Baseball, carwash, and yard work....

What do baseball, carwash, and yard work all have in common? That's how we spent our Saturday. K3 had a double header against Michigan City at 11, Kraig had a carwash for student council from 9-3, and we worked in the yard from 3-8. The weather was gorgeous so the yard work part was definitelythe most enjoyable part. What's on tap for today? Dog baths, car cleanings, homework, grocery shopping, and my all time favorite.....LAUNDRY!!

This week at a glance Konnor starts baseball practice tomorrow, K3 has a baseball game at home on Tuesday, Kraig has a Track meet in Albion on Tuesday, Konnor has soccer practice on Tuesday, Konnor has baseball practice on Wednesday and that is as far in advance as I can remember. I'm getting ready for the big Track and Field Days vs. Camden Frontier at school. We are tie dying t-shirts with the 4th and 5th graders this week. OK, so this week doesn't sound too relaxing, maybe I shouldn't have typed it out?!

Not a very easy week!

Yeah, I know I'm a slacker....haven't posted since April 12th. Sorry. I didn't have a very easy week though. Here is a quick recap that will probably explain the lack of posts. Sunday back went out and we were at Putnam's for Linda's 60th...Monday barely walking upright but went to work with ice pack and ibuprofen...Tuesday not walking (much at all) and taught with ice in my pants from a chair(not the exemplary PE teacher).....Wednesday drug myself to work (no subs available) .....went to Chiropractor M-W and discovered Doan's pills (very effective)

....Thursday took a 1/2 day to lay down because I wasn't very mobile still....Friday had a massage after work that was very helpful. Yada yada yada....to top off the back drama we had double headers on Monday, Tuesday, and Saturday....Soccer practice on Tuesday.... Davis Relays on Friday....Soccer game on Saturday....Kraig's baseball on Saturday. So as you can tell there hasn't been much spare time to do anything besides cook, clean, and do laundry. Konnor and I worked on his science fair project this morning and then K2 and I worked around the house and outside. Now it is homework and more laundry (big surprise there!) This week at a glance....Monday track at home for Kraig....baseball doubleheader on Tuesday at Western for K3....Soccer practice on Tuesday for Konnor....Soccer game and doubleheader on Saturday. Will this madness ever end?!
PS K2 is at his first official Sunday night football meeting tonight. OH JOY!!

Boy do I miss Florida!

Konnor and his yummy oreo/frosting snacks!!

I really miss florida for more than one reason. 1. I loved being able to see and talk to my parents on a daily basis...not just a quickie phone conversation a couple times a week. 2. The weather was beautiful and I am sick and tired of winter! 3. I miss feeling like there is really nothing pressing to get done. 4. No sports schedules to juggle. 5. Reading whenever I felt like it and not just 10 minutes before bed. 6. Wearing shorts and t-shirts....sure cuts down on the laundry. 7. Taking turns with my mom cooking and cleaning the kitchen instead of doing both by myself (most of the time). 8. Going for morning walks in the wonderful sunshine. 9. Going for evening gulf cart rides without children in tow. 10. The smell of freshly mowed grass....yes, there are actually people mowing yards instead of shoveling sidewalks.

K3's game was postponed for a second time tonight. Kraig's baseball practice was cancelled. This weather is crazy. We are supposed to have a tournament at Lumen Christi for K3 @11 this weekend, a tournament in Edon, OH for Kraig @11, and a soccer game for Konnor and I at 11:20. How many things do you think will get cancelled because of the weather?

Never too old to play ball!

I think one of the neatest things about visiting my mom and dad in their "gated community" is watching people of all ages stay active. This is the Softball game K3 and Kraig played in on Saturday morning. There were players of all ages and all shapes and sizes. I have to give some of them a lot of credit for trying.....I know some young people that couldn't do as well as they do. I hope that I will have enough spunk in my step to keep playing later in my life. The announcer had nicknamed Kraig "Showtime" after the first inning. Hmmmm.....I wonder why he would call him that?! NOT!! Konnor chose fishing during the tournament. Can't say that I blame him. This is the Bullhead he caught on bacon of all things. Tune in tomorrow for Sunday's recap.

The way kids should be when traveling....

We're BACK!! Beside from the grueling car rides....we had a GREAT time! I think that I will post a few pictures a day to the blog instead of hitting you with the whole break recap. We were able to be on the road Thursday by about 5:15. We hit an unexpected 1 1/2 hour traffic jam in

Louisville which put us at our hotel at 1 AM. Not a great thing but it was still early in the trip so we just rolled with the punches. The kids did pretty good riding down....these were the times (see above pictures) that K2 and I enjoyed the most. No one was asking if we were GETTING CLOSER! That phrase got old fast. We arrived in Florida Friday night and got situated and settled. Boy could I get used to the 85 degree weather. This snow/winter stuff is crap! Well, tune in tomorrow for last Saturday's recap. Hope everyone had an enjoyable break! Just think, only 9 more weeks before summer break! YEP, I'm counting.

A published ARTIST in our family!

Konnor was very excited when his dad showed him what he had found in the Hillsdale Daily Newspaper Monday night. Konnor's drawing of Walmart was chosen to represent them in the Business Ad section. He had to explain to me that those are the milk and eggs setting on the baggage turnstyles....."they never put your eggs and milk in your cart first." Pretty smart for a boy who hasn't been grocery in a long time.

We had K3's Basketball banquet at 6 tonight. Doesn't really fit into the packing the clothes thingy but I guess I get to start that now. 2 days and counting.....Kraig went to the doctor today for a bad ear infection...better today than Friday. Konnor got his "Florida haircut" today after school. It was the only way I could convince him to get it cut....it's been a very looooong time. We told him he would have too many white places once he was tan. What do ya know, it WORKED!

4 DAYS and counting.....

Oh my GOSH!!! I can't hardly believe that we only have 4 days to get ready to leave. YIKES!! We tried to get the house and laundry under control this weekend. The car is cleaned out and the snacks are packed. Tonight is "start packing the clothes night". We are hoping to set sail on Thursday evening after K3's baseball practice and Kraig's track practice. Hopefully we can knock a few hours of the trip on Thursday night and then finish the rest on Friday. Watch out Florida HERE WE COME!!

The windowsill says it ALL!

As I was doing my dishes this morning, I noticed that my windowsill was sending mixed messages. The fundraiser daffodils are sending one message(spring is just around the corner) and the snowman(winter is hanging on way too long) another. That is exactly the same message the weather is sending us. We may have beautifully sunny skies, but the tempratures drop into the teens last night. Hunter is way too comfortable being a house cat and will soon find that her house has been moved back out to the garage. The sunset last night was beautiful. The light was reflecting off of the snow falling from the clouds.

Watch out WNBA!!

This morning I was greeted by a husband holding the newspaper still laughing outloud! Yes, you guessed it! I made the paper Friday for being an AGGRESSIVE TEACHER. Not really good press if you ask me. Especially since I had that run in with the upset parent just last week.

I was so excited that I actually had about 8 pts. this game. I had backed off on defense and just concentrated on making the shots. And what do I get in the paper for....DEFENSE!

The boys were talking smack all week....so we did what we had to do....beat them!

LOOK MOM....no more food in my braces!

Today was an exciting day around the Putnam house. Kirk got his braces off!! His teeth look wonderful. Please excuse the close up of the scruff, I don't know how to do the fancy picture editing on the computer. Kraig is writing a letter of protest because he got his braces 4 months before K3 and now he still has a long way to go. I told him Dr. Mayer won't be impressed by the letter.

19 DAYS until we leave for FLORIDA!!

Only 19 days until we leave for Florida....but who's counting?! Yeah, that would be me. The 3 day weekend and warm weather sure got me in the mood. I really need a break from work before work BREAKS me! During PT conferences Thursday, I spent the time getting everything around for 5th grade boys vs. Staff basketball (this thursday), puberty ed. and HIV ed (April), tie-dyed t-shirt project (April), and Track and Field days (May). Why couldn't one of these major projects have been in January or February when things weren't so busy? K3 starts official baseball practice tonight. Spring sports already! Yippeee, Kraig is started weekly baseball practice on Sat., and I'm sure it's just a matter of a couple weeks until soccer starts for Konnor and I. So in order to cope with this busy schedule....I'm staying focused on Spring Break!

Last day of SNOW?!

Konnor decided to make the most of his last day of snow for the season. He and Mitchell snowmobiled all morning and then I took them snowboarding in the afternoon. By the end of the day yesterday, everything was pure slush! Kayla got to find this out first had when konnor pulled her behind the snowmobile on the sled....there wasn't an inch of dry anywhere on her body. Today Steven and Konnor have already been hunting and are now playing in the melting ice dam beside the garage. I was even able to open windows yesterday and today to clear out some of this winter air.

Whatever happened to brotherly LOVE?!

I know that it is fairly normal to hate your brothers at some point and time....but why does it have to be everyday? I know that many of my friends that have boys this age are able to leave them alone for a few hours and everything goes fine. Unfortunately that does not happen in my case. Yesterday K2 and I had parent teacher conference and decided to let them stay home by themselves with the help of Kayla....after my 5th phone call by 11:30 I decided that it wasn't gonna work. I took Konnor to Jen's....thank God she could help me out. Unfortunately we have not been able to discuss this issue with the kids yet, but that discussion will definately happen today. Any suggestions Kandi?

I am applying for a job at Walmart today!

I can't believe what a stressful day I had yesterday....hence the reason I am applying for a Greeter job at Walmart. I had a girl-boy fight in the morning that included hair pulling, face scratching, clothes ripping, etc. Not a pretty sight. Then my really naughty Kdg. girl (I swear she is possessed) decided to go on a pinching and hitting spree and then told me "it was an accident". OK, maybe she has terrets of the hands?! NOT!! The afternoon started off fine and then a boy that I had asked numerous times to sit down, be quiet, and keep his hands to himself decided it would be appropriate to tell me "he was going to punch me in the face if I yelled at him again". Of course, Scott (the principal) was in a manifestation hearing and could not deal with the situation, so I had to snap suspend him per the 2nd in charge (Mr. Coakley). When the mom came to get him, I tried to explain what had happened and she then decided that it must have been my fault that Burley snapped so easily.....excuse me??? She said I was getting an attitude with her....accused me some more of yelling at her and her son...and then finally said she would not be spoken to that way and she was done talking to me. Of course, the non-confrontational Kristin, started to cry (after I was back behind closed doors of the gym) because she couldn't believe that the mother had sided with the child that just threatened me. During the whole mother-son thing, Bailey called to say Konnor's stomach was hurting and he needed to be picked up. It was his first day back this week. So he went a total of 3 hours this week. Today and tomorrow no school for kids. Hmmm....yeah I think that about sums up the day. Today is professional development in the morning and confrences all afternoon and evening. I used to really enjoy conferences, but now they are just a looooong day! No one comes to see the PE teacher. Yep, I'm definitely applying for the Wal-mart job today!!

What a BUMMER!!

I know I'm not supposed to whine.....but this weekend definitely didn't turn out the way it was supposed to. Friday night K3 had his last basketball game at Columbia Central. It was a great game and Kirk had 11 points. What wasn't so great was the drive home. The roads were horrible. There were times when you couldn't even see the road in front of you or there were times the road turned into a one lane trail with high drifting snow. Thank God for 4 wheel drive. I decided I wouldn't head back up to Jackson to scrap with the girls. That really was a big bummer because it was probably the last time until May or June that everyone can get together. Instead I did laundry, cleaned the house, and ran children around town. Kirk 2 and the varsity coaches were a Soaring Eagle speeking at a coaches clinic. Then to add insult to injury Konnor started puking at 3 AM. He seems to be doing ok today....just a few trips to the bathroom still. Hopefully he can go to school tomorrow.

Stations 4 Heart is OVER!!

What usually last 5 days or 35 sessions has gone on for over 2 weeks because of snow days, delays, and sick days. Blickum! For those of you that know what a control freak I am, it won't surprise you that having 7 stations of stuff going on in one gym is enough to drive me insane! The good news....I had 68 students donate a total of $2,019. I had set my goal at $2,000 this year, so I guess that means it was a success. Here are just a few shots from today.

Week at a glance

So how do you spell A BIG WASTE OF YOUR TIME? Not a John Mayer concert, but definitely a trip to the Gastroentrologist in Battle Creek. He pushed on my gut and told me to keep taking the meds that gave me last week for a month and he would see me in 6 months. What a waste of a 1/2 day?!

The concert was INCREDIBLE!!!

Actually the whole 24 hours break from parenting was pretty amazing. I can't believe how many complete conversations 2 people can have when there aren't 3 kids to interrupt. We left Thursday after work and headed to G.R. We made really great time....got parked....stood in line and finally got to go into VanAndel. Very nice place to watch events. We were in the top bowl and the end. The seats were great....a little loud because the speakers were pointed directly at us....hard to see John (upclose and personal) but the songs and music we WONDERFUL! He sounds just like he does on the CDs. Had an exciting dinner of poptarts and popcorn at 11:30 PM and fell asleep. Had a liesurely breakfast at Big Boy and then shopped in Lansing and Okemos until K3's game in Stockbridge. We liquidated all gift cards....some were 2 years old. Kind of fun to shop with someone else's money for a change. K3's game was great. JV won by 30 points...2 more games this week and then baseball starts March 12th.

In other news......

Except from the dishwasher repair job, things have been going rather smoothly on the homefront. Tuesday and W

ednesday were snow days....thursday I was home sick...Friday Kirk3 played an EXCELLENT game against Leslie and we had pizza with the Putnam's and Harkness's after the game.....Saturday I watched Shawn K. wrestle at Districts.....Konnor had a birthday party at the college (swimming).....Kirk and I had the reverse raffle (we won NOTHING).....Sunday we did laundry and cleaned and then went to the movies with Kraig and Konnor....Today we have the day off....K2 is lifting.....K3 is at basketball practice....and the other two are just now waking up! Ahhhh.....peace and quiet! Today we plan on riding the snowmobiles and sledding as much as possible because we are going to loose the snow with the temperatures reaching 40 degrees today and 60 degrees by Saturday.

Thursday after work Kirk and I head to Grand Rapids to watch John Mayer inconcert. We are spending the night and then running some errands on our way to Stockbridge to watch K3 play Friday night. I am going to try to make an appointment with my Gastroenterologist on Friday in Battle Creek. I think it is time to switch meds. Sunday was the first day that I actually could eat since Thursday's sick day. Not any fun at all!

Isn't she lovely....

Isn't she lovely.....isn't she wonderful! Trying to remember the lyrics to the song but they aren't coming to mind at the moment. This is the new addition to our household. Your wondering why I am posting about a dishwasher?! Me too! Don't know what else is noteworthy to post??? Tuesday night Konnor backed up and landed on the open dishwasher door....completely broke it off its hinges.....and left us with the age old question....fix it or get a new one? The parts alone were going to be around $100 and the dishwasher is 7 years old. So we got a new one. Then the fun began. The old one could just be slid out, unhook the plug and water supply, move it out of the kitchen. Wala! The new one however took 6 hours to install. They don't tell you that the old fittings won't necessarily aline with the new ones....the plug is not attached....that copper piping does not bend too well....need I say more. But we now are the proud owners and operators of a NICE dishwasher. There is definitely more cleaning surfaces than my old washer which is another plus. So Happy Valentine's Day to me!