It's tball/softball season around these here parts

Once I fill out the forms in March for the girls to play tball and softball, I hoard the rest of the free Saturdays like the precious gems that they are, because once the tball/softball season starts, our evenings and Saturdays belong to the baseball fields.

This year, Julia is in the oldest of the tball groups--the 5 & 6 year olds. Evan is an assistant coach, which Julia was super pumped about.

 For some weird reason, all of Julia's games are at 9am. She only plays the 3 other tball teams from Ft Sam, but there are no 10am games at all for 2 whole months! At first I was a bit grumbily (she and Evan have to be there by 8:30ish), but now I kind of like that it's a set time and we just have to work around Elisabeth's softball schedule.

 Let me tell you how great it is having Evan around this season. Not only does he help out at all of Julia's practices during the week, but he helps drive the girls to practices and is here to take one girl to one game while I take the other to an away game if need be. It really, really sucked last year doing all of that solo when he was gone to Ohio for training for a month. Plus, he's been wanting to help coach for the past two seasons and now he is able to!

 I love watching Julia play tball because she adds her own little Juju twist to the game. She still wears skirts and dresses to practice and bright neon pink shoes to games.

Elisabeth is on a girls softball team this year. Last year there wasn't enough girls for a softball team, so she was on a co-ed baseball team. She transitioned seamlessly back into softball. Her softball coach from two years ago is back and keeps telling us how much Ebeth has grown as a player. He's all proud of her and she's all proud that he's proud. Actually, both girls have coaches from previous seasons, which is kind of rare for being on military teams; there is so much moving that the odds of having a coach be there for consecutive years is not common.

  Elisabeth plays either second or third base. She has proved to be very good at covering bases, so her coach rotates her from those two bases the whole game. Elisabeth loves not having to sit out.

 She is also hilarious at bat. Since the age range is 11-12 year olds, most of the girls are still learning how to develop their pitching skills, so there are a lot of balls thrown instead of strikes. Ebeth is like a freaking statue, staring down the pitcher, refusing to budge if it not a perfect strike. We realized that she might be psyching out the pitchers by her stone solid stance and her coach agreed. It's pretty amusing at how stubborn she is about it all.

 When we signed her up two years ago to play, I didn't think she'd love it so much. She asks Evan to help her play catch, she never complains about her 1.5 hour long practices (2 days a week). She's excited about games and is very loud about cheering on her teammates. I'm curious to see if she keeps up playing through junior high and high school.

And then, there's Vivian, who is pretty ticked that she is not allowed to play tball. She invades Julia's dugout and insists on stealing batting helmets and baseball caps.

 She has a little friend who is the little sister of one of Julia's good friends who she hangs out with in the dugout. She tries to encourage her little friend to also steal bats and helmets, but so far, it's just Vivian who is the thief.

 Vivian also insists on warming up with Evan. She wears Julia's little glove and throws the ball with the glove and absolutely refuses to accept that she needs to throw with the non-gloved hand.

 If I bring her snacks and her dump truck, she will generally stay near by and not try to run onto the fields to interrupt the games. Usually.

 After the tball games, Evan helps her run the bases, which she thinks is the most fun thing ever.

 You guys, the cuteness here is too much:

This will be our life until the end of May. It is completely exhausting but so very fun to watch them play a game they love.

Easter 2014

This past weekend (well, really week) was packed full of all things Easter. It was our first time celebrating the Easter Triduum (Holy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday) in the Catholic Church, and since we were joining the church on Holy Saturday, we as part of the RCIA class (Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults) were apart of all the Masses. Thankfully, Evan thought ahead and took today off so we could lay around and watch Frozen with the children 4 million times today. (Dude, you guys, last night my dreams were interlaced with Frozen songs...great soundtrack, but not when you are trying to stay asleep.)

Of course, we dyed eggs. This year, Vivian was all about "I do it myself!", which meant someone had to hover so she wouldn't drink, drop, spill, or throw the mugs filled to the brim with dye.

 I love seeing a carton full of colored eggs. It's always one of my favorite Easter traditions.

 This is Evan and I before the Holy Saturday service. We clean up well, yes?  :)

 The Saturday service starts at sundown, which here in Texas is after 8pm. It also is a 3 hour long service, so, thankfully, our wonderful neighbor came over and watched the girls for us. The service was beautiful--it starts with a bonfire on the stone patio (not the technical term) of the church where the priest blesses the fire which is used to light the really big candle (not the technical term) used to light candles for masses. Then we all walked into the church where we all lit our own candles from the big candle. Two members from our RCIA class were baptized, which was awesome to witness. But, after months of being in the RCIA classes (since Sept 2013), it was an amazing feeling to finally become part of the Church. Our last class is this coming Thursday and the girls are sad (they are watched by a wonderful woman named Kathy, who was also my sponsor, and they are all sad that they won't get to see her every week anymore to play games and watch movies in the room next to our class). One of the leaders of our class took a thousand pictures (I amy not be exaggerating) of the service, so I am hoping she brings them on Thursday to share.

Evan and I got home a little after 11:30pm, so we hurried to bring their Easter baskets up and hide the eggs around the house. True to her nature, Vivian was the first one up at 6:30am and was ECSTATIC that we actually allowed her to wake up the other two girls (usually, we tell her they have to keep sleeping because Vivian likes to wake at ungodly early hours). Vivian found one egg right away and was content to just eat the contents from it and not search for more.

Do you like how Vivian's Easter basket is a new dump truck? I still hadn't bought her one yet and she really, really loves dump trucks right now. I thought this was a happy compromise. 

 Julia about exploded when she saw the movie Frozen in her basket. She had only seen it one other time since we went to see it in the theater and has asked about once a week to own it on dvd.

 The only way we were able to get a family Easter picture was by standing next to Vivian on our neighbor's tractor.

 They turned out well, though!! Probably one of the best ones of the 5 of us in a while!

 Our neighbor put together an Easter egg hunt for the houses around us. 12 kids and well over 100 eggs. Ebeth got to help her hide them.

 Can we please talk about Julia's Easter dress? We bought it at Costco and it's just so beautiful!

I caught her spinning all day.

 Vivian was much more excited to find eggs when she realized the more eggs she found, the more candy there was to eat.

 She found her allotted 10 and then squatted like a frog to eat their contents.

 Then, because our neighbor is the most awesome person ever, the kids got to break a pinata that she had made herself.

 It was a really good weekend.

Hope you all had a blessed Easter weekend too!!!

My Girls, age 2

 It is now time to compare the girls when they were all the same age Vivian is now. Isn't it just the most fun game?!

While I was looking for pictures of Elisabeth and Julia at around 2 years old, I stumbled upon videos of Elisabeth as baby and toddler. Julia really liked seeing a very small Elisabeth while Vivian just kept saying, "That Yin-Yin!" (Yin-Yin=Vivian). But, Vivian was right in that Elisabeth looked and sounded a lot like Vivian does now. Lots of the same facial expressions, but way more brown curly hair than little blonde Vivian.

Elisabeth 

Julia

Vivian

As Ebeth keeps getting older (despite my threats to her not to), I forget things about little Ebeth. What her little voice sounded like. How much she sang all day long (soooooo much). That she used to be small enough to hold on my hip. I feel like I am too young to already have forgotten so much about my oldest child's baby and toddlerhood. Does this mean that some day I will be on this blog crying about how I can't believe how little she was at 11?! (say no!)

One thing I do love about looking back at old pictures and videos is that a lot of the clothes I see on Elisabeth and Julia, Vivian now wears. Hooray for being stubborn about storing and moving all those girl clothes with us for future children!

Isn't it funny how much they look alike but how much they all three differ? I feel all parents of multiple children should play this game, and let your kids compare the pictures. Julia noticed that she has the straightest hair, but that she and Vivian smile the same in pictures. 

A friend expecting her third child recently asked if going from 2 to 3 kids was the biggest adjustment. I would have to honestly say no. Vivian is by far our craziest child (yesterday she pushed over the kitchen garbage can just for fun, drew all over the dining area floor, dumped her water cup, and was generally the most two any two year old can be), but I wouldn't say that it was harder when she joined the family. Yes, my girls are not super close in age like some who have 3 or more kids, but I feel like when we had Vivian, the biggest adjustment was logistics of who would have which kids on busy schedule days. I am still holding firm that the biggest adjustment was going from zero kids to one kid. What a learning curve that was! And, Ebeth was our easy breezy kiddo! Totally should have taken advantage of that more than we did.  :)

I will say that the dynamic of having more than one sibling is interesting to watch. Evan and I each only have one sister, so we don't have any personal reference points for dealing with more than one sibling. Even though Elisabeth and Vivian are 9 years apart, they are really close. Vivian definitely relies on her like a surrogate parent when Evan and I are not around. Elisabeth often volunteers to help with Vivian and loves to cuddle, read to, play with V. Julia and Vivian are best buds. Vivian shadows Julia in all things and definitely wants to be Julia when she grows up. The Elisabeth and Julia dynamic is still the same--total opposites who either get along like angels or are fighting like rabid dogs. But, with Vivian in the mix, Elisabeth and Julia have more times where they get along and work together. Elisabeth remembers very well hearing the very same speeches I am now giving to Julia--"You have to treat her the way you want her to treat you", "Pick your battles", "If she's hurting you, MOVE AWAY! Don't sit there and let her hit you!". Elisabeth is now the wise older sister that Julia can turn to when Vivian is driving her crazy. It's really amazing to watch their relationships develop and evolve. 

 

One day this school year, I brought the younger two to eat lunch with Elisabeth on a school day. They love visiting Elisabeth and eating with her in the cafeteria. All three girls were sitting in a row and one of Ebeths's classmates sat down across from them. He looked up and slowly looked from Elisabeth to Julia to Vivian and then said, "Whoa, Elisabeth, it's like watching you grow up right in front of me! You all look the same!". Which is why I always label the back of our pictures--I'm worried that some day I will be too old and senile to be able to identify which girl it is at age 2 in a picture!

March Reading Log

I got 8 books read this month, which isn't too shabby considering two of them were non-fiction that took me a while to read.


1. Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond
Evan encouraged me to read this book. It's one of his favorites and I can see why. Diamond answers the how and why certain societies of the human race were able to dominate others through the impacts of farming, domesticating animals, writing, politics, and geographic location. It was fascinating to read. I found the history of domesticating crops and animals to be the most intriguing. Definitely a non-fiction read I'll be recommending to others.

2. The Interestings by Meg Wolitzer
This was a book on my list for a long time because I had had so many people recommend it to me. The Interestings tells the story of 6 teenagers who meet at a summer camp in the 60s and how their friendships continue to influence and shape their lives well into adulthood. The book is not action packed, no huge dramas, just good writing that slowly but deliberately unfolds the stories of characters. I found myself getting lost in the book more often than not. I'd say to myself, I'm just going to read for 15 minutes, start reading, look up, and it'd be an hour later. Wolitzer created such depth in her characters and plot that I can not wait to find her other books.

3. Labor Day by Joyce Maynard
This book was sad. It's not that I cried at all, but it was more of an achy sad for the characters. Told in first person by 13 year old Henry, you find out how meeting one man and spending 6 days with him changed Henry's whole life. I would definitely say that Henry's mom, Adele, was the strongest character in the book. I wanted to give her a big hug, make her some coffee, and fix her. Such a well written book and one I'd recommend...unless you hate being sad.

4. A Long Way Down by Nick Hornby
I have never read any of Hornby's books, but am familiar with the movie's they've become. After this one, I have no desire to read any more of his work. Half of the time, I felt like I was reading a mediocre high school prose round. It felt forced and sophomoric. I finished it because it wasn't terrible, but I am grumpy I spent $5 on it. The characters were either completely unlikable or under developed. However, I looked up the preview for the movie version, and they seem to have added the depth to the story line and characters that I craved in the book, so I may go see it. Might be the first time where the movie will be better than the book.

5. Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
I have read all of Flynn's previous works. I really liked them and thought that she would just continue to get better as a writer. I was absolutely correct!! This is Flynn's best book by far!! Not as dark and gruesome as her first two books, Gone Girl was a great thriller. Without giving too much away, I was stereotypically rooting for Nick. Amy would have hated me. ;) I will be ranting and raving about this book to others until they read it or cease being my friend. It is smart, mind boggling, and fast paced. I can not wait for her next book to come out, whenever that may be!  Ooh, and the movie version has Ben Affleck as Nick--PERFECT!!!!!! And Neil Patrick Harris as Desi! Definitely going to see that in theaters!!

6. Six Weeks by John Lewis-Stempel
Evan asked me to read this book. It's the first WWI book I have ever read and I'm thankful that Evan recommended it to me. Six weeks was the average lifespan of young British officers once they were at the war front during World War I. Lewis-Stempel wrote this book in a way where I didn't feel like it was a text book, but in a manner where I was intimately being brought into the lives of these very young men. Beginning with where Great Britain pulled their young officers from (elite schools), the author leads you through the schools they attended (where patriotism and heroism was bred into them), to them eagerly enlisting, how they were thrown into life of an officer, and how short their lives ended up being and why. I truly learned the entire time I read this book because I know such an embarrassing little amount about WWI. This is a fantastic book and one I'd recommend to anyone with little knowledge about WWI looking to find out more.

7. Changeling: Book 1 of Order of Darkness by Philippa Gregory
I have been a fan of Gregory's work for a very long time now (The Other Boleyn Girl is still one of my favorite books), but I had no idea she had written a young adult series. Honestly, I was not impressed. It was missing her usual depth of characters and historic detail. I felt like she dumbed down her writing instead of adapting it to younger readers. But, despite her trying to gear this toward a younger audience, I wouldn't let Elisabeth read this yet because of some of the scenes (attempted rapes). I feel like there was a lot of potential to the plot and characters, but it just never met the goal. I was disappointed and will not be reading the next two books in the series.

8. The Reason I Jump by Naoki Higashida, translated by KA Yoshida and David Mitchell
A very quick read, this book is fascinating. Naoki, a boy with autism, was 13 years old when he wrote this book. His honest answers as to why people with autism do what they do or say is eye opening. Every parent, caregiver, or teacher of a child with autism should read this book. I will be passing on my copy for sure.


Ok, so I am currently at 18 books read in 2014. With a goal of 60 books, I'd say I'm doing well. Let me know if you have any books I should be reading!!!

Happy Housewife Crap

 I should be cleaning. I have been sick for a week (bronchitis...woot woot) and the house cleaning took a back seat while I tried my hardest to hack up my lungs.

I struggle with cleaning. It's the worst of the chores. 

I have dissected my cleaning aversion ad nauseum. I have analyzed who, what, when, where, why I am so bad at keeping up with chores to no end.

I just dislike it so much that I procrastinate until it gets to a point that I am then overwhelmed. I am well aware how ridiculous and annoying it is, trust me.

When I actually do get the gumption to tackle the cleaning in a timely manner on a daily basis, I love it! It makes me feel more at peace and calmer. I love our home some what orderly (please keep in mind, it can never be perfect, I do have people living in my house). I have zero desire to have a staged, magazine-esque home--I want people feeling comfortable and not like they have to chop off their left hand if they spill or accidentally make a mess--but, I don't want the other kind of uncomfortable where you don't want to sit on the couch because you're scared of what you'll be sitting on.

So, as I continue on my cleaning journey, I am open to suggestions right now. What organization methods work for you and your crew? Do you have a cleaning schedule? Things that must be done daily? How do you handle big cleaning projects like floorboards, doors, windows, etc. Do you have a set amount of clothing per person? Set places where toys are allowed?

I NEED ALL THE CLEANING IDEAS!!!! 

I am going to blog in a couple of days what is working for us and where we need inspiration, so if you are in a similar cleaning situation, stay tuned!!! 

Eisenhower is so excited about all the up and coming cleaning extravaganza he can barely contain his kitten self. 

I Mustache You a Question...

I'm sure you have all heard of Mustache March. If you have not, here is a quick history of the AF General who started the tradition.

In our house, mustaches are an every day affair. Evan has had one full time for since last November. My children are genuinely amazed by awesome mustaches and will point them out to me and Evan and have even complimented some men on their extraordinary mustaches (if it is a curled mustache, Julia will feel the need to compliment it).

 The other week, the older two girls had to get their sports physicals so they can play tball and softball this spring. The doctor was able to see them both at the same time, and at the end of the visit, told all 3 girls that they could pick a prize from her prize drawer. The younger two both squealed with delight when they saw these Groucho Marx disguises because they had mustaches.

 Evan has always enjoyed mustaches. His Halloween costumes usually are not complete without one. Here is his favorite Halloween mustache:

His real mustache:

Vivian likes to pet Evan's mustache. It's super cute.

 Evan was trying to see if his mustache would be a conductor of static electricity. :)

 I always find it very amusing when Movember (another month for growing mustaches or beards) or Mustache March roll around and wives of the men who participate start complaining. I guess what I don't understand is, for the majority of these women, if their husbands at all responded to their choice of hair cut the way these women do about mustaches or beards, there would be loads of hurt feelings and anger that their husbands were so mean, rude, etc. I know that if I decided to chop off my hair into a pixie cut Evan might be sad that all my long curls were gone (he is a fan of the curls), but he'd never make me feel guilty or stupid for wanting a short hair cut. That's how I feel about mustaches and beards. True, I actually do like them on Evan, but even if I didn't, it's not my face. I know of a couple of wives who said they'd refused to kiss their husbands until they shaved their facial hair! That's ridiculous. 31 days of not kissing your husband/boyfriend due to facial hair? That's 31 days you can't get back!

 I like this picture because in the background you can see a pic of Evan from high school when he performed in a play where his character had a mustache.

The girls will probably always be supportive of mustaches on their loved ones. Maybe even passionately so...