An ending and a beginning

We are nearing the end of Noah's first Little League season (2 games left in the championship tournament). Tonight's game was an 8-1 victory over the #3 seed (we are #2). Thursday evening, we play the #1 team. If we win that one, we play the final game on Saturday. Today's game was a good one with lots of action. Unfortunately, some of that action included our players getting hit by some bad pitches. "Way to take one for the team!" has become a common cheer for us.

Now on to beginnings.... While getting groceries at the commissary today, I noticed a fellow shopper who was wearing a tshirt advertising a gymnastics program. We've been wanting to get Joel involved in gymnastics to develop what seems to be a fairly natural talent for it, so I approached the other shopper and asked her about her shirt. It turned out that she is one of the coaches for the young boys at the gym. I explained our situation to her and she encouraged me to bring Joel in to the 4:00 pm class that day to try it out. He had a blast. He climbed a rope for the first time ever, on his first try, even. After the class, she told me she felt he should be in the next level class because he wouldn't be in the first level long enough... he was a very quick learner. She commented on his strength for his age and size, too. So now Joel will be starting classes on Tuesday evenings. He is beyond excited.

Noah and Halle begin swim lessons around the middle of June. Joel is on a waiting list for that session, since the classes for his level were already filled up.

Clean team

We are finally free of the old house. After many evenings and days of cleaning and scrubbing (most of which was done by Brian), we turned it back over to the owners earlier this evening. They were impressed with how clean the place was (I think it was cleaner than when we took possession), and the only thing we got "dinged" on was a small tear in the patio screen door near the handle. The owner was going to get a quote on getting it repaired and then deduct it from our deposit. I am betting her husband will wind up fixing it and it will probably cost less than $20 to fix... but we'll be charged whatever some other handyman would charge to come out and do it. We'll see. I just think that if we were in her position, we would probably just absorb that little repair. The place is in move-in condition; it's not too often that happens these days.

It's championship week for Noah's Little League division. We have a game tomorrow evening. If they win, there will be another one Thursday; if not, they will play on Wednesday. If they win Thursday, they will also play Saturday. This is going to be a BUSY week!

I'm looking forward to things settling down around here.

Having a ball

Just 3 games left in the season.... and we are in a 3-way tie for first. We'll see if that changes after today's games. We're playing the previously top-ranked team again today. It promises to be another nail-biter.

We took the kids to see Over the Hedge last night. It was well-received; the kids have already placed it on their "must-buy-when-released-on-DVD" list. At least not all of the funniest stuff was shown in the trailers; some was saved for the theater. You can tell it was made by the same people who did Shrek.... the crazy homeowner's association president often reminded me of the Fairy Godmother from Shrek 2.

Not much else planned for the weekend other than church. Monday evening is the "New Family Barbecue" at Em's new school, so we'll be attending that. We'll probably spend a good part of that day down at the old house, cleaning. We've finally gotten just about everything out and now have to get down and dirty with the cleaning products (ew... that didn't sound right). We have until Memorial Day evening to get it ready to hand back over to the owners.

Just the highlights

It's been a whirlwind week, with little time to post.... and I'm under the gun now, so here come the bullets:

1. Noah's last 2 ballgames have been real nail-biters. First, this past Thursday, his team played the undefeated team. This is the team that, while everyone else was not practicing because of rainouts, was getting practice indoors at the skating rink. It was down to the wire, but we beat them, 7-6. Then yesterday we wound up in a tie-breaker with the other team and won that game with a score of 12-11. Go Diamondbacks!
2. Emily's 2 days of shadowing went well. She had a great time and used her days as an opportunity to perfect her accents; the first day she was her "shadowee's" cousin from Australia, and the second day she was a "second cousin, twice-removed" from Canada. Such antics. We'll be attending a "New Family Barbecue" at the school in a couple of weeks.
3. Mother's Day has been a ball. I woke up to find a box of Godiva chocolates on the kitchen table, along with a couple of home plan books (traditional gifts from hubby to me). Then after the kids got up, they gave me their cards and gifts (more Godiva... chocolate bars). Emily wrote me a poem: "Roses are red, violets are blue; Canadians are awesome, but you're cool, too." From a girl who most days would rather pretend I don't exist.... I"ll take it.
4. The 3 younger kids and I are headed out in a few minutes to see "Akeelah and the Bee." A few minutes means as soon as I hit publish and grab my stuff.

Happy Mother's Day to all my mommy friends!

Home again, home again, jiggity-jog

I know I said I'd see you Saturday or Sunday; there's been just a bit too much to do to recover from the trip. I left you doing laundry and I came home doing laundry. It's just neverending.

We had a great trip to Malibu. Traffic was no problem, and we arrived on campus a little after 4pm Tuesday, after not leaving home until 9:30 or so and making a couple of stops for snacks/lunch/drinks. Our first order of business after checking into our dorm was to pick up Jim for dinner. We hit Malibu Canyon Plaza and had a casual dinner at Coogie's. Dinner with Jim turned out to be a nightly tradition and reminded us of old times back in Omaha.

We ran into a few folks we hadn't seen in nearly 20 years as well. One was the preacher and his wife from the church we attended in college. They moved away shortly before or after Brian and I married and we hadn't seen them since. It was amazing they even remembered us. We were also able to spend an hour or so catching up over lunch with John Jones, a former campus ministry friend from our college days in Missouri. He's now teaching at Pepperdine. We had a great time reminiscing about "the old days" and the others we used to work alongside back then.

Our last evening in Malibu, we found a great little restaurant in the Malibu Country Mart shopping center, Tra Di Noi. I think I must have eaten the best meal I've had since we arrived in California. Jim and I both ordered the spaghetti carbonara and were unanimous in our approval. One really nice thing about the restaurant was that it had an outdoor patio dining area, and we were able to sit and watch the kids play at the courtyard play area while waiting for dinner to be prepared. We are definitely planning on going back when we are in Malibu again!

Soon it was back to the real world... school, housework, laundry. Emily met with her counselor at her new school today to pick classes for next year. Later on this week, she is going to shadow some current students to get a feel for what a typical day is like. I can't wait to see what she thinks.

Just a little break

We leave for Pepperdine in the morning, so chances are I won't be blogging until we get back. I've spent the day doing laundry, packing, getting the car washed, and taking the dog to the kennel. The rat went to her usual surrogate family last night. I have one last load of towels in the dryer and need to load the dishwasher so I can run it before we leave tomorrow.

"See" you all Saturday evening or Sunday!