Monday, June 30, 2008

Scrapping away the blues

I know the feelings of depression and blues are normal during really stressful times, and I try to keep it at bay the best I can. Sometimes it is harder than others, though, and the last couple of weeks have been a bit hard. I decided to take some time this weekend to scrap away some of those blues by getting my creative juices going again. I made some layouts featuring my favorite people in the world... and thought that instead of just posting the pics from the last couple of weeks I would show you the layouts. I have some more to make... baseball, a mission group visit, Jessica's baby.... but for now I have these done. (They are all digital.) It doesn't just make me feel better to be scrapping either. The kids have really enjoyed seeing themselves in the layouts. That truly motivates me to get more pages done more often. Smiles.









Sunday, June 29, 2008

Hose Bathing

I spent most of the morning and afternoon outside with the kids today.I had a field of weeds in my garden that were screaming to be annhialated. By the time we called it quits we were all quite muddy. I used the hose to get the majority of the mud off my arms and legs before I came in to take a shower, and at their request I let the kids stay outside and play in the water.

When I was cleaned up I looked out the window and thought to myself how much I did not want to have to wash all the mud from them out of the bathtub. So I sent a bar of soap and a bottle of shampoo outside to them, and told them to get themselves all cleaned up. Now I have four squeaky clean kids and a clean bathtub. Don't you love it when things work out that way?





Kyle was making sure Todd got all the soap out of his hair.


Doesn't everyone want to sit on a riding mower to get dried off?


I am uploading pictures to Chet's blog now with an update from the weekend.

Talk to you soon!

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Don't mess with Second

I have several hundred pics from the last week and a half, and I have not had time to sort them. I wanted to get these two up and share this story, though, because we are still laughing about it.

Kyle and his new team had their first game in the All-Star play-offs this week. Well, they technically had all of their games, but this story is from the first one. These boys were so nervous: they only had a week and a half of practice together, they had never used the pitching machine that this league uses, and they were just suffering from overall nerves. Then they start playing and they learn that in this league the players are allowed to steal bases. They aren't allowed to in the league in our county.

So this other team starts stealing bases, and Kyle starts getting mad. I think he took it personally that these runners were stealing to second... HIS base, HIS territory. After a couple of stolen bases go by, he decides he has had enough. He starts picking up that ball and TACKLING the runners. I love this shot because you can see the dust clouds where he tore down the baseline to get to the wanna-be base thief. Kyle knocked him down so hard that the boy's helmet flew off his head. The parents around us were chuckling, and talking to us about it as the ump called the runner out. We let them all know that yes, he is planning on playing football in the fall.
Then the next batter hits a single, and decides to try to steal to second during the next up-to-bat. Dude...did you not see what just happened??? I know he is so skinny that his pants fall down without a belt, but that skinny beanpole is a powerhouse. Steal at your own risk!

Yep...once again Kyle scooped up that ball, beat the kid to the base, and tagged him so hard the kid fell and another helmet went flying. In fact, he laid back down on the ground, and the teams went to their knees before he got back up again and headed back to his dugout.

That was it. After that the kids would steal third and they would sometimes steal home, but they stopped stealing second base. And when they got to 1st, the coaches would tell them to just stay there. You just don't mess with a mad second baseman!

Monday, June 23, 2008

Pictures tonight

We just had an incredible week. I have so much to share. I should be able to get pics and stories up tonight. Happy Monday everyone!

Friday, June 13, 2008

Two posts in one night....

I know it is strange for me to even post twice a week now, let alone twice in one night. I had some photos from today I thought I would get up here, though. I never sleep much when I am home alone anyway, so I may as well get something productive done!

I took the kids into town today so we could go the car show and see the live bands on the square after baseball practice. However, a huge thunderstorm greeted us as we pulled into town, so practice was cancelled and nobody was out on the square. We stopped by Johanna's store to say hi and then headed home. Before we went, though, I decided to take advantage of the cloudy sky and old brick walls.






My fruit trees are producing this year too. I have two plum trees FULL of fruit, plus apples, peaches, and pears. I can't wait to make yummy syrups, jams, and sauces out of all those. Here are some of my baby apples. I have to keep chasing the younger boys out of the fruit trees and remind them constantly to not just sit up there eating everything before it is done growing, but secretly I think it is funny that they do that! And tonight I am feeling especially sentimental about this and other things my kids do that are just so innocent, youthful and funny. I just found out that a little girl who has been battling CF passed away today. I don't know her personally, but I have been following her story and praying that she could be stabilized and receive new lungs. Reading of her death has just hurt. Please keep Haley's family in your prayers.

Did ya miss me?

Probably not, but I miss blogging regularly! Here is a new slew of photos just in case you are interested, though! :0)

The week before last we spent all Sunday afternoon out at Kevin and Debbie's house. I looked out their kitchen window and saw Beth carrying handfuls of daisies in. I asked her where she found them, and she took me back to the patch of wildflowers Kyle had shown her.

Where she picked more to add to some new vases.
And still left plenty behind for the butterflies and bees to enjoy. Josh and Mystery came over that weekend also, and we played Rummy most of the night. None of us have played Rummy in years, and I suspect we forgot a rule or two, and mixed a Gin Rummy rule in there here and there, but we had fun.

Mystery is the Rummy Bomb. She hoards all her cards and goes out in one fell swoop. I think that is against one of the rules we forgot.
No,I would never hide cards up my sleeve. Honest.
Of course, there has been a lot of baseball too. I love action shots, even when the ball is blurry. Call the ball, get your glove ready, ....
and catch. Then turn around and tag the runner out. He is so intense.

Another fun "catch"shot... actually, I am not sure it would be called a catch. It was bouncing on the ground towards him, and he scooped it up and threw it to first.
And here he is running home.
He loves watching the game as much as he loves playing it.
And he really loves winning. His team took third in the league. This trophy actually goes to the team sponsor, but they let me take his picture with it before we left.
I have a word of advice for novice baseball moms out there. There are shoes you should wear on the ballfield, and shoes you shouldn't wear on a ballfield. This is an example of a pair you should not wear. And we will leave it at that.

My garden is growing, and most everything has sprouted. These are sweet peas. I have to get out there tomorrow and weed again. Crystal came over Wednesday and we got about a third of it weeded, but there is still a lot to do. I have four rows of corn growing, and I am so excited. I didn't pull a single one of them out this year!

We have seen some critters lately too. This doe was in Kevin and Debbie's yard, but she took off when she heard a car coming. I have been waiting to get deer shots, so hopefully she will come back the next time we are there.
Then Tyler spent almost two weeks here, and found this baby mole one afternoon. I had a hard time getting a shot of it. He was pretty frantic to get out of that box and get away. I had Tyler take him back to where he found him and let him go. Jack said that wasn't a good idea because the moles like to eat my garden. I wasn't too worried, though, because the kitty patrol saw Tyler putting him back and they were showing a keen interest him in.
Last Saturday Jack took Kyle to a baseball tryout, and Kyle was accepted to an All-Stars team. I thought baseball was over for a while, but I was so wrong. We are proud of him for being an All-Star, though, and really excited to see what happens, even if there are practices six days aweek right now!
While they were at the ballfield, I took the other kids to Agriculture Days here in town. I love stuff like this. The older boys were working at a BoyScout fundraiser, so after lunch and exploring a bit they headed back to the carwash and the rest of us enjoyed the live music and food until Jack and Kyle got back.
Matt took Beth piggybacking around the exhibits for about an hour.
And Faith hung out with her friend who raises sheep.

Then we got the kids snowcones and tried to take pictures in the wind.
And finally before we left the kids enjoyed some watermelon. Beth likes it so much she had double handfuls.
Then on Sunday I took Jack and Todd to the airport so they could go back to Vegas for a week or so and get some work done on my mom's house. I wish we all could have gone, but Todd is having a blast out there. Everybody keeps feeding him pizza and he gets to watch Cartoon Network. Sam told him she would take him out on Sunday and do anything he wants to do. Hahahaha... he has a list ready for her. He wants to go to Walmart, then go to ChuckECheese for lunch, then go to a movie, then go to Walmart again, and then go to Pizza Hut for dinner. Have fun, Sam! LOL

I am hoping to get to post each day this week. We will see how it goes! Tomorrow we are going to baseball practice, the Ice Cream Social, and a birthday party. Sounds like a lot of pictures to me! Hope you all have a fun weekend too!

Saturday, June 07, 2008

Home Run

I have a lot to post about, and I am way too tired to do it right now. I wanted to share Kyle's homerun with you, though. I didn't have the video camera with me, so I made a little video of the series of photos I took of it. (they aren't edited at all... I need sleep.)His team played their last game yesterday, and placed 3rd in the league. This game was my favorite of all... they played so well! Congratulations, Mudslingers! And all my love to the the second baseman! :0)