Softball Diva

Tonight Alyssa played her 2nd softball game - I missed the 1st one because I was attending soccer games - but it was fun to be there tonight. Each week she continues to improve and although she never scored a run, she did make good contact with the ball. The best part is that she's enjoying it and having fun...that's the key right now :-) Here are a a few pics from her game tonight.

How about those Skins???!!!

OH MY GOSH....OH MY GOSH!!!! I never thought we'd beat the Dallas Cowboys in Dallas, but folks, WE DID IT :-) WOOOOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

To quote my son "the Cowboys suck!" - oh boy do they ever :-) To all of our critics out there, look at us now. Man, no one, including myself, gave us a chance to win and all of us were wrong. My dad called when it was over and I answered the phone with a cheer...his question/comment to me...."I guess after all these years, it still feels good to beat the Cowboys??" You bet it does!

Of course we have a long ways to go before the season ends...up next, the Eagles in their house, no easy task. But each week we get better and better....congrats Redskins....you deserved the win!

HAIL TO THE REDSKINS :-)
Redskins 26 - Dallas 24

And she SCORES...

Yesterday we got up early to get ready for Brennan's 9 a.m. soccer game, Alyssa's 10 a.m. softball game and McKenna's 12:45 p.m. soccer game...only to find out at 8:35 a.m. that Brennan & Alyssa's games had both been cancelled due to wet fields. So I called our sitter for the afternoon and asked her to come an hour earlier assuming that McKenna's game would be cancelled too. David's mom called at 12:15 to confirm it was cancelled- I quickly replied yes - and we hung up. At that point David realized 'wait a second - her coach never called to say it was cancelled - we better confirm'...and confirm we did....that she DID have a game and we had 25 minutes to get ready and get there....it's a good 15 minutes from our house :-)

So we arrived with 4 minutes to spare shielded by our umbrellas because at this point it's POURING! We slush our way out to the field and about 5 minutes into her game the sky cleared, the rain stopped and the humidity went waaaaay up!!! But let me just say how happy I am that we made the game...McKenna scored her 1st goal of the season AND THEY WON!!!!!! They've played 3 games including yesterday and they are 1-2 so far....it felt so good to see them win. She was ecstatic of course - the coach tends to put her on defense, but I think she proved yesterday that she deserves a chance to play offense too. She may be littler than most, but she's not afraid to go in after the ball! Unfortunately, because it was raining when we got there, I didn't have my camera with me so no pics to share of their victory. Congrats Purple Dragons!

After the game David & I enjoyed a little adult time playing golf (I shot a 107 - very happy about that!) and then dinner. All in all it was a great day...and when we arrived home we found our kids had been replaced with a tiger, a bear and a white tiger...see below :-)

Our babysitter Molly painted their faces and they turned out really good...she's so good with them. They painted pictures, played cards, read books, had popcorn & ice cream...all within a matter of 5 hours. It's nice to know they're in good hands when we're gone!

Let the games begin

Brennan, McKenna and Alyssa kicked off the fall sports season last Saturday with their first game. Brennan & McKenna are playing soccer and Alyssa is playing softball. Since they're at separate fields, I took M & B and David took Alyssa....hence the reason I only have pics of M & B.

Team Hot Shots - #4

I will make sure to get some of Alyssa at her next game. She's doing really great with softball and for the most part, enjoys it! She's also taking dance - tap & jazz - and is really enjoying that so we may have found her "thing" in life...for now.

Brennan's team played first and he was SO EXCITED!!! He likes practice, but he LOVES playing a "real game" - that's what he calls it! I know he's my son, but let me tell ya - he's fast.

Getting ready for the corner kick

He did a great job at his first game- didn't score any goals - but he sure did block a few. He had a really good time and at this age, that's really all that matters.

McKenna's team went 2nd and while they lost 3-1, they played a great game. They really played together well as a team and did a good job of staying in position. For her age group, that's what they work on the most and considering she's got a very "young" team, they're doing good.

Team Purple Dragons #3

The only downfall to the entire day was the incredible heat. Ugh - I'm not sure how those kids played :-) More games tomorrow - Alyssa has a bye - so I'll share some updates later on how they did.

"Camping" and Busch Gardens

On Thursday when the kids got out of school we packed up and headed to the KOA Kampground in Williamsburg, VA. And when I say we packed up, I mean we PACKED UP! We were going to be gone for less than 48 hours and our truck was jam packed. Cooler, grill, food, drinks, suitcases, blankets, pillows, flashlights, lantern (thanks Karen!) and other odds and ends...all for 1 night and 1.5 days! ha ha Can you say beginner camper??! And when I say camping, I mean the wimpy way of camping...in a cabin! That's the only way I am willing to camp - tents, bugs and 3 kids doesn't cut it! Anyhow we had a one-room cabin with electricity, air conditioning, 1 double bed and 1 set of bunk beds....perfect. No bathroom -and no TV to Alyssa's dismay - but beds and a door ... that was enough for me!

The inside of our cabin

We arrived Thursday evening and joined approximately 12-14 other families. All of us were in the same section of the campground so all the kids could play together.

Brennan on the pillow bounce

We cooked out while the kids played on the pillow bounce - think a HUGE moon bounce without the sides and top - and once the sun went down the marshmallow roasting and smore making began! Several families brought glow sticks to share so the kids were able to play tag and cops 'n robbers using that as their "light"! It was really a good time....relaxing for the most part. On Friday the entire group headed to Busch Gardens.

The Family at Busch Gardens

The weather was pretty good - a little humid - but not super hot and it only rained for about 10 minutes. It was even better because the VA kids had school on Friday, but our kids were off so the park was empty. We never had to wait in line for one ride and most of the time we could ride over and over without getting off - it was perfect! The park is nice - LOTS of walking and LOTS of hills -but very nice.

Let the fun begin!

The favorite ride of the day for most of the kids was the Big Bad Wolf - a big roller coaster that thankfully all of my kids could ride. We hung out with Kerry, Jayci, Sean, Connor & Austin all day - the rest of the families broke up into smaller groups.

McKenna, Jayci & Alyssa in Dinosaur Land

Austin, Josh, Alyssa (in the back rown)...Connor, McKenna & Jayci with the Bald Eagle

One of our favorite roller coasters was the Griffon-it was very smooth and different! Here's a picture of it "hanging" at the top of the hill before it finally drops you down!

I was scared to ride it at first - I don't do upside down coasters - but I ended up riding it twice in a row. It really was fun!

Trying to get that many people through an amusement park together would be entirely too difficult! We got to the park at 10 a.m. and stayed til the bitter end at 6 p.m. when they closed.

Connor & Brennan

My Little Loves- still smiling at the end of the day!

From there we headed to Sonic for dinner.....yummmm Sonic! Then we went back to the campground and hung out til about 9:30 p.m. More smores,more cops 'n robbers, and more chatting around the campfire for the parents. It was really nice. We loaded up and headed home around 9:30 so we could be here for the kids soccer and softball games & pics first thing Sat. morning. We had a great time "camping" and look forward to the trip next year!

What a concert!

She opened in this dress.

Last Monday I went to the Celine Dion concert at Verizon Center. I gotta admit - I wasn't very excited and questioned why I ever bought a ticket....but let me tell you....she was AWESOME!

2nd outfit of the night

I had chills, tears in my eyes and just thoroughly enjoyed her performance. She has the most powerful and beautiful voice and really is an entertainer.

3rd outfit - a little bizarre

Still not done changing...

Thanks to Kerry - and my camera - for the pics. She was 10 rows from the stage and had a great view. I was much higher up, but I still can't complain. It was a great concert :-)

House Rules

Well I finally did it - I followed a few other people's leads and made a house rules, chores and rewards chart for the kids...with their help! Surprisingly enough, they had several suggestions - some I used and some I didn't

Before we started, I decided to make cup cakes with all of them. While they were baking, we started the charts.

The girls have their own chores chart


and Brennan has his


and then there are the house rules that everyone must follow.


They will earn coins for doing their chores - or going above and beyond - and lose coins for breaking the house rules. After they earn so many coins they can "cash" them in for a reward.

Such concentration!

Everyone had to take a turn putting on the icing

Almost done...and ready to eat!

While we waited for our cupcakes to finish, we finalized the charts...and they added a few decorations to their chores chart. Here's hoping this will create more balance and less chaos in our house :-) Now on to those cupcakes...

Introducing Cole Alexander

My sister welcomed her 2nd baby boy on September 2nd at 12:58 a.m....Cole Alexander. He weighed 8 lbs., 4 oz., and was 21 inches long. I've gotta give Jenn (my sister) props...she went drug free during the entire delivery! Not by choice - waiting for the doc she dialated pretty fast and before she knew it they were past the point of giving her an epidural so drug free it was for her. She's my HERO now! I told her that her hubby owes her a big time spa trip for all that pain!! he he

Isn't he sweet?

But in the end she got the most perfect baby boy who is incredibly sweet and adorable. Not that I'm biased or anything! I can't wait to meet him - which might not be until Christmas (I hate living so far away) so until then I will have to survive by just seeing pictures of him.

The Happy Family

Congrats Jenn, Nick and big brother Chase....he's perfect and I'm so happy to have another nephew!

Are you ready for some football?!

I sure am! I absolutely LOVE football season - specifically pro football and the Redskins - and I'm so happy the season kicked off again tonight. The game is on right now and although I'm not happy with their performance so far (it's 16-0 with 1 minute left in the half)
I'm so glad football is back.


GO SKINS!!!

Not only do we have something to watch all day Sunday and Monday night, but it also means the shows I love are coming back on soon...sure it means we've hit homework hell with our kids, the sports shuttle (aka my truck!) is running full steam and my hours at work are increasing, but I love fall, I love football and I love being a sports mom...I know...I'm goofy!

Update on the game...we just scored (FINALLY) so it's now 16-7. Jeesh we need to get it together!!!

Happy football season! I need to get back to paying attention to my Skins.