Holiday Mini-Sessions

Where we are...

October is a good month for us. But a busy one. So if I am not here...well then I am here:

Tristan is playing his first season in the minors, this means the kids pitch for the first time. Tristan is a good little pitcher when he keeps cool. And he's a great fielder, having caught multiple fly balls and fielding some awesome line drives. The batting however is rough this season...the boys are getting complacent in knowing there are more balls than strikes and more than likely will get walked, so they stopped swinging. Tristan jumped on the bandwagon. Super frustrating. But it'll come.

Tori is playing her first season in majors. Some new rules make it more "real" and exciting. She likes to play catcher but most often plays 3rd base. Her hitting is either really really on...or she can't his the broad side of a barn...or she gets walked. Some girls have gotten to be fab at pitching, some, well see the above note about the barn! She works really hard at it though and has fun with the girls on her team, some of whom she is now in her 3rd season with. Her biggest issue...running. She's got crazy long legs that somehow go crazy slow around the bases. But her coach plays it safe and she did learn to slide right so she's still making it home!!

This is the last week of fall ball which means softball tournament, aka mass craziness. Tori plays games on Mon, Wed and a double header on Friday night. Followed by Sunday games if they are in the finals. Tristan has practice Tuesday and a game Thurs and Sat. So for those counting in the next 7 days that is anywhere from 6-8 games + 1 practice between the two of them. Awesome.

Whats up?

Lots of stuff, hence the lack of pictures and blog posts!

Weekend fun included:

-a baseball game and a softball game (really this was a given by now right?!)

-the fantastic brunch at Jackson's at Harbor Island in Tampa. Delicious food, gorgeous view and fantastic company to celebrate Taylor and Pam's (Taylor's mom) birthday!

- a picnic dinner at the park on the Tarpon bayou followed by some rollerblading, running and a family game of football

Adding to the normal chaos:

- Tori *may* have broken her finger. It is Dr.Mom splinted for the moment. Time will tell what happens next.

- Might Mu practice started this am.

- My dog has chosen this week to be sick, effectively ruining the carpet in my dining room that's not a dining room even more than it was prior to these incidents. Incidents immediately following my decision that the carpet could wait a couple months longer to be replaced so as not to have a big expense prior to to the holidays and our two upcoming trips. Awesome.

Upcoming:

- Looking forward to a girls night out to see Addams family (musical) with Taylor this week.
- Do something day at church is just around the corner and my family is looking forward to serving at the local tent city.
- Seeing friends this weekend we have not seen in way way way too long.
- Halloween. Tori is leaning towards being M&M's along with two friends. Tristan is thinking vampire.

Woohoo/Oy vey.

Both kids came home from school today with all this exciting news.

Tori was nominated for 6th grade student of the month.
She also was chosen as a student with the highest math scores in 6th grade for the "Might Mu" math team.

Tristan was named 1 of 4 students to represent his school in the Creative Olympic county competition. (They give kids random things in a bag and tell them they have to build something...built a bridge out of marshmallows, twizzlers, straws, etc to earn this spot!). And found out he can be a drummer this year.

All fantastic things. And I am excited for them.

But it also means more $ (for drum lessons) and more time and more random work day things I have to juggle (competitions during the day but not here, Might Mu practice before school weekly, etc).

So woohoo - my kids rock. Smart, creative, musical. Awesome.

But they're wearing me out.

Shopping - A Love/Hate Relationship

It's fall. And while I realize this means the most miniscule change in temperatures ever here in FL it is a shift in my mind in which I should get to wear cute fall clothes. And jeans. And I am working on the whole losing weight thing (I know, I know, you've heard it before) and I don't want to buy anymore fat clothes. But a girl has to have a certain number of jeans to survive and right now, well my number is lacking. So I went on a hunt today. Tried the usual suspects - Kohls, NY and Co, Gap, etc. And then ventured into The Loft. Now despite that SO many of my friends (and sister) think this is the most fabulous place ever I always write it off as out of my price range.

But I am in love. Things fit. They look classic but still trendy. Perfection.

Except the price tag. For example...this shirt is simple, easy to wear to my usual mom stuff but still super cute. See here: Shirt. Especially in coral with jeans and maybe cute riding boots. But its almost $40. For a tshirt. Come on people. And here is the hate.

I hate that stores that make you feel semi-decent wearing something when you are not a size 0 cost a fortune. But if you are size 0 and can wear anything in the world and still look good there are 100's of stores with items priced at like <$20 all the time.

I might stop eating. No actually I love to eat so that won't happen but I might go run. For real.

PS - I did splurge and get two pairs of pants (on sale!) that rock. Comfortable, not hideous, and perfect for fall - even if fall is currently only taking place in my head and in a retail store near you.

It's beginning to look a lot like...

FALL! The temps dropped (all the way down to 64 degrees one night!), Tori was wearing boots, Halloween decorations now adorn our house, and we had an impromptu park BBQ/baseball/softball lessons and it was GORGEOUS. Have a list of things to do yet tonight so this is where I dump photos and call it a blog entry!

Happy Birthday Tristan!

Tristan turned 9, yep NINE, this weekend. And that's crazy. He's my baby and this is the last year in the single digits. Yikes.

Saturday, his real birthday, was kind of a funny day. Tori and I had committed to doing a charity walk in the morning thinking he would have a baseball game like every other Saturday morning. Of course he didn't because life is like that, but we still went.

This year we were running with a football theme so compliments of pinterest (if you are not on there yet get moving!) I had this fun idea to make a birthday break thru banner thing. Not the official name, for the record. So I crepe papered all across his door, back and forth, with a sign basically explain that football teams bust out of the locker room like this and today he was the star and could bust into his 9th year. Following phone call from walk site:
Me: Happy Birthday Baby!
Tristan: Thanks mom.
Me: Did you like busting out of your room this morning?
Tristan: Yeah...(insert odd pause)...but you're so weird. It was weird.

Anywho...the rest of the day was normal stuff. Dinner out, baseball practice, yogurt spot. Good. Instead of a party he chose to go to the Bucs game with "the guys". More on that to come. Waiting on pics.

So to Tristan, Happy Birthday little man. It is a pleasure watching you grow up. I love your gentle spirit, your knack for recognizing when someone needs a hug or a "its ok", and your caring ways. I love that you have a new best friend every week and even occasionally refer to Jake as one of the options (FYI - Jake is a dog). I love that you are shy and quiet in new situations but silly and loud in ones where you are comfortable. I love the face you get when you are thinking hard, where you put your face really close to the paper and your eyebrows burrow together. I love watching you play ball ... sometimes so focused and sometimes in lala land. I love how much you enjoy time with your sister now that she's around less. And I love your inability to say no to her when she wants to make a deal in Monopoly even though it makes you lose every time. And most of all I love that you are my son. Looking forward to seeing what the next year brings.