peyton was telling me she’s friends with G’s fourth grade friend S. And she met the other Peyton because of it. There is a Peyton Salazar, which when said aloud sounds like our Peyton’s name. S introduced the Peyton’s, and they said hi to one another. Peyton said S let her cut in front of her because “She said I was ‘so cute’.” I don’t know if they know she’s Brandon’s sister but certainly G does. I don’t know when they all play together, maybe before school starts. I asked Peyton what she cut in line for, and she said, “Four square.” Four square with the big kids. Hopefully she can hold her own.
Defense?
when I picked Brandon up, he was talking to the cdc director. It didn’t look good. I signed him out to come back out and wait. She was trying to get the story. What she relayed to me was that a few kids were teasing F. F thought Brandon was involved so he threw a ball in his face. It hit him. Brandon said he wasn’t involved. This is where it gets murky. Brandon told her that he was trying to take the ball away. And somehow F got hit in the face. Ms A said it didn’t make sense because taking the ball away is one motion and punching is the opposite way. Then he said he didn’t hit him that hard. The story kept changing. Then he ended on his hand slipped. Either way she reminded him how he could have avoided the talking to. I asked him where in the face he was hit. He said temple but pointed to his forehead. I reminded him of what they talked about. Then texted Dave who was no help. He replied you have to stand your ground. When I told him about it after the kids went to sleep, we were laughing how “my hand slipped into his face” or “his face slipped into my fist”. Dave considered it a done deal that they were handling it their own way. But hopefully Brandon learned his lesson. Tomorrow he’s got a shortened cdc time as he has band. He keeps saying he hates cdc. But I tell him he’s got no choice at this time. Kids even come back from middle school to go to cdc because it’s a good option to watch out for the kids.
Swimming and Piano Progress
Today, I reminded the kids at swim class to work together to earn more Star Wars time. I also reminded them that if they did better with their current strokes, freestyle and back, that they could move on to breast. Today, after two laps each of freestyle and backstroke, Ms. C moved on to teach them frog kicks. I told her that they’d learned it awhile ago, but it had been awhile. They were practicing for the last part of class, and she reminded them that they could practice outside of the water, too. I congratulated them on moving along in the class, and it was perfect timing, as the teacher felt they were doing better, too! They earned 10 minutes, bringing them to a total of 40 minutes. They showered up, and then it was on to reading. Both got their reading done, and while Peyton was finishing up, Brandon practiced his piano. Then, Peyton did, while Brandon practiced the clarinet. I was able to film a few of Peyton’s songs for a mini recital. She decided to wear her softball visor for good measure.
Peyton brought home a red ribbon saying “Just say NO to drugs”. She said she was supposed to look up online what kinds of drugs, and she was told to look up cigarette. Brandon was asking her, “Why do you need to look it up? Just don’t even do it! You don’t need to know more about it.” Brandon told me he was never going to even try drugs. Then, asked me about alcohol, and why does Daddy drink beer and wine. And is that a drug? I told him about the 21 year old rule. He gave that some thought. But I don’t know how convinced he was.
Kids wrapped up their evening watching the first 10 minutes of episode one. I think they’re hooked. My parting words to them were, “Earn more minutes by being nice to each other.” Though I’m hearing whispers from Brandon to hush Peyton from telling on him for fear of losing opportunities to watch. I’ve put him on notice. 
Farewell
I was leaving for work today, and Peyton was going up to brush her teeth. She waved by, said, “Bye, mommy,” (blowing air kisses) and capped it off with, “Exes and o’s!!”
Cooperation Incentive
I got the idea from talking to Michelle. In order to get the kids to cooperate and get along with one another, they are earning “Star Wars” time. We’re going to start with episode one and go up from there. So far they have 30 minutes together. They can’t earn time alone. They have to work together to earn the time together. So far so good but they have a long ways to go before they can get to episode 7. It’s out in December. Just in time for Christmas. But Peyton reminded me, “It doesn’t mean I have to like him. Just get along.” Geez. Ok. But I’ll take it.
Final Double Header of Fall Ball
The kids practiced their piano first thing, with Peyton jumping up to start. She left Brandon to the cartoons by himself, then she left with Dave for a coffee run. Brandon was then up. By the time they came back, Brandon was done and finishing up his writing work. We were up for snack duty today, so that’s why they had to make the grocery run. Dave ended up only buying beans, so that meant I got a share of the homemade coffee today. Yesterday, I didn’t get any, since he had his coffee out. Peyton got ready to go early, while Brandon needed to finish up more work before he and I headed out. We arrived about 10 minutes before the start of the game. Peyton’s team was up first, as we were the visiting team. Peyton was lead off batter, only because she was there first today. Here’s her first at-bat.
She started at first base, and she was happy about it. Brandon was all ready to go out on the field if needed, since we were short 3 players. We ended up borrowing another member of the other team to fill a hole in the outfield. I tried and tried to get her “in action” making plays. I was able to capture her ready position, but then, when I wasn’t filming, she made plays! Maybe that’s the strategy. She got two balls hit to her, in two different innings, which she stopped, and then picked up on her own, and ran back to first base for the force out.
(That’s the coach’s wife shouting, not me!)
Second at-bat:
The cheers are so cute, except the teammate (the second baseman again) couldn’t spell 
The third inning, the girl playing second (seen in the videos just playing around in the dirt and spitting into it, not ready) asked coach to play first. The coach asked Peyton to come off first and play second. I don’t think she was happy about it, and threw the ball at the girl, who shouted, “Hey!”. Peyton ended up having to go retrieve the ball. To be fair, Peyton threw the ball to the girl, and the girl just didn’t catch it, but it did look like she was throwing it AT her. No sooner that they switch that the girl got the same kind of ball hit to her, and she fielded it and threw it back to pitcher instead of making the play, which would have been doable, to first. I texted Dave only so that I wouldn’t say anything mean aloud. His response cannot be written here. I was surprised he responded from the field 
I stayed long enough to see Peyton’s last at-bat, then I had to take Brandon to his game. I knew the girls were getting trophies, and they wanted to take a photo together as a team. So, I switched phones with Dave, since his pictures aren’t as good (and he knows it!).
But Dave struck her out on her last at-bat for the season.
Brandon was on time to warm up for his game, and it took Dave and Peyton most of the time to make their way over. They arrived just as the game was underway. We were the home team, and Brandon was out in the outfield. Dave was given the score sheet as soon as he sat down though he hadn’t eaten lunch yet. The food was attracting bees, so we tried to scarf down what we could before being attacked. I kept score for Dave for a few batters while he finished up his food. It was easier keeping score knowing that he was checking behind me.
Brandon was also lead-off batter today, as he has been for the last few games.
Brandon’s first at-bat, I took the video right at the fence.
Then, the second at-bat, I got lazy. I was also swatting at bees while filming, which didn’t do it justice.
I missed my chance at the unobstructed home run!!!
The team parents were laughing that Brandon didn’t look like he could make it all the way home. I told them, “He’s not a distance runner!” And Dave chimed in, “He’s never made it all the way around like that!” though that’s not right, since last fall ball, he hit a homer. But that was off of Dave, and this was off a kid.
His third at-bat, I went back to the field level.
This is the reason you always run out the play. He should’ve been out, but the first baseman bobbled it.
They were playing a team with 5 girls, who could all hold their own! One girl hit a legit home run, deep to center field. Our pitcher’s dad was even riding him about it! She was shorter than Brandon, and built like him, but she took the ball deep! Our parents were in awe of her swing. Dave asked Peyton if she wanted to go back to playing with the boys, and she declined. The game was finally over, and Brandon’s team bested the other by 3 runs. Brandon was rewarded the game ball today with a big smile on his face!
I took Peyton home first, while Dave hung out with Brandon. She wanted to practice pitching with Dave, so she started reading her online book first and didn’t shower right away. He got home, and they went outside to pitch. She didn’t get to during the game, but Dave was hoping she would, since she was coming around. He said she was throwing strikes in the backyard now. Coach wanted Dave to coach next year, and he would help. Dave is not sure he wants to get sucked into the girls’ side, but he disagreed with some of the moves that the coach made, especially rewarding a kid who didn’t listen in favor of pulling Peyton off first. I told him if he does coach, he can make the decisions and not complain. He even told the league VP for the boys that he might coach the girls, so we’ll see how that works out.
He’s trying to figure out how to strategize to make his team competitive. Basically, he’s trying to figure out how to get the kids that listen on his team and weed out the rest. It’s a longer season, so it’s that much more important to try. We’ll see how it all works out when time comes. Peyton and I will miss Brandon’s last game next week as we’ll be at Reagan’s red egg party next week.
Handy Helper
I took Brandon to the sites with me to keep him busy since Dave was practicing with Peyton. But really, he was quite helpful! He’s quick so getting in and out of the car is a cinch. And we got three full bags of groceries with one gallon of milk. He took two of the full bags while I took one and the milk. He had some glass in his so I had to remind him to be careful but he made it to the car. I’d parked further to make sure I didn’t get stuck in traffic or got dings. And when I got home, he helped me unload!! He’s really coming into his own as a productive member of the family. I told him I wouldn’t have been able to do what I did as quickly without his help. He told me, “Then I’m better than Peyton.” Always comparing!
Change in Plans
Dave was supposed to go to a coworker’s retirement party, and I was trying to figure out what to do today with the kids. This morning, Dave decided against it and decided he wanted to take the kids to the pumpkin patch! But, he wanted to go to the deep east bay. We headed out after breakfast and piano practice. We walked around and saw the animals, bought some homemade corn nuts, and looked for some pumpkins. The kids found two small ones, that they could each pick up. We took a few pictures in the cut outs that were spread out. One of them, Peyton was too short, and Brandon found a small wheel and picked it up to put it under her to give her a bit of a boost. It was very sweet of him.
It was quite dusty, and after a bit of walking around, we checked out and paid for the pumpkins. The kids each carried it back, but half way back to the car, Peyton complained it was too heavy. Brandon ended up carrying hers, too, then they started making a spectacle of themselves because Peyton thought they looked like boobies. When I turned around and gave them the look, they calmed down a bit, but not before being laughed at by a trio of brothers heading in.
After we went to the kids event, Dave wanted something for him. So, we picnicked at a winery. We bought a “bag of goodies”, and had crackers, cheese, and salami, with some nuts and dried cranberries. We enjoyed it out on the patio area of a local winery. Then, we headed to the outlets to get some shopping done. We got 75% of us running shoes, and tried to get some Christmas shopping done for family. We finished up our trip with an early (4 pm) dinner and snowy ice. Peyton fell asleep in the car on the way home, as did I, and then when we got back, she and Dave headed out in the back to practice baseball. Brandon and I headed to the store for groceries. Since we hadn’t eaten enough veggies, we all had some salad as our final food. Tomorrow will be Peyton’s last game, and she’s going to play first base according to the coach. She’ll pitch, too!
Friday
Today, I needed to go to work, so I dropped the kids off right before school started. They were fighting with each other this morning, so I waited until the last moment to take them to school. This gave Peyton a chance to practice her piano first. Neither was happy about it, but I’m tired of them antagonizing each other and fooling around in the morning. I went to work and stayed there until it was time to pick Peyton up from school. Since she’d finished piano already, I had her read two books on the online program, one fiction, one non- fiction. Then, it was time to get Brandon. I was around the corner from his class taking pictures of a book for the next reading. His class usually takes a few minutes after to come out, so I figured we had time after the bell rang. Then, I went out and the place had cleared out! There was a sub, so that’s why they were released right on time! One of his friends pointed to the office and said he went there. I walked over in that direction, didn’t see him, and walked back. I then headed to one of the CDC classes, but he wasn’t there either. I went to his own CDC class and found him wiping tears from his eyes and getting his backpack set up. He glared at me and asked where I’d been. I told him and he put himself back together as we walked back to the car. He did know where to go, to our meeting spot at CDC. His friend told him to walk home, since that’s what he does. Brandon also told me G needed a ride today, and that she told him her mom gave her the choice to go with her friend, S, or come home with us. I was surprised, since that was the first I’d heard of it. Her mom hadn’t asked me to take G home, but I guess she’d already decided. We came home, and Brandon finished up some punctuation “homework” that I’d issued after his last test came home less than stellar. He was then given free time, and he asked to color some of my books. He spent the next hour quietly working on his coloring. Peyton was reading, and then playing around with me before we headed out to CEC for Peyton’s end of the season softball party. The kids were checked in, and then I went to talk to the other moms and then found Dave. The pizza was ready shortly after that, and the kids were allotted two slices each. Funny that most of Peyton’s team was there, yet she chose to play with Brandon. I found them together, shooting water at the hole, then playing skeeball together.
Funny how the two pitchers were the ones playing skeeball.
We stayed for an hour and a half or so before we decided we needed to eat dinner ourselves. We walked across the street to Korean food. It was our turn to eat, but the kids said they were still hungry! Brandon had eaten 5 slices and Peyton 3 because there was an excess of pizza to the kids. Brandon wanted salad at home, so I know he knew he’d eaten too much grease. We got the kids home much later than usual, but at least it’s Friday. Here are Brandon’s photos. He wanted me to share them on FB (probably to indirectly show G), but I’ll put them here instead…
Cheerleader(s)
We were watching the CAL/UCLA game on tv. I asked Brandon who he was cheering for, and he didn’t answer. UCLA was beating CAL quite handily in the first half, so Brandon was pretty quiet. Cal was wearing white jerseys with blue pants, while UCLA was all in black. Then, when Cal scored a touchdown, Brandon cheered. And then Peyton cheered. We both looked at her. Then, she said, “OH, what? Oops, I got confused.” I got my UCLA girl back. Brandon has been lost to the dark side.