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a typical sunday finds us at our friend's house with our "sunday family". it's been this way for years, we love it, and we wouldn't have it any other way.
however, every now and then when schedules don't mesh and there are other events going on (congratulations stephen and april!) that we stay home and try to enjoy a little bit of calm, family time. does it work? not everytime, but sometimes it can be truly wonderful.

another cubs win...that's four in a row!

while we were out garage sale-ing on saturday morning someone along the way was making small talk with xander when he mentioned he played baseball. they asked him if his team was good and he replied with "yeah, we've won three games in a row. we're in second place. and i'm going to hit a homerun today!" WHAT??? funny boy. yes, they've won three in a row, but second place? who told him that? and how about making a prediction that he was going to hit a home run? he thinks he is chipper jones.
well game time, we won again. xander hit two triples. his first one he over ran third, had a hard time stopping at the base and unfortunately, got tagged out. his comment was "dad, i thought i had a homerun." but he really got a good piece of the ball both times and they sailed clear into the outfield, all the way to the fence.
he played at first base for the first time. he did wonderful, no balls got past him, not only the ones he fielded, but also the throws from his teammates. their aim is getting better too. doesn't hurt that his catching buddy was in the circle position, so it was adam to xander several times.
a few times he seemed to be making his own decisions, taking the ball and running home trying to get the runner, while his coaches were screaming "circle, circle". taking the initiative...don't know if that is a good thing right now, but at least he had the right idea.
he also played third base, still keeping that ball in front of him and paying attention everytime the ball was hit.
calling his shots or not, he is still looking pretty good.
so the funny thing is i checked the standings when we got home, and his team is tied for first, but when he made his comment, they were most likely in that #2 spot. how does he know these things?

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todd took xander with him to scouts, cassidy and i got out the glue and scissors and got crafty

(in case my artistry is overlooked - i was working on scrapbooks of cassidy when she was born, so the picture has my album in the foreground with cassidy at 1 day old and then the grown up girl that she is working intently in the background. love that i have to point that out...)

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a tie & three wins....go cubs

it is so fun to see the team working together, getting their bats on the ball and fielding the ball without too many "bill buckner" incidents.
xander is really improving. he is more confident in the field and is really doing well at short stop and the circle/pitcher positions.
after the game the other night i had several parents comment to me how well he seems to be doing, how impressed they are that he springs into action the instant the ball is hit, and how he really seems to love it. you know as a mom, it is always great validation to have other people thinking the same thing about your child that you are.
and you know that he loves it when he asks if he can throw the ball with you, after just practicing and then playing a game. parents were standing around talking, so instead he ended up playing catch with one of his teammates. they threw the ball for another 30 minutes, and most likely would have continued had it not been 9 at night.
time for bed, my little ball player!

spring break in arizona

i took xander and cassidy to arizona for our spring break, so i wouldn't have to entertain them by myself for a week.
smart move on my part! the only downside, one parent! so all the soothing, consoling, calming, discipling, bathing, etc.....was all mommmy!
by the end of the week i could tell they were feeling a void left by no daddy.
all in all, we had a great week! so happy we were there for katy's baptism, loved seeing ben, mom & dad! xander and cassidy had so much fun playing with their cousins and their "new" cousins. we stayed up late playing games and watching movies. everyday we were at the playground, on the trampoline or avoiding bear, the dog. we slept on an air mattress totally tangled together. saw a great friend that moved to the hot dessert. participated in passover, that was just a little jew lopsided and enjoyed much needed down time.
thank you karen, tom, chris and katy for having us! we love you beaucoup!

happy easter (from arizona)