Out with the old, and in with the new!

Remember these little babies?

Well, in the last six months, they've been joined by another friend:

But rejoice with me, folks, because today all FOUR went out with the trash! Well, one
was sold for a whopping $10. But the most important fact is, they're gone!!! History. Adios.

And they've been replaced by this little machine - brand, spankin' new from the store.
It's a happy day in the life of Ruth.

PS: This whole "being unable to fix a lawnmower" fiasco has been quite damaging to Kevin's self-esteem. So be kind to him. Don't rub it in his face. Besides, I kind of already have.

PSS: The only reason I've cared so much about a decent lawnmower is because I'm the one who mows the lawn. That, and I'm not really fond of the white-trash look of four mowers sitting in my yard.

PSSS: You should see the looks we get around the neighborhood, as Kevin sits and watches his pregnant wife mow the lawn. It's pretty funny. But it's by choice, I promise. It's my favorite chore - other than washing the car.

Simplicity

Few things make me happier than seeing these as I do my dishes.

And to think, I didn't have to do an ounce of hard work or pay a penny to get them!
They just grew in my yard, all on their own. It's a beautiful thing...

Intramural Insanity

Maybe it's the military. Maybe it's the egos. But it's the craziest intramural team I've ever seen.

Intramural teams are supposed to be laid-back, right? It's a pretty casual arrangement. You form a team and compete against others in a little friendly competition. It's all for the fun of playing.

Well, not this one.

For the last 6 weeks, volleyball has attempted to take over Kevin's life. It began with a Nazi coach, who insisted upon several practices each week. Then she forced them to fork over $20 for a personalized t-shirt. Not so bad, right? Well, they're the only team that has them. Let me tell you, they look pretty snazzy.

Then, unsatisfied with their performance, she proceeded to "cut" players off the team, sending them down to the "B Team." Luckily, Kevin made it through by the skin of his teeth, but it was a close call for awhile. Let me tell you, he was nervous.

Still unsatisfied with their performance, she decided to start keeping stats. She tracked their "kills," their "errors," and all of those other terms that I'm not very familiar with. Guess what it showed her? She had the most errors (she might try to deny this, but I saw the sheet).

All in all, it's been a hysterical season. Those of you to know Kevin, know that this is SO not his style. Sure, he's up for a little friendly competition, and there's nothing he likes better than playing on a great team with great players. But not when it kills the fun.

So we've just sat back and laughed. Kyle and I are there at every game, three times a week, cheering them on. And it's actually been fun. However, the tournament is next week and I doubt we'll be sorry to see it end. It was fun while it lasted, but it's time for a little sanity.

(You didn't hear this from me, but it's rumored that Kevin's being recruited for the base team. You go, babe!)

30+ Weeks

Here's my belly at a little over 30 weeks. Actually, I wish it was just belly. My friend
Natalie posted stats, but I'm not that brave. I'll have to let the photo speak for itself.

Field Trips

With gas at $3.69 per gallon, we've decided to take some field trips a little closer to home. You might think the desert doesn't have much to offer, but I've been proven wrong. We've barely made a dent in the fun.

First stop: the California Poppy Reserve.

Sure, they were all orange. But they were still pretty. Unfortunately, the wind was blowing so hard that they'd decided to close up in order to protect themselves. Apparently, flowers do that.

And Kyle thought he needed to curl up and protect himself, too. Don't even talk to me
about those 30 mph winds we've been having everyday. I'm about to go nuts.

And don't make me tell you what Kevin was laughing about in this picture, because it might cause him to divorce me. And then you'd feel guilty, right? But trust me, it was funny... and I'll be hanging it over his head for years to come.

All in all, it was a fun afternoon, but I doubt we'll feel the need to visit again. We're finding that's pretty much the case with our local desert attractions: You've seen it once, you've seen it all.

Field Trips, Part II

We also decided to visit the little airplane museum on base. It's small, so you can get through there in less than an hour, but it was a fun diversion. We were treated to a brief history of Edwards and got to see a few fun planes.

Kyle's "danger" face.

"Yes Mom, this XLR99 Rocket Engine looks just fine..."

I'm totally swallowing my pride by posting this picture, but Kyle's face just cracked me up.

Some groovy, cool helicopter. I'm sure you're impressed by my knowledge.
You can tell I have a sincere interest in this kind of thing.

Field Trips Part III

And finally, we went to Red Rock Canyon, where Kevin promised Kyle some fantastic hiking. The lame little dirt paths left much to be desired, but we made a mess of ourselves in some quicksand-like mud, and Kyle found this stone formation that he insisted was Mount Rushmore:

I didn't even know that he knew about Mount Rushmore. I tell you, 90% of his information comes from someone other than me.

You call this a party favor?

Kyle went to a birthday party a little while back, and came home with this.

A movie.

Now, he hasn't been to many full-fledged birthday parties in his short 4 1/2 years, and it's been way longer than that since I partook of party games and present-opening, but what is this?

Since when do we send kids home from birthday parties with $20 prizes for winning a game of musical chairs? And let me assure you, it wasn't as if this were the grand prize - at least 3 or 4 kids went home with prizes of this variety. I was shocked, on two accounts:

1. It made me feel really lame. This wasn't a good friend, so we didn't go all out with his gift. We probably spent $10 and called it good. Meaning: Kyle made a profit (if you can call it that) on this party. Feeling lame.
2. Am I expected to do that?!? Puh-lease tell me I'm not expected to do that when Kyle's birthday rolls around this summer. I've never actually thrown him a real birthday party before, but was planning on it for the BIG 5. However, if I'm expected to put that kind of money and effort into it, I just might resort to taking him and a friend to Chuck-E-Cheese. Not that he'd mind that.

So all of you experienced birthday-partiers, please tell me: Is this normal? Is this common with birthday parties today? Just how much is too much?

Feelin' Big

You could say that pregnancy has hit me full force in the last week or two. All of a sudden, I feel large. There's no room left. I don't see how this baby could possibly keep growing for 11 more weeks.

And it's not all in my head. In the last two days, I've had some lovely compliments:

"When are you due, Ruth? Because I was just thinking, you're looking big!"

Gee, thanks.

"I barely recognized you because you're looking so pregnant now."

How kind of you.

I'm definitely bigger this time around, but I never claimed to be otherwise. I'm definitely not one of those pregnant gals with that cute little round belly. You know, the ones who don't even look pregnant from behind. That's not me. It's not in my genes.

So I suppose I'll just embrace my plumpness for now. It won't last forever (thank goodness). And I suppose I'll still post some prego pictures. But I must warn you, anymore nasty comments and I just might hide out until June.