We Got Him!

Around 11:30 Layne and I heard what sounded like something in the garage. When I closed the garage door, before I went to bed, I locked in a momma raccoon and four babies. Todd and Mitch were still up (they napped too long after church) and came in and asked what was on the front porch. We didn't realize that anything was going on out there so after we got everyone out of the garage we went and looked. Here is what we found. We have been trying to catch these little rascals for a month now. So, Layne and I headed out for a drive at 11:30 p.m. and dumped out the raccoon, who peed his pants in the back of the truck.

We got home at midnight and went to bed. At 1:00 a.m. Todd woke us up and said that he heard something on the front porch. So Layne got up and low and behold, raccoon #2. I want to point out that for a month we have tried our hardest to catch these raccoons that have been driving us crazy and instead, the only thing we've caught has been two (2) cats. Now, in the space of two hours we've caught two of the raccoons. At this point we were too tired to care so we left him there till morning and Layne took him to work in the back of the truck and dumped him out somewhere.

Last night I got home from Wal-Mart at 10:30 p.m. and when I pulled in what did I see on the porch? You guessed it, another dang raccoon! I couldn't tell if it was the momma that we still haven't caught, but it was too big to be one of the babies. The trap wasn't set last night so they got to roam around without worry.

Here is something funnier than raccoons.

I went out to check on Justin. When I opened the door I saw this.....

Here is the view from the other side....


He is the type to go and go and go and then crash wherever he is. I guess taking one more step to get into the cool house was just too much for the little guy.

Weekend Whereabouts

Well, since I posted last, Layne has been home again, gone again, and home again. We decided to make this past weekend nothing but family time.

Here are some highlights.

Todd's game.....

Todd's baseball team is doing great. They've only lost one game, by one. He plays second & short mostly, but now and then he'll get put in as pitcher. He might not be the fastest pitch on the team, but his accuracy is almost always on target.

He had to try out for the team this year. He was nervous, but he made it. I like that he is one of the younger players on this team. It makes him practice hard and learn new things. (#4)

Mitch's game.....

Mitch has had a good year in baseball too. He is at a level (coach pitch) that is more fun than competitive. He has out grown some of the tendencies that he had in T-ball. Like sliding into EVERY base, EVERY time because he liked to see the dirt fly and hear his mom yell at him. He is a good first baseman and is making some good tags and catches.

Sorry Judd, no game.....

Then there is Judd. He is only three and can't be on a team yet. He is a die hard fan though. As a matter of fact, his first words were, "Hey, batter, batter, batter". No kidding. He is as good hitting off the tee as he is off of any of us that will take the time to throw to him. Maybe we'll be able to sneak him on a team next year.

That brings us to Saturday. It is the only day on our calendar for the month of May that didn't have anything written on it! It felt like heaven. Layne got home Friday night so Saturday afternoon we loaded up the bikes and headed for the bike trails. We have access to some awesome biking trails here. We went 9 miles and decided that we needed to get home for dinner. Okay, Layne and I decided that we were ready to go home for dinner. The kids could go clear down to KY if we would let them.

So there you have it. Last month was hard to blog. Too many things going on for a 'part-time single mom'. But the craziest month of the year is over (Yahoo!), Layne is home for a while (Yahoo!), and now Judd has what he calls "his friends" home from school for the next couple months (Yahoo!).

I took this picture eariler this spring, but I always get a laugh when I look at it. Looks like one of those Cingualr commercials, doesn't it? Even though it looks like I have a 'full signal' I usually have to say things over and over before even one of them hears me. (a guy thing?)

Clean Up Everyone!

He's coming home! I tend to go into 'vacation mode' when Layne leaves for two or more weeks. He and his biker buddies got some tests done early, so they will get home sooner than we thought. Don't get me wrong, we are pumped that he'll get to be home a couple more days than we thought, before he has to take off again next week, but it sure gets my heart pumping knowing that I need to get my cleaning crew together and bring back our Home Sweet Home.

Thankfully our kids ended up with Layne's cleaning gene and can out clean any crew from Merry Maids. One thing I have noticed is that the house doesn't get as cluttered as it did when they were smaller. Probably because we aren't home as much as we used to be. So the dusting, vacuuming, sweeping, and bathroom scrubbing gets done pretty quick with all of us helping.

We missed our dad. The kids missed playing ball and working with him in the yard. I missed another person with a drivers license. Okay, I missed him for more than that. I hate hauling the garbage up to the road on Wednesday mornings. I know some of you missed him too because if you called me you ended up having an eternal phone call while I tried to talk to you about anything and everything, just so I could talk to an adult.

Here is something that I thought was just too cute. Thanks Dad for being so cool. And thanks Marcee for snapping a pic and sending it to us. Layne said his buddies thought that was really fun.

Hard Day at Work

Layne is gone for three weeks. When the kids were little this translated into, 'Yahoo! Lay back and take it easy, we'll clean up later'. A mini vacation of sorts.

Now it means: baseball four days a week (usually two kids need to be in two different towns at the same time), end of the year school concerts, piano recitals, piano lessons, tests, field days, scouts, mutual, stake youth activities, yard work, gardening, .... okay, you get the idea.

I guess all jobs need a perk here and there and right now he needed to do some "tests" on the next Gold Wing that will be taking him all over North West America. Something about the high altitude....right. (j/k, I believe him.) He even has his trip planned to go though Mud Lake, Idaho so he can get his mom to make him and his biker buddies dinner.

Honestly, it would be awesome to ride that beautiful bike up the West Coast, down into West Yellowstone, and all those beautiful places that we miss, living here in Ohio. So bike on Layner! I already miss ya. While I'm running like a chicken with its head cut off, I'll open the windows in the van and pretend I'm on the back of that bike with you with the wind blowing through my hair.

Little of This....Little of That

(yes, this is our tree)

It is sure nice to have the trees come back to life. Our forests of gray & brown are now being replaced with multiple colors of green and lots and lots of beautiful blossoms everywhere. For our family it is a little bitter-sweet. We all, except for Josie & Justin, look and feel like crap. With all the new beauty comes full blown allergies. We'll be okay in about four weeks.

Thankfully most all of our problems deals with tree pollen and we are good till fall when the weeds that bug us get yucky. Todd has a couple more funny things that he's allergic to though. Like pig dander and cockroaches. I've never seen any cockroaches so he's good there, but he does share a room with Mitch so there isn't too much we can do about his allergies with pigs.

On another, much sweeter, subject....here is Josie's first quilt she's ever made all by herself.

She made it to take to girls camp. I showed her the concept of the 'strip method' and left her with a box of scrap fat quarters (small pieces of fabric for any non-quilter types). I think she did an awesome job. She thought it would be fun to be able to have her friends from camp be able to sign the back of it, kind of like the kids do with t-shirts. Good job, Josie!

They have arrived.

The day has come. The day I wait for from early October till late April.

My first watermelon of the year.

I could (and have) eat a whole watermelon all by myself. All through the winter I see the tiny ones that look like a little green Nerf balls. Sometimes I smell them to see if there is any fragrance to remind me of the best days of eating. But I always wait. I want a big one. Seeds or no seeds, they are all such a treat.

Rereading this makes me wonder if I might be a little obsessed with this perfect fruit, but I'd rather consider it more of a passion. Who wouldn't be in awe of such a wonderful creation?

This watermelon was delicious and I can't wait for them to even get better as the season progresses.

So here is a salute to the Lycopene packed, juicy perfection we call watermelons.