Start of Baseball 2012

 Baseball season is in full swing.  The boys have been practicing Monday and Wednesdays, and now they have games Monday and Wednesdays.  Of course there are only 4 coach pitch teams, so really they just play the same teams over and over for 6 weeks.  David and Timothy's teams played each other.  They don't really keep score.  Every one bats until they hit and gets to run all the bases too.  David just likes to hit that ball. And try to get people out., even though they don't really get "out".  A few pictures...

 David's coach helping Timothy get set to hit.

 Not a bad stance, however why in the world is he wearing the catcher's helmet that is way too big for him?

Timothy's friend Sam (Maybe next time I should try taking pictures from the other side

 David getting ready

 Good swing!

 Level bat - pretty good!

Most importantly they seem to be having fun, except when Timothy lost his fruit snacks while carrying everything back to the van.  Aaron was able to make it to the game on Monday, and yesterday's games were canceled due to the wind and rain.  Which was gone by game time, but oh well.  It allowed for a relaxing dinner time, rather than a rushed one.

Oh, and one of Amy for good measure.  She loves the new flip flops I got her on Monday.  Of course now it's wet and 60 outside, so she'll have to wait a little longer to wear them again.

Wind Storm

Remember the picture I posted yesterday of the half dead tree that needed to be removed someday?  Well yesterday Mother Nature took care of it for us.

We were blessed that it fell where it did.  It didn't hit the house, it didn't hit the shed, it wasn't tall enough to hit the fence.  The roots were so dead they just disintegrated, and only a bit of grass got pulled up, and no concrete was damaged.  The only casualty was the Little Tykes basketball hoop.  I haven't even looked closely, so it might only have a few scratches for all I know.  So now we just need to borrow a chainsaw and chop that baby up.  It landed right next to our fire wood piles - perfect!

The wind storm also did a bit of damage to our fence.  A post is tilting a bit, but not broken.  Hopefully we can fix that before it gets worse.

A couple more pictures, Aaron found these at the store the other day so now I have some fresh basil and oregano - mmm!  I missed having fresh basil last year.

Yard and Garden 2012

I'm way behind on updates, but I think I'll group them into categories.  I am loving the Spring!  The weather, the colors, everything growing, the birds, although I could do without them waking me up at 5:00 am!  Here are some pictures of the things I love about where I live.  These first few were taken April 16th.

Our neighbor's cherry trees in full bloom

The decorative cherry tree blooming

the best looking of the daffodils

our lone tulips that emerged among the rocks

starting to get leaves

the bushes are getting more leaves too

The Maple

The Braeburn

The Honeycrisp

Strawberries getting green

Cherry tree getting blossoms

tomatoes and peppers growing inside (on the 19th)

I took these pictures on Monday the 23rd

On Tuesday the 17th we planted the first phase of the garden.  Here are the onions and potatoes

Then I planted beans, peas, carrots, Swiss chard and lettuce

One pea is coming up as of the 23rd

We decided to plant grass in this area.  Keeping it wet hasn't been easy

The pink blossoms from the tree that was grafted in are blooming now

The flowering dogwood finally has blossoms

 Aren't they pretty?

The peonies are getting bigger too

One of the several blooms that I hope will eventually appear

 Purple lilacs in bloom

White lilacs in bloom

 Our half dead tree.  Someday we'll have to cut it down.

Our neighbor's lilacs are beautiful too.

The new grass is finally growing, and there are more peas and beans coming up.  I'll have to take pictures and add that to the next garden post.

All About Amy

I realized I probably shouldn't have talked to her while we were eating lunch.  All she could focus on was food.  I had to fill in some answers for her. 

Sunday Amy saw me painting my toenails and asked if she could paint her nails.  So I painted them for her.  It's only the second time I've done it for her, and the first time she didn't ask me to take it off five minutes later.

Something I do well... drawing

I am happiest when...  I am dipping strawberries in yogurt (guess what she was doing right then)

Instead of staying home, I wish I could...  go to Paige's, Dani's, Nathan's, or Aleya's house (preschool friends)

The most important thing in the world to me right now is... eating

Some of my favorite foods are:  strawberries, yogurt, pancakes, (can you tell what we ate that day?), water, milk, kool-aid,

My favorite t.v. show is...  Curious George, Cat in the Hat (what she watched that morning while I showered and got ready)

Some of my favorite activities are:  play with stuffed animals, paint with water colors, go outside, going to preschool, drawing, 

My favorite person in the world right now is: She said she didn't have a favorite person, but then listed all of her preschool friends as her friends. (Paige, Dani, Nathan, Brayden, and Aleya)

Something I wish I could do is... go to dance class


Something my mom is proud of:   when I look pretty (???)

Three words that describe me are:  She didn't know what I was talking about so these are my answers: Silly, Contrary, Verbal

I weigh 34 lbs and I am 37 inches tall.

I am 3.5  years old.

Here's a few funny things about Amy:  A couple of weeks ago she mentioned that pretty and beautiful are the same thing.  I agreed and said they were synonyms.  I didn't think she'd really picked up on that until about a week later she blurted out in the van, "Pretty and beautiful are synonyms."  Although it sounded more like cinnamons.  I told her she was right.  I thought maybe she had just memorized the phrase, but not understood the concept. That is until a few days later she again mentioned that pretty and beautiful were synonyms and then asked, "what else is a synonym?"  So we mentioned a few.  She amazes me sometimes.

I took this the other night.  She kept kicking off her blankets and then asking me to put them back on her.  It really is too warm for them.  When I went to check on her before turning out the lights, this is how I found her. On the floor with her legs inside the pillowcase, with the pillow still in it.

Now I'm trying to remember the other story I was going to share.  I'm glad I waited a couple of days, I thought of a couple more things.  At first I didn't think understood about me having a baby.  It's such an abstract concept.  But somehow she was able to think ahead.  Once when she was sitting at the table to eat she said, "When I get too big for my seat the baby can have it".  That's not something I've even discussed.  She also said the same thing about her carseat.

A few days ago she lamented that she couldn't have a baby.  I told her she could when she got older.  "How old do I have to be?  5?"  I told her that she has to get married first, "So at least 22".  Then this conversation followed:
"Who did you marry?"
"I married Daddy."
She whimpers, "Oh, that's no fair."
"What's not fair?"
"But I wanted to marry you."

I'm sure there will be many more stories to come!

All About Timothy

Timothy was glad to spend some one on one time with me and finish the prompts


Something I do well...draw

I am happiest when...  I do something right

Instead of staying home, I wish I could...  Go to McDonald's every day

The most important thing in the world to me right now is...  school

Some of my favorite foods are:  pizza, cake, ice cream, chocolate,

My favorite t.v. show is...  Garfield

Some of my favorite activities are:  LEGOS

My favorite person in the world right now is:  Sam

Something I wish I could do is... everything

Something my mom is proud of:   when things go right

Three words that describe me are:  smart, imaginative, young

I weigh 63 lbs and I am almost 47 inches tall.

I am 7.8 years old. 

Timothy continues to amaze me with his knowledge and understanding.  He also has a very quirky imagination.  He likes to talk about what he will do when he's an inventor. "In my lab I am going to have a light that...."  Oh he comes up with some crazy stuff.  And then the other day we had the missionaries over and Elder A* (from Armenia) was doing an object lesson with a glass of water and chili powder.  He explained that the chili powder was like all of the temptations of Satan.  Then he let Timothy put a finger in the water and we saw how the chili powder stuck to his finger.  The he used dish soap to coat another of Timothy's fingers.  This represented having the Holy Ghost with you.  When he put Timothy's finger in the water the chili powder dispersed and there was no chili powder on his finger.  It was a great lesson.  Then Timothy said something like,  "So if we dumped the whole bottle of soap in the cup that will be like the end of the world, when Satan is gone."  Wow!  Deep thinking!

All About David

I don't know if I do enough of these individual posts.  With David turning 10, I began thinking of all the things that have changed in the last year or so.  So I thought I'd do a little update on each of the kids.  I got the prompts from Melissa J*'s blog.

Something I do well... fractions

I am happiest when...  I go to a fun place

Instead of staying home, I wish I could...  go to Grandma's house

The most important thing in the world to me right now is...  my family and friends

Some of my favorite foods are:  pizza, hamburgers, stromboli, crepes

My favorite movie is...  Percy Jackson and the Olympians - The Lightening Thief

Some of my favorite activities are:  bike riding, kickball, baseball,

My favorite person in the world right now is:  Ian - my best friend

Something I wish I could do is... eat candy and play video games all day


Something my mom is proud of:   when I do something she asks me to, right away

Three words that describe me are:  smart, friendly, funny

I weigh 78 lbs and I am 4' 7" tall.

I am 10 years old.

A few more things... David is doing well in school as usual, but he's finally having to do some homework, and ask for help.  However once I attempted to explain fractions to him, and work with him a bit he caught on and now apparently it's "something he's good at".  I should explain, that he normally doesn't have home work because he finishes it at school.  Things like book reports, and worksheets are given to them in class, and typically finished at home.  There are a few students that get finished with classwork quickly enough that they have time to do their "homework" at school.

He is enjoying coach pitch a little bit more, but wasn't happy when his coach asked him to play catch with Timothy for practice.  Coach J* is impressed with his skills, but thinks he can help Timothy by practice with him.  He also said that David tends to power the ball with his right hand, which results in a lot of foul balls, and a lot out in left field.  He hopes to work with him a bit on that.  Between him and Val they knock the ball out of the park (it's not a very big park) about 50% of the time.

David is now in Webelos, however since he is the only one I think they are waiting until another joins him in July.  Until then he'll be meeting with the Wolf Den, but work on his Webelos stuff.

What else? He's still a bit silly, and is constantly making noise, humming, beat boxing, etc. Ynless he's reading, then he wants everyone else to be quiet. He's working his way through Fablehaven Book #4.  After he's done with that I told him he could finally read the 4th Harry Potter Book.  Perhaps he's ready for the death scene.  I guess we'll see.  I'm sure he'll read it, and say, "why couldn't I read that before?  What was the big deal?  Oh well.  I guess I just want to keep my oldest as young as possible for as long as possible.

Birthday Videos

A couple more from David's birthday party.  The kids running to find the treasure


And then one of David hitting the pinata, baseball style.

David videos

This is one of David playing with a toy guitar at Sara's.  He didn't know I was taking a video at first.




Here is one taken a David's birthday party.  It will give you an idea of the Angry Birds slingshot game they played. 

Spring Break Videos Part 2

Here are couple of Hannah and Amy on the trampoline downstairs at Sara's house

Spring Break Videos

 Amy usually doesn't like the swings.  However the one at Grandma G*'s house was perfect for her.  Since she could get  on by herself, touch the ground, and stop by herself she loved it.  I guess she only likes it if she feels in control.


This is a silly video taken at Sara's house.  Aaron was giving tummy massages, of sorts.

For some reason it's only letting me do two videos.  If I add another one it deletes one.  I guess there will be a few posts of videos then.

David's 10th Birthday Party

Saturday morning started like most other Saturdays - the kids complaining about doing chores.  However they finished quickly when I reminded about the birthday party.  Of course they didn't like it when I told them they also had to clean up the play room.  I did most of the preparations on my own because Aaron was adding two sprinklers to our lawn.  Last year the middle of the lawn didn't seem to get enough water, so we had to add some sprinkler stakes to supplement.  This year Aaron added them to the lines so we wouldn't have to worry about extra hoses etc.

After the normal cleaning we made a few decorations. 

I got the balloon idea from Aaron's cousin Katie.  Somehow I didn't notice that the bag of colored balloons didn't have a black or a white balloon in it.  So we put the black bird's decorations on the orange balloon.  Aaron had already taken the red bird out to the front to hang on the mailbox, well actually the newspaper box I guess.

I started making the pizza dough and sauce and getting the toppings ready.  David only invited a few people (5) and only 2 came, but with my 3 it made for a nice quiet manageable party.  It was still fun. David entertained them with magic tricks until I was ready for them to make the pizzas.  

 While they were eating, I snuck out and set up the treasure hunt. 

Then Aaron set up the Pigs for the slingshot.

We used the water balloon launcher we bought for our family reunion last year.  Aaron found a red Angry bird stuffed animal.  Everyone got a turn.

 David's turn

 Jonathan's turn

 Timothy's turn

 Amy's turn

 Love the action shot!

 David again - I must have missed Ian

Many pigs still standing.  It's harder than it looks.  And it was a bit windy and the boxes kept falling over.

 Even Aaron took a shot

The bird in action

They wanted to do this forever, but we still had plenty more planned.  So went sent them on the treasure hunt.  They quickly went through the 7 or 8 clues I made up, and found the "treasure".

The Pig Pinata!

However instead of stringing it up we decided to toss it like a baseball and gave the kids a sprinkler pipe to hit it with.  Well, David cracked it open on the first try.  No one seemed to mind though.  They just wanted the candy inside anyway.  Then it was time for presents.

 David wore the pig crown for a second

 Ian gave him all sorts of goodies like Bazooka bubble gum,

 some chips like hot Cheetos, but spicier, and some red vines.

Jonathan made a cool card, and gave him a McDonald's gift card.  He was pretty exciting thinking of how many ice cream cones, or Happy Meals he could buy with it.

 Then it was time for cake and ice cream

I put the camera away after that.  But the fun didn't end there.  After they added to their sugar intake, we gave them a choice of playing with the hexbug set, playing Angry Birds on the flat screen, or going back outside to use the slingshot.  Eventually they decided to do the slingshot again.  They played until parents arrived.  We didn't really get the cotton candy ready in time, so Ian got to take a bit home, but that was it.

Then it was time for a quick clean up and nap time.  I honestly don't remember if Amy napped or not, but I think I did.  The rest of the evening is a blur for me.  Oh, I finished weeding throughout the strawberry patch, and did a little more in the empty ground where we planted corn last year.  I'm pretty sure Aaron made dinner, and eventually the kids got baths and went to bed.  Oh wait.  Timothy got invited over to a friend's house for dinner and a movie.  So I dropped him off at Sam's at 5:00 and then I fixed dinner for the four of us while Aaron mowed the lawn.  I don't remember what we ate...  I gave Amy a bath and put her to bed.  As soon as she was settled we started our late movie night.  We introduced David to Star Wars.  He knows the story somewhat from LEGO Star Wars video games and comic book type stuff he's read.  We started with Episode 4 of course.  He can't wait to see the rest of them.  Timothy got home around 8:30.  They were watching Hugo, but apparently it wasn't very appealing to Timothy.  He certainly wanted to sneak down and see what we were watching though.  It was a late night, but a fun way to celebrate David's birthday.