Kev softball

I took the girls to Kevins double header on Thursday night. Wow. Ok first of all, I have not been to watch Kev play softball since Kasey was a few months old. I have been watching him play all the years we've been together. When we moved here he joined a team and it was short lived, not because the team disbanded or anything. He quit playing cause back then he didn't want to be at work and then have softball and miss precious time with Kasey and I. Forward almost 10 years later....He joins again. At my urging. Same team. And I think he's glad to be back at it.

It was just very strange there with my girls cheering them on and Erin yelling GO DADDY!!

I thought...wow. We've come a long way.

And next to me was a teenage girl watching her boyfriend...they leave holding hands in their own world. Brought me back! But happily....We leave all together...just us 4!!

Here are some pictures...Erin getting high 5's from the team, watching Daddy warm-up, Cheering the team on, and goofing around together. The two top pictures were apparrently taken when I went to get hot choclate!

pretty : )

Here's the new house picture...and the old one to compare. The beginning of the process I was feeling slightly disappointed but now I love it. I really want an army green color but our association would never allow that. We talking about shutters for the front windows. Definitely upstairs but I'm not sure about the front window downstairs...since it is the 3 together...I have to see if they do that.

We also have to replace the front screen door with a black one. I haven't had it on now for a week and I miss it!!!!!!!!!!!

Doesn't the color of the house just make the sky bluer : )

Remember him like this

This is the boy I want everyone to see. He was the most amazing cat for all 18 years of his life. Since he was born deaf he was sort of in his own little world but he knew how to spread his love so well. As you can tell...he was famously known for his love of sleeping on your head. With that super loud purr of his....(because he was deaf, i guess) Enjoy these pictures. I miss him already.

About Rebel - Read after LOTS TO SHARE

So...Easter morning for some reason I said to Kevin "Where's Rebel"? He is ALWAYS ALWAYS in the kitchen....AlWAYS. So the egg hunt is momentarily stopped and we're all searching for him. Erin found him upstairs under the spare bed. For those who don't know...He was diagnosed with Kidney disease a few months ago....Before Christmas. For awhile he was doing really great. We were getting him prescription cat food specifically for Kidney disease and I gave him liquid Iron 2 times a day.

Anyway, he started losing weight again in the last month and not looking well. So, he was under the bed. First I'm shocked he climbed the flight of stairs...but when a cat isn't feeling well...They hide.

So yesterday morning, not a good feeling. Just in the rush of the morning...Kev fed the cats and we left. I didn't know at that point that he didn't eat. Kev told me later that night.

So when we got home he was laying on the floor in the kitchen. Looking terrible. I knew it. I told Kev we're going to have to start telling the girls. He said "not tonight"

I tried to feed him and give him water but was forcing it into him. Kev came downstairs to see him and apparently he thought as I did so, he told them...rebel isn't doing well etc...5 minutes later the entire house is crying.

He slept with me most of the night and didn't move once. In the morning he was back on the kitchen floor. This was just not my boy. He couldn't lift his head, wouldn't eat, wouldn't drink. I couldn't let him be like this another day. The kids and Kevin stayed home and my mom came over so kev and I brought him to the vet. It was an awful, awful day. Here's a picture of him in his better days on my laptop and sunning himself....then the other two with Erin are from this morning. As Kasey said this morning...it's not fair, I wish he could live forever...

Lots to share

First I want to share pictures from Easter morning. We had a neighborhood Easter Egg hunt, as we do every year. There were 15 kids and they had a blast! We filled close to 550 eggs and spread them out over 1/2 our block. I have to say that Kevin filled 240 of those eggs!! I'm not thrilled with "the Easter Bunny" this year, and no one to blame but myself, but I didn't put in the effort that I have in the past and it showed. But there were no complaints from the girls, they were happy. Kasey was a little confused why the Easter Bunny would get a Wii game that we already got for Christmas! Ooops. Then today I had to explain that the returns for the Bunny go to TARGET...Not Best Buy...where she wanted to return it and search for something else. Ei Yi Yi.

The rest of the day we spent at my moms house. My Grandfather and my Aunt Pat were in town because he has some Dr. appts today and tomorrow in the area. It was the first Easter he's been here since my grandmothers been gone....7 years. So it was a really nice day. Then that brings me to my next post....

Happy St. Patricks Day

Happy St. Patricks Day....The girls were off to school in their green NY Yankee t-shirts and green braided strand of fake hair....looking so cute. Kasey refused to wear the button that say's Kiss Me I'm Irish. Erin on the other hand turned her's on the blinking mode!!
Yesterday we had our usual St. Patricks dinner...Corned Beef and Cabbage. I'm working tonight otherwise it would have been tonight. Kevin's Dad was here over the weekend and left this morning...I wonder if he's having it again tonight for dinner!
One thing that most people are not lucky enough to have is Homemade Irish Soda Bread with their meal. Not from Publix....homemade. In our family its a tradition, my grandmother used to make it, my mom makes it, my sister-in-law makes it. I do not make it.
Such a tradition that my mother made it and drove it over to Daytona to give it to my Grandfather yesterday. I know my grandmother is smiling down on them as my mom and Pete pulled in to surprise my grandfather. Last year, I think, she Fed Ex'd it to him.
My Grandmother used to work in a resturant on Long Island called Necroto's...I could be spelling it wrong. Anyway, it was an Italian place...But on St Pat's day it was Irish. She MADE ALL THE BREAD for the resturant that day. People came there for it. It was her thing.
But cooking was her thing in general....My grandmother had some sort of a spat with her boss one year and refused to make the bread! The story is still told how enraged the customers were that they didn't have Blanche's Irish Soda Bread.
One of these days I will learn how to make it....and hope by that time the girls will appreciate it. Right now it's just a funny looking bread with seeds and raisins in it. Not too appealing to them!
I was going to take a picture of it - but it's been wrapped and re-wrapped in wax paper and tin foil...it just doesn't look pretty. BUT tastes so yummy!

My beautiful Babies

Just had to share these pictures that my mom took of the girls yesterday. I love them.

I have to really say thank you to my mom for all the pictures she has taken of the girls. I borrowed her camera yesterday to copy some pictures...She had 780 pictures on her camera taken since Thanksgiving!! Even everyday things that I wouldn't think to. Their childhoods are well documented thanks to her! She is NEVER without that camera! Thanks Mom!!

It's that time again

Yesterday they all went in the pool....first the boys. Then the girls.

Personally, I won't get in until I HAVE to!! : ) But they love it. They're back in again today.

The boys also got a special treat, this morning we took them to a Dog Park in Winter Park. It's called Fleet Peoples Park. Its a really cool, huge park on a lake and the dogs run and romp around in the water with tons of other dogs. We only go there a few times a year but Harley remembered it as soon as we pulled in. He took off for the lake. Jack was a little hesitant at first but soon was all over the place! Kevin is so cute not taking his eyes off of the boys, especially Jack. That's the reason for the bandana's, to pick him out of the crowd. When we brought Harley as a puppy, I think the stress was too much for Kevin trying to figure out which Golden was ours. Usually there are more than our Golden's there. Today we saw 2 Great Danes, and a St. Bernard!

In my opinion...

We all went to see The Other Boleyn Girl on Tuesday. I was so excited to see the movie because I kept hearing how incredible it was. And our book club was reading the book so I could visualize the characters with the commercials and trailers that I saw. I'm sure the movie would be great if you haven't read the book but in my opinion....READ THE BOOK. It is incredible. I even have a few pages left and I just do not want to finish it....I'm like an addict just reading a page at a time to savor every last bit of it. The movie was just ok.
I have a bunch of books to start but I think I'm going to buy the book that follows up The Other Boleyn Girl.
I'm so glad my friend Kylie read and recommended this book because never in a million years would I pick up a book with the cover that it has or even have the slightest interest in the 1500's!! So...never judge a book by it's cover : )

MONKEY

I just realized on that last blog I should have re-named it BEFORE I decided to add monkey to it....He is anything BUT frustrating! Just to make that clear : )

On the other hand, my boys, sometimes frustrating.

But LOVE em!! Who can resisit that face!

Frustrating

How do you instill a love of reading? It is so frustrating!! I LOVE to read...LOVE it! But when I try to make the girls read their alloted time for school you'd think I was sending them to Chinese Water torture! Because of FCAT there is no homework this week, which is two hours of frustration usually and I'm not even the one helping the girls! Anyway....Homework is just READING this week!! So, how do you instill that love for it? We have hundreds and hundreds of books...I'm still hoping for a series or a subject to grab them.

On a different subject....I'm with my monkey today....Here he is with my boys.

My girls - Polar opposites

We went to Epcot yesterday with my Dad and Barbara. Ate yummy buffet in Germany. Here's Kasey sitting outside the rides while my Special E is riding Mission Space and Test Track! Kasey and I noticed while people watching that there were so many people AMAZED when they saw sky writing....they came out of the ride and were pointing and ooohhhhing and ahhhing!! I said to Kasey where in the world do they live where they have never seen skywriting!? They didn't look like they were from another country or anything...Every other day here in Florida someone is reminding us that "Jesus loves you"!!

One more thing I learned today....Never ever send my kids and my dad into a souvenir store alone....who buys these things?! : )

Yes....I'm the mom who buys clothes for your kids birthday presents.

Long day

Kev and I ran a 5K together for the first time. It was his first race. I think it was my 6th. We started off together because I guilted him into staying with me but after the 2nd mile...he signalled to me and said can I go ahead....so he finished in 27 minutes and I finished in 28:48. He said next race he wants to do for time....Well, hellloooo I was doing mine for time. In order to qualify for a wave in the Boulder Bolder I think I was supposed to finish this race in 28 minutes. I am not in the same shape as I was when Tina and I were running everyday. We did a 5K in November in 25 minutes! Today just proved I need to get back to running everyday...not even every other....Colorado is on Memorial day and it's approaching FAST.


Anyway...It was a great run, the girls also ran for the first time, 800 meters. It was awesome to watch them at it. It was cold and windy but they were excited.


Then we got back to the house by 8:45 and showered and left for the Yankee game in Tampa not long after!


I thought it was going to be a miserable day because we were so tired but after a nap in the car, some hot dogs and cotton candy...we were good to go! That's Kasey under the blanket. Yes. It was that cold!


Finished up the night at Rossi's...First time...awesome place to eat. Will definitely go back even though I had to drag Kev there because he didn't like the part of town. Like we were going to get mugged from the parking lot to the door. I'm just so sick of the chain restaurants around here.


Poor Jack and Harley were home all day alone and now they are running around...pardon the expression "full of piss and vinegar", while we are all beat and ready for bed. And it's only 7:30!

Starting up

I have no idea why I'm doing this, I only know that I totally enjoy reading my friend Tina's blogs and seeing new pictures of her clan. So, if this is yet an easier way that I can communicate with Family and Friends, without having to pick up the phone or email photos' one at a time....I'm all for it.



Tina has a wonderful witty humor about her that I LOVE....she makes me smile as I read her blogs as if she were talking to me.



It'll take me awhile to get used to this...posting pictures and favorite websites and all that so stay tuned!