Today was like any other, except it was Dade's first T-ball practice-ever! He didn't get to play last year because we had just recently moved to Deer Creek and registration was over.
Dade has always been the type of child that likes to use his imagination. I will post a couple pictures of him that I took this afternoon as an example-scroll down to the bottom to see. When all else fails punishment-wise, I have to ground him from using his imagination and playing pretend. It sounds harsh, but it's the only thing that really affects him. He has never really been into anything athletic. He's just never shown an interest. This is no surprise, as my extent of sports after the 1st few years of softball, was Color Guard in the marching band. His dad is more of a weight lifter/boxing type of guy. And neither of us are very coordinated, so Dade comes by it honestly.
Dade decided this year that he wanted to play t-ball. I was so excited that he was showing an interest! On the way to practice I realized how much trouble I was in.
"Mommy, after I catch the ball, what do I do with it."
"You throw it to the base that the runner is running to, to try to get them out."
"Out of where?"
O, boy! We have a lot of learning to do. LOL Practice went well. Dade was shy and clingy at first. He did not want to pair up and play catch, so I played with him. The problem is, when he was in preschool we thought he was left handed and I hadn't gotten him a new right hand glove. I had forgotten all about it. So, it was a little awkward for him. I will go tomorrow and get us both some gloves. Dade thinks we need to add practicing catch to our daily routine. I told you he was BO. LOL He loosened up a little and played catch with Coach Roger for a while. He told me later that this was his favorite part of practice.
I really wish I could figure out how to post a video on the blog. At one time, Dade was turning in circles, a boy at second base is writing in the dirt, an outfielder is holding his "pee-pee" and a boy walks up to Coach Roger and asked to go play on the playground. LMAO Typical kindergarten behavior.
I also got video of them practicing running bases. The first time around, they all did well. But, the second time, they cut second really short. It should be a fun season.
Christmas Hat Day
Mandatory good cheer on our annual shopping trip to buy for each other
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
So, who IS FlyLady?
Both Brent & I have made reference to FlyLady here and there throughout our posts. And a lot of people are asking the question, who exactly IS the FlyLady and what has she done that could possibly have changed my life?
Well, FlyLady's name is Marla Cilley (pronounced Silly). Her husband is a District Court Judge in North Carolina, so I'm sure he's heard a bunch of comments about that name. Basically, FlyLady is a mentor to almost 500,00 people, mostly women, through a Yahoo group. Her followers are called FlyBabies. Her goal is to get people to the point of Finally Loving Yourself. According to FlyLady, there are two types of people in this world, BOs (Born Organized) and SHEs (Side Tracked Home Executives). SHEs are the biggest portion of her followers. These are the people who are generally very creative, but live in chaos. People like my sister, LOL. Growing up, you couldn't see the floor of her bedroom.
FlyLady helps people learn how to keep their homes clean, peaceful, decluttered, and organized by instituting routines. Now, anyone who knows me, knows that I am BO. Everything has its place and belongs in it. I used to be like this to the EXTREME! Jane loves to tell the story as to how I had this stuffed turtle on my nightstand when I was a teenager. She would sneak into my room and turn the turtle onto its back. Whenever I would enter the room, I would make a beeline for the turtle to turn it back over. For some reason, this was a source of great amusement for her. I have mellowed out-I sort of had to, having kids in the house. But, not before I totally ingrained these things into Dade, unfortunately. At the age of 2 he was already completely stressing out when someone put his toys into the wrong bin. It is one of the traits of mine that I wish was not so prominent.
So, people who know me well, also know that I have always been a NEAT freak, not a CLEAN freak. Everything was in its place, and usually covered in a thick layer of dust. I hated vacuuming and dusting, with a passion! I never had time to do it "right," so why do it at all? Well, that's where FlyLady has come in. She teaches us that housework, even done incorrectly, still blesses our families. If we make housework fun and ingrain it into our routines, we never see dirt again. For example, I do the swish and swipe. While in the shower, I spend about thirty seconds wiping down the tub (swiping). Then, I wipe of the countertops and swish the toilet in another thirty seconds, and I have a clean bathroom. Every day! No letting the gunk and grime build up until you can't stand your dirty bathroom any more and spend three hours cleaning it "right" and choking on harsh cleaning fumes. Brilliant! I generally dust almost daily now, with my FlyLady feather duster. Doing it every day, I never see dust, but if I skip it for a week, there it appears. I can dust my entire 3 bedroom townhouse in 8 minutes-I timed it! I never knew you could actually dust without a rag, Pledge, and about 3 hours to spare as you painstakingly wipe down every item you own. Like Granny always taught us. And for those who say feather dusters only swirl dust around, obviously you have never used a true ostrich feather duster. They are the BOMB! Brent even wanted one to combat the dust in Iraq.
Basically, FlyLady has changed my whole attitude-about almost everything. She has taught me to look at housekeeping as not a "chore," but a way of "Blessing" my family. I show my family how much I care by making sure that the laundry is clean, a nutritious, healthy dinner is on the table, and "nothing says I love you like a clean toilet when you are sick." I have settled down and have much more time to enjoy my family, and treat them like loved ones, instead of a screaming banshee wanting everything to be perfect.
An example, Jane and I have been planning on having a girlfriend of hers and her 2 kids over for dinner tonight for about a week. The kids are all BFF. I got home this morning and said to Jane-maybe I should have cleaned the house. I looked around and saw all that really needed to be done was the routine I already have implemented. Everything else was done. What a relief! No more crisis cleaning.
Anyway, that is FlyLady in a nutshell. For those of you interested in learning more, check out her website under my links. For those of you that think I'm a little odd, that's nothing unusual either.
Well, FlyLady's name is Marla Cilley (pronounced Silly). Her husband is a District Court Judge in North Carolina, so I'm sure he's heard a bunch of comments about that name. Basically, FlyLady is a mentor to almost 500,00 people, mostly women, through a Yahoo group. Her followers are called FlyBabies. Her goal is to get people to the point of Finally Loving Yourself. According to FlyLady, there are two types of people in this world, BOs (Born Organized) and SHEs (Side Tracked Home Executives). SHEs are the biggest portion of her followers. These are the people who are generally very creative, but live in chaos. People like my sister, LOL. Growing up, you couldn't see the floor of her bedroom.
FlyLady helps people learn how to keep their homes clean, peaceful, decluttered, and organized by instituting routines. Now, anyone who knows me, knows that I am BO. Everything has its place and belongs in it. I used to be like this to the EXTREME! Jane loves to tell the story as to how I had this stuffed turtle on my nightstand when I was a teenager. She would sneak into my room and turn the turtle onto its back. Whenever I would enter the room, I would make a beeline for the turtle to turn it back over. For some reason, this was a source of great amusement for her. I have mellowed out-I sort of had to, having kids in the house. But, not before I totally ingrained these things into Dade, unfortunately. At the age of 2 he was already completely stressing out when someone put his toys into the wrong bin. It is one of the traits of mine that I wish was not so prominent.
So, people who know me well, also know that I have always been a NEAT freak, not a CLEAN freak. Everything was in its place, and usually covered in a thick layer of dust. I hated vacuuming and dusting, with a passion! I never had time to do it "right," so why do it at all? Well, that's where FlyLady has come in. She teaches us that housework, even done incorrectly, still blesses our families. If we make housework fun and ingrain it into our routines, we never see dirt again. For example, I do the swish and swipe. While in the shower, I spend about thirty seconds wiping down the tub (swiping). Then, I wipe of the countertops and swish the toilet in another thirty seconds, and I have a clean bathroom. Every day! No letting the gunk and grime build up until you can't stand your dirty bathroom any more and spend three hours cleaning it "right" and choking on harsh cleaning fumes. Brilliant! I generally dust almost daily now, with my FlyLady feather duster. Doing it every day, I never see dust, but if I skip it for a week, there it appears. I can dust my entire 3 bedroom townhouse in 8 minutes-I timed it! I never knew you could actually dust without a rag, Pledge, and about 3 hours to spare as you painstakingly wipe down every item you own. Like Granny always taught us. And for those who say feather dusters only swirl dust around, obviously you have never used a true ostrich feather duster. They are the BOMB! Brent even wanted one to combat the dust in Iraq.
Basically, FlyLady has changed my whole attitude-about almost everything. She has taught me to look at housekeeping as not a "chore," but a way of "Blessing" my family. I show my family how much I care by making sure that the laundry is clean, a nutritious, healthy dinner is on the table, and "nothing says I love you like a clean toilet when you are sick." I have settled down and have much more time to enjoy my family, and treat them like loved ones, instead of a screaming banshee wanting everything to be perfect.
An example, Jane and I have been planning on having a girlfriend of hers and her 2 kids over for dinner tonight for about a week. The kids are all BFF. I got home this morning and said to Jane-maybe I should have cleaned the house. I looked around and saw all that really needed to be done was the routine I already have implemented. Everything else was done. What a relief! No more crisis cleaning.
Anyway, that is FlyLady in a nutshell. For those of you interested in learning more, check out her website under my links. For those of you that think I'm a little odd, that's nothing unusual either.
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Okay, Okay...
Yet again, it has been over a week since I posted. I got some beautiful flowers on the Friday before Mother's Day from my awesome kids. (I'm almost positive they didn't know they were coming, but I said thank you anyway.) LOL Dade was so proud, you'd have thought he made the arrangement himself. I tell you what, there is nothing quite like the joy in a 5 year old's eyes as they hand you their home made card. & of course, the ever-proud mother posts it on her blog for the world to see.
Drake got an award for his participation in Scholastic Bowl tonight. I was unable to attend, since it was at 7:00, but I'm hoping to get pictures from his mom. I'm very proud of him. He took over as the Captain part way through the season and did very well.
Unfortunately it has been awhile since Dade & I have seen any of the Russels. We are heading over for dinner at the VFW Thursday, so it will be great to catch up. I was very surprised and pleased to get a phone call from Grandma Russell. She was thanking us for her Mother's Day flowers. It's hard to keep her on the phone for any length of time, but we had a nice little chat. I can't wait until we can take all the kids up to visit again sometime. Maybe new summer. Actually, almost certainly next summer.
We just completed our shift bid at the Sheriff's Office. We do this once every six months. And the old guys like to make us "new guys" (remember my 8 year anniversary not too long ago) sweat. So, I just found out my days off two days ago. It takes effect on the 24 th of the month. Talk about short notice. Luckily, only my days off changed. One of the guys from 3rds got bumped to 2nds with only 10 days notice. I will now have Tues/Wed off. Which means I don't go to work Mon night or Tues night. It's very confusing and I will just get used to it and it will be time to change it again. Basically, when I go in at 10pm, it counts as the next day for us. Right now it actually makes a little more sense to me because Brent and I are actually working at the same times. 10pm is 6am for him, the following day also.
The past weekend was spent at a graduation reception for a second cousin and Mother's Day at Granny's house. She is well mentally, but is very swollen. Most of the time to the point where she can't put shoes on at all. They can not give her anything for the swelling, which is just fluid that has built up, because it will cause her kidneys to shut down. Dialysis will probably come along in the near future. My uncle and cousins have been in from Ohio doing some remodeling on the house. The bathroom was tiny-didn't even have a bath tub-and Granny can not shower herself. So, they moved the Gs (Granny & PaPa) bedroom to the front room and built them a closet there. They expanded the bathroom into their old room and added a tub that is easier to manuver Granny in. What's left of their old bedroom is just big enough to put a hospital bed in, for when that time comes. Our Mother's Day present of having the carpets cleaned is going to wait until after the construction is done.
So, to give you a slight idea of how packed the schedule is this month, I counted up the events. 8 graduations w/parties, 3 birthdays, 2 award ceremonys, a Spring program, Field Day, Kindergarten class picnic, Mother's day...and I really don't want to think about June yet. Of course, Dade won't let my forget...it's his SIXTH BIRTHDAY! I'm exhausted thinking about it, LOL. But, I have a large family. My Pa has 6 brothers, Granny had 7 siblings, I think. A couple were lost in childhood. So, you can imagine the extended tree.
Well, that's all for now. Hope this keeps DH off my back for a few days! Geez! Just Kidding, Baby!
Drake got an award for his participation in Scholastic Bowl tonight. I was unable to attend, since it was at 7:00, but I'm hoping to get pictures from his mom. I'm very proud of him. He took over as the Captain part way through the season and did very well.
Unfortunately it has been awhile since Dade & I have seen any of the Russels. We are heading over for dinner at the VFW Thursday, so it will be great to catch up. I was very surprised and pleased to get a phone call from Grandma Russell. She was thanking us for her Mother's Day flowers. It's hard to keep her on the phone for any length of time, but we had a nice little chat. I can't wait until we can take all the kids up to visit again sometime. Maybe new summer. Actually, almost certainly next summer.
We just completed our shift bid at the Sheriff's Office. We do this once every six months. And the old guys like to make us "new guys" (remember my 8 year anniversary not too long ago) sweat. So, I just found out my days off two days ago. It takes effect on the 24 th of the month. Talk about short notice. Luckily, only my days off changed. One of the guys from 3rds got bumped to 2nds with only 10 days notice. I will now have Tues/Wed off. Which means I don't go to work Mon night or Tues night. It's very confusing and I will just get used to it and it will be time to change it again. Basically, when I go in at 10pm, it counts as the next day for us. Right now it actually makes a little more sense to me because Brent and I are actually working at the same times. 10pm is 6am for him, the following day also.
The past weekend was spent at a graduation reception for a second cousin and Mother's Day at Granny's house. She is well mentally, but is very swollen. Most of the time to the point where she can't put shoes on at all. They can not give her anything for the swelling, which is just fluid that has built up, because it will cause her kidneys to shut down. Dialysis will probably come along in the near future. My uncle and cousins have been in from Ohio doing some remodeling on the house. The bathroom was tiny-didn't even have a bath tub-and Granny can not shower herself. So, they moved the Gs (Granny & PaPa) bedroom to the front room and built them a closet there. They expanded the bathroom into their old room and added a tub that is easier to manuver Granny in. What's left of their old bedroom is just big enough to put a hospital bed in, for when that time comes. Our Mother's Day present of having the carpets cleaned is going to wait until after the construction is done.
So, to give you a slight idea of how packed the schedule is this month, I counted up the events. 8 graduations w/parties, 3 birthdays, 2 award ceremonys, a Spring program, Field Day, Kindergarten class picnic, Mother's day...and I really don't want to think about June yet. Of course, Dade won't let my forget...it's his SIXTH BIRTHDAY! I'm exhausted thinking about it, LOL. But, I have a large family. My Pa has 6 brothers, Granny had 7 siblings, I think. A couple were lost in childhood. So, you can imagine the extended tree.
Well, that's all for now. Hope this keeps DH off my back for a few days! Geez! Just Kidding, Baby!
Sunday, May 4, 2008
A Stern Talking To by DH
I was informed by my DH (Dear Husband-Sorry, I do tend to slip into FlyLady speak at times; I've truely been FlyWashed) several times over the last 3 or 4 days that I have not been keeping up on my blogging. I guess I just haven't seen the need to do so, since we have been able to speak via the phone and webcam so much lately. However, I was also informed that he is not the only one who reads and enjoys my point of view. Now, I'm not so sure about that all the time. I do tend to get on my soap box now and again, but I guess it's my blog and I can write what I want to, huh? LOL Anyway, to appease my sweetheart I thought I would check in today.
Let's see-Last Thursday I went to Bushnell to have dinner with Drake & Ashtyn and the rest of the clan. Ashtyn had come home from school early with a fever and a sore throat, so she spent the day at Steve and Jean's. She still was not feeling good and went home instead of having dinner with us. Steve had some emergencies in town that day and wasn't able to join us right away, but we still had a good visit. The town sure has made Dade and I feel right at home. :D I was supposed to pick the kids up for the weekend on Friday, but Ashtyn was still not feeling good, so we had to cancel.
I took Dade to the Prismatic Laser Light Show at his school Friday night. He came home very excited, telling me all about the performance that he had seen at school that day. I do have to say that it was quite impressive. I was expecting to see just a bunch of lasers whirling around and a smoke show. It was very well done. Not the type where you see the laser beam, just the pictures that the beam makes from moving around so fast. Dade's favorite from the school day was a song from Shrek. Tonight, however, he decided that the Army one was his favorite. The end of the night they played God Bless the USA and had pictures of all the hardworking people in the US and some of our military. Dade said, you know what my favorite was, Mommy, when the Army man raised his hand up. He was talking about the salute. Sometimes the simple thought that comes from a 5 year old can really make your heart swell. I was very proud of him.
Speaking of that, after over a month of trying, Dade has finally started talking to Brent on the computer. I think he always felt a little awkward talking to a computer, but he actually has had a few conversations with him lately. I know Brent has been happy about that. Dade still has a hard time sometimes understanding that Brent really is gone for a long time. He asks a lot of questions like whether Iraq is another country, what language they speak there, how come the time there is different than at home, and why they wear those robes (from the picture on Brent's blog). We bought a globe and Brent gave me the idea to shine a flashlight on it so Dade would understand the time difference. Just when I think he is starting to comprehend a little more he will ask another question. Like the other day, Dade wanted me to point out Iraq. We've put a star where Camp Echo is and I showed it to him. He says well, at least he can go swimming. I started laughing and said no, he's in the desert, there's nowhere to swim. Yes, there is, Mom. There's water right there. So, next time Brent wants to take a dip he just has to travel all the way through Saudi Arabia to the Red Sea. Shouldn't take long at all, LOL.
I know I have a bunch of anecdotes about Dade, but honestly, I don't have a lot of time with Drake & Ashtyn lately. Plus, it's just so fun to look at the world through the wonderous, knowledge thirsty eyes of a child in kindergarten. One other little story that had me ROFL was when I asked Dade about his day one afternoon last week. We talk every night about the school day and I don't accept answers like "Fine" or "Nothing." I'm preparing for the teenage years, lol. He goes into this long explanation....Boys don't chase boys and boys don't chase girls. Girls don't chase boys and girls don't chase girls. It's not good to chase someone, unless you are playing tag. Three first grade boys were chasing me at recess. His eyes are wide and he just doesn't believe that kids would do this-it's breaking the rules!!! (I've raised a true rule follower, that's for sure). Well, why were they chasing you? To get the gold. Now I'm confused. What gold, I ask? He bows his head and sticks his lip out...They think I'm a leprechaun. His heart is about broken. I felt like a terrible mom, but I started laughing. Here he is traumatized and I'm laughing at him. So, I sucked it up and we had the conversation about how some kids can be mean and that what they did was not very nice....
So, that's pretty much things on my end for now. I'm usually sleeping, working, talking on the computer with Brent, or thinking about doing one of those 3 things. Not real exciting. My free time now has been occupied by chatting on the new forums that FlyLady has set up. It's allowed me to make friends all over the world in similar situations to mine. Third shifters, military wives, etc. Who is FlyLady? Well, that's a whole other post.
Let's see-Last Thursday I went to Bushnell to have dinner with Drake & Ashtyn and the rest of the clan. Ashtyn had come home from school early with a fever and a sore throat, so she spent the day at Steve and Jean's. She still was not feeling good and went home instead of having dinner with us. Steve had some emergencies in town that day and wasn't able to join us right away, but we still had a good visit. The town sure has made Dade and I feel right at home. :D I was supposed to pick the kids up for the weekend on Friday, but Ashtyn was still not feeling good, so we had to cancel.
I took Dade to the Prismatic Laser Light Show at his school Friday night. He came home very excited, telling me all about the performance that he had seen at school that day. I do have to say that it was quite impressive. I was expecting to see just a bunch of lasers whirling around and a smoke show. It was very well done. Not the type where you see the laser beam, just the pictures that the beam makes from moving around so fast. Dade's favorite from the school day was a song from Shrek. Tonight, however, he decided that the Army one was his favorite. The end of the night they played God Bless the USA and had pictures of all the hardworking people in the US and some of our military. Dade said, you know what my favorite was, Mommy, when the Army man raised his hand up. He was talking about the salute. Sometimes the simple thought that comes from a 5 year old can really make your heart swell. I was very proud of him.
Speaking of that, after over a month of trying, Dade has finally started talking to Brent on the computer. I think he always felt a little awkward talking to a computer, but he actually has had a few conversations with him lately. I know Brent has been happy about that. Dade still has a hard time sometimes understanding that Brent really is gone for a long time. He asks a lot of questions like whether Iraq is another country, what language they speak there, how come the time there is different than at home, and why they wear those robes (from the picture on Brent's blog). We bought a globe and Brent gave me the idea to shine a flashlight on it so Dade would understand the time difference. Just when I think he is starting to comprehend a little more he will ask another question. Like the other day, Dade wanted me to point out Iraq. We've put a star where Camp Echo is and I showed it to him. He says well, at least he can go swimming. I started laughing and said no, he's in the desert, there's nowhere to swim. Yes, there is, Mom. There's water right there. So, next time Brent wants to take a dip he just has to travel all the way through Saudi Arabia to the Red Sea. Shouldn't take long at all, LOL.
I know I have a bunch of anecdotes about Dade, but honestly, I don't have a lot of time with Drake & Ashtyn lately. Plus, it's just so fun to look at the world through the wonderous, knowledge thirsty eyes of a child in kindergarten. One other little story that had me ROFL was when I asked Dade about his day one afternoon last week. We talk every night about the school day and I don't accept answers like "Fine" or "Nothing." I'm preparing for the teenage years, lol. He goes into this long explanation....Boys don't chase boys and boys don't chase girls. Girls don't chase boys and girls don't chase girls. It's not good to chase someone, unless you are playing tag. Three first grade boys were chasing me at recess. His eyes are wide and he just doesn't believe that kids would do this-it's breaking the rules!!! (I've raised a true rule follower, that's for sure). Well, why were they chasing you? To get the gold. Now I'm confused. What gold, I ask? He bows his head and sticks his lip out...They think I'm a leprechaun. His heart is about broken. I felt like a terrible mom, but I started laughing. Here he is traumatized and I'm laughing at him. So, I sucked it up and we had the conversation about how some kids can be mean and that what they did was not very nice....
So, that's pretty much things on my end for now. I'm usually sleeping, working, talking on the computer with Brent, or thinking about doing one of those 3 things. Not real exciting. My free time now has been occupied by chatting on the new forums that FlyLady has set up. It's allowed me to make friends all over the world in similar situations to mine. Third shifters, military wives, etc. Who is FlyLady? Well, that's a whole other post.
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