Daddy Frank

Don't cry because it's over...

Smile because it happened.

~Dr. Seuss

Yesterday, Richard and I attended his grandfather's funeral. Frank was one of the most influential people in Richard's life. It is so sad to know that he's gone, but we know he's in a better place. He was 91, and had lived a good life. He stood faithfully by Richard's grandmother until she passed away exactly 1 year ago. We know he is by her side, exactly where he wants to be. We are so thankful to have examples in our life like this wonderful man. He was truly a gift to us.


Bryce had an assignment to write a name poem. When I read what he wrote, I was extremely touched. Here it is:

Bryce
It means strong, smart, fast,
It is 48,
It is like a cloudless sky,
It is going swimming at Gulf Shores,
It is in memory of Daddy Frank,
Who taught me about the B-17 bomber,
When he worked hard in World War II,
My name is Bryce,
It means do what you believe in.

(In case you don't know, Bryce is a huge Nascar fan. His favorite driver is Jimmie Johnson, #48)

I think that is a great tribute to a wonderful man. He lives on in my children.

Dirty, Stinky Boys ~ Gotta Love 'em

Saturday was a very rainy day. Cade had two baseball games, one of which was played in the rain. As soon as we got home, Braden, Cade and a little friend went right outside to continue their rainy baseball. After a while, they must have gotten bored with the baseball and decided to play in the empty lot next door. If you can't beat them, grab your camera.

The pictures aren't that great because I was zooming in from my garage. I wasn't about to stand out in the rain!

What do you think happened right after I snapped this picture?

Pretty soon, the company we had invited over drove up and, of course, their boys had to join in the fun. I'm sure their parents were thrilled! lol...

We made them eat outside (wouldn't you?), but they were freezing and the mosquitos would not stop swarming them, so I let them come in and eat on the floor. As soon as they were done, they were all off to the showers. Dropping mud the whole way! Oh well, you're only young once. What good is being a little boy if you don't get to play in the mud every once in a while?

If you're wondering where Bryce is, he was nice and dry upstairs. Either he didn't know what they were doing or he decided he was "too old" for that.

What Does It Want?!?

This bird has been pecking my big kitchen window for three days straight. At first, it was actually cute, but we have moved past that stage! I am about to lose my mind. I thought she was trying to get to the ceramic rooster I had on the bar, so we moved it, but that wasn't the problem. I googled "cardinal pecking window", and was amazed at how many sites came up. Evidently, these brilliant birds see their reflection and fight it for territory. Brilliant. This morning was the last straw. When a bird wakes me up at daylight to fight itself in my window, I am no longer amused. The sites said the only thing you can do to make them stop is to cover the window for a week or so. Yea, right.

I now know where the phrase "bird brain" comes from.

Bryce Came Through!

Bryce finally had a baseball breakthrough last night! He has been struggling to hit the ball all season. Until last night, he had only struck out or walked. He has such a hard swing and hit against some really tough pitchers last year, so we knew he could do it.

Last night, we were down two runs going into the bottom of the last inning. Our kids were mostly walking to get on base, so by the time Bryce got up to bat, the bases were loaded. He had 2 balls and 1 strike on him, and then he did it!! He hit a line drive between the short stop and third baseman. The winning run scored, and the game was over!! Whoo Hooo!!! We knew he could do it, but the Lord blessed him with the perfect time to come through!

Needless to say, he is on cloud nine. This was definitely a timely boost to his self confidence. The coach gave him the game ball, and everyone was thrilled.

Happy April To Me!!!

Look what I found in my mailbox yesterday!!

My secret pal must know that I am a true bow-head, at heart. Thank you so much secret pal, this box was so much fun to recieve in the mail! I love, love, love them!!

The website she sent these from has tons and tons of bows. You should check it out.

Baseball-filled Weekend

We had a great baseball weekend. The weather was absolutely perfect, and we enjoyed every minute of it. Braden and Bryce each had a game on Saturday. I, of course, brought my camera and got some really cute shots.

Here's one of my little catcher:

Here is Richard coaching 3rd and Braden on base:

Here's Bryce at bat. We think he'll hit one out of the park this year!

And, of course, I had to have one of the weekend spectator. No worries, next Sat. Cade has two games.

After the games, the boys and some friends took a swim. The water is still pretty cold, but they don't care.

Bryce and a friend.
I think this might be my favorite picture of the weekend. I am now trying to put some weight on this cutie. He is SO skinny! I can't believe he can throw a baseball like he can with arms that little!
Hope you enjoyed your weekend!

Can You Stand the Cuteness?

I just had to visit this new little boutique in town today. They donated three of the most adorable children's baskets to our auction, so I just had to check them out. Can you believe how cute this is? It is 18mo. That's the biggest size they had, but I'm so hoping my little cutie bug will be able to wear it. If not, I am sure I can find a special friend to bless with it!!

Hope you're having a great week. It has turned COLD here! Well, maybe not cold for all of you, but sitting through a baseball game when it's 50 degrees and windy is not my idea of Spring fun!! And I get to do it all over again tonight! I have a sitter coming for Braden and Cade, though. We didn't get in bed until 10:00 last night! That is so late for us. My cuties are in bed at 8:00 on school nights! The little boys were about 30 minutes late for school today, but that's ok, they never miss school.

Have a great day!!!

It's OVER!!!

Yea!! My big project for the year is over! I really enjoy our school's auction, but this year it seemed to be especially consuming. Maybe it's because I also have 3 baseball teams going at the same time, as well. Here is a picture of the week before the auction.

This was only about 1/3 of the "stuff" we had to go in the auction. There were other piles just like this. Here's a picture of the actual silent auction:

This is before everyone showed up and started fighting over, I mean bidding on, everything.

It was so much fun, but it is SO much work. We stayed up at the school until 11:00 the night before setting everything up. Last year, we made right at $15,000. This year, I think we will finish out at about $16 or $17,000. All of this money goes toward technology in the classrooms. So worth it, in the end. I'm just glad I have plenty of time before it's time to get ready for the next one! Can you believe, someone asked me if I would be in charge of Teacher Appreciation week? While I was in the middle of the auction!! Yeah, I don't think so!!!

So, today, I spent my time trying to get some of the things I have neglected for the past couple of weeks done - Walmart included. Tonight, Richard and my parents are all out of town. Cade has two baseball games on one side of town, and Bryce has his first game on the other side. I am sending Cade with a friend, but I hate to do that. I want to see them all!!

Have a great week!

Bryce

At Bryce's Jr. High, their band is a really big deal. The band director wins all kinds of awards and so does the band. This year Bryce has been in beginning band (6th grade). The band that travels to the different competitions is the symphonic band. It consists of mostly 8th graders and a few 7th graders. Yesterday, the band teacher called Bryce in and asked if he would like to play the school's french horn in the symphonic band next year. I guess it is similar enough to the trumpet that he will be able to transition. I am so proud of him, and so excited for him. The teacher told him that it would be hard, but he could do it. I am so proud that his teacher thinks so highly of him.

Bryce has also started baseball. He is doing really well, and is so happy. This is the only team Richard isn't coaching this year. There just isn't any more room on the calendar. We prayed that Bryce would get a great coach (some of them out there can be real jerks) and he did! It kills Richard to not be out there, but he'll have to get over it. As it stands now, we've had to rely heavily on my parents to transport kids from practices and games. When there's three events on a night, and you only have two drivers, you need help!

Hope your week is going good. I am still very busy with the auction. I think I'll bring my camera today and take some pictures of the mess we're wading through at the moment. I am looking forward to the auction, but I'm REALLY looking forward to next week when it's over!!!!

Have a great day!

Nothing Blog-Worthy Going On Here

I lifted this off of someone's blog a while back because I just love it! I think the exact same thing all day long. Nothing is safe!

Not a very exciting weekend. I didn't even get to plant the flowers I have been talking about for a month. Saturday was such a yucky day that I had not desire to be outside in it. Instead, I washed a ton of laundry. We did go out to dinner and had alot of fun doing that. It was prom night, so we were amongst all the teenagers dressed up in their finest. Makes you feel pretty old. Yesterday we had 2 baseball practices, and had great weather, so that was alot of fun.

6 more days until our school auction. I think things are actually coming together. I really didn't know if they would. This is a busy week for me, but then it will be over!!

I'll let you know if anything "blog-worthy" happens!

A Calm Weekend - For A Change

This week has been very busy for us. I am working on the auction at school (it's on the 12th). So that has been taking up my days, and baseball has been taking up the evenings. Bryce is now in full swing along with the other two, so we are always going in opposite directions. We are also utilizing the grandparent's taxi service quite often. We had a night this week that it rained, therefore we were all together at home. We almost didn't know what to do. It was very nice. I didn't realize how long it had been since we had all be home for dinner until we were there. We had a talk with the boys and explained that they would most likely have a parent and/or grandparent at all of their practices and games, but there was no way we would all make everything. I wanted them to understand that we will do the best we can, but being three places at once is impossible. I just hate it because I don't want to miss anything.

This weekend is going to be nice. It's supposed to be really bad weather tonight, so I rented the Indiana Jones movies, and we're going to have a movie night. Tomorrow, I am finally going to get to plant those flowers I have been wanting to. Tomorrow night, Richard and I are going to this really nice restaurant with some friends, so I am looking forward to that. The boys have their favorite babysitter coming. He's a teenage boy who builds forts and plays baseball with them. They adore him. Our friend's two boys are staying as well, so I am already preparing to come home to a disaster area. Oh, well, some things are worth it.

I am so enjoying following my friend, Denise, in China. Her Maggie Mae is so precious. I showed her to Richard, and he said, "OK, can we get that one?" I am getting VERY antsy. I am about to have to start renewing everything, so that stinks. I really hope Richard decides it's time to get on the waiting child list really soon. I think that is where we are going to find our little girl.

I hope you all have a great weekend.

The Things You Do...

I thought you would enjoy seeing this more than I enjoyed wearing it. Yesterday Braden's class went on a field trip to Global Wildlife. We rode wagons through a wildlife park and fed the animals. One of the third grade teachers had the brilliant idea to get everyone animal hats. Not only for the students, but for the parents too! Gee.. thanks! Right after I finished doing my hair, Braden says, "Oh, I picked a dog hat for you to wear." Of course, I had to ask, "What is a dog hat, and why did you pick it for me?" He said, "Well, she didn't give us much to choose from." Here are a couple of pictures for your viewing pleasure: (you can't even see the brown ears that flopped on either side of my head)


Look how happy that boy is to be with his dog hat wearing mama! Makes it all worth it. The mom behind me had on a chicken hat, so I should count my blessings.