Right after work yesterday, Lulu had a softball game against the other team at our school. The other opponents are from different schools/areas, but there are two teams from our school. The first time we played them they beat us. Our defense wasn't all that hot & neither was our offense! Every time we dropped the ball, or couldn't control it, they'd take off & run - usually to home plate. It wasn't pretty. They beat the snot outta us.

Last night, we played them again. After all of our prior games, we've learned how to hit & field the ball as best as you can expect a bunch of 7 & 8 yr olds to. We learned to run the bases from them. They were up to bat first and our girls were ready for them. It's wasn't quite 3 up 3 down, but the girl that did make it to base was taken out quickly. Most of our girls were getting pretty good hits, so we quickly went ahead in the game. I believe they only had one runner that made it home to score a point for them the entire game. The ump finally called the game when it was a 11 to 1 score. We've had all but 2 of our games called because we were so far ahead. Go girls!

Anyway, after the game I was waiting on Lulu to get her stuff together. I heard the other 2 coaches from the defeated team talking about how "[We] don't play fair. [We] run the bases." ??? Um, I thought that's how you play softball. Not to mention, that's how they beat us so bad the first time we played them. In our league, if the pitcher doesn't have control of the ball in the pitcher's circle, the ball/game is still in play. We ran to the next base until the ball was secured in the pitcher's area. If you're not past the half-way mark you have to go back to your base. If you are, then you get the next base. So, what's the problem? I don't think she realized I was standing there, but....

It was really sad to listen to this as this is the parent of one of my Lulu's friends. She's also our cheer sponsor so I'll be talking to her quite a bit over the rest of the year. She was also talking to the ump about a call he made. He was right too, but she questioned it. He asked if she wanted to file a complaint or something, but she said no, they still lost the game, she was just curious.

Mind you, we were the only team the whole season they've lost to. One the other side, they are the only team that we have lost to too. So, this was a game we really wanted to win - and we did!

Fast forward to home:

My son is 15 & most of the time has a bad attitude with me. He was already grounded all week from running his smart mouth to me & backtalk. I made him stay home Monday & not go to the game with us. He was pissed about that too. Of course, he already was anyway which is why he ended up grounded. All was going ok until he made a comment to Lulu. At first it was something to the effect of "it's your dead mother". Scott told him that that didn't make a bit of sense. So, he changed it to "your dad". Well, Lulu proceeds to cry & he can't understand why. Scott & I KNEW why. She hasn't seen her sperm donor since Labor Day & she really misses him. I've told the other 2 not to mention him to her as she gets very upset. They have their dad, but she doesn't. (Sperm donor is another whole story.)

Anyway, I called him to come over so I could tell him not to mention "dad" to her as it upsets her. Being defensive & still in bad-attitude-mode, he's like "Why? I didn't do anything?" * "Come here Blake" * "No, I didn't do anything!" * "Come here now!" Then when he finally comes in there I'm trying to whisper to him about not mentioning her dad to her & why. Well, here comes the smart-a$$ed tone, backtalk, etc of how he didn't do anything & always gets in trouble for nothing. I informed him that he's already grounded for his mouth & that now he can hand me his cell phone. Oh lordy, that did it. "It's MY phone!" "NO!" I tried to get it out of his pocket & he dove in the floor laying on the side the phone was on. I couldn't turn him over to get it either. He was laying there in fetal position screaming at the top of his lungs. "Just give me the phone". It was NOT a pretty sight. Tay comes in there & I tell her to call her dad. He (or step mom) heard Blake screaming & were on their way to get him. (His dad can control him when I can't.) He tried to run out the door & I stopped him so he tried the back. He eventually made it out the front & took off screaming & running down he driveway. His dad came & he was at the neighbor's driveway. Of course, his dad blames me for everything & this is MY fault. Blah Blah Blah I can hear his dad talking about how he's "singled out" & picked on. Um...the person causing the problem is usually the one to get into trouble. It's no telling what he said to his dad either. He came back in & got his stuff & said he wasn't coming back. I told him that he wasn't even in trouble (for that) & all he had to do was give me the cell phone. All the other crap was so unnecessary. Anyway, he left.

I have no idea if he'll be back this weekend or when. Tay will be spending the night with her dad tomorrow night so I might find out something when she gets home from school Friday. Hopefully, B will calm down & see what happened. I know he was already upset about being grounded, but geez! His dad & step mom tell him to mind/respect me all the time. I'm told I don't discipline him enough. So when he doesn't mind or whatever, & gets in trouble, why am I the bad guy? I think this send mixed signals to B too. I'm wrong for "letting him get away with so & so", but then I'm wrong for disciplining him too. To my ex, I'm the bad guy no matter what I do. *double sigh*

I'm having a very hard time with this. I want all of my children to be happy & at peace. I can't stand the turmoil. It's also not fair to Lulu & Tay to witness him in his antics either. I cried myself to sleep last night over this.

Prayers will be greatly appreciated.

Little Johnny watched his daddy's car pass by the playground and go into the woods. Curious, he followed the car and saw Daddy and Aunt Jane in a passionate embrace. Little Johnny found this so exciting that he could not contain himself as he ran home and started to tell his mother.

Mommy, I was at the playground and I saw Daddy's car go into the woods with Aunt Jane. I went back to look and he was giving Aunt Jane a big kiss, then he helped her take off her shirt. Then Aunt Jane helped Daddy take his pants off, then Aunt Jane........"
At this point Mommy cut him off and said, "Johnny, this is such an interesting story, suppose you save the rest of it for supper time. I want to see the look on Daddy's face when you tell it tonight."

At the dinner table, Mommy asked little Johnny to tell his story.
Johnny started his story , "I was at the playground and I saw Daddy's car go into the woods with Aunt Jane. I went back to look and he was giving Aunt Jane a big kiss, then he helped her take off her shirt. Then Aunt Jane helped Daddy take his pants off, then Aunt Jane and Daddy started doing the same thing that Mommy and Uncle Bill used to do when Daddy was in the Army." Mommy fainted!

Moral: Sometimes you need to listen to the WHOLE story before you interrupt.

Song moved to comments to avoid over-playing other songs.
Yep, I discovered this the hard way.

(I finally decided to attempt to put a song on here, so I hope this works) Hope you like my choice cuz I love this song by Nickelback!

Hope you all have a great Saturday night at the BlogCrawl!

Robert Frost wrote a poem -

"The Road Not Taken":

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other...
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I -
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

Life is a series of decisions. Life is a series of forks in the road. Once decision leads to another. One decision opens up the possibility of another. Are they good decisions or are they destructive? Do they lead to higher ground or lower ground? Do they set us up for something better and happier and more fulfilling? Or do they set us up for eventual defeat, steady decline, and self-destruction? What do we need? We need wisdom to decide, wisdom as we make decisions, wisdom to make the right decisions!

Did you know making decisions is the essence of human freedom? It is at the heart of what it means to be a human being. Becoming mature means taking responsibility for yourself, making the necessary decisions that affect your life. It's part of the growing-up process. It's part of becoming a full-fledged human being created in the image of God.

"What you are today may be largely what your parents and your home have made you. What you will be tomorrow will be what you decide."

There's no escaping making decisions.

Young people today face potentially devastating decisions. Will I go along with the crowd? Will I experiment with alcohol and drugs, even though I may damage my mind, distort my personality, and temp the possibility of an early demise? Will I go along and engage in illicit sex even at the risk of losing control of my life, cheapening myself, and imposing tragic, painful consequences on the lives of others? young people need wisdom to decide because life will not protect them against wrong choices. Nor will shallow counselors afford much comfort when things turn sour! Life is too wonderful to be wasted!

All of us at any age face momentous decisions that may have unfortunate consequences. We cannot make them and expect to be excused from the results. It's the price of freedom. It's the price of God-endowed human freedom and the potentiality of human grandeur.

What is the purpose of life? "To glorify God and enjoy him forever."

Just as in The Serenity Prayer:

God, grant me the wisdom to accept the things I cannot change,
The courage to change the things I can,
And the wisdom to know the difference."

Taken from the book "When Your World Is Coming Apart" by Donald W. Morgan

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Have you taken the right road? Do you need to take a different fork in the road? Maybe the "higher road" - the road less traveled?

I've been thinking about this lately & wanted to share with you all. What are your thoughts on this?

Doctor Finds Spiders in Boy's Ear
UPDATED - Sunday May 06, 2007 6:23pm

ALBANY, Ore. (AP) - These guys weren't exactly Snap, Crackle and Pop. What began as a faint popping in a 9-year-old boy's ear - "like Rice Krispies" - ended up as an earache, and the doctor's diagnosis was that a pair of spiders made a home in the ear. "They were walking on my eardrums," Jesse Courtney said.

One of the spiders was still alive after the doctor flushed the fourth-grader's left ear canal. His mother, Diane Courtney, said her son insisted he kept hearing a faint popping in his ear - "like Rice Krispies."

Dr. David Irvine said it looked like the boy had something in his ear when he examined him.

When he irrigated the ear, the first spider came out, dead. The other spider took a second dousing before it emerged, still alive. Both were about the size of a pencil eraser.

Jesse was given the spiders - now both dead - as a souvenir. He has taken them to school and his mother has taken them to work.

"It was real interesting, 'cause, two spiders in my ear - what next?" Jesse said.