BATTER UP!

OK, I may be a bit biased here but...

aren't these just the CUTEST baseball players you've seen?!

This was the first year we had two ball players going at the same time. Kyle assistant coached Collin's team and coached Brody's team while I ran around shuttling, filling water bottles and snacks and trying to keep track of baseball hat and gloves.  At this stage, it's a pretty short season and we've already wrapped up for the year. Thanks to Kyle (and his color coded schedule- ha!) for who goes where, what field, if we were scheduled to do the score book or bring snacks, the games and practices went smoothly (although a little more sunshine would have been appreciated!)

Collin enjoyed every minute of the camaraderie with his teammates and getting out there on the field. He had a great coach which helped grow him and his abilities.  After a shaky start to hitting, Kyle had his right handed little man batting left handed and hitting the ball. Yes, his daddy that gloats about being a lefty was mighty proud. Great job, Collin!

Brody thrives in this atmosphere of sports and seemed right at home on the field. I imagine I have many of years sitting and cheering on this little man. All coaches were in agreement that he will get bumped up next year. Way to go, Brody!!

Here are a few snapshots from the season...

Celebrate Good Times

We couldn't be more proud of our little guys who have worked hard this year. We've plowed through materials and curriculum and have begun to wrap up a few. We pause to celebrate them!

Brody has mastered the ABC's; names, sounds and starting to blend together and begin reading. I have to say, one of my favorite parts of teaching in the classroom was taking children who didn't know how and teach them to read and write. I cannot tell you what a privilege it is to have the opportunity to do that with my own little guy. This little mama is tickled to see him so eager to learn and take initiative to master each new skill.

Brody got to choose what he wanted to do as his celebration and he wanted to eat out at Red Robin and watch the new movie HOP.

Cheers!! Well done little man!

The week following, Collin completed the entire set of readers for the year. Starting the year, this was NOT his favorite subject but has begun to fall in love with it. We added up all the pages he read independently and the grand total was over 1500 pages!

Collin is growing in so many ways but we wanted to make sure we take some time to enjoy this accomplishment. Swimming was his activity of choice. And thanks to Groupon, we bought their Clackamas Aquatic Park coupon already so we were good to go!

They were so worn out but had a BLAST...here is an "after" picture.

Awesome job Collin!

So blessed to have this teaching "job" and these darling boys! We are so proud of them!

Ahhh, Life With Boys #6

We are "traveling" around the world giving this curriculum a whirl. When we found ourselves knee deep in Italy. Europe, in general, makes my heart beat a little faster and add my bit of Italian heritage and I'm hooked. But what caught my boys attention out of all of it, you ask?

It wasn't testing out Michealangilo's upside down painting methods or being exposed to great works of art like the statue of David (although many giggles were had when they realized the dude was naked). It wasn't paying a fortune for imported goods to create an authentic Italian feast for the family. It wasn't using new materials and creating a replica of the Roman Coloseeum (although their lego men DID enjoy being gladiators for the day).

Nope...a little clay volcano was their height of interest. After learning about Mt. Versuvius and it's explosion over Pompeii, I mentioned as a side note that we would give our modeling clay volcanoes a shot at exploding on Friday after they had time to dry. EVERY DAY, little hands tested those volcanoes, eyes inspected, pitiful pleas were heard to give them a try just a little early.

It was torture but Friday finally came...

Ahhh, Life With Boys!

Project Simplify: Hot Spot #1

I am linking up to a great blog I love to follow called Simple Mom . Over the next few weeks, she has encouraged others to take on different "hot spots" in our home that need decluttering, cleaning and organizing. Click the link on the right if you want to know more about it and join in.

I was MORTIFIED when I saw what the first hot spot was going to be. I would have been fine if I had to show you a picture of my counter tops, desk, entry, cabinets, etc but my WARDROBE....UGH! It is in dire need of some attention. You may never look at me the same! :)

Here it goes - the before picture

Okay, now that the secret is out that I'm not the tidy one in the family, i humbly went to work not leaving a single item unturned.

Here's my proof:

I went through her strict criteria to determine what I needed to toss, sell/donate or keep. I cringe seeing all those clothes in good condition sitting in my "donate" pile (see below). My idea of a good time is NOT clothes shopping. I'm never the size I want to be, it always costs more than i want to spend, and at the end of the day I'd much rather buy something for my boys than me! Pitching the clothes makes me take a hard look at what is really in there! Many of these clothes hadn't been worn in years! If I was being honest, it was long overdue for them to go. I have to say, after they were gone, it felt great!

An unexpected perk was I solved the mystery of why i never have enough hangers to hang up our laundry...they MAY have been in the back of the closet (and that was only MY side **ha**)

The after shot:

Hot spot #1 conquered!! Stay tuned next Friday for hot spot #2 before and after!

Ahh, Life With Boys #5

In the madness of the morning of school projects...Brody and Mama are busy sifting through various letters and their sounds when they finish on the letter which is the focus for the week...the letter U.

Brody points out some pictures that match to the sound while Mama nods in encouragement.

Even though Mama KNOWS she will lose her little men's concentration in seconds, she can't help herself. She leans over with a twinkle in her eye and whispers...

"You know what else the letter U starts?"

Suddenly both boys stop; curious by the hushed tones.

Mama leans in the as if to reveal the most tight kept secret of all time...

"Underwear"

Belly laughs and squeals fill the room and all learning is lost for the moment.

One simple word...so hilarious!

Ahhhh, life with boys!

Big Changes

Announcing a first in the Fischer house...

After years of working in an office building, sharpening his talents, and carving out a career and name for himself...

Kyle recently took a new job that not only has tremendous potential for career growth but also will allow him to work from home.

We are very proud of him!! (notice his press release below)

Life looks a little different around here now. We've been painting, reorganizing, and preparing the way for this new adventure.

There are not many people we would willingly give our school room up for but we kind of like having the big guy around.

What used to look like this...

Now looks like this...fully equipped with the essential candy bowl that was the highlight of when the boys came to visit daddy's office! Collin made sure to get it stocked for him.

After trying to shove our school supplies into a closet with no success...

We were FORCED :-) to go on an IKEA spree and came up with this solution. It works out perfect except for the aching back Kyle had after hours of assembling (thanks, K!). What do you think?



We are all working from home now... in different avenues but as a unit.
What an exciting season of life!


Check Out The Press Release About Kyle's New Position:

Taylor Brands Appoints Director of Product SportsOneSource
Media Posted: 3/1/2011 Taylor Brands, the maker of
cutlery products, announced that Kyle Fischer has been appointed director of
product. Fischer was most recently category manager-tools for Fiskars
Outdoors-Gerber Legendary Blades.Taylor Brands makes cutlery products under the
Schrade, Uncle Henry, Old Timer, Smith & Wesson, U.S. Army, Boy Scouts of
America, and Primo's names.He has also held senior level positions at Scott's
Miracle-Grow and The Garden Grow company. Fischer will oversee the development
and execution of various product lines for Taylor. In addition to this he will
lead product strategies and a robust consumer research initiative. Fischer
will report to Jody Agnew, Vice President of Sales. "Taylor Brands LLC
continues to invest in our business and in our great retail partners," said
Agnew. "Kyle has a broad background that ranges from forecasting, supply chain /
manufacturing management, product development, and marketing. He has an amazing
attention to detail and the ability to make rational decisions while always
keeping the end consumer in mind. These skills will not only help our
organization internally-it will prove invaluable while planning our continued
growth with our customers' business."

http://www.sportsonesource.com/index.asp

Love is...

... a Lego heart built by an 8 year old little boy!

Happy Belated Valentines Day

Calling All Readers...

Hello???

Anyone still out there?!

Where does the time go! I am excited to say, that despite the craziness of life, I think I have found some time to write. And, oh, have I missed it. I love to write. It may be random, but look out baby, I'm coming back into the blogging world! Stay tuned! More posts to come!

In the meantime...a random picture of us exploring Fort Stevens.

It was raining...shocking, i know! :)