What's Going On

This past week has been been so exciting and fun! We went to 4 ALL STAR baseball games and watched Cole's team play some awesome games. When we got to the finals, we played Nacogdoches. They had not been beat. Furthermore, they had pretty much slaughtered all the other teams. The first time we played them, they beat us 8-1. When we played them in the finals, we scored 3 runs in the first inning, and didn't let them score any. We kept them at 0 until the 3rd inning when they scored 1 run. Our guys were so pumped that they were not only winning, but they were winning against Nacogdoches!! We were playing in the rain, and when their team would mess up, all of the parents would complain to them about how it wasn't their fault because the grass was wet and all. We were playing on the same field, and managing to do just fine! In the 4th inning they had some really good hits and scored 2 more, tying us 3-3. Our guys were playing well, and we had a chance to score, but after 3 BAD calls at 2nd base (we had the same umpires the whole tournament, and there were LOTS of bad calls--especially at 2nd base)in the other team's favor, they were able to score 2 more runs and beat us 5-3. Cole caught 2 pop-up's behind the plate....he caught at least one in each game of the tournament, but he said (with a grin on his face) that he has never caught 2 in one game! One of the Jacsonville coaches came up to Cole after the game was over and told him that he had been a catcher for many years, and he thought Cole was one of the "best little catchers he had ever seen out there!" That made Cole smile from ear to ear! Our guys won 2nd place in the tournament, and they were the only team to hold their own against Nacogdoches. We actually had them sweating! It was a lot of fun!
On another note, we currently have a couple who wants to put a contract on our house. We have not shown our house in 2 weeks, so this came as a surprise to us. Apparently, this couple looked at our house when we had it For Sale By Owner. (We only showed it to two couples that week, and now one of them has come back and said they want it. We are excited to get the paperwork and move forward with this part of our summer!
Ben is still enjoying umpiring baseball games, and last night he umpired 2 tournament games in Kilgore. We went and watched the 2nd game. It was between Carthage and Jacksonville....Carthage won 28-2. That is a slaughter! Today Ben is playing in a softball tournament in Longview and we will be heading over there to watch that. I am really enjoying relaxing, watching some baseball and just being home with my family!!! (also, Cole would like for you to continue to read his blog....he checks regularly for comments and doesn't think people read his posts!!)

Playing With The Boys

I really just posted this because I thought it would be a good video to watch in the summertime....and I wanted to see how many people actually read my blog posts and would comment on the barely clad men playing volleyball in the video. This is definitely when Tom was a lot younger and not into "witchcraft"!! LOL Maybe you will enjoy watching, and maybe you won't. (Melissa, you need to find something better to post for me on my birthday!! You have less than a week!)

What's Up?

So I made it to the end of the school year without harming any students, taking any medications (prescription, over-the-counter, or otherwise), or walking out and simply quitting!!! YAY!! I feel like that was a major accomplishment! I must, however give all of the glory for that to God. He is the One who got me out of bed every morning and gave me what little desire had to go to the school and "teach" every day. It got worse before it was over, and I feel now as if I could handle just about anything!

Cole finished up 3rd grade with all A's all year. He is proud of that accomplishment, also. He made a 100 on his Reading TAKS test, and only missed 1 question on his Math TAKS. He beat himself up pretty bad for missing the 1 question! I am so proud of him, though! Cole has been the catcher for the Blue Jays and the Red Sox (a tournament team) this past baseball season, and has now made it on the ALLSTARS team! Woo-hoo, Cole~~a.k.a. The Punisher. Games start this Thursday-Saturday in Springhill, then next Friday-Wed. in Jacksonville. Cole is doing a great job in baseball and loving it. I love this pic of him....he is very intense when he plays!

If you would like to see Cole and Jacob's stats for this year, click on this: Forever Love and then click on Cole's Stats or Jacob's stats. Ben spent a lot of time putting it together this year!

Jacob finished 1st grade reading on a higher reading level than most of my 3rd graders. He does not enjoy reading, unless someone is listening to him or it is a comic book, but he is very good at it. Jacob played for the Blue Jays and came a long way with his hitting, throwing and catching. At a few games he donned Cole's catcher gear and got behind the plate. He did a great job! Jacob is also loving summer and all of the swimming that comes with it!

Annalisa is ready for us to move, and she can't wait to start school. However, we found out that where the cut-off date for starting school in Texas is Sept. 1, in Missouri it is Aug. 1....not much help for her there. During the baseball season, Annalisa could not go to a game without wearing her baseball uniform! She was convinced the boys loved it, and she also got a free soda after the game if she was in a uniform! I haven't raised a dummy! In this photo she is being the "batgirl" for the Blue Jays. She loved being in the dugout with all of the guys!

We are listing our house with a real estate agent this afternoon, because the whole "For Sale By Owner" thing just wasn't up my alley. We have a couple interested in buying it for what we are asking, but they are young and it is their first buy, and I just don't want to tell them wrong things, so I will solicit the help of someone knowledgeable in the field.

Mostly, I am enjoying sleeping late and not listening to kids that I didn't give birth to (and therefore can't spank) disrespect me all day long and fight each other.
I love being at home with my own three kids and Benny!! I had a great week last week with just Ben because the kids went to Dad and Lynn's house and had a blast. I don't think they were ready to come home to me!!! I am glad they love their grandparents and can spend time with them. Soon, they will go to Jim and Ruby's for vacation bible school! They love that!