How did it suddenly become Oct?

So far we are getting robbed of a decent fall season. Not much of a summer & not much of a fall. I can't complain too much about Sept. Sept. we had great weather. The leaves are turning and early in the morning we are to get snow.

The youth kickball season came to an end. My 7-9 grade team took 1st place. My 4-6 grade team lost their final game which ended up putting them in 4th place. Oh well. They were a great group of kids. My 4-6 grade team all went out for Dairy Queen after our last game. The little girl on my team gave me a great big hug. Coaching was pretty rewarding. My 7-9th grade team had an end of season party at my co-coaches house. We cooked hot dogs and the parents all chatted in the kitchen & the kids all chatted in the tv room. Those kids were a pretty good group of kids too.

I got all the scores and stats in and updated on the kickball blog. http://eagankickball.blogspot.com I just have to wait for the awards to get shipped to me and then I'll be planning an awards party for the kids. It's going to have to be somewhere indoors as the weather is pretty cold to do something outside.

My adult league kickball season is pretty much over too. We had 2 rainouts, and I'm not sure when or if we'll even make those games up at all.

Now that kickball is all over with you may wonder what I will do with my time? National Novel Writing Month is just around the corner. Oct I will finish my outline for the book I plan on writing in November. I'm going to be writing about the Mayan Ruins in Tulum, Mexico. They are the most visited ruins, yet the least written about. I've been doing research on it since I got back from Mexico in February of 09, so hopefully it will all come out onto paper in November.

I had a birthday at the beginning of Oct. I celebrated for 4 days! I celebrated with friends the day before my b-day playing bingo. I didn't win anything, but 3 people at our table did. I had to celebrate my last day of being 40. On my birthday, I met up with friends at a nearby bar. My neighbor guy ended up showing up. He knew the DJ, so he told the DJ it was my birthday & the next thing I know, the whole place is singing Happy Birthday to me. The day after my birthday Ken & I went to Osaka's a Japanese seafood & steak house with another couple. The food was delicious! I had fillet mignon, lobster, shrimp, scallops, and fried rice. We did the Hibachi menu, so they cook the food right at your table. The chef does all sorts of fancy tricks. It's very entertaining. Then on Sunday (2 days after my b-day), I treated myself to a movie at the theater. I went and saw the movie "Fame". It was nothing like the original movie. The only thing the same was it takes place at the same school, and they had the singing, dancing, musical scene in the cafeteria. Otherwise, it was completely different characters with completely different stories. It was entertaining, and I enjoyed it, but I was expecting it to be more like the original.

Summer Madness Coming to an End

This is the last week of youth kickball. Tuesday night Kevin & Sam's team plays. If their team will take 2nd place overall in the league. If they lose they will take 4th place.

Wed night my 7th-9th grade team plays and after the game we are all headed to Coach Beth's house for an end of season celebration. The parents are bringing all sorts of goodies, so that should be fun.

Sometime in October, I'm going to have an end of season party for the kids and hand out awards. Awards for 1st and 2nd place overall, most home runs, most runs batted in, and most improved player will be handed out.

Two weekends ago we had gorgeous weather! It was too nice not to get out & about. So the boys & I headed over to Stillwater for a Sunday afternoon. We had a nice lunch outside on a restaurant patio overlooking the St. Croix River. We got to watch all the big boats go by and watch the lift bridge go up & down a few times to let the big boats go through.

After lunch we walked along the sidewalk next to the river. Then we headed to the little downtown area. We didn't go into many shops as the boys really aren't into that. But I did manage to get them into a knick knack store. They had some really neat Cuckoo clocks. Hand carved and intricate. Kevin made one of them sound off. It played music and chimed and went cuckoo, cuckoo. So I asked him how he did that. "Well, you just move the hands mom". Ok, so I went for the big one. I moved the hands and nothing happened. Well, sort of nothing. The store clerk came over & asked me if I touched the clock. I couldn't lie as I had been caught red handed touching the goods. Ok, well you need to leave. Ok, not gonna argue with that! So out we went. You can't expect a grown mom to keep her hands off the cuckoo clocks. You have to make sure it works! Maybe they should be kept in a case of some kind for curious grown ups like myself.

After we got kicked out of the knick knack store, we went across the street to a coffee shop. They had cave tours (click cave tours to read about it) . It was a really neat tour. Even the kids liked it. Its not the kind of cave that you typically think of. It's quite wide and easy to walk through. Our tour guide was full of info and humor. Definitely worth the tour.

Kevin has his first night of Robotics tomorrow night. His dad took him to the initial meeting. You know, the one he had rights not to go to. When he came home from the meeting he couldn't wait to sign up. I'm sure it was just a bad idea because we brought it up.

Living La Vida Kickball

Kickball has pretty much been my life the past few weeks. I am coaching 2 teams. One team made up of 7th-9th graders and one team made up of 4th-6th graders. Kevin & Sam are both on my 4th-6th grade team.

My teams are great!!! The kids are so fantastic and the past few weeks have been so extremely rewarding. It is so nice to see the smiling faces of these kids having so much fun on the kickball field. I have had many parents thank me for bringing the sport into action and how much fun their child is having. Did I mention how great the kids are? I wish I could bring them all home with me. Well...I take that back. I'll just settle for the one hour each week I get with them listening to me. Did I just say kids listen me? Wow, now that is a new concept. Just add Coach Bonnie to my never ending list of titles.

Besides life on the kickball field....(Yes, I do have a life outside of kickball believe it or not)

I was in a wedding this past weekend. My good friend Jo that goes on my girls trips with me got married. I was one of her bridesmaids. The evening before the wedding we had rehearsal and went to dinner at the couple's favorite Mexican restaurant. It was good.

The day of the wedding I had my eyebrows waxed, my eyelashes tinted, and my hair done up really pretty. My hair stylist is awesome. She's young and energetic when it comes to hair. She knows hair! I told her she's the hair expert, have at it. I had no idea how I wanted to wear it. So she went against traditional updo style and gave me a really rocking updo off to the side. It was so adorable. I absolutely loved it. And wow, I got so many compliments on it.

The wedding was a complete blast. One of the most fun weddings I've been to. I've been to a lot of fun weddings. This one makes the top 5 (mine of course is number 1). But now that I think about it, I don't think I've ever been to a bad or boring wedding. Or wedding reception for that matter.

Yesterday my oldest caveboy had Middle School orientation. Yikes!! MIDDLE SCHOOL! Orientation was all day long. He met his teacher and class mates. He got his locker assignment and learned his combination. Their lockers are tiny! I'm not sure how they are supposed to fit all their books, hats, coats, ect. in there. When I went to school you should shove a person in your locker. I guess they are moving away from that? Nobody will be fitting in these lockers. I don't think they even a full 2 feet wide. They are only about 3 1/2 feet tall too.

Here is the little big man's daily schedule, which rotates on a cycle day. Blue & Green Cycle Days.

General Music / Phy Ed - Health
Math Lab / Phy Ed Health
Art / Science
Art / Science
Math
American History
Reading
English
Homebase (Study Hall/Homeroom)

He also got a map of the school. Yes, his school is quite large. It is 2 levels and I got lost going through there when I went to pick him up from orientation. Kevin seemed to know his way around, so apparently they navigated their way around a few times during orientation too.

Kickball Kick Off

Monday night I had my first Kickball practice with the 7-9 graders. It went really well. I had another coach helping me and he knew most of the kids and had a bigger voice than me, so I was really glad he was there. I got a good feel for what positions they can play and how well they can kick the ball. They were a really nice group of kids. I can tell it's going to be a good season with them.

Tonight I was supposed to have practice with my 4-6 grade team, but we got rained out. I'm hoping the field will be available this weekend, so we can get a practice in before our first game next week.

Tonight I help an umpire training. It was supposed to take place right after practice on the field, but since the city closed the fields, I had the umpires meet at my house instead. There are only 4 umpires I'm working with. It quit raining by the time they showed up, so I was able to take them to the backyard to go over the rules (all 6 pages of them). The had lots of good questions and we went through every single rule. I was able to show them legal vs. illegal pitches, and how the catcher can play. Umpire training took 1 hour.

Tomorrow night I have my adult league kickball game. That should be fun. We are on a less competitive league this season, so that will make for a fun season.

haircuts, missing child, ice cream man, and kickball

That has been my week thus far.

What was seeming like a relatively calm Monday, didn't turn out as such. The boys were in dire need for hair cuts, so I decided that since I've watched Fantastic Sam's and Kids Hair do it so many times, I could probably muddle my way through just this once. I did a good job! No patches, no bald spots, no chopped off ears, and it's not lopsided. I no longer have my electric clippers, so I did it with hair cutting scissors. The kids are old enough to stand still for me and not cry anymore.

After dinner Sam decided he'd go outside and wait for the ice cream man. Sam is really good at sticking to the cul-de-sac and following the rules of being outside. At 7:10 pm I went outside to call him inside as I had to go get my hair cut.

I walked outside and no sight of Sam. Hmmm... so I came inside, no shoes by the door. I checked the backyard. No sight of Sam. I went through the house searching for him. No Sam. Hmmmm....His bike was in the garage, his shoes are gone, where could he be? So I walked down the street...No sights of Sam. I crossed the street and looked in the other cul-de-sac. I asked a couple people if they saw him. Nope, no sight of Sam. Mommy panic button starts to go off. I have my cell phone in hand trying to call my hubby as he was not home from work yet. He doesn't answer his phone. I am headed home to get my van to search the neighborhood even further and call 911 to report a missing child. When who drives around the corner? My husband! I nervously ask him if he has Sam in the car. Sam is sitting in his car with a big fat smile on his face holding a Jolly Rancher popsicle. My husband said "Yeah, I have Sam. What's wrong? I took him to chase down the ice cream truck." So I said a few dirty words to him and told him that he scared the hell out of me." His reply "I'm sorry honey, I thought you'd be able to tell that I had him because my work shirt was by the door."

Ok...let me get this straight. You got out of your car, put your work shirt by the door, but didn't bother to tell me that you were taking Sam to go chase an ice cream truck? According to him, he didn't think I'd notice. Again...more dirty words out of my mouth. No, a mom would never notice that her child was missing and then start to panic. Nope, not me...Just call me Mrs. Non Caring Calm Mom. Missing child...eh, no big deal, he'll show up eventually. WRONG!

I heard on the radio the next moring, that someone did a study to test how men and women become stupider after talking to an attractive person of the opposite sex. Men & women were first given a battery of tests, then they had to converse with attractive people, then they retook the test. Of course the men failed miserabley on the second test. No surprise there. Women didn't do much worse than the first test they took. They also said the more attractive the person the worse the men did on the second test. So I'd like to know what sexy woman my husband was talking to before he took my child with out letting me know. I'd also like to know if he understands why mama bears tear animals or people apart who mess with their cubs. Yeah, don't mess with this mama bear's cubs!

After the ice cream man debacle, I jumped in my van to go to my hair cut appointment. Who do I see driving down my cul-de-sac while I'm leaving? The damn ice cream man! Oh, I hate that guy!!!

Tuesday night was much better. Sam waited for the ice cream man, like he does on a daily basis. I told him that even if he goes with his daddy somewhere, he needs to check in with me before leaving.

After dinner, I left the boys in the hands of their father and I walked to the Middle School for EAA sports face to face registration. Not many people showed up. 98% of the people that showed up were there for football. Those kids had to get weighed and measured for equipment. I had one kid sign up for kickball and the rest were K-3 signing up for soccer or basketball. Kickball isn't offered for K-3 in the first year. The EAA lady told me not to worry, the face to face registrations get smaller and smaller each year, because the online registration is pretty slick now. Registration is open and goes until July 8th, so I have another month to get kids to sign up.

Today Kevin got his braces adjusted. He said it didn't hurt to bad, and the adjustments were minor. This time around he picked out Navy Blue and Black bands. Not really much difference between the two colors, but that's what he picked. Then he told me it was because it was in honor of the Navy for D-Day. Wow. OK...that's cool. What other 11 year old would think of that?

Tonight was relaxing. Nothing going on. Sam & Kevin of course waited for an ice cream man who again did not show up. Then the boys ended up playing outside all day.

I have a busy Thursday tomorrow, but it should be fun.

Busy Week Again

This past week we stayed pretty busy.

Tuesday evening I attended a two hour parent presentation for parents of kids who are going to Middle School /Jr. High next year. Kevin's school is HUGE!! The city has two Jr. High schools. Kevin will be going to the one near our house, and his class will have 390 students in it. I think there that many kids in my whole high school. We got to tour the school, and it is quite impressive. I felt lost on the tour, and the teachers said all the 6th graders get lost on their first day. The school has designated 8th graders that help the 6th graders get through the first week of school. The day before school officially starts, the 6th graders attend an orientation day. They get to find their way around the school, learn their class schedule, and ect..

Kevin is disappointed that a lot of his best friends in elementary school will be going to the other Jr. High, but I'm sure he'll make lots of new friends on top of the ones that will be in school with him. They split the Jr. High kids into two groups called "houses", and each group has their own side of the 6th grade school area. Within the "house" they have their class rooms. One house will have 200 kids in it and the other house will have 190. Each "house" stays with the same group of kids all year as they switch classes. So for example English teacher A will only see the same 200 kids all year, and English teacher B will see the other group of 190 kids.

All 390 kids will have lunch at the same time. That should be rather interesting. Also, their class schedule will change slightly from day to day as some of the classes are on alternating days. They call them Blue Days and Green Days. For the first part of the year, they will learn Spanish, and the second half of the year they'll learn French. All the kids have to take a Home Ec class, so they'll learn to cook, do laundry, and other household chores. So that is a good thing. They don't have a "shop" class, but instead its called Technological Art. That looked like a fun class to be taking. The current project we got to see was the kids had made rockets that they were going to launch later in the month. Kevin would really LOVE that project.

During the parent night orientation, they had 4 8th grade students each present a speech about the Middle School. It was quite comical. The one kid said the hardest part about Jr. High was learning a new locker combination each year. So I hope that is the worst of our Jr. High happenings, but I'm sure we'll have our growing pains through out as he grows up. It was weird to see the two boys who were speaking had deep voices and hairy legs. They go into Middle School as boys and come out as young men. Yikes, I'm not sure I'm ready for that!

Wed, I took Sam to the bank to cash his check he got for his birthday. He felt like a really big kid signing his name and making a full bank transaction all by himself. He can't wait to go shopping again.

Kevin got his braces readjusted. They did quite a bit of turning and twisting, so he was a bit sore when they were done. The orthodontist put a spring between two of his teeth to separate them some more to make room for the I-tooth that is coming in. Then he got to pick new color of bands. This time he went with Fire Red and Black.

After we were done with that, the boys helped me grocery shop. They sure were good helpers. Not like the old days where they each had to push a cart, run into people, put extra stuff in the cart that didn't belong, and then leave the store before the groceries were bagged...They were pretty good kids, so they each earned a couple dollars for being such good helpers. I think I found their new motivator. Money...hard cold cash...the good stuff.

Then we visited the pet store. This is a nice treat for them. Sam likes to talk to all the cats, memorize their names, and ask me if we can bring them all home with us. Kevin likes to go look at the snakes and lizards and remind me that I promised he could get one when he is 13.

Thursday evening was the first adult league kickball game. Spring season has officially started. We have quite a few new players, and they were pretty good for first timers. Definitely some keepers. We won our game 4-0. Go Kick Busters!! We rotated between 3 pitchers (me included) and we each had a 3 pitch inning during all 9 innings. That was a pretty great feeling. I like pitching much better than playing catcher, short stop, and I'm no good in the outfield. But I'm the captain, so I get to tell everyone where they play.

One guy who signed up for the team decided last night that he didn't want to play this season, so a new player on the team said he knows a guy that can come and play a few games with us. He couldn't make every game, but could make some. The even better news is this new guy was a field goal kicker for the University of Minnesota. Oh yeah...he can play on my team ANYTIME!!

Tomorrow I have a lunch date with the girls I went to Mexico with. I told my grandma we'd have a cocktail and a toast in her honor, since tomorrow is her 101 birthday. Definitely reason to celebrate even if I do live a thousand miles away.

I've Got Work to do!

Along with the new title of Eagan Kickball Director, comes the plethora of duties I must finish before May 21. Create a kickball email address, write an article for the newsletter due by Monday, create a flyer and get the flyers out and about town, help out with a write up for the local paper, create a detailed budget, create the final rules and guidelines of the game, create a webpage for the EAA website, prepare for registration and a sport showcase event, come up with team names to use, ect...

The youth sports use team names of the professional sports they mirror, but since there is no such thing as professional kickball, then that option is out and I don't want to really duplicate what the other teams are using. I think I want the team names to include the work Kick in it, like my adult league is named Kick Busters. Or perhaps I could name them after different types of animals native to Minnesota. I won't really need team names until I form my teams, but it's still a fun task I get to do. Any suggestions?

At least it is all fun work to do, and I'm excited about doing it all.