Spring Ball

Baseball season is fully underway, and with both kids playing this spring, our schedules are overly packed. We've had a game or practice 6 days out of 7 for the last 3 weeks! Sometimes, the kids have games on the same day, which means Dad takes Little Man and I take The Girl. Plus, The Mr. is a Coach this year so he really needs to be at every game even if Little Man isn't playing that day.


It's difficult for me to get photos of Little Man since I often do the scorebook. So I'm going to have to take a game off here and there so I can get some more pictures of him in action.

This is The Girl's first year playing on a team. Because they offer a girls softball league here, they wouldn't let her play baseball. She was not happy. And the coaches are having a hard time retraining her! She doesn't throw like a girl :)

And she loves to slide! Here I caught her stealing home. Which she does quite often. She's also managed to get pretty banged up while doing it. That's my Girl :)

Little Man's 13th Birthday

The Big 13! I can't believe it. The day started off with a light breakfast. We then went to a movie, and CiCi's for lunch. While at lunch, Little Man opened some gifts.

After lunch we did a little shopping, got some DQ and then headed to the Silver Hawks game. We had a birthday message put on the board. I think they should give us a refund since they misspelled his name :( During the 7th inning stretch Little Man got to play a relay game. He wasn't too thrilled with how it went down. But you can't tell from the grin on his face!

Later that weekend we had a little family party and I made the obligatory baseball themed cake. I think this makes 4 years in a row?

Next year he says I just have to make a baseball stadium just like they did on Ace of Cakes! I think I'd best start planning now...

The Knitwit Files Vol 4: Mohawk Hat

Little Man's new winter sport hat

Let me first start by saying, I did NOT knit this hat. Little Man saw it (sans 'hawk styling) lollygagging around at Penney's when we picked up his winter coat. Being the "in" thing to wear this season it immediately caught and held his attention. I gave in and bought the silly thing and it laid around the house for some time, getting no use whatsoever.

A couple of nights ago I just couldn't stand it any longer so I gave the poor little dear a bit of a makeover. I picked up some yarn to match the braids and cut about a zillion 4" pieces and stacked them next to my chair. While watching TV I was able to latch hook these bits of string into the stitches of the hat, creating a lovely faux-hawk along the top center. (Any of you fashionistas out there will have seen several of these types of hats available at the local mall.)

No longer a skinny little nothing, this hat now has some major 'tude. Little Man was suitably impressed with his momma's crafting skills. I daresay this hat is about to see a wild and crazy time!

It's Almost Time...

Today we went out to the RV to pull out Little Man's baseball gear. I told him to make sure he grabbed his cleats as well, but he said he outgrew those a long time ago. And since in past years we've gone through 2 pairs of cleats each season, I don't doubt him!

This Thursday we go to the Little League meeting to sign up. As soon as they form the teams they'll begin practicing. Now that there are indoor training facilities available here, they can get a jump on spring and do a lot of drills and batting/pitching training before the season gets underway. And it's a good thing, because...

Baseball is our favorite season of the year!

Family Day Activities

Yesterday Chad took most of the day off of work so we could have a family day before his trip to Atlanta next week. We decided to surprise the kids with a trip to Strikes and Spares in Mishawaka. They had wanted to go bowling so we thought we'd give them a little bonus. We had so much fun!


The indoor go karts were definitely a big hit! We spent most of our time cruising the track and perfecting our "drifting".


We only played one round of black-light mini-golf. Some of the holes were a challenge, but most of them were fairly easy. I'm sure that's because it's only 9 holes and it has to be little-kid friendly. Apparently, my camera (little point-and-shoot Cybershot) doesn't care for black-light. Oh well.

Then we did some bowling. Chad and Little Man played one round and then went back to the go kart track. The Girl and I bowled a second round and then went to join them.



By the time we'd used up our 3-hour wristband, we were quite worn out. Strikes and Spares is at the top of our Activities list!

Gimme S'more!

Nothing says summer like a bonfire and some marshmallows! Not long after setting up camp The Girl and Little Man met all the neighbor kids. A couple days later we were the hang out spot.



We picked up a bunch of old firewood from out behind the sawmill. It was so dry it burned very, very quickly. It was all gone before the weekend was done. We went through 2 boxes of graham crackers, 10 chocolate bars, and 3 bags of marshmallows that weekend. Good times! :)

In the Kitchen

Chad and Little Man made dinner! Home Economics class is in session :) Eventually we'll have a full-sized kitchen and then family cooking will be much easier. Until then, we take turns :)



While I was snapping pictures and watching them cook, it hit me that they were dressed practically the same! Silly boys!

Buy me some peanuts!

Family day this week was an evening treat. We scored front row, home plate tickets to the South Bend Silverhawks game last night!



What a great view of the game. The only, and I do mean only, drawback to the seats was the view along the 3rd base line was blocked by the visitors dugout. But you could stand up and watch the play in left field if you really needed to see what was going on back there! The best part was the foot rest :) We had a lot of fun and snacked on $1 hot dogs and sodas.



Little Man was totally into the game until the hecklers started getting obnoxious. I tried to calm him down but he was completely distracted from the game the last 2 innings. He and The Girl were so unused to the rudeness toward the visiting team that I think it may have ruined the experience for them. I hope not. I'd really like to get season tickets next year.

Little Man Turns 12!

Happy Birthday, Little Man!

The Big "12"

We started the birthday morning by sleeping in...always a good thing! And then we headed down to the ballpark to do some batting practice. Chad finished work early today so when he got home he came down to join us at the field for a bit. Then, after we cleaned up J opened the cards sent by the family and  we went to CiCi's for lunch. We love Cici's! That's why we don't go very often :) 

After lunch we ran a couple errands and then J headed back to the ballpark for team batting practice. After practice he came home and opened his gifts. Boy was he surprised!

His new shades. He needs them for baseball. But I had in mind a secondary use when I purchased them:

Protective eye gear for when his dad attacks him with his own birthday present!

J has been talking about these big, new Nerf guns forever. It's been on his list forever. Well, forever ended today, because he got not one, but two of them! (Gotta love those BOGO sales!) Plus, it just wouldn't be as much fun if dad couldn't defend himself!

Boys will be boys. Gotta love 'em.

Little Man's Baseball Cake Pops

Thank you, Bakerella!

The extra large baseball will be featured tomorrow on the official birthday cake!

And now, we're off to the ball park!

Boating Fun

There has been a lot of rain the last couple days. We have huge puddles everywhere.

Every little boys dream.

Making paper boats and racing them in the puddles!

J and his friends decided to make paper boats so they had an excuse to play in the water. They each came up with a different design and put it together themselves. I thought I'd join in so I made a simple, folded-paper style boat. I ended up making 2 of them because one of the boys broke his boat before it even made it into the water.

The heaviest looking boat was the one that actually won the race. He was smart enough to put some kind of sail on his boat to help catch the wind!

I took the opportunity to play around with my camera. I chose a very small puddle to play in. I don't like ruining my shoes anymore.  Now, if I had a pair of galoshes....

Baseball vs. Reds

Despite missing practices all week and Thursday night's game, J was a starter for Friday night's game. Rather than the usual 2nd base or Center field, Coach decided to try him on 3rd base. J played a lot of 3rd base last fall so the position wasn't new to him. He was definitely ready for some action...it just never happened.

J had 2 at bats tonight. The first one he was walked and the second he struck out. He prefers striking out to walking anyday...but it's best to get a hit!

I managed a quick shot as he ran by me after scoring. When I have to juggle the scorebook and the camera, somethings gonna give...too bad it was the pictures...I need to train a replacement soon - or hire a photographer. It was a pretty good game. The Diamondbacks won 10-0. So another shut out on the books. Go Diamondbacks!

It's so hard to say good-bye!

Best pals, best buds,

it's just not fair...

It's just so hard to say good-bye to a good friend. But it was time for D's family to head back to Oregon now that the Florida weather is warming up. They'll make the trip over a couple weeks, enjoying the scenery and visiting friends and family along the way. We sure will miss them! Safe journey!

photostrip by Big Huge Labs

Project 365: Week 8

WEEK #8

Sunday, February 14, 2010  Happy Valentine's Day! Instead of sickly sweet chocolates we went a little crazy this year and tried out the new Jelly Belly "Bean Boozled" jelly beans. Yuck! They're nasty! If you want to take the dare, head out to your local Target and pick up a box of the little buggers. Here's the link to the Jelly Belly website. Good luck.

Monday, February 15, 2010  I spent most of the afternoon working on my designs for my current Project 365. I had a couple other colorways but wasn't really happy with any of them. I found a color palette I liked over at COLOURlovers and made my designs with that. This one's a keeper.

Tuesday, February 16, 2010  I finally got to print some of my P365 cards! Aren't they purty?!

Wednesday, February 17, 2010  I went to Goodwill and picked up some pretty summer pants that no one was going to purchase and wear as pants. I wanted the fabrics to make this pretty bag!

Thursday, February 18, 2010  I tried a new bread recipe today. Pumpkin-Cranberry bread. It's supposed to have an orange glaze over it, but I like it just fine without! The oven ran a little hot so the bottom is too crispy to eat, but the rest of the bread is nice and moist! yummy!

Friday, February 19, 2010  Today we went to Blue Springs State Park to see the Manatees. It was lots of fun, until J got a splinter under his fingernail. :(

Saturday, February 20, 2010  We were unable to get that splinter out so we had to go to CentraCare. It took 4 pain shots to get his finger numb enough to work on it. A little over an hour later, he had this pretty bandage to wear and we had a $217 bill! Add on another $36 for his prescription and that's a pretty expensive little splinter. Luckily, it doesn't affect his throwing or batting! Season starts soon!

And No, that's not Splinter from TMNT!

Yesterday's spinter is no more. It has been extracted and obliterated. And it only cost $253 including meds. And they were being super nice by not charging us the office call fee! Of course, I still couldn't keep my eyes from popping out of my head when I paid the bill.

Four pain shots and a little wrestling match later, he was almost good as new. And now we have 7 days of structured medication-taking. :(  Hopefully it doesn't interfere with baseball!

Project 365: Week 6

WEEK #6

Sunday, Jan. 31, 2010  Jeremy and his friends set up a little tent with his sleeping bag so they could stay out of the amazingly cold wind and play their video games.

Monday, Feb. 1, 2010  I made a batch of brownies and tried cutting them with the heart cutters. I sprinkled them with a little bit of powdered sugar. yummy :)

Tuesday, Feb. 2, 2010  Chad's checkerboard scarf is all finished!

Wednesday, Feb. 3, 2010  Blue Me Away nail polish. Love it, love it, love it!

Thursday, Feb. 4, 2010  Working on scanning pictures from MY childhood. I've started my Journaling Me Project and I'll need some of these photos to go with the journaling.

Friday, Feb. 5, 2010  Birthday cupcakes. I played around with my food colorings and used some pretty ribbon to make my cupcakes look like balloons! I used my pretty liners but they don't show up very well.

Saturday, Feb. 6, 2010  J had baseball camp today, so I spent my birthday working in the concession stand at the little league fields. It was a nice day, but very cold, very strong winds again. Glad we had hot cocoa!

Project 365: Week 5

WEEK #5

Sunday, Jan. 24, 2010  I was a little bored, a little goofy. I put the dirty dishes into the sink and it just kinda lent itself to a little clowning around :)

Monday, Jan. 25, 2010  J has quite the collection of tech deck skateboards. Every once in awhile he sets them all out so he (and the rest of us) can see everything!

Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2010  J playing with playdough. Notice the sword? In typical boy fashion, he's making monsters and warriors and then slashing them all up with the toy sword. So boy.

Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2010  Laundry Day! I had to do 3 loads this time. I don't like it when they don't put their dirties IN the baskets, just collect around the baskets. It's very hard to guage when I have a full load if everything is on the floor. And I'm not the maid, people.

Thursday, Jan. 28, 2010  Another mess. We had to get rid of the box we were using for K's scrapbook supplies. Apparently cardboard is a no-no in FL. bugs-ick! On top of that J pulled out the playdough - again. And I was trying to work on the menu/grocery lists. The table just isn't big enough!

Friday, Jan. 29, 2010  I bought some new cookie cutters. J is, sort of, allowing me to play :)

Saturday, Jan. 30, 2010  After my 2 mile walk(marathon training) today I decided to pick up a bit outside. Which led to using the leaf blower to clean off the slab, which led to blowing the leaves from the yard, which led to cleaning off the RV roof, which led to raking all the pine needles from the yard. A quick 10 minute pick up turned into a 2 hour yard project! Because then I put all my pavers down along the front side of our slab to extend it a bit! I've been wanting to do this forever! I still need another 2 rows to complete the project.