Mr. Baseball

Backtrack #2...

Those of you who know him, know my Micah is quite the athlete.  He is definitely gifted at anything with a ball and running and jumping.  He played baseball this year and did really well.  It was t-ball but what we loved about this league is that they get the option of the coach pitching it to them first.  And if they couldn't hit the ball after about 7 pitches, then they could hit it off the tee.  Micah never needed the tee.

He had such a good season.  He absolutely LOVED wearing his uniform and playing in the game.  He felt like the guys on tv.  He is so serious when its game time.  No time for playing in the dugout.  He always was watching the game.  Its all business out there.

He had a great coach.  He played mostly first, shortstop, and second.  He did a great job at all three.  He had a great diving play while at second stopping the ball and tagging the base getting the runner out.  He also had a great play at first catching the ball and running it to the base.  We were so proud of him on the field.

However, hitting was another story.  He was known as the big hitter.  The coaches always pitched it faster to him knowing he could make contact and hit it further.  He had several hits out to the outfield passing all the players.  He had a triple - that really was a home run but they stopped him at third.  He had some doubles and singles as well.

I am so proud of him because he works so hard and does it all with excellence.  He purely loves the game and it is a joy to watch him out there loving what he is doing.  He is absolutely in his element!

A family affair

We love the ncaa tournament around here.  We fill out our brackets.  We watch most of the games, even if our team isn't in the tourney.  We all love it.

Since Micah was a baby we have filled out a bracket for him.  Each year it is neat to see how he understands it more and more.  Haleigh and Caleb have brackets too.

So today is a fun day for us.  I took Micah on a date to get some cokes, fries, and watch the games.  He was in heaven!  And as I cook dinner, they are updating brackets from the day.

Its moments like these that I will treasure forever!

We're back!

Well here I am!  Its been about a month since I have blogged, and it feels good to be back. Honestly, its just another step to getting back to normal after a big transition for us over the last two months.  So we are here, and settled for the most part.  Life is moving at a very past pace and we are trying to keep up.  


But with my husband home, it is a HUGE help.  We all have loved having him around each day.  But I will say, it is tricky learning how to do that all day, every day!  I am so used to going about my day without having any other adult around.  You know, no one to run things by or coordinate plans with or make you think twice about what you do when.  I'm just kind of being used to being the queen of the castle during the day.  So it takes some getting used to!


We are almost fully unpacked, except for the boxes that only I can do, and my husband would really like for me to get to them ASAP, sincerely a week ago!  So we are unpacked mostly, but that does not mean decorated.  And that is the part that drives me crazy!  I had everything in its place at the last house, and now, well, not everything fits.  Window treatments are off, colors are off, space is off.  So I have to refigure, replan, rebuy/remake things.  That is the part that overwhelms me because I want it done like yesterday, and it just takes time.  I hate that!


But we will get there!  I know that.  Probably the best part about our lived right now is just the massive amount of family time we have.  We have never had so much time together!  But our outings, game nights, wii nights, and wrestling nights have all been such a treasure.  With no grandparents around, we are learning to really enjoy time with our kids.  I think I need to learn this lesson so much more than Ed.


Anyway, we have a shortage of pictures recently, but I will leave you with this.  Ed had a Daddy Day with all the kids today.  He took each one out to do something special with him.  He took Haleigh out to breakfast, Caleb on an adventure to the lake, and Micah to play his first round of golf with his new clubs.  Here they are before they left...

Thursday Thoughts

Fall has arrived!  Don't you love it?  It was so nice this morning putting on some jeans, a cardigan, some new shoes, and a COAT!  The crispness in the air is invigorating.  My husband even took us out to breakfast this morning!  


My oldest son has always loved clothes.  It a weird obsession really.  However he joyfully put on some "new to him" clothes this morning.  Ten minutes later...I want hot weather.  That didn't last long.


I have been in a battle recently with the middle child.  He can be so strong willed.  He has the craziest ability to make me second guess everything.  What is that?  I am the Mother after all.  We've somewhat successfully potty trained him.  He wears underwear at all times except bed.  However, he will only go when I ask him.  He has a strong willed bladder too it seems, as he will hold it ALL.DAY.LONG.   So it is a battle every time he goes.  He wants me to help him, and he doesn't need it.  And he won't go number 2 in the potty.  He has figured out that he can just wait until the pull-up at nap and bedtime.  So frustrating!  We had a stand off yesterday that last ALL DAY.  I prevailed and he finally pooped in the potty!  I won.  Now I am bound and determined to turn this ship around.


Recently, Homeschooling my children has not been my favorite.  Don't get me wrong, I know that we are supposed to do it this year.  The kids enjoy it, and for the most part, we like it.  I've just been discouraged with it and sometimes I want to put all three on the big yellow school bus as it drives by our house.  Haha, I'm just kidding...actually I don't really know if I am.  Anyway, Ed snuck out of the house with Micah one morning and came home with these.  And a little note from Micah.

Made taco soup last night.  We love anything mexican around here, but this is one of our favorites.  Its a mexican twist on chili.  We eat it with tortilla chips, but it is also good with the traditional cornbread.  


Here's the recipe in case it is new to you...


Taco Soup


1 lb ground beef or turkey
1 can kidney beans (drained)
1 can black beans (drained and rinsed)
1 can whole corn (drained)
1 can petite diced tomatoes (undrained)
2 cans tomato sauce (16oz)
2 pkg taco seasoning
2 pkg ranch dressing mix
2 cans green chilies (4oz)
1 1/2 cups of water
onion powder


1.  Cook ground meat with onion powder, drain.
2.  Mix meat and all other ingredients in large pot.  Simmer 30 min.
3.  Serve with tortilla chips or cornbread.  Top with shredded cheddar, sour cream, and whatever other mexican toppings you like.  Enjoy!


Happy fall!

First Day of School

Well here are some pics from the first day of school, last Monday.  I'm a week late!  I can't believe I have a child in Kindergarten now!  Where has the time gone?  

Quotable Kids

Micah Edition:


8:00PM - putting boys to bed
(i just lied about that bedtime.  It was really 7:15 because ed was gone and I was sick!)

Micah: Mom! Have you felt my muscles recently?
(need I go on?)


Me:  No Micah I haven't.


Micah:  Well you should.  They are HUGE!!


We are working on pride.

Lessons Learned

This morning we had the opportunity to take Micah to a VBS at a local church.  Our church is not doing one, and we thought it would be the perfect thing to "spice things up".  (Not that our house is boring!)  


So we decided pretty last minute, and Micah just freaked out.  He didn't want to go, he cried, he delayed getting dressed, he just kept saying over and over he didn't want to go.  Insert internal struggle in this mommy!


It absolutely broke my heart to see how he was feeling.  A different church with different people, and quite possibly no one he knew.  Instantly memories flooded back to when I was a kid and my parents doing the same thing to me.  I HATED doing new things with people I didn't know.  I was not the most outgoing kid, in fact, I was pretty shy.


So I went downstairs to Ed and said, "Please tell me we are doing the right thing."  


I just wanted to hold Micah, let him cry, and tell him I was sorry I would ever force him to do something he didn't want to do.  That he could absolutely get what he wanted.  But something told me that was wrong...and it was.


Ed talked to him, prayed with him, and tried to calm him down...and me too!  (I love that man!)  Gradually, the crying turned to smiles.  He was accepting the fact that he was going.


And then the Lord just stepped in.  We got there and the kids were amazed at all the decorations.  They saw that it was cool.  Then I ran into a friend from church who has three girls Micah's age.  So we worked it out to be in their class.  Then I saw the rest of the list and noticed two other kids in his class were in his 3 year old preschool class!  


So he was now happy, and maybe even a little excited, which made it easy for me to drop him off.  We walked into the other building where his group was, and there was "MA"!  (grandma)  They all ran to see her with great excitement.  And the rest is history!


Lesson Learned:  Sometimes as parents, we can easily cave to our child's wants.  But the greater picture is God has placed us in a position where we have to discern what's best.  And Ed and I felt what was best was to send him to a church, with possibly not knowing anyone, to do something fun, and something that would stretch him socially.  


Everything in me wanted to cave to the pressure, but I'm glad that under my husband's leadership, we didn't.  And now, my boy is having fun with some friends learning that God is WILD about him, and so am I.

Micah's Adventures

With Micah getting older these days, it seems he has adventures of his own without me!  One recent one he had was with his friend Ben.  His mom called and asked if she could take him strawberry picking one day in hopes that maybe it would be helpful for me so I could get some packing done for our upcoming vacation.  


So he loaded up in their mini and headed to a farm to pick strawberries.  Later they hit McDonalds for an afternoon snack, followed by a round of mini-golf, followed by some ice cream!  Yeah, you could say it was a pretty good day for him!  He was treated to some fun things with his "favorite friend" Ben!

Random Thoughts

The last two days have been crazy here with tons of tornado watches and warnings.  Being from MD, tornadoes just weren't a big thing.  I remember moving to NC when I taught and we had to do a tornado drill.  I had to actually ask a teacher what to do during the drill.  I had no idea!  There were a couple of tornadoes that touched down in our area, but mostly just tree damage.  It got pretty exciting when at Bible study today they moved us to the hallway at one point.  

Check out my Peeps Cupcakes from our Easter Weekend!  I had fun making these.  I actually really like to bake, but it seems these days it gets the boot quite often.  For the sake of time, I just made carrot cake from the box so nothing special there.  But I grabbed Ed's, yes Ed's, decorating tools and had fun doing the icing.  So so simple and basic, but I am pleased!

Micah, the child I have been neglecting on the blog, has his first game tomorrow night.  I'm not sure if he is more excited to wear the uniform or play.  Poor guy, he wishes this were the big leagues.  He seems to forget that he is playing with Kid #1 that draws in the sand, Kid #2 that walks around the bases NO. MATTER. WHAT. Kid #3 that gets so distracted that you just know he is going to get nailed by a bat or a ball this season and it ain't gonna be pretty.  (I don't even know what kind of sentence or group of sentences that was!)

I secretly like to buy new cleaning supplies.  I have NO IDEA WHY, but I do.  And I just bought a new concentrated one that smells SO GOOD!  It is Mr. Clean and has Febreeze in it.  It's a Hawaiian scent and it smell perfect.  It isn't overbearing, and I think it makes my house smell so fresh.  Tomorrow I may just walk around with a bucket and rag wiping things just to make my house smell good!  Don't laugh!

And lastly, I'm bracing myself for what might be our busiest May in our lives thus far.  I've got 5 days until we go go go nonstop until our vacation.  That's 19 days if you're counting.  I'm really not one for going on and on how busy you are, but I deem this necessary!  So if we disappear for a while, you know why!

Oh, and I almost hate to admit it, but you may find a certain someone getting caught up in the royal wedding tomorrow.  Who doesn't like a Happily Ever After?!
 
Going to eat some Ham and Swiss Quiche with my leftover ham from Easter!

Red

Last weekend Micah and Ed had a man's night with some other friends.  They went to a monster truck show!  They went out to eat at Cici's Pizza and then headed over to the Coliseum for the show.  Micah came home so excited and talking all about it.  His favorite was the motorbikes they did at the end.  (He would LOVE a bmx show!)  They had a great time, and I enjoyed hearing Ed's commentary of it as well.  I especially liked hearing of the drunk guy who approached Micah, and Ed's readiness to punch the heck out of him!  You could say the show was a little "red" as they say!  But in a little boy's mind, it was glorious.

   

Happy 5th Birthday!!

Yesterday was Micah's 5th birthday!  I cannot believe I have a five year old.  It seems like just yesterday I had one little baby and we were living in an apartment.  Now our house is consumed with toys, sippy cups, high chairs, etc, etc.  

Micah has grown into a sweet, quiet, tenderhearted little boy.  He LOVES people, especially his uncles!  He is a boys'  boy.  His favorite thing to do is play basketball or hit baseballs.  Or really any sport!  God has gifted him with a crazy ability in all sports so it will be neat to see how that will transpire in his life.  Right now we are enjoying doing preschool at home.  His loves his brother and baby sister.  He would much rather be with people than be by himself.  And although I get frustrated that he won't play by himself and doesn't seem to have or care to have much of an imagination, I love that he thrives off interaction with others his age or older!  Who knows maybe God will use him in ministry!

Here's some of my favorite pics of Micah through the years.  Notice they are all summer pics because he LOVES summertime!

6 months

18 months

2.5 yrs old

3.5 years old

4.5 years old

Happy Birthday sweet boy!  I love you!

Thoughts

What a week!  Our Christmas started last Thursday when we drove up to MD to celebrate with my family.  It was a quick visit, but fun!  My sister got the Just Dance Wii game, and well, let's just say it's fun!  Ed and my brother danced which was hilarious to watch.  And my mom, me, sister, and brother's girlfriend also did it, but my mom managed to beat us every time!  I guess a dance degree helps!

The rest of the week was spent at home and with Ed's side, with a big snowstorm mixed in there!  Today is really the first day we haven't been with any extended family, so it's nice to just be at home!  

Ed gave me some time off yesterday to reflect and start thinking through this year and some resolutions I want to make.  More on that to come!  

Tomorrow is my baby's birthday!  A milestone birthday that I'm not sure I'm ready for!  But Ed and I really plan to celebrate this milestone in a special way.  However, with a birthday on New Year's Eve, its always hard to celebrate on his birthday.  So we will head to Cracker Barrel for breakfast, and do some gifts when we get home.  Then we'll celebrate with some friends that night, and have some cake, and also celebrate the new year!  Ed and I will take him out by himself for a special night probably next week.  I'm really looking forward to that because he so thrives on individual attention.  He's definitely a quality time kind of kid!

Off to play beat him in a game of Wii - our new family toy!