"It's raining, Mom, I'm bored. There's nothing to do!"

"Let's play hide and go seek. First, I need to put on my sports bra," says Mom. Game on, boys!! To add suspense to the game, it was storming out which made the house dark and eerie. We had two rules...one, you cannot turn on the lights and two, you couldn't change hiding spots. The basement and garage were off limits. Talk about fun...

Matthew had a great hiding spot and it took us a long time to find him. The below picture is me on the bed and they never did find me. They gave up first. I was so proud of myself. I kick butt in hide and seek.

I may not be the best mom in the world, but today I felt like I was. We had so much fun.

For dinner, I taught Ben how to make spaghetti and meatballs. Again, felt like a great mom. He did spectacular. Dinner was delicious. He was so proud of himself. I was so proud of him.

Awesome day...and it rained the whole time. We were planning on going to Soak City and I'm kind of glad we didn't.

Went for a walk with Ben tonight

Here's my normal scenario when I go for a walk with my boys...all 4 of them ride their bikes and I try to keep up by walking and listening to my iPod. Obviously they have to stop A LOT so I can catch up. Now, tonight was different...

I told everyone that I wanted to go for a walk and Ben piped up and said that he would like to come. I figured he wanted to ride his bike, but I was very wrong. He wanted to walk with me. Sam and Josh wanted to ride their bikes, Matthew was too tired. So we went to a park actually near Palm Tree Fanatic's home called Stokely's Park. Come to think of it, we ended up seeing one of her kids there.

I had such a wonderful time talking with Ben. We laughed a lot and talked about more serious stuff. I love the relationship I have with him. We used to butt heads and not get along, it's really nice now. I know his teenage years will be rough, but I hope we can have a good relationship that's open and honest...a Mom can hope.

Last night's baseball game...Go Ben!!

Here's my oldest, Ben, getting ready to bat.

If you look closely, you can see my wonderful husband in the background. He's out in the ball field trying to psyche out the other team. Just kidding...he's coaching first base.

Imagine that, the next picture is Ben batting. I think he struck out...thanks to the wonderful umpire who's strike zone was from the kids' forehead to their ankles.

WARNING...I'm about to vent. I really wish they had better umpires. I know they are only kids, but how are the players supposed to learn what a strike is when the strike zone is ridiculous.

It's unfortunate that Ben struck out because he didn't swing at what should have been called a ball. I'm done venting...

Ben pitched for two innings, which is the maximum they can pitch. He also plays first and second base...not at the same time...that would be impressive.

He did really well...I was very proud of him.

This is Zachary, one of Ben's friends. Obviously, he plays on the other team. He's one of the kids I babysit over the summer.