Strawberry picking...

Today is a beautiful spring day. Not as hot as the last two days. Which is good but our lack of good A/C is about to kill me. That and all the pollen, lol!!!

My neighbor and I went to a strawberry farm and picked two flats each of berries. Yum, yum! I have already froze a bunch and am leaving out some for snacking and for strawberry shortcake. I hope to go back on a Saturday soon and pick some with Jake. Hopefully, (Rita, hint, hint!) a friend or two might come along. I had never been to this place before but the owner was the sweetest thing. Can't wait to go back!

Laura was "helping" me hull the berries for the freezer. She tried a bite or two. Mostly, she thinks they are good to throw. :)

Tonight, if it doesn't rain, we will have another little league game. The Rookie A's aren't doing that well. Let's just say I am very grateful there is a slaughter rule and the other team has to stop scoring after 5 runs an inning, lol! Jake has really been improving on hitting. He got traded in as a catcher and has really done well in that position. He "accidently" caught a tipped ball and got a player out. We had to explain to him that he got someone out. :) He also got to play 2nd base a couple of times. So let's hope that they do better tonight or if not, it gets rained out. :)

Hmmm.. Pie!

We are having a bit of a heatwave this weekend. It has been in the 90's and a little on the humid side. Hard to believe it is still only April. And what usually happens when we have a heatwave here.... We have problems with the air conditioning. We think it is on its last legs, unfortunately! So this morning, Jake and I were craving pie. So before it got hot, we fixed some buttermilk pie. We had never had it before, but man, it is good stuff! I think I like it better than even apple pie...


So today, while it is hot, Jake and I will sit in front of the fan eating chilled buttermilk pie! :) Hope everyone is having a good weekend!

He got the gameball :)

Jake had such a good game today. He really has struggled with his timing on the machine pitch. Today, he got his first hit!!! His first time at bat, he fouled two balls. So I was just glad he got a piece of the ball and then he actually hit the ball centerfield.

He made it to first base. Unfortunately, he didn't make it to second because the next batter hit it right to second base, but Jake ran off the field with a grin on his face. He was so excited to hit that ball finally.

His next good play was in right field. He played in right field twice during the game and you could kind of tell that he was a little disappointed. I thought to myself that you never know where the ball is going to go and you can still have a great play in the outfield. So guess what? He got a ground ball and was able to get it to first base. (First baseman fumbled the ball so the runner was safe, but it was still a good play for Jake.) The outfielders today had a really hard time stopping the ball and knowing where to throw it, so Jake's play really stood out. The couch yelled at him "Good play, right field, good stop!!! Way to go, right field!!" Jake just shrugged like it was nothing, but you could tell he was pleased.


Jake struck out as the last batter of the game, but he did foul one more ball, so at least he connected. So then it was time for the coach to talk to the team and to eat snacks. Jake was so surprised to get the gameball. He really wanted one, but I had told him that he didn't want it until he really deserved it. I think he really deserved it today. He paid attention, had a good attitude and hustled when he was supposed to. Yay Jake!! The older boys on the team are really good, so I know that he feels good to be playing a little more on par with them. That's my boy!!! :)

So the Rookie A's are undefeated so far. Another game tomorrow... Jake is really psyched now. Hopefully, he will have another good game. :)

You say tomato, I say to-mah-to...

Get your own tomato seeds and help Campbell Soup and the FFA distribute seeds to schools and communities across the nation.

http://www.helpgrowyoursoup.com/

Happy Easter!

Where man sees but withered leaves, God sees sweet flowers growing. ~Albert Laighton

Here is something Jake found today in our yard. In the jumble of old cut down stems of black eyed susans, he found an old spout of a watering can. And look what is inside it. A plant! How cool is that?


Right now, Jake is enjoying an ice cream from the ice cream truck that just came. It is hard to believe that they are starting so early. What panic ensues when the kids hear that music and realize the ice cream is coming! Where is the money???? Those ice cream trucks sure like to make the kids run, lol!


We had a picnic outside today and read a Junie B. Jones book. Laura got so muddy crawling off the blanket. I wish I had taken a photo of her with her muddy knees. :) She is now pulling herself up at the furniture a lot. I have a feeling she will be cruising before long! Ai-yi-yi!

We are finished packing and just waiting for Sandy to come home. I can't wait to get on our way. We should be home before lunchtime tomorrow! Yay! Peter Cottontail and we are on our way, lol!

I won't be posting on the blog over Easter until we get back. So until then, happy Easter!

Easter activities...

We love spring break! No deadlines, no rushing, no pressure. :) Of course, Jake is an early bird like us and we are still up early, but that just gives us more time to play, right? (I would really love to sleep in. Oh well, maybe in eighteen years....)




Today was beautiful and cool. Jake got to go the park with two of his best friends to the park. Bless my neighbor for taking them. She even bought him a hot fudge sundae. Wasn't that nice? :) While Jake was gone, I decided to go ahead and cut out the holes for a birdhouse gourd. We grew them last year and let them dry over the winter. They are kind of neat, so we are going to grow some more for next year. Who knows maybe I might sell them. I see where crafters buy them to decorate... Or they might end up in the compost pile, lol! :)

Jake tried to fly his kite in our yard, but the thing kept falling apart. Laura just loved crawling in the yard getting dirty and trying to eat grass and bark. Boy is she already getting to be a fast crawler. She learned today how to climb up on the first step of the stairs! She is too smart for her britches!

Jake and I got some one-on-one time as I treated him to the Dollar Tree. He loves that store. Normally, he buys his own things there. (He loves to bargain shop, my frugal son!) But today, I treated him because he has been such a great help to me. Without asking, he always helps me entertain Laura. He shows so much patience and no jealousy. He never minds the requests: "Jake, grab me a diaper. Jake, hand me the car seat. Jake, Jake, Jake....) So I thought he deserved a treat. We never buy him much so he really apreciates these little things. I let him buy a dart gun and a soldier guy. He was thrilled!









Tonight we decorated Easter cookies. Jake pretty much did most of the work, except for mixing up the icing. I really want him to be able to cook. And I kind of figure it might help him with volume and measurements--which is coming up this semester in his school. The cookies turned out okay I think! We will see how tasty they are tomorrow. Some will be going to my neighbor who took Jake to the park today as a thank you.




Our "farm" is doing good so far. Inside the seedlings are all coming up. Outdoors, the straw bale gardening is working. We planted elephant garlic and onions in it. So far so good! See the sprouts!! It won't be long before we get everything planted. I also want to plant some flowers too, but right now, we are just concentrating on the veggies. Some of my neighbors are starting their first gardens. Kind of neat how we are going back in our ways...

No pics today...

But here is what we are up to... Laura is teething badly. She has a second tooth coming in. It is on the top, but not the two center ones. No wonder she hasn't been herself, poor baby! So she has been waking up at night, so poor me! lol!!!

Jake went to his second baseball game last night. They won! Jake is still working on his timing with batting. Sandy says he made a great play in left field. It was quite chilly last night so me and Laura stayed home. Jake said he was so cold during the game. I look forward to when you can depend on it to be warm at the games. Of course, it quickly moves into where it is too hot, but hey!

We are on spring break this week, so Jake has been home. He is having a blast playing with his friends. We are trying to think of something crafty to do together. He has painted, but he really wants to hot glue something. :)

I have been working on some ribbon embroidery. I found a box of old craft supplies that I had and am determined to work on them. The embroidery isn't hard, but it definitely takes practice. I have some yarn that I think I am going to finally conquer crocheting. And there is a basket kit that I will work on too.

Speaking of baskets, I am still working on Easter baskets. I have the candy, but nothing good for Jake's basket. I don't do big baskets anyway, but I usually tuck one toy, movie or book in. We will be home on Friday!!!! We can't wait to see everyone!

Speaking of which.... I better start packing... yay!

How to comment...

I have been asked by a few people how to comment on my posts. Here is how you do it:



First, click on the bottom of the post that says "comments". A pop up window will appear. Then type in your comment. If you have a google account, it will let you post under that name. If not, then click on the button that says Anonymous. Then you can just type your name under your comment so I know who you are. :)

If that doesn't work, email me and let me know. I'm investigating how to change it so it is easier to see where to post comments.

Hope that helps!

Play Ball!!!

Opening day.... It's always so exciting! This year,it was a beautiful spring day. Just a little cool with crisp blue skies. It started early with team pictures and then opening ceremony. To be honest, the ceremony is a little on the boring side. The boys stand out there while they award volunteers for their work last year. But they do the national anthem and throw at that first pitch and then you know it has really started.

This year our game began immediately after the ceremony. (yay!) It was our first year of machine pitch in the rookie league. Much different than tee ball of course. This year, you really do strike out! But the kids did great. We won 2-0. Jake got to bat 2 times. It was a new experience for him. He did well batting except for the timing. My little brag... I could hear several people say that once he connects he is really going to hit that ball, because he does have a good swing. Well, really that is Sandy's brag because he does tell him how to do it!

Jake ended up striking out, but he did fowl one ball. He was disappointed. He was happy to get a piece of that ball. He played right field twice. The game was much more fast paced this time. And the coaches and team moms are a lot more serious this year, but they were fun loving too. I think Jake is really going to pick up on how to play the game even better this year. I can't wait to see how he improves over the season. He is psyched to play his next game on Tuesday!

Other family news, we have a new backyard friend. It is Tony the Turtle. We found this turtle in our backyard this weekend and it keeps showing up. At first, we thought it was blind or sick. It didn't hide from us. Then we noticed it's eyes were shut. From what we found, that is a sign that it came out of hibernation. Probably the very warm weather we had or the rain brought it out a little early. But now, it is a normal turtle. Hopefully, the kids in the neighborhood won't harass it too much!

Laura is getting better at crawling. She follows me everywhere. Baby gates are up!!! She loves to eat paper and will not waste baskets over to get to it. :) She is starting to pull herself up in her crib. We have to watch this monkey. Another photo of my beautiful babydoll...

Earning rank...

This week has been a busy one for Jake. The biggest thing this week was earning his wolf badge in cub scouts. This was our first year in scouts and I have to say Jake has just blossomed in it. He went through a shy stage this summer and was nervous to try things in front of people. Now that has changed so much.

They asked Jake to be part of the color guard and he did such a great job. He said he was nervous, but he looked so confident. He was proud that the older boy that did it with him was nervous too and told Jake that he would have to follow Jake's lead. :)

I didn't get a lot of pictures of the ceremony as I had to be part of it. I had to help paint a wolf paw on each of the boy's faces. Which was fun, because I also had a very cranky Laura with me. Let's just say that part was interesting... :) Jake also earned a couple of patches and two belt loops. He is excited to find something else to earn.

Jake also attended a baseball practice. Unfortunately, with all the rain, we have only had two. This is Jake's first year with machine pitch. It looks like it will be more like "real" baseball so he will have to really learn a lot this year. I can see such a difference in the older kids who have a year more's experience on this level. But I also know that Jake will learn so much. His first game is Saturday so I will be sure to take some pictures.