HERE WE GO AMERICAN'S...HERE WE GO!

Here's the line up! ...Patrick is #14...



...swing battabattabatta! swing!...



...bring my baby home now!...



...um...Zach's not quite into the game as much as we are, so he finds other ways to amuse himself...







...a little help from the coach to get his catchers gear on...



...Game on!...



...2 games down, 2 to go!...(yes, that's 19-0!)

Busch Gardens

We've finally made it to Busch Gardens! I told the boys we are ALL gonna try NEW rides this year!!!! ...No loopty-loops or upside downs, but I'm over the "kiddie rides", so it's time to branch out!



There was a great big tree house to climb thru and on...complete with a swinging bridge!



ok...maybe I was the nervous one this time...but it really was way up high! And what if my foot fell thru the hole!




Then there was the skiing accident...



OH MY!!! ...funny thing is, Patrick looks just like his daddy when he had HIS picture taken here! lol




So by all means, lets calm our fears of the rides by petting a ginormous snake!!




...Then checking out this ginormous tree to sit in for some shade!



Feeding the birds was awesome! When we first walked in, one flew right to Patrick and it caught him off guard so bad, he tossed his cup of food in the air and hit the ground, arms and legs spread wide open!!! Zach and I were almost crying from laughing!!!!



...if you have food, they will come!...



...and hopefully not poop!...

One down, 3 to go! ;)

Oh my goodness! I've never been more nervous or proud in my whole life! Have you ever been so proud and happy for someone (your own child, maybe) that all you can do is cry!? I've never experienced this feeling before! My stomach was in knots and there was no way I could sit for this game! I was at the fence practically the whole time! Patrick made us SO proud! One hit, he got 2 boys home and made it to 3rd, then the next guy got him home!





Mr. Serious, warming up!

I know we still have 3 games to go and I can't get cocky, but WE WON!!! WE WON!!! WE WON!!!

inside house....

Ok, I was so excited and nervous about looking at this house, I got Double D and the twins (haha) to come with me.

DD is standing in the dining room. The 2nd back door is to the left, the table will be to the right. There is a window at the table that looks out at the school. The kitchen (red wall in background) is behind her...its so small, there is no room for the fridge, so as you can see, it's in the dining room. :)

Connected to the dining room is the living room. ...Where the ONE window a/c unit is...that will be the FIRST family purchase we make!!! It's near impossible to live in Richmond without AIR!

There is a HUGE laundry room...

...and a second sink!!! So I could possibly bring my salon stuff back and work at home my one night a week!!! :)

This is a pretty big closet that is across from the pretty small bathroom...

You can potty and scrub the tub...

and wash your hands, all at the same time!! haha

looking in from the living room, this will be my room. There are 2 glass french (?) doors that separate the 2 rooms. I'll pull out the "Evie" gene and make some kinda curtain for some privacy. :)

This is in the same spot, but to the right of my room...thru this door is the front door (which is never used) and...

this huge closet! I swear I had flash backs to Grama's closet in Fla!! haha

This will be the boys room. The closet might hold one or 2 shirts...haha...but the room is actually bigger than what they have now! I'm thinking of dividing the decorating...Patrick will get baseball/skateboard, etc and Zach will of course get FLAGS! I'm thinking of hanging a clothes ling somehow and attaching the flags to that for display instead of all crumpled up! Lemmie know if you have any suggestions! I'm gonna hang one of their curtains maybe in the bathroom)on Patrick's hockey stick instead of a curtain rod, and we've got a couple small skateboards to turn into shelves...think of anything else?

ok, here's the interesting kitchen! It's as red as you can get!! I'm thinking about painting it a coral/flamingo color. Its pretty small...and we think that square thing in the corner is a hot water heater.

so thats it in a nut shell...kinda. haha Its a funny story how I found it. After I got the letter about the variance for the boys being denied, all I could do was cry. So I dropped them off at their dad's and drove for about 50 miles looking for houses for rent/sale that would be in the same school district. I knew there was an empty house next to school and I had always told myself if I ever saw anyone there I'd stop and get some information on it! Sure enough, that Sunday was "my day". The "dad" was mowing the grass and I did a double take and fast u-turn after I passed the house...I stopped to introduce myself (hoping he couldnt tell I had been crying my eyes out!) and explained a little bit of my situation. He told me it was his dad's house and he had passed away but they weren't sure what they were gonna do with it. I gave him my card and asked that he please call me when he decides. So last week, I got a call from HIS son (Nathan, who is my age) and told me they are going to rent it! And its even $200 CHEAPER than what I pay now! So I went to see it July 4th and told him I want it. There are a few things they need to repair, and we will have to make some sacrifices, but when I think about what we will have in return, it far outweighs what we will be missing!!! :) I should find out Mon or Tues for sure...so please keep us in your prayers and cross all your fingers and toes!!!! I'll keep ya posted!!!

possible new house...

I think our prayers have been answered...I stumbled on this house that it literally right across the street from school!! So we can WALK or ride bikes!!! yippee!!



Its a really old house. I talked to the 'dad' the first time then the son (Nathan,my age) met me on July 4 to let me see the inside. It needs a lot of work but also has a lot of character!!! I LOVE it! It was Nathan's great-grandma's...it reminds me of grama E's...

This is the back view...my bedroom window on far left, living room window w/ac unit, dining room on right and kitchen above oil tank. You can barely see the awesome back porch peeking around the corner. :) ...And a little shed where we could put the lawn mower on very right side.



Very back of house...kitchen window, awesome little porch with first back door that would open into my SHOP!!! Regular back door is to far left around corner, you cant see it.

Night fishing

Patrick had been itchin' to fish since BEFORE we got to the beach...so after our dinner party at Seacrets, and since it WAS vacation, we walked to the pier at the end of the boardwalk to see what we could catch...

...using some artifical blood worms and shrimp...

...Patrick caught a spider crab!!...eww!

...and a skate. (with some help from someone else who had overheard Patrick say he wasn't catching anything, so when this guy gotta bite, he let Patrick real it in!)

...Some of us however, had more fun than others! ...can you find Zach in this pile of sweatshirts? and can you tell which way is up? haha

Seacrets

We have a family dinner party at such a cool place! It's called Seacrets. All outside on the sand and under the palm trees!




left...left...left, right, left!

ready??

salute! ...I think Zach was watching the firemen who had just marched out onto the pier for a little remembrance ceremony and had to have one of his own.









Zach and his great-great uncle Bill at Happy Hour!



um...how much sugar is in this strawberry daquarii??




BARTENDER! ...'nother round over here please!



you know it's gotta be DEAD or this kid wouldn't DARE be touching it!!



Getting ready for the boat ride!! :)