls — have a good night!”.  We walked a ways and I said, “Honey, I think she thinks I”m 11, too”.

Alexis was helping remind Tyler to say “Trick or Treat” and “Thank you”.  He did very well on his own, so he didn’t need any prompting.  (That is a HUGE pet peeve of mine — kids not saying Trick or Treat…or saying Thank You when they are getting candy.)   Anyway, at one house I hear Alexis chime…”Say it loud and proud, Tyler!”  Sounded funny coming from an 11 year old.

So, I’m going to take her advice and say it Loud and Proud — HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

What is YOUR Dork name?

This is the conversation I had with Tyler over lunch hour:

Ty:  Mom, what would my name be if I was a dork?

Me: What?!?! <laughing> What do you mean?

Ty:  Well, if I was a dork, which one would I be…you know, Snow White and the 7 Dorks.  If I was the 8th one, what would my name be?

Me: <laughing harder>  It would be “Tyler”. 

I just love this kid!

We’re hot-tubbin’ !!

Our hot tub is in!  We decided to sell our camper as the kids were getting to the age where they wanted to be at school dances, hanging out with friends, or at school sporting events…more than camping with the flies and the mosquitos.  It served its purpose for the time that we had it – and we had some great memories with it.   We may have a camper, in the future, but for now we are going to try RELAXING  for a bit. 

The hot tub doesn’t require 3 days of getting the camper and the house ready for a weekend trip…doesn’t require a 32 foot driveway to park it in….and it only takes 3.5 seconds to get from our patio door to the welcoming bubbles of the hot tub.   We had our first hot tub experience on  September 26th (a day after our 16th anniversary)…and loved it!

The kids are enjoying it as well.  They already have had a couple friends in it and they seem to enjoy it.  I”ll upload a photo in the next day or so!  Check back!

Volleyball has arrived!

Alexis has volleyball practice EVERY DAY after school, until 5pm.   They work them HARD.  Their first day of practice, they were obviously trying to weed out those girls that weren’t truly interested in putting forth 100% — as they were relentless.  Alexis came home, ran her fingers across her forehead and screamed, “What is THIS!?!!?  I think I’m melting!”  Despite running a half marathon, this is the first time in her life she worked up a sweat where she was dripping.  She can’t say she didn’t give it her all!

Their first game is scheduled this Monday.  The unfortunate part is, our town has 46 girls out for Volleyball and the opponents only has 26 girls out for volleyball.  This means that only 26 girls from Alexis’ team could go.  I prepared her, telling her that she needs to accept if she wasn’t selected and to do so gracefully.  The coaches will be watching their reactions and it will tell alot of their sportsmanship. 

That night, Alexis came home and was all smiles (she was trying not to, though!).  There was no doubt she made the 26 selected, even though she tried to convince us she hadn’t.  So, in a couple days, I will make the drive to see her play in her first game.  I promised not to start the “wave”, to scream her name, or to go out in the middle of the court to take photos.  I will be on my best behavior…or I might not be asked back.  Teenagers!

The American Flag

The American Flag is to be flown with the stripes flowing downward.  The stars are in the upper left hand corner.  What would you think if you saw the flag being flown upside down?  Would it bother you?  Would you say something to the person?

Surprisingly, many didn’t know that displaying the flag upside down it is an official sign of “distress”.   

THE FLAG CODE

Title 36, U.S.C., Chapter 10

As amended by P.L. 344, 94th Congress

Approved July 7, 1976

§ 176. Respect for flag: No disrespect should be shown to the flag of the United States of America; the flag should not be dipped to any person or thing. Regimental colors, State flags, and organization or institutional flags are to be dipped as a mark of honor.

(a) The flag should never be displayed with the union down, except as a signal of dire distress in instances of extreme danger to life or property.

4th Grade and 7th Grade — Here they come!!

School started TODAY!!  We now have a 7th grader (Alexis) and a 4th grader (Tyler).   Wow.  Where did THAT time go!?!?!

Alexis is 12 — going on 16.  She is very much into texting and hanging out with her friends.  She has been spending time with a nice boy (if there is such a thing, when you have a daughter) and is heading towards the teenage years.  I predict that John and I will have our first gray hairs this year.  I can all but guarantee it!  Although her social life seems to be her highest goal — she is well aware that her cellphone is directly linked to the grades she receives.   “A’s and B”s or the cellphone leaves!”  Yeah, she didn’t think that was as clever as I did…   

Tyler is almost 10.  He is our comedian.  He doesn’t try to be funny — but he is hilarious!  He has some funny one-liners and is totally sincere when he is spouting them off.   He excels in his school work, so I hope this year is no different.   The transition from 3rd grade to 4th grade is a huge one, and we have noticed that others haven’t faired as well in that transition — so we hope that he continues to make good choices. 

I sure miss the younger years of walking the kids to the playground on the first day.  I’ve already been banned from joining them for school lunch…so it was just a matter of time that the first day of school ended at the driveway.    The kids had a great first day — hope the rest of the year runs as smooth!!

Vacation 2009

We’re gonna win, Twins!  We’re gonna score!  We’re gonna win, Twins! Watch that baseball soar!

The Minnesota Twins will be moving to an outdoor stadium next year, so we wanted to take the kids to one of the last Metrodome games so they can say they went there.  On Sunday, August 16th, the Twins played the Indians at the Metrodome.  The kids were excited to see how large the Metrodome really was, and we had a good time watching the game.  Unfortunately, the Twins lost that day — but it was still a fun time.

On Monday, we all went to Valleyfair.  This was, by far, an “interesting” day.  Tyler may need years of therapy after riding “The Wild Thing” — a rollercoaster that is rated a “5″ for a thrill factor.   His screams for help were very real but unfortunately there wasn’t alot we could do for him, once the ride took off…well, except laugh   Some quotes from Tyler on his death plunge were, “I am never riding this again….EVER!!!!”, “You have GOT to be kidding me!!”, and numerous high pitch screams.  He was not screaming for the thrills….he was truly scared to death.  By the end of the ride, the rest of us were laughing so hard that we had tears down our face, just over Tylers reaction.   We understand we aren’t going to win “Parent of the Year” by laughing at his misery…but it was quite entertaining!

On Tuesday, we went to Mt. Olympus in Wisconsin Dells.  This is a huge waterpark with a new attraction — The Wave.  One huge wave would push against the people in the water, throwing them backwards many many feet.   There was no controlling where your body may land.  Tyler is still looking for his nipple that scraped across the bottom of the pool.   He’s pretty proud of his road rash on his chest, though! 

Mt. Olympus has a HUGE rollercoast called “Hades” — it’s nasty.  Tyler was not going to step foot near that thing, after his encounter with the “Wild Thing” at ValleyFair.   John, Alexis, Paula, Zach and Jordyn all went on the ride and LOVED it.  I am not that much of a daredevil, so I happily stayed with Tyler.  There was an hour wait for the ride, but apparently they all thought it was well worth it.  I”ll stick with my teacup rides and ferris wheels!

 We stayed with my brothers family and spent the majority of our time with them enjoying the attractions.    A fun time was had by all.  Although it was a very long ride home, it was worth every mile!

Eh, Good Night…

Clean sheets.  There is nothing better than crawling into freshly washed and dried bed sheets.  I spent the day cleaning the house and doing laundry.  The final load was our bedroom sheets/blankets.  At 10:30pm, they were finally done.  I put the sheets on the bed while Tyler let the dogs out.  It was perfectly timed — I had only the pillow cases to put on, and then I was able to crawl into my nice fresh sheets.  I get to be the first one!!

Just as I plopped the last pillow on the bed, turned the sheets back to crawl in….and in runs Rosco.  He belly flops on the bed with his slobbery jowels.  Seriously?  Not only did ROSCO get to be the first one in my nicely cleaned sheets, but he had doggy drool with him!?!?  Uggh.   Luckily, it was just a few bubbles on his jowels, so all was still well.

John came up to tuck Rosco and I in.  Rosco was so cute.  He was stretched out on the bed, enjoying the attention that John was giving him.  John gave him kisses, told him how handsome he was, pet his head, kissed his nose etc etc etc for about 30 minutes.  (Yes, this is a nightly occurance – he’s one spoiled pup!).  After Rosco was successfully tucked in, John got up and headed towards the door….”good night”, tossed in the general vicinity of me.

We both immediately caught the irony, so he had to come give me a kiss good night too.  Rosco got 1/2 hour of doting, I got a quick peck (of course, AFTER he had kissed the dog that eats dog poop).  Oooh, he’s lucky that Rosco stole my heart, too.  I can’t be held accountable for what I may have done had I despised the dog or something.

I sure hope that Rosco and I don’t BOTH need a kidney someday.  I shudder to think how THAT would turn out!!! 

We’re going to the the playoffs!

Tylers teams successfully beat the Phillies last night in a gut-wrenching, extra inning, nailbiting, decision making game.  It was exhausting…and I only had to watch!

It was relatively quiet the first innings, when the Marlins (Ty’s team) pulled ahead 3-1.  There is a league rule that each pitcher can only pitch 2 innings per game.  This is crucial for this story.  The first two innings was Pitcher #1.  The second two innings were Pitcher #2.  The fifth inning was Pitcher #3.

Pitcher #3 was struggling.  He’s generally a composed, non-emotional child..but it was clear that he was past the point of regaining his confidence when he walked home the Phillies run #2, and the tying run.   The coach walked to the pitchers mound, talked with the child, and made a motion to the first baseman to swap spots with Pitcher #3.   Guess who the first baseman was?  Tyler.

The bases are loaded.  There are two outs and the winning run is on third base.  If the runner gets home, the game is over as well as the Marlins season.  If Tyler can pitch them out of the inning, they play the next inning.  Tyler was warming up and I was getting a knot in my stomach.  He was ready.  The batter came to the plate….one pitch….the batter hit it and popped it up to the first baseman.  Out!!!!  They were out of the inning with one pitch.  Awesome teamwork!  Tyler is now on cloud nine.

Next inning.  Tyler is again pitching.  It’s still a tie.  I’m still sick to my stomach.  There was one out and a slow grounder came to the pitcher (Tyler).  He fielded it without any difficulty, threw it to the first baseman — but it was WAYYYY over the basemans head.  Runners were circling the bases and ended up with the winning run on 3rd base, another runner on 2nd base.  The entire crowd did an involuntary gasp when Tyler had his wild throw.  I didn’t want the season to end this way.  Tyler would have been devastated and hard on himself for overthrowing first like he did.  He generally has awesome aim, but apparently the excitement took over and he lost his concentration.

Tyler still had a job to do, though.  He had to get two more outs and keep the runners where they were.  The next couple pitches were a blur, but I think he struck out a guy and then the next one grounded out.   They were out of the inning without any damage done.  Whew!  I couldn’t care less if the Phillies hit a homer in the next inning and won it — as long as Tylers error didn’t cost the championship, I knew he would be fine.

Since Tyler pitched ONE BALL in the previous inning — he was done.  He couldn’t pitch again as he technically pitched two innings.  We have used 4 pitchers.  Our only other normal pitcher was in the hospital.  The Marlins managed to get two more runs in the top of the inning, pulling ahead of the Phillies.  If the Marlins could hold the Phillies, in the bottom of the eighth, they are going to the playoffs.  If they couldn’t — the Phillies were.  We have no pitchers left, though.

While we were batting, the other coach took a few other players to see which one would be the unlucky soul that gets shoved up on the mound to maintain our lead.  Pitcher #5 was selected as the most likely individual to do the job.  He warmed up and our hope began to dwindle.  He was having difficulty hitting the strike zone.  The players were cheering him on, knowing that he hasn’t had the experience the other ones had…but he was up there…and that says ALOT.

So, after a few balls, Pitcher #5’s father yelled, “Just play catch with him”.  This is not a unique cheer, it’s said often to struggling pitchers….but apparently it did the trick.  He ended up striking out a batter and the fielders helped with the grounders that were hit.  The Marlins clinched a spot in the playoffs!!!  It took an hour of overtime to do it, but they did it!

I can honestly say that this game was the best played game the entire season.  Every player contributed to the win and it was truly a team effort.  The kids signed the game ball and it was delivered to the hospitalized player.   Just a storybook ending to a wonderful season.  Of course, we still have the championship game to play — they are playing for 3rd or 4th place.    No matter how they do, they had a summer to remember and they should be proud of how their team pulled together to get there….I know I am!