a little behind...okay, a lot behind

It's Dec. 18th already. Side note, it's Hayden Dervalis' birthday. Happy 19th, I miss seeing you. Today we are having a family game night...biggest yet since all the kids are home for the holiday. We are going to show our competitiveness and give a hoot for Jordan's birthday that just passed.
Christmas is a week away...and NO, I'm not ready. We have shopping yet and then of course ALL the wrapping. One day it will all be done ahead of time and all we will have to do is sit back and relax. Someday.
My husband has been after an update. Here it is. He knows what has been going on. He knows how to type...and knows how to hit "enter." I certainly would welcome a guest blogger, lol. Let's see how long before the next entry...

is there a holiday I don't know about?

Jordan is off for 3 days...plus the weekend, that's five days! Whose idea was that? Whoever must not have their own children...must not have a teenager! I can loan mine out if anybody is interested.
I went to the high school for conferences...I don't know who needs the moral support more, them or me. How do get a 3%?! As a senior my son should know how to turn in his assignments. Enough said? You would think so but I think this is going to be a very long year. Graduation is close but not close enough.
Does the movie "Failure to Launch" come to mind? I do not want that to be my reality. Yikes. Unconditional love, if I just keep repeating this...

blood drive

Blood drive at the high school today...so many signed up and so many not & wanting to be! The event started off a bit behind schedule and the kids did quite a bit of waiting. They had lots of patience though and stuck it out. There were kids who were there for more than two hours to complete their process. For some this wasn't their first time and for others it was a bit outside of their comfort zone. A great job by all who gave blood and those who gave of their time to help.

time to update.

you know it's bad when your daughter has two new posts and you have none.

Happy Birthday to Ninnie

My twin, she is older and I kept the world waiting 8 years 363 days. Don't let her fool you, she wants to be the younger twin. Happy birthday to you Ninnie.

Happy Birthday to me

365 days until the big five-0. I don't view this as a bad thing but come on, it's fifty. I can remember my mom being fifty and I thought it was forever away. It's 365 days away...

homesick

Homesick? Not my big girl! I thought for sure she would last until Thanksgiving...I was wrong. She made her way home for a quick visit. Family, friends and a home cooked meal. On top of it all a few hugs and kisses to tide her over until the holidays. I'll take you anytime BG. XOXO.

Senior night

Well, Senior night and Homecoming! Hard to believe Jordan and Ellie are in their last year of high school. We are so close but yet so far...I think I have been saying this since we were potty training the kids all those years ago. Will we ever be done with them? Children, an everlasting adventure that I'm sure never ends. It seems school has just started but I feel we are behind on so many things...Jordan has been busy looking at schools, keeping up with his classes and is so focused on football. He still has to complete his senior project and then let's just throw in some baseball stuff too. "This too shall pass." Not too fast please and let's lose the stress.

birthday...

A birthday shout out to Georgia...18 today! A blessed day she indeed deserves.

Birthday season has officially begun!

Happy Birthday Ellie! Can't believe today you turn 18, yikes. So tell me where has the time gone? One minute you're 8 and the next 18!

Tigers vs. Crimson Tide

This is what you look like when you're cool, and a senior, and headed out the door to smack your helmet with somebody else. If you were wondering, Friday's game was lost 21-41 to Glencoe. We went back and forth the first couple of touchdowns and I thought we could possibly hang with them the whole game. No such luck, Glencoe had several more TD's before we were able to score on them again. Looking forward to our home game this week.

Football Friday

It's game day...go long or go home! Hah. We travel to Hillsboro tonight to play Glencoe at Hare Field. We are hopeful as we are each week but Cody is out due to injury and Darnell is limited as well. We had a game until the very end last week which was very exciting. This week it's going to be a win! I'll keep you posted on that...

one of God's greatest gifts

Jordan, Jordan, Jordan. Oh my goodness. Saying his name is just a mouthful some days. Love that boy but why is he soooooo high maintenance? Today is a short school day for him so he has been there and back. He came home with a senior packet and...can't he just do it all for himself? Early decision, SAT, ACT, deadline for this, deadline for that. He needs his own planner! News flash it's not me. Can't hardly wait for that first phone call to tell me he hasn't turned in a stitch of work. Already had the call he missed a class. How is this possible? "I was there. Late maybe, but I was there." I'll say it again: oh my goodness.

one week

One week and Sydney will be off. Just one week...she will be happy to stay up late, visit with her friends and not have to be up at 4:30 a.m. She will be sad she won't have any plants to water, sad she won't be pulling Harley's hairs off her clothes and sad her brother can't summon her to kiss him goodnight. Reality is that she will have more people to share her 20,000 words with and mom and dad will have more time to focus on Jordan. He is going to be happy about that :/

Not quite yet, but soon.

Another week at Xerox for Sydney and then she will be done. Another week and a half and she will be gone. Not ready for that yet. She will have to get her 20,000 words in long distance(she confirmed the number today). The girl has been busy, busy, busy. She has a job lined up on campus and starts as soon as she gets there. She will be working the IT help desk. I think she will learn lots from this job...hopefully she can pass me some of that knowledge. I know nothing. And she even has a sitting job lined up for this weekend. A few more dollars to help fill her tank up. Besides, who wouldn't take some additional time with Calvin. There is also the issue of her "stuff" that is all over her room and that has spilled to the living room as well. So much packing to do yet too...

Wacky Wednesdays

Can we just rename Wednesday? Who thought up late start Wednesday? Why do we need to start late? Why is Wednesday over the hump day? Having my child home and extra hour doesn't make that hump any less. For that matter, what is with early release? Having my child home early going to lessen that hump? No, wet nose Wednesday doesn't work either Aunt Ninnie. It's just Wednesday, it is what it is. Today is Wednesday...so far, so good. Everyone is outta the house, dishwasher is doing its job, crockpot is doing its and any minute Jordan will bust through the door. Happy Wednesday!

first day of school

Maybe this should say the last first day of school...for Jordan. Senior year. Yep, it's here no matter how much we didn't want it to. Should we be sad? Or doing the happy dance? My Jordanism for the day, "I'm not gonna lie, it was pretty nice to have everyone outta the house today." Jordan has a lot of work to get done before graduation, it's not going to happen on its own. We are so close but yet so far, far away.
His day started off with the Senior Parade and I'm sure he will have a lot to tell us when he gets home tonight. Can't wait!

The Participants...

The Spectators...

Another September

It's that time again...back to school. Usually a celebrated time of year but this is Jordan's senior year. Mixed feelings from "sad" to "thank goodness!" I really wish I had figured out how to freeze frame them when they were small. It was good when Sydney was in third grade and Jordan in first. How do we go back in time? They were pretty darn cute then. Now, not so much. Well, they are still keepers but what I cherish about them comes and goes. Love, love, love having the girl around. She will be missed once she leaves for school. Proud to say she has worked hard this summer. On the other hand, Sydney sure has to get a lot of "words" in these days and I don't like "no" out of her mouth. I don't much like anything out of Jordan's mouth but I do like a good snuggle. At this point of his teen years he is only around to eat, sleep and poop! And let's not forget to take every last penny from us. I'm sure someone finds peace with the phrase "this too shall pass." Me, not so much and the"happy dance" I reserve for this time of year...well, I think I'll hold out until Jordan finds a job. Soon! Lord, please hear my prayer :)

23 years ago today!

Happy Anniversary to the one I love...

harlee or harley

How to spell this dog's name, that is the question. We kinda think "Harlee" suits the girl she is. I was also thinking she has quite the life. To nap or not to nap. In the sun or in the shade. By the cat or across the deck. Stay on the deck or go in the grass. Play with the cat or leave her alone. Look in the house or lay down to nap...we are full circle now! Repeat...this should take another minute to complete.

Back to the piercing...

There it is, the new piercing. I would say the newest piercing, but who knows who has been piercing what, since I last blogged about this. Cuteness pulls it all off!

love this little girl!

Who doesn't?!

Maniac, I think not

Sydney called me a coffee maniac today. Or should I say that she said her dad called me one. I might agree to junkie but not maniac. Not nice. It wasn't me who had Starbuck's today. Hmm, who is the maniac? Maybe Jordan. Have you seen him on caffeine? He can give his sister a run for the money when it comes to getting in their fair share of words spoken. Lol.

16 wins...9 losses!

Great season Abby's! The season came to end over the weekend, hard to believe there will be no more baseball. Friday night was a loss to Doc Stewart's team from Roseburg. The score was 2-10 but really doesn't tell the story of how good a game this was. Jacob pitched three great innings and Sam with five. Saturday morning we faced Canby and won this game 8-7. Chad and Cody covered the mound this game. We needed to keep on winning to keep on playing...the boys had a rest while Doc Stewart took on Springfield. What a game that was but Roseburg took this one and we were set to play Springfield. We had a rest and the Springfield team just played. I was hoping maybe they were tired but they came out swinging. We seemed to have quick innings, three up & three down. The boys got a stiff talking to in the 3rd or 4th inning and then things started to come together a bit more. The final score was 2-4 but our team played hard to the end as we know they can do. Long day of baseball but hopefully it won't seem too long until next season.

Still playing!

The boys didn't take care of business this weekend and lock in their place to play in the state tournament. So, we will do it the hard way and play in a regional tourney this weekend. We will face Roseburg Friday evening and face some of the boys they played and lost to in the spring playoffs. Hope they are feeling a grudge match and play their "A" game. Go Abby's!

personal hygiene

A trip to Urgent Care today since we couldn't get into the doctor's office. STAPH! Knew it as soon as I saw it, so disgusting. A boo-boo, lots of dirt, the general bacteria that is in our day to day life and a boy. This is a recipe for staph infections. Ugh. How many times do you have to say wash...with soap! Never enough is what I'm thinking.

back from her weekend

Happy to report no new piercings :)

a girl can dream

Today reminds me of one of those cool fall days but I want to be here :/

mid-summer blues

Is this really summer? Mid-July rain? Yep. I don't mind the weather too much but I do mind that it is disrupting baseball. Rain delay yesterday and again today. We play when we play but it's Steve's number one priority and nothing else is getting done. And whoever said that this rain might push some play until tomorrow should be shot! Steve needs to go back to work tomorrow. Steve needs to leave the house as this is summer break and I already have Jordan to contend with. Goodness! And so it goes...

piercings

Sweet Kendahl came by to spend some cousin time with Sydney tonight...wearing a new piercing. I didn't get a picture but I will. She has a new little sparkly on the right side of her nose, ouch is what I think. See what happens when they grow up and go away for a weekend. Well, a long weekend...more time for my new hole in my head to heal by. Guess what. Sydney is going away this weekend. Should I be concerned?! We will have to wait a few days to get an answer lol. Stay tuned...

Harry Potter

Harry Potter. Do you know him? Have you read the books? Have you seen the movies? Well, tonight at midnight the latest and the last installment of the movies. Jordan and his friends are waiting at The Cameo here in town to see the midnight show. Crazy huh? Crazy because I wouldn't be able to stay awake until then. Crazier because he has been in line since about 2:30 this afternoon. Craziest because there was a line that began early this morning. Yikes, those people are fans! And, I'm sure they won't be disappointed.

boys of summer

Chad, Aaron, Brett, Nick and Erich

boys of summer, part 2

Corey, Jordan, Jacob, Sam, John, D, Moose, Ruben, Hank and Jimmy

July!

It's July. I say that as if time has been flying by. It has but also school has only been out about a month and we have plenty of summertime left. There is still plenty of baseball, football and for Sydney, work left. Sydney has not one, but two jobs to juggle. She works M-F at Xerox and weekends and and evening or so at Subway. She gets quality time with her dad too! Carpooling with her dad means getting up and moving before 4:30. She also plays radio trivia every morning with him and boosts his ego by calling in his answer. She will learn to go with her gut feeling and give her own answer if she ever wants to win, lol. Her biggest motivation is the bottom line...at the end of the day who doesn't love a paycheck.
Jordan is still playing baseball. The summer Legion team is doing great...some wins, some losses but a lot of fun. Go Abby's!! Football conditioning is happening on a regular basis and a 7 on 7 league each week as well. Sports is keeping him busy but he still has time to find a job, in my opinion(haha). He has plenty to do to get ready for his senior year...senior project, job shadow and some studying for his SAT if he wants to repeat it. Researching schools would be good too, as of now I don't think he has a top ten...five?..."the" one? Maybe by application deadline date :/
Typical drizzly day...not typical for July though. I'll take it but only because the weekend weather looks more promising. The weekend promises more baseball, baseball and more baseball.

This is a face I seriously love...

Hello Xerox!

She's got a badge and she's not afraid to use it..."Look Mom, I can get into the building now!"

Class of 2011

Congratulations to the students of 2011...it seems to have been a busy week of all sorts of events. Awards, graduation, all night party and several open houses. Another school year has come and gone, hard to believe.
As for Jordan, he will be a senior. Part of me says "so soon" and the other says "go already." It will be a huge accomplishment if we all survive another year, his last year of high school. Smooth sailing or rough waters? We will see. With Ellie by his side, we hope they have a spectacular senior year.
Sydney is home from her first year at college. It is good to have her home although she has mixed feelings. She would be content to stay away...for now, her "job" is to be a student. And before long her "job" will be to go out into the world and make a living & pay the bills. Until she is ready to do that I get to have her for the summer. Yay! She has made good grades and has some additional money coming in for next fall. Good going.
Come fall Georgia will go off to Willamette University. She has plans to double major and find work as an editor I believe. After being home for a couple of terms and attending community college, Kendahl is set to move to Corvallis. I think she will love OSU and they will love her. She has been working hard at two jobs and making her plans. Don't let me forget to update about Alaina...she will be working at the Newberg Police department this summer. This is a practicum so she is paying her school to have the police dept. let her work for them. No earned income but KNOWLEDGE is power I guess. She will return to WOU and is on schedule to graduate in the spring. Whoo hoo. Best of luck to these girls...

Memorial Weekend

A long holiday weekend! Yesterday was Friday but felt like Saturday and today like Sunday. Gotta get it straight. So much time, so much to do but yet we just want to do nothing. The weather just makes us want to curl up and take a nap too.
Jordan's baseball team made it into the playoffs so this was a week we collected a bit of mileage. Monday was a roadtrip to Redmond...great company with Chris and Cori and many laughs. Plus a win for the boys. Wednesday, destination: Roseburg. Cori and I...questionable weather but in the end it was a great day for another game. We were glad we made the trip although this was the end of playoffs for us. The Roseburg boys hit the crap out of the ball...doubles, triple, and a couple of homeruns. Yikes. I think the score was 18-5 but out of our five Jordan was two of them and Cody two of them. Yay for them!
My friend Amy, from high school, lives in Roseburg and came out to the game. I met her new husband, Mike. I like him! We were able to catch up a bit, as much as you can in just a few innings, and want to do it again. Love how you can pick up where you left off with old friends.
Spring baseball may be over and the rides on the big yellow bus for Jordan and Steve but I do believe summer ball games start this week. More games, more fun...just want the weather to change up so we can pack away the heavy parkas and work on our savage tans.
Sydney is home for the weekend. We kicked off our Friday with a coffee date at the Dundee Red Hills Market. Steve, Sydney, Kendahl, Grandma and Sydney's friend, Richard. I like it there. I still like the Coffee Cottage but this is a great new place to sit and talk awhile.
Gotta say I love having Sydney home. I love having the kids drop in...Kendahl's visits are always great. Haven't seen Ellie in awhile and she was in and out quickly last night. Brief but I'll take it. And looking forward to seeing Hannah today. Who's missing? Cody! We may be off limits for him but we like when he drops in too. By the way Cody, did you "ding-dong ditch" us last night?
That's what the week looked like and since it is only Saturday I have a lot of weekend left yet. It is undecided if it too much or little, that may be up to the Jordan-factor. He likes when we have things going on and less time to focus on him. I love him to death and having him around when he isn't causing trouble. He would rather be out and about away from us...typical. We are the parents who are too nosey and embarrass him. He would rather not have his friends here and now he won't even go to the movies with his sister. Embarrassed of her too? He is running out of family. He has Harley :)
Only a few weeks before school is out for summer. All approaching too fast. Georgia is the graduate this year. Yay! She is headed to Willamette in the fall and before we know it Ellie and Jordan will have their turn. That will be many posts from now...

This dog

This face is staring at me as I sit here sifting through over 200 emails from when we were gone. This face is whining as if she needed something...what a life, she has been out, been fed & been loved on. This face wants me to focus only on her. Those eyes! Give me a break already...if you didn't smell, I so would drop everything for you. Lol, maybe time to focus on her bath time.

Reno...Spring Break 2011

Another Mayfield road trip, destination: Reno! We made it despite the cold, snowy weather and a long drive in the twilight zone. According to Steve, no problem...a one day trip. I can't complain, he drove the entire trip and we are all in one piece, back home, safe and sound. Thank goodness for the power of prayer. And thank goodness we never had to bring out the chains to travel through the mountains. Maybe it was our good luck Travelocity gnome, ha ha. The kids had their charged ipods, charged phones and it looks like Jordan was enjoying a little light reading in the Seventeen magazine. Was a good trip but note to self: plan a warmer destination next time!

together time

Hang-ing out together...checked out Circus Circus and ate the Awful, Awful burger which we thought was awesome, awesome.

University of Nevada Reno

Nevada's preview day was called Nevada Bound... I don't know if Jordan is Nevada bound but he did like this school despite the cold, wet and snowy day we had. A couple days ahead of this he was able to meet the baseball coach and see the university facilities. Does he look like he belongs to the Wolf Pack? He definetely does not want to become a Raider like Sydney, so she will just need to grin and bear it.