"miss"matched

does your spirited sweetheart simply *love* to be colorful, and full of whimsy?

mine does, and i have been wanting to get her these sox ever since i first saw them ...

go here and check out how stinkin' cute this is ..... http://www.littlemissmatched.com/

home opener!

another SURE sign that the spring is upon us, peeps. the first pitch was thrown by Buckner. my husband sat and cried (along with the millions of other LIFELONG fans watching) as he threw the ball. {sniff}

bring it on. can't wait to go to Fenway this year .... woohoo!

sure signs that the newest season is upon us ....

despite the weather outside here in the good 'ole Northeast, the calendar states SPRING, and the activities say SPRING. so i say SPRING, and took some happy snaps!!

here we have the first pictorial evidence of one 9 year old viola playing phenom ... well, that would be a stretch, but hey, who could be more proud of a well rounded kid like this?! cam's school had a string concert recently (3rd grade begins musical instrument instruction, apprently there will be a voice concert for the ENTIRE school coming up in the next couple of weeks!)

and he was so proud of himself at the conclusion of the show, he couldn't stop the grins ... (and neither could his fans!! :) :) :)

he mentioned clarinet or the flute for next year, and even asked about horns! way cool, right? and kendall gets to start next year, and she's mentioned the violin! :O)

this here my friends, is the first sprig of GREEN in the garden ... this is a picture of HOPE! this was about two weeks ago ... and man, oh, man was i hoping for this to begin and SOON!

and this was TODAY! these are from different gardens, and different plants than the first one above, but look - LOOK AT ALL THAT GREEN!!! and the last one has purple .. PURPLE people! yahhhhoooooo!!!! and kendall was the one to tell me about the purple ... she was tickled to pieces that she found it! :O) :O) :O) obvioulsy has the same spring fever that he mother has .... heh

okay, next up we have the favorite American pastime ....

this, my friends, is the kickoff game for the AAU team he is on. they had a double header yesterday .... his town league team has begun practices, but games a few weeks off, so this is a great headstart for him! the little sister is in practices now too for softball and she'll be sharing the limelight with him soon with some snazzy shots crow hoppin' and whacking the ball out of the park! she is enjoying herself immensely, and is decidedly happier to be on a "real team" this year versus the instructional type from last year ... egads, right?

so, be on the lookout for some more photos soon, as the activities seem to be a-multiplying with the weather finally breaking a tad!

spring is spring-ing! and i couldn't be more happy!

enjoy .......

attitude

i have to begin this post, in the shadow of that loaded title, with a wee bit of a disclaimer:

i invited said attitude.
i raised him to be independent, and strong.
i encouraged him to use his big personality, to be "noticed" (in a good way ...)
i reveled in his rich, full-of-gusto approach to life.

i did.

however,
(this is the part that i dispell any preconceived notion that I KNEW WHAT THE HELL I WAS DOING WHEN I BEGAN THE ABOVE PROCESS)

i was not planning on the sass. i was not planning on the determination of red-head will (who knew about THAT?!) i was not, and i repeat, n.o.t. expecting it to actually work.

good maude.

much of this is stemming from the teacher thing at school, still. it has not mushroomed any further than the last time i mentioned it, it is just so clearly affecting his attitude. he doesn't have any of this "sass" on days she is not in and he has a substitute (happened yesterday - "oh, mom, the sub was AWESOME - she is so nice, she gave us time to be creative, and show her, and gave me high fives for my work!" who knew that positive feedback worked for 9 year old boys ... amazing!) he is full of it on days that they've butted horns, or he's not been a complete quiet mouse in the room - not many of those - it is so evident that she isn't commending his good work. he was the only one to get ANY spelling words correct on the test - actually he got them ALL correct, and no one else did! and we got nothing home. NOTHING. we found this out from another parent days after the spelling test. argh .. there's more, but that's that ...

and then there's the inherent competitiveness he seems unwilling to temper. first in all things, this kid needs to be. on the bus, to brush teeth, to take a shower, to be done with homework ... all of it. his sister is not a big fan of that when it affects her. she isn't competitive at all, but if he is insisting on being first for let's say, a Wii tournament, well, she isn't all that forgiving- especially if he's been first for the last "1200 turns". there've been some heated discussions, and often it's ended by me, turning it off. and that's met with a wee bit of grief, as you can imagine.

he is spreading his wings. he is testing the battle zone. he is doing this because ... well, because he can.

i am so glad i am 40 now, 'cause you know what - one of my presents to me was patience. that and the security that with patience comes maintenance of already very low blood pressure. the alternative is not appealing. so, i will prevail in this attitude from this 9 year old redhead. he is a mere 9 years old, afterall.

and i taught him everything he knows.

see, my fault.

heard

"... jeeez, this is hard!"

" yeah, i am sweating ..."

" wonder what we look like through the window"

" hahahahhahahaha"

Wii shenanigans ..... this is going to be a blast!

what a whirlwind!

turning 40 was enough "excitement" but since then, things have just increased with speed ....

busy week with work, trying to get myself ready for the next few months and close some open business;hockey tryouts for a new organization for the big guy; he was selected on this highly competitive team, and very excited about it; a first time string concert for the fella (the viola!); softball selections, and notification of the team she is on; AAU baseball distribution of team apparel, and two scrimmages; a visit from the sister in law; a surprise party with 100 guests in my honor.....

MY honor! :o) {{{grins}}} what a blast and super surprise that was!!!

and today, today ... we bought the Wii. the kids gathered their birthday money collections from the last two years, and we threw in a few dollars, and we bought the Wii. perhaps the last family on the planet to give in, and actually do it ... what a great little gadget ... i just videotaped sean and cam boxing and having an absolute blast at it!

so ... i have several photos to download, and lots to catch up ... you know, the blogging thing was easier when i was determined to do it every day.
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hehe