Memorial Weekend 2011

We decided to devote this Memorial Weekend to baseball, as we enrolled Matthew with his team to be in a weekend long tournament.  Our first game was Friday night, followed by two games on Saturday, and a final game that was to be played early Sunday morning, but the other team ended up backing out.  It was a great weekend, and the weather held out just enough to get all our games in! We enjoyed picking up sandwiches for Friday night's game, as well as Saturday's mid-day game.  Matthew really liked having a whole weekend devoted to a sport he loves.  He got to pitch in two out of three games, and is getting very good at making contact with the ball when he is at-bat.  We are very proud of Matthew.  I will admit, when Matthew said he wanted to play baseball, I thought I would have a hard time following such a dull sport....boy was I wrong about that!  Baseball is quite entertaining to watch, especially when you are passionate about the team. 
I was just e-mailed this picture from another player, which was taken after they received their medals on Sunday.

The rest of the weekend was about relaxing as a family.  The kids played and we just did as we pleased. I spent some quality time with August this afernoon.  After laying Reagan down for a nap, I left the rest of the kids and headed out with August for a bike ride (him) and walk (me).  We veered off the main road and explored some forest trails.  He loved having the quality time with me, and loved racing me home at the end! Each time I would give him a choice as to whether we could head down one trail that would get us home faster, or a longer path home, he kept choosing the longer route.  We ended up going close to three miles.  We got rained on a bit, but he could have cared less!
 Tonight we had a bbq dinner of chicken kabobs w/veggies, steak, burgers, corn on the cob, and pilaff.  Desert was cupcakes, ice cream and apple pie.  We love our dinners together. Now we are on a countdown: 14 more days of school, not including weekends, and the kids will be out for Summer!  I look forward to more quality time with them:-)

My newest nephew.

He arrived just after midnight on Friday! Check it out for yourself:

http://sweethartfamily.blogspot.com/2011/05/new-boy-in-town.html

I wish I had a picture to share of me holding him, but until that happens, this will just have to do.  I'm glad my sister was able to post some pictures within 24 hours of his birth. :-)

Our Girls Day Out

Today the girls and I headed down to Bellevue Square to check out the newest addition to the mall, a DISNEY store! The girls had never been to a Disney store, and the closest one to here is nearly an hour away.  Needless to say, they were excited. They each selected a couple items, and from there we headed to McDonalds for Happy Meals.  Then, it was on to Bath and Body Works.  The weather took a turn for the better this afternoon, so we headed outside and walked over to the Cheesecake factory to pick up a slice Mango Keylime Cheesecake with Mango glaze and Macadamia nut crust.  Oh yummmmm! I picked up a couple cupcakes from Pinkabella for the girls, as cheesecake isn't really there thing. We ended up taking our treats home, as after a few hours at the mall, we were ready to head out of there.
I was happy to get out with just the girls today, and have one last adventure with them before the other kids finish up the school year and are home from the Summer. Also, today was my first glimpse of how much fun shopping with daughters can be.  Very fun! We all came home smelling like all the different Bath and Bodyworks products mixed together, as we tried on many different lotions.  Alyssa had her first experience with being in control of her purchases. She had a decent amount of money saved up, and brought it with her today.  In the Disney store, she really wanted this beautiful, high quality tinkerbell dress, and wings to match, but when I informed her that purchasing the outfit would cost her all her money, she decided it wasn't worth it, and made a more reasonable purchase.  After we came home, she said she kind of wished she had bought the dress, but I reminded her that it will likely be there for awhile, and that if she still wants down the road, maybe she can ask for it as a gift for her birthday.  It WAS a pretty dress!
I loved the day out with my daughters! I also look forward to the day out with my boys that I will have soon.  We are planning on going to Pirates of The Carribbean:-)

Alyssa as the Disney Store.

I thought Reagan was going to buy this Alice Doll,  but she ended up switching to Snow White.

Alyssa loved this beautiful nightgown, and she considered getting it.  Tough choices.

Another gown Alyssa liked.

I hoped one of the girls would select this Sully Stuffed Animal-he was awesome, and so soft, but he didn't make the cut with Alyssa or Reagan.

McDonalds. I don't usually get Happy Meals, but this was a special day!  Also, they were featuring Kung Fu Panda 2 toys, and we are planning on going to see that movie.  We have the first one, and have been watching it lately!

Alyssa wanted to get the same lipgloss I had puchased a week ago, and I knew it was half off, so I took her in. It is glossy and really makes lips shine, plus, it is very tasty!

Here we are outside the Cheesecake Factory. The weather was so pleasant, I wanted to just sit outside. This was right before we left.  Now, as I type this blog post, it is raining.  I'm glad our weather behaved for at least a short time, so we could enjoy it.  The girls and I took the long way to the car, and walked the perimeter of the mall to get extra time outside.

Snow White.  They are on sale right now-all the characters like this one.  At least she chose something on sale! They also had swimsuits on sale, but we are already set in that department.

Alyssa chose a Bambi and a Thumper. She also wanted the Bambi movie (she has never seen it), but I had to draw the line somewhere.

The Cheesecake. So, when I was eating this in the comfort of my own living room, I took time to try and figure the layers out.  The crust is composed of two layers: One graham cracker and one coconut/macadamia nut. The next layer is mild mango cheesecake swirled, followed by a zesty, creamy layer of keylime mango. I think this layer may be more like that of a keylime pie (sweeetened condensed milk, keylime, mango juice and sour cream?)The top of this cake is glazed with a sweeter mango glaze, and the whole thing is drizzled with a tangy keylime mango sauce.  Whip cream is optional, which I never opt out of. I may have to attempt to make something like this sometime.  Just for fun:-)

Our newest "pet"

No, we didn't go get a new pet.  This one came to us.  Meet our newest backyard member. She is a very low maintenence pet-I highly recommend one! We see this rabbit every day going between the yards, eating the plants. I hope she doesn't take too much!

Garage Sale-ing 2011

So, lets just sum this one up by saying that last Friday was a great day!!! Our weather was awesome, I got to spend all day hanging around outside in the the sun with my friend, and made a few bucks while I was at it.  I got fairly sunburned, but it was a fair trade to me:-) Oh, and let me just add, the only thing that could have made this day better was if my friend Kenna still lived next door, because I know she would have been out there with us!

The kids thought having a picnic lunch on garage sale day was the greatest thing EVER!

Mother/Son Fun Night

Actually, it is Mother/Son fun afternoon:-) A couple Saturdays ago, Matthew, August and I headed to Cascade View for this annual event that we always enjoy.  It is sponsored by the ROA and something we can do on a budget that is also fun.
There was a blow-up obstacle course, yummy treats (doughnuts, fruit, fruitsnacks, juice, water), a cookie decorating station, a photo station (still waiting to get that one back), face painting, a balloon artist, a mobile video game truck parked outside (my boys will never go in that one-they just aren't interested, but I've heard it is fun), a big obstacle course outside for remote control cars-very fast high-tech ones, I might add, and more.  Fun!

My boys LOVE this machine.  You select a tube and fill it with different flavored sugar powders until filled, then cap it. I think they wish they had one of these in the house!

Beseball 2011-Redsox

This baseball season has been going great! Our weather causes many of the games to end up as "rescheduled games", but we have learned to roll with it, and it is working out just fine. Matthew's team is very competitive and really wants to win, but his coach is a very good one. This year, Matthew has pitched less, but our team has several pitchers for us to call on. He has turned into an excellent third base man!
I haven't been great about taking many pictures this season, partly because I am usually so consumed with the game (when I'm not tending to the girls), and part because many games or so cold all I can really do is try to get through sitting there for 2+ hours.  Anyhow, over Easter weekend we had a day that was PERFECT for baseball.  It was our first day the reached 70 degrees this year. It was so nice to be out in the beautiful day, watching Matthew and his team. This weekend he will be partaking in a baseball tournament from Friday through Sunday for sure, and into Monday if they win.  We just hope the rain can subside enough to get all the games in!

The perfect day for blowing bubbles!