So fun!!

Brad's brother and his sisters are here for work (well, Katie just came for fun), so tonight we got to hang out with them.  I had a Moment when I realized that more than half of Brad's siblings were in my kitchen.  Delightful!

And the cherry on top?  Katie, the Cookie Guru of the Universe, making cookies in my oven.  Later, I got to eat said cookies while watching last night's episode of Nashville with my sisters-in-law. 

Life is good.

Apparently, Luke did not learn his lesson the first time.

He had his little girlfriends over this afternoon and when I checked on them, they were throwing rocks into the pool--the same pool that the pool guys had come and cleaned TODAY.

 After roaring "STOP!" I ordered Luke into the pool to fish out the rocks, which caused the girlfriends to remember some "project" they had to get home right away to do.

So, now poor Luke has been abandoned to the unenviable task of retrieving the rocks from the pool in 68 degree weather.  I should also mention that the water level was low earlier, so the hose has been filling it for the last three hours.  And we all know how warm hose water is . . . 

Thus, the facial expression.

 So, I took this photo today thinking I would say something flippant and derogatory about the hum-drum-ness of doing laundry.

But, just between you and me, that would be a lie.

I secretly love laundry day.  I love that one day a week, I have the perfect excuse to stay home all day, holed up with my laptop as I feed the washer every hour or so.  I might watch a movie, or catch up on my "stories" or just dink around googling whatever strikes my fancy.  Sometimes--and this is the best--I will spend the whole day reading in my soft chair by the window.

And the real clincher?  At the end of the day, as I yell at the kids to put their laundry away put everyone's folded clothes neatly in their drawers, I actually feel like I had a productive day.

I got to spend the day with Becky's little guy Jack today while she attended meetings downtown.  

This was fun for a couple of reasons:

1.  He and I ran some errands this morning, and I got lots of attention from strangers.  It's amazing how a smiley little kid gets noticed--I feel so popular!

2.  We dug out some old toys that haven't seen the light of day in years, and suddenly it's like Christmas.  Luke has loved showing Jackers the "right" way to build Duplo cars.  I think he feels popular, too, as Jack hangs on his every word.  

Basically, Jack has been very good for our self-esteem.

A couple of weeks ago, Brad's sister Becky called to tell us she would be coming to Dallas this week for work.  She also told us that she'd be arriving a day early so she could join us for the Bitner Weird Food at the Super Bowl party we were going to have.  Thus informed that we would be celebrating the Super Bowl in such a manner, we dutifully complied.

So, here we are with uncomfortably full tummies watching one of the Coach Harbaughs.  Go 'Niners! (sad)

We signed Adam and Luke up for baseball this Spring and today was the "Coaches Look", where the new players show up and do a few drills for the coaches so they can be placed on a team. 

  These are my two baseball stars warming up in the backyard.

You'll notice a couple of things about this photo:

1.  Lukie is working on his pitching.  That should come in handy as he plays t-ball this year.

2.  The grass may not be green, but the sun is shining and it is over 70 degrees.  To all y'all out there manning your snow blowers and relying on some rodent to tell you how long winter's going to last, I say "Happy Groundhog Day."

Neener, neener.

This afternoon, Luke was playing here with a couple of little neighbor girls.  They announced to me that Luke is hilarious at school, even "hilariouser" than Max, whoever that is.  But, from the looks on their faces, I gather that this is a big deal.

To prove how hilarious he is, Luke hopped onto the couch and promptly flipped himself upside-down, convincing his friends to join him.

Oh yeah, he's hilarious.  There's no way that Max kid could compete with this.