B1 - TMS Softball 2009

Here are some pictures of B1 playing softball this season. The season is over and their final record was 12-2. They outscored their opponents by a total score of 151-38! The season sure seemed to fly by once we got started.

Baserunning at 1st.....


Playing 3rd.....


Bunting.....


Pitching.....




And a picture of Bruce umpiring. He actually umped a few of B1's games this year, but never behind the plate.....just in case she pitched, like the was doing on this day!


They actually have not had a team picture taken yet! That is scheduled for like 10 days from now. I will also take a picture of her that day in her uniform, posing for me. I forgot to do that during the regular season!

Home, Kenny, Softball, Basketball, Cardinals, CMA

So here it is, one week after my last post. Is this how often I am going to be able to update my blog these days? Probably. I guess that's OK though.....life is just really busy. It is Sunday afternoon and Bruce and I are home alone. The girls left with my parents before we got home to go to a family party. And having the house to ourselves all afternoon is really nice! We are both getting a lot done while watching football in the meantime (not that I really care about football, I only do the pool at my school to give me something to do on Sundays while Bruce roots for his fantasy players).

We went to Kenny Chesney's last show of 2009 last night in Indianapolis. He performed at Lucas Oil Stadium.....home of the Colts. The place was full with over 50,000 people. The show started at 4pm with the Zac Brown Band. Then it was Miranda Lambert, then Montgomery Gentry, then Sugarland (who, by the way, I really like these days), and finally Kenny started playing at 9:05pm. This is my 2nd Kenny show this summer (the first being back in May in Kansas City.....he didn't come to St. Louis this year). He began this summer's shows by basically swinging around above the audience on some kind of harness thing and sings the first song while up there. Very neat. Then he is placed onto the runway part of his stage and goes nonstop for at least 2 hours (last night it was 2 hrs 15 mins). He doesn't change clothes and doesn't pause once.....it's constant entertainment! I love his music. His songs hit home with me like no one else's do. I think that's why I love him so much. I don't particularly think he's cute. He does have a nice body, but it's the music that has me hooked.....the lyrics.

Anyway, it was announced earlier this week that Kenny plans to take 2010 off to relax. I guess he deserves that. He has been touring very heavily for the past several years. I will certainly miss seeing him somewhere next summer though. But last night, knowing that is was his last show for some time, he did his encore set longer than usual. Jennifer Nettles from Sugarland came out and sang just a little with him. Then Miranda Lambert came out and did the same, as well as Zac Brown. Some of Kenny's band members sang with him too. I can't remember which song he chose to sing last, but whatever it was, he couldn't get the words out. He cried. Bruce and I both took turns looking through the binoculars at the big screen picture of him and yes, tears were streaming down his cheeks. The band was crying too. I just got done reading online about his decision to take next year off and he promises that he WILL be back. Whew! I guess that just knowing you aren't going to be back for awhile is hard when you have toured at the pace he has. I will miss him next summer and I am thankful that we were at the last show of this summer.

In other stuff......tomorrow is B1's last 7th grade softball game. Didn't that fly by fast? Wow. I will post some pictures of her playing TMS softball later this week or next weekend. Basketball tryouts begin on October 5. My nerves will be up again during that time, hoping she makes the team. I guess we will worry about our children forever, huh?!?

The Cardinals' magic number is 4! Whoo-hoo! We have tickets for the last game of the season on October 4. They haven't been playing the greatest this past week but hopefully the post-season will be good. And.....they are on the verge of sweeping the Cubs if they can win tonight, so that is ALWAYS good! LOL

Lastly, for those of you who didn't already read this on Facebook.....exciting news! This week, Bruce was able to get tickets for himself, me, and B1 to go to the CMA Awards in Nashville, TN on Nov. 11! Yes! Attending an awards show like this is one of the things on my mental "bucket list." Check! I am very excited about this. Nov. 11 is a Wednesday and we are all off of school that day. I don't have to be at school until noon the following day because we have parent/teacher conferences that day, and B1 is off that day altogether. Considering the awards show is in the middle of the week, it couldn't have worked out much more perfectly than that! We are going to probably leave after school (or hopefully after B1's basketball practice) on Tuesday the 10th (B2 will stay with my parents; she is too young to attend). We may drive all the way to Nashville that night but I doubt it. We will probably stay somewhere an hour or 2 away. Then on the night of the 11th, we will drive an hour or 2 towards home after the show so that I will get to work on time the next day. We are all very excited about this and looking forward to it! We hope to go to the "Red Carpet" outside the show before so we can see the stars entering the building. I guess we will need to dress up too!

Have a great week!

Last of the Florida Pics

Here is Bruce with Patrick's daughter, L. She is 18 months old and at the restaurant that night, she kept coming back to Bruce because he kept giving her french fries!

This was the sweet car that we rented while there. I don't even remember what kind it was, but we enjoyed it!

This picture is blurry, which I hate, but it is Patrick and LeAnne at their house after the birthday party. Patrick is opening his gifts.

Bruce and Patrick

Some Things I Cooked Today

I went by myself tonight to see the movie "Julie and Julia." Bruce didn't want to see it and I knew the girls wouldn't like it so I had an evening to myself and it was really nice!

Anyway, since I am in a "foodie" sort of mood, I thought I would post some pictures of some things I made today. We were supposed to have a family reunion gathering (a Sunday before Labor Day tradition) but it was cancelled due to the weather forecast. I decided to make my dishes anyway and just eat them here at home.

First up: little Caprese breads. I don't know the technical term for them but I saw this recipe over the summer on the Food Network and decided to try it. This is the 3rd time I have made these and they are so wonderful! French bread, olive oil, fresh mozzarella, tomatos, and basil. YUMMY!


This basil (unlike the dry in the previous picture) came from a plant on my front porch. I needed to use it in another dish which actually didn't turn out very well, so I ditched it. But the basil smelled wonderful! My plant's leaves are getting rather small now and I think I've about gotten out of it what I am going to. I just love fresh basil!


Here is a dip I had planned to take to the party. The recipe says it can also be used to stuff celery. This will keep in my fridge for awhile. We are invited to another party next Sunday, so I think I will take this there!


These were our steaks for supper. Last night, after we found out the party was cancelled, I went to the freezer and pulled these out. They are ribeyes which I marinated in a packaged seasoning for several hours. Later, after I drained that seasoning off and the steaks were wet, I then rubbed them with a recipe mixture I got from Katie. My dad makes wonderful steaks on the grill. I have to say though, these were some of the best that we have ever prepared at our house! Very tasty!

Finally An Update!

OK.....life has been pretty busy between school, B1's softball games and practice, and keeping up with everyday things. The softball team is now 8-2 with both losses coming this week. We did beat Highland again though, so that was good! THS's football team is 2-0 to start the season, defeating Collinsville tonight 42-20. My classes at school are going well. I have managed to stay somewhat ahead in my planning, just like I like. On any given day, I have plans made for about 2 weeks out. I would like to get that to 3 weeks. Then I would feel comfortable. But things are going well.

Here are some more pictures from our July trip to Florida. These are the end of the Disney pictures.

Bruce and Me in Chefs de France in the France pavillion at Epcot. This dinner was really good!


This was our view of Disney's Hollywood Studios from our hotel room at the Dolphin. I zoomed in but the Tower of Terror was RIGHT THERE! You can also see Mickey's sorcerer's hat and the Chinese Theatre.


This was my snack on the night we were at Epcot. I purchased it in the Norway pavillion. I can't remember the exact name of it but it was good!


OK, these next 3 were also taken from our hotel room window. The other hotel across the way was the Swan. It was a really nice place to stay.




These were our sandwiches from "Earl of Sandwich" at Downtown Disney. We ate these before we left Disney World and drove to Tampa. Bruce's was some sort of roast beef (and no, for those of you who know him, that IS NOT mustard.....it's some sort of cheese).


Mine was a caprese sandwich. It was wonderful! I came home and attempted to re-create it at home, and I didn't do too bad of a job! YUM!


These little dudes? All over the place in Florida!


That's a Mickey Mouse shaped bush behind Bruce. It's hard to tell from the picture. And to the left behind him.....that's the World of Disney store. You can find ANYTHING in there!