PIRATE POWER!!

He seems pretty focused doesn't he.....well that is because he has to be ready to do this.....

He got the ball and threw it to Devin, our first baseman and got the out! Now don't get me wrong....there are many times he is not focused! It drives me crazy but I have to remind myself that he is only 5 years old. I am very proud of him and I just love watching him compete. He loves sports....even as I type, he is asking me "Momma...you said you would play baseball with me...can we play now?" Does this kid not get enough? We have been at the baseball fields all weekend!

We did get to take a little break and head to Coach John's house for some fajitas...yummy! The boys ran through the house and back and forth from the backyard to the Xbox. Here are the crazy Pirates about to eat some baseball cupcakes.

Even when they are off the field....they still want to play baseball. I kept thinking to myself while I watched them play...one day they are going to be big, stinky teenage boys and they are not going to want to play catch with their Mommas.....so I am going to end this post now so I can go play some catch with my little Pirate! By the way...they went 3-1 in the USSA State Tournament for a 3rd place finish. Go Pirates!!

Show Us Where You Live Friday-Kids Room

See this cute, little, chunky monkey.....well now he is....

this adorable sports playing 5 year old and we are going to visit his room as part of Kelly's Korner-Show Us Where You Live Friday

This is my son's room which used to be the playroom. He has a basketball goal at each end and some intense one-on-one games take place here! This room shouts BOY!

Since it was the playroom, he has no privacy but until our house is built (w/4 bedrooms) he will live here. His sisters each have their own room and that helps me keep my sanity.....which is somewhat important...haha.

This is the other side of his room and I love this built-in shelf. You probably noticed that I still need to paint this side of his room. Yep, it's on my list of things to tackle. My clown collection is displayed here until I figure out a better place for it. My grandfather collected clowns and I thought it was neat....I've been collecting them ever since I was in elementary school.

Yet another view from the "Arena". The window seat is great. My son is a sports fanatic so he has got something for every sport in his room. When we have friends over, this room gets a lot of good use. Us grown-ups hang out and the kids play in here. Thanks for stopping by....have a great weekend.

Many Blessings,
Amanda

My Lil' Graduate

My Proud Graduate....he has been attending PEP since he was 10 months old and he managed to make it all this time without getting kicked out! :) Actually, he is a good kid and I am very thankful to PEP for helping Gene and I raise our sweet boy.

Logan with the director, Ms. Cindy. She is retiring after this year. She ran that school like a well-oiled machine. We are very blessed to have had our kids under her leadership for the past 9 years.

"Dear Lord, please get me through this graduation quickly so I can go play some baseball." :)

Or he was asking the Good Lord to forgive him for trying to look under this girl's dress! (He was really just scratching his leg.....learning the tricks early...haha)

The K-4 Graduating Class of 2009!

His sisters were so happy for him...even though Kansas looks like she is constipated. I can't believe summer is here!! I keep hearing Will Smith singing in my head..."Summer, Summer, Summertime....time to sit back and unwind". I hope y'all enjoy time with your families this summer. Don't forget to check back tomorrow for Kelly's Korner-Show Us Where You Live Friday.

Many Blessings,

Amanda

Show Us Where You Try Not to Live...Friday? (used to be a ) Dining Room

Well I am sure y'all have already noticed that instead of a dining room table, you see a dog kennel. No, I don't make my kids eat in there....anymore. Actually, 10 years ago this room was transformed from a dining room into my hubby's office/sports bar. He had a guy come in and build the shelves the day we brought our first child home from the hospital. How bout that timing. Nothing like hearing a saw going all day long while your newborn is trying to sleep. Surprised we are still married aren't ya!

Here is the beloved bar that we got him a few years ago. The funny thing is, it has only been used....wait for it....ONCE! My family was in town for Christmas and the hubs and my brother-in-laws broke it in...and I thought the saw was loud!

Here is the lovely table minus the junk. I figure I will just throw it in when we sell the house...heck, it's practically brand new!

Here is the view looking into the kitchen. Since this room is that of my dear spouse, it isn't as organized as I would like. So I try not to enter this room as much as possible. I think I actually start to get hives if I am in it too long! I dust it and do the floor but he claims that he can't find stuff if I organize it. Can I get a big WHATEVER on that one! :)

Here is the other view....don't look too long it may give you nightmares. Now I don't blame him for transforming the room. We are hardly formal people....we don't "dine" we "chow" so I didn't feel it necessary to have a formal dining room. The plans for our new house we are going to build doesn't have one either. Despite the lack of one in my house, I can't wait to check out the dining rooms over at Kelly's Korner! Have a great Memorial Day weekend and thanks for stopping by!

Many Blessings,

amanda

They Like to Move It Move It

For the record, 3rd graders know how to party! Kansas and her friends had their end of the year bash and they had more fun than I did at some of my college parties! One of her friend's hosted the party at their home and it was awesome. They even had a DJ!! Here is Kansas and two of her friends she has gone to school with since Kindergarten.


Kansas and her friends in the hot tub...the DJ working hard in the back.

I told you they know how to party...look at these crazy kiddos...how about the view...pretty nice.

Now you all should know what dance they are doing here. At first, the boys would just watch the girls and then dance when they got off the stage....but then.....

They stopped being shy and just got up there with them. It was pretty comical to watch!

Here is my beautiful daughter about to jump in and enjoy the fun.

How fun is this slide!!! I wish I would have worn my swimsuit so I could have scared all the kids....I mean so I could have gone down that slide!

As you can see....college kids don't have nothin on the 3rd graders.... They swam, danced, chowed down on some pizza and icee drinks and had fun making memories. It is hard to believe another school year has come to an end. I am looking forward to the summer....hanging out with the family...taking my annual trip to California (by myself) and then attempting to go again in July with Gene and the kiddos when Gene's team plays in LA. I hope everyone has a great summer!

Many Blessings,

amanda

KJ's Birthday Celebration

Kansas had this huge smile on her face ALL day long. It's good to be 10! She wanted to eat at Bravo, an Italian Restaurant so that's where her Daddy and I took her. She loves pasta...it's the Italian blood in her! Did you notice she is wearing a shirt about horses....just like I mentioned in the last post...that's all she wears!

It's a surprise we didn't get kicked out of the restaurant! Usually you have to tell your children to behave at the dinner table...but I had to tell my husband! What a goof ball!

I brought a yummy cookie cake to Kansas' classroom so they could celebrate with her. She is planning on taking some friends to see the movie "Up" and then have a sleepover for her actual birthday party. Unfortunately the movie doesn't come out until the 29th of this month. It's a good thing cause our schedule is packed until then!!

The cookie cake which of course has a horse on it for my little cowgirl.

On your birthday you get a "Birthday Blessing" from Father Mel in chapel. It just so happened that he called up everyone who was having a birthday in June to come up as well.

Kansas and Father Mel after chapel.

Happy Birthday Kansas!!

Ten years ago tomorrow, we were giving birth to our daughter, Kansas Jade..ok well actually Daddy just counted for me while I did all the work! We were so excited....you made us a family of 3! You cried a lot and I just knew I was doing something wrong....so Daddy was quick to take over for me. He would change diapers and walk you around the cul-de-sac at 2am in your stroller to help get you calmed down. It didn't take long for you to get moving. You didn't bother crawling...you jumped right to walking...yep, by 9 months old!

We gave you the nickname Toot-Toot. I don't think I need to explain why you earned that name.(You get that from your Dad by the way) Of course now that you are 10, you don't allow us to call you that in public. When you were born you were 8lbs and 21.5 inches long. I don't know how much you weigh now but you are almost as tall as me. You are my little animal loving country girl and quite emotional....sorry...you get that from your momma.

You don't like to dress up...very much the opposite. Shorts and a horse t-shirt will do just fine for you. Your beautiful long, curly hair must always be in a pony tail or a braid. One day you are going to realize just how gorgeous those locks really are!!

When you first meet people, you are very shy but then it is non-stop chatter once you feel comfortable with them. Your manners are wonderful and you are very respectful. Daddy and I get compliments all the time about you.

Even though you may pick on your brother and sister, you love them very much and they love you too! It's hard for me to believe it has been 10 years since I gave birth to my firstborn daughter. Kansas, you are such a beautiful young lady and Mommy and Daddy are so proud of you! Now I have to go get some kleenex cause this post is making me emotional...told you you get it from me. HAPPY BIRTHDAY TOOT! :)

Friday Full of Fun

Being the Mom of 3 kids means you are always busy so a packed schedule is nothing new. Even though you may find yourself totally exhausted at times, you can't help but to feel blessed. This Friday was yet another busy day....packed with Field Day for the girls and then "Pre-School Musical" for Logan. Gene and I love hanging out with our children and watching them grow.

Here is Kansas competing in the sack race and her coach AKA Daddy is looking on and of course trying to mess her up.

Trinity is all smiles before she kicked some butt in the 50 meter dash.

Kansas was ready for the baton during the team relay.

Trinity was so determined to help lead the blue team to victory.

The girls both did very well at field day. Kansas jumped the farthest in long jump out of all the girls in the 3rd grade! Trinity jumped the farthest out of BOTH the boys and girls in the 1st grade!! Yes, I am one proud Momma!!

Now onto the little boy in our lives.....

Logan's future is so bright, he has to wear his shades :) ...he has been talking about this performance for weeks. It's hard to believe this was his last performance at PEP. He has been going there since he was 12 months old and Gene and I have had a child in their program for the last 9 years. Thank you Ms. Cindy for all you have done for our children...we will miss you!!

Logan getting ready to belt out some tunes....he is in the orange on the top row.

Here is a little video of him jammin out to a good ol' tune. (make sure you pause my playlist down on the right before you play his video)

Show Us Where You Live Friday - Guest Room

So exciting..it's Kelly's Korner- Show Us Where You Live Friday and it's Guest Room time! We don't really have an actual guest room but we do have a space that holds the family when they come and visit. When we have no visitors, it holds our lovely, English Bulldog, Gracie Lee.

See...I told you...Gracie has claimed the futon but it is also the only couch she is allowed to sit on....I don't do well with dog hair. I am constantly sweeping to make sure I don't see any. Sorry but it's just something I inherited from my Mom's side of the family.

This is the view looking into my husband's office. Yes, you see the dog's kennel in there...appropiate place I think! Apparently Gracie felt the need to be in yet another picture. That is my messy desk in the back....please ignore the Mayhem that is going on...ugh!

Here is a view of the entertainment center...the kids usually play video games on this tv or watch movies. I think we are one of the few people left to not own a flat screen. I would love one but there are so many other things I want to spend my money on....(new home in the country perhaps) not to mention all of our tv's still work just fine! My wall is pretty bare but since we painted, I don't want to put any more holes in the wall since we are moving soon.....remember...the house in the country! :)

Now I know this isn't my guest room but I had to display this sad picture....no, it's not sad because my son is upset that he can't get an M&M off the dirty floor to eat, it is sad because my precious bag of M&M's fell violently to the floor and there were not many survivors. It is a very sad day for me....wasted chocolate....it's just tragic! Please take a moment of silence for the chocolate that could have been.....on my hips. Well I hope everyone enjoyed my "not so much" guest room. Have a great weekend!