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?

Ordinary Miracles (14)

What a week last week was.  More like, what a weekend.

Last weekend, Sassy's volleyball team had their final tournament of the season.  The location of the tournament was about 1 1/2 hours from our house and games began at 8am Saturday morning.  Meaning, it was a hotel weekend.

The 10 girls on the team split up between 2 rooms.  They got together about a week ago and created personalized banners to hang on their hotel room doors.  They turned out super cute.... and of course I forgot to snap a picture!  The girls were excited to have their own rooms and from what I hear, it sounds like they had a great time hanging out together and building up their friendships.

Like I said, Saturday they played their first game at 8 am.  Their next 4 games continued throughout the day ~ ending around 6 pm.   Sunday morning was another early game with 3 more after that.

After 9 games in 2 days the girls took 3rd place in their bracket.  They played some really good volleyball and ended the season with a win and a little hardware.

But mostly, throughout the season they learned about winning and losing, teamwork, team spirit, they worked on the skills they already had and learned many new things.  They met some new wonderful friends and I met some wonderful parents.

It was a great season ~ and an Ordinary Miracle if you ask me with wonderful coaches, great teammates and very little drama (you just never know with 13 year old girls!)


Now, glance back at your week and think about the ordinary things, people, places or happenings that took place in your life. The ordinary that is usually taken for granted.

And, tell me what miracles occurred in your life!

(See Previous Ordinary Miracles Here)

Ordinary Miracles (13)

Last week was busy.  A few nights at church, errands to run, kids to run here and there and we were hosting Easter at our house.  Not too many people, but still preparations were needed.  My parents arrived Friday night.  Much of Saturday was spent at Sassy's all day volleyball tournament.  My sister and her two kiddos arrived around lunch time and along with my parents were able to cheer Sassy on a bit (even though her team did not play its best).  We dyed eggs, relaxed, laughed, ate and enjoyed each other's company.  So you see, last week was filled with Ordinary Miracles for me and I would guess you were witness to many ordinary miracles as well.

Now, glance back at your week and think about the ordinary things, people, places or happenings that took place in your life. The ordinary that is usually taken for granted. 

And, tell me what miracles occurred in your life!

(See Previous Ordinary Miracles Here)

Friday Funny

Happy Friday Friends!  I hope you had yourselves a good week! 

I don't know about any of you other mothers out there, but why does it seem that children don't realize they have a dad?  At least that is the case much of the time at my house.  I saw a version of this on Facebook the other day and created my own:

I guess kids at a young age know who has all of the answers ~ Ha!

And since hubby has been gone for a couple of days traveling for work, I've been hearing even more "hey mom's"

Have a great weekend ~ I hope have fun, find time to relax and remember to smile!

Living away from family

This past weekend flew by.  Hubby's parents came for a visit and we had a fun, jam packed weekend.  It seems when weekends like these are over, I feel a bit of longing.  A longing for more.

We live about 4 hours from my parents and 5 hours from hubby's parents.  While we are many miles from each other, we also know we can hop in the car and easily get there if we need to.  I do admit that as I get older, it is harder for me to be further away ~ for many different reasons.

Don't get me wrong, I love where we live.  We have made so many wonderful friends.  We have become involved in our community in a variety of ways, and we really enjoy our neighborhood and all our area has to offer.

The two things I mainly struggle with are:

 # 1 the lack of grandparent time for our kids (only because of distance, not because of effort!).  The thing is, is our kids don't know any different either.  They LOVE when we are able to go visit and when their grandparents come to our house for a  visit.  When either of those things happen, the kids are doted upon, cheered on and supported, not to mention, there is always fun to be had.  I do however, remember all of the wonderful memories I made with my grandparents.  I remember having sleepovers, just for fun, many times when my Grandpa was out of town and sometimes when he wasn't.  Grandma and I would walk to Wendy's to get frostys.  We would walk to the store and purchase a new word find book to work on.  Such simple things, but so memorable!  I remember curling up on the "davenport", as they called it watching "Hee Haw" on a Saturday night.  And I remember I would sometimes get up early on a Sunday morning just to meet them at church for mass and maybe breakfast out.  These are little things I wish my children could experience.  Their grandparents live just far enough away that they can't come see their school programs during the week.  They can't attend many of their sporting events, and they can't meet up for church or for a simple, unplanned meal together.

And #2, I wish I could be around to stop by and visit them more.  I hear my girlfriends talk about the fun they have getting together with their moms  (and dads) and going shopping, spending a day baking, or going to a movie.  I admit, I feel a twinge of jealousy when I hear them talking.
Another thing, our parents are not getting younger (no matter what they say) and being closer for them would be nice.  We could simply help with yard work, or stuff around the house.  We could just get together for a cup of coffee and a little conversation.

I do know that we are not planning on moving closer, nor are they.  So, in the meantime, we will make the most of the time we are able to spend together.  And this past weekend, like all of the other times we get together was no different.

We went snow tubing and shopping.  We ate great meals in and out.  We went to church together.  We played games.  We celebrated Actions birthday together.... a couple weeks early, and we watched Sassy play in a volleyball tournament.  It was a great weekend, and I need to remember to make memories and enjoy the time we are able to spend together and not on the time  I wish we could spend together.

 (via QuoteDiary.Me)

No time for anything except.... Family and Friends

Our weekend was busy, but was wonderful.
Friday night started off with dinner at our friends house.  The kids played, the adults conversed it was a great relaxing evening.

Saturday was state tournament day for Sassy.  They lost their first game.  Won their second game and lost their third.  The game they won was a great game.  Their defense was on, their bats were swinging.  All systems were a go!  The game was tied, and they won by stealing home.  Sassy had great hits all day long and made some awesome plays.

After the tournament, we headed to a friends (parent's of one of Sassy's teammates) house for a impromptu team get together.  Another fun night, conversation, cocktails, laughs and a couple intense games of shuffleboard ;)

Sunday, off to a gorgeous lake home.  Many of the girls from Sassy's softball team were there as well as their families.  We dove right into fun and relaxation.

 It was a beautiful day spent on the lake.

Needless to say, after such a fun/busy weekend (including sleepovers for both Sassy and Action) the kids were wiped out :)

Action's baseball season and Sassy's softball season have come to an end.  This means we have a few weeks of nothing (nothing scheduled anyway).  No rushing here or there in the evenings and weekends.  I am looking forward to relaxing evenings, long family bike rides and whatever else comes up.

S'more Time

What a nice weekend it has been.  After a week of leading Vacation Bible School games and the 200 kids a day I was ready for a little bit of nothing.  No softball tournaments, no baseball games, no plans.

Now I'm not saying we laid around all weekend.  Especially since I decided Smiley's room and the garage needed a good cleaning out.  But after cleaning all day yesterday, we spent some evening family time out on the deck, enjoying dinner, a few giggles, and to top it off, we enjoyed some yummy s'mores.

Ahh.... s'mores, sticky faces and chocolatey hands ~ welcome summer!

A weekend of Softball and Relaxation

We had a fantastic weekend!  Saturday started off early ~ 6am.  Sassy had a day long softball tournament about an hour away so we woke up some sleepy kiddos, ate some breakfast and headed out.  Her coach, who is also her Dad :)  has the team arrive about an hour early for warm ups.  Anyway, I knew it was going to be a long day out in the sun, so while they were doing their pre-game warm ups before the first game Action, Smiley and I hung out in the car, reading and playing with the iPad.

Then we were onto the games ~ they ended up playing 4 games and going 2-2.  The girls played really well. Sassy mostly played in the catcher positon, but also played 3rd, left field and had a couple of innings as pitcher.  She did really well, striking out a handful of girls.

(getting a pep talk from Dad/Coach after a tough inning 

this is probably my favorite picture of the weekend!)

Yesterday, Mother's day, we went to church, took the boat out, hit a lakeside restaurant for Bloody Mary's and appetizers, came home and relaxed.  It was a beautiful, relaxing day spent together as a family!

How was your weekend?