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!

Of birds and books

Noah came running to tell me of some unusual birds he saw in our back yard this evening. When I went to look, I saw about 8 or so quail, scratching about in the dirt. I'd seen one earlier last week on the roof of the garage and had looked for a picture online. I'll share here:

These birds look just how I'd always pictured a quail would look. I'm not sure where I got that impression from, but I'm pretty sure my first introduction to the quail was when I was around 7 or so and started reading Trixie Belden books. Trixie was part of a club called the Bob-Whites. I suppose she and her posse were the 50's version of Scooby and the gang, without all the veiled drug references.

Anyhow, I'd don't think I ever bothered to try to find out just what a bobwhite quail looked like until now:

I don't think I'd ever mistake a bobwhite quail for a California quail. I'm still trying to figure out why the image of a California quail was the one I had in my head, since I'd never set foot in the western US until last year. My best guess is that I must have seen one in an old Disney nature flick as a child.

So now I'm thinking about those old Trixie Belden books. I never could get Emily to read one. Maybe Halle will want to read them soon. If not, I'll just have to re-read them myself.

Sunny days

We have had a couple of incredible days this week. I think maybe the rainy season is finally over. It was around 80 degrees today, with just enough breeze to make it really pleasant. The kids and I drove to Lodi with some other homeschooling families to go to a small zoo there. I have to say, it was so not worth the time and gas. The kids were quite unimpressed; after having the Henry Doorly Zoo a mere 15-20 minutes away from us in Omaha, they were not too thrilled with the shabby pickin's at this place.

The back yard is still not done. It appears that the patio isn't fully dry. The landscapers are supposed to be painting it, but haven't started yet. (I know, seems weird... I sure hope it looks ok when they're done; but then again, I'm not paying for it.) They have scraped the yard clear of any ground cover, though. It was about 98% weeds, anyhow. I don't know what they are going to do next. I sure hope they have something to put down; I'd hate to have nothing but dirt and cement in the back yard. Hopefully we will see some more progress (maybe even completion) tomorrow.

Tomorrow afternoon will be movie time again. We may wind up splitting up. One group wants to see Stick It, while another wants to see RV. Actually, everyone wants to see the latter, but a few of us also want to see the first one as well. Tomorrow is a killer day for new movies. Akeelah and the Bee is also opening tomorrow as well, and it's another one some of us want to see. Let's just hope all the movies get to stick around long enough for us to see them. Yeah, we're just movie junkies.

Three Ts

Testing.... Emily completed day 1 of the Stanford 10 test today. Although she is in 8th grade, she is testing with the freshmen. She felt like today's tests weren't too difficult. She said she finished all of them with plenty of time to spare. Sounds like she's just like her mom. Fortunately, she has it easier than I did; when I took standardized tests as a kid, we couldn't have anything to read with us, but had to just sit and stare at the walls waiting for time to be called. She said they had a bunch of books and magazines they could look at, or they could write in their notebooks. Lucky her. The only tests left for tomorrow are science and math.... and get this: she gets to use a calculator. So we had to run to the BX today and get her one. Boy, have times changed! I feel like one of those old-timers who tells stories of walking 2 miles to school barefoot in the snow....

Ticks.... The kids and I took the dog for a walk today, down a path in a very grassy area. Not long after we got home, Joel told me he saw a spider on the kitchen floor. Nope... a small brown dog tick. We killed that one just before sighting another one. I found one more on Campbell and another on the carpet not far from the kitchen floor where the first 2 were found. I found one crawling on the back of my leg during dinner. Needless to say, we all got baths tonight. Thankfully, Campbell is on Frontline Plus, so I'm not too worried about him. I don't plan on taking that walk again, though. We'll stick to sidewalks.

Time.... In just one week, we'll be in Malibu for the Pepperdine Lectures. We're looking forward to seeing Jim, hearing Mike Cope and others, and participating in some great worship. Maybe if we're lucky, we'll catch sight of some celebrities (maybe we should go hang at Starbucks and see who walks in or goes through the drive-thru).

And speaking of time, it's time for this mom to get ready for bed. Until tomorrow...

Sharing

What a busy weekend... I missed the first hour of Noah's ballgame on Saturday. Mr. Geek Squad was back out, trying to set up our file and printer sharing (something he forgot to do the last time he was here). We had been trying to get this done all week, but things kept happening to put off the appointments (all on Geek Squad's end... family emergencies, "I came, but no one answered the door" (not hardly), calling in sick). Saturday at 12:45 was the first appointment available after the last missed one, and I was thinking that surely it would be a straightforward thing. Noah's games are only 15 minutes away, so that would give me time to get there by 2:30. Nope... the guy didn't leave until 3:15, and he still didn't get the sharing set up. My computer isn't letting the others have access, and he doesn't know why. Grrrr. I guess my computer is a virtual 2yo who doesn't like to share. (BTW, Noah's team did win their game.)

Yesterday was a long (but good) day. I did spend the entire day over in Antioch. We drove 2 cars to church so that Brian could come back this way with the kids. He managed to get the front yard mowed (can't do anything with the back until the landscapers are done). I spent a little time visiting with another family from church during my free time between lunch and Pepperdine praise team practice. Then the praise team spent about 2 hours practicing our songs for Friday afternoon's session, this time with mikes. We'll have one more practice next week, and then it will be time to head south.

After praise team rehearsal, it was time to head to the fellowship hall for the spaghetti supper/teen auction. The auction was a lot of fun. It made me miss our NCS auction back in Omaha. I haven't heard what the total earned was, but some of the teens brought some good money. One pair of boys auctioned off for $350. (Brian helped drive the price up there, but we dropped out after it hit $300.) We did "buy" one teen boy.... haven't decided yet what we'll be having him do. Maybe help wash/clean out the vehicles.... We made it back home a little after 9 and were in bed shortly after 10.

If the weather cooperates, today is the day the patio gets poured. I'm not sure what else the landscaper is supposed to do, but he told me one day last week that we should be using the back yard by this weekend. I'm more than ready.

Still pluggin' away

We're chipping away slowly at the Rubbermaid tubs of stuff, finding places for what we can and making plans to get rid of what we don't need/use anymore. We are accumulating a large stack of things in the garage that we plan on putting in a garage sale later this summer. We haven't been back down to the old house for the last load or 2 of stuff there. Hopefully that can get done in the next few days, but finding time will be hard. Tomorrow is opening day for baseball, and we'll be at the fields a good part of the day. Opening ceremonies are in the morning, then Noah has a game in the afternoon.

On Sunday, we'll be at church for most of the day. I have praise team rehearsal for Pepperdine at 3pm, followed by a spaghetti dinner/teen auction at 5. The teens are raising money for their summer mission trip to Tuba City, AZ. I'm looking forward to watching/bidding.

Plans tonight: Watch King Kong and maybe get started reading a new book.

Life, laundry, and a link

We're still unpacking. We have a load or 2 left at the other house. What makes it slow going is trying to "do life" while finding time to unpack and put away (which involves figuring out where things go). Laundry and housework don't wait. I did 4 loads of laundry yesterday and managed to get them all folded and put away. That doesn't include the one I needed to start at bedtime after the dog ralphed on my quilt... I could have saved the quilt by tossing him on the floor, but I figured it was easier to throw the quilt in the wash than to spot clean the carpet. So I just patted his back while he was sick, kinda like how a mom would hold her daughter's hair back for her in a similar situation.... guess I just can't stop being "mom," even for a dog.

I'll leave you with a link to a website with some pictures of art made from driftwood. I got these pictures by email and then decided to see if I could find out just where they came from. The page also has a link to the artist's website, where you can see more, if you'd like.