Rainy Day

It has finally decided to pour rain outside, and I'm happy to see it bead up on the new picnic table. We're waiting to see if Nolan's game is canceled. I'm hoping all the seeds we've planted start to poke through the ground.

We all slept in until 8am this morning! It was awesome. I was really sore from cutting hedges and pruning bushes at my mother-in-law's yesterday, so no waking up to exercise today. We got to Thomas' baseball game at 9:30 before the rain started. I think he is officially done with baseball this year though. He wouldn't play, and it just doesn't feel right to keep trying. Maybe next year. We're thinking of signing him up for a class at the YMCA called Presports over the summer. It has kids 3-5 years old and they try out a different sport every week. Maybe we'll find something else that may interest him. At the very least, it will help him participate in group activities. Then we'll wait and see about soccer for the fall.

Tomorrow we have a Cub Scout picnic and lots of different activities next week. I'm looking forward to next Sunday--going for a hike with my friend Marlene. I cannot wait to get out into the woods. I've narrowed it down to 4 options for her to pick: Crane Mountain, Cathead Mountain, Indian Pond or Kibby Pond. I bet the bugs will eat us alive.

Finishing touches

Kris stained the picnic table yesterday. I think it looks great.

She wasn't really able to get into the cracks between the boards in the table top and the benches. Does anyone out there with more experience in these matters know if that's going to cause problems?

Backyard projects

A big thank you to John for helping to assemble our new picnic table while he and Kim were visiting Sunday.

I had to go to two different Lowes to find one that wasn't already assembled, since I had no way to get a finished picnic table home. As it is, I'm very impressed I was able to fit the unassembled table in our Subaru Forrester.

Here's the finished product...


Like with most things we want to get rid of, we put our old patio table out by the side of the road Sunday night and it was gone the next day.

The one drawback to the picnic table is that we can't use the umbrella over the table that we had with the patio table.

Kris thought it would a great idea to hammer it into the ground in the middle of the sandbox. I told her she was nuts, that would never work. As is often the case, I was wrong...

Happy Memorial Day!

Actually, is that okay to say? We're supposed to be remembering all of those who fought for our country and many who continue to do so. I guess it's happy in the sense that we live in a country of great freedom and we have a day off to enjoy it with family. Which is what we're doing today--another fun day at the Great Escape! Then Nolan has baseball practice and we have a barbecue at my mother-in-law's. I plan to pass out at the end of the day.

Saturday Thomas had baseball and he did great! So we're sticking with it and just gently encouraging him. Chris and Nolan stayed out in the field with him which helped, and also the bribe of gum at the end! He had good hits off the tee and even got a kid out at first base.

My sister and her husband came to visit yesterday and we had a great visit. We met at a local drive-in Jumpin' Jacks and ate the best, greasiest food. The kids played at the playground and then we hung out in our backyard the rest of the day. The boys put together our new picnic table and it looks great. It was fun.

21 more days until school is over--7 more for Thomas!

24 more days

until school is over for Nolan. Thomas has 9 more days. I can't wait. I know it will be more work with the kids at home, but I will be so happy to get rid of the schedules we have. Our summer is shaping up to be a nice, relaxing one. With the price of everything at an all-time high, we've decided to just do one camping trip with Cub Scouts and that's it for camping. We'll go to Silver Lake at the end of the summer, but we are mainly staying home this year. The boys are going to go to the town's playground camp for a lot of the time. This program is great. For $24 a week, both boys get to see their friends, play outside, go on field trips and get really dirty every weekday morning. And mom will be free 3 hours every day! Now that's a vacation! Actually, I'm hoping to get some bigger projects done at home.

Anyway, today we have Nolan's conference at school and a baseball game tonight. After tonight, we will officially be half way through the season - yeah! Tomorrow is the last night for my class (Mental note--do not take a class in May next year!). This weekend we hope to get some yard work done. Thomas has his baseball game (Cross your fingers that he plays!) and my sister and brother-in-law are coming to visit. We are hoping to go to the Great Escape again on Memorial Day.

And a note to Dad--Nolan loves the Hurricane (It's like a tee for baseball except the ball is attached and swings around when you hit it.) We are losing less balls in the backyard now! He uses it a little bit every day. We've been putting it in different places in the yard to see where it works best. I think we finally found a spot. Yesterday he had a great hit at practice and I'm sure all this practice is helping. Thanks again!

Happy Niska Day!

Also Happy Birthday Mary Ellen! The card is in the mail--Thomas picked it out.

Niska Day was fun. We marched in the parade with our school and all the kids pelted candy at the onlookers--it was great. Then we chilled out at home and went up to the community day afterward. We played some games and ate kettle corn until it started to rain. I think we were there less than an hour, but that was fine by me. Nolan and Chris may go to the fireworks tonight if it doesn't rain out.

We finally got our car back today. It turns out the neck of the gas tank was rotted out and leaking. So that got replaced--just in time too! Our warranty runs out on Monday, so it was a free repair. I'm anxious to see how our gas mileage will be now.

Thomas had his kindergarten screening on Friday which went well. The parents were sent to an empty room to wait for their kids to be done. So I have no idea how it went, but nobody came screaming down the hallway for me. So that's a good sign.

On a separate note, I'm mad at Edy's ice cream. I remember last summer, it would be $2.50 on sale. Now it is $3.50 on sale. AND it is only 1 1/2 quarts! They took a 1/2 quart away! So it is more expensive to get less. Our economy is depressing me, and now I can't even drown my sorrow in delicious ice cream.

Picture time

I'm way behind on posting pictures. So here's a bunch...

Working at the car wash

Nolan's First Communion


Mother's Day at the Great Escape

That's Entertainment

Yesterday was a day of the arts. Thomas and I went to see the Albany Symphony Orchestra with our friend Grace and her mom. They do a concert for children where they do silly things in between classical songs. They teach the different instruments. We went last year and Thomas really liked it, and he liked it this time too. He's always been a music lover and can remember songs just after hearing them once. Chris and I are starting to look into getting him into an instrument. I'm not sure he's ready, but there's only one way to find out! I guess it's good to look now for the fall. I'm thinking maybe violin. We'll see. He wants to play the guitar.

Last night Chris and I went to see Movin' Out with our friends the Brownells. What an awesome show. It's a musical with very little talking. It's all Billy Joel music set to a plot line with modern dancing. The music was great and the dancing was mesmerizing. Chris got the tickets through work, so even though it was hard to get there with our busy week, who could pass it up? It was also cool going with our friends. It's the first time we've done something with just the four of us without children. Hopefully we'll have opportunities to do it more often.

Happy Mom's Day and the Baseball Blues

May seems to be flying away and carrying us with it. I can't even put my finger on any one thing that seems to be the culprit--except maybe baseball. That in combination with dentist appointments, play dates, car appointments, school, just plain regular life...I'm not complaining because it's all good! Just an exhausting pace. Another kink is the check engine light came on in our new (to us) car. It's still under warranty until May 19th, so we brought it into the garage. That involved us getting to the garage before Chris went to work and Thomas throwing up on the way. No car for me that day. They thought they fixed it and we got it back. On my way to class, the light came back on again--argh! So now we have to bring it back in again , which we can't do until Thursday. Hopefully I 'll have it back by that night so I can go to school. The car acts fine--I have no idea why the light is coming on. It's probably a minor thing and it will all be behind us soon.

Anyway, Thomas and Nolan both had games on Saturday. Thomas is a quandary. For the second week now, he will not participate in the game. He did the first day and loves to play at home, but he struggles when he has to do it in a large group. Last week, we ended up just leaving. This week we stuck it out and tried to ignore his complaints, hoping he would come around. But it felt like we were forcing it a little. So do we quit, and does that teach him to quit when things are hard? Or do we keep trying, not forcing but just be encouraging and hope he comes around? He is only 5, I know. But if there's one thing I know about Thomas is when he makes up his mind, there is no changing it. Chris thinks we should try one more time and if it's a no go, then quit. I'm thinking maybe we've already given it a good try and we should quit now. I just hope we can find a sport that works for him eventually. More on this saga as it continues...

Hope all the moms out there had a great day yesterday! We went to Great Escape and had a good time. It was a little cool, but there were no crowds. It's so great to have the season passes so we don't feel rushed to see everything. Thanks again Mom and Dad!

Well, I'm off. Thomas is going to school soon, a friend is coming over after school and then a baseball game tonight. Chris will put some pics on soon...

Happy First Communion Nolan!

We had an action packed weekend with lots of company this weekend, and it was great! My parents came Friday, despite mom being sick. They got to see Nolan's baseball game on Saturday. Our friends the Reeds (Nolan's godparents) came Saturday. Nolan received his First Communion on Sunday and did a great job. He was really nervous about the wine, but he did it and gave a great big smile afterward. We're very proud of him. We celebrated by going to a great diner, the Blue Ribbon. Chris' mom and Aunt Annie, Uncle Rocky, Louis, Helen and Olivia all came too. It was fun to be together and I think Nolan was pretty proud of himself too. Now Thomas wants to get his 1st communion. Please--don't rush it! Both boys happily went to bed early last night.

Tomorrow, Nolan is giving a presentation on the red-tailed hawk in his class. We have baseball games on Thursday and Saturday. The Great Escape opens this weekend! We hope to use our season passes!

You should see the other guy.

So Thomas is okay, but he took a header down the stairs and is a little banged up and bruised. I made dinner and he complained about it before he even had a bite. So he got time out, which he did not like. Time Out is 3 steps up the stairs and he's to sit there quietly for 5 minutes (or we do it again). He was flailing around and yelling about this and that, very dramatic. Then he decides to put his legs inside of his pant legs and his arms inside of his shirt arms. In his flailing, he loses balance and has nothing to brace himself for the floor except his face. The blood! His nose blew up like a balloon and turned the most awful shade of purple. I got him cleaned up (while Nolan kept asking when he could have dessert--men!) and called the doctor. Since he stopped screaming at that point and his nose seemed to be all in one piece still, we figured he would be fine. After some ice, Tylenol and a good night sleep, he seemed a lot better in the morning. Nothing broken except his pride. I never did institute the second time out.