Volleyball Weekend

Right now, Smiley is sitting next to me, talking.  As usual.  Action is hangin' on the couch enjoying the last few minutes he has of iPod time.  And, Sassy is chillin' in the recliner with her leg elevated and ice on her knee, watching an episode of "Love it, or List it" on HGTV.  The kids have the day off of school today due to a teacher inservice.  Needless to say, we've had a lazy day.  I did start the day off by making sticky buns ~ they were delicious as always! And, I whipped up a no bake cheese cake, which I can't wait to dig into tonight! Hopefully I'll get the recipe posted for you all tomorrow!

I don't know about you, but our weekend flew by.  Hubby and Action went to a friend's lake cabin to have a boys weekend and do a little ice fishing with friends.  While they were off us girls had our own plans, mostly involving Sassy's volleyball tournament on Saturday and Sunday.

We did go to the movie theatre on Friday night.  We found one theatre in our area that was still showing Annie. The girls have wanted to see that since it was released in December and we just haven't had time.  When we arrived we were pleased to find out we were the only one's in the theater. The movie ended up being very cute and Sassy leaned over about halfway through and said, "We have to buy this!"

Saturday morning was relaxing and uneventful.  At 1pm we hopped in the car and headed to volleyball.  Sassy's team won all 3 of their games and took first in their pool.  We got home around 8:30.

Sunday morning arrived early....too early.  Sassy had to be walking through the gym doors when they opened at 7:30 am as per her coaches.  Us girls loaded in the car, grabbed some coffee for the 35 minute drive to the high school they were playing at and prepared for a long day of volleyball (as you'll see in the pic ~ some little girl just couldn't stay awake for the final game).  5 games later.  The girls took 2nd in their bracket and 6th overall out of 40+ teams.  Not to shabby for 16 1/2 hours of volleyball in a weekend.

We headed home to see the boys and watch a little football.  We made it back just in time to see the halftime show with Katy Perry.  I'm not a huge fan of Perry, but I thought she put on a good show.

I didn't see a ton of commercials (missed the first half and dozed off a little bit in the second half ~ oops!), but I did like this one (I actually started a blog about this one last year on June 30, but never finished writing about it):

Note:  This is maybe a longer (or a little different) version of what was shown last night that I already had saved

and this one:

Like I said though, I didn't see many commercials so, help me out ~ what commercials did you like?

Smiling's my Favorite!

There are so many great Christmas movies out there ~
Chevy Chase Christmas Vacation
The Polar Express
How the Grinch stole Christmas
and who can forget A Christmas Story?  How may of you watched this movie as a child and still got their tongue stuck to a piece of metal in the cold wintery outdoors?  I didn't, but my older brother did!

My favorite Christmas movie, at the moment, must be Elf.  It's one of those dumb, funny movies.  You don't have to think too hard to watch this one!

And this scene:



is my absolute favorite!  I laugh every.single.time.  My family laughs when this part comes on as well, but I think they may just be laughing at me ~ oh well, I like to see people smile and if I have any part of their happiness, I'll take it!

What are your favorite Christmas movies?

Ordinary Miracles (15)

My goodness, where has the last week gone?  It's funny, I always thought that once my kids were older and I wasn't chasing them around all day, changing diapers, feeding them and they were a bit more independent, I would have extra time for projects, blogging and what ever else.  That my friends is so far from the truth!  Things around my house only continue to get busier (much like your own homes, I assume).

However, no matter how busy life gets, how much working, running around, commitments for this or that, I do hope you "stop to smell the roses" so to say.  Take a minute or two each day to look around and see the amazing wonders in your life ~ The Ordinary Miracles.

Last week was a lot of running around to one thing or another.  But I did sneak some minutes of calm, peace and dare I say, "me time" and was able to witness and experience many Ordinary Miracles.

Let me catch you up....

Laughter ~ A week ago Friday, I met up with 7 other women for a movie and drinks/appetizers following.  We went and saw the movie, "The Other Woman".  I didn't really know what it was about going into it, but had a good idea based on the title.  I found this movie to be extremely funny even though it dealt with a life changing situation ~ cheating.  Something I've seen wreck many relationships and on the flip side, make some relationships stronger.  The movie also reiterated the fact that you can find friendships in the most unlikely places and that there is so much more to someone than what meets the eye.  It was a great night out.

Success ~ Then the next morning we were early to rise as Sassy had her first softball tournament for her summer season.  She pitched 3 of the 5 games her team played and they ended up taking first place.  It was a fun day.  I love watching her play ~ she has grown so much in how she plays the game.  Watching her and her brother (play baseball) and cheering them on is one of my favorite summer pastimes!

Love ~ Mother's day was filled with love and relaxation (you can read my thoughts on Mother's Day here)


Conversation ~  Last week was Smiley's last full week at preschool.  A few of us moms took this as our last opportunity to sit down together and enjoy a cup of coffee with uninterrupted conversation before our days are once again filled with preschool chatter.


Pride ~ Sassy participated in a 50 inning softball game for her school.  This is a fun fundraiser for the program.  They take all the girls who participate in high school softball (freshman, sophomore, JV and Varsity), split them into two teams and they play against each other.  Sassy was able to pitch a few innings during this event and was able to strike out a few varsity players.  The smile on her face melted my heart!

Quiet ~ Hubby took Action and Smiley on a fishing trip.  They left on Thursday and came home just Yesterday (Monday).  This is a yearly event.  One I've personally been attending even before were were married, so more than 15 years!  Most of  Hubby's side of the family attend as well as many family friends.  Since Sassy had the fundraiser game, a band concert, a regular softball game and a birthday party, her and I decided to stay home.  We had a nice quiet weekend just hanging out.  We went out for dinner, saw a movie, did a little shopping and simply relaxed.  It was fun to spend time with just her (a sentiment that she voiced).  Times like that don't happen often enough!

Volunteer ~ Every year our church has a big themed fundraiser for it's school and faith formation programs.  It consists of two events, a breakfast with silent auction and kid raffle and an evening dinner event with live and silent auctions.  This is the first year I have not co-organized the breakfast portion of the event and was unable to attend due to an out of town volleyball tournament for Sassy.  Since Hubby took the two littles and Smiley was at an overnight birthday party, I decided last minute to volunteer to help out at the evening event which was this past Saturday.  The theme this year was Rock 'N Roll.  I found some clearance leather looking pants and threw together an outfit.  It was a fun night helping our church and hanging out with some great friends!

Today I sit here typing, feeling very full and content.  As I look back on my days I feel so blessed to have such wonderful people in my life and moments to treasure.  I ask you to look around too.  I mean really, last thursday night when I was sitting at the softball field from 3:30-9:30, in the cold, wind and off and on sprinkles, bundled in a blanket, I could have thought of a million other things I could have been doing.  But just one look at the smile on my daughter's face as she threw a pitch verified there was no where else I should have been!  An Ordinary Miracle!

Tell me what Ordinary Miracles have you witnessed in your life?


(See Previous Ordinary Miracles Here)