A few summer pictures

The reason once again for not having as many pics of Alexandra is because she is often off doing her own thing. Not close to me where I can take lots of pictures of her. I will try to get a few more shots of her. We have lots of summer to go.

Bikes

So while buying Xavier's bike Eli wanted to get a new one. I told him he had to ride without training wheels. He said he could. I said he would have to wait. When we pulled into the garage he got out of the car walked over to the bike Xavier learned on and rode it across the garage. then looked at me and said I told you I could ride without training wheels. Guess I owe him a new bike.

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He has now been riding for a couple weeks without training wheels. He is fine with the bike he has and loves to ride. he can spend hours going up and down the road. I don't' let them go far. One day Grandpa Glade took Eli, Xavier, Carter, and Byron on a long ride out to Pelican Point and around. Eli talks about that day all the time.

One morning a couple days before the Taylor Swift concert in Spokane Vanessa came out all dressed up. She said "C'mon girls, it's time for the concert."

Xavier, Eli, Vanessa and Shorty stayed with Cousin Shammee at her house. They read books and went on a treasure hunt. They were so excited to show me what they had found. Items included a bright yellow flat soccer ball, pad lock with no key, baseball and polished rocks. Cassius paid them 4 quarters for picking up rocks in the backyard. They had a great time. Alexandra and I went to the concert which was insanely crowded. We waited in line to get her a t-shirt. Alexandra was surprised by how loud the music actually was. We had floor seat on the end of the row. Next time I am opting for cheap seats. Because we were on the floor and everyone stood it was hard to see the stage. But during the concert Taylor walked around and came right by us and went to a smaller stage closer to us so we could see better for a little while. The concert was pretty good but I have to admit it was different going as an adult. I just wanted to sit back and listen to the music while the younger crowd there wanted to shout I love you's and try to follow her as she walked around wanting to get hugs and autographs. Afterwards we headed back to Shams where we had a sleepover. The next morning we shopped a little bit getting Xavier a new bike I had promised for riding without training wheels.

What I do with my spare time

Someone recently believed that I was spending much of my time on myself. If I have time to spend on myself it is only because I am about to explode and cannot function anymore. In that case I use this "spare time" to shower, walk, or stare at some inanamate object until something awakens me back to reality. Oh and occasionally I will write up a quick blog. So if I am not spending all my time on myself then what am I doing. I will list a few for a typical work week: (Random order) Coming up with breakfast, snack, lunch, snack, dinner, snack. Cooking/preparing them, cleaning up the dishes and wiping counters. Packing lunches for school. changing diapers(avg. 10/day) changing kids clothes from pj's to clothes bathing and back to pj's. Sometime changing wet or muddy clothes. finding shoes. Wiping noses. Finding socks. Laundry.............. Changing bedding from accidents. After stripping the entire bed having the dog crap on the mattress without its protector on. trying not to kill mentioned dog and spending a good hour scrubbing and shampooing bed. Soaking up pee from do all over the house. Cleaning up spills from kids cups. brushing teeth, mine and 3 others twice a day. turning on and off sprinklers. moving hoses. wiping butts on toilet. helping wash hands. starting movies. helping apply fake fingernails or polishing nails or clipping toenails. taking out the trash. teaching kids its not ok to say stupid. Teaching them what is ok to say and in what tone, losing the sarcasm. spelling out words at a pace they can write them to make signs for forts. helping construct forts. driving to and from practices. answering phone calls. making phone calls to schedule appointments. breathing.
Those are just a few things. I am sure we all have many days when asked what did we do today we opt for saying "nothing much" when really it is so full of stuff it would sound similar to the above. So please for my sake don't assume that because I am home all day with my kids and a few others that I don't do anything. or spend the day on myself. thanks.

Been busy

We have been pretty busy lately. We finished up soccer. Xavier tried baseball but remained a little too shy. Maybe next year. Derek was able to come home for a short visit. I do mean short. It was only 4 days. I cannot believe he has been gone 2 months now. I took the days off and we just stayed around the house. Unfortunately, all the plants I ordered came in the same day he did and I had to spend part of the time doing yard work. Derek did walk the kids to the park and had a good time with them. We had a BBQ with a few of his friends. Then he had to fly back to Indianapolis. He has since flown to Kuwait, where he is currently. He called from Iceland which seemed way out of the way. When he called I asked how it looked. His response was it is dark. I forget about the whole time zone thing.

Besides yard work, which takes up quite a bit of my time we have been having fun in the warmer weather. I finally got around to taking the training wheels off of Xavier's bike. He was more than ready, it took him a few tries and he was a pro. Now he, Byron and Eli can go on rides up and down the street. Eli rides this awesome tricycle my dad found in Spokane. I will have to get some pics of them riding. Alexandra has already been swimming at a friend's house. She is always on the go. The kids like when I pitch nerf and whiffle balls to them. I hate doing it because they his so hard, even with plastic bats, I am afraid of getting hit. They all have a blast on the trampoline practicing flips. We spend our Sunday evenings down at my parents house. While the adults play Loser the kids play doing whatever with their cousins. Usually trampoline, walking to the lake, and running around.

On the field

Alexandra's team remained undefeated this year, including the tournament we went to in Ephrata. After one long day of 4 games they took home first place. As much fun as it is Alexandra is ready for a break. I think they are taking a month off before they begin practices again for a few more tournaments this summer. I have no idea how many goals she scored overall but it was a lot. She has improved greatly. The team is really coming together and playing as a team with more passing and assisting. It's great to see her work well with others and develop one of her many talents.

Off the field.

Xavier, Eli, and Vanessa have been great at Alexandra's practices and games. Sometimes they are allowed to go to the play area but many times they have to stay close. I know they get bored but still keep a pretty good attitude. All too soon I am sure we will be watching and supporting them.