Stuff

I went on a walk with momMA but it got cut short due to the rain. It was fun to explore and enjoy nature. My favorite part was the old wood fence.

As is my custom, I spent the night at Brooks' hotel. I haven't been feeling completely myself and I think Little Black Boy senses it. Look at him watching his Sissy and staying close to my side. 

And, finally, we ALWAYS have tater tots with our hamburgers. It is tradition. MomMA bought corn on the cob and decided that was enough starch and we should have vegetables instead. I protested. Whoever heard of carrots and peas with hamburgers? It's anti-American. She won. I arranged them beautifully, but I promise, I didn't eat one of them. Nope. It was the principle of the thing.

Friday Fun

Last Friday, the 15th, our school held its annual wiffle-ball tournament. We had four teams playing - mine was The Tomatoes. I don't know why. Some questions are too hard to answer. Of all the teams, mine was the least skilled and the least athletic. Somehow, we won the tournament. I still don't know how. Anyway, the kids had a blast. We started the afternoon with a cook-out, complete with ball-park dogs, hamburgers, toppings, chips, watermelon and pop. Our games were announced over the loudspeaker and each team member was introduced by the announcer while favorite music played in the background. Later that afternoon, momMA treated me to shaved noodles and crispy beef at a restaurant in Chinatown, not too far from the ballpark. So full, I could barely breathe, we then made our way to the stadium and caught a Mariners game against the Red Sox. We won in the last inning...two outs, two strikes, a hit and our man on second was able to make it to home. Here are some pics of a very fun day.

I always greet my kids with a smiley face on Friday. Since today was a special day, I sported him up a bit.

One of the highlights for the kids is decorating their wiffle-ball jersies. I drew this tomato for one of my girls.

Proudly showing off their personalized jersies.

Enjoying freshly grilled hot dogs and hamburgers before the tournament.

Our mighty announcers get the crowd rallied as they prepare to get the tournament underway.

Announcing from our very own "76.5 SCS Sport Radio" station.

And the games begin. Vice Principal McPherson attempts to strike out History Teacher Cate.

Teams Sky and Killer Bears wait on the sidelines to see the outcome of Game One between the Tomatoes and the Hitmen.

Our Senior gets in on the action, attempting to strike out Mr. P.

Waiting and cheering...

Taking a break after winning Game One

Showing my team pride

The tournament is over, the kids are happy and...

the Tomatoes are crowned this year's champs!

Headed to Chinatown with momMA for a belated birthday dinner

Shaved noodle soup with shrimp and black mushrooms -- so yummy!

Crispy beef and rice in a sweet and sour garlic sauce

The view from my seat

It was a beautiful night

and a great ending to a perfect day.

The Bird from H+#*&!!

You might remember a post I wrote approximately 2 years ago. It was about the annoyingly consistent shriek of the red-winged blackbird outside my window. Guess who is back? Yep. Bright and early. 4:00 a.m. to be exact. Not even the loud drone of my fan blocks him out. On a funny note, if you watch the video long enough, you'll hear where I kinda drifted off for about three seconds. My "breathing" is louder than the fan or the bird!

The Phaaaaaantom of the Op-er-a is there...inside my mind

I have the best brother in the universe. There are ten years separating us but sometimes I think we are twins. It is uncanny how many things we have in common. For my birthday this year, he took me to see Phantom of the Opera. He knows I LOVE live musicals and the Phantom is a classic. We've seen it in NYC and Toronto. Even though my birthday was in March, we've been waiting to celebrate it, so Sunday morning we headed to the zoo. It was a beautiful day and we were able to see the new tiger exhibit. We had lunch there at the pavilion, walked around, had an ice cream cone and headed back to the bus station. I left Luna at Northgate and we took the 41 directly to Paramount. It was a perfect perfect perfect day. Here are some pictures - including one that I was experimenting with :-)

April Birthdays

Well, we celebrated three birthdays this month. Allen turned 19. JP made a big pan of pot roast with potatoes. We had individual size sparkling grape juice and a pudding pound cake for dessert. Since Allen eats us out of house and home we bought him his own stash of snacks.

My real true loves that I celebrated, however, were my favorite boys...Ichabod and Toby. Ick turned two on April 22 and Tobers turned two on April 24. They have me wrapped firmly around their little paws.

A Message for Me

I took the photo in the background at Coquina Beach on Anna Maria Island, FL.

(You can click on the picture to enlarge it.)

Tee's Babies and a Life in Crazy Fun Chaos

Last Saturday I watched my babies while T & M went to a concert. We had a lot of fun playing with Legos, reading, watching a movie, laughing about Icky, splashing in the bath and painting toenails and fingernails. Baby boy is talking up a storm. I only get what he's saying about 40% of the time but MJ gets it 100%. It's amazing how she can interpret. My little girl said so many funny things. "Tee, Momma said you couldn't snore with me very long tonight." Translated: You can't snuggle with me very long (she doesn't sleep if someone stays with her but she'll try her hardest to convince you she will).

MJ:  "Tee, did you paint your nails for Easter?"
Me: "No, Baby, I didn't."
MJ: Her eyes huge as saucers, "You DIDN'T? WHHHHYYYY?"

MJ: "Tee, you have a bump. What is it?"
Me: "It's like a freckle."
MJ: "I don't have any of those. I'm not old enough."

She sang songs with me after Bubba went to bed. I'll post a couple but I have more. Every time she sang, she wanted me to record her. I LOVE my kiddos. Such excellent medicine.

Of course, I can't forget the furry babies...Sadie and Daisy. Their favorite time is when the babies are down for the night so they can have their "people" to themselves. They are every bit as snuggly as the kids. And, finally, our art work. Whew, we were busy!

The gaps between my blog posts are getting longer and longer. It is because I'm working so much, taking grad courses and, now, looking for a new job. I FINALLY QUIT! I couldn't handle the working conditions and unethical behavior any longer. I knew I wasn't happy but I had no idea how much it was weighing on me until I gave my notice. Immediately it felt like a load had been lifted. I have very little idea of what I'm going to do but I feel confident God is guiding my steps. Whatever He has for me will be the best thing I could do. In the meantime, I'm juggling my various responsibilities and today it kind of struck me as funny, how diverse my life is right now. As my students are in chapel, I'm brushing up on our Physics lesson...Space and Time Relativity. At the same time, my mind keeps wandering to the lesson I will teach online tomorrow night to a preK student -- how to pronounce the letter Bb. Once that's done, it's back to grad work. My brain is all over the place -- from the mind-boggling concepts of space/time travel to the simplicity of early language acquisition. I have to pray just to keep it all straight in my head. Anyway, I'm thankful for this adventure and for the peace and contentment God has provided at this time.