What A Week!!

So, this has been the third week of Steve's business trip, and I hate to admit it, but the whole trip has been hard for me this time. The biggest culprit, I think, is that Steven and Nathan started baseball the week Steve left. I love having them in it, and they are really enjoying playing. The hard part comes in when I have to be at the baseball fields Monday thru Thursday right at dinner time and stay there until it is almost bedtime. I am also struggling with where I should be during the practice. I would love to sit on the bench and watch the player, but I have three other kiddos that want to be somewhere else. The toys are at a park that is on the same piece of property, but not close to the field. So, I either have whiney kids while I watch the practice, or else I leave the other Mom's to cheer on my son while I am off at the swings. Luckily I was there for this.















Steven's position is on the pictchers mound. They use a pitching machine, but he stands there to catch balls. Well, on Wednesday the third baseman caught the ball and was trying to throw it to first base. He was fairly close to Steven and threw too low. Steven caught the ball right in the lip. At first we thought he chipped a tooth, but I haven't seen proof of that yet. The whole incident really upset Steven and the parents watching and the coaches. I wasn't too worried. I mean after all, if it is just the lip, not much harm done. I sent him to school today, and his teacher had already heard about the incident and came running out to meet him when he got out of the car. (I absolutely LOVE this school and the boys teachers) So, Steven got some extra attention at school today including a very kind get well card from another boy on his team.

Luckily Steve will be home tomorrow morning in time to see both boys play there first game. So, hopefully this will be the last incident until he comes home. Just a few of the other incidents these past couple weeks were:
Brandon refusing to go to nursery, when I have classes to teach on Sunday.
Putting the boys to bed (that is an "incident" every night)
Waking up Sunday morning to a van that was completley dead, and wouldn't even start with jumper cables. Luckily our neighbors are members, so we were able to get to church.
Brandon not sleeping well, and starting to wake up every night for a bottle again!
Having to clean out the RAT cage!
Having book club at my house this week with a lawn that looked pretty ragged. So, I had my turn at mowing the front yard on the ride on lawn mower. That one actually turned out to be pretty enjoyable.

I could go on, but I won't. I just haven't had a fun time being a single Mom during this trip. Hopefully we will think twice before we decide to send Steve away for more than a week.

P.S. Dad- I loved your comment about the bright idea of having a rat and a cat for pets. I actually thought the same thing when Steve told me that he wanted the rat. The funny thing is I haven't told you about the second cat we aquired from the lady we bought the trampoline from in January. The lady was moving and asked Steve to take her. I agreed, to get him to stop asking me to get a dog. I would take two cats over a dog.

Life

We really have had a lot going on here at the Hughes home, I am just a little slow in letting you all know about it. Steve left on March 9th for another business trip, and won't be home until the end of the month. He was also gone for the whole month of January, but for some reason this time has been a lot harder. I am busier, and the boys are crazier. For Steve on the other hand, this trip has been great for his career and training, so at least I can feel good about the fact that he is getting something accomplished.

At the end of February, Steven raced a car in his first pinewood derby race! Steve and Steven had a great time building the car, and really put a lot of effort into it. Steve was able to play with his wood working tools again, and did an awesome job. Steven raced against 3 other kids his age, and he won! Yahoo!

{Look at him watching anxiously}

{His is the one with the yellow streak}


{There's the award}


Steve and the boys also decided that we needed another pet in the family, so Steve told the boys about how fun it would be to have a rat! Disgusting I know. Who ever came up with the idea that putting a rodent in a cage to live out his life in a box, and for people to hold it and play with it? I think that person is a little crazy. But, since it is a pet that I can ignore, I told Steve do whatever you want, but I don't want to have anything to do with it. That worked great until Steve headed out of town and said the rat should be held often, and the cage should be cleaned out once a week. Wonderful. The boys do enjoy her though, and have lovingly named her Betty. Brandon even talks to her often, and can kind of say her name. Brandon gets scared to death if Steve offers to let him hold her though. He is smarter than that.
(Laura, what do you think about showing your kids this post?)







Also, my little fork stabbing Nathan had a perfect week last week at school. He didn't have to pull his color once all week! That has never happened before. Because of this, he was student of the week, and got to bring home Curious George to spend the weekend with the family. I let Nathan choose where he wanted to eat for dinner, and he chose Pizza Hut. Then we came home and Nathan let the monkey climb some trees in the yard. He also went to church with us and went to bed with Nathan, but I forgot to get the camera out for those events. I am proud of Nathan for his good behavior. (Even if he has pulled a color every day this week)




And lastly, crazy me who has four misbehaving children, a house that I can't ever get clean, a goal to decorate by the time Mom and Dad come, a garage full of boxes that still need to find a home, and a husband that is a traveling man this year, have decided to start a garden. We have a great yard for it, and I have always wanted to do it. So, Steve made this garden bed for me and we bought the good soil, and I have tilled the ground and am ready to plant. I am vowing that I will stick with this until the picking season, even when the real Georgia heat comes. Hopefully we will have some good veggies to eat all summer long.

Nafan's birthday

Nathan turned six on the third and had a fun birthday. Jacob and I brought peanut butter cookies to share with his class at school. (Brandon was home sick with Daddy)




For dinner we went to a pizza buffet place that we like and that also has a couple of the
chuck-e-cheese type games. After dinner we came home for the present opening. He got almost all star wars things which he totally loved. The deal at our house is whatever Steven loves and is "into" at our house is what Nathan and Jacob are into too. Since Steven is on a star wars kick, that is what Nathan asked for for his birthday. He loved his presents and they have had a great time with the them. Mom and Dad gave him the mask and he got the cool nerf dart gun from Grandma and Grandpa Allred. It is a lot of fun. He loves it.


Dad is helping him fit the mask on. It has a microphone inside to make his voice sound cool.


Her are the star wars troopers (or whatever)


He also got a card in the mail from Grandma Great which we got today. Thank You. :-)

Nathan is really a joy to have in our family, and is growing up wonderfully. He is almost done with his Kindergarten year and still struggles a little with behavior. In fact he had to go to the principles office a couple of weeks ago for holding his fork up to a kids neck during lunch. I guess the boy was not listening to Nathan's story, so Nathan got mad and held a fork up to his neck. Now don't worry, I don't think he would have stabbed him or anything, he is just not the best at handling his temper. I ignore it a lot at home, but maybe I shouldn't. hmm
He is also starting to loose teeth. He lost his first tooth the middle of February and a second one came out a week later.


With the tooth of course came a note for the tooth fairy.


It is written a little sloppy, this is what it says,
Dear Tooth Fairy, How big are you? PS write a circle of how big you are. Can you try and wake me up? Love, Nathan written by Steven
And here is her response:


Nathan also loves to jump on the trampoline, which I am not sure I ever blogged about that new toy, but he loves it and we are happy to have a place for him to get his energy out.
He also loves his Primary teacher and his Kindergarten teacher, and tells them both that he loves them all the time. He is always hugging both of them.
He is becoming such a good reader and gets a lot of practice during scripture study with some new words.
He is a great brother and tries to make things very fair when playing with the boys.

We are grateful that he is a part of our family!