Wednesday, July 31, 2013

The End is Near

Yes, that’s right.  The end IS near.  Our summer break is almost complete.  Only 22 days until the alarms start ringing again.  Twenty-two days until the homework starts to pile up.  Three short weeks to soak in the last bits of less-structured freedom. 

Our summer has been full.  Baseball, softball and T-ball completely took over the month of June and spilled into July.  We’ve had trips to the splash pad, the Planetarium, and the Fun Park.  We enjoyed two family reunions.  We’ve spent time at several parks and played baseball at the school.  We’ve repaired and attempted repair on several bikes.  We’ve had recovery from surgery and a sprained ankle.  We watched fireworks and a Christmas tree burning. Still to come are swimming lessons, perhaps a trip to the zoo, hopefully another trip to the Planetarium, and some time at the pool.  We’ve been well “summered”.

(That’s the remnants of one of those giant marshmallows all over Daniel’s face.)

 

But I’m still not sure how I feel about our upcoming return to scheduled life.

Emily will start a new year at a new school.

Josh will also start a new year at a new school.

Rachel will start at new year at her same school, but she’ll be going all day.

And Caleb will start his “official” school career as a Kindergartener.

Help?  Someone??

I’m practicing my deep breathing in the hopes of getting through the next 9 months.  Nine long months of homework, fieldtrips, coordinating schedules, making lunches, searching for lost library books, and last-minute scurrying for shoes, gloves, coats and backpacks.

Nine months of structured chaos.

Bring it on.

(Just a fun tidbit in parting.  We went shoe shopping yesterday.  [Yes, I took 5 children to the shoe store.  Bonus points for me, right??!]  I’ve come to the conclusion that our life savings is going to be spent on the feeding and maintenance of one growing, nearly-11-year-old boy.  Josh now wears a size 8.5 shoes.  That’s men’s shoes.  On my 10-year-old kid.  What????  We’re now taking bets on how tall he’ll end up.)

Thursday, July 11, 2013

Softball

Emily completed her third year of slow-pitch softball this week.  She has loved playing and learning new skills.  She was one of only 3 people on her team that had played before!

Meet the Sapphires!

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Emily played catcher quite frequently her first two seasons.  Catcher is a position she hasn’t really enjoyed, mostly because of her glasses.  Too hard to get that mask on and off!  I can’t say as I blame her, though.  I hated playing catcher when I played softball too (but I think it was more because I was terrified of getting clobbered by a bat).  This year she got to play every position except catcher and pitcher.

The season was a short one – only 6 games.  And she missed two of those while at Girls’ Camp.  She got some great hits in the games she played, though,

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I know she wishes the season was a little longer.  We had lots of fun watching and seeing the improvement she has made as a player.

Tuesday, July 9, 2013

Splash Pad Fun

We hit the splash pad one morning last week before it got too hot.  It was already 90 degrees when we got there just after 11 a.m.!!!  Just so you know, I think splash pads are the greatest summer-time invention.  Ever.  It’s like swimming, but I don’t have to swim, nor do I have to worry about someone drowning.  Perfect water fun!

My camera happened to be in the ‘Burb, so I got a few shots.

 

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Monkey boy in all his glory.

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Daniel is NOT a fan of the water.  But if I cheered and laughed when he got upset about getting wet, his crying turned to laughter and he headed back for more.

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Crazy boys!

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The Boss Man.

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Baseball

Josh got to move from coach pitch to minor league baseball this year.  He probably should have started minors last year, but we didn’t realize he was so ready until the season was in full swing.

He has played with the Cardinals this year and has absolutely loved it.  He is an awesome fielder, and managed to be the one to get all three outs one inning.  And two of those were an awesome double play!

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He’s also a good hitter, and anxious to whack the ball every time he gets up.  The coach promised to pay $5 to the kid who could hit it over an outfielder’s head.  Josh was the first to do it…and the coach made good on his word.

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We’re all pretty anxious for the tournament that is supposed to happen next week.  Go Cardinals!!

Tee Ball

Every year we tell Caleb and Rachel that we’re going to sign them up for Tee ball.  This year we actually remembered to do it!!  They had a blast playing, but I think we had waaaay more fun watching.  With every ball hit into the field, a gigantic pile-up ensued that involved practically every kid on the field…even some from the other team!  Occasionally the batter would run after the ball he/she just hit.  And seeing their base running was like watching a drunk person!

They both loved hitting…

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And running…

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Fielding was a different story though (unless the ball was close enough to get in on the pile-up)!

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Everyone hits.  Everyone runs.  Everyone scores.  Sportsmanship, team players, and lots of fun!

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And don’t forget the trophies.  And treats too!

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Our faithful companion at most of the games.  Loves his dad.  Hates the heat.

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