The Watts' Adventures

Another one of my projects was completed today. I came across a real cool shower curtain in Lowe's a couple of weeks ago. Guess what was on it??? Baseballs, footballs, soccer balls and basketballs. It was on clearance so I grabbed it up along with the really cool hooks that went with it. Where did I hang it? In the boys bathroom. My cheap shower curtain caused me to do a complete make over of their bathroom. So, after pondering over several shades of blue for the walls, I went with the majority vote. "Ocean blue" by Laura Ashely (of-course). So today I painted and redecorated the bathroom. Wow, it was alot of work and my back is killing me. It looks really good, if I say so myself. I still have a little more decorating to do in there but I'll finish up tomorrow. After I'm all finished I'll post pictures of it.

They did it!!!!!! The Cards win the MLB World Series. It was awesome. I hope everyone got to see the game. All the experts said their money was on the Tigers but the Cards proved them all wrong..... I was so thrilled for them but saddened in another way. What in the world I'm I going to do with no baseball to watch???????? I guess I'll keep myself busy preparing for Christmas and before I know it, the boys will be back in the batting cage and I'll be baseballing it again.

The boys had money to burn and they decided to spend it on Hunting bow & arrows. They have been practicing anticipating the day they can hit the woods with them. Michael is betting on killing a big buck this year, either with his bow or his gun. I think he will have better luck with his gun as his bow is not quite big enough to spear a deer. Both boys are really good at aiming it. I can't even pull Michael's back. He amazes me with his skill and how much he practices. Hunter is not as determined as his big brother but he is making head way. I'll let you know how the "big kill" goes. It won't be long before my boys will be hunting on Saturdays and I can go shopping and anticipate my phone ringing and hearing the excitement of "mom, we got one!"

This is Hunter's first project. He had to take a nature hike and make a shoe box scene of what he saw. David, Michael & Hunter took a walk (i was cooking supper) down to the creek behind our house. He came back so excited about the items that he had collected. We ate dinner and then began working on his project. We decided to make a scene of the creek. He named his project "Hunter's Creek Adventure 2006". Hunter painted a creek, glued pictures from a magazine around the inside and then added sand, rocks, moss, grass, tree bark and sticks. He was so proud of what he had accomplished. He just kept staring at it. After he got it all together, he had to lists things that he saw and then write sentences about it. Now, Hunter hates to write! He was only required to write 2 sentences but he decided that he needed to write 5. It was great watching him put so much effort into this. After we were all done and cleaned up he headed to bed. But after about 30 mins, he got up, walked into the kitchen and stared at his shoebox. I decided that maybe he needed to practice presenting it. He did so. He read his cards to us and explained what he did. So many times he had been part of the audience as Michael presented his many Project Idea projects. This time Hunter was in the spot light and he was gleaming with joy! It was a rush only a mother could appreciate. It was a moment that I saw my baby growing up and spreading his wings. It was a more than just a project for me..........

Thursday was the big day. Report cards were issued. This year I have worked extremely hard with Hunter and letting Michael be responsible for himself with me peeping over his shoulder. Hunter pulled out all B's and 1 C. Michael came in with a couple of A's, B's and his first C. I was really pleased with Hunter's as I know that he worked hard to get what he got and he had alot of adjusting to do this year. His 1st grade year was, hmmm, I won't be mean... let's just say it's a blur in the past and we are working hard to get him where he needs to be. With that said, I must add that it was of no fault of Hunter!!!!!! Michael on the other hand, had alot of adjusting to do as well. His biggest problem is the lack of remembering to bring home his books to study for test. Luckily his teacher posts homework assignments on the web so I keep in check with what is going on. I don't think he was too proud of that "C" , so I think he will step it up a notch. I hated it for him, but I just had to let him slip a little by himself so he could appreciate my efforts to keep him on track a little more. All in all, I'm very proud of the boys and their grades. I am taking this report card as a learning process for both of them. They both know they can do better and are capable but they must put forth the effort. School is so different these days. It actually ridiculous at the material these teachers have to cover and the kids have to learn. It's virtually impossible for the children to really learn anything. They just have to retain it long enough to get thru those grueling SOL's........ ugh... I'd like to meet the jackass that came up with those tests!!!!!!!!! If you are reading this and know him/her.. give them my name, address and phone number as I'd love to sit down and chat with them.

Wainright celebrates another victory over the Detroit Tigers. One more game to go. Ok, I must admit, I didn't see it live. The boys had to tell me the news this morning. I did Tivo the rest of the game, but had no time to watch it unfold this am. Therefor I had to watch the last 3 innings tonight before Game 5, which is about to start as I type. It was an awesome game and ended in the favor of the Cards!

Go Cardinals!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yep, that was the 6am wake up announcement. Tuesday morning, David wakes me up to tell me that school is delayed by 2 hours. Oh no, this is not good. Talking about wrecking a morning. Nothing more rocks my world than school opening late. Why? you ask. Well, during the construction of our to be newly renovated Middle school, a main water vain broke and the school was flooded. All of that caused everyone to be late. I was laying in bed, trying to wake up and figure out how the boys would get to school. Michael was to be at the Middle School for Project Idea. Hunter was an easy fix, he could go to the babysitters and catch the bus. Michael's transportation was a little more complex. I could have taken him to work with me, but our lack of space poses a problem. Not to mention, that it is cold/flu season and I didn't want to expose him to germs that could be around. So, I finally found him a ride after racking my brain. Thanks to Krystal he got to school safely and on time............. shewwwwww what a morning.

Ok, now this post is dedicated to all my friends that have the same love for baseball that I do. This is also dedicated to the St. Louis Cardinals! Go Cardinals!

Looper celebrates his victory as he shut the Tigers down in game 1 of the World Series.

I haven't missed a playoff game and won't miss a World Series Game either. I have been up many late nights, so that I could see the games "live". One or two nights I just couldn't hang so I used the beloved DVR and pushed "play" the next morning the minute my feet hit the floor. The boys are ESPN watchers in the morning, so I have to hurry and watch the missed innings before they tell me who wins. LOL.... I am sorry for those of you that don't have "the love" for the game as my site will be updated with results as they unfold. Tonight I will catch up on missed CSI's, Brother's & Sisters, ER and whatever else I have missed! For those of you that don't have DVR's.. you just don't know what you are missing! I can watch 3 shows in 1hr commercial free. Hmm, maybe I should inquire about being a spokes person for Dish TV.

I hope everyone has a great week and I'll update soon.

Friday night was soon over and Saturday morning had hit with alot of groans and moans from me!! :-) For those of you that know me, know that I am by far NOT a morning person. These days it takes 4 cups of coffee, several cigerettes, and the clock to strike 10:00am before I quit growling. Saturday morning called us to the football field at 9:00am! Hunter was scheduled to play at 9:30am. It was so cold and the wind was blowing. Although, the sun was shining so it really could have been worse. The game was worth me rising for! Hunter's team finally won their first game. It was exciting. He, along with the rest of his teamates were grinning ear to ear. It was great and I wouldn't have missed it for the world, even if it had been a 8:00am game!

Michael's team won too. His game was scheduled to begin at 12:30pm but I don't think it actually started til 1:30-2:00. Go figure. His team is still undefeated!!! They are very excited about their winning streak. I hope they keep it up. Stay tuned.... next Saturday ANOTHER 9:30 am game....... ughhhhhh

Another weeked has gone by. Why do they fly by so fast?
Our Friday evening consisted of quiet adult time. Michael attended a WWII event at the prizery with his Project Idea teachers, while Hunter enjoyed South of Dan's Harvest Fest. David & I decided to take advantage of the few hours that we had without children. We called up our good friends, Ben & Alice and headed out to find a nice resturant. It was between the Bistro 1888 and the Molasses Grill. We decided on the Molasses Grill. We enjoyed an eligant dinner with lots of adult conversation. We savored the time we had, then headed back to reality, picked up Michael, dropped of our buddies and headed over to retrieve Hunter. We always appreciate the little time that David and I get to spend alone or with friends (w/o kids) as it's so few and far between these days. We had a great evening and look forward to the chance to do it again.

Mom & Dad came home this weekend to do a little visiting. It was good to see them. They arrived at our house Saturday afternoon. All football games were postponed due to rain. Darn, I sure hated that. LOL. Michael & Hunter enjoyed their afternoon with Chandler & Drake. Chad & Kathy joined us all later for a cook out at our house. They didn't stay long, ate and left. Mom & Dad stayed at their house Saturday night. Sunday after church we all went to Clarksville to visit my Granny Parrett. It was nice to see her, it had been a long time since I had been down there. Mom & Dad came back to our house and we had Chinese for dinner. We all kicked back and watched Deperate Housewives & then Brother's & Sisters. Mom & Dad left this morning after taking the boys to school. They arrived safely back to New Jersey around 5pm this evening. It was a fast weekend. They will come back South in December and spend Christmas with us. As to when we will ever go North, I have no idea. I would really like to get up there, but with our schedules, it's just hard. Taking the boys out of school is difficult. They miss so much when they are absent! Hopefully we may be able to travel when and if they get a spring break. We'll call it Michael's birthday present!! First plane trip and a visit to the big Apple. That would be a pretty good 11th birthday present huh? Well, you along with us will just have to wait and see what happens...............

Well, it finally came and it finally went...........

The Fair! For those of you that remember the fair, well at our age, it's just not the same. The days of wrapping up in our leather,sliding into our tight jeans, hanging on to our fellows or ladies and holding on to those big Hardee's moose cups are things of the past. As David and I (with children in tow) walked in, it was quite amusing. We weren't meeting up with "our hang out friends", but meeting our friends so our children could hang out together. It was funny to see some of the old gang doing the same as us, standing, waiting & waiting for our children to get thru the lines to move on to the next ride. We watched our friends chase their little ones, look for their older ones, all while we were reminising (probably mispelled, but you get the idea) about the old days at the fair. How things and lives have changed. The fair seemed so big then, it took hours to get around, by the time you stopped and chatted and sometimes needing to go out to refuel the Hardee's Moose cups. Finding people back then was asking someone else if you had seen "so and so" , now days, you just pick up your cell and dial away. Instead of talking about weekend plans or school, we found ourselves saying to many people that we hadn't seen in a while... "so, how many kids do you have? Oh my goodness, they have grown up so fast. or this is Michael, our oldest, and that one over there is Hunter, our youngest." David and I watched the teens and thanked God that we didn't have girls. Don't mean to offend anyone but my goodness, they may as well walk around naked. We watched the boys follow behind, acting real cool. While all of this was going on around us, we were debating on when we would let our boys go without us by their side. Hmmm, we still don't have an answer. Although, David did say he thought it would be nice when we did let them go with their buddies. Hmm, wonder if we could go back to holding the Hardee's moose cups too? Do they still have those? If not, I might have a stash!

All in all the fair was just a great experience for all of us! We laughed with our friends as we talked about the "good ole days", we loved seeing our kids have such a good time on all the rides and seeing their friends. I hope our boys will have as many happy memories of the Halifax County Fair as David & I do. And of- course....... the food was as good as ever. Even the famous Buns!

Well football is the "other sport" that has consumed our lives. It is slowing down some since they started playing but practice is a must at least once a week for both boys. Don't tell but I love it when it rains, because we all just need some down time! The boys are doing awesome. Michael's team is undefeated and with my luck they will continue and end up playing into December. I'm just not a huge fan of football but try very hard to "get into it" for the boys as they love it. Hunter's team, well, bless their little hearts, they are trying. I can see improvement in every game. Hunter knows his position and tries so hard and he does get a tackle every now and again. I'll keep you posted on their progress.....