Autumn is 14

And she is grounded cause it snowed today. She must have caused it!

We had a great time at the bowling alley. She had about 5 friends show up to bowl and hang out, 3 of them came home with us to spend the night. Us adults got our own lane and had a good time bowling. I wonder if the rest of the old folks are as sore as I am today. We bowled almost 3 full games, the last one being a speed round in the last 15 minutes of time. We tried to get a full game in and the only rule was to bowl FAST! Grab any ball you can and bowl FAST! It was a lot of fun. We finished the 9th frame so we almost made it.

Misc things...

Homeschooling is going great! Much better than I anticipated. I think Brandon is enjoying it too. He especially likes getting done with school before his sisters get home for the day. He works hard to accomplish that and brags about when he finished. He is also enjoying his Tang Soo Do (Martial Arts) and gets to do that 2 times a week. He will start beginning Band next week and wants to play the drums (yay me!). Logan and Austin enjoy having their big brother home all day with them. Brandon does his "recess" time with Logan.

Speaking of Logan, he is slowly getting better at potty training. Right away this morning I got him to sit on his potty and he went right away. He had a dry diaper so I am guessing he had a full bladder. He was excited when we clapped for him and he got his candy. Austin likes the attention he gets when he is sitting on the potty, so has started to sit on it and show more interest. He is not aware of the candy incentive though, which is a good thing.

Speaking of Austin, he doesn't much care for when people leave him to head outside or downstairs. He will yell and scream and eventually throw (actually gently set himself) on the floor and throw a mini-tantrum. He gets his little feelers hurt so easily and wants to be included in what everyone else is doing. He especially gets upset of the girls head downstairs and don't take him with. Autumn will occasionally take him with her so he at least feels included.

Speaking of Autumn, we went on a horse ride tonight with Sue. It was a lot of fun and both the horse I was riding and Sue was riding had foals with them. We had these 2 babies scampering through the woods with us and then they would slow down and eat and play and then shoot up past us again. I really like riding and wish I could do it more often. Kristen babysat the boys until Dave got home when we left.

Speaking of Kristen, she is excited about the school year and making new friends. Her guidance counselor at school says she cannot work on her other classes to graduate early until she finishes and passes her current classes. It kinda takes the pressure off so the earliest she would be done is this summer or next December. Either way she is excited to be able to finish early. So far her classes are all going good this year and she is meeting new people. I really hope and pray she meets some good quality people so her year is more enjoyable!! She got her permit a week ago and will hopefully test for her license in about 6 months, then she can drive and Dave and I won't have to transport her and Autumn to school.

Speaking of Dave, I haven't seen my husband since I have been home tonight cause he is upstairs....I suppose I should mosey on up and find him. Later dudes!

Softball Umpire.....ME?!?

Yup, that's me! I went to my very first game of Autumn's tonight and got to be a field umpire. Holy crap was I scared to death!! The main dude (other umpire, who has millions of games of experience under his belt.....errr sweatpants) asked me if I knew it at all and I said, "well, I played once upon a time, do I just call safes and outs in on the bags?" He then proceeded to give me the whole run down of rules and what I am supposed to do and asking me if I was sure I could do it, cause he didn't want to have to overrule one of my calls. Do you think in his head he was thinking, "oh crap, this woman doesn't know shit and I gotta put up with her on my field!" Yeah, probably. Oh well. I watched 1st and 2nd base....called them like I saw 'em and only had a few minor mishaps. I learned a lot and think I would like to be trained to do it more often. It was fun. I felt powerful out there, like at any time I could call someone out and send them back to their dugout! Ahhhhhh....the feeling of power!

BTW....Autumn's team lost. They are doing pretty good though considering they are all pretty new players this year. They learn more and more every game.