Plus & Minus

Bailey was sick all day today. Her tummy was not feeling well and she threw up several times. Here she is with two of her Pokemon. Their names are Plusal (+) and Minum (-).

Group Hug?

Natalie gets a group hug!

Joseph's New Haircut?

Do you like this style?

Bailey Plays 1st Base

Bailey attempts to catch the ball at first base. She spent the evening chasing after all of the balls that she missed.

Bailey at Bat

Bailey takes a swing at the ball at tonight's game. The coach pitches 3 balls to each kid and if they don't hit one, they have to hit off the T. Bailey finally hit a pitched ball tonight.

Richmond Trip

Mallory, Natalie and I went off to Richmond Saturday evening after dinner with the family. Richmond is about an hour and 45 minutes away, so we got there about 8:00pm. The three of us checked out our room and then took a walk around downtown. We were looking for a corner store where we might be able to get some groceries for breakfast and lunch the next day, but everything was closed. The hotel had a shuttle bus and we were able to get the driver to take us to Krogers. When we got back to the room, Mallory was hoping to go swimming in the indoor pool with Natalie. But, when I called the front desk, they said that the pool was closed for a week for renovations. So we settled into bed and watched the History channel until we fell asleep. Mallory had to get a her volleyball tournament, in the convention center across the street from the hotel, at 8:15am. That was a main reason we drove up the night before, so we didn't have to get up at 5:15am in order to get to Richmond so early. The tournment was a huge disapointment for Mallory. It was the team's last tournament, she is one of their stronger players, but she barely played at all. We are not sure that she will play on a tournament team next year.

Jury Duty

I have been on call twice a week for the month of April for jury duty in the city where I live. Up until this week, my group had not yet been needed. Monday evening, I called and found out that my group had been called to report for duty Tuesday morning. I had planned on taking Bailey to Kindergarden registration that morning, but I hoped that I would be done in time to catch the evening session. I could have registered her any time, but the school lets the kids ride a school bus and visit the classrooms if you come on the scheduled day.

So, off I went to the courthouse. The jurors that reported that day were divided into two groups. Our group of 15 ended up waiting about 2 hours before we were ushered off to one court room. The other group had gone to another court room about an hour before. Once there, we had to at least another 45 minutes in a back room before we went back into the court room. Then we had to answer questions from the lawyers so they could decide which of us to keep and which to send home. I of course, got select to stay. By that time, it was 12:30 so the judge called a recess for lunch. We had to be back at 1:45. Opening statements finally started at 2:00. We already knew that time point that the trial was not going to last only one day. At 5:00, the judged again called a recess until 9:00am Thursday.

I picked Bailey up at her preschool around 5:15, picked Mallory and her boyfriend up at his house, ran by the house to get the papers I needed for the registration at school and dropped Mallory and Adam off at the baseball field to watch Joseph's game. Bailey and I made it to the school just a few minutes after the session started and she got to ride the bus. She said that it was big and very bouncy.

We got started around 10:00 that day and recessed for lunch at 12:15. Sensing many impending motions after lunch, we were instructed to take a long lunch break and return at 2:00. We waited around again and finally got back into the court room at 3:00. We were starting to think that we'd be back for another day, when the defense finally rested and both lawyers made their closing statements. We went back to deliberate a little after 4:00 and came back with our decision around 5:20. I had an interesting time, but the case we were stuck listening too was very boring.

It took living here 13 years before I got called the first time and no one is called more than once every three years, so it will be interesting to see when I get called again.

Bowling and Pizza

The kids plus Mallory's boyfriend, Adam, and I all went Bowling on Sunday afternoon. We had a blast! Mallory, Adam & I bowling on a lane without bumpers and the rest of the kids bowled with bumpers. No one did very well but we still had a great time. I didn't get a strike until the very last game, but then I got two in a row. I usually get a couple of strikes a game. It's been too long since we bowled last, my back is killing me today. We ate pizza, nachos & cheese fries for lunch.

Natalie and Bailey both fell asleep on the way home. I left them asleep in the car, it was nice and cool outside, while I mowed the lawn. Taylor wanted to help, so she mowed half of the front yard. Since we had a late lunch, everyone just had cereal for dinner. I vegged out and watched TLC and played with photos taken at bowling, until I went to bed.

NutraWatch

I found a cool website that lets you keep a daily food log and it tracks calories, fat, protein, carbs, sodium & cholesterol. It's http://www.nutrawatch.com/. Check it out!

Organized Chaos?

Today was a very busy day for the Stratton family. It started at 4:35am when a rain storm woke me up. Joe was supposed to get up at 4:00am, but I hadn't set the alarm correctly, so it hadn't gone off like it should have. He left at 5:00am to drive most of the way to New Orleans where he will be until the end of the week.

I went back to sleep until 6:15am when I had to get up so I could drop Mallory off at the high school by 7:00am. She had an all day volleyball tournament in Williamsburg. Then back home to get Joseph and Bailey ready for baseball & t-ball. I dropped them off with a friend of mine at the ball field at 8:30am for games at 9:00am & 11:00am. Next I dropped Natalie off at 9:00am at a friend's house for the day. I have the best friends.

Then I took Taylor to her volleyball game at 10:00am, she had to be there at 9:30am. I got to watch one game and then I was off to work BINGO. I started today as team manager so had to be there an hour earlier than normal. One of Taylor's teammate's mom brought her home. Rachel had a volleyball game at 1:00pm and was picked up by another mom around 12:00pm and she got back home around 2:30pm.

My friend brought Joseph & Bailey home after Rachel got back home. Rachel made pancakes and sausage for dinner. I finished up with BINGO around 5:30pm, picked Natalie up on my way home and got home around 6:15pm. I cleaned the kitchen and family rooms and then relaxed and watch some TV for the rest of the evening until it was time to take Adam home.

Then I went to bed.

Thank You Mary!

Natalie spent the day with a friend while everyone else had something to do.

Baseball is Here!

Joseph has his first baseball game of the season last night. I had to be at gymnastics with Bailey and Mallory was tired after having spent the night riding home from Orlando, FL with the HS band, so her boyfriend stayed with Joseph during his game. This year Joseph moved up to kid-pitch, but the first few games are coach-pitch while they get back into the swing of it. Joseph hit a single, a double and a triple. It's supposed to get harder to get hits once the kids start pitching, since they are not as accurate as the coaches.

Taylor also had a gymnastics meet on Sunday. She, Natalie and I drove up to Fredericksburg Satuday afternoon and spent the evening shopping at Potomac Mills. She did very good at the meet as always. 

Taylor played in her first volleyball game Saturday morning. The team lost the first game, won the second game and lost the third game by two points. 

Ouch!!!

Taylor came home from school today with an ear infection. It has been years since she had one. She said that it hurt this morning, but that it didn't get real painful until after she was at school. Joe picked her up from school and took her to the urgent care center to get her some a/bs. She is resting now, but still in a lot of pain. Hopefully, she will feel better by Sunday as she's got a gymnastics meet in Stafford, VA.

Peek-a-Boo

While I wasn't looking, Natalie somehow managed to crawl up onto this box under my desk.

Busy Weekend

This weekend was unusually busy, even for us. Saturday we had three different things going on, some at the same time. Taylor had a gymnastics meet from 7:30am to 12:30pm if you include warmups and award ceremony. Mallory had a two day volleyball tournament, which started Saturday from 12:30pm - 10:30pm including travel time to Williamsburg. Joe spent most of Saturday at Opening day ceremonies with Bailey (t-ball), Joseph (baseball) & Rachel (volleyball) from 10:45am - 3:45pm. Plus I dropped Taylor off with him after she was done with her meet so Natalie and I could take Mallory to her tournament. This morning Joe dropped Mallory off at the HS at 6:10am so she could get a ride to the tournament with her coach because I had to work BINGO and could not take her. The team ended up in the loser's bracket after yesterday's round of play, but ended up coming in second place there today. See pictures below.

Trash Baby?

Natalie is as bad as the dog when it comes to emptying trashcans. Here she looks at me like she's saying - aren't I just too cute?

Taylor at Gymnastics

Taylor had a gymnastics meet Saturday morning. She had to be there at 7:30am. She had her best day yet, with a combined score of 36.5. She scored higher in all events: Vault (9.55), Beam (9.4), Floor (9.05) & Bars (8.55). Way to go Taylor!!!

Mallory at Volleyball

Mallory had a volleyball tournament this weekend in Williamsburg. Natalie and I went to watch her on Saturday. She played great and is really improving her game.