Baseball Season: Over

We made it to the end of another baseball season.  I'd like to thank the boys for having such a positive attitude about being really bad players and just playing to have fun.  I'd like to thank M for taking the quarter off taekwondo so we didn't completely lose our minds.  And I'd like to thank M again for taking over as many games and practices as he could...and letting me go when I needed some peace and quiet.

Here are some highlights from tonight's game, the last of the season!

IJ pitches an entire inning

S crosses first base

Is he nine or nineteen?  I can't really tell.

IJ-does he hit it?

Yes he does!

S gets to pitch the first half of the very last inning of the very last game

I have nothing more to say on the subject of baseball, except why do we do this to ourselves and our children?

Big Day for Big D

I guess every day is a big day when you are almost 14 months old.  Today, D got two bee stings in his knee.  So now we know he isn't allergic to bees!  We've discovered at least four bees nests around the house and in the pasture...just feet away from where the kids like to play.  D got stung by the bee that was in the pool.

Then he got pecked by a chicken when we were feeding them clover treats.  He looked at the chicken with a look, started to cry, stopped crying, and got mad.  He picked some clover, threw is on the ground where the chicken couldn't reach it and said, "Doh!"  His word for NO.  I said, "Did the chicken peck you?" and he started crying all over again!

He has developed object association-or whatever those fancy-pants child developmental authorities call it.  He puts shoes on his feet-although he owns none himself.  He brushes his hair with combs and brushes-although he has little hair.  And he know that Baby Einstein DVDs go in the DVD player...he just hasn't figured out how to get the DVDs out of the case first.  But he knows how to turn the TV on and off, open and close the DVD player, and how to press play.  He's brilliant!  It must be the Baby Einstein movies!

And at the end of his long day, he is completely crashed and hogging the whole bed!

Daisy Love

It looks like IJ loves me another year...

Don't forget to visit last year's daisy post!

Pool Day!

"Cannon Ball!"

Like everyone else in this area, we are really enjoying the weather this weekend!  I set up the pool while the boys were at an early morning game.

This guy really likes the water.  I have a small under bed storage container that I fill with water for him.  IJ will also entertain him with the hose.  I have so many pictures of D playing in water.  It was no surprise that he REALLY liked the pool.  And the cold water doesn't seem to bother him, much like IJ.

It was all fun and games until one of the kids said, "What is this orange stuff floating around in the pool?"  After a quick examination, I hollered, "Everyone OUT of the pool!"  We dumped the pool and refilled it and everyone was happy.

The boys slept in the tent last night.  They set it up by themselves and they stayed out there all night long by themselves.  We are so proud!  They are going to be great Boy Scouts.  Know how I know?  IJ asked if he could bring his knife to the tent, "Just in case the campfire spreads and I have to cut my way out of the tent."  There was no campfire last night.  And no knife in the tent either.

What I Like About D

This kid is funny.  The video shows that he has a sense of humor, but will have to be told about 100 times not to touch the hot stove...even after he's burned his fingers.  He is learning language fast, especially with the help of his siblings.  IJ is the one that taught him the yuck sound (but he also told his youngest sister that aliens could come out of the TV and get her).  D has also told me that diapers are yucky, coffee is yucky, and eggs are yucky.  All I have to say is Grandad shouldn't leave unfinished cups of coffee down where D can reach them without telling me first.

Beach Day!

What better way to spend a sunny day with a low tide than go to the beach?  Our trip fit perfectly between a visit from the palliative care nurse and the physical therapist.

I was able to get M to come along with us, although he insisted on taking his own car so he could leave if he wanted to (I was meeting some friends at the beach).

 Trips to the beach with M are always more educational than trips without him.

 There is a very cool tree root to climb on that eroded onto the beach a long time ago.  We got some great pictures of the kids climbing:

I'll just call these the End of the School Year pictures, because I am on serious burnout... yet I'm making plans for next year already...

World Conservation Award

IJ earned his World Conservation Award at Cub Scouts last night.  He has been working on it since the beginning of the school year.  He had to complete many tasks including field trips, interviewing professionals, doing science experiments, collecting and labeling nature items, and participating in a conservation project.

Scouts can only earn this award one time, and the older they get, the more requirements they have to do to earn it.  I am a firm believer in the boys understanding what they are earning and why.  Nothing bugs me more than handing a handful of patches to a Scout, asking them what they did, and watching them shrug.  IJ wanted to earn this on his own and has a passion for nature.  I helped him create a notebook/portfolio of all his work at the end of the project and kept him on task, but IJ's heart was in the project the whole time.  We are so proud!