A first and last

Last night Ryan had his last tee-ball game of the year. Unfortunately Travis was in South Carolina for work and the weather was terrible - 94 and super humid - ick! The original plan was for the girls and I to go watch the game, but one step outside, and I knew that was not going to happen - it was way too hot for Elllie. So I had to go to option two - take Lauren to the game with me and find someone to watch Ellie. This would be the first time I left Ellie with anyone other than a family member - a huge milestone for me! Anyway, I called a couple of neighbors and finally got a hold of one of them and they agreed to take the babe - thank god for nice neighbors. I wasn't too keen on leaving Ellie alone with a teenager yet (yes, I know I might be a little crazy), so it worked out great that the family that watched her had both a teenage girl and a super mom I would trust with any of my kids - thanks Sara and Ashely (and Mike and Garrett too)! With Ellie safe and cool, the older kids and I packed in the van and headed off to the ball fields. It was awful when we first got out of the van, but eventually you just adjusted to the heat and humidity and it was manageable. Ryan enjoyed his last game, Lauren enjoyed playing at the park (even though she got stuck more than once tyring to go down the slides because her skin was so sticky), and I enjoyed having a chance to just sit and watch Ryan do his thing. The only low point of the night was when all the parents were invited out onto the field to stand by their kid and help them out for an inning. Well, as it turns out, all the parents ended up being dads and by this time, I was off pushing Lauren on the swing so I couldn't just leave her by herself. So there Ryan stood all by himself with no dad, and no mom to stand by him. Luckily he has a great coach (who happens to be his coach for both soccer and tee-ball) and she stepped up and took a place right next to Ryan and "helped" him just like the other dads were helping their kids. I felt bad about this until Ryan came running off the field at the end of the inning and yelled to me, "Coach Kendi helped me mom." And later in the van, he said, "I was the only kid who got a coach all to myself." Obviously he didn't feel bad about it, but I still felt a little bad considering he was the ONLY kid who didn't have anyone with him. I guess I'll use this as a lesson for the future . . . always have both parents present on the last day of tee-ball! With the game over, we headed back home to get Ellie. I was very excited to pick her up (it had only been about an hour and a half), and the kids wanted their "Baby Ellie" back. So we parked the van and walked over to our neighbor's house. Not only was Ellie just fine (she was sleeping), but they also invited us to join them for dinner. I declined because we ate before the game, then they offered to keep Ellie for a while longer so I could take the other kids home and get them bathed and ready for bed - like I said, great neighbors. So off we went (the kids were not happy that Ellie wasn't coming home with us, but I assured them that once they were out of the bath, she would come home) to get cleaned up and ready for bed. About half hour later, everyone was cleaned up, teeth brushed, and ready for bed - I forgot how easy it was with just two kids! Just as we finished up, the doorbell rang and Ellie was home again - hurray! The night turned out great considering nothing worked out as planned. I'll be happy when Trav gets back - just having an extra set of hands around is a huge help that you don't realize until you don't have it.

The girls

Here a couple of pictures of the girls. First up is Lauren "styling" in her cool outfit, complete with two watches and a super cool hat - she is such a girly girl. Obviously she doesn't get that from me. In fact, she pretty much likes everything I don't . . . dresses, skirts, nail polish, make-up, her hair done, you get the idea - still can't believe she came from me.Next is Ellie in a shirt that was given to her (it says, "I heart Mommy and Daddy, but my Aunt and Uncle are the best!). You get one guess who bought it for her . . . thanks Auntie and Mike!The shirt size is marked 12 month - pretty sure it won't fit her when she is a year so we better get some use out of it now.

8 years

Apparently I only write about really important stuff on here like the kids, their activities, and pretty much anything else. So it should be no surprise that when our 8 year wedding anniversary rolled around last week (July 20th to be exact), I made no mention of it - oops! So now that I have mentioned it, it is time to tell everyone all the fun and exciting stuff we did to celebrate. First up, Trav went to work for the day and the kids and I headed out for Ryan's soccer game. After the game, we headed home, ate lunch, and went down for naps. Trav came home early from work that day so we could celebrate some more. This time the celebration included playing with Ryan's action figures and watching Lauren ride her bike. When this was done we got ready for our romantic evening at the ball field. And no, I'm not talking about a Twin's game at Target field, I'm talking about a tee-ball game at the local elementary school! We all packed into the van and headed off to watch Ryan in his second to last game of the year. After the game finished, we swung through the drive thru at Dairy Queen to pick up our special "anniversary" meal. The kids and I shared a chicken strip basket while Trav opted for a chicken wrap. I probably should have broke out some white wine to go with the meal (is that what goes best with chicken, or is it red, I don't know), but with all the kids sweaty and dirty, there was little time to kick back and relax so we opted for milk instead. After the delicious meal, it was time to clean everyone up and head to bed - one more year down, many more to come. I'm guessing wedding anniversaries might resemble this day for at least the next 5 years or so - after that, Ryan should be old enough to watch the girls so we'll probably just be able to sit around and enjoy each other's company all day (I wish)!

My little helper

Lauren has really been into helping out with "Baby Ellie" (I am more convinced everyday that she thinks this is Ellie's real name) lately. Here is her latest attempt at rocking Ellie to sleep.I love how gentle Lauren is with Ellie in the beginning . . . first, she sings, then she becomes concerned when Ellie cries and to top it all off, she gives the, "I know, I know" when she tries to sympathize with the crying baby. But, she does have her limits. When it is time to put that baby to sleep, she gets right to business telling Ellie to "go ni-ni right now, okay, go" while pointing a strong finger right in her face. I'm not so sure this is the most effective way to put a baby to sleep, but you can't fault her for doing things her way! Here are a couple more pictures of the girls from the same morning. You'll see that Lauren is not only very fond of her baby sister, she is also very fond of her baby sister's hat. Unfortunately for her it might be just a tad too small for her head - luckily she doesn't care about stuff like that!

Those darn kids

You know that show, "Kids say the darnedest things?" Well, I have a couple of kids who should be on that. I'll start with Ryan (only because he is the oldest and it seems right). Now that he is 5, he has taken on some more "duties" and really likes to show his independence. So in the morning, I've been having him pick out clothes and get himself dressed. Once he has that accomplished, he needs to use the bathroom and brush his teeth. Well, the other morning, I was back getting Ellie ready in her room when I hear Ryan yell, "Mom, come quick!" I was in the middle of changing a dirty diaper so I say back, "What is it Ryan?" He responds with, "quick, you gotta see this!" So I wrap up what I'm doing and head to the bathroom thinking he is going to show me a rather large poo he has taken in the toilet (he has been doing this lately - each time saying things like, "it's a big one Mom", or "that was a tough one"). So when I get to the bathroom and see him is standing in front of the mirror I'm a bit surprised. I ask what he wants to show me, and with a huge smile across his face, he turns to me and says, "check out my Justin Bieber hair" (all the while pointing to the front part of his hair which he has wet down and pushed forward). I of course laughed and told him how cool he looked even though his hair is no where near as long as Justine Biebers and truth be told, it pretty much looked exactly how it does every other day with the exception of of few hairs he managed to "wet forward" enough to stay in place. To take it a step further, he asked me if I thought Auntie would want to see his hair (Ryan thinks Justin Bieber is Ash's boyfriend because she told him he was a while back and he has never let it go. Every time we hear a Justin Bieber song on the radio, or see him on tv, he says, "Mom, there's Auntie's boyfriend!" Lucky for Ash, Mike doesn't seem to mind sharing his woman with a famous 16 year old boy). I of course thought Auntie would love to see his hair so off we went to get my cell phone and take a picture to send to her. Ryan made sure his hair was looking good then gave me a good "Justin Bieber" pose before I snapped it and sent it away - your welcome Ash! A few other quick not so good things Ryan has said lately . . . on one of our drives down to St. Peter, he says from the backseat, "it is so frickin' hot in here, I need something to drink" - not sure where he picked up that word, but we did have a lengthy discussion about not using it again. And I believe that same day (or the next, I can't remember exactly, but I know he was on a streak of using bad words during one of our weekend visits), he was swimming in the pool with a kick board when something landed on it and his first response was to say, "what the hell is that?" Yeah, our kid has a potty mouth. After another discussion about how it is not good to use the word "hell", he seemed to snap back into his "good Ryan" persona and we didn't have anymore issues.

Now onto Lauren . . . she doesn't talk as much (at least not with words that are understandable to anyone other than Ryan and myself), but she does manage to do somethings that you just have to smile at. Since Ellie has been around, Lauren is very interested in her babies and taking care of them just like I do with Ellie. So it is really no surprise that along with changing her babies diapers, wrapping them in blankets, and gently "shushing" (pretty sure that is not a word) them to sleep while rocking them, she also likes to nurse them (at least she no longer wants to nurse Ellie - that was really interesting). So here she is in the act. I had just finished changing Ellie (apparently the kid poops and pees a lot because it seems like I'm always changing her when things are happening around the house) when I walked out into the living room and saw this . . .There she was just nursing her baby and watching some cartoons - what a cute little momma! And below is her expression when she finally noticed I was taking pictures of her - apparently she was so into her taking care of business that she didn't even see me at first.Other than the nursing, there is one thing Lauren says all that time that is just the best. Everyday at nap time, I take her into her room, read her a book, and then say, "I love you, see you later" and then start to walk out the door. At this point, she usually reaches her arms up and says, "huss me" (which is "hug me" in her language) so I lean down and hug her, then right as I'm getting ready to let her go, she says, "piss too" and puckers his lips - honestly, what could be better than giving your kids "husses and pisses!"

I'm just waiting for the day Ellie starts acting like her brother and sister - it will certainly be a fun house to live in that's for sure!

Pictures

Here are some random pictures Ashley took with her really nice, new camera while she was home this past month - enjoy!

The first three were taken before Ryan's 5th birthday party started. I believe Ash had just purchased the camera a day or two before so she was trying it out on Ellie.
The next two are from the Twins game. The kids and I together, and Ellie all bundled up and sleeping the day away.
At some point, we headed to Grandma and Grandpa's house to enjoy the pool and were joined by my Grandma so we took the opportunity to snap a 4 generation picture with all the girls. Here are a couple of Lauren having fun in the pool with Grandma and Grandpa.Lauren took a break from swimming to pose with Ellie in her new outfit.
Ash dressed Ellie up in a mini skirt and this big, crazy headband - leave it to Ash to play dress up with a real human baby!Here are the kids goofing around before we headed out to Ryan's soccer game.
And finally, this is what Lauren looked like when she had her allergic reaction to the medicine she was taking - poor baby. Her eyes were so dark and she had big blotches of dark areas all over her skin (notice the big one on her left arm/armpit). She took a five and a half hour nap this day and slept for another 12 hours that night.Thanks for taking so many pictures of the kids Auntie! Maybe I can convince Travis to let me buy a new camera of my own someday!

Kids and sports

It is weird that I am finally a parent of a child who participates in organized activities such as soccer and t-ball. I am sure when I was younger, I never thought this day would come and now that it is here, I'm learning a few things about being the parent instead of the "athlete" (I use that term loosely considering I am talking about our 5 year old son - athlete might be a stretch at this point). As you know, Ryan is participating in both soccer and t-ball this year. It is his first time for both, and let's face it, the kid is pretty much clueless when it comes to either sport. I guess I can't blame him for not knowing anything about soccer considering Trav and I know nothing, and therefore can't really teach him anything about the sport. Take for instance the first time the coach told him to dribble the ball - I'm pretty sure he was on the verge of picking up the soccer ball and dribbling it like a basketball (now there is a sport I can teach him something about). Luckily he is a smart kid and before he did anything, he took a look around him. When he saw the other kids "dribbling" the ball with their feet, he just did the same - one crisis averted. When his team finished up their two weeks of practice, and it was time for their first game, emotions were running high. The kids were excited, the parents were cheering, and there stood Ryan, just chatting away in the middle of the field. I swear, if they had a sport where you could just stand and talk, Ryan would dominate. Unfortunately soccer is not that sport. After many calls of "Ryan, Ryan" by his coaches, he finally snapped out of his "talking mode" and got into "soccer mode." Another unfortunate . . . the two modes are hard to differentiate. At least when he wasn't talking, he was running - not always to the ball, or even in the right direction, but he was running. Now I always thought I'd be that fun loving, carefree mom that didn't care how their kid did in sports, but this is taking it to a whole other level. Ryan doesn't even pay attention. If he did that, it would at least be a little easier to watch, but he is just to busy. Too busy telling kids about his weekend at the lake, too busy telling the opposing coaches (who are on the sidelines by the way) about his pet fish "Steve", too busy to even notice that the ball has rolled up right in front of him and all he would have to do is stick out his foot and he would technically "kick" the ball - oh, it is so hard! But this is where it gets interesting. So me, being Ryan's mom, I obviously know he isn't the greatest soccer player (and probably never will be) and I'm okay telling other people that. But, when I hear other mothers, fathers, or kids saying stuff about him, I get really mad. Who are they to talk about my precious little boy and his lack of ability and focus - give him a break, after all, he is 5 years old. There is this one "soccer mom" who is constantly yelling at Ryan to "pay attention", "run towards the ball", and whatever other lame comments she can come up with. It would be one thing if her kid were some super stud soccer player (although, I would still be annoyed by her), but he isn't - remember these are 5 and 6 year olds we are talking about. Sure, maybe some of them pay attention better, and some are more aggressive, but none of them are destined to be the next David Beckham (the only soccer player I can think of) so enough with the yelling already. If you want to yell and tell the kids what to do, go sign up to be a coach, if not, sit on the sidelines, keep your mouth shut, and cheer on your kid. Here is a quick picture of Ryan's soccer team, then enough about soccer (it is such a confusing, weird sport, I can only pray Ryan won't continue on with it too far into the future).Ryan is the little "stud" in the front with the headband on. If you aren't going to play all that great, you might as well look good while doing it!

Now, onto t-ball. At least this is a sport Trav and I know something about. Trav played baseball and I briefly (before I got hit by one too many very hard "softballs" - I think they should change the name - those balls are anything but soft!) played softball. We even have a t-ball set at home that we've been practicing with so I figured Ryan would have a pretty good idea of how everything worked - well, I was wrong. He had his first game last night and as with soccer, he seemed less interested in playing and more interested in socializing (the kid would seriously talk to a wall if it was able to respond everyone once in a while). Even with his lack of attention, he did okay. Every time he got a hit, it was a "home run" in his book. And the one time he was tagged out at second, he broke down crying because it wasn't nice and he was mad, but other than that, we got through it. He didn't make any plays in the outfield (in fact, I'm pretty sure he never even touched the ball while in the field), but he was happy and in the end, that is all that matters. Here are a couple of pictures from the night. The first couple are in sequence from his "at bat" to crossing home plate - enjoy!

Big swing . . .

chatting at second . . .

leisurely jogging from 2nd to 3rd . . .

chatting with his coach at 3rd base . . .

making his way to home plate . . .

getting "knucks" from his teammate . . .

and happily telling everyone he got a home run!!

Team picture - Ryan is third from the left in the back row.

Fun 4th of July

We had an extra long 4th of July celebration this year and by all accounts, it was a blast! The festivities kicked off early Saturday morning. The kids and I headed down to St. Peter bright and early with Trav following a couple of hours later. The day was spent lounging in the pool and watching the kids (especially Ryan) work on his swimming and jumping off the board skills. That night we had high hopes of hitting the town, but after the long day in the sun, we all fizzled out and headed to bed early. With a good night of sleep, we woke up nice and early the next morning and got ready for the big parade. Other than a little heat and humidity, it was pretty nice. The kids came away with a huge bag full of candy and other knick knacks (most of which are already in the garbage) before heading home. After the parade it was time to get back in the pool. By the time 2:00pm rolled around, the kids were exhausted (they slept the rest of the day with Ryan finally waking up at 6:00pm and walking out of his room saying "Good morning Mom"). When the kids finally did wake up, we still had some time to kill before the fireworks so we did what all good Grandmas, Aunts, and Moms would do, we played Barbies! Actually, we (everyone but Ashley) were off limits to the actual dolls so our time was spent organizing and hanging up barbie clothes while Ashley carefully dressed each doll to perfection and then placed them off to the side to protect them from the dreaded hands of Lauren and Ryan. Now I know some people are particular about some of their old toys, but Ash takes it a step further, she is possessive - if it was hers 10 years, it is still hers today! And god forbid anything would happen to her precious Barbies - if it did, I wouldn't want to be around to see what would happen! Here are Ash and the kids posing with the Barbies - you'll notice that the dolls are protected on both sides. Ash is to their right and the Barbie fashion trunk serves as a protective layer on their left - again, we wouldn't want anything to happen to those dolls! To wrap up the day, we all stayed up and watched the fireworks. Lauren wasn't too sure about the whole thing (she sat in my lap and clutched my arms the entire time) while Ryan talked pretty much the entire time about the different colors and shapes that the fireworks made - you can always count on him for some commentary. By Monday we had pretty much established the routine of wake up, eat breakfast, and head into the pool - I'm amazed the kids never got sick of it. At some point I figured they would want to do something different, but it never failed, the minute breakfast was over, they were asking to put on their suits and go swimming so that is what we did. And like the previous days, when swimming was done, it was time for nice long afternoon naps followed by supper, some playtime, and then back to bed - nothing like swimming and sun to wear out a kid! Tuesday started the same, but to add some excitement to our swimming, we were joined by Mike's brother and sister-in-law and their four kids who were in town from Florida. Ryan was super excited to have other kids to play with and he couldn't wait to show them how he could swim and jump off the board all by himself. Well, as it turned out, the "Florida Kids" ended up showing Ryan a thing or two about swimming and jumping. For starters, they all knew how to swim by themselves without floaties, and jumping off the board seemed like something they did in their sleep (I guess growing up in Florida and being able to swim year round gave them a little edge). Luckily Ryan wasn't disappointed, instead, he seemed determined to keep up with them. He tried (and wasn't successful that day, but was the following day) to swim without floaties, and even tried out some new jumps the girls had taught him to do off the board - it was very fun to watch. By the time the pool party wrapped up, we had just enough time to eat dinner and go to bed - another busy day in the books. The following day (Wednesday - today), was our last day in town before Aaron and Ann headed out for a wedding and Ashley and Mike headed back home to California. And just like the other times that Ash and Mike have left, this was a sad day too. Their were some tears shed, but having been able to spend so much time with them and knowing they'll be back again soon made things a lot easier. Below are some pictures from the long weekend. Amazingly I managed not to get a single picture of myself or Ellie - oops!

The next set of pictures are of Ash and Mike with their nieces and nephews. First up, Mike holding Maggie (his brother's daughter) and Ash holding Ellie - they were both born on April 28th - what are the odds of that?!?

The next picture is the two of them with almost all their nieces and nephews - 7 and counting . . .

Lauren was too tired to actually be in the picture so we improvised and had Grandma help her out with her smile - say cheese!

And here is the "and counting." Ann and Aaron are having a baby boy in early November - yay!!