The season of Baseball

T-ball is now over. Thank goodness. I'm not saying we didn't enjoy it, we did.  Who doesn't like repeating themselves 625 times a game? Every game.


"put down the bat, sit down, hands to yourself, run to first, stop picking grass, run to second, stop chewing your glove, stand up, stop kicking dirt, don't put dirt in your hat, oh for the love of baseball - you have to potty AGAIN?, "...rinse and repeat.

I think that T-ball is such a difficult sport to teach...so many rules and strategies. I say this not as a parent or a former softball player, but as a someone who has coached T-ball teams.


I say this as someone who parents expect miracles from.


The parents bring their sweet little person that is barely old enough to get to the bathroom alone and hope we can turn them into the next All Star. They yell and cheer from the stands - thinking that somehow the kids can hear them. Really? They can hardly hear the coaches standing right next to them.


Our hope as coaches is that we can teach them to RUN TO FIRST BASE AFTER YOU HIT THE BALL. Everything else is just icing on the cake.


We ended the season 12 and 0, because in T-ball. We are all winners :) Plus, we only misplaced 1 player...once. And he was quickly found and returned to the dugout.


And then there is Pony League. Ahhh, much better...and they find first base without all the yelling and shouting and whatnot. Most of the time.

(those photos of ADog are NOT compliments of ME. They are compliments of the dad with the very cool camera with a zoom lens 9 inches long)


What would we do if we were not going to games and practices 5 times a week?


Certainly not cry. There is no crying in baseball.

Happy 6th Birthday Agent P

(If you were ever wondering why we call this particular child Agent P, it is because he has no issues with dropping his drawers and peeing...where ever. Something he is nearly grown out of.)

To Wyatt on his 6th birthday -


Today you are 6 years old and you can hardly stay in your skin you are so excited!  You have been waiting for this day to come for months, and have been crazy about it since the calendar changed to May.


I am so blessed to be your mama. I cannot believe that God trusts me with such a wild spirit and a large heart.  You are beyond what simple words can describe.


You live every moment, push every boundary, create chaos out of calm and give 100% from the time you get up until you go to bed. You ask questions I've never heard and rarely know the answer to. You are stubborn and head strong. I'm afraid you might be too much like your mama my sweet boy. I am sorry for that.


You are so smart my sweet boy, and you thirst for knowledge. You love to watch the History Channel with your daddy (or alone) and he is so grateful that someone will do that with him. You truly love it and it holds your attention for the entire show. You love to read books about dinosaurs, spiders, bugs, animals - anything with facts that you can learn. You are such a great reader and are work so hard to sound out even the hardest of words.


Some days you make me so frustrated one minute and the next fill my heart so full of love for you I could cry. I am sorry if I sometimes yell...you just don't seem to hear me so well when I ask 3 times nicely :). 


Thank you Agent P for having the courage to be YOU. Thank you for showing me that my world can be upside down and chaotic and it will all be OK. Thank you for coming to us 6 years ago today and changing our world in such a way that we could never turn back.


You are loved more than I can tell you and without you - my life would be dull and boring!  


Happy Birthday! 

Dang Varmint

I am sure many of you would be very surprised to know that I am not really fond of little critters that scurry about. That they literally freak. me. out.! They are not my friends and I don't pretend that they are.


You may not be surprised to find out I've been known to scream like a little girl at the mere thought of an encounter with one of those rabid little hairy creatures. 


Ok, I'm sure that they aren't rabid, and sure, maybe they are more afraid of me than I am of them...but I find it highly unlikely. 


So, can you imagine what happened when A-Dog came in one day, to tell me there was something floating in the pool and I really needed to come quick?  


Maybe you can't imagine...But, I was a pillar of strength. Or a pillar that would not be budged from the kitchen. I was very busy contemplating dinner or thinking I should scrub the grout in the tile. Anything to appear VERY busy.


A-Dog is genetically predisposed to over reacting to spiders, bees and little creatures that scurry about. So, his recount of what was actually out there was somewhat unreliable. But he said it was a "yard rat thingy floating in the pool".


It was decided that the best way to deal with this was to call Dad. Immediately.


He was very not sympathetic.


At all.


In fact, I'm sure he laughed. A Lot.


BUT, I informed him he would accompany us as we walked out with to check out the situation. Sometimes A-Dog cannot be trusted on the actual size of icky creatures. Again, it's genetic and I don't fault him. His Gramma is the same way.


So,  after warning my sweet husband there would be screaming, we ventured out into the pool area.


Here it was...prepare yourselves friends...

hairy varmint that no longer scurries...I hope.

A-Dog and I argued a bit...I tried to pull the mama card and tell him he HAD to removed said varmint. It didn't work. It was best we hung up the phone or it likely would be landing in the pool at any point in which this mama freaked out.


We decided that we would BOTH remove the varmint-TOGETHER. So, we got the pool net - extended as far as it would go. 


(We discussed what we would do if when we pulled it above the water and it started moving and running at us. (Please I beg of you, don't ask how that conversation went. It is embarrassing for us both.) )


We stuck the net in the pool, lifted the varmint up in the net.  He was very dead. Thank you very much.


At this point, we are still both holding the pole - but we needed to get the gate open. UGH.  I let go, and A-Dog got him thru the gate with our 12 foot pole. 


We walked about 3 feet and I said to A-Dog "ok, you walk over there and throw him into the dessert". "WHAT??? HOW???"


I demonstrated with my invisible pole. Move pole behind you, lift quicly over the top of you and sling it out - in a rainbow motion. BUT, do not, I repeat DO NOT stop when the pole is over your head - or the dang varmint will land on you.  I assured him screaming was A-OK. 


We stood there looking at each other for what seemed like days - but was probably only 10 seconds.


Then...he DID IT!

Now, I'm sure you are wondering to yourself...WHY ON EARTH DID YOU STOP AND TAKE A PICTURE??????


It was from my phone. It was in my pocket. And we prevailed.


The varmint was gone, and it didn't land on us in any way.

So, where were we?

Or where are we? 


Or when will we all be home together from dinner to bed time? 


There are no answers for any of those questions. No good or definitive ones.


But we were all together for Easter weekend. The 6 of us and 30 of our closest relatives :)

I am sure you have heard me say "oh this is my favorite holiday" for nearly every holiday that includes many people, eating and drinking. Sorry. Did I actually say drinking? I meant "spending quality time together". 


But really, Easter ranks right up there in the top 5. Or 10. There are a lot to choose from and I can't be pressured to make a choice.


All my life (that I can remember) we have gone to Phoenix for Easter to my Aunt and Uncle's house where more people than you can count would play, swim, eat and spend quality time together.


A new tradition started about 11 years ago (or so...I don't have any real documentation of the first 2 years) when my cousin 'L' and I decided to spend the Saturday before Easter shopping and hanging out-before going to her parents house on Sunday for the HUGE shin-dig.


Then our cousin 'R' found out. And then word spread like wild fire to all the cousins that we did this and the accusations flew about us hoarding some great fun from the rest of them. Or that we were spending quality time together without them is probably more the case...but truth be told, we did a lot of candle shopping. It's possible we did some piercing too.


Whatever the case - 2003 became the first of the Cousins Cool Easter! We sit around, let our kids run wild and spend quality time together. In 9 years,there have been horse shoes thrown, chairs broken, people sleeping in random places, many babies born and there was once a "clothing on fire" incident. Good thing we are all family.

I don't know if we really call it Cousins Cool Easter. 'L' and I would probably call it the Cool Cousins Easter - cuz, well, we are:

Me and L 

L and I grew up together and even when we were separated by time and space and no phones that had texting capabilities, we were always close. We have unintentionally owned the same vehicle - TWICE.  We have intentionally pierced our ears together - TWICE. We have purchased matching outfits on more than one occasion as well. Sadly, that last one - well, lets just say I am pretty sure we were in our 20s. Don't judge, we are freaks and we are good with that.

Bink-O

Mini P LOVES music. A LOT. 


The one she's been singing all week is BINGO.


"There was a farmer had a dog and Bink-O was his name-O"
"Bink-I-N-G-O, Bink-I-N-G-O, Bink-I-N-G-O and Bink-O was his name-O"

The Polar Bear Dare

It's a widely known fact that A-Dog really has no feeling in his body when it comes to the water temperatures of bodies of water. I'm not saying he doesn't take HOT showers, cuz he does. I mean when it comes to a body or mass of water, he cannot help be magnetically attracted. Pool, beach, lake...all the same.


I remember one time (when he was an only child) we took a trip to Michigan. It's a long flight (2 different flights actually) then we still had to drive like 5 hours so we needed a break. We stopped at some random beach and were walking in the sand and he literally took off all his clothes (except his underwear I think, I hope...) and was in the water before we could stop him. The water was NOT warm. At All. 

A different day at the beach, with a swim suit. (ADog age 5.5)

So, last week, I double dog dared him to jump in the pool and swim across.  And with any good dare, it needed a reward.   So, for the love of his siblings and their love of ice cream...he jumped in, swam across and did it all for a trip to the Dairy Queen!

All because he loves us...

Sitting with our feet in the waterfall, hangin' at the pool!

Or, because he wanted ice cream.

Pool Finale Finally

Our backyard went from this:

To this:

Now, if we can get the water warmer....68 is not quite my temperature for water. I'm a bit of a wimp. Go ahead, gasp in disbelief..but it's true.