vacation–day 4 (thursday, august 12)

the long anticipated GIANTS game!!!!

we loaded up that morning and drove to san francisco (in 3 cars) to watch the giants beat the cubs! now, I am pretty biased about the awesomeness of safeco field, but even I have to admit at&t park is just about tops when it comes to the beauty of outdoor baseball!

the scenery from the park isn’t bad either! here’s gramma and papa with some of the kids (and the bay bridge).

we brought jordan along as well… a little treat from his godfathers (the good kind of stuff that godfathers do – not offing anyone!)

the big boys, looking SUPER enthusiastic – as only 10 and 11 year old boys can:

destination: coke bottle slide!I waited in line with the medium-sized kids. shane and jordan were the only ones big enough to go down the ‘big’ part of the slide, micah and hannah were to little to do any of them Sad smile . so I stood in line with jacob, layla and lily, while mary waited at the bottom for them.lily, coming off the slide:after the slide, gramma took the kids (well, not the BIG ones – they were too big) into the miniature baseball field to do some batting, fielding, and base-running. it was most amusing! jake was up first, hit the ball off the tee and promptly ran the wrong way around the bases! layla followed. she hit the ball, started to go the same way, and then at some point turned around and ran the right way.

micah, bless his heart, knew which way to run! I was so proud! sadly, the whole inch lily is taller than layla, was enough to make her ineligible to bat. she did get to go in and be an outfielder, which she did very well!

hannah was a hoot at the plate! she knocked the ball off the tee and then golfed it into the outfield! mary and I couldn’t stop laughing!

after batting, micah became OBSESSED with the balls. apparently he kept trying to steal them from the poor guy who was pitching. it took some major convincing to get him to put them back in the bucket so we could exit the field!just some cousins, being cute!one of several attempts to get a shot of our whole enormous group at the game:

go giants!!!

our family (and yes, that IS a mariners hat I’m wearing! just keepin’ it real.):

posing with willie mays:

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first day of school

so, we started school today. this is a big deal because it is OUR first day of official homeschooling. you know, here. at home. most everyone reading this is already aware of the fact that shane has been homeschooled since first grade, but that he has spent the majority of that ‘school’ time, with my mother as his ‘teacher’. this was a fine arrangement, she was willing and more than qualified, and he was learning. but for a variety of reasons, not the least of which being my mother’s current cancer issues, it had become clear that it was time for me to take over. AND,with layla being 4 now, i really wanted to do a little bit more preschool stuff with her. being a little bit of a chicken flake, i (with much urging from my loving husband) decided the best route to go would be with a packaged curriculum. i figured it would be the most time-effective way to cover what we needed to cover, and be somewhat dummy-proof, but at the same time, having the option to supplement with as much

does home ec even exist anymore?

my last post got me thinking about how i somehow missed 'learning' all of those things which are essential in running a successful home. i'm wondering who dropped the ball on this (because, i can't possibly take responsibility for my own shortcomings here). i guess traditionally, one learns these things from their parents. i suppose i did learn a lot of my domestic skills at home. for example, the husband is supposed to eat the leftovers in the fridge. when making a bed, the 'top' of the top sheet goes down so that when you fold the edge over the blanket, the 'top' side is then up. why this matters when you are just going to cover the whole thing with a pillow and comforter is totally beyond me. but that's how you do it. so yes, my mother taught me how to iron, do laundry, clean a toilet, etc. my dad taught me how to plant a garden, mow a lawn, appreciate baseball, etc. and then there's home ec. do people still take home ec? i took it

for my not-so-american friends

i didn't have an actual roll w/ the green plaid on it, but i found a refill and an empty roll in my junk drawer (yeah, i know, that should tell me something). but even the empty one says 'scotch' on it. there you go! SCOTCH TAPE!

project life 2014 week 3

monday: every time I get out of the shower, this cat is waiting for me, so he can get in and lick up the water off the floor of the shower. it’s his favorite way to get a drink. cats are weird. tuesday: this cracked me up. had micah at the grocery store with me and he spots the produce scale. so of course, he wanted to weigh something. he went for his little donkey kong lego toy that he had with him. tuesday: this is my parents’ cat, beatrice. she is small and feisty, and has the prettiest eyes ever. she’s not so fond of it when I come over to make up beds, and usually finds herself made into one because she refuses to move. wednesday: layla has been very interested in all things domestic lately, and really wants to learn how to cook. so I told her she could start helping me make dinner. this night, it was homemade, cheesy mac & cheese with ham and peas & carrots. she did almost all of it herself. from boiling the noodles, to cutting the cheese (yes, I did just say that), mi

i have "done something"

about shane's room. if you notice over there on my BIG FAT TO DO LIST, for ages now, i've had "do something about shane's room" on the list. and it has sat there on the list, doing nothing. well yesterday, we "did something". i couldn't put "clean shane's room". that wouldn't really cover it. i wasn't sure exactly how to phrase what is was that needed to be done in there, mainly because i don't really know the proper grammatical term for "set off 4 sticks of dynamite followed by much jackhammering and industrial vacuuming". needless to say, it was a pit! every saturday, one of his chores is to clean his room. but at this point, that was just putting clothes in the basket, books on the shelf, toys in bins, etc. anything else was WAY too big of an undertaking for a 9 year old boy on his way out the door. sadly, i didn't think to take a 'before' picture, so i didn't bother with an '

rachel's continued ramblings

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