The week in review

We did it.....broke down, gave in, and bought another vacuum. I wish I had a picture to show you the INCREDIBLE amount of dog hair that came up out of this house.  In itself, it could have been enough hair for another small black lab.  It was money well spent.

We actually have not been to a single baseball game this week.  Nick, of course, has been everyday, but me and the boys have opted to stay cool at home.  Nick will pitch tomorrow so we will be back at it again. It has been a nice little break but I know the boys enjoy hanging out at the ballpark.  Nick only pitches once every seven days so it kind of feels like a long time in between his starts. 

Mason has been playing tee ball and really enjoys it.  He wants to play morning, noon, and night.  He wants to wear his uniform everyday. I absolutely LOVE the feeling I get when he hits the ball and runs to first and then looks for me in the stands and smiles and sometimes gives me the "thumbs up."

Mason is also really into Transformers right now.  Before he even knew what they were he had a friend at school who had a Bumblebee backpack and he would talk about it all the time.  Without ever seeing a movie or a cartoon he decided he wanted to be Bumblebee for Halloween.  We decided to rent the movie for him and he loved it.....all 20 minutes of it before we realized it is NOT a kids movie and turned it off.

Drake...oh Drake. He is so silly. He loves to make funny faces and make us laugh.  Most of the time its at the dinner table. He will do absolutely anything that his big brother does.  He drinks milk like cows are going extinct and Bubble Guppies is his favorite show to watch on tv. 

I did my first mod podge photo canvas this week. (Another idea from pinterest) The picture in the tutorial was black and white so I decided to use a black and white photo I took a while back of my niece, Charlette.  It's a little rough but turned out pretty good for my first one. 

I also joined a gym out here.  I was initially just doing it because it has been too hot to run outside so I would just go and run on the treadmill.  Out of boredom I decided to take a step class last week.  I was easily the youngest person in there by 20 years.  I just kind of laughed at myself and went ahead and took the class anyways. It was a blast.  I went back this week :)

We realized this morning that we will be back in Arkansas in less than a month! The days have seemed pretty long but the trip as a whole has really gone by pretty quickly.  We are definitely looking forward to real "fall" weather.  One hundred degrees in October is not fall.  I am also looking forward to this upcoming week- a trip home for one of my very best friends' weddings. Cannot wait!

Lord Have Mercy!

Here are just a few of the things my husband said to me on the way to drop him off at the field this morning...
1. Your ears dont work today
2. I think you're going crazy
3. Lose your attitude

I must have been having a really great morning, right?? We had the bright idea to let the kids sleep together last night.  Mason's bed has a trundle underneath so we decided it would be fun to just see what happened.  I am sure it was a ton of fun for them, not so much for me. I had put the baby monitor in there so if it got out of hand we would know.  Thirty minutes in I was begging Nick to go put Drake in his room. The kids were no where near sleeping and I knew we had to drop Nick off at 7:30 this morning. That's typically not a big deal but if they are up late and up early thats just not a good combo.  Nick kept reminding me that we did this to let them have fun and they would eventually fall asleep. They did. They slept all night but were up having a party in there at 6 am. I however, tossed and turned all night wondering if Drake had fallen off the bed, what would happen if Mason had to get up to go potty and stepped on Drake, ect....So I will not make excuses for my bad attitude this morning, but it was not for no reason at all.

As I mentioned in my last post one of the most important things in a "fully furnished" home that is often overlooked is the vacuum. We got one....one that is duct taped together. We bring Deuce, our BLACK lab, on the road with us. We need a vacuum. A good one.  This one is barely operating and I am quite positive that it just blows the hair out of the way and never sucks up anything. Then, if we want to empty the canister we just unwrap the duct tape, empty, then wrap her back up. Long story short- I am drowning in dog hair. Nick does not understand my frustration. If I were to go buy another vacuum that would make a total of 4 vacuums at home. I called the rental office to make sure we would have one so I could bring one if I needed to.

I guess there needs to be a reason for my ranting- I am trying so hard to find the lesson and the blessing in everything we do. The kids sleeping together- they laughed their heads off for an hour before bed. They are healthy and they love each other. Deuce hair- we thought we were going to lose him last week. His stomach swelled up and he was working extremely hard to breathe. After calling 2 different vets they were thinking congestive heart failure. Turns out, he got in his food bag and ate himself to the point of exhaustion. But I still have my dog.  Nothing but a little perspective I guess.

One very fun thing we got to do this week was celebrate Drake turning 2 and Nick turning 26! Their birthdays are on the 9th and the 10th.  We were so glad that we got to spend them both together this year. (Nick was not home in time last year)

Fun little Halloween craft I found on pinterest. That's Drake's foot on the left and Mason's on the right.  I am getting better at finding new things to keep the kids entertained.  The weather has been beautiful so they have been able to play outside a little more this week, which was much needed for all of us. 

I got on here to post about birthdays and baseball, not to vent about my bad attitude. I guess that's what happens when you're across the country from your friends and family and just need to let it out.

"Because of the Lord's great love, we are never consumed.  His compassions never fail. His mercies are new every morning. Great is his faithfulness." Lamentations 3:23- Every morning- even like mornings when your husband tells you you're anything BUT a joy to be around. AMEN!

Home is Where Your Husband Is

Just a little less than a week ago we arrived to our new temporary home in Phoenix.  We will be here for a total of 7 weeks while Nick plays in the Arizona fall league.  For some reason this move stressed me out a little more than some of our past trips.  I was hesitant to take Mase out of preschool. I hated that he had to leave his soccer team.  Spending money on housing gives me anxiety when I know we could be saving it if me and the boys stayed at home.  I prayed and prayed asking God to show me what I needed to do. Silly thing to do really when I know that my responsibility lies with my husband and that ultimately our goal in this life we call baseball is to be together whenever it is possible.  So did I really need to stress about it? No. People often tell me "I bet you are glad to be home for a while." Well, truthfully, no....not if my husband isn't there with me. So.....Here we are in sunny, brutally hot, Phoenix, AZ.

We have been doing the temporary housing thing for several years now.  We have learned most of the "what to do" and "what not to do" of finding rentals.  This is our 5th short term, fully furnished (whatever that means) home.  You never really know what "fully furnished" means.  In the past we had a home that came with EVERYTHING, even a stocked refrigerator when we arrived. And then there was the one that literally had mattresses, a couch, and a dining room table. So I usually come prepared bringing what I have learned that most "fully furnished" places do not come with....trashcans and vacuums! We are fortunate this time. This place had both, plus much more.  Although it did not have electricity when we got here...all I can say about that is HOT.

So I mentioned earlier that I was stressing out about taking Mason away from his soccer team. Well, I tried to find a soccer team for him out here and couldnt find one. But what I did find was TeeBall! Hello Jesus, thank you for your blessings :)  Nick has always said how he hates that he would never be able to see mason play teeball or baseball because it would always be during his season (as long as he's playing.) So I am happy to report that Mason had his first teeball game on Saturday and Daddy was sitting front row. After masons first hit, he did run to third instead of first....Yes, this from a child who has sat through more baseball games in 4 years than most people in their entire lives.

Mr. Drake will be turning two next week. Can't hardly believe it. He is talking up a storm.  He really loves airplanes and baseball. He randomly points at Nick and says "baseball." He just got his first "at home daddy buzzcut." This was much to my dismay of course.  I love his baby curls and want them back but Nick says I have to wait until I have a girl and I can do whatever I want with her hair.  So when I ask Drake if mommy should have a baby his response is "No babies peesh." (please)

I kind of have a whole lot of time on my hands, so Ill be updating more frequently. Go Javelinas! (Nicks team, which oddly enough is actually a razorback, so I guess I could just stick with Go Hogs)