2nd day of school

I found the camera and the kids grudgingly took a 2nd day of school picture for me as we headed out the door (almost on time). Ciera has become a bit of a picture freak, so she didn't really complain and Logan claims he was just unhappy because the sun was in his eyes (which it was).

Day 1 went well for the kids. They both came home happy, although they pointed out I was late. School gets out at 3:00. I arrived at 3:02, but most kids must've left a bit early that day. I can never really win, so I've stopped trying. Ciera loved being back with her group of friends and they even invited the 1 new girl and 1 of the new boys to join their group (sit with them). Logan hung out with his friends and was pleased to have an old friend back in his class.

I had a nice but nonproductive day. I finished my book club book, The Invisible Wall, and took a wee nap after going to the gym. I neglected to take anything out for dinner so we had a Back to School dinner at Jack in the Box (with 2 coupons). Upon returning home I took chicken out to marinade so we'd have a dinner at home on Tuesday.

Today they both packed their own lunches again, with only minimal help in finding the right sized containers for their food. (I stopped buying baggies last year-trying to reduce my carbon footprint-and Ciera has really hated it ("all my friends use baggies"). I headed to the gym right away and am now trying to decide if I should enjoy 1 more day of napping before getting serious about all the stuff that needs to be done around the house. I'm thinking the dog looks really lonely sleeping in the chair and I should go snuggle him in my bed, for just 1 more day.

Back to school

Ciera and Logan headed back to school this morning! As it was time to leave I frantically began looking for my camera-can't forget the first day of school picture. I couldn't find it and the kids were anxious to get going. Fortunately we recently discovered that Ciera's laptop has a web cam. C quickly got it set up so that it could get both of them in the shot for me and we were set.

Friday Ciera had an appointment to get her hair cut and add some bangs. She's pretty pleased with how it turned out, but would've liked it to have been a bit shorter (although she didn't say anything while we were there about it). On Sunday Logan decided he would like to clean up his hair, so off he went with his dad for a trim. Imagine my surprise when he came back with a 1 & 2, with nothing left to 'muss up' with gel. He assures me that it's not a buzz cut, although when I gave him this same haircut for the first 9 years of his life he definitely thought it was a buzz cut. In the end, he's happy with it, his dad loves it, and I will love not having to worry about the back sticking up although it's still going to take me some time to adjust to it.

Without further ado, my 7th and 6th graders.

And no, I did not require them to wear matching outfits. They both chose their own clothes and they just both happened to be yellow (you can't see either one of their lower halves, which is really why they are wearing yellow. Logan has on plaid shorts and Ciera is wearing her new favorite neon yellow skinny jeans.)

Hopefully they have a great day. I am always a little sad that I'm one of the few parents that just drop the kids off on the first day, but they both have asked me to not walk them into class for the last 2 years. I didn't even make them lunches today, they both made their own all by themselves. Fortunately, I'm ok with that.

Another Busy Week

Last weekend found us in Lodi for one last chance to win a bid to Nationals in Illinois for Ciera's softball team. They did not make it, but we are officially headed to Western Nationals in Tracy, CA at the end of the month.
Sunday was a rare off day for softball, so we used it to celebrate Brian's birthday with his family. We headed to his parents' house for some swimming, lasagna and brownies with ice cream. There wasn't much swimming done (not sure why) but dinner was great, dessert was excellent and we had a great time visiting.

Monday the kids and I headed out to get pictures taken with my mom and their cousins. My sister's boys, Brett and Bryce are here visiting for the summer from Texas. It's been a good 7 or 8 years since we'd seen them, so of course we had to do pictures. The kids were troopers and put up with not one, but two picture appointments. After pictures Brett and Bryce came home with us until Wednesday. We spent Monday afternoon swimming, Tuesday we hung out at the house because they all slept so late and Ciera had softball practice. Wednesday we headed back down to swim again before I took them back up to their mom.

Logan spent Wednesday night sleeping over at Brian's parents with his other cousins, Steven and Jack and had a great time. All of Logan's basketball got cancelled this week due to his coach having to have an emergency gall bladder removal. This left us with no plans on Friday evening, so we celebrated Brian's birthday at home that night.

Brian's actual birthday was on Wednesday, but there were so many other things going on that I didn't feel like we properly celbrated. He did take the day off, slept in and spent some 'alone time' at the video game store. He seemed quite pleased with his purchases when he arrived to take Ciera to her pitching lesson. He then spent a quiet evening with her, a Togo's sandwich and a video.

We are headed to Stockton again this weekend. I was able to get us our favorite Stockton area hotel for only $42 again. I am SO looking forward to the beds, the indoor pool and the make your own Belgian waffle breakfast.

Next week is a little less crazy, but still plenty of ink on the calendar.

My sister's boys-Bryce, 11 and Brett, 13

And I just thought I'd throw a picture in of my brother Roger's little girl, Dorothy. She'll be 3 in September and is growing so fast. Who can resist a cute little girl with frosting?

First basketball game of the summer session

Friday night was Logan's first game with his new team. We were able to get him back on a team with his first coach-Coach Smith. Logan started basketball with him Winter of 2007/2008 and learned so much from him-including the joy of the game. After last winter's fiasco of a season, we jumped at the opportunity to get him back on Coach Smith's team (giving up the chance for Logan and his cousin to play on the same team).
So last night was the first game and of course it would have to be against his cousins team. Most of you may recall, Logan doesn't generally end up on 'winning teams' and last night was no exception. They got beat 42-15 by a team that only had 6 kids show up and played the last 8 minutes with only 4 boys due to 2 of them fouling out. In all fairness, the other team had a phenomenal shooter, runner and ball handler that really made a big difference.
When we started practice last week, Coach sent Logan home with a play book and asked him to learn the plays for the 2 & 3 positions. We woke up Friday morning with an e-mail asking Logan to look over the 1 plays, as Coach was going to have him play 1-point guard! Logan was THRILLED beyond words (as were Brian and I) that coach felt his skills had improved enough to be trusted with the ball so much (first season Logan regularly played hot potato with the ball). He wasn't the best point guard, but he did very well and had great confidence in himself-which is HUGE!!
One of the great things about playing Jackson, is that his mom is much better at remembering to bring her camera. Here's Logan bringing the ball down (and being guarded by Jack's best friend).

He didn't take many shots, but he made some great passes and rebounds. Sadly the game is a bit of a blur in my head so I can't recall much of it, but I hear that both boys played great. I know they both worked hard. Here's a sweaty, after the game picture. From their faces you can't even tell which kid just got smacked down by the cousins team.

Ok, maybe a little, but honestly we were SO proud of Logan for not being upset about the game and for leaving the court and the gym with a big smile. He actually had a ton of positive things to say about the game.

As for me and Ciera, we had a nice Friday afternoon. I got to have a birthday lunch with my friend Melissa and Ciera got to shop at the mall while I was eating-a win, win for everyone as Logan got to control the TV the entire time we were gone.

We're headed to Lodi this morning and are looking forward to a fun day at the pool tomorrow.

Thursday-only a few more before summer is over

Today is much like Wednesday-different day, same list of stuff to complete.

Made it to Curves this morning.
Washed the dog, again. He was bit this weekend and we've got to keep the wound clean as it heals-so far so good.
Ortho appointments for both kids at 2.
Softball at 4:15-6:30 (30 minutes away-each way)-parent meeting after practice
Basketball practice 6-7 (15 min each way)

Ciera's really hoping to get to Target today, Logan is agreeing so that he doesn't have to take his shower until tonight.
BBQ chicken sandwiches for dinner-Ciera refuses to eat this so she'll fix her own cruddy dinner.
Dishwasher got run, but that's about all that will get done today since we'll be out of the house for the entire afternoon and evening.

Logan's first basketball game of the summer season is this Friday. His team will play his cousins team, so we are all looking forward to it (well everyone except Ciera). Saturday morning we are headed to Lodi for another chance to win a bid for Nationals in Illinois. Sunday we'll be swimming and celebrating Brian's birthday with his family.

Next week is even busier than this week. My sister's boys are here for the summer and we get to borrow them Monday and Tuesday. They've been in Alaska and Texas for the last few years. We haven't seen them in about 7 or 8 years. Brett is 13 and Bryce just turned 11. The cousins are all getting their pictures taken with Grandma on Monday and then the boys are going to come stay with us until Wednesday.

Ciera has softball practice T, Th and a lesson on Wednesday. She's getting a pedicure with her Aunt Betsey and Grandma on Tuesday and a tournament next weekend. Logan has basketball practice on Wednesday nights and games on Friday nights. We also have Brian's birthday on Wednesday-still not sure if he's taking the day of or not. I have book club Tuesday night (finally read the book) and lunch with a friend on Friday, not to mention laundry has to be done Tuesday and Thursday nights for uniform needs.

This may be it from me for a bit, I really have to get serious about cleaning up the house before my nephews come on Monday.

Golden Gate Bridge (and my kids)

On Friday, July 3, 2009 we headed to San Francisco before our Hayward tournament. We stopped by Baker Beach for a bit of 'sun and surf'. Unfortunately it was already 5 by the time we finally got there and it's San Francisco. It was pretty overcast and very breezy. We only stayed for about 30 minutes, but the kids had a great time running in the sand and throwing a tennis ball to each other. I started out taking pictures of them with the beach behind them and then realized that the bridge was right there and MAYBE my non-local blogger friends might like to see the Golden Gate Bridge while looking at my kiddos. Without further ado:

Why I can not blog properly

Here's a run down of today:

Wake early (at 8) for the bug guy.
Pump/shower/eat
Wake kids at 10 so they have a prayer of going to bed early Friday night (early morning Saturday)
Start laundry so softball/basketball clothes are clean by Thursday
Try to get to Curves, but will have to pump for 30 minutes prior to going
Lunch for everyone
Take Ciera to pitching lesson at 2:30 (30 min drive one way)
Pump again between dropping Ciera off and taking Logan to his stuff
Take Logan to basketball camp at 5
Leave camp early to get to basketball practice at 6
Hustle home at 7 to hopefully make dinner (if I remember to take anything out of the freezer before leaving at 2:30)
Pump between 7 & 9
Fall into bed hopefully at a decent hour

Things I would LOVE to also get done each day (but have so far been fairly unsuccessful)
sweep
mop
pick up stuff that is accumulating everywhere
wipe down counters
clean bathrooms
finish redoing Ciera's room (painted it a few weeks ago)
finish rearranging Logan's room (moved everything due to the spring tail problem we're having in his room)
read
get to the grocery store
take the dog to the new dog park
price adjustments at Target
returns at Ross
swimming at Grandma's

The schedule changes a bit each day, but it's basically the same. Wash, rinse, repeat. Summer is almost over and soon I can get back to cleaning my house and all of the other things that get put off for summer fun.