Cookies, kittens, and Christmas

We had another successful Christmas with once again our kids getting too much. Brad seems to over do it with the boys. I am not a whole lot better. That just means our boys get spoiled. Brad mentioned on Christmas eve as I was telling him that we had over done it again, that he remembers a Christmas where all he got was a model of the space shuttle. I asked him if he was sad and he said yes. I guess he doesn't ever want our boys to feel the same way he did that Christmas.

Tanner got a kitten for Christmas. Penny isn't real sure how to feel about her. She keeps hissing at Penny and she just turns her head. I told the boy that is what you do when a bully is picking on you. Our new little family member is a bully, but very cute. She is perfect for Tanner. He said, "She plays with me and she lays in my lap when I play video games." Who could ask for more.

I spent one whole day baking cookies. It was fun. The boys didn't help me this year and I had picked out a cute recipe for some snowman cookies. They enjoyed eating them though. We have one more Christmas today with my mom and sister. Then we will be going shopping so the boys can spend their Christmas money. I am not looking forward to the malls.


We got to talk to Kyle on Christmas day. He sounded really good. It is crazy that he isn't able to talk to his family but once a year. It was nice hearing from him and he seemed happy. He will be gone for another year and a half. That is a really long time to go with out seeing your family. I don't think I could do it.

Whiz Kids

This six weeks has been a very trying time for my boys. Their grades are not real good. Tanner went a week with no ADD medication, so I can kind of explain that. In fact last week was the week with no meds. We practiced his spelling words during the week and he knew them. I got his test back yesterday and he made a 45 on the test. He didn't even do that bad the first time I quizzed him. I asked him what happened and he said, "I don't know I guess the words just fell out of my head." No joke buddy!

Mason is failing math at the moment. I talked to his teacher and she said he doesn't understand adding and subtracting mixed fractions with and without regrouping. She asked me if I know how to do this. Well, let's see, the last time I did this was ummmmm........6th grade!!! I don't know. The good news is school has come a long way. All the textbooks are online. I got online and there is a man that walks you through how to do the problems step by step. I did the tutorial and then took the online quiz. I will have you know I made a 100. I then had Mason take the quiz and walked him through it step by step and he seemed to understand much better. He then took a quiz and made a 25. This was better than the 0 he made before the tutoring. Last night we spent the night redoing the two quizzes and I tried to make sure he really understood. He had a test today. When he got home I asked him how he did and he said he didn't finish. I asked how he thought it was and he said some were easy and some weren't. He is just so full of details! The results of this test will determine if he stays in preAP math or if he needs to change classes. In the meantime if you need any help adding or subtracting mixed fractions just give me a call!

Snow in Katy

Christmas is fast approaching. Last Friday it actually snowed in Houston. It was so much fun. As I was on my way to work I noticed snow flurries mixed with the rain. As the morning went on it really began to snow, big flakes too. I have lived in the Houston area my entire life. I can only remember it snowing once when I was a child. I was spending the night with a friend and when we woke up it was snowing. Her mom wouldn't let us go outside and play so I decided it was time to go home. I went home and played in the snow with my brother and sister. The first year I taught in 92 it snowed. The school had a fire drill so everyone would go out and see it. I actually had a little girl cry because she didn't understand what was coming out of the sky. Christmas eve when Tanner was 3 it snowed. It was so nice and a very nice Christmas gift. The boys were so excited. Last year it snowed but didn't really stick. Then it snowed this year. So here I am 40 years old and I have only seen snow a handful of times. This is why we get so excited around here when it does snow. I don't think I would like living where it snows all the time, but it is fun for a short time. When I say a short time I mean a short time. It snowed enough to cover the roofs and ground. We got out of school about 2 hours early. I was so excited to get home and take some pictures of the boys in the snow, but when I drove up it had already melted. Bummer!

Thanksgiving

This year I have a lot to be thankful for. First and foremost is my family. I have a wonderful husband, awesome kids, and great parents and siblings. We don't get together too much, but when we do we always have a good time and enjoy each others company. Mom cooked a fantastic Thanksgiving dinner for all of us.

I am also thankful for our health. All of us have had a great year health wise. Mason stayed out of the hospital and has not spilled protein the entire year. He has lost all of the prednisone weight and looks and acts like our old Mason again. We have had several people in our life that have come down with some serious illnesses and have fought hard and have beat the problem. For that we are thankful.

We are thankful to have good jobs. With the economy struggling we know we are lucky to have a steady income. Brad changed jobs last week and we are hoping this new job opens the door to some new opportunities for him.

God has truly blessed us this year!!

Happy Birthday to Me!

My 40th birthday is rapidly approaching. This year it falls on Thanksgiving day. My birthday falling the week of Thanksgiving is kind of a bummer. It is hard to get together with people because people are always with family at this time of year. A week or so ago my friend Susie told me she wanted to take me to dinner for my birthday. I thought we could do it the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, because we have the day off. She said she couldn't and said let's meet on Thursday the 19th. She said she would pick me up and we would all go, kids included. So yesterday after work Susie showed up and we began driving to Los Cucos. As we were driving I got a phone call from a coworker and she said, "Happy Birthday!" I was a little confused and told her it wasn't my birthday. She said, "Well were are you? Aren't you at Los Cucos?" This was strange because I hadn't told her I was going there. I told her we were driving down the road and she muttered something and then said goodbye. This made me think a little and I started wondering what was going on. When we got to Cucos we walked to the back room and my very dear friends were all waiting for me. It was still a surprise even though Susan let the cat slightly out of the bag. Alisha, Kathy, and Susie had planned the whole thing and invited lots of people from school. Everyone at school kept this a secret for almost a month. They had it decorated with Over the Hill balloons and big 40 balloons. I also got to wear my very own princess ti era. It was a wonderful surprise and reminded me what great friends I have. This Thanksgiving I am definitely thankful for great friends. Hopefully Susie will send me some pictures and I will post them when I get them.

Successful Parenting

I have reached another milestone in my parenting. Yesterday morning Mason had his last football game. Thank God! When I watched the news in the morning I saw the temperature was 47 degrees. As the boys were getting dressed I told Tanner to put on a pair of jeans. For some reason neither of my boys like to wear jeans. Tanner came down with out jeans on. I sent him back upstairs to change. He cried and yelled and complained that he didn't want to wear jeans. I calmly explained he would either wear jeans or he would not be allowed to go trick or treating. He told me he would run away then. I told him bye and he ran out the door. I finished getting ready and then decided I had better go and look for him. I opened the front door and he was sitting on the porch. I said, "Go inside and put some jeans on." He said, "Okay." and ran upstairs. He came down a little later. I glanced at him and thought he had something on other than jeans and I started to say something, but then realized what he had on. He said, "There you go judging me again! You are always judging me." I grabbed him and gave him a big hug and told him it was my job to judge him and make sure he was dressed properly. I then said the next time you decide to run away you might want to put on a pair of shoes. He said, "Yeah, I thought about that."

Finally something to post

Well, I finally have something good to post. Tanner's baseball team played a tournament in Brenham this weekend. His team won the tournament with a combined score for all three games being us 44 other teams 3. The boys looked great. Tanner got to pitch for the first time. He did great. One kid hit a pop up, he struck out the 2nd guy, walked the 3rd guy and then struck out the fourth batter. He was very excited he finally had the opportunity to pitch. They didn't get to play another inning, because we run ruled the other team. Of course I forgot my camera which brings me to my bad luck.

I have had a string of bad luck lately. In August I got a speeding ticket in the HOV lane going to a tournament across town. Apparently the speed limit is only 60 not 65 in the HOV. I was going 75. Then on the way to school two weeks ago I got a ticket in a school zone. I haven't figured out how I was speeding. I was about the third or fourth car in a string of cars. We had been stopped at a red light. We all began going and had gotten just a short distance when the cop stopped me. She said I was going 30 in a 20. I asked her how that was. I told her she must be wrong and she showed me the radar and said it was me because the person in front of me was going 22. How was I going faster than the guy in front of me?

Monday when I was coming home from school I was driving down Clay Rd. in a very country part and got a ticket for going 60 in a 45. I couldn't believe it and said a few curse words when I saw him turn around and get me. I haven't ever had something on my record. Now I am taking defensive driving for the first one. I am going to fight the second one and pay the third one. I guess I will be driving really slow the next year.

Mason's football team sucks this year. He has a couple of coaches that I know think they are doing well, but the boys are so confused. These coaches took over after basically kicking the coach out that had been with the team since they were in first grade. Last year we only lost 1 game. This year we have only won 2 games. Only two more games and we are finished with youth football. Mason is really not in to it and can't wait for the season to end.

Mason was sick for a week. He had the flu. We all had to take tamiflu which cost us $170. I didn't have that in the budget. He did get well and never relapsed. That is a good thing,

I am hoping for a little better luck. (shhhhhh........I am not telling Brad about the last ticket. He would never let me live it down. It's a good thing he never reads this.)

Finally something to post

Firsts

Friday night, well from 5-7, Mason had his first Jr. High dance. It was just for the 6th graders. He had planned on going with his best friend Evan. Evan ended up getting sick, so he went by himself. I chaperoned the dance. Before we got there I told Mason to change into something a little nicer, perhaps a pair of nicer shorts and a polo shirt. He told me no. The school said to just wear what you wear to school. He did go upstairs and change clothes. He put on his new UT t-shirt, running shorts, and a UT baseball cap. I begged him to at least put on deodorant. When we got there a boy ran up to him and asked Mason if he had a football. Mason said he had one in the car and asked me to go get it. I told him no, he was at a dance not a football game.

I was a little surprised by the amount of kids that did dance, boys and girls. Of course my son didn't dance. He walked around and talked to kids. NO girls though. Most of the boys did wear a nice pair of shorts and a polo. Maybe Mason will get it next time. The majority of the girls dressed up, wearing a dress. One girl walked by with a really short skirt and pumps on. She looked way to old for my little boy. The interesting thing about that girl is she was actually there on a date. One of the parents that was also chaperoning I knew from work. I taught both of her boys at Rhoads. She was collecting the tickets at the door. This girl walked up and said hi to her and asked her if her son was there yet. She explained that his dad would be dropping him off any minute. The girl told her that her son was her date. Her son proceeded to show up, present two tickets, (apparently he had bought her a ticket) and go into the dance with out so much as a hello to his very shocked mother. When I talked to her she was stunned. She said, "I ask him every day what happened at school. He never mentioned he had a date." She couldn't wait until they got home and she had a little talk with him. I laughed really hard. Here is her son the same age as mine and he is interested in very mature girls, if you know what I mean, and my son is interested in football. I think I am the lucky one.

Tanner had his very first kid pitch baseball tournament. It was pretty exciting. He had fun. He played catcher and did a great job. He even got a wonderful hit.

Lemonade on Labor Day

Tanner and his friend decided to have a lemonade stand today. We have about 700 bars of candy to sell as well. I suggested we try and sell a bar or two.

Out of the Mouth of Babes

Or should I say out of the mouth of preteens. Yesterday while driving to some practice or another Tanner was talking about sharks and some beach where sharks are washing up. I was half listening and nodding and say "really?" on cue. Then Mason said, "That is crazy Tanner, sharks don't take baths." It took me a minute to register what he said. Tanner and I both started laughing so hard. I can't believe I had to explain to my 11 year old what washing up on a beach means.

Sports

Video is of Mason's game. He is the one that threw the ball. Unfortunately, his receiver didn't catch it.

This weekend we were back into our crazy sports schedule. It started with Tanner's first baseball scrimmage on Friday night. This is the first season for kid pitch. I am excited because it is a little more exciting than coach pitch, but the kids have a lot to learn. Tanner played catcher and he did a great job. He even threw a guy out at third that was stealing from second. We didn't get to finish the game because an incredible lightening store blew in. I took my camera to take pictures of Tanner. I thought I was so prepared. I even changed batteries before we left. Then we I started to take pictures I realized I forgot my memory card.

Mason played his first game of football season. They did a great job. He played quarterback the entire game. We won 8-0. The other team got the ball within inches of the goal line and our defense stopped them. One of our players got hurt. Looks like he knocked his shoulder out of place.

The Katy Tigers were playing Northshore last night. Mason really wanted to go, but Tanner had baseball practice around the same time. We decided Mason could go with a friend. This was the first time I would be dropping him off at something without an adult. I was a little worried, but I figured every time I take them to the game and stay they run off and I don't see them until the game is over anyway. I got a call from Mason at half time asking me to come and pick them up. When I got there they said it was so crowded they could hardly move and just wanted to go home. We ended up watching the game at home together as a family. It was nice.

Today Tanner has a fundraising car wash. This doesn't seem to exciting. Mason has a football beginning of the season swim party. I need to get busy cleaning my house before the craziness starts again.

Back to School

I remember Mason's first day of kindergarten very well. We were so excited and ready for him to begin school. Wasn't he cute back then? I can't believe he started Jr. high today. He looks so grown up and handsome.
He hadn't talked much about it until last night. He told me he didn't want to go. I asked him if he was going to be a Jr. High drop out. We talked a little and I reassured him it would be great. I sure hope it is. Jr. high can be so tough. I packed him a lunch at his request and I thought to myself, I sure hope he doesn't get teased about taking his lunch. I talked to a friend of mine who sent her new 6th grader to school without a lunch because he didn't want one and she worried he would go hungry. I guess we all worry about something. He reported a boring day at school when he came home and I pulled teeth to try and get more details. He said they went over rules in every class and he doesn't want to play football because the coach is very mean. He did sit by some friends at lunch and had someone he knew in most of his classes. That's about all I got.

Little T started 4th grade today. I asked him what his favorite part about today was and he said, "nothing." i asked him who was in his class and he said lots of people. That is all I got. I got home from work today and he had his homework completed. I guess he is off to a good start.

here we go

We have been busy lately. Back to the same old grind. Football and baseball practices have started, plus I am back at work. Mason's team had a tournament in League City this past weekend. The team ended up in second place. They did pretty good for their first tournament of the new season with only 2 practices under their belts.

Mason played his first scrimmage football game on Saturday morning, before he played the two baseball games. It is a good thing he has a lot of energy. I was tired just driving him around and watching the games. He did really well and his team looks good.

Tonight was Tiger Safari at the Jr. high. The kids go to the school, get their textbooks, schedules, and learn to do their locker. It was very interesting watching Mason. He walks around acting like he is all that and a cup of tea. Then we get into the classroom to meet his teachers and I can barely get him to say his name. My big concern with Jr. high is the number of teachers he has. Mason is really quiet around his teachers and I fear they won't get to know the "real" Mason in such a short period of time. I guess he will be fine. The locker was our main issue. He had trouble getting it open. We finally figured it out after several attempts. Tanner kept asking to try and that little booger opened it on his first try. We bought him a locker shelf and a magnet pencil holder. We got his locker all set up. I hope he is able to get back into it and get what he needs out of it.

We saw a lot of his friends from baseball, basketball, and football. His locker is right next to one of his basketball team mates. We couldn't find anyone that had many classes with him. His best friend Evan only has one class with him, but they have lunch together. That is all that matters anyway, right?

We went to Tanner's meet the teacher last night. His homeroom teacher was Mason's math teacher when he was in 4th grade. She lives right down the street from us. I was trying to get Tanner to tell her his name and she said, "Oh, I know him." It is a good thing, or else she might still be waiting for him to tell his name. I don't know why my kids are so shy. I wasn't that way at all. I find it hard to believe Brad was that way either.

Football Begins

This is our last season of Katy Youth Football. Tanner has decided to not play anymore. I remember when Mason was 4 years old and we would drive past Rhoads stadium on our way to daycare. He would say "I am going to play football when I am 5. I am going to play there." I don't really know where he learned about football. Brad doesn't ever watch football on TV and we weren't going to anyone"s games, but some how he new what he wanted to do. When he was 5 I signed him up and he played flag football. It was all fun and exciting back then. This is our 7th season. That is hard to believe. It isn't new anymore, but I guess it is still exciting. After all this football, Mason told me on the way to his first practice last night that this will be the last year he plays football. He said in jr high he needs to just focus on baseball and basketball. I think once he gets to jr. high he will change his mind. I think he is a little nervous about it already. Here is to a great season! Go Bucs!!!!!

$$$$$$$$

The spending spree has begun. It is back to school time. Saturday I took Mason to get his saxophone. We are now the proud rent to own owners of a sax at the low, low price of $42 a month. The total cost is around $1400. Why could my son have decided to play the drums? Then all you have to do is buy some sticks. I sure hope he likes playing. He was a little overwhelmed when we got it. He saw a trumpet and said, "Man that only has three buttons, the saxophone has a million. I don't think I can play it." Well buddy, you have your work cut out for you.

Saturday night the boys wanted to go to the mall and spend their allowance. We took two of our neighbors. Mason told me I couldn't hang with him and his friend. So Tanner, his friend, and myself headed out to find something to buy. We pass by an Oakley store and Mason is trying on a $200 pair of sunglasses. That boy has caviar taste on a McDonald's budget. He better grow up and get a good job. I did find a good deal on backpacks at Marshall's. Mason's friend is already in Jr. High and was giving him the ends and outs of what type of backpack would be useful for 6th grade. It was nice having him around. We wouldn't want Mason to be the dork of 6th grade.

Next on our back to school list is shoes and school supplies. I didn't get the school supply order form turned in on time for Tanner, so I will be going and picking out all his stuff. I think I am going without him. When I let them go with me, I always end up spending way too much. Wish me luck. Mason has already picked out the shoes he wants. They only cost $120. That boy is crazy!!!!

Pure Sweetness

Last night I was really tired and decided to go to bed before I tucked the boys in. I went upstairs and kissed them both and told them goodnight. I went to bed and had just fallen asleep and I heard, "mom, mom". I opened my eyes and Tanner was standing there. He said, "I need another kiss." Part of me was annoyed that he woke me up and I had just fallen asleep, but the other part was thinking aw www. Then Mason came and crawled into bed for a few minutes and then left and went up to his bed. Sometimes they seem like they are getting so big and aren't my babies anymore and then they do something like this and it reminds me that they are still little boys and need their mommy.

Mystery Poop

This morning as the boys and I were leaving to go and play with friends we were met with a mystery in our driveway and yard. Very wet and very smelly blobs. I am assuming it is poop of some sort. It starts on one end of our driveway, goes across the driveway and then into the grass by a flowerbed. Then it just stops. I looked all over the neighbors yards, but they did not seemed to be blessed with the mystery poop. None in the streets either. Nothing seems to be disturbed anywhere. So, this leaves me with many questions. What type of animal could do such damage? The only animals we have around are dogs, cats, and ducks. These would have to be some very sick ducks to cause such a mess. Also, the duck would have to be the size of an ostrich. I haven't seen any of those, so it makes me think a cow. I grew up with cows and I don't remember them leaving so many spots all in a row, just a cow patty here and there. Does anyone have any ideas?

I called Brad when I made the discovery and he said he had seen it on his way out to work and didn't know what it was either. He suggested I hose it off the driveway. Well, by the time I discovered it we were already needing to leave and by the time we got home it was baked onto the driveway. I tried, but I think I need a pressure washer. The first picture is after I tried to wash it off the driveway. I think I just made a bigger mess. Too bad Brad is working late, this is a great job for the man of the house.

The World Series is Over

I have spent the last two days recovering from the World Series. I can't believe how draining it is when it wasn't even me playing. I know it was over 100 degrees every day we were there. During the week I went to two opening ceremonies 13 games and 2 swim parties. The games wouldn't have been so bad but you have to get there an hour ahead of time and then the games seemed to all be delayed, which means you waited even longer. Tanner's games were an hour and fifteen minutes long and Mason's were an hour and 40 minutes long.

On the last day Mason's game started at 9 a.m.. We were supposed to be there at 8. I got up rushed Mason around and as we got there Mason asked where everyone was. I asked Mason what time it was and it was only 7 a.m.. When I woke up I looked at the clock but only looked at the minutes. The only good that came out of it was we got to choose the dugout of our choice and we chose the one the sun was not shining directly into. When the other team got there they tried to boot us out saying they were ranked higher than us, so they got to choose the dugout of their choice. I told Mason not to move and we ended up getting to keep the dugout. We ended up killing that team. Who is ranked higher now!!!!? LOL

Tanner's team won three games and lost two. Mason's team won 6 games and lost 2. They ended up in third place for the series out of 18 teams. We were the only Katy team left. The team that won we didn't get to play. The boys played really well and we are so proud of them. Last year we got 4th out of 5 teams. They have learned and improved a lot in a year. Next year we are wanting to go to South Carolina for the World Series. I will be selling a lot of chocolate.

World Series

Both boys are playing in the World Series this week. They are each guaranteed 5 games. That is at least 10 games we will be playing in the 100 degree weather. If we win then the kids play more. The series starts with pin trading. Each team has a pin with their logo on it and they trade it with other teams. You try and get all the pins for all the teams there. It is pretty fun and the kids really get into it, some parents too. Then they have opening ceremonies. Each team enters the field and their names are called out. Then they have a skills competition. Both boys ended up competing in a race where you run around the bases. Tanner's was an individual competition and Mason's was a relay with 4 boys. Mason's team came in second place competing against twenty or more teams.

Both the Curve and the Krushers have gone 2 and 1. Tomorrow starts the elimination games. It is double elimination. Tanner's game is at 7:45 a.m. This is just wrong. If they win they play again at 10:45 and if they lose they play at 1:45. Mason plays at 1:00. So far this has been the series of dropped balls. Tanner's team was ahead by 6 points int he 6th inning. All we needed was two outs and the game was over. A couple of balls went through the short stops legs, first base dropped a ball and two balls were hit to Tanner in the outfield. He dropped both of them. We ended up losing the game. It was not pretty. The picture above with Mason shows him catching a ball thrown to him by the catcher. They were trying to throw out a kid stealing from second. From the picture the kid isn't even close. Mason turns to make the tag and the kid, that is twice Mason's size, plows into him, knocking Mason off his feet and onto his back and he drops the ball. Lucky for Mason he wasn't hurt. Tomorrow will be a very long and hot day. Wish us luck!!

My Cowboy

Brad and I met 15 years ago today at the George Strait look alike contest in Houston at the Post Oak Ranch. I was suppose to meet friends there. We had decided it was going to be a fun night because we would either see a lot of guys that looked like George Strait or we could laugh at the guys that thought they looked like George. I got antsy and decided to go a little early. I think I got there about an hour before my friends. The first person I saw when I walked into the door was a tall cowboy leaning on the bar with a cowboy hat on and a beer in his hands. Our eyes met for a second and then we kind of walked around looking at each other for a while. When my friends arrived we still hadn't said anything to each other. Finally, he walked up to me and asked me what my name was. I was in a silly mood, or maybe just drunk, but I answered, "What do you want it to be?" and then me and Meredith were making up names. He then asked me what I did for a living, and I answered, "What do you want me to do?" We made small talk and then he asked me to dance. This was the true test. We began dancing and I remember thinking, wow he can dance! We don't dance much anymore but 15 years later we are still together doing or own day to day dance.

Corpus Christi

We went to Corpus for a couple of days. We of course stayed at the Navy Base in Corpus. Everyone of our vacations revolves around a base of some sort. Brad likes to use his retirement perks. We can stay on the base pretty cheap. We went to the beach a couple of times. The boys are so different. Mason loves the water and bugs us to get in with him. If we won't get in he finds people to go near. He is a little scared to be out there by himself. Brad and I took turns getting in with him. Tanner played in the sand building sand castles and sandballs. He would bomb his castles with the bombs. He just entertains himself. The water was very pretty. We discovered Brad's hidden talent on this trip. The hotel gave us a frisbee. Mason and I threw it around a little and then Brad threw the frisbee and he was really good. I began laughing and saying I can't believe we finally found a sport you are good at.

Mason had his 11th birthday on the 29th. Time sure does fly. He is growing up so fast. It is amazing. We went to Corpus for his birthday. I told them after they turned 10 there would be no more big parties. I think he had a good time. We went to Olive Garden for dinner at his request. We also went to ride go carts and putt putt golf. Mason is so competitive Brad kept score at Mason's request. It was Tanner, Mason and me playing golf. In the end we all equally sucked. I scored a 72 and the boys scored 73's. We were about 30 strokes above where we should have been. Mason thinks he is a great golfer because he can play Wii golf.

We went bowling too. Tanner had the bumpers up and Mason kept saying it wasn't fair. Mason insisted he and Tanner play another game with out the bumpers up. Tanner kicked his butt. It was pretty funny. For the record I beat all of them, Brad included. (I don't know where my kids get their competitiveness.) Poor Brad got a bowling injury. I laughed so hard. I told him he must be really out of shape if he pulls something while bowling.

Next week both boys are playing in the World Series. It will be a very busy and very hot week.

Krushers Rock

Mason and Tanner's baseball teams played in a tournament this weekend. It was so hot outside. I felt sorry for the boys. Tanner's team didn't do so well, but Mason's team was on fire. Both boys played 2 games on Saturday. The tournament was single elimination and Tanner's team lost their Sunday game. Mason's team played at 7:45 a.m. Sunday morning. They won that game. Their next game was at 3:45. We won that game and played again at 7:45 for the championship. The boys played the best game and ended up winning 3-2. It was a lot of fun! We didn't end up getting home until around 11 that night. It was a very long day.

Let the war begin

The boys have been playing war a lot lately. Their friends from the neighborhood all come over, they pair up into teams, and off they go. They each have an air soft gun and glasses. I love it, because they will play for hours. We have a pond in the center of the neighborhood that has trees on one side and houses on the other. This is the central location for the battles. Last night Mason came home upset and said a cop stopped him and told him he couldn't play anymore. My rule is the kids can only shoot someone who is playing, they may not shoot anything in anyone's yard, and they must wear glasses. He said they weren't bothering anyone. He was so mad. He kept saying that the cop was dumb and insisted I go and find the cop to talk to him. We loaded up in the car and drove around the neighborhood, but we couldn't find him. The whole time Mason kept talking smack, acting all tough. When we got home I called the police department and was told an old couple thought they had bb guns. That the complaint was unfounded. I told the boys to give it a rest for the night and they could play again the next day. I put the boys to bed and about an hour later Mason came down all upset. He asked it it would really be okay for them to play tomorrow. I told him yes, and he said, "But I don't want to get into trouble from the police." That is my Mason. Tough on the outside, but tender on the inside.

First days of summer

We have been to two birthday parties since school has been out. Sunday a kid on Mason's team had a swim party. At that party Tanner got jumped on and had a horrible bloody nose. Once I got the bleeding to stop and got him cleaned up he said his tooth felt funny. I looked in his mouth and noticed his bottom front tooth was chipped. I saw money signs. I already had a dental appointment for him, because he had a small filling come out and I wanted that checked out. We went to the dentist on Tuesday and I was really worried about the cost. Every time I go to the dentist it cost me a butt load of money. We saw the dentist and he said he didn't want to do anything with the small cavities because they are on baby teeth and will be coming out soon. The chipped tooth will be fine. He doesn't want to do anything with it either. He said when he gets older and can take care of it we will take care of it. Did I mention how much I love my dentist!!!!!!!!? I left there paying $5.

The second party was at Memorial City mall. Before the party started the boys and I went and did a little shopping. Mason said he wanted some plaid shorts. This took me by surprise because I have tried to get him to get some for over a year and he refused. He picked himself out some new clothes and insisted on changing before the party. He has basically lived in athletic shorts, under armour, and t-shirts for the last couple of years. I guess he is growing up. I asked Tanner if he wanted some plaid shorts and he said no. Guess what he picked out, athletic shorts and shirts to match. I am just happy Tanner will wear t-shirts now. He went a year wearing nothing but under armour. I guess I will just be happy with the small amount of progress.

The party was at the ice skating rink. The kids played broom ball. They had these sticks and basically played a game like hocky. They made them wear baseball helmets. As I watched them playing I thought to myself, someone is going to get hurt. Well, someone did, but it wasn't my kids for a change. One of Mason's team mates got hit by a stick in the mouth and chipped his front top tooth. It doesn't look bad, but it really upset him. Then the birthday boy got hit in the eye. I am not real sure why they would make the kids wear helmets without face masks. The kids were swinging those sticks around. I am surprised their weren't more injuries.




See Mason with his cute plaid shorts.

YIPPEE

Today Mason had a visit with his nephrologist. He has stayed in remission for almost a year and 1/2. We have maintained the same doses on his medications to keep him from relapsing. Today we decided to go prednisone free. I am so happy!! He has only been taking 5mg every other day, but I can still tell a difference in his personality on the days he takes it and the days he doesn't. If he continues to pee protien free urine we will try and take away another medication. Our ultimate goal is to be medicine free. If he can handle the reduction of the medicines this may mean he no longer has nephrotic syndrome. This would be the answer to many prayers!!

Tanner's Journal

The last day of school was Thursday. Woohoo!! As I was going through all the stuff the boys brought home I found Tanner's journal. Here is an entry typed just the way he wrote it.

My favret relitive is uncle Scot heas a UT fan heas nise and frendly hese still alive we visit him evry year. I like him becas heas fun he likes to play chest. becase heas a chest teacher. He always bets me so we play anouther game.

Scott has always joked around and called chess, chest. Thanks Scott for making my son think the game is called chest. We are so glad you are still alive.

My summer goals: 1. Teach Tanner the game is chess not chest. I really don't want him to start playing chest for at least 10 years. 2. Teach Tanner to spell. Man does he suck at spelling. He is the perfect example of why a weekly spelling list and test on Friday does not work. We have studied all the words he wrote at least once for a spelling test. Thank God for spell check.

Astro game and lost boy

Monday at school one of my friends offered me 4 Astro's tickets. At first I told her no, because I was tired. We had been gone all weekend playing and working a baseball tournament. I thought about it some more and decided it was stupid to turn down free tickets, especially because Mason had been asking me if we could go. I told the boys they had to really clean their rooms and we would go. They vacuumed dusted and basically became my slaves in order to go to the game. We weren't sure Brad would be able to make it, because he had already planned on working late. He told us he would meet us there if he could. We left pretty early because Mason wanted to try and get autographs. Lucky for us one of the Astro's threw him a ball and then signed his ball and the one Tanner had brought with him. Tanner came running over to me and asked me how much he could sell it on ebay. I asked him who signed it. He didn't know who it was. I'm thinking no one is going to buy the ball of an unknown Astro. We watched the game until about the 7th inning and then the boys played at the Squeeze Play for a while. When we left the play area the boys were thirsty. I didn't feel like taking out a small loan to buy them another drink, so I pointed out a water fountain and told them I was going into the restroom. When I came out I saw Mason watching the game, but didn't see Tanner. I asked Mason where he was, but he didn't know. We checked around, looked in the restroom, Mason walked outside and looked by the squeeze play, but no Tanner. I stood there wondering what to do and getting really scared. I started to walk toward the door to check the Squeeze play area and saw Tanner walking up with a weird looking dude. He had those things you put in your earlobes that stretches them out. It didn't register to me that they were together. I asked Tanner where he had been and they guy said he had found him outside of Minute Maid Park walking down the street. Tanner said he was going to look for us at the car. He didn't know where I was. I thanked the guy for bringing him back and started on my lecture for Tanner. When I got home and told Brad what had happened he said, "You mean Tanner was with a freak." I said, "Yes, he might have looked like a freak, but he had a heart of gold. He brought us our Tanner back." This has freaked me out. I have talked to Tanner about what to do from now on if he is ever lost. I guess I did this to him by telling him we were going to the car when Mason left us in the mall. Poor kid, he must be really confused. Brad yelled at him and asked him what he was thinking. "Don't you know your mom would never leave you?" Of course I wouldn't. The two incidents were totally different, but I guess in the mind of a little boy he doesn't see that. This was not a great day in my parenting life.

Before and After

We have lived in our house for 2 years already. So far I have painted the kitchen, dining room, office, master bathroom and the half bath. We have really needed to paint the living room and going up the stairs, because having two boys is not the best for light colored walls. The walls are so tall we didn't think we could do it ourselves and do a nice job.

Brad and I decided we wanted to get the living room and entryway painted. We also have a deal with replacing the floors. We needed some money, so we had a Craigslist garage sale. We spent an afternoon going through our things and deciding what we really needed and what we could get rid off. I should say going through Brad's things. He is a pack rack. Kind of a white Sanford and Son. We ended up selling everything we posted and made about $1400. The first thing we did was get the painting done. I love how it looks, see the before and after pictures.. In a couple of weeks we will get the floors done. I can't wait.

Happy Birthday Tan Man!!

My sweet baby is 9 today. That is really hard to believe. He is really growing up. I am very proud of his accomplishments this year. He has become a great student. He loves to read, which makes me really happy. He is becoming more confident in himself. He has such a sweet heart. I love that about him. Today we went to pick up his cookie cake from the mall. Mason disappeared, which really aggravated me. We looked around and called his name, but he didn't come. I told Tanner let's go to the car and we will drive up to the entrance and I bet Mason will be there looking for us by the time we get there. I really was trying to teach Mason a lesson. He likes to think he is big enough to wonder off and not let me know where he is going. I was hoping to scare him. Tanner wouldn't leave with out finding him. Mason was right where I thought he was, at the music store around the corner from the cookie shop. Mason is lucky he has a brother that cares about him so much. He is still pretty shy. When someone says hello, you can barely hear him say hi, and he won't look at them. Today he surprised me. The lady running the party asked him what he wanted to do and gave him a list of activities and the order she was planning on doing them. Tanner looked right at her and said, "I would like to play kickball, dodgeball, and then basketball." I was very proud of him. He still cries when he gets disappointed, but it doesn't last long. I am hoping by the time he is 19 he will stop this. I guess it is just part of his sensitivity, which is a good thing. I wanted to scan a baby picture of him in, but Brad unhooked our scanner and I don't know how to fix it. I look forward to spending another year watching my little boy grow up. I am so glad I am his mom.

Idiots

I know it sounds crazy, but I really look forward to a weekend of baseball. I love watching my boys play. They make me so proud. I really like socializing with the other families. Overall it is a good experience. Today was a crazy day. First Mason's team played a team called the Astros. The parents on that team were talking smack the whole game. Of course it didn't help that our kids didn't play very well. I ended up leaving that game and walked over to watch Tanner's game. I was thinking it would be better and I could relax a little more. The minute I got there one of the parents said we were playing a real ghetto team. I don't mean color, I mean attitude. The boys had their hat brims flat like a rapper. Their coaches were complaining about everything. We ended up losing by 1 point. When the game was over the coaches from the other team began yelling and pointing at our team in a real disrespectful way. One of the coaches even flipped us off. I was so mad! I began yelling, along with the rest of our parents, to the umpires. I got into an argument with some of their parents and I told them that was a trashy thing to do. Some people take things way to serious. We are talking about 8 year old baseball. We have a million more games to play. They other team kept saying we were just upset because we lost. I can't say I like to lose, but I would never be so disrespectful to another team. I hate people like that, they take the fun out of it. On a brighter note, after the games we went to Lupe Tortilla's for a margarita and it was just what I needed to relax.

Rain, rain go away

The rain has just kept on coming since Friday night. Both boys had a baseball tournament this past weekend at Baseball USA. We were very excited about it. I was happy because Tanner's two pool games were Friday night and Mason's two pool games were Saturday afternoon. This would work out great because I could see both boys games. Sunday might have been tricky, but at least the games were in the same park.

I got home from school on Friday, loaded Tanner up in the car and we went to the ball park. It looked a little cloudy, but the weatherman said only a 20% chance of rain all weekend. During the game it started lightening. The moms in the stands were all getting a little nervous sending our babies into a big field with a metal bat. We wanted the lightening to go away because our boys were playing great. I don't think they could do anything wrong and were winning 7-0 in the top of the fourth. The umpire finally cleared the field and we waited around for the rain to stop. They finally had to call the games for the evening and told us to check the website to see when our games would be rescheduled. Lucky us, they scheduled us for our make up game at 8:30 in the morning. So much for sleeping in on Saturday. Tanner and I got up and got there at 7:30 to find out they had cancelled all the games for the day. Bummer!!

The changed the tournament to single elimination games played on Sunday. Mason's game was at 9:00. Mason was the first batter and hit the ball just inches from going over for a homerun. After that he got thrown out stealing from 2nd to third. They were playing on a softball field and running was like running in quicksand. The rest of the game was not pretty. The boys just looked flat. We ended up losing 13-4. The umpires were a little different. They called in field fly, which hasn't been called in a tournament we have played in yet. The pitcher hit one of our boys with a pitch and he didn't let him take his base because he said he didn't try to move out of the way. I hadn't heard that rule either. We probably still would have lost, but it is discouraging.

Tanner's game was at 10:50 and they ended up losing by 1. The boys did not play terrible, but did not look like they had on Friday night. Tanner did make a great catch at home and tagged the runner out.

It rained again on Sunday night. Then yesterday it started raining in the afternoon and I don't think it stopped until this morning. School was cancelled due to the flooding. It had to be bad for the schools to cancel, because today was one fo the big state TAKS test. The picture is the bayou behind our house. It usually just has a little stream of water in it. It was full this morning. I hope this rain stops soon.

Snakes

Tonight Mason was walking into the house from the front door he yelled, "Oh my God, a snake skin is in the house." Brad ran over there and looked and confirmed what Mason saw. They kept asking me to come and see, but I was too scared to get off the couch. Brad kept saying how big it was and asking where the snake that shed it was. He kept saying it must be in the house. I kept telling them I didn't believe them, but Mason really looked freaked out. I slowly made my way to the entry way and sure enough it was a snake skin about 2 feet long. I was thinking we were going to have to move, because I can not be in the same house as a huge snake. To be honest I can't be in a house with a baby snake either. I hate snakes!! Finally, Brad started laughing and said he found it by the bayou on his bike ride and brought it home to scare us. He is so nice. Then because we are so nice too, we decided to play a joke on Tanner. We put it by the front door and waited for him to see it. He didn't freak out like we did.

Determination

There are times when you can see the wheels turning in your children's brains when they are learning new things. Last weekend after Tanner had played his two baseball games we went to watch Mason's two games. One of the kids at the park had brought a rip stick. Tanner decided he wanted to learn how to ride it. He spent most of the first game trying over and over to ride it. He kept falling off. I kept seeing broken bones, but luckily he wasn't hurt. He spent the second game riding that thing like a pro. He kept asking and asking for his own rip stick. I decided to get him one for Easter. We got it yesterday while we were in San Antonio.

Mason decided he wanted to learn how to ride it. We went to our hotel and Mason spent about an hour trying to learn to ride. He got very frustrated and even started crying, because he couldn't do it. Today at Nana's house he kept trying and could finally stay for a few seconds at a time. When we got home tonight he spent about three hours riding it around the block. He has mastered the rip stick. I hope they put that much effort and determination into everything they want to learn to do.

Baseball, baseball, and more baseball......

We had a total of 9 baseball games this weekend. Tanner played in LaPorte both Saturday and Sunday. Tanner's team played really well. We got 6th out of 15 in the tournament. The most amazing play happened. The 6th inning came around. We were down 5 runs. We ended up tied. The other team was home, so they got to bat last. We had 2 outs and they had runners on 1st and 2nd. The batter hit the ball into the outfield. The runner was rounding third towards home and the ball was thrown to Tanner, who was playing catcher. He caught the ball right when the kid was at home. Tanner blocked the plate and tagged the guy. Tanner was bent down and the kid flipped over Tanner's back. They both fell down in a jumbled up mess of legs and arms. When the dust settled, Tanner still had the ball in his glove. He got the last out to keep them from winning the game. This made us go into extra innings. We ended up losing in the end, but Tanner got the game ball, for being so tough.





Mason played in Katy all weekend. Tanner played at 9:30 and 12:30 on Saturday. Mason played at 4 and 6. Mason's team killed the two teams they played. Winning by 10 or more points. Sunday I had to miss the first two games, because I was in LaPorte with Tanner. I heard they didn't play really well. But they ended up winning. This put them in the championship game. We were winning the majority of the game. In the end we lost by one. The kid made some really stupid mistakes in the last inning. I think they thought they had already won. We still came in 2nd place. We get a little break for the next two weeks. And then it begins again.

Happy Birthday Mom!!

We hope you have a wonderful birthday. I wish I could be there with you to take you out for the day. Tell Cole to do something really nice for you.

It's Over

Well, tomorrow we go back to school. I don't know how a week flies by so fast. Yesterday I went and got a pedicure, manicure, eyebrow wax, and a haircut. It is weird how much time we have on our hands when we don't have any sports on a weekend. We went to Mason's coach's house for a crawfish boil last night. It was really fun. I don't like crawfish, because when I was little my brother and I would catch them in the ditch in front of our house. We called them crawdeads. We went out to dinner before we went to the party.

The boys asked if we could do something fun today, so we planned a trip to Stephen F. Austin state park. We took the fishing poles, bikes, and a picnic. It was a lot of fun and reminded me of when Brad and I first got married. We used to go bike riding all over the place. It ended up being a costly trip. I dropped my camera and ran over it with my bike. One of our fishing poles got hung up on something and when Brad was trying to get the line out of the water the pole broke in half. We are planning on going back this weekend and camp. We rented a cabin for Saturday night. We might not get to go. Brad just got a call from his stepsister. His dad, Charlie, just cut his finger off with a table saw. They were taking him to Temple and going to try and put his finger back on. Pray for him. We might end up going to see him this weekend. I guess it depends on how everything goes with him this week. Poor guy. Brad's sister told me that Charlie's dad cut off a finger at about the same age. That is pretty weird. I guess I need to remember this and keep Brad away from table saws when he is in his 70's.

I did get a few pictures before I broke my camera. We stopped at a little museum before we got to the park. This little old lady runs the place. She talked our ear off. Brad was in hog heaven, having someone to talk to about the history of Texas. The boys got a little bored. She was very knowledgeable and her skin reminded me of my Grandma Broderhausen.

Our Spring Break

We survived playing at Big League Dreams this weekend. It was so cold and rainy. The boys ended up in third place.
Our first official day of Spring Break we were lounging around the house and Brad called. He was in Huntsville working for the day. He left his wallet at home and needed it so he could get gas. We had to drive to Huntsville to bring it to him. We decided to make a day out of it. We went to see Sam Houston's grave. Mason has a weird curiosity about prisons. Well, Huntsville is the perfect place for that. We drove around and looked at the building where death row is and we went to the prison museum. It was interesting. They had an electric chair. I tease Mason about why he is so interested in prisons. I ask him if he is researching his future home.



Last night Mason had baseball practice. He wasn't really excited about going. During the whole practice he was moving slow. His whole team acted like they were on Spring Break or something. Right at the end of practice he was covering third base where a runner was leading off. The catcher threw the ball to Mason. He wasn't paying attention and the ball hit him in the eye. Our coach yelled at our catcher telling him he had told him not to throw the ball. The poor catcher felt terrible. Mason should have been paying attention though. His eyebrow began swelling right away. It was huge. Mason's pediatrician knows us really well because of all of Mason's issues. He gave me his cell number a while back. I texted him this morning and he said to get to the office right away. He checked him out, but couldn't get his eye open. He sent us to an eye doctor. It looks like everything is going to be okay. We have to put drops in his eye and keep it dilated for the next week. I am not really sure why, but whatever works. I hope the last couple of days are a little more fun.