Sunny Sunday

We finally got some great weather here today. Early on I had every intention of cleaning the house but that didn't last long - the mess will still be there tomorrow. Ryan had a friend of his from across the street over today and they made good use of the day while Ashley sat out back and did her homework at the patio set. While Daisy played down in the grass with Bret and the kids, Luke was too scared to go down the deck stairs to join in the fun so he stayed with Ashley and sunbathed.

She's going to regret not putting sunscreen on today!

Luke's no dummy. He knows where the attention comes from.

Down below, Bret had spray painted a kickball field for the boys in the grass and a fun for all, rules don't apply game was under way.

You didn't think I was going to just let him stay up on the deck, did you? It took a little coaxing, but he made it down just fine. He was scared to death of the white square, though. LoL

Who said you needed anything more than a batman mask and a baby blanket to have an awesome costume?

Batboys with their Batdogs.

Daisy got a nice brushing and was mighty proud.

Luke wasn't so sure about this grooming stuff and Bret was ready to go into the pillow making business.

Life is good, but Bret is talking clippers. LoL

Hopefully the nice weather is here to stay.

Vacation plans to Cancun are still on for now. Our fingers are crossed that Cancun and the state of Quintana Roo remain Swine Flu free. I've got some reliable sites that I'm following for information closely and have talked to our family doctor as well. All we can do at this point is wait and see.

Spring Fever

There's just something about the first spring like day in March to set of a chain reaction. That day for us just happened to fall on a 4 day weekend. This kids are off of school today and tomorrow and the weather passed the 70 degree mark. Kids up and down the block were out playing with their friends. Families were out taking walks with the family dog and the sunset was toasted with a beer (or two) out on the back deck. The first glorious spring like day of many more to come!

Tomorrow is suppose to be even nicer and I can't wait to leave the messy house and the piles of laundry behind to spend another day outside. But along with this prelude to spring, comes the big question that has been on my mind since the weather began warming up: Where will we take the family on vacation this summer?

Every time this year I start hounding my husband about what we'll do this summer in regards to vacation. The kids want to go back to Florida. I vote Disney, but the savings account says not this year. I think we may have narrowed it down to driving to Gulf Shores, AL or flying back to St. Pete's Beach (as we did last summer) and keeping it low key and relaxing. Either choice is a win, in my opinion.

Spring and summer sports are also getting ready to promise busy nights to come. Ashley starts rec league volleyball at the end of this month. Summer softball practices start next weekend and Ryan has already been out practicing his batting and catching skills. He even got back on his bike today which required me to run about 50 laps around the cul-de-sac. It seemed like he had completely forgotten how to balance and then BAM - he remembered. Whew!

Yep, busy is getting ready to make it's return. Can you blame me for thinking vacation?

One Of Those Days

I was super excited to go to my favorite class at the gym this morning - until I got there and it started. Holy cow! My legs just didn't want to move and I was counting the minutes until the torture was over.

I'm home now, obviously, and am hurting like a .... I'm off to take a quick shower and possibly take the kiddos to the zoo since the temperature has already broken 50 degrees. We'll see, but I need. to. get. out. of. this. house! Maybe I'll have some zoo pics to share later.

For now I'm going to go stand under a hot stream of water until the pain goes away.

Spring Preview

As soon as the kids got home from school today, we headed outdoors to enjoy the warmer weather. While it reached 56 degrees today, it was still a little on the cold side.

Ryan and his friend that comes over after school played a game of baseball.

Both of them impressed me with how well they were hitting each other's pitches.
Both Ryan and his friend are moving up to machine pitch baseball this year, so this is very promising to see.

Ryan slams one out of the backyard.

Running to second base.

This kid is ready to learn how to slide!

Quick "cheese" for mom.

Chloe was happy to get outside for awhile, too.

She is determined to graduate to the big girl swing.

After Ryan's friend got picked, Ryan and I took Chloe and the dog for a walk.

Camera oops.

I tried to get a picture of Ryan and Chloe walking, but the dog had other ideas. Every time Ryan would get ahead of Chloe, she would run with her arms out, trying to catch up with him, yelling "Eye-an!"

After dinner Ryan really wanted to see if any of his friends were out playing so we went for another (much longer) walk. No one was outside and now the sore muscles are really kicking in. I may have overdone it today, but I really needed that second walk after taking a second helping of spaghetti tonight.

Is it bedtime yet? It's all hitting me now.

We Call That March Around Here

It's been awhile since my last post and I still don't really have anything interesting for you. I seem to have hit a temporary little "blogger's block" here. That and I spent so much time on the computer in the weeks up until Rock The House that I'm just a bit computered out. I went from being insanely stressed out and busy to - nothing. My house is clean, the laundry is caught up as well as the DVR. It's like the calm before the storm. It's what we call March around here.

March is the month where there is nothing going on. March is still too cold outside to do much of anything, but it does give you a glimpse of what's to come - a spattering of days here and there that are springlike where you spend the day outside with your kids only to come back inside at night, exhausted and worn out, saying that you are so not ready for every day to be like today.

March eventually turns into April and your kids and their Spring sports swing into full gear. Spring sports turn into Summer sports and then there is no time to breathe again until summer is over - well no time except for those lazy days at the pool.

Which brings us back to March. We're already into the second week of March and we need to seriously get on this teaching Ryan how to swim thing. Last spring we enrolled him in swim lessons, only to have that end in major trauma. This spring I am determined to have this kid get over the fear of sticking his face in the water so he can learn how to swim before summer gets here. With Chloe able to walk this summer, I really need him to be able to swim on his own or our trips to the pool may not happen very often this summer due to high stress levels. So I shall be enrolling him again and will be praying for the locker room door to behave itself this year.

March also messes up the internal clock. We got up this morning and it was after lunch before we realized that we were suppose to set the clocks forward. By bedtime I couldn't figure out why the kids were so NOT tired when I realized that for them it was like being put to bed at 7:30pm. Now I'm sitting here at 10:40pm and am the furthest thing from tired, which means that I'll be dragging tomorrow morning.

Soon enough March will be turning into April and life will become hectic again. For now, I think I'll enjoy the break.

Spring Fever

I'm not sure what to do with myself. I've spent the last week getting my PTO binder in order, updating all of the paperwork in it and making sure it's ready to go for next year. There are only a few receipts left to come in and it's looking like our profit is going to be $14,600.00.

I could (and should) spend the day doing laundry and housework, but it's too hard to get serious work done around the house when everyone is home and sitting in front of the TV - makes you want to curl up and take a nap. The downstairs area that the girls spent the night in is a total mess. I should really do something about it, but am pretty much unmotivated at this point.

It's hard to snap back to normal daily life after being so consumed by RTH. There are a million things I need to do now that I've got the time, but I just can't seem to focus. I'm looking forward to Spring when we can get out of the house with the kids and have some fun. I'm getting sick of being cooped up in the house all the time.

I've got our zoo membership application on the counter and ready to be sent in. The Peoria Zoo is undergoing a major renovation right now and by Spring it's suppose to be completed. There is also a huge wooden park with mazes and tunnels next to the zoo that the kids love. Our membership will get us into any zoo all the way from St. Louis to Chicago and more for free. I'm thinking some road trips are going to be in order once the weather gets nice.

So, no more snow and ice. I'm done and over it. I want to see trees and plants bloom and come to life again. I'm ready for Volleyball matches and Baseball and Softball games. Bring me cool spring nights with friends, bonfires and Margaritas. Please, bring it soon!

Unpredictable

Two days ago I was sitting outside in the sun with the kids, enjoying the mid 70 degree weather. My checks and chest were a bit red when I went inside for the day with the faint glow of an unmistakable sunburn approaching. Now, it's 40 degrees outside and snow flurries are blowing around like little annoying white flecks of nothing good to come in the next week. Will someone please bring spring back to me?

A Perfect Day

Finally! Some warm weather! Today was a true sign of spring being right around the corner. With almost 70 degree temperatures and the warmth of the sun, the babies and I hung out on Emily's driveway on a blanket watching all of the neighborhood kids that weren't in school play. I did feel a bit guilty since Ryan and Ashley would surely be upset that I was outside enjoying a beautiful day while they were stuck in school. (Not too guilty, though...ha.)

It's funny how you don't tend to see many of your neighbor's during the long and cold months of winter, and then all of a sudden it warms up outside and you realize that everyone's kids have grown a few inches taller and look a lot older. It was nice to sit and catch up with friends that we don't see everyday.

Spring break is quickly approaching and I'm hoping the weather will be as nice as it was during last year's break. Last year the kids and I were outside from the time we had finished eating breakfast until it was time to come in for bath time. By the end of the first day, Emily and I had sunburns - in March! We couldn't have asked for better weather.

Here's to hoping that tomorrow will be just as great as today was.

Always Prepared

Ryan was super prepared during today's early morning thunderstorm after the electricity flickered a few times with his flashlight.