JONAH AT BAT!

One thing I have learned over the years is there is no way to measure the love you have for your children. I am amused daily by small things they say or do. In the past several months I have watched Christian grow and change in so many positive ways. Our relationship has been amazing. In the last few weeks I watched my little buddy Max, go off to school and not look back. He is so confident and happy he goes to school with a smile and comes home excited. I can not believe what a big boy he has become.
I was expecting those changes what I haven't expected is to watch the drive and determination that has come over Jonah. Jonah is so mellow and easy going, so imaginative a dreamer. I just wasn't expecting this. This year when Jonah went to school he must have taken a little something with him. He has so much effort and drive. When we decided to coach fall ball, Jonah asked if he could play. I was a bit concerned for a couple of reasons: Jonah would be the youngest by more than a year, Jonah hasn't really grown much in the last two years and finally it is hard to be in with a group of boys who are as close to eachother as Christians friends are. I was not worried the would be mean, quite the opposite, all the boys are our church kids and they are sweet and kind. What surprised me most in practice was Jonah's hustle and drive. He was not going to let a mistake happen on his side of the field. I was unprepared for who he would become in a game. Jonah was the kid on the field who called out the plays, he encouraged the pitchers and kept the mood positive on the field. When Jonah got up to bat for the first time ever hitting off a "kid" pitcher he looked at that first pitch, swung his bat around and jacked the ball to left field. I came unglued! I went postal with enthusiasm and excitement. I was more than proud. He went on to walk, be hit by a pitch and strike out but inside he never gave up. When Christian was pitching he was at first and as Christian walked back onto the mound Jonah gave him a few secret hand signals (who knows what they meant) but Jonah was in charge of the field yesterday and I was already so proud of him, today I was shocked because I have never seen that intensity in him. Jonah my sweet mannered, loving, fool hearted boy was a super hero yesterday actually he is a super hero everyday you just never know in what form he will take shape!

First Week

Well the first full week back to school went well. They boys are two weeks into piano and sports. Things are moderately hectic around here but alarmingly quiet and calm when the kids are gone. I am trying really hard to keep on task and not Laze about while they are gone and I am also trying hard not to do too much. BALANCE. I am not sure I know what that means as I have been moving full speed ahead for the last 10 years.
I picked up a few hours at the library over the next couple of weeks which is nice. I forget how much I like working there. I always come home in a good mood and energized. I had to get dinner together before I left yesterday so work wouldn't throw a kink in the routine. That was ok because I would much rather have dinner ready when we all get home then rush around and eat late.
Chris and I are both working this weekend and we have games. Christian serves this Sunday for the first time since he broke his leg. I think he is excited. The Seahawks play on Sunday and other than that it should be pretty quiet.
Lets hope the rest of the year stays this calm for the Duvalls. Everyone knows last year was anything but calm. I am hoping for the best and if the first week is any indication, it will be a great year!

A Day at the Spa

Oh my, What a nice day. I got a coffee, hopped in the car and took off for a nice day. I had never had a massage before and it was really nice. It was difficult to stand up after though and I really had to come back to reality. I then had a pedi and hair cut which was nice. I promised one more hair dresser that I would stop doing my own hair and this time, I kind of half mean it. After I was back in the real world I went to the grocery store and picked up a pizza for the boys. I was so tired. I had a hard time waiting up for Chris' phone call at 8pm. I climbed in bed and passed out. I can't usually sleep when he is gone but I was full on tired. Must be the after effects of spa day. Chris comes home tonight and we have baseball practice Saturday and two games on Sunday! Should be a blast. Christian is beyond excited! Jonah and Christian are matching today at school. I love it. Max is not trying very hard on his piano so I have to go motivate him. A Mom's job is never done.

Today is the first day of the rest of my life!

I can't believe it. I am beside myself getting my kids ready for school today.
Max, my first grade boy is so cute. Yesterday for meet the teacher he dressed in a three piece suit and brought the teacher roses from our yard. (all his idea)
Jonah, I can't believe he is in third grade. I remember my third grade year with Mrs. Lee vividly. It is such an exciting time.
Christian, Holy Cow is in the fourth grade. It is amazing to me that I am here. He is such a mature young boy. He wanted to see his old teacher, his music teacher and of course, the P.E. teacher.

As for me, I have coffee scheduled with a girlfriend, then I am meeting a couple of girls for lunch and mani's. I love it. I can't believe it. Tomorrow, I am spending the day a Gene Juarez for a massage, pedi and hair cut! Ok, so this isn't really going to be my life but for right now it feels great. I will get stuff done next week and I will be perfectly relaxed to do so.

Chris is in Wyoming until Friday. I think he is building a hotel or something. He will be back in time for a full weekend of Baseball. Sunday we have two double headers and the boys are so excited to play (especially Christian). I am feeling particularly blessed today!

I will miss my kids while they are at school and I am not sure how well I am going to handle it in the long run. My Max and I are so used to paling around. What will I do. I am so thankful we had a calm summer where we all just hung out with each other. It was fabulous. On to my new life with three school age Children. Should I get a job??????

Gen Pehlivanian DAY!

Low and behold we spent a day together with no SNOW

My Baby

Last night was another earlier bed time, which I even had to fight Chris for. The kids were enjoying watching the Seahawks and the big bad mommy put them to bed. Max went in his room and laid with his head propped up at the bottom of his bed so he could still see the T.V. Obviously, he fell asleep like that. He brought me back to a time long since forgotten of cribs and babies. As he laid there behind the bars all I could see was my baby. His face when he sleeps is just like when he was a baby. It is so crazy. I think I may be getting a little uncomfortable with the fact my kids are growing up and I will be home all day alone. I am half excited and half terrified. I know, maybe I will just have another baby........................or not.

Getting into a school routine.

The count down to the big day has started. Next Wednesday is the big day. The kids find out tomorrow who their teachers are and what class they are in. Very stressful, the whole weight of their school social life is determined in this one moment. Hehehehe. In the summer Chris argues with me about the kids bed time. So now, I have to re train my children. Showers, jammies, brush teeth, and in bed at a reasonable time etc. etc. Jonah has been working very hard on being ready for school. Last night he was sitting on the chair watching Top Chef reruns with us, I looked over and saw a string dangling from his mouth, it started at his teeth breaking of into two lengths, both sides twirled and twisted, cascading down, down, down until a good portion of the "string" was laying in two directions on the floor. I said "Jonah what are you doing? What is that?" "Mom, I am flossing my teeth." I just about peed my pants at the realization and had to get the camera. I buy the kids the animal individual teeth flossers. The dentist gives them regular floss and Jonah used it. He used it all as you can see. The pic is blurry b/c it is from Chris' phone cam. Enjoy.......

It is 7:43 am and the boys are in the front yard playing baseball. They woke up ate breakfast and got right outside to play. Maybe they realize school will be coming soon and they need to get all their playing time in. I have really enjoyed how well the boys are getting along lately. I just love watching them all play happily together and I can honestly see the blessing of having three boys so close together. They really are great friends. Yesterday they set up chairs in the yard so the neighbors could watch their game. Oddly enough they did. It was a funny sight to see.


MAX JUST HIT AN INSIDE THE YARD HOME RUN!!!!!


I am still a little nervous about the school year. I am really going to miss the kids. We have had a great summer just hanging out together and I love it. It is such a blessing that I haven't had to work while they were young. Oh well enough of that mushy stuff. Tanya is coming over today and I am so excited. It will be the third time I have seen her this week. Yeah!

Hangin' with my Cuz...

This last week was nice and unexpected. My cousin Tanya just moved home after living all around the last few years. She and her family just moved back from Georgia. We went to visit her a couple of time. Chris, the boys and I went out on Saturday and we all went four wheelin'. The kids loved it. It is so nice to have some family around. Tanya's daughter is adorable. We had burgers and just relaxed and enjoyed the beautiful view. I think she took pics, I will post them as soon as I get them.

Stuff

Oh my! Another week of summer gone by. The boys are out in the drive way playing basketball which just reminded me that sports will be starting up again soon. I procrastinated on signing the kids up for soccer because of Christian and his re-occurring broken leg. Now no one is signed up at all and it is too late. The boys did golf a lot this summer so I am just going to sign them up for the kid golf program here at Mt. Si. Then Basketball. Jonah really likes basketball and seeing Max out there blocking him is just cracking me up. He can finally play this year. The problem I have with basketball is that it really cuts in to our skiing time. This all brings us to the point.....who has time for all of this?

This summer has been so nice and calm. I have been hiding away in my house, sleeping in and taking it easy. Chris and I have just been chillin with the fam on weekends and I just love it. My friends are beginning to think I am a recluse....don't worry I will be back in action soon. School starts in just 16 days and I will be on my own.....I wonder should I get a job? I think Chris wants me to but I am finally loving the fact that for the first time in a million years I have some time to myself.

Goals for the future: learn to golf and to become an even more amazing sno-boarder than I already am (heehee). I think I am going to take on more hours at the library to make up the difference.
Oh well, I looked at the calendar this week and for the first time ever I have not one thing on it all week. (except Seahawks) No wonder I am dreading getting back in the swing of things, I am loving the pace we are keeping these days. I am just rambling now. The only pic I have to share today is Max on his birthday. He got a dirt bike and loved it. I tried teaching him how to ride but I just made the bike back heavy and we did pop-a-wheelies down the whole street. Ooops.

Tid BIts

Well, things have been pretty mellow around here and I love it. The kids and I have just been hanging out without a lot of "things to do". We went to my friend Gen's yesterday and the kids ran around and played all day. I only see Gen a couple times a year but the kids always pick up just where they left off and they play! I love it. Gen has been doing a lot of beautiful work to her house so I was really happy to see that. She is practically perfect in every way, which tends to make me want to vomit....Love her.
Christian has been working really hard at getting back in shape. He has started running around the block. I never let the kids go past our driveway (and Mrs. Tubbs Driveway) so this is a big thing for me. I know he is almost 10 years old. When I was 10 I walked myself to and from school. I had an afternoon babysitting job and everything. I know I shelter my kids a lot but I don't want anything bad to happen to them.
On that note it has really been hitting me hard lately that all three boys will be gone everyday and all day. Max was wondering if he gets his second breakfast at school. I said no, you just get lunch. He said "Thats ok, how many lunches do I get?" I said only one. He was shocked and apalled..."What about in second grade, do I get two lunches in second grade?" That kid is non stop when it comes to food.
I don't know what I am going to do with myself all day. For now, I will just go help Jonah with his piano.

King County Max Library

The King County Max Library is open for business. Max worked very hard along with his assistant Jonah to bring to life a Duvall family library complete with a circulation desk and everything. I love it. The kids have always talked about being engineers like their Dad. This is the first time they have ever shown interest in something I do. YEAH. Plus, I love that they are motivated to read and love books. Be aware that they do charge a penny a book, after all not everything in life is free. My little entrepreneur librarians....

Holy Cow the laundry room is clean!

Most people don't even know I have a back bathroom/laundry room. I always have it closed up and the sink has been broken forever. This week I decided to add plumber to my extensive resume. The main bathroom sink was clogged so I tore that apart and fixed it. I was on a confidence high! So, I decided to tackle the beast in the back. I tore the sink apart and fixed it too. Then I actually cleaned the laundry room which tends to second as the "room of requirement" or catch all to everything that has no home. I figured this was one opportunity to see it clean and organized so I thought I would share. Unfortunately it is so small a picture was difficult but here it is.

Seawaks and the Duvall Boys

macaroni man

Jonah

Christian

We woke up this morning and were on the road by 7:30- Destination...another Seahawks training camp. The boys and their friends were all loaded up in my car excited about what was to come. I told them not to get too excited because we weren't sure who would be there. They all wanted to meet Shaun Alexander of course, but he doesn't do too many signings. After practice they did a 30min signing for kids 12 and under only. We were about 10th in line (early birds). The kids were watching and waiting too see who would do the signings. Jordan Babineaux, Deion Branch, Nate Burleson, Seneca Wallace, Rob Sims, Jordan Kent, CJ Wallace, Marcus Pollard, Patrick Kerney, Lofa Tatupu and the last person to sit down was of course Mr. Shaun Alexander. It was difficult to get pictures because I had seven kids with me but also because as soon as Jonah walked up to Shaun the T.V. Cameras went nuts. I was actually elbowing my way with camera men to get shots of the kids (they actually said no pictures but I had to bring Dana proof). Jonah is sure he is going to be on TV tonight. We will be watching all the local chanels and of course the Seahawks Training Camp show. The boys asked questions and talked to all the players. I was proud of the kids for asking good questions. They are always very nice to the kids which makes it all worth while. Ian, one of the boys I took, said it was the best day of his life. I love it.

GO SEAHAWKS

What does Tom Ashworth, Baraka Atkins, Josh Brown,Bryce Fisher, Marcus Green, DJ Hackett, Walter Jones, and Floyd Womack all have in common.

I will tell you. Saturday the Seahawks hosted a scrimmage game at Memorial field. The boys and I positioned ourselves to first in line for the autograph session that included over 20 Seahawks for our section. The guys were so awesome, they talked to the kids asked them questions and one of them was teasing Christian about breaking his leg playing kickball. Josh Brown asked Max if he road dirt bikes (he was wearing a Fox shirt he got for his b day) Max said yes and Josh (we're on a first name basis) talked to him about riding four wheelers. Christian told Walter Jones he was his Dad's favorite. It was awesome! Chris got left in the crowd and eventually made it up to the table to meet WJ. Of course the rules were strict, you could only have one autograph per player and since they were trying to keep the lines moving there was a no picture rule. I AM NOT LYING!

So the answer is: all those guys got to meet my wonderful children!!!

Tomorrow the Seahawks are having an open practice at UW and doing a special autograph signing just for kids. I am taking the boys and a couple of their friends. I hope the will let us take pictures this time b/c I know that Dana is talking smack about me behind my back and doesn't believe a word I SAY!!!!

Oh yeah the pic is Christian in an authentic Josh Brown and Mac Strong jersey.

Happy Birthday MAX!!!!

Ok, this is a picture of Max from a year ago but it is all that I hadn on my computer. Anyway, Max is the cutest kid in the world.

10 Years

I can't believe Chris and I were married 10 years ago today. As my wonderful friend pointed out to me at 7:30 this morning, that is a third of my whole life. I am so blessed that I have a successful marriage and family. Chris and I met when we were young and just jumped in and never looked back. I am always surprised with the divorce rate what it is it could have go ne a whole different way. Chris is awesome, he is the BEST Dad ever. He is kind, honest, hardworking, passionate, strong etc. etc. So, I thought I would try to come up with a top 10 highlight. The kids obviously are the greatest highlights of our marriage but here are a few more.

1. Honeymoon

2. Chris'graduation (So stinkin proud)

3. The Day we bought this house.

4. Our hammock and margarita's

5. Gin Rummy/Risk.....I love to win!

6. My Mother's day breakfasts.

7. Our trip to Hawaii (a moment alone)

8. Our late night talks

9. I love making Chris laugh, it doesn't happen often (heehehehehe)

10. There are so many favorite days, golf day, our bike ride, our walks, Mt. Si, Rattlesnake, on and on so my 10th favorite thing is that there could never in a million years be only 10

Happy Anniversary.......