Last Day of School!

aaaahhhhhhhhhh....the last day of school! I was able to take the day off and make it to Stephanie's award ceremony and then got to go back and pick her up when school was out. The top pic is of her best friends Hannah and Paige. The second picture I took when the teacher handed her grade card to her. Not sure what she was checking for????? The bottom picture is just her and classmates clowning around. They were all about to fall over at this point. There were 90 3rd graders this year. We didn't find out who her teacher was. They are thinking of dividing the 5th graders into 6 classrooms next year and scaling down 4th graders to only 4 classrooms. If they do this, then all the teacher assignments will change. The note we got said we wouldn't find out until the first week of August.

She did well this school year. She completed her reading circle, got 2nd place in the Math & Logic team for 3rd grade, and an award for B's or Better on her grade card. I think she's glad school's finally out.

Ethan on the other hand. You don't get many pictures of a teenager, especially a boy. He came running out from school with his arms full of books, a bag full and grinning from ear to ear. Our son, the library aide, took full advantage of discarded library books! If you know Ethan...only him. The same son who's been carrying his cleats around in his shoe box to baseball games. You just never know how your kids personality will develop and where they come up with some of this stuff.

I loved having the day off and it made me wish for the days of not working full time outside the home. I took the kids to school, got a Sonic Cherry Coke, came home got 2 loads of laundry done, dishes washed, tidied up the living room, picked the kids up at 1:00, came home & took a 45 minute nap, got the rest of the laundry done, made a scrumpdillylicious meal for supper (chicken enchiladas from scratch) and watched my Tivo'ed shows and it's only 10:45! Work tomorrow though. Then with Monday being a holiday, I've got 4 day work weeks in a row! I love my job, but it's so good to get a day off here and there and breathe. Don't think I'll ever get caught up as long as the kids are home.

okey dokey, all for now, lana

Take Me Out to the Ball GAME!!!

Today was Opening Day for Junior Babe Ruth. As luck would have it, Stephanie had a game today at 2:00, so when Ethan's started at 3:00, Dad had to miss some of it. For his first time out on this field, he did fairly well. It seems surreal that he should even be old enough to play on the "Big Field" as it's known around town. The bottom picture is one I took with my camera in 3 frames. It automatically freezes a frame for you and after the 3rd shot it pastes them together. That was the only way I could get all the teams in. They were handing out awards to the 15 year olds from playing in National's this past summer.

Ethan's team won 11-1 against Medical Arts! They won by the 10 run rule. We stayed and watched the second game and KFC beat KWRT by the 10 run rule also, and I watched half of the last game where Potter Transport was winning over Carstar 5-0. The games shouldn't be so lopsided once the 15 year olds come back to play. Right now, they have won districs with High School ball and they're going to State. So they haven't practiced with the teams at all. Should be some closer games once they return.

Stephanie lost her game 5-3. She went with a friend afterwards to spend the night with her. I'm sure she's having a good time. And not having to spend the day at the ball park would thrill her to death.

The COUNTDOWN has begun! Only 4 more days of school left! Whew! This fall I'll have a 4th grader and an 8th grader! I haven't told Stephanie yet, but I took the day off work so I can go to all the last day activities. She'll have awards at 9:15, then they do something called Field Day at 10:15 (I think they just go outside to get out of the teachers hair ;) and get out at 1:00pm.

I'm going to try and post a video below. Don't shoot me if it doesn't work. It'll be my first time and the video isn't that great to begin with.

An Evening to Relax! Ha!

For those of you with little tikes at home, be ever so THANKFUL they are still little enough to BE at home with you. Enjoy those moments of time. TAKE the time to just "be" with them. Record their cute sayings on paper or video or both. I say these things because from May 1st to July something or other, between both kids, we will not be home at all except for maybe a Saturday here and there. EVERY NIGHT the kids either have practices or games, or Ethan umpires. Don't get me wrong, I love baseball season, but it makes me realize how fast time has gone and my kids are not toddlers any more! :(

Tonight, I came home from work, started supper, put a load of laundry in, had the kids help with picking up clutter around the house, ate supper, got Ethan to practice, put dishes in dishwasher, managed to get 3 more loads of laundry washed/dried/folded/put away, helped Stephanie with homework, read the paper, got Ethans phone switched to his new one, chatted with Greg briefly about the day, and finally got to watch ER and my TIVO'ed Days episode. Here it is 11:00pm. This is how my relaxing days go during baseball season! lol!

I am sharing the picture of the kids on the first day of school this past year. It hit me that Stephanie can no longer wear those shorts this spring because she's grown so much. Poor Ethan's puppy dog feet just keep growing and he's now wearing 11 1/2's! She's counting down the days and Ethan never says too much, but I think he's looking forward to the last day. My car's in the background. As old and dilapidated as it was, I sure do miss it. I'm glad it kept Ethan and I safe from harm when we were in the wreck last September.

Book: I'm not reading this week, but I bought Ethan the book he wanted that just came out, titled "The Battle of the Labyrinth" by Rick Riordan. He hasn't put it down, so guess it's good for a teen read

Gratitude Journal: I keep a notebook in the van right beside the seat and every morning when I get to work I write the day's date and jot down 5 things I'm thankful for. This keeps me grounded for the day.

Household hint/tip: I absolutely HATE to clean my bathrooms. I think it's the size of the room, you can never work comfortably in a bathroom and all the nooks and crannies you have to get into. Anyhow, I have made myself wipe down the sink as soon as I get finished in there. And I swish around the toilet bowl with the brush and a squirt or two of the Clorox bathroom spray. Leaves the bathroom smelling fresh and I'm always ready for company that way ;)

Someone emailed me the other day asking why I named my blog spot, Bring it On Home. Well it's actually bringitonhome2me.blogspot.com or something like that. wellllllll....... I really like that song by Little Big Town and it was on my MP3 player the night I put my blog up and running.

That's all for t'nite. So much for relaxing! lol!

Long Time AGAIN!

Ok, so here's what's been going on in our world since my last post. The second picture cracks me up! The candles were sparkle candles with glitter and they sort of "sparked" like a sparkler when she would blow on them! So she wouldn't even get close! It seems sooooo hard to believe my little 2 pound preemie is now 9 years old!!!! Where has the time gone? She is into Hannah Montanna, Zoey 101, Josh & Drake and Dora and Little Pet Shop are only a faded memory. wahhhh..... She got tons of moolah from family, some HM clothes, Uno Attack and Ethan got her a Taylor Swift CD. We partied at my Grandma's house in the country with my side of the family.

Not to leave the boys out....here's a little showing of what they were doing....The pics aren't that great, but I can say Dad was in the wagon. Good thing Ethan's only driving a lawn mower. They were hauling off fish guts! By the way, you can click on the pictures and it will bring up a larger view!

I just love being at my Grandma's house. It's so peaceful there. You can't see any neighbors looking in any direction and there is plenty of wild life to see all the time. I spent every summer at her house as long as my parent's would let me stay.

We are in full swing with ball season and between practices and games and rain, I don't think we have a free night until July sometime! 's ok though, I love baseball and good times at the park. Stephanie's games have a little bit to be desired and at Lion's Park, well, let's just say it can be interesting and leave it at that.

I haven't had a chance to read in the last 2 or 3 weeks I don't think, but am still floundering with A New Earth. I have had too many things going on and reading is a luxury at this point in my life.

I'm thinking of trying a diet again real soon. I joined Weight Watchers last fall and lost about 15 pounds. I've kept that off, but am wanting to do something on my own that doesn't cost a weekly fee. I need to try to go to the Y more often. I just don't know when I can fit it in.

Hope everyone had a wonderful Mother's Day. Greg and Ethan made me breakfast, (bacon/egg/cheese biscuit and hash browns), gave me a card from each of them, put up a ceiling fan in the living room, went to the cemetery to see Greg's mom's stone that was recently put up, grilled out with Aunt Mary and Grandpa Kempf, and when Stephanie got home from camping all weekend, she gave me a handmade card, a glass angel from Arrow Rock, and a little refrigerator memo board she made at school. All in all, it was a good day!

Till next time, and hopefully won't be so long!

Lana