Field trip to the MINE....

We got up and headed out at 7:50 this morning. Stupid me left the directions on the kitchen island, but thankfully i looked over them before I went.

We arrived a little early and talked to some people. The kids were all worried that their friends weren't going to come. Trust me guys, they're coming.

The trip itself was very interesting - I managed to stay engaged the first hour. But when it came to the kids digging through the rocks, well I opted to sit on a rock. I was alraedy incredibly filthy, no need for me to roll around on the rocks.

The kids LOVED the trip. They want to go BACK! I think it also helped that LegoQueen already knew one of the people giving the tour (her friends' dad) so she wasnt really shy about asking questions and making comments. She said she learned a lot of new things about mining.

Here are some pictures:





And this is one the best ones - check out the kid rolling down the hill. Yup - that is LegoQueen's buddy.


As if a fun filled trip to the mine wasn't enough - we had softball practice thsi afternoon, with batting practice afterwards. I stink - I can hit the ball, but its always directly at someone.

*sigh*

I am looking forward to Park Day tomorrow. One of my friends can't make it - I am sure they will be missed (and they are probably totally bummed that they can't make it)

I am totally ready to crawl into bed....

The yarn that aspires to become socks.....

I have learned 2 things while making this thing....

1. Always use a row counter - don't rely on your memory. You can ignore this if you intend on only having one foot covered.

2. Don't use the 1.99 yarn - splurge a little and get the $5 yarn with a 50% off coupon. *snicker*

While these were fun to knit, I am currently stuck, and will need to seek instruction from the highest yarn commander (my friend Khris) on what the heck to do next. She may tell me to rip it out and start over. I am actually okay with doing that, but I sure hope I don't have to. Do you know how long its taken me to get to this point? Not just with this, but with all my failed attempts along the way? I've ripped back a couple times though - what is one more? I am super excited though.

Tomorrow we are goin on a field trip to a mine. I forgot what kind of mine, but its not a coal mine, which makes me breathe a little easier. We are going with friends, and my kids are so excited. A mine? And friends!? Party!

It should make dragging them out of bed tomorrow a little bit easier.

Unexpected....

Today I decided to take the kids out to the park. We went to the one that has the community center - I wanted to check on my missing glove (no, I haven't given up yet!)

So while we were in there, guess who walked in?

You'll never guess.....

Okay - I'll tell you. It was Abraham Lincoln! Actually, according to LegoQueen, it was a man DISGUISED as Abe. Yes, we are working on vocabulary, lol. We'll get it right eventually!

So apparently the junior high kids were doing a re-enactment of the Civil War. They had tents on the baseball fields, and there were a ton of Union Soldiers, and noticably lesser amount of Confederates. There were cannons, and I got the courage to walk over and ask if I could take a few pictures. I was in luck - they had forgotten their camera and i could take as many pics as I wanted, I just had to promise tosend a few to them so they could put them on their website.

I got quite a few nice ones, but these are my two favorites:




Overall it was very disorganized and my kids were disappointed. At the end the teachers decided that they didn't trust the kids not to hit each other with their rifles. So the COnfederates marched across the field and died along the way. Some refused to die, though - and thought they were cool. I was still trying to figure out why Abe was there....and to top it off, he kept hanging out on the confederate side.....
I was talking to a friend on the phone, and I told her that the kids in blue looked like they belonged in some kind of prison courtyard. They were pretty scary lookin - lol!

Tomorrow is my softball game - Hongo is going to take me early so that we can practice....okay so *I* can practice my hitting, lol.

I'm looking forward to a NICE holiday weekend.

Hey Pitcher - look at me......

There's a cheer that my softball girls do when they are trying to distract the pitcher....
It goes:

Hey Pitcher - look at me,
I'm a monkey in a tree!
oooh ah ah, oooh ah ah

Then they jump and climb on the fence and look freakishly funny. I can't be drinking anything when they do that cheer - it cracks me up.
So naturally - little sister loves that cheer, and when I went out back to get some shots, that is what she was doing:
So for the sake of my exercise, I took what I could get and here is a 100% crop of her eyes:


Hairy Boy (and as you will notice, he isn't so hairy since I buzzed him last night) was not to be outdone by his sister. He doesn't bother singing the cheer - he prefers to just act like a monkey and hopes I'll give him bananas.
But he moved around too much for me to get manual focus. Once he settled down, this is what I got:

Dirty face and all. I must have cropped this photo a million different ways, and none of them looked very good. Maybe that will be my next challenge - creative cropping and composition.




Anyway - here is his 100% crop of the eyes:


LegoQueen was much too sophisticated to take a picture. She looked tired too - red rimmed eyes, bags under the eyes. I took a picture and she looked horrid. I will save that one for when I want to really work on my Photoshop skills - YIKES!

So those were my attempts for today. We didn't go to the park today - I opted to catch up on my housework since I will be gone on Thursday. DramaQueen has another dentist appointment. Its an earlier appointment, so no worries - I am sure we will make it to Park Day to visit with friends.

Today I was browsing my cousin's MySpace, and he had a picture of my dad from last year's fair. I looked at it, and my heart was incredibly heavy with sadness, but I didn't cry. You know what my first thought was?

"I wonder if I can get my hands on the original and make it look decent, so I can print it for myself"

The picture is grainy, underexposed, and if I didn't already see pictures of my dad at the fair, I would have not known it was him in this picture. I did try to fix it a bit and this is what I got:


Its obvious that I lightened him and then erased the background back in, but at least I can tell its my dad!
I also can envision myself grabbing a comb and smoothing the cowlick on top of his head. I was forever fixing his hair when I saw him - it would never stay down!

Why do I always pick the night time......

to practice my focus issues?

I took my camera to my softball game yesterday. I ended up scraping and bruising my elbow when I fell down trying to scoop a bad throw out of the dirt. So when I tried to hold the camera steady, my injured elbow couldn't hold the weight. The lighting outside was PERFECT, too. Bummer.
Hitting was not much better for me - I walked the first time up, struck out the second time, and lined out the third time. Ugh.

So anyway, I tried my focus last night. No one wanted to pose for me, so I grabbed one of Drama Queen's CPK dolls. Dumb doll wouldn't sit still......I'M KIDDING!!!! But the bad thing was is that DQ's room was like a cave.....I had my ISO up to 1600 and I ended up with a lot of noise in the pictures.

Hongo let me take a few pics of him, glaring at my camera while I snapped away. I'm just not getting the tilt of the camera right, so one eye is out of focus in each of them.
I have been expressly forbidden to post the results, doing so may cause involuntary single-ness.

Then tonight I dragged DQ into my room and made her sit for me. I got the cheesy grin and gigantic pupils because the lighting in my room STINKS. You can't even tell her eyes are blue in the pics.

Mondays are always a bad day for getting pictures. Today we went to the library, picked up some crickets on the way home, and we had T-Ball practice. I was also able to talk to the president of the Little League and his wife, and remind them that they promised me a few more games. I should have them by Wednesday, and that gives me extra opportunities for action shots.

Tomorrow's weather is forecasted to be nice - low 80's. So I think a trip to the park is in order, as well as a photo shoot. LegoQueen was wearing the CUTEST outfit today - picked out by yours truly. I know - i can't dress myself, but when it comes to dressing my kids I am awesome. It was one of those day where the conversation went like this:

LQ: Mommy, where is my blue shirt and plaid skirt?

Me: Didn't you wear those recently?

LQ: Its been like 3 days.

Me: Go wear something else! I'm tired of seeing that outfit, the brown capris, and the brown skirt!

LQ: But MOMMY, that is all I have!

Me: You've got to be kidding - you have clothes bursting out of the drawers in your room - you have more stuff than I do! You can't possibly be trying to tell me you have nothing else!

So after i went in her room and found shorts, gorgeous skirts that she never wears, a few nice blouses, I put together an outfit that I am sure I will see added into the 3 outfit rotation, LMAO.

Maybe I can find something just as cute for tomorrow.....

I prefer days like this....

The days where everything just seems to fall juuuuuust right, and it all goes smoothly.

This morning we had a T-Ball game, and the kids were extra helpful with getting the morning chores out of the way.
The game was great - every single one of the kids hit coach-pitch, with the exception of ONE time that Hairy Boy needed the tee. In the first inning, nearly every kid hit the first pitch, and they hit them FAR!
I was so proud of them!

On the way to the game, my coach called and told me our pictures were in and could he pick them up. I told him YES! The parents are totally bugging me for the pictures (rightfuly so, I might add!) and this would be great to have and hand out. He also asked if we might be available later so thatthe guys could get together and play a game at the park. I told him to give me a call and we would see.

We did end up going to the park, and it was a blast. We were supposed to go to the fair, but Hongo took one look at the line to GET IN and he said no way. Bummer.

We got to the park at 3, and left at 6:30. I talked to my VP of softball, and the guys hooked up with some other men and started a game. One of our players had to go, so I went out and joined in. I definitly found my swing today, and I was hitting really well. My glove also got some breaking in.

While we were there, all the kids were really good, and I even was able to find the missing pictures. They were put in the boy's box, and so the coordinator brought them back. But no one ever called to tell me, so the photo people brought a re-order (the one my coach picked up) so now I have doubles of all the girls pictures.

This weeks photo challenge will be focus close up. I can't seem to get sharp images when I do closeups, now I am making it my mission to accomplish with week. So be prepared for lots of EYES!

Crazy kids!

My kids had to go to bed without dessert today! They were THAT bad!

They've been fighting a lot this week, but i have found that if they stay away from each other, they are okay.

Well, today was Lego CLub and I told the two little ones "Bring something to play with so you don't bother the older kids" DQ brought her bear that she made at a friends birthday party 2 weeks ago, and HB brought his lightsaber. Real nice - those were not things I had in mind, but they spent so much time mulling over what to bring, that we were running late.

HB was bad - I caught him throwing a Lego at one of the boys. So I stopped him and put him in time out, facing the wall. He was fighting back his tears, and I was so embarrased. On the way home, he said he wanted the boys to like him. *sigh* poor kid. He's only 4, and he adores older boys so much, but he's too little to play with them. Everywhere we go, he's usually the littlest one. Softball games - all the kids are older, Lego Club - all the kids are older, or he plays with DQ and her friends, Park Day - there is ONE little boy who he really gets along with, but that is dependent on if his mom brings him to the park. yesterday HB was fighting with another boy who is 7, I think. HB wanted to play keep away, and the older kid was on top of him, trying to get whatever it was that HB had. Even on his own T-Ball team, he is the smallest.

Despite his size, people are SO good to him.

Anyway, after we got home and had dinner, we set out to find me a new softball glove. Mine is missing. I discovered it Wednesday night after the game, we were playing catch and I couldn't find it.
I looked at Hongo and I was holding back my tears, and he couldn't figure out what was wrong with me. Its just a glove - a really old, 16+ year old glove that still had my maiden name on it. It didn't have any padding and it was really cheap.

Why the heck would i want that old thing?

Well, because my dad gave me that glove. He bought it for me, and you know that softball was "our thing" It was the thing that kept us semi-bonded, and it had sentimental value. I don't think Hongo will ever understand how much it means to me.

So I have a new glove now, but I'm still holding out hope to find the old one, even if it means I lock it away somewhere.

Don't ask, don't ask, don't sk.....

She asked.

It was one of those times where a child drops in on adult conversation and you hope that she won't ask questions, but then she does....

One of my players has an older sister that is a pitcher. She is one of my coaches, but doesn't really do a whole lot of it due to her schedule.
On Saturday, she invited my main pitcher "A" to come to the park today for private pitching lessons with her and her sister. "A" asked me if I thought she should go, and i told her she really should - she would benefit from one on one. I know - because LQ does when I have time to work with her.

Anyhow, LQ had that GREAT outing on Monday, and one of the parents asked me if I had bought her lessons, and who were they from. I told them no, that I had actually taken the time to work with her in-depth and she finally understands what kind of commitment she will have to make her into the player she wants to be.
Yesterday, "A" and her family were here, and we were discussing it. Hongo offered to have "A" come over during the summer for lessons in case the ones with the other girls didn't work out. He offered this to the DAD, not to A. Dad was happy and then whent he girls came up to get more pizza, he asked A if that was something she wanted. She said yes- but did that mean she wasnt' going tomorrow?

I cringed. I waited for LQ to say "Where are you going tomorrow?" And she did. And A answered her. Apparently there is a private coach going there to give lessons to the older girl - the two younger ones are tagging along.
I waited for the next question "how come I wasn't invited?" But LQ didn't say it. As the night passed, and today we got through our day without her asking...I thought she had forgotten. Or not cared.

BUt sure enough, as she was prepping her uniform for the game, out it came.

"Mommy, why wasn't i invited to the pitching clinic? Am I not good enough to go?"

Think quick, Mama!
I told her no, that she already had a personal pitching coach. One that had spent many years refining her style and practicing the basics till they were perfect. She looked at me and said "I think I'm luckier than those girls."

No LQ, *I* am the lucky one. Lucky to be patient enough to teach you, lucky to have the time and energy to do so.

**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Something funny -
Monday night LQ was up to bat. She was hit in the back by a pitch. There was a collective "OH!" that came from the stands. I could hear the "thud" sound it made. LQ turned, looked at her dad (who was coaching 3rd base) and trotted off to 1st. She let out a huge "THAT HURT SO BAD!" when she reached first. I had to laugh - I have told her "if you can get up and go to first, you'll be fine"
When she came in, she told me "I made it all the way around - and it still hurts."

As if making it around was supposed to cure her!

First attempt at Fairies

Well, those were my first two fairy tries. I think I need a little bit more patience, and a better location. I was trying to find something shady, but the front yard didn't have much. I also have to work on blending her more in with the background.
The first photo I sent to Hongo on his phone, and the second I sent to the ILs via email.
Not bad for my first day doing it thought!

Mixed emotions....

Today I feel really up and down.

Hongo asked if we could have people over tomorrow, and I told him yes. So I set out to make sure the house was taken care of, and looked to see if there was anything needing attention.

The kids' rooms, of course!

So I was feeling really proud of Hongo - letting people in. He's always been about shutting people out, except for me.

Then I had T-Ball practice. I was set on doing something "different" with them to spice it up and make it more fun. I feel like I neglect them sometimes in favor of LegoQueens's team. We played games that worked on our throwing and catching skills. At the end of the practice the kids were all smiles and happy. I asked them if they had fun and it was a unanimous "YEAH!"

After that we had dinner and went to the field for LQ's game. She had been practicing all afternoon to pitch, but i told her it was unlikely, because my other pitcher was going to do it. After watching both girls warm up, the one I was going to use asked me to put Courtney in. She just wasnt' "feeling it" and she needed more time.

Keep this in mind....LQ and the other girl (both coach's daughters) were there 30 minutes before everyone else. They warmed up together and by the time everyone else arrived, they were ready to rest. There is a girl that has been literally begging to pitch (she will be referred to as "K") and the minute she got there, she said "Coach, am I pitching today?"
Now don't get me wrong - the thought did cross my mind today. Maybe I will let her because the chances of us winning today were slim. They slaughtered us last time we played. But i was feeling lucky, and I told her "no - not today" This child asks me several times a game, and her buddy (the lazy catcher) bugs me about it too.
So I told her no, and she cried. And I didn't care. I am seriously sick of her bugging me. She didnt' start crying in front of me, I saw her as we were getting ready to take the field.
So she figured she would be defiant and not listen to my coaches when they were trying to position her. She was not scoring points with me. So the next inning, I sat her out. Her friend tried to bug me about the pitching again, and I told her "It shouldn't concern you - worry about yourself."
By the end of the game, the girl had asked me 3 times, her brother asked, and her friend asked. The final straw came at the team meeting. She raised her hand and said "Coach, am I going to pitch next game?" I looked around and I looked right at her and said, " You know K, with my own kids - if they keep asking for something and won't stop - they don't get it. PLEASE stop asking me."

And it was really quiet, until one of the girls raised her hand, and we moved on.

What is the harm is letting her pitch? Well, because she CAN'T pitch her way out of a paper bag. She is horrible. My girls don't seem to be very supportive of the pitcher if she's walking the batters around. I've talked to them several times, and it doesn't work. They get frustrated, and then they get mean. Except for maybe 2-3 girls. The rest of them attack. "Come on! Pitch the ball! What is wrong with you?! Throw a strike!" There is also self-esteem damage when I have to call time out and take the ball away and give it to another player. I've had to do it twice, and it nearly broke my heart both times. Once it was to LQ, and the second time it was to my regular pitcher.

I fully intend on having K pitch, I really do. But when she bugs me like she does, it makes me not want to let her because I tell her to knock it off and she doesn't. I'm all about not giving in and letting kids have their way. EVEN my OWN kids. Hairy Boy begs, whines and throws fits to be 1st base every game, and to bat first. HB can't catch the other kids' throws, and there are other kids who want to play there. So obviously he doesn't get his way. He even sits on the bench. I think I've let him play 2 innings at that position. DQ is happy to play anywhere, but she has asked a couple of times for certain spots.

I try very hard to not play favorites with LQ. I stick her in the outfield, and I sit her on the bench. She pitched FANTASTIC tonight - 3 innings and she gave up 4 runs. I was going to sit her in the 4th, but Hongo stuck her at shortstop. She was rewarded for a job well done. Today she earned her first game ball. Its taken all season for her to earn it. She is also the one who gets yelled at and the pressure put on her. The other girls have it gooooood...It was a VERY close game until the end when I took LQ out. I should have left her in.

SO I guess I have been feeling a little defensive tonight. I am tired of the whiners and the criers, but loving the girls who will try anything and play anywhere, even if it is sitting on the bench so that another girl can get in the game.... I am seriously considering putting "M" to start on Wednesday because she didnt' give me crap today about pitching. SHe wanted to, but after she saw how the game was going she was happy to be in the field. She even cheerfully sat one inning so that LQ didn't have to.

Its tough - I wish I had another coach to vent to. Hongo and my other coach are hard core and just say "oh well - we have a job to do." Hongo tells me not to worry about being liked by everyone on the team.

The world seems so big, yet it really is so small...

Yesterday was a really FUN day.

Hongo and I split up for the games, I took the morning game, and he was going to prep for the second, and we would meet up again at the second.

At the T-Ball game, It happened that one of my softball girls was watching it because a child from her church was playing our team. She came over and we talked for a bit, and then I didn't see her anymore. After the game, I was loading the kids into the car and her mom pulls up and asks if I would mind taking her daughter with me. Of course not! So she hopped in and we drove away.
Then at the softball game, one of my T-Ball kids and his parents came up to say hi. They were attending a birthday party at the same park. Too cool. They got to meet the girls and see how I am with older children. Its not all rainbows and butterflies in Little League, LOL!
The game was great - we lost, but it was an action packed game. LegoQueen was covering for my injured player at 1st base, and she did pretty well. She caught one, and made 2 plays at first. After the game, "the boys" stuck around and played Over the Line while I watched the kids. I talked to my 3rd base/pitcher for a while. She was asking a lot of questions, and some of them I had to think for a bit on how to answer tactfully. I try not to let the kids know which girls are not my favorites (I like them all but sometimes we just don't click, you know what I mean?) and so I think I did a pretty good job. I called my team mom to clarify times, and she said they would be late because they were having old neighbors over for a BBQ.

Then it was time for the game. This is when the worls just seems so small. We were there early, and waiting around for everyone else to arrive. They started walking down the aisle, and I had to do a double take. The "neighbors" happened to be one of the guys I coached with last year!!!!! Pat looked at me, then at Hongo, and then back at me. There was a whole lot of "I know you!" "You know them?" I didn't know you knew each other!"

That just made the evening SO much more relaxing. We did a whole lot of hugging and catching up and it was just really fun. It made the game that seemed like it would never end that much more bearable. My younger coach was trying to incite riots by rooting for the visiting team, and I leaned over and told him "When they come to beat you up, none of us have your back, okay?" Everyone laughed SO hard.

Lots of fun, and I loved the fireworks show! We are all going to get together again at the team party.

Blood on my clothes that is not my own.......

Today we had an unfortunate accident at practice. We were winding down with some casual hitting, and one of my girls had a ball bouce up and hit her inthe face. Her nose was bleeding A LOT and her eye was swelled shut. Her parents were called, and I ran to get the first aid kit. I had blood all over my legs and my hands. Hongo had some on his shoes. It was awful.

If you could spare some good thoughts for Miss Cailey, I would appreciate it. She is an awesome kiddo, and I feel TERRIBLE. I do want to give kudos to the adults there. Everyone remained calm and took really good care of her until her parents arrived.

As for the rest of the day.....
This is a picture I took of DramaQueen just before we left for LegoClub. I was practicing shooting in harsh sunlight with poor results, and I brought her under the porch to get at least SOMETHING usable. This was taken with my 50mm lense, ISO 100 SS 1/640 f 3.2

We went to LegoClub today - I don't think I've laughed that hard in a LONG time. The conversations were all over the place, and it was nice to relax and just be friendly with people that I am comfortable with. Tomorrow we are going to a Minor League baseball game with my softball team, and I will have to make conversation with a lot of people I am not really familair with. I spend a lot of time with the girls....not the parents. I guess I am feeling a little nervous about being in a "social" situation.

But before we can get to that, we must get through two softball games. DQ and HB have their game at 11 and LegoQueen's is at 1. What we are going to do about food, I haven't a clue. We are going to have to do SOMETHING though.

Our practice went well - with the exception of the injury. The girls were having lots of fun, and since there were only 4 girls they each got a lot of personal attention and help with the skills they needed to work on.

I am exhausted. Time for bed.

The thugs come out in the heat....

well, guess what? no pictures.

But its a good thing, and I'll tell you why.

I had planned to either take my girls to the park for some pictures, or to practice hitting with LegoQueen. I chose the latter.

We were at the park and I had the two girls with me. Hongo and Hairy Boy stayed home. There was a pee-wee game going on, so we took a far corner on the field by some guy with his boys playing football.
I was throwing to LegoQueen, and 5 teens walked up to us. Really slowly. I thoughtmaybe they were going to ask me for balls to play with, and I was getting ready to tell them no. Well, one strayed from the pack, and started walking closer to me. He was making me nervous/irritated so I asked him "Is there something you need or want to ask?" He smiled and said no. But he kept coming closer. Drama Queen was behind me, grabbing the balls that were being hit. He started walking behind me and got close to DramaQueen. I turned around and snapped at him "Hey, I don't want you near my daughter. What do you want?" He moved and lifted his shirt, exposing a gun. It LOOKED like a toy gun, but one can never be too sure. He said "does this look cheapy to you?" I said "What?" and he repeated himself. I bought myself enough time to confirm it was a toy gun, and I felt better about him not being able to shoot me. But I WAS worried that he was trying to distract me while his buddies may have attempted to snag my kids. LegoQueen had a bat, and wasn't afraid to use it.
So I said "I don't know if its a real gun - whatever. What do you want?" and he said "How about you give me your money?" I told him "Well, I don't have any money, so you'll have to shoot me here in the middle of the park." He started to walk away and when he had reached his friends, he pulled the gun out and pointed it at me. It was fake - it had an orange tip on the end that manufactuars are required to put on.
They started ambling away, until I whipped out my phone and started dialing. Then they started running away as fast as they could. I started to call home, then thought better of it and dialed sheriff's dispatch. Yes, I carry the dispatch line on my phone. It has come in handy in so many ways. I talked to dispatch, then I called Hongo. I went over to talk to the guy who was playing football with his kids and he said I should have screamed or done something and he would have come right over.
Just then two girls we knew came running over to play. One is my player, and the other is my ex-player. I had my player call her mom's cell, and I told her what happened. She said that they were planning on coming right over after the game to see what happened because her husband had seen the kids running away and me holding my phone. I told her what happened, and said I would see her in a little bit.
Just as I was getting ready to pitch to the girls, my phone rang again. Hongo had flagged down the deputy in the parking lot, and they were looking for me. I told the girls to clean up the balls and I started walking to meet the deputy.
As I was giving my report, a family came up and asked if this about the guy showing his gun to the kids on the playground. This little girl was threatened by him and ran crying to her mom. It made me SO mad. People like that ruin the park experience for children.

SO I gave my report, and I got the report number back just now. I am kicking myself - I have a camera phone and I could have tried to get a picture of them as they were leaving. They kept turning around as they were running away.

So good thing I didn't have my nice camera. It would have been difficult for me to use it as a weapon. Bats and balls are much easier to fight back with, lol.

No good pictures......

I don't have any good pictures to post today. But I WILL have some for tomorrow - I promise.

Today we played a game. It was called "Let's take Daddy with us on all of our errands" So with camera phone in hand, we took pics of us leaving the house, arriving at the bread store, arriving at the grocery, and then back home again. We sent the pictures to Daddy's phone with cute messages.
I am betting that Hongo felt like he was right there with us.....he too could hear the screaming kids with their "Don't touch me!" and "He's looking at me again!" and who can forget "Where are we going after this? What about after that? And then after that?"

*sigh*

Today is one of those days where people look at me funny when I growl at my children in the store. "Touch that anything here and you WILL be sorry!" The kids look so wide eyed and innocent, how can their mother POSSIBLY be in a bad mood with kids like that?

I blame it on lack of sleep, and a nearing mentrual cycle.

Yesterday at the softball game, I did not do so well. I went 0 for 3 batting. I made contact all 3 times, but they were grounders that were easily snagged up. Out in the field I didn't do much better - I had a ball hit to me at 3rd base and I tagged the runner out, but didn't get the call. Grrr! I prtested and then muttered "Drunk idiot" under my breath. Its true - Hongo saw the umpire sneaking beer into his water bottle! I missed a pop fly, and later on I tripped over my own foot trying to dive for a ball. I tore my pants, but thankfully it was on my knee - not somewhere else. My teammates don't know how lucky they are, lol.


The chin is feeling better - and looking better. I still have cuts inside the mouth that are trying to heal, hopefully those go away soon.

A pretty flower

I was out taking pictures of my flowerbeds this afteroon...and they reminded me that they are in dire need of some TLC. However, I came upon this flower, It stood out above the rest. While the others looked tired and spent, this one looked fresh and ready to blossom. This one was taken in full sun, ISO 100, SS of 1/3200, f 2.2 with my 35mm lense (which I am STILL trying to master) .

Today I feel like that flower - fresh and ready to open up. I love Sundays - I look forward to starting the week off on the right foot, and forgetting about the pitfalls of last week. I would be lying if I said I wasn't still walking on clouds from our win Friday night. My girls brought their best game that night. Everyone was hitting (LegoQueen was actually swinging the bat!!!!) and LQ struck out 3 in two innings, which offset her walks. She allowed 6 runs in 2 innings, and the game ended 23-11 in our favor. My shortstop made an AWESOME play to first base, and my catcher finally found some aggressiveness hidden in her back pocket. She was chasing the runners back to third base, refusing to give them an inch.

Hmmm....maybe my adult team will find their game today, and we'll win too!

They need more things to do....

the kids are watching their shoes wash.

People don't talk to you when your face is damaged

That is my life lesson today - if you are going to bruise, do it on your arm or your leg.
The woman at the drs office looked uncomfortable when I went up to pay for the kids' appointments. So did the nurse. The pediatrician looked at me funny, but didn't say a word.
The cashier at Wal_mart looked at me sympathetically, and it was one of those times that you want to just tell people, " I'm, okay! REALLY! A man didn't do this to me!" Well, actually a man DID, but it was an accident and he didn't touch me with his hands.

We were laughing about it yesterday at the game. One of my parents from last years team came up to me and said, "I heard yougot popped yesterday!" and gave me a hug. Then just before the game, one of my adult teamates was giving my coach the play- by -play of what happened.
I'm okay, really - it looks worse than it really is. I am taking steps to eradicate it from my face ASAP though.

So anyway - I took my kids to the dr for physicals today. THIS morning, actually. We got up at 7:00 because the appt was down the hill at 8:45 Gotta love getting the first appt of the day! The kids were good, except Hairy Boy was a little grumpy. He wet his underwear and he wanted me to take him home to change. He was one mad little kid! No way am I taking him all the way home to change! He was nice to the dr until she asked him what his name was. He told her his name, but she didn't hear him. He told her again, and she asked him to say his whole name. Well, now he's just ticked off and refuses to say anythign at all. Then she asked him if he knew his ABCs and he nodded, but wouldn't say anything. She asked him to count, and he stared at her. OMG that is SOOOOOOO my son. Stubborn as a mule. She suggested that I have him tested for speech, and I gleefully told her he's already been tested, and he is fine! I have the lovely documented results to send to her if she needed them. She didn't :D

After the appointment, we went to the wal-mart down there. It feels nice to walk in that walmart and not worry that someone is going to shoot me on the way out. We bought some more balls for the softball team to practice with, and some vitamins.

At the drs appt, the ped was talking about kindergarten requirements and that I had to take HB to the dentist to fulfill that requirement. I don't, BTW - but I let it go cuz I wanted to get the heck out of there.

Anyway it reminded me of yesterday at the game. I pissed one of the parents off, I think. A Player's mother had called to tell me she was sick and couldn't come. I told her that was awful, and that I hope she felt better soon. Then she told me she was having state testing this week, so the girl needed to get well fast in order for the test to be taken. I thought to myself "no, she should be getting better for her own health, not some test" but I didn't say anything.

Well, I was curious, so I asked one of the parents about the testing. She said all the kids were testing this week and its the most stressful week of the school year. Are you freaking kidding me??? I asked if the kids got graded based on how they did on the test ( I am pretty sure they don't, the school is the one that gets points) and she said they did. But the kicker was that she said that it reveals how much their child is learning at school.
Okay - I didn't do a good job at stifling a snort. Sue me. I coughed to compose myself, and said "Are you kidding?"
She wasn't.
I told her that basing her childs entire school experience on one series of tests not a good idea. She might want to look at how her child progresses through the year instead. I used a softball example to illustrate my point. I told her that every year we have tryouts. Every kid that tries out is ranked. They all go through the same drills, and they get the same number of opportunities to show their skill.
She said "but some kids don't do well at tryouts." Exactly - some kids don't do well at testing. Also, some kids get really lucky because a ball falls right in their glove, or they close their eyes and just swing the bat. That is the equivalent to GUESSING on a multiple choice test.
Just to go a little further, I asked her to compare the 11 year olds on our team. 2 have never played before, 2 have been at it for several years, and 2 are in their second year. Yet they all play on different levels that don't really corrospond with their experience years. Some girls get more help that the other, some of them NEED more help than the others, and some don't need ANY help. They are born to play and it comes easy. Instead of berating the 11 year olds and telling them they need to be at a certain level in order to compete, each child is taken and worked with according to their skill level.
I also stressed that as the softball season progresses, most girls get better at what they are doing. They learn to strengthen their skils. It is the same at school. the kids are supposed to be learning new concepts, while strengthening the skills they already possess.

This is just sports - I feel education is WAY more important, yet its not treated that way. In California it is very much a "cookie-cutter, one-size-fits-all" model.

I stress to all the girls on the team that they need to pay attention in school , and do their best. The parents love that. But when I tell them not to stress about standardized testing, its not the end all for their educational requirements, the parents get huffy.

Why would you want your kid all stressed out? Stress isn't good for anyone's body, especially a childs.