Do you hear it?

Chug, Chug Chug, up the hill I go....

I think I can, I think I can....

I can almost see the top of the hill....

A beautiful Sunday Morning

and what am I doing? HOMEWORK :( DH and the boys went up to visit his family, but I had to stay behind to finish all of these overwhelming projects. I made good headway yesterday, and hope to be pretty well finished with my big one today. While I wish I had the chance to spent the weekend with the family, the peace and quiet has helped boost my productivity. Two more weeks, and classes will be over.

I feel like the little engine that could....


I think I can.....


I think I can......


I think I can......

Two words.....stomach flu

Nuff said :(

baseball pics...

I was not able to be at Josh's game until the very end, since I was at Jake's game. I snapped this pic as we were waiting for Josh's coach to arrive. He had 2 hits and a walk. The team won, by a lot, but I didn't catch the score.....




I was able to see all of Jake's game. They lost 9-11 to St. Joe. Jake was 1 for 3, hitting a single midway through the game. He made an awesome play at pitcher, too.

My AHA! moment

or my DUH! moment, depending on your perspective. I have misplaced the cord that links my camera to my computer. So, I have not uploaded pictures in a while. (Alan has enabled me by supplying his). So, now that baseball season has started, I thought it was time to remedy the situation. So, I searched all over last night to no avail. So, I headed out to Best Buy, Circuit City, etc. to see if a replacement can be purchased. It would have to be ordered directly from Kodak, was the answer I got. But, another option, a card reader, seemed reasonable. Then, the Circuit City guy said something that made me take pause.....his computer has an integrated card reader! Heck, my laptop is less than a year old, maybe it has one, too! So, I headed home to check it out. Sure enough.....I have an integrated card reader! Problem solved! DUH!

So, the next post will include a few pics....

One more thing crossed off the "to do" list..

That's really how my life is structured at this point. One big "to do" list. I survive by crossing off one thing after another, watching the list dwindle. Yesterday, I crossed off my last seminar up north. Today, the boys and I crossed off another item on the list...

SELLING 80 CANDY BARS FOR LITTLE LEAGUE!

OK, I had already sold about 15, so 65 were left. In one hour, twenty minutes, we got them all sold. Actually, it wasn't hard. How could someone say no to those two cuties. Plus, when Mom goes along and stands in the road while the kids sell, how can one turn away a $1 candy bar? No, I don't go along to guilt people into buying; I'm there for safety. But, if it helps the candy sell, so be it.

OK, on to some homework, the next thing on my to do list....

Back from Chicago...

My last trip to Chicago for seminar is finished! It was such a beautiful day, and being cooped up ina car and in a conference room with no windows was not what I had listed for fun today. Sure, the first really nice day of weather we have for a soccer game, and I miss it. But, I got the report from DH and it sounds like both boys had a good game, each scoring a goal. The final score was 7-1.

Baseball season has begun. Jake's team had a practice game on Friday night. They won! The first official game for both boys is on Monday. Jake plays in St. Joseph and Josh plays at home. Life really gets crazy when baseball games start, since the boys play on different teams. Hopefully we will be able to pull it off. Thursdays will be especially challanging for DH, since I'll be at class. Hopefully, we will be able to pull this off, without losing the children...or our minds.

Thursday was my IEP day at work. I had 8 meetings that day. I was at school until 11:15 the night before,making sure all of the paperwork was just right. I have one more meeting to schedule, but that one should be an easy one. Therefore, the most stressful part of the spring semester is over for me at work, which will allow me to concentrate on college stuff.

My last trip....

to the Chicago area for my graduate seminar is today. Yes, I should be in the shower getting ready, rather than blogging. I just felt the need to log on and share my happiness! I do have seminar in May, but that one is in Normal.....a little more than a one hour drive. Doesn't compare to the three hours to Chicago. So, if I find the time tonight, I'll check back in and let you all know what's going on.

A few pictures from the soccer game

Again, thanks to Alan for his great photography (and his willingness to share)...

Here are a few of the many great moments Josh had yesterday...

One of his 4 goals...

and one of his break-aways...

Thanks again, Alan!

The soccer game from he@#!

What a morning! The ground was damp when we woke up, and the rain had only begun. We bundled up with multiple layers, grabbed our umbrellas, and headed out. Josh was wearing so many layers that he looked like he was wearing football pads (too bad he wasn't; more details on that below). I made a hot cup of coffee, hoping that would warm me from the inside out. By the end of the first quarter, it was ice cold, just like the rain that steadily fell throughout the entire game.

Thanks to the wet grass, Jake had a hard time staying on his feet. He had mud on his backside even before the game began. Of course, he probably would have been on his feet more had sliding across the grass not been quite so much fun.

Early in the game, Josh scored the first goal. A short time later, Josh took another great shot, but it was caught by the opposing side. Fortunately for us, it was not the goalie that caught it, which granted us a penalty kick. Josh let Jack take it, and he scored. Not too much later, the opponents scored against Corwin, who made a great effort to block, but the wet grass interfered

Throughout the game, there was some tension among the parents, as a result of some rough play by one of the opposing players. He had been called with a foul in the first half, but that did not end his unsportsmanlike behavior. When he went head to head with Ali, he kicked her pretty hard. Shortly after that, she came to sit along the sidelines for a few moments. When I asked her dad if she had injured her ankle, he told me that Ali had been upset that the boy had laughed at her when she was on the ground holding her leg. She needed a moment to gather herself. The rough play continued, with growing concern from our team's parents. There seemed to be no effort made by the official or the opposing coach to remedy the situation.

In an attempt to regain feeling in my frozen legs, I started to pace the sidelines. Josh had an incredible breakaway, against the goalie and a couple of defenders. He made an incredible shot, right in the goal! Score 2 for Josh! Play continued until, once again, Josh took command and sailed another right past the goalie! Then, as he was heading back down for another try, the boy who had taken Ali down shoved Josh to the ground, hard. Josh lay there, writhing, holding his head. Julian, our coach, rushed onto the field to Josh's side. I stood there, not ableto breathe, trying to keep myself from running on the field. Julian was trying to get a look at Josh's head, but Josh had both arms up holding it. It was sickening to watch him lay there. So many terrible thoughts ran through my head....concussion, stitches, emergency room. Julian picked him up and got him to his feet, and helped him toward the sidelines. I could not stop myself from meeting them half way across the field. Once at the sidelines, I removed his stocking hat to see if there were any visual wounds. I couldn't see anything. He looked at me and said, "I am going back in." I could tell he was mad! I looked him in the eye and said, "Make him pay, but play fair...score one more." He went back in and....

scored one more!

Final score.....5-1 Josh ruled the field today!

My heart rate was still racing, even hours after the game. Seeing Josh laying there was terrifying. The boy was taken out of the game after that, but, the damage had been done. Had the official been doing his job, that boy would have been taken out early on, preventing several injuries. Just by watching the opposing coach and the parents from the other team, it did not seem to be the way this team was coached. They were good, but fair. It was just this one boy.

While my heart has finally slowed down, I'm still not completely calm. Josh has developed a headache, which has subsided with ibuprofen. I am curious to see how he feels when that wears off. I pray that it won't return. Thank God my baby is ok.

A Miraculous product.....a testimonial

Un-du is an incredible product. I discovered it as a scrapbooker. You can "unstick" almost anything without damaging it. Thank goodness I had some in the house last night. It saved Josh from being skinned alive!

We were getting the boys ready for bed. I pulled back Josh's blankets, but they stuck together! I discovered glitter silly putty mushed all over his sheets, comforter, stuffed animals, etc. Needless to say, I was ready to scream. I called DH into the room while I took a moment to compose myself. When I went back in, they had stripped the bed. I handed them some clean sheets and headed for the kitchen to try to save what I could. After some elbow grease and about half a bottle of Un-du, I had salvaged the comforter, the Goofy stuffed animal from Disney, and possibly the beanie baby bear. The bottom sheet was a loss, but it can be replaced. I'm thinking Josh is not going to play with silly putty for a long, long time.

Easter Funnies...

Just a few funnies from Easter weekend....

• Josh and Jake stayed with Grandma and Grandpa on Saturday night so that DH and I could have a little break. This means that they had to go to Mass, which is WAY different from our church. About ten minutes into Mass, Jake scoots over to Grandma and asks, "How much longer?" just loud enough so that all of the surrounding people could hear. Grandma said you could see shoulders shaking from the laughter.
• At communion time, Grandma explained that the boys could not take communion since they were not Catholic, but they could go up to ask for a blessing. Josh asked, "Do I have to?" Grandma cajoled him into going up. In the car, on the way home, Josh asked, "What's a blessing?"
• When we arrived on Sunday morning, Scott (Aunt Sue's significant other) told us that he paid Josh to say that he believed in the Easter Bunny. Later in the day, Jake cought wind of the fact that Josh received money and he did not. So, he tells Scott, "I don't believe in the Easter Bunny." Scott asks, "So, would a dollar help you believe?" Classic Jake response, "Yeah, but five dollars and I would really believe."

Hope you and yours had a great Easter celebrating Jesus' sacrifice for all of us.

Brrrrr!

OK, so, you know what I said about soccer season being during warm weather??? Apparently Mother Nature didn't get the memo that soccer season has began, since she dumped a big ole pile of COLD on us this week.

Let's go back to Monday, when I was sitting at baseball practice with Jake, not paying any attention to what the kids were doing. I was busy typing up a reading summary (and surfing the net, since I found a wireless signal I could "borrow"). I was wearing a tank top and shorts, while I was putting my bare feet in the grass. It was a glorious day!

Fastforward to the end of the week. Tomorrow is supposed to be a soccer game. I say supposed to be since the park district has cancelled it due to COLD! I have watched soccer games, wrapped head to toe in the warmest layers I have, and complained the whole time how freaking cold it was. That's how cold the park district will let us play. So, needless to say, tomorrow is forecasted to be REALLY COLD.

Brrrrrr!

Soccer season has begun!

Gotta love soccer! Of all of the sports that the boys play, this is my favorite. For most of the season, the weather is warm. The families we play with are terrific. Our coach is great. And, thanks to Alan, I have great pictures to share....

Here is Josh, being taken out by his friend, Keith. Josh got back, later in the game, by blocking Keith's shot!

Here is the big news....Jake made the first goal of the season!

Here is the big score....

Since you really can't actually see Jake in this herd of players, here is a gratutious cute picture of the stud of the soccer field....

Baseball season started this week...more on that later.