Here's what happened

In honor of my birthday I started writing a list of my 32 favorite things. I got distracted half way through and I am back 9 days later....Oh well. Things have been crazy as usual. Christian and Jonah both had tournaments this weekend. Christian's team did really well and took 3rd which is the best they have done so far. Jonah's team had a rough go with several bad calls and a little hitting slump but that is the way baseball goes.

I have been working a ton. We are leaving town for a baseball tournament on Friday and Max turns 7 on Sunday. Crazy. The boys start golf camp next week which is different from baseball so that is cool. Christian starts football on the 11th but first both boys have one final baseball tournament. So, I am thinking my life will resemble some sort of normalcy on the 11th. I am hoping football will be less taxing than baseball but the reality is they practice everyday too.

Chris and I are coming up on our 11 year anniversary which is crazy. Of course we will be at baseball but it is a nice milestone anyway.

Well, I will try to post more often.

32 Favorite Things

1. My Family (Chris, Christian, Jonah and Max)

2. My Friends, I am so thankful I have so many great friends

3. Tanya, she gets her own line b/c I am thrilled she moved back this year and she has been so amazing to me and my family.

4. Diet Coke without it, I would be a disaster

5. Cheesecake. Love it

6. Margarita's - I had a couple over the weekend and that was awesome. Jeremy even made me a strawberry one the other day. Fantastic.

7. Pride and Prejudice. I watched it last night and it was awesome. I think I may read it again for a little refresher.

8. I love the little pool we bought for the boys. They are having a blast.

9. The Wii- I never thought I would say that about any video game but we do have a lot of family fun with it.

10. My Hammock. I don't get to sit in it as often as I should but I love knowing that it is there if I ever need it.

11. Books- I can't choose just one but I love a good book and a hot cup of tea.

12. My bath tub. I am so glad we put in the new bath. If I am ever stressed, I can lay in there and everything gets a little better.

13. The Ice Cream shop. I love taking the kids for a bike ride or walk up the candy factory. Simple pleasure with a whole lotta reward.

14. Warm summer nights by the Burns' bon-fire. Good times.

15. Movies- Ok so I am a movie junky....

16. Warm cookies

17. Thanksgiving- Probably one of my favorite holidays what is better than good food and family.

18.

The Latest

Well, we haven't had any baseball since Sunday. Which gives us two full days off. I did have to work but that was ok. I caught up on a few things like, mowing the lawn, removing paint from my car, weeding, and I am working on the laundry. The kids have been playing in their pool. Max won't get in unless he is wearing a life jacket which just kills me. Jonah and Max got sunburns yesterday b/c their mama was not quick enough with the sunscreen. They wear shirts when they swim a lot but they took them off and were running around the yard. The back yard was shady so no big deal. The front yard on the other hand not good. Chalk that up to a lame Mom.

Jonah has a scrimmage tonight and Christian has practice. I signed the boys up for gymnastic class so they will go to that today. They loved the last class. So thats the latest with the Duvalls. Sunburns, baseball and gymnastic......

Happy Birthday Jonah

Happy Birthday Jonah- 9 years old. CRAZY

My favorite things about Jonah are:

His sense of humor

His joyful spirit

His compassion for people and animals

His love of family

His love for nature

His art, music, laughter

Jonah is the kind of kid who absolutely loves everything. He is honest, kind, and such a tender heart. He makes me laugh every day and he puts more color in the world than I ever thought possible. He can turn rocks into gold, a dirt patch into paradise, wood into a ship....He truly is magical.

Thank you for being an amazing little boy. God blessed me more than I could ever explain with this little man!

Snoqualmie Valley Invite

Jonah's team (the knuckleballers) played in a tournament this weekend. It was the first tournament Jonah has ever participated in and he loved it. He had a few key plays and was always ready to go. I was so proud of him. His team took 3rd which was fantastic. All of us are a little hot from the weekends activities. I have a nice little sun burn. The boys of course were properly sunscreened but mommy missed a spot on each shoulder blade and behind my knees. Ouch. The boys sold consessions for their teams and raised some money for the knuckleballer association.

Christian scrimmaged with the All Star Team this weekend. I think he can't wait to get that going. He is really excited to play in some knuckleballer tournaments too.

Max spent the weekend selling consessions which was awesome. He pushed a wagon around the ball park with all the big kids and sold stuff. He would get sno-cones or gum or some other treat. He had a great time and suffered through only one major baseball coma this weekend. I video taped it but it is just to pathetic to share. He and I ditched out a little early and cuddled on the couch to watch a movie.

Christian and Jonah stayed at the park with Dad until the last game was over. That was just in time for an incredible Lightning and Thunder Storm. The boys stayed up staring out their window watching it last night. Jonah said it looked exactly like when a wizard is training his dragon and then when the dragon roar's it is the thunder. (his explanation was much longer but I figured the jist was appropriate here). I am off to work a double today. Uggh, I am tired.

I will try to find time to post again soon.

Busy Week

So my BFF moved with her Hubby to Texas! Not cool. She and the kids came by the library to say good bye. Her kids are so awesome and I will miss the whole damn family
Christian has been so darn tired from All Stars that he fell asleep reading his book. We went camping with Burns and Fursmans which was Awesome! Jonah had a bbq with his knuckleball family and Max has been spending a lot of time at Burns Home.

I feel bad for Max because he is has to go to the baseball field day after day and watch his brothers play. I have been working so he is stuck there alone. The Burns family took pity on him and have been having him over daily so he doesn't go into a baseball induced coma! He wanders the ball field playing in the dirt. So sad.

Sarah came over and helped me finish paint the front of the house. I am going to clean up and head over with the kids to play in her pool. It is so stinking hot. I can't wait. We have invited ourselves back over to their house for dinner (3rd day in a row). It should be fun. The last picture is of the boys on Crazy hair day at school. I can't believe it is summer. There is too much to be done. Well, I finally have a day off from work and I am going to make the best of it!

All Stars and Father's Day

Christian went to All Star Try-Outs on Father's Day. The try-outs were long and hot. Right after the try-outs the selection comittee met and choose 13 kids to represent the 10 year-olds in the Valley at the All Star Tournament. I am happy to announce that Christian Elijah Duvall won a spot on that team! Even more amazing is that his three best friends did too. I am so proud of those boys, I can't even say. Congrats to Christian, Cooper, Ian and Alex Burns for working so hard!!!! Christian fell asleep with a baseball in his hands last night. What a sweet little boy! The only picture I could find with all four of them was from Father's Day last year when we took the kids bowling.

School will be out on Thursday. I can hardly believe it. Jonah is having a great time on his knuckleballer team and Max is just as crazy as ever. With all three baseball teams done, I have finally breathed a small sigh of relief. The good news is I am no longer coaching but Chris is coaching the 10 year old knuckleballers and helping out with Jonah's team. I have been asked to be the team mom for the All Stars. My biggest concern is that I don't want to put one of those ridiculous "my kids an all star" sticker on my car. Christian will want me to. My mom's husband Chuck said he would put one on his squad car. HILARIOUS! The Duvalls are a little less busy. Which is nice. Maybe I will finish painting the house soon?

Happy Father's Day to Chris who is such an amazing Dad. He puts everything he has in this family and I love and respect him for it. He has also put a ton of time into the community and his work. I often wonder how he does it all but he does and that is what I love about him! After practice we had a little Father's Day pizza party and that was great. I think over-all he really enjoyed himself. Next year, I hope he gets to watch the US Open as I hear he missed a great match!

well, it is official....

It's official, I am the crankiest person in town. Yesterday, I was asked be no less than 5 people if I was ok. The answer is Yes! However, I am exhausted and perhaps not my usual cherry self. Sorry about that but I will be back to chipper in no time.

Christian and his crew played a fantastic game of ball last night. I was so proud of them. I went on a field trip with him yesterday that was a lot of fun. I forgot my camera but that is par for the course.

I was out 'til about 11pm last night at a board meeting. I woke up drained but am determined to fight through. All three boys have games tonight and I have another meeting at 8pm. UGHH! I work today and tomorrow and only have a practice tomorrow night, oh that and a school beach party but I should be in bed early and ready to start the tournament over the weekend.

Max's last game is Saturday and the boys play through next week. One last big push and I am done. See you on the other side. I promise I will be smiling!!!!

Things I don't have

I don't have pictures of the boys piano recital.
I don't have pictures of their last few games.
I don't have my house painted yet. (We currently have three colors of trim.)
I don't have laundry done.
I don't have a line-up written for tonights game.
I don't have my car cleaned up for the field trip I am taking 7 adults to.
I don't have coffee made......uh oh....
I don't have time to finish my book.
I don't have pictures of Jonah's science experiment.

Today I am taking Max on a field trip to Salt Water State Park and it is pouring down raining. I don't have rain boots so I will have to borrow Christian's. The weekend was crazy again. Lots of baseball two bbq's, a piano recital, painting the house......still, more baseball and no quiet time. Yesterday I had lunch with a girl friend which was really needed. Then I went to work. UGGHH. Christian lost his game, I took my break in time to see him sitting the bench for the last two outs. That was not cool. Well, that is my blog update. Hopefully I will have time to do this again soon.

Something different than baseball!!!

Yesterday the boys were invited to participate in something really cool. One of Jonah's friends invited the boys down to Bad Animals Sound Recording Studio in Seattle to do voice overs for a movie. First of they got to go into the historical studio which is pretty amazing. Then they got watch bits and pieces of a movie that is almost finished. They were given lines to say and then they had to scream A LOT! The recording session lasted about an hour and a half and then the kids were all treated to dinner at Red Robin. It was such a neat experience and the kids had a great time. They said the boys would get a copy of the movie when it is finished and they will be credited as the "Loop Group." So cool.
Thanks Horn Family for inviting us!!!!

Mother's Day Happenings....

Things have been crazy per usual. We have had several baseball games and I have been working more than usual. So for Mother's Day we did nothing. If you looked at my calendar you would laugh. Every day there is something written in, squished beyond recognition. I am amazed I can even fit all the tasks on the calendar but on Mother's Day it was blank. So, the only thing I asked for was not to be rushed into doing any activity. I woke up, Chris put a movie on for me, he made breakfast, I drank a cup of coffee and relaxed. We thought about different things we could do for the day but then the rain came. I decided a bath sounded nice. Then I took a nap while the boys watched golf (I didn't really fall asleep though). Before I knew it the day was over. We played a little Tiger Woods golf before bed and the day was done. It was perfect. The down side in doing absolutely nothing is that Chris and I both forgot to call our mother's. We are in big trouble. But, the fact that we did nothing all as a family was perfect. I needed to slow down and regain some of that energy. We started back up as usual yesterday with, errands, dr. appt, baseball games, board stuff and work. The good news is that in July we really don't have too much going on. I am sure life will take care of that!

Happy Mother's Day to all the Mom's out there!!!

Way to go Jonah

So Jonah is AWESOME as we all know. What we didn't know is just how great of a hitter he has become. Last night he was the big hitter of the game with a singe, a double and a triple. The double would have been a triple but he stopped running to admire his hit and rounded second a hair to late. Stinker. He has a pitching practice tonight. (they start pitching on Friday) He is so cute. Max had a game at the same time, that I missed but I looked over a couple of times and he was running the bases or playing pitcher. He is adorable. He went home with his best buddy after the game. That child is soo lucky! Christian is making a name for him self as a great umpire and I deposited a ton of money for him today. Little working man.

I pampered myself today with a mani-pedi and now I have to go clean the house before cranky gets home. I will say, the relaxation was long over do and I feel like I just slept for 12 hours. Just think how productive I would be if I got a pedi every day!!!

Sunday Family Day

We had a crazy weekend that started with a game and BBQ on Friday. Then up and at the fields by 8am for a day full of games. Christian umpired two games and played in one. I missed Jonah's game because I had to work 2.5hrs yesterday. Lame. But I was told he had a great hit. Max also smacked the ball and is so cute. Christian had another great game and they won after a tough loss on Friday. His buddy pitched a great game and he came in to pitch the last three outs. He got them in 11pitches. He rocks.

We woke up this morning and went to 8am mass and then the boys went to Sunday School. After church we headed out to the golf course for some family golf time. We had so much fun. The kids crack me up but they made it through without too many freak outs. I don't golf so that was quite amusing. I think I did ok. I am up to three outings and I think practicing on the Wii helps.

Here are a few photos from this Beautiful Sunny Day (we aren't used to the sun!)

Way to go Dodgers

I was feeling like I was neglecting Jonah on the ball field. I had no pictures of him playing ball until tonight. He did a great job and had a ton of fun. The boys and Jamie were all hitting the ball and making plays. Jonah hustled and had some really big hits to the outfield. He is so cute out there. He does however, like to be the big cheese out there and often is GOOFY! Well the Dodgers had a terrific outing. Christian plays tomorrow and Max on Thursday.

Oh by the way Happy Birthday Tori. Tanya's daughter turned two today. She is soooo cute and very sweet.

Saturday

Well, we had a great day at the fields. Chris and I dropped the camper off in the parking lot so we would have a place to hang between games. It proved to be a great idea. Lots of friends stopped by the Duvall Casa to say hello. Tons of fun. All three boys played ball but I only managed a few pics during two of the games. Lance took over for me while I took Max to a birthday party, hence all the crazy pics.
Jonah had a great game and played hard. Then he promptly left for an overnight with his buddy Andy.
Max also had a great game and was a fantastic catcher and got a big hit. His team is so fun to coach. The kids are adorable and say the craziest things.
I hope you enjoy the slide show....

Check out my Slide Show!

Christian pitched a great game. Pitching 4 2/3 innings before being pulled for pitch count reasons. He had 8 strikes outs and allowed only 3 hits and 2 walks. So proud! Alex Burns came in relief and only used 4 impressive pitches to end the inning. Our Tigers are starting to come alive out there and it is fun to see. As you can tell from the slide show above we are a crazy crowd. Nathan Blazevich almost had his second homerun missing it by just inches. Everyone got on base and we had some nice hits made by Will, Matt, Ian, Andrew and Jacob. Way to go boys. The hits in combination with the tight defense pulled out another W for us. Go Tigers.

BASEBALL

Well, it has been a crazy week, with board meetings, piano, baseball, Chris's birthday/vacation and anything else we could pack in. Jonah played a great ball game last night. He was hitting the cover off the ball and had some terrific defensive plays. I must say that I am really proud of him and he is working hard on the field. He also had an audition at the village theater for a play. He didn't get the part but he nailed his monologue and got great experience. Christian's ball team has had a rough start they are 3-4. They have been playing in snow, rain, hail and chilling wind. However, they pulled out the much needed W today with some stellar baseball. Christian is having a blast and is always impressive to watch on the field. Max has his first game tomorrow and he can't wait. I will try to be more consistent in my posting but it is hard to even get a meal in.

Alright Dodger Fans our first game was awesome.....

So our first game was really a scrimmage. The boys did great. We were short a couple of players so Max stepped in along with another six year old from my other team. We won by a large margin scoring 13 to something.....Jonah was awesome smakin the ball all over the place. He is sure getting to be a great little hitter. Max even smacked a good one. LOVE IT. Max also had a fantastic out at second. Christian was the umpire and had to call Jonah out base running which was awesome. (well Jonah didn't think so) It was a good night.

We spent Tuesday at the science center before I had to go to work and yesterday I had 10 kids over....not relaxing but the boys had a great time. I work everyday this week which is a bit hard since it is Spring break but the kids are getting a lot of time with their friends so it works out. I am exhausted but I can rest in July.....Maybe.

Tigers 7 Mariners 8

The dugout
Christian catching

Nathan the ball slammer... Logan Roy receiving the game ball after a homerun.....

The boys battled hard tonight with some impressive pitching, great bats and fantastic defense. Logan Roy slammed our second home run of the season. Alex Burns and Christian were fantastic at catcher. Christian threw out a base runner stealing third and blocked a steal at home. Alex Burns blocked his second steal at home of the season. Connor Jensen and Nathan Blazevich continue to hit hard. We had so many fantastic hits, plays and strikeouts that it is difficult for me to remember them all. We almost had it....Chris spent the evening at El Caporal drinking his sorrows away lamenting a bad decision that ended the game (don't tell him I mentioned it) but the best part of it is.....as you can see from the smiles in the end game huddle the kids didn't seem to care. They had fun playing a great game. We play the Mariners for the third time in a row tomorrow night....Lets Play Ball!!!