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We’re Finally Back to “Normal”

Well, here we’ve been back in Maryland for almost two full days and I haven’t put any more trip info on my blog.

I have a very good reason for that.

Actually, I have THREE very good reasons…

The Three Grandkids

The grandkids spent Saturday night and Sunday with us. Today was Gaige’s birthday party (he’ll be seven on Monday). Originally, just Brianna and Joey were going to visit. But when we got home and I called Amy, she basically said, “Thank GOD you’re home. Come save me!” So she brought all three kids down for the evening. Which was cool. Because when the kids are here, we ALWAYS have something to laugh about.

Like this…

The three comedians.

I’m not sure what’s funnier in this picture, the look on Hubby’s face or the boys’ dual looks of mischievous delight.

Hubby needs a bigger lap!

Between the kids and the dogs, neither of us felt even the slightest bit ignored all weekend.

Pop's Little Helper

After Gaige left for his party, Joey “helped” Pop with some repairs to the irrigation system.

Then he played with Belle for a while. I promise, it isn’t nearly as bad as it looks.

"Mama, help!" Belle screamed.

Yes, it looks like he’s choking her to death. But he wasn’t. They were playing very nicely. Belle loves kids. But isn’t that picture funny?

Once Joey was down for his nap, Brianna and I made some apple pies.

Brianna's first Apple Crumb Pie.

While I was at the store yesterday, I decided to buy the ingredients I needed to make an apple pie. Once I realized Brianna would be able to help, I went back to the store for more apples so she’d have a pie to take along home. She really likes helping me in the kitchen. With my guidance, she made her very own Apple Crumb Pie.

I’m guessing her Mom and brothers were very happy this evening.

Really, look at this pie…

Close-up of Brianna's pie.

Not bad for a nine-year-old, eh? The only thing I did was slice the apples, give directions, and put the pies into the oven. She even unrolled the refrigerated pie crust all by herself and used it to line the pie dish.

It was a very nice weekend.

It’s good to be home.

And remember what I said about the kids keeping us laughing?

All three of them are hams. I can only get them to agree to sit for a picture for me if I promise to let them make silly faces at some point. While the first picture on this post isn’t the greatest picture ever, it’s the best of the bunch. The whole series I shot of them over the span of about 60 seconds was sort of funny. Hopefully you’ll get a chuckle out of this series of pictures, too. Look at the kids’ faces, but also take note of Meg’s practiced look of complete and utter boredom.

Goofy kids #1
Goofy kids #2
Goofy kids #3
Goofy kids #4
Goofy kids #5
Goofy kids #6

Yes, that shot is horribly blurry, but it shows Gaige trying to tech Joey how to make that funny face so I HAD to include it.

Goofy kids #7

I’m not sure exactly what Joey was doing in that last shot. But that image will forever remain in my book of favorites. No, it isn’t the best picture in the world, but it shows their personalities. It reminds me a lot of another one of my favorite grandkid pics from last year.

Maybe tomorrow I’ll be able to share some more about our fabulous trip. Though I still have lots of pictures to cull through and edit…

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Soccer Saturday

Hubby and I each had some things planned for this weekend so we did not go to the WV place. The weather was probably perfect for motorcycling and there aren’t many weekends left, BUT I have planned a week-long excursion for us (coming soon) through the southern part of West Virginia and Eastern Kentucky that should top off our season nicely.

Anyway…

Gaige at football practice last week.

Hubby had to drive up to Central Pennsylvania on Saturday to get some things. I stayed home to take care of some stuff I had to do. One of the things on my agenda was kid sporting events.

I was hoping to get to Gaige’s football game AND Brianna’s soccer game, but the 8:00 AM football game didn’t happen. I would’ve had to leave my house at 7:15 (the time Amy had to have Gaige at the field). I had some other things to get finished before my road trip, so I skipped that one. I did make it to Brianna’s soccer game though.

Apparently, things have finally clicked for Brianna, who will be 10 in December. Not only did she seem to be more aware of what was happening on both ends of the field, she was running with gusto. It was a sight to see.

I’ll show you some action shots later. First, here’s one of my favorites.

Brianna Hamming It Up for Me

This was very early in the game. Brianna was playing fullback (defense) and her best friend Brooke was nearby in goal. Now, I could not hear what she was saying to Brooke, but I’m guessing it was probably one of two things…

“Oh, cool. G is here taking pictures of me.”

or…

“See? I told you if she came she’d take pictures the whole time. How embarrassing!”

I think it was the former, but who knows?

Now that is concentration.

As you can see, the weather was perfect.

Organized Chaos

This is my favorite action shot. Brianna was on offense at the time and the ball was headed toward the right side of the image. Seconds before this was snapped, the other team cleared the ball back toward their end of the field, which is why Brianna appears to be contorting herself in two different directions.

Brianna and the competition sizing things up.

I love the looks on their faces here. How intense! This is a 10 and under team, too.

Brianna on the Attack

I was quite impressed at the level of skill I was seeing. And quite disgusted with some idiot on the sideline who kept yelling at the ref. Said idiot obviously did NOT know what he was talking about.

A Determined Brianna

She is like a totally different kid, I tell you. From where she was last time I saw her play. This kid is obviously into the game.

Are you wondering where her brothers were while Brianna was playing?

The boys did a fine job of entertaining themselves.

They were off playing American football, of course. Click on the above image to see a larger view. I absolutely love the expressions I caught on their faces. Gaige playfully running from a laughing-but-determined Joe.

Game Over

Brianna’s team won. I think the score was 3-0. But it may have been 4-0.

There are quite a few more pictures from the game on my Flickr site. I posted them there for her parents to see, but you can feel free to have a look if you want, too.

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Playing Catch-up

At the end of my last post, I told y’all I’d be in Pennsylvania for a few days. I left on Monday and got back around midnight on Thursday. It would’ve been earlier, except I stopped at Amy’s to help shuttle kids from sports practice and celebrate our August TTT (the first official one since Shannon got back).

Friday afternoon, Amy dropped the kids at our house and went off to Pittsburgh for the weekend for some military-related conference. It’s been an exhausting but fun weekend.

Here are a few pics captured over the last six days…

Here I am with a few of my co-workers on Tuesday night.

To truly appreciate the next shot, you need a bit of back story. Hubby knew I had a bunch of work to get done on Friday. So after he took Amy to the airport, he took all three kids to the pool. All by himself. They didn’t get back until just before 5:00 PM. Since Joey missed his afternoon nap, he fell asleep with Hubby on the recliner. He woke up in time for snack and, since he’d already napped, he didn’t think he needed to go to bed.

This boy makes the funniest “I’m REALLY mad now” faces I have ever seen. He still says “my” instead of “I” when speaking about himself.

"My not want to go to bed."

On Saturday, we had to get Gaige to a football scrimmage game and Brianna to her soccer opening day celebration.

Joey and Pop driving a pretend car.

Hubby did a great job keeping Joey busy while Gaige played his game.

Runaway Pop.

Speaking of Gaige… look at the size of the helmet this little guy has to wear. I bet it weighs about 25% of his body weight.

Gaige in his scrimmage uniform.
Look at the size of that helmet.

Most of Brianna’s morning was spent standing around waiting for team photos. I didn’t get many shots of her on Saturday.

Brianna having her face painted at the opening day shindig.

Sunday was really Brianna’s big day. I had to drop her off at an end-of-summer camp for kids with deployed parents. Gaige and Joey are too young to attend. She was SUPER excited.

Brianna in her bunk.

I told her I had to take plenty of pics to show Mommy the drop-off because I know Amy was not happy to have missed it.

Brianna the happy camper.

The thing that amazed me was the kid was not even the slightest bit nervous or apprehensive. Here you have a nine-year-old girl who has never been to sleepaway camp and doesn’t know if she’ll know anyone there. That’s just her personality, though. She’s a very friendly and outgoing kid.

The boys in our backyard.

When I got back to the house, Gaige, Joey and I tossed the football around a bit. Gaige was a bit surprised that I know how to throw a football. How many grannies do you know who can do that?  🙂

Hubby and Joey relaxing in front of the TV.

We fed the boys dinner then got them bathed and ready for bed. Amy’s flight, which was supposed to arrive at 6:40, was delayed until 10:05. Hubby actually just left to pick her up at the airport. They’ll either all spend the night here or she’ll wake them and drive them home tonight.

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An Occasion Worth Celebrating

Last night, Shannon and I made the trek north to Amy’s house to assist with sports practice.What do I mean by “assist”?

Remember, Amy’s husband is currently deployed. She and her hubby are both of the mindset that the kids shouldn’t miss out on anything just because TJ is away. So they’re still playing sports.

Gaige (age 6) plays football. His team has two-hour practice sessions FOUR nights a week at a field about 30 minutes from where they live. Brianna (age 9) plays soccer. She only practices two nights a week for an hour each night. Her field is only about 5 minutes away, but in the opposite direction. Joey (age 3) is too young for organized sports. So he just makes Amy crazy as she drives back and forth between fields and stands on the sidelines while the kids practice.

On Thursdays, both kids have practice at the same time. I told Amy I’d try to help once in awhile by taking one or the other kid to their respective field. Last night, Shannon came along. We had just the right number of adults. Amy took Gaige to football. I took Brianna to soccer. Shannon stayed at the house with Joey.

I did take my camera along, but it was raining off and on, quite heavy at times, so I left it at the house with Shannon. Which is cool because she caught a couple cute images of Joey.

Joey showing off his work boots that are just like Daddy's.
Joe Cool (Note the work boots, work gloves AND the fact that his foot is propped on his motorcycle.)

Of course, I didn’t get any pics of the other kids. Maybe we’ll have better weather next week.

Speaking of next week, Shannon, Amy, and I spent a bit of time trying to determine if last night was our August Thirsty Third Thursday. We were all together, after all, and it was Thursday. But it was only the second Thursday of the month. Yes, we could celebrate early, but we eventually decided that next Thursday should be our August Thirsty Third Thursday.

Why does all of this matter? Because, since Shannon was off traveling the world, our last Thirsty Third Thursday was in September 2009. ELEVEN months ago!

Yes, Amy and I did do some TTTs without Shannon, but it just wasn’t the same. When I told Amy we need to make up for lost time, she said, “Does this mean I can expect you both here every Thursday for the next two months?”

I guess we’ll have to wait and see…

But look, we DID manage to capture a nice pic of the three of us, together for the first time since September 2009.

The TTT Crew.

Definitely an occasion worth celebrating, eh?

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Guess Who Turned Three Today?

As hard as it is to believe, our youngest grandson, Joey, hit three years old today.

Those three years have FLOWN by…

Joey was suddenly bashful when we all started to sing.
Joey blowing out his candles.

His party was actually on Saturday. Amy planned it in shifts so as not to overwhelm everyone. “Everyone” in this case being us old folks. Family was invited early in the day and the friends with their hordes of children came late in the day.

I wanted to get a picture of the three grandkids before the other children arrived and chaos ensued, but I didn’t. So I had to settle for pulling them outside and making them sit. Of course, by then they were all sugared-up and acting goofy, so this is the best I could do.

Gaige, Joey and Brianna

It’s not a great picture, but the others were much worse. Although I must say, I love the look on Joey’s face and the sparkle in his eye in the picture below, so I just cut the other two out. It is Joey’s birthday after all.

Joey at his third birthday party.

Happy Birthday, Joey!