Tuesday, March 29th...Calling your shot

The last five days have been crazy busy.   I have watched 9 baseball games and 7 tennis matches in 5 days. That's a lot of watching.  There has been a lot of hurry up and then sit and watch going on.  If you've ever had a little leagurer in your house you know what I'm talking about.  The hurry up goes like this...get your pants, find your socks, where is your hat?  Is your bag packed?  Do you have your glove?  No, I cannot touch your cup, put it in your own sliding pants!"  Gross.  The watching goes like this...wait wait wait...CHEER!  Wait wait wait..CHEER!  Wait wait wait.  Little league baseball is not the fastest pace game in sports. ;)  Don't get me wrong, I love to watch my boys play baseball, absolutely love it..but the general pace of the game is a little on the slow side.  Thankfully I am blessed to have friends on both baseball teams which makes watching waaaay more fun!

Quick parenting tip...Never say to your 4 boys, "I think I'm about balled out!"  This statement will be met with all manner of jokes and hee haw laughing.  The little said, "That should be your slogan mom."  So there you have it, I have a slogan. ;)

At last nights game my middle one walked up to the plate and pointed his bat at his buddy playing in left field.  He was trying to say, heads up friend cuz this one is coming your way.  What he actually said was foul ball over the third base dugout right at his friend's dad. ;)  It reminded me of that same kid at 3 years old.  He would march his adorable little self up to the plate, stop just outside the batters box, hoist that bat up in the air and point his bat to the outfield.  I asked him once why he did that.  His reply, "That's what the Babe did and he hit a lot of home runs."  Can't really argue that logic with a pre-schooler. ;)  When the ball is sitting there stationary on a T just waiting to be smacked it's a lot easier to call your shot than when there is a pitcher on the mound throwing balls at your face. ;)  As I was sitting there watching him do his thing at catcher (which btw, he is going to have some rockin quads that I'm about to be jealous of) it hit me that baseball is an interesting metaphor to life.  Don't laugh, I know it's totally cheese ball, but it is true in many ways. Or, maybe after 9 baseball games and 7 tennis matches I have officially gone looney toons and someone needs to call the guys with the little white jackets to take me away.  That is a distinct possibility. ;)    Here's my 9th game, 5th inning theory...in life we always want to call our shot, control our way, make our own plans; the truth is that the bigger we get the less control we have over the variables.  We never know when life is going to throw us a curve ball, like a busted water hose, a broken arm, a broken dryer or a dog who is trying to eat her foot off.  (For real, my little dog is craaaazy)  At some point we learn that we cannot control everything, we just have to deal with what we have and the good Lord willing, we won't have any "chin music" thrown our way ;)  I asked the middle kid after the game if he was trying to call his shot.  He says, "Not really, my friend looked bored out there so I was trying to give him something to do.  That didn't work out like I planned" ;)  I tried to enlighten him with my new revelation on baseball and life to no avail.  His eyes glazed over after about 15 seconds and all he could say was, "Can we go get something to eat?  I'm staaarving to death!"  Ok, fine..did I ever tell my theory on how life is like a sandwich? :))  Insert 11 yr old eye roll here. :))

The wine for the day is called hot coco from your local 7 eleven.  I'm off to a couple more games this evening and the temp can't seem to get above frigid here.  Apparently I am trading in a work out program for the equally effective method of freezing my a** off watching other people play sports. ;)  Since I've been hitting that method pretty hard the last few days it seems like a good idea to balance that out with some warm liquid chocolate.  ;)

Happy Tuesday!

Sunday, March 27th...Plaaaaaay Ballllll!!!!

It's been a weekend of sports for this girl and her 4 boys.  The two little boys were playing in a tournament at our local baseball park and the big one sandwiched the weekend with tennis tournaments. I'm gonna need some girl time soon.  A chick flick, a pedicure or something...for the love of pete, somebody throw me something pink! ;)

It actually was a great weekend, besides the two cold fronts that came threw Saturday and Sunday.  Watching baseball in 40 degree weather isn't my very most favorite thing to do. ;)  The weekend started out really nice.  The weather was beautiful and I had the distinct pleasure of spending the entire day Friday watching the one arm bandit play in a tennis tournament.  He played doubles with the nicest young man (don't I sound like I'm about 85 when I say that? HA!)  But for real, the kid is awesome. :)  I don't know if you've ever watched a tennis tournament before or not, but it is seriously not an easy thing to do.  First of all, I never played tennis and the scoring is like navigating your way thru a Vegas hotel...confusing doesn't even begin to cover it.  Add to that, parents aren't allowed on the court (which is awesome) so you must sit outside of the court and watch thru the fence (which is not awesome).  The fence is covered with a wind screen.  I'm sure that screen is helpful to the kids playing, but good Lord, a person could stroke out looking thru that for 6 hours straight!  Can someone get me a dramamine? Or at the very least an advil for the migraine this "optical illusion" is creating? I think they played really well, but I'm not exactly sure I was even watching the right match. ;)  They finished 3rd!  Very excited for my broken big kid!

Left middle school tennis and went straight to 8 yr old baseball.  You'd think the intensity would take a major nose dive, but that is not the case.  There are some people who take their baseball seriously...very seriously.  We are blessed to have our little guy on a team with some really great coaches and families.  Perfect mix of competitiveness and understanding that the boys are only 8 years old.  Some of the teams we played this weekend have not got that particular balance down just yet. ;)  That is putting it mildly.  I have found if I ever get bored during a game, a quick glance around is sure to offer some sort of show...off the field. ;)  At the little guy's third game of the weekend he did something truly amazing.  Another first...he hit an out of the park, over the fence, HOME RUN!  If I hadn't been bundled up under 7 layers of blankets, coats, sweaters, shirts and mittens I would have had the phone out a little faster for a picture.  Rats!  Instead of capturing this amazing moment on film, I recorded it in my mind.  I will never ever forget the look on his face when he rounded third base. All you could see was grin...from ear to ear!  His whole team went nuts, cutest thing ever!  It's a moment he won't forget.  As soon as he was back in the dugout he ran out to give me a big hug.  That's a moment I won't forget. ;) When I was talking to him about it after the game he says in his usual non-chalant, nothings too big of a deal way, "Yeah, that was fun.  Did you see my team-mate hit one right after me?  And we were both using one of his two bats.  I think the credit goes to the bats."  Ha!  I don't think so little dude, the credit goes to your dad for finally convincing you to swing that bat level. ;)  Just kidding, the credit goes to the little one, he is one awesome little kid! (and I'm not biased or anything.;)

The middle also played this weekend.  He was subbing with a team that had some players gone.  It was a great little team, with a really nice coach too.  The middle one's favorite place on the baseball field is catcher, and the coach was nice enough to let him play there all weekend.  He was in heaven.  During the middle of the game a foul tip came back and smacked the face mask on his helmet with a loud THWACK!  The whole place went silent, waiting to see if he was ok and how he would react.  Would he need to leave the game?  Was he upset?  Scared?  He hopped right up onto his feet and shook his whole body in a massive spasm that started at his feet and came up and out his hands.  He looked like Wiley Coyote after he face planted with the side of a mountain! :))  The silence was broken with a sigh of relief that he was not hurt followed by some hee haw laughing by both sides of the field! :))  After the game the umpire came up to him and said, "good job catch, you kept me safe back there."  My middle one shoots right back, "yep, I got your back...and your front."  ;)  Funny boy that one, funny boy. :))

Tomorrow, it's off to another tennis tournament.  I've packed some dramamine, advil and a good book.  I will take on the fence and wind nets and I will conquer, or I will read my book and when the match is over throw out a few comments, "That was great!  "Nice shot"  "Suuhweeeet one handed back hand!"  I'm gonna go with the age old phrase "it's the thought that counts", that will work here, right? ;)

The wine of the day is Cupcake chardonnay, it's one of my favorites.  Sometimes after 7 ball games and 6 hours of tennis a girl just needs some comfy warm jammies and a glass of something familiar.  Throwing in a cupcake doesn't hurt either. ;)  Plus with the amount of sports happening around here lately my time to "research" for my blog has been severely limited.  I'm gonna have to work on that!

Happy Sunday!

Wednesday, March 23rd...Age smage

Yesterday was my birthday! My big kid told someone at school that I was 26 yesterday and the kid said, "nu uh that would mean she was like 14 when you were born." Now, I'm no mathematician and can certainly throw no stones in that area (or any other area actually), but I'm pretty sure if I were indeed 26 yesterday and my big kid is 14...there is no way to get 14 out of that equation.  I got a good little chuckle out that.  ;)  I'm most definitely NOT 26, I'm really 28.  Now don't you all start laughing and doing that math cuz there is no need for an exact equation here.  No need at all.  And truly, I don't say I am 28 because I don't like the real number, I am perfectly content with who I am, where I am and how old I am.  I like the age of 28 because my "real age" is something ridiculous like 17 and if you average that and my actual age you get about 28!  How's that for some math! Impressive, I know. ;)  I think age is not really about a number, it's about how you feel and I definitely don't feel like a 41 year old mother of three.  I don't act like it either. ;)  I wonder when my real age will catch up with my actual age?  Oh, I don't know, probably on the 3rd...of NEVER!  So there you have it, I'm a 41 28 year old who might just be a tad delusional!  I'll take that any day over feeling and acting all of my years. ;)

The actual birthing day turned out to be a little bit crazy.  It started with a new cast for the big kid.  It's waterproof, so no more needing help to shower.  I'm not sure who is more relieved about that, him or me?  It's probably a tie. ;)  We also finished up high school enrollment with a counselor meeting and attended an honors ceremony.  Banner day for the big kid!  With the help of some dear friends, grandparents, a sister, a niece and an extra car we got the little to baseball practice on the other side of town, and the middle to pitcher/catcher practice.  Then got everyone picked up, homework done, a couple of grumpy showers and bed. Some where in the middle of all that I slipped in a girlie lunch and a much needed pedicure!  By the time I got in bed I felt almost 29. ;)  A good night's sleep fixed that right up!

The wine for the day is Layer Cake shiraz.  This is one I've used before and I will probably use it again because it is yummy and it has cake on the front!  I mean really, who doesn't love a big piece of layer cake and a good glass of wine!  The best thing about birthday cake is that you get to have a piece on everyone's birthday, not just your own.  It really is quite possible to have a celebratory piece of birthday cake everyday, because after all, it's always someone's birthday! ;)  In the most historical and hysterical words of Marie Antoinette, "Let them eat cake!"

Happy Wednesday!

Sunday, March 20th...For your inflight entertainment.....

Yesterday was a long day.  Very looong!  It is a long long way from the mountains to our house. Did I say the word long enough times there?  Get the picture?  The day started off with one harfing and two fighting..awesome. ;)  It didn't take long for everyone to get into some sort of movie or sleep mode and all was peaceful for awhile.  Then the middle knocked a tooth out with a shocker, which is some sort of hard candy, and had a little fountain of blood in the back seat.  Having a tooth come out is always exciting, but when it is accompanied with even the smallest amount of blood serious drama ensues.  People were yelling, kleenex's were flying and a pillow case was ruined.  Luckily we were able to save the tooth so the tooth fairy could make a visit last night.  Cuz, that's exactly what the tooth fairy wanted to do after 12 hours in the car, 3 loads of laundry and a total car clean out. ;)

About half way thru the trip, which is somewhere around nowhere Kansas the little one popped his ear buds in and was jammin to some tunes.  Apparently, he set his ipod to replay Bruno Mars song Grenade over and over again.   While he was listening to music blaring in his ears, he was also playing some sort of game on the big one's ipad.  At some point he must have forgotten that the rest of us were in the car because he started singing along, very loudly.  He was busting out, "I'll take a grenade for ya, throw my hand on a blade for ya, step in front of a train for ya, you know I'd do anything for ya. Nah na na na Nahh na for ya."  At first we all thought it was hilarious.  He had no idea we were listening, the big one took video and we all had a good laugh.  After about the 10th time, it was becoming a little less funny.   But there he sat, playing his game and singing his song, "Easy come, easy go na na na na  take take take na na na."  He did it for 5 hours. Not. Even. Kidding.  Five total hours the kid sang the same song out loud over and over and over. It's a pretty good song, but seriously little guy, could we maybe sing another one?   I know now every word to Grenade, so does the rest of the family. ;)  I am certain that every car we passed (which was many because there is a direct ratio between the amount of racket in the car and the speed at which the car is traveling) was cracking up looking in our windows.  All 5 of us had on some sort of headphone, one is getting his groove on and four are staring straight ahead with a glazed look in their eyes trying to keep from strangling the one. ;)

So spring break is officially over.  Tomorrow the kids will go to school, the hubby to work and the mom to the laundry room.  I'll be in there for awhile. ;)  We had a great trip, minus the broken big kid, a bloody tooth and the fact that four of us have bleeding from the ears after 5 hours of taking a grenade for ya. ;)  We got to ski with Donkey, his lovely wife and budders...always a treat!  We got 7000 bouncy balls, a ride on a snow mobile, a dip in the pool surrounded by snow and made some new friends from Canada.  We skied a total of about 50,000 vertical feet, 1,000 of those feet were mine. ;)  The middle kid absolutely shredded the gnar, the little one mastered his skis and the big one and I got some real quality time together both on and off the mountain.  As will all family trips, I now need a vacation to recover from my vacation! ;)

The wine of the day is Bobby Adams The Family, it is a pinot gris.  It's the perfect kind of day to sit outside and enjoy a light white wine and celebrate the first day of spring.  If you are looking for some real entertainment throw some headphones on the children, crank up the music and listen to them sing away!  Be careful though, if you listen for too long you might need more than one bottle of wine. ;)

Happy Sunday!

Wednesday,March 16th....Super balls

Yep, you read that right....super balls. One of our favorite apris ski spots has an arcade room with lots of fun games. Earlier this week, before the big one broke himself, we were enjoying some after ski beverages and snacks with the donkey and a couple of Canadians. The kids were entertaining themselves in the arcade. Apparently there is a game in there that hands out super balls as prizes, you know the kind that bounce super high and then spike all over the place? We came home with about 50 of them. That's right, fitty, 5 0, that says a lot about how long we spent having apris ski beverages. ;) Super balls = super fun!! Especially when you are on the third floor of the condo building you are staying in. ;) Can you see where this is going? Oh yeah...it's going there all right. I caught the middle and little on the balcony earlier spiking them as hard they could on the driveway below to see which way they would spike off to. They were giggling in delight with the fact that some would actually bounce up and over the trees into the neighboring condo's parking lot. A few landed on people's balcony's. Umm, boys, what are you doing? Two little heads whip around with completely innocent looks on faces and hands behind their backs. "Nothing mom." Do they seriously think I am that dumb? I may have been born at night, but it wasn't last night! ;) I went thru the whole parental lecture of the dangers of throwing things off the balcony, which the middle completely glazes over and tunes about 10 seconds into.;) About the time I'm wrapping this up in all my best seriousness, the big kid yells from inside on his perch with arm elevated, "Guys, don't throw all your balls away, you're gonna want those later!" PAHAAAAAA!! :)). Even I can't hold it together on this one! That's just funny, I don't care who are, it's funny. :)

Yesterday the broken big kid and I took the little one to the pool, it's an outdoor heated pool so it's completely open air. The little one jumps in, comes back up and says,"Hey, I found one or my balls in here! We must have got one all the way over here!" Super ;)

Time to get back to the man movie marathon the big kid and I are having. He wasn't interested in the romantic nuances of the most esteemed Jane Austin. ;) The Wine of the day is Fog Mountain merlot. The mountains are gorgeous encased in a heavy fog, especially as the sun begins to break thru. A beauty only the good Lord could create!

Happy spring break Wednesday! Oh, I just got the irony of the "break". Apparently I'm already in a mountain fog! ;) Lord help me, I'm a little slow on the uptake today.

Happy spring Wednesday!;)

Monday, March 14th....There's a first time for everything.

There is truth in the saying....there's a first time for everything.  We have been coming to the mountains to ski with our kids for 9 years, and we have not needed the ski patrol 1 time.  Not even one not a bloody nose, or a headache..nothing.  Today was the first time for two things in our family...stretcher ride to the bottom of the mountain and broken bones.  I know, it's hard to believe with three boys we have not had one single broken bone, but it is true.  Plenty of ER visits and enough stitches to make a small coat, but no broken bones. 

Today the big kid went off boarding with some other big kids that are up here for spring break too.  The 4 of them are all 14 or over and the big kid knows the mountain well, so this seems like a fine idea.  What should have tipped me off to a potential hazzard was the "4 boys between the ages of 14 and 16" part.  Why was that not a warning?  The answer is...because I have raised them saying,  "if you never let them fall down, how will they know how to get themselves back up."  Well, this parenting philosophy came in real handy today.  ;)  The big one and his buddies were in the terrain park.  He hit a big jump and caught an edge on the landing and went down...on his left arm.  To his major credit, he was able to get himself back up and get to the bottom of the main lift we take.  He was able to pull his phone out and call me to say, "I think I might have hurt myself...for real."  In other words, don't tell me to suck it up and keep going this time mom. ;)  Got it buddy, I skied right down...as fast as I could.  Sooo, about 30 minutes later I show up. ;)  One look at his face and I can tell this not a "rub some dirt on it" kind of incident.  I had to get the ski patrol to come over and take a look at him, and they decided he needed a ride to the bottom.  For the first time ever, one of my kids was put on the stretcher and taken to the bottom.  As in any crisis situation, I am reserving my freak out for much later.  Instead, I pull out my phone and take pictures.  There must be some documentation to this historic event. ;) Too bad I'm too technologically challenged to get those photos from my phone to Bud's lap top.  You'll just have to take my word for it...I was calm, the big kid was tough and the little one was excited!  He got to ride on the back of the snow mobile.  All he had to say was, "I'm kind of glad big the kid got hurt, cuz this is really cool.  I mean, no offense or anything, big kid."  I'm sure there was none taken. ;)  I got to carry all the gear and meet them at the bottom, can you say pack mule?   And let me just say, that I was in the medical office before they were. So, I guess I can ski fast afterall, it just takes the right motiviation. ;)  Turns out the big kid has a crack in one of his wrist bones and a chip out of the other.  Cool red cast and lots of attention later we are about to head home and he says, "Hey doc, can I play tennis with this thing?"  And, "How long before I can get back out on the mountain?"  As long as he has a mean one handed back hand there will be zero down time from tennis.  And the doc says, "One day to rest and you can snowboard on Wednesday."  What?  Ummm, I don't think so.  Mom says at least 2 days off the mountain.  I am so mean. ;)

The wine of the day is Two Hand's Gnarley Dudes Shiraz.  I'll be sipping on this while I finally let all the emotions of the day catch up to me.  Somebody pull out my crazy straw...my baby is broken!  I don't care if he is 14 1/2, he's still my baby. ;)  I guess my baby really is a big kid and he can seriously shred the gnar, at least that's what the x-ray says. ;)  Tomorrow I'll enjoy a good day of movies with him, and hopefully convince him that he wants to do that the next day too.  Not gonna happen...but a mom can hope!

Happy Spring Break Monday!

Friday, March 11th....On the road again

I don't know how this has happened, but spring break starts tomorrow.  This school year is flying by at some sort of hyper speed that will have 2 of my kids "graduating" from elementary and middle school before I blink again!  When my kids were all little, people used to look at me with a sympathetic look and say, "enjoy this time because before you know it they will be all grown up."  At the time, that sort of statement really made me want to throw hot rocks at the giver of such sage advice. ;)  Now, I know that to be true...well at least the before you know it they will be grown up part.  I'm still not sure about the loving every single minute of the little years because those are some seriously hard years.  I'll take my big kid issues any day over what I used to face with these three.  I haven't wiped anyone's butt or nose for years, and I like that...a LOT!

Tomorrow morning we are leaving on the mother of all parenting challenges, the 12 hour road trip.  If we all survive this mecca of closeness we will end up in the mountains for a week of skiing with friends and family.  We will hit the slopes dressed from head to toe in all our warmest gear, strap on our ski's and snowboards and "shred the gnar" for 6 straight days!  Well, at least 4 of us will do that, I will tend to spend more time with hot coco and a good book than hitting the slopes.  I have found that when I try to hit the slopes with my boys, the slopes hit back...and hard.  There's no time for a sore bum for mom. ;)  I will make sure to spend some time each day with camera in hand paparazzing my children all over the mountain, much to the teenagers chagrin, and will hopefully come back with a book full of memories.  Some of my most favorite family times have been in the mountains, and I can't wait to get back to the mountains majesty tomorrow.  Notice how I threw in a little America and a little royalty right there, a girl can never get to far away from her crown. ;)

It's time to go pack now.  Four people's jackets, pants, long johns, hats, gloves, boots, ski's, snowboards, helmet's, sweatshirts, goggles, pj's, mittens....oh my!  I best get going!

Today's wine is Winner's Tank Velvet Sledgehammer Shiraz.  This is probably going to be tomorrow's wine too, as I am sure I will want a sledgehammer at some point during the 12 hours of car time to put myself out of my misery.  In order to escape that amount of boy closeness I have loaded a Jane Austen movie marathon on my phone to watch.  :)  A little Sense and Sensibility will be in order to keep the peace in the back seat! ;)

Happy Friday!