Nice Ending to a good week...

Friday before a long weekend, yeah!
We got a wonderful voicemail from Riley's reading teacher today. She has been working with Riley since Kindergarten with his struggles on reading and called to tell us today that she has Riley again this year and she can not believe the change. He has a wonderful spark in his eye, he is excited about the stories, raising his hand to read aloud. She says this is going to be his best reading year, yet, and expects to see huge leaps in his abilities.
I'm so proud of him. We have been working very hard to read regularly. He fights us a little less each night as we, too, can see he is starting to enjoy it.
3rd Grade, so far, has been pretty great!

Back to School

Yep, it's that time again, Riley headed back to school last Monday the 11th. Here are a few pics of his first walk to THIRD grade. He was being a little stubborn on the 2nd two, wouldn't look at me.
He's enjoyed the first week and half of school. Excited that he has Science class this year and he changes teachers for classes for the first time. Our neighbor two doors down is his writing teacher.
He walks home each day on his own. Most mornings I still walk with just because I like to get out before starting my workday, but according to him, he'd be just fine walking to school each day, too!

Goodbye dear friend...

Tonight we had to say goodbye to our beloved Hobbs. At 13 years old he had lived a long and mostly healthy life. He's been our most friendly and loved of all pets...he loved all people and all animals, actually liked cuddling with dogs...he went by many aliases...hobbers, hobbers boolin, hobbie, chubby buddy, chubble bubble, chubba bubba, tubbs of chubbs.
When Jim and I had decided Marvin needed a companion, we went to the humane society and found this little itty bitty gray kitty laying so calmly right in the middle of his litter box. He was so tiny and cute, just loved laying in the kink of your neck as you sat on the couch.
Who knew he would grow to the whopping 20 pound cat he became. When having a yard sale once, he was laying in the chair next to me and as this guy was paying he commented "that's no cat, that's a lion". He was rather large and in charge, hince the various nicknames.
We love you dearly Hobbs and know that you are in a better place without suffering. We know you will find your dear friend Chouncey and live happily together.

One of those weeks

It's been a pretty hectic and crazy week around here. Riley had three baseball games and our team was resonsible for the maintaining the snack bar on one non-game night...that meant FOUR nights at the ballpark this week. By Thursday, our only night off, when I picked up Riley from school he says "Mom, I don't feel good, I'm so tired, I could hardley keep my eyes open". Poor guy, he's a little young to be up until 10 or after every night. Luckily that schedule is gone and we only have one game a week for the next three weeks. Oh, and we ended the week with 3 losses, two were close, the last, they blew us away.
I also met my new Boss for the first time this week. He's currently in Philadelphia, but is relocating to Minneapolis. I've had so many BIG changes happening at work. Because my client, Wells Fargo, is growing so much for us, we have built an entire new management team around it. Weird for me, considering it used to be small enough that my team of 4 managed it all. We are now up to 5 managers and 9 supporting operations. It will all be good in the end, but I'll have to work thru the struggles of change in my own way. Oh, and I do really like my new boss, that's always a plus!

Nascar

Jim, Riley and Gabe enjoyed the NASCAR races on April 12. I stayed home, did taxes and enjoyed being alone for a few hours...watched movies, read a book, it was peaceful.
Here are some pics of their adventure.

Time in Texas

I spent the weekend of April 5 in New Braunfels, TX (near San Antonio) with Grandma and Grandpa and had a wonderful weekend. We spent the day Saturday at the River Walk in San Antonio and with the NCAA Final Four games in town, there was a lot of people watching and activity all around. Sunday we drove to Austin and went to the State of Texas History Museum and then to dinner at the Salt Lick BBQ, a little ranch out in the midst of nowhere with wonderful open bit bbq. It was a fantastic day.
Monday, I was off to Dallas for a meeting at Corporate and back home on Tuesday.
Quick and enjoyable trip.

Ahhhh...another week goes by

With 4 baseball games the first week of the schedule, we've had a pretty hectic week. We ended the week with 1 win, 2 loses and a game that still needs to be finished (we were ahead by one, bases loaded, no outs, and the ump thought we were the home team, called the game and took off...before we could all understand what happened, the kids were off running around...so we need to finish that game's final inning).
Riley had a baseball friend spend the night Saturday. That was good fun for all.
We relaxed and worked a little here and there around the house on Sunday, nothing too exciting.
I'm preparing for a small getaway next weekend. I'm off to visit Grandma and Grandpa in San Antonio on Saturday on a way to a Corporate meeting in Dallas on Monday the 7th.
Love to all...

You never know what you'll find...

We have two cameras, one a little more portable than the other, so it tends to get used more often. However, for baseball, I need the zoom... So I went to download baseball pics and found a bunch from Riley's Christmas Concert! Enjoy the video, I think he's actually singing, maybe?


My Slideshow 4/20/08

Saturday was the Opening Ceremonies and first Baseball Game for Jim and Riley's Red Sox team. Unfortunately, they lost their first game, but had a great time playing and Jim definitely learned a few things, this being his first game in the minors where you actually keep score and pitch counts. We look forward to two more months of games, starting with 4 this week!

Quick Getaway

We spent the day Wednesday at LegoLand, San Diego. We decided just last week that we needed to get away and do something exciting for Riley's spring break week. We were able to take a friend of Riley's along, which made the trip more exciting for him...riding rides with another kid is always better. We left Tuesday, home on Thursday, quick trip, but had a great time.

Renaissance Festival

Last weekend we decided it was time to expose Riley to the oddities of the Arizona Renaissance Festival. He really enjoyed the guy who has master the art of a bull whip....yes, he whips to the tunes of music, whips to chop carrots and even whips his whips while they are on fire, which, yes, does create GIANT floating fire balls...can you see why a boy of 8 enjoyed it so much! The jousting match show was a thrill, as well, as they make it seem real with blood and death and all.
It was a beautiful day and we enjoyed wondering around...the people watching is amazing!

Keeping us busy...

We've been redoing the playroom/garage over the last several weekends. We pulled out the carpet and painted the floor with Garage Epoxy Floor Paint, which turned out very nice. Repainted the ceiling and have rearranged and cleaned out some of the larger items. It's still a work in progress and needs some organizing, but these pictures will give you the basic idea.

Spring is here...Baseball that is!

Spring Training Baseball is back and it brought a beautiful weekend with it. We enjoyed the day watching Padres vs Mariners. Gabe and Dad joined us, we had a great time...

Ouch...that hurt....

Yes, he bit it...big time...right in front of all of his friends, right after school on Thursday. Climbing on the walls around the school where I tell him everyday to get down or he's going to get hurt...well, the day finally came...Do you think I said "told you so"? Well, of course, but in a nicey mommy kind of way AND after the tears were dried up!

"Mom, I just love this symbol, it's the coolest!"

The kid just loves Under Armour, you know that $40+ sports t-shirt. Well, not only is it t-shirts, but it's shorts, pants, hooded sweatshirts, socks, underwear, hats, wristbands...it goes on and on. Luckily, since he is a youth size, they are not quite $40, but he's only going to continue growing. Oh yeah, and my list forgot shoes! Yes, he has the Under Armour baseball shoes that will go nicely with this new red shirt and wrist bands. Do you think UA could pay him to be a spokesman?

Does she look like a Prozac Kitty?

That's are new term for her. Yes, she is on Prozac. We have discovered that it is Mika, not Hobbs, that has been spraying / marking her territory all over our house. It is the most nasty, smelly, yucky stuff. So, I've had enough (it's been going on (and sometimes off) for a year!) and I took her to the vet. I was prepared for the worst...but thanks to the miracle of medicine and a little drug called Prozac, she's home with us and hopefully this will work.

Some time alone, What is a woman to do?

Jim and Riley are off to see the Iowa Hawkeye Wrestling team at a nearby High School, of all places (apparently the ASU gym was already booked with a basketball game). So as I have some time alone at home, what do I do? Well, dumb me decides to take a couple of hours of piece to catch up from an extremely busy week at work. So I've been reading emails and running reports for the last hour, one of the perks from working at home...NOT!
I have decided no more and have pulled myself away from the work desk and am heading off to read a good book...a new James Patterson, my favorite!

Well another week has just flown by.
Riley has signed up for Little League Baseball again this season. He will be moving up to Minors...moving away from coach pitch to kid pitch, kind of a big step. He has to try out this year...although every kid makes it, he's still a little nervous. Jim is going to be Managing one of the teams, which he is really excited about since he didn't know if there would be previous coaches covering the division. My Dad is excited, as well, as he is going to help Jim coach. He coached my little brother, Kalua, for years so he's thrilled to be able to get back into it.
Work has been extremely busy as we just won a new large contract for my client and we are ramping up and hiring lots of new people to cover it. Busy, Busy...
SuperBowl is just crazy around here. With the FBR Open (old Phoenix Open) and Super Bowl in the same place at the same time, there are lots of city wide "parties" happening. The news is ALL Super Bowl, ALL the time, it's pretty crazy. They do the weather report and they feel they need to do a 5 minute comparison of our weather to that of Boston and New York.
Every once in a while, Riley gets artsy and wants to take photos. This is one he took of all of his webkins and wanted to share it especially with Ian and Grandma Diane, as they can always appreciate a good pile of webkins!

It's ALWAYS nice to come home, right?

I've been in the Sacramento and Oakland areas for the last few days for work. It was a nice trip despite the cold and rain they have been having in Northern California.
I was glad to come home as I always miss my boys. Now I just need to spend my weekend cleaning up their little messes they've left over the last few days, like the evidence of frozen pizza they had, not last night, but TWO nights ago....ugh

A Small After School Snack...

This is what happens when I take the boys to Sam's club...
I come home with a 5 gallon jug of cheese balls...ugh