Showing Improvement!

Tyler had t-ball practice again tonight. Each week he shows a little more improvement, and this week was no exception. He seemed to enjoy himself a little more tonight, too. I grumbled a couple weeks ago about the coach not using a tee during practice. I discovered that in t-ball (this league, anyway) the coach pitches to the players 3 times. If they don't get a hit after 3 tries, they pull out the tee. Tyler is really improving and may be able to hit the coach's pitches by game time (another month). If not, he certainly won't be the only one who needs to use the tee.

It's funny to watch the kids as they wait to field the ball. It's as you might imagine - some sit on the bases and play in the dirt, some sit right down in the dirt to dig, and some just kick the dirt around. So far Tyler has avoided the temptation to sit and play. He stands the entire time and doesn't bother with the dirt too much. Sure, he looks all around, messes around with his hat, sticks his glove on his face, and watches the ball as it rolls by him, but he doesn't play in the dirt!

Here are a couple videos from his practice tonight. (He's in the white hat & shirt):

Attempting a Video Blog

Since I started blogging nearly a year ago, it has bothered me that I couldn't include video clips in my blog. Some things just need to be experienced rather than read. I think I've finally figured out how to incorporate video into my blogs. This is my first attempt.

The kids wanted to play some music for me today, so I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to capture a video clip to post. As you can see, they've inherited their father's musical talent. :)



Tyler was a little disappointed you couldn't hear his guitar very well.

Danielle wanted to play & sing a song about Cinderella:




Consider yourself serenaded.

The Mamaw Bag

Once a month or so the kids and I make a lunch date with Mamaw. We usually pick her up at work and head to the nearest McDonald's. Doesn't sound like much, but it really is special.


Every time we have lunch together, Patty packs a "Mamaw Bag". This bag seems to have an endless supply of crafts, books, and other fun treasures that more than fill an hour lunch break (which is why we usually go way over an hour). The kids look forward to this each time we pick Mamaw up for lunch. They start talking about The Bag before we leave the house and are trying to guess what's in it by the time we get to McDonalds.


As soon as we enter the restaurant, the kids and Mamaw head to "our" table where Mamaw starts pulling out her goodies (while I order). By the time I make it to the table with our food, they are usually up to their elbows in foamies, glue dots, markers & glitter glue. After taking a brief break to eat, the kids and Mamaw get right back to work. There's a lot of talking about "stuff" while the kids enjoy her attention, and she always gives them something extra to take home to work on. We always have a nice time.


There is no doubt in my mind that Mamaw plans for our lunches. She thinks about Tyler & Danielle and plans things she thinks they will enjoy. The time she spends preparing the Mamaw Bag before hand, and those precious moments she invests in her grandchildren over her lunch break are creating memories that will be treasured for years.


One of the Mamaw Bag crafts today was making/decorating foam fish.









They each brought home a 3D foam picture to make, a velvet poster w/markers, and stickers to color. We spent most of the afternoon enjoying those projects together.









Thank you, Mamaw.

A Good Day at the Zoo

We spent a happy Tuesday at the zoo with Grandma C & Uncle Ron. We had such a nice time!

We especially enjoyed the new kids at the petting zoo.









The little black goats were about 11 days old.




The ones in the basket were about 8 days old. The babies were very cute, and their mommies were so patient.



Tyler thought this goat was just hilarious. ("He's always smiling, Mom!") We also enjoyed the snoring goat.



Tyler & Grandma wandered off to brush a couple goats under a bench and came back giggling. Tyler said he was brushing the goat when he (the goat) farted. I asked how he knew it was the goat and not Grandma. He said, "His fart smelled worse than Grandma's farts."

The forecasted partly cloudy day turned out to be beautifully sunny and warm, making it just perfect for melty popsicles!













We ended our trip with a ride on the carousel and a romp through the play area. It was a great day.

Moms Just Know

It was a little stormy around bedtime tonight, so I stretched out next to Danielle for a few minutes after tucking her in bed. I closed my eyes and trusted she would do the same. After a minute she poked me in the face. I ignored her, but she did it again. I looked at her, asked her to stop, and closed my eyes again. Seconds later I reopened my eyes and caught her with her hand poised above my face, ready to poke again. She immediately stopped and asked, "How did you know I was doing that?" I replied, "Moms just know these things." She nodded and said, "Yeah, but dads don't."

Finished Projects

Ron worked very hard at finishing off the playset this weekend. When we decided to build this playset, the kids thought it would be fun to add the turbo tunnel slide. It's very expensive, though, so the kids and I went through stuff (toys, clothes, & extra playset parts) we could sell to raise money for the slide. As of Friday, we had raised 2/3rds of the money. Ron surprised the kids by chipping in the last third and bringing the slide home Friday night.



Installing that slide turned out to be an all day project! It was worth it, though. The kids absolutely love it! There was so much giggling!















Today Ron finished the bottom off into a large sandbox. The kids were probably the most excited about this addition and spent hours in there today.
We are going to add a tire swing to the end of the frame by the swings and some pulleys to raise/lower a bucket to the top level (for treasures, snacks and such), but those things will come later. So, this is it for now. Ron did a great job.
































Speaking of finished projects, I forgot to post a picture of Danielle's room after we finished painting it. We still need to hang her princess posters (courtesy of Uncle Ron), but otherwise it's done. For those of you who haven't seen it yet, here is Danielle's pink palace:

Swinging to Heaven

The kids are really enjoying their new playset, even in spite of the chilly weather. Today they were pretending to be spiders and were weaving pretend webs to catch pretend flies. Well, I guess not all the flies were pretend. I was a fly and the dog was a fly. Anyway, after they caught a fly, they pretended to drink its blood. While accurate, it’s a little disgusting, in my opinion. I asked Danielle where she learned to play like that. She smiled, pointed her little finger at me, and said “At church!”

Danielle really likes to be pushed high on the swings. She always asks to be pushed “high like a skyscraper” or “so high I can see God”. Today she wanted to see God. I finally pushed her high enough and she declared she could indeed see God. I asked her what He was doing, and she replied, “He’s building steps so we can get up there.” That led her to ramble on about wanting me to make her wings so she could fly up past the sun and into Heaven to see God. I continued to push her and said, “You know that’s not the way to get to Heaven, right?” She was drawing a blank on the answer I was looking for, so Tyler offered, “You can only get to Heaven through Jesus.” I added, “If you believe in God and tell Him you’re sorry for the things you’ve done wrong, He’ll take you to Heaven when you die.” (My condensed version of theology for the three year old mind.) Danielle immediately said, “I’m sorry God.” I was ready to have a tender moment, thinking my little girl was asking forgiveness for her sins (as she knows them) at the tender age of 3. Then she finished, “I’m sorry God, for killing Tyler and making him dead.” Ha ha ha! Giggle giggle. I should have known better.

Pictures from Our Last Day at Disney

I never got around to posting the pictures from our last day at Disney, so here they are.

We started the day at Ariel's Grotto. The kids enjoyed playing in the water while we waited for our turn to meet the princess.






Danielle and I really enjoyed the Dreams Do Come True show at the castle. Actually, enjoying that with her was one of my highlights of the trip. It was the first time we got to see the princes with their princesses. (They were also in the parade later that afternoon.)







Tyler's very favorite ride of the entire trip was Thunder Mountain. He still talks about it.

I caught this picture the second time they rode it.

Here is an up-close view.


As with all the parades, this one was excellent, too, and was a great way to finish off our trip.

Our Little Leaguer

Tyler started t-ball "lessons" (as he calls it) last week. Ron was an obliging husband and took pictures for me at Tyler's first practice:

For the first practice they practiced fielding grounders, running the bases, and throwing. Last night they practiced hitting, but for some reason the coach pitched to the kids instead of using a tee. (This is TEE ball.) They also practiced fielding the ball from different positions on the field. Ron said every time the coach hit the ball, every kid left his position to chase the ball - no matter where it went. Sounded pretty amusing to me.

Tonight the boys spent some time practicing.

Of course Danielle had to have a turn, too.

And, since they were hitting tennis balls (we don't have a real bat to hit the real balls yet) the dog felt she needed a turn, too.