Real life lessons from the Yankees
Here are some real life lessons we have learned from the Yankees this fall.
1) The Yankees were 1 1/2 games behind Boston, really in reaching distance of winning the AL East. Rather than desperately pursue the Red Sox, they just concentrated on clinching the Wild Card title. Being the Wild Card team was good enough to make it in the playoffs. They just concentrated on getting done what they needed to and didn't worry about what the other teams were doing.
Life lesson: Sometimes I'd like to do more, to acheive more, but sometimes good enough is fine too. And also, stop comparing!
2) Two everyday players--Melky Cabrera and Robinson Cano--were having kind of lackluster seasons. They started working out with Alex Rodriguez and doing the things he does everyday, extra training, etc. They knew they had a great example right in their midst. These 2 players have become invaluable to the team.
Life lesson: There are a lot of great people I am surrounded by, and I hope to learn from them.
3) A rookie pitcher named Joba Chamberlin made healines this fall because one of the pitching trainers established a set of "Joba Rules" for using him in games. These are rules such as he can only pitch every other day, he can't come in relief in the middle of the inning, etc. As Joba has had successful outings, the rules have relaxed, and now Joe says they are going by pitch count to determine when he can play.
Life lesson: it's good to set some boundaries so you can perform to the best of your abilities. Don't overextend.
4) Joe gives everyone a chance to play. Only 2 regular starters were in last night's lineup.
Life lesson: I don't have to do everything myself, I can give the kids a chance to help me. So what if the bed isn't made how I would do it, they did it themselves and they are proud of it!
5) Enthusiasm is catching. After great plays, it's fun to watch certain players do their handshakes, jump up and down, tackle each other, etc.
Life lesson: Enthusiasm is catching!
Signs of Fall in our House
One favorite kindergarten assignment from years past was to look for signs of fall. Even though we have had 80 degree temperatures and high humidity for the past few days (and expected into the next few days), if you look closely you can see some signs of fall around our house.
1) Mark has made some serious resolutions as he said "September is the New January"
2) Kathryn has made one resolution --to not do dumb things this week like: get locked out, get a ticket, forget her AmEx AND Costco card when at Costco...
3) Kathryn and Josh are abandoning any plans to decorate for Halloween outside, and instead decorate for the Yankees outisde instead (Thanks to Matthew's preschool teacher Jaime for this idea)
4) The first bag of Brach's candy corn has been bought and devoured and used as bribes for nice behavior while taking Daddy to the train station.
5) Anticipating that as soon as we turn off the AC for the season, we will have about 3 days before it's time for the heat to come on.
6) Entertaining tired and cranky first grader with the Party City circular--which Halloween costume should we get?
7) Apples apples apples! (well, thinking about going apple picking)
8) Finally tiring of picking up of all the sundried and faded backyard toys, and putting them away in the garage along with Mt. TikiSoki and the little pool
9) Storing away little swimmers, sunscreen, beach towels and life jackets.
10) Putting away the baby's summer clothes and moving him into the next size, only to pull out the summer clothes again during the indian summer.
11) Planning for Mom and Susie's trip to NY for Thanksgiving!!! Planning for our overnight getaway while they are here!!!
12) Pulling out the few fall decorations we have and not doing anything with them until we wait until it gets cooler.
13) Setting up the DVR to tape our favorite shows. Yeah for premiere week!
A cookie recipe
I needed some theraputic baking time after a difficult morning. (traffic ticket, blah blah blah). These hit the spot. I think the kids will be excited when they get home from school to have them before we have to go pick up Josh's trumpet--that will be a post on it's own.
Monster Cookies (from Essential Mormon Celebrations Cookbook by Julie Badger Jensen)
I am giving you the whole recipe although I only made half...
1 1/2 c. butter or marg.
2 cups sugar
2 1/2 cups packed brown sugar
6 eggs
1 28 oz. jar peanut butter
2 Tbsp. light corn syrup
4 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons vanilla
9 cups oats (I used 3 cups of oats and 1 1/2 c. flour since I ran out of oats)
1 14 oz. package of M & Ms
In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugars. Mix in eggs, PB, corn syrup, baking soda, vanilla and oats. Stir in M & Ms. Bake at 350 for 9 minutes. Cool for 5 minutes before removing from baking sheet. Makes 4 dozen large cookies. (I made 4 doz. small cookies with half the batter).
A look at before and after
Powder Room Before
Kids Bathroom Before
Kids Bathroom Tub Before
Master Vanity Area Before
Master Before
Powder Room After--I wanted a beachy feel.
Kids Bathroom After
Kids Bathtub After
Master Vanity After
Master Vanity After
Master After
It took some great people to help us with the transformation from 70's style to today!
A sweet boy
This is Matthew on the train. Peggy found an engineer cap of Mark's and he tied a bandana around his neck. He loved the train ride.
His speech is great! His attitude is wonderful! His enthusiasm is contagious! His sensory things don't seem to bother him! He loves his new class at school. He loves friends! He loves his blanket.
Yesterday, he and his friend played puzzles for about an hour. They did several together and then several seperately. He loves to draw. He loves his sister. He loves to dress up with his sister (we have no photos of that, though). He loves to pray. He is at such a charming stage right now.
He picked out a beanie baby dinosaur. It's so ugly. I tried to sway him to a puppy or something more cuddly. No, he wanted this one. He's named it Roger.
A note on water
I am not writing this to make anyone feel bad. This is just simply my experience and "what's been on my mind" over the last couple of weeks.
We get messages all the time about drinking a lot of water and how important it is. I am a huge water drinker. I can get 8 glasses in no problem. I love water, it's my preferred beverage. Mark is a self-proclaimed "water struggler." He doesn't like the taste of water, and can't tolerate cold water. He likes his room temperature.
Mark found a solution to his water woes--he drinks a water with flavor. He likes orange and raspberry. I can't stand flavored water.
I am the type to bring home water bottles by the case every week or so and I buy the kids little waters to take to school. Caroline would bring her empty one home so she could recycle it since there wasn't a recycling option at school. In addition to 16 ounce bottles, I would buy bigger ones for the gym and gallons to put in the fridge.
So, while we are away, we hear a lot of hype about bottled water. How now everyone is buying water purification systems. We heard in the news that bottled water is not neccessarily better than tap water. We heard that all these empty bottles (which they say not to re-use because the plastic they are made from is not meant to be reused, etc.) are not being recycled and it's so bad for the environment etc.
So, I am trying to make little changes. I am taking my shopping bags to the store. My recycling bins are filled with more things than they used to be.
So I decided I am not going to try not buy bottled water anymore. I bought a water purification system. I found one that sits on the counter (or in our fridge too) that the kids can work it themselves. I put in one spot our random collection of plastic water bottles and we take those to the park or on outings. The kids' new lunchboxes came with refillable bottles. So I freeze it half-full the night before and top it off in the morning. It takes a little more work to get a cold drink of water. But it still tastes the same as pulling a water bottle out of the fridge.
So I am wondering as a PR person if this is all a campaign by the water purification people to sell more pitchers and filters?
Don't break our hearts
Dear New York Yankees,
You are doing so well! We love watching you play! We were so happy to see you win the last 2 games against the Mariners. Last night was especially exciting. Alex, it was amazing that you hit 2 home runs in the 7th inning. As you know, that hasn't happened since 1977 for a Yankee (although Josh told me that Magglio Ordonez of the Tigers did that this year). And Jose Molina! A HR for you, the back up catcher!!! And you really hustled on your second hit to make it a double.
Please keep playing so well. We don't want our hearts broken. Enjoy your day off.
Love, Kathryn and Josh
In my next life...
I think I might be a locksmith. They make a lot of money for a little amount of work!
We got locked out of our house this week. It was about 8:30 a.m. I was trying to keep Sam happy for a few minutes before his morning nap, so I went outside with the younger 3. Josh came out a few minutes later and closed the locked the door behind him.
Now I can't really blame it all on Josh. Our back door had a child-proofing knob turner on it to prevent Matthew from coming and going as he pleased. The knob made it difficult to pop out the lock. I was lazy, I just left the door ajar.
We went to our sweet neighbors and called the locksmith. Normally I would call Mark but he was unreachable at a company retreat in the Catskills. He is the only other person that had a key.
Sure enough, the locksmith arrived in 20 minutes. He had us in the house by drilling the lock 5 minutes after that. Five minutes after that he replaced the lock he broke to get us in.
I started crying when he told me the amount (which let's just say was a sizeable amount--more than the $100 or so I thought it might be). He said, why are you crying? I said I really wanted a new sofa, not a new lock.
He also said he found 6 other locks he'd be happy to change for us. AAAHH! I think I will take my chances on getting robbed by someone who may have a previous key.
I went to the hardware store and had keys made. A wonderful friend who is always reachable has one extra key and the other one I am wrapping in a ziploc and burying in the yard (at night). Don't buy a "rock key" Asher the locksmith advised, since the robbers know what the rock keys look like.
Good advice, Asher. Enjoy your vacation to Hawaii or where ever on my sofa money!
