Quiet

It has been remarkably quiet around here.  We have been enjoying several rainy, cool days, with not many places to run off to.  I have thoroughly enjoyed it!

I know the quiet will not last, as I got the school calendar in the mail this week. My days of enjoying having the kids home are few!  

Pool Party

 We had  a little pool party to celebrate Quincy, Colin and my nephew's birthdays.  It was a lot of fun.  The little kids were very well behaved! 

 The big boys might have caused the lifeguards to earn their money tonight. 

 Quincy was so excited she wanted to get ready as soon as we got home from church.  One day I am going to be smarter about telling them what is going on only a few minutes before we need to leave the house.  Waiting is not their best attribute.  It was a long afternoon! 

 Harper announced that she wants a pool party for her birthday too.  We may have to work a little harder to find guests who want to swim in December! 

Quincy told me that it was definitely worth the wait....and they all came home and went right to bed so it was worth it for me too! 

Preston's last game = ball season is over

 Preston's team placed 4th in the league tournament last night.  For a team that won absolutely no games last season, we feel that the improvement is awesome!

 It was a fun season.

And we are now totally finished with baseball season.  :)

Cameron's tournament

 Cameron finished out his season with a win to place 3rd in his league tournament.  He played at catcher the whole game and even though it was steamy hot, he played great.  The whole team really came together and played well.

 Look at my hardware!  :)

 It was a fun little team to be part of.  The head coach of this team was a soft spoken, teaching coach.  It was great to see.

 Notice who got a metal?  The team was 3rd in the league and 3rd in the tournament.....this meant Cam can spare a medal right???  :)

 And because we can't only have baseball photos, here are some to mix it up a little bit.  The bearded dragons seem to be really settling in nicely as members of the tribe.  The kids absolutely love them, and they are wonderfully patient, kind creatures who seem to tolerate even Harper's probing fingers.  Lollipop has started liking to be hand fed, and we discovered super worms this week.  These girls love them!

 Harper loves Lollipop- and begs to carry her around.  The beardie seems not to mind and rides around on Harper's shirt, hand, and wherever else Harper puts her.  She also likes to watch TV on Quincy's lap.

 PJ is a little bit more skiddish, although she is equally friendly and seems to like being handled.  She just likes to run up your shirt and bury herself in your neck.  I am guessing because they are tree dwelling creatures who like warm places!  She is not as likely to sit on your lap, but she loves the water more and enjoys her bath more.  It is funny to me that lizards can have personalities, but they definitely do!

And finally, yes we have had more snuggle time with our favorite little baby guy!  Snuggly baby Ryan gives us our baby fix, although this week when we had him he ONLY liked Mallory.  :)

ok, I'm not really sorry

I love this photo of Preston's ball team.  It is not something I had seen done before and I think it is a great idea.  Had to save it on here.  So I guess I wasn't really sorry about all the ball photos I have been putting on here.....and I may have a few more since we are in tournaments this week. 
Last night, Cameron and Preston's teams both won their games to move on.  I hope they continue winning! 

Sorry but....

I know I have posted a lot of ball photos this week, but I just got Quincy's team photos back.  They were too cute/funny not to post here.

I like how they did this one....and I especially like how they tried to make these little girls look tough.  We won't try to recall all the ouchies, boo-boos, and other drama that they had because they are little girls!  Nope, they are totally tough little cookies who should not be messed with!

Some Shots from Cam's last game

 My friend who took the awesome photos over the past couple days doesn't have a kid who plays with Cameron, but Mallory did a pretty good job of getting some photos of Cam playing catcher and batting.

We are now done with regular season ball after this morning's make up game.  I half expected it to be raining this morning since this game had already been rescheduled twice!  Cam played really well.  I am glad that he had an opportunity to play this season.  He is making a lot of good memories. 

Preston's last game

 My friend took these photos at Preston's last game of the season.  I love the goofy one.   I love that Preston's bff who is beside him is so serious when all the other kids are goofing off.

This is a really great group of boys.  They play pretty well together, and their basic skills are coming along nicely.  They have great coaches who are more interested in teaching them stuff than in winning, which I like.  Preston has had a ton of fun this summer.

Downhill slide

 It is the end of regular season baseball and softball this week.  My friend took these great photos of Quincy at her last game before the tournament.  She is on a good team, with a bunch of great coaches.  She has had a ton of fun this summer! 

 I couldn't help but notice the tongue!

I love watching ball, and this year has been excellent because we have been less busy, so I have been able to enjoy the games more.  I would by lying however, if I didn't say I am always happy to see the season ending.  I have grand delusions about free time in the evenings, basking away at the city pool, gardening, hanging out as a family over a nice home cooked meal.  I will be smacked in the head with reality in a couple days.  Just let me bask in my fantasy for a few minutes!  :)

Happy birthday Princess Q!

 Quincy turned the big 7 today.  She is so funny.  We got home around 11 last night from the ball park.  She wanted to stay up to welcome in her birthday.  We let her (heck by the time we got baths and drinks, etc it was that time anyhow).  She jumped up and down and said 'its my birthday!  its my birthday!' and then proceeded to fall over on the couch and was fast asleep.  Over the years, I have said she has 2 speeds:  high and off.  She continues to prove me right! 

 For her special day, she wanted a marble cake and frozen pizza.  My kids are so interesting regarding their birthday dinner selections.  Sandwiches?  Frozen pizza?  Really, I know how to cook people!  :)

 The other big event of the day was that when you turn 7 in our house, you are allowed to get your ears pierced.  She has been counting down the days literally for a year.  She wanted me to bend the rules this time last year.  We made her wait, but today the long, long wait was finally over.  My friend (and old boss) Terri pierced them for her.  She was so excited.  She sat very still and did not even whimper!  Actually, she did giggle a little.  Her pain tolerance is pretty high - must be from the big brothers?

The only bad part is that Madison took her shopping this morning and allowed her to pick out some earrings.  She now has to wait 4 to 6 weeks to change the studs and it is going to drive her crazy.  She spent the whole afternoon looking at all the cool pairs she could be wearing! 

I can't believe my little peanut is 7 years old.  She is the family clown.  Often found with her brothers fishing, playing ball in the yard, and trying to catch a pet squirrel.  She makes us all laugh, even though sometimes I think we probably shouldn't be laughing at her because she can be a little inappropriate!  She keeps us thinking, asks a million questions a day, smiles easily, has never known a stranger in her life, and knows more people than the rest of the family combined.  She also is a great big sister and loves her little sisters fiercely (dare to mess with either Saige or Harper!).  She is my sunshiny, social, fun loving kid.  We are so blessed that the good Lord sent her to us!  Happy Birthday Quincy - we love you!

Parenting 101 or 10111

 Recently, my friend Grace was telling me that her boys had been fighting a lot over summer break.  She said some off hand remark about parenting skills.  I replied to her that we have had several moments lately where I wonder if my kids have any sense at all.  The other night, we were at the ballpark.  There was some rain in the area, but it was not raining where we were at to begin with.  Cameron's game was cancelled, and I drove over to the playground to pick up the other kids.  This is when Preston told me that Quincy and her little friend went to find the end of the rainbow.  UUUUHHH which end?  One end crossed over the highway, the other end went deep into a corn field.  I hoped they were in the corn.  We looked for them for quite a while before Cameron found them.  As I was giving the mom panic speech, they looked at me and said "why are you mad, we were looking for gold FOR YOU!"  Sometimes I really don't know whether to laugh or cry.  I explained to Quincy that there is not really gold at the end of the rainbow, to which her friend told me I am wrong --- it says so in the bible.  I must have missed that chapter?

 My son has always had a strange fascination with snakes.  I honestly don't mind them, and actually prefer a snake to any type of rodent.  Colin has been known to wrangle snakes out of neighbor's yards, out of grandma's barns, and just about anywhere else you can imagine.  This week, he and his friend came across a good sized rattler.  They killed it, which I am not sure if that is the proper thing to do or not....and then brought it home and were upset that I refused to cook it for them.  This lead to me scratching my head about why these kids would want to eat a rattle snake but they will not eat normal fruits and vegetables.

And finally, the kids found a weather balloon or "harmless weather instrument" while doing their pig chores this week.  It was a cool experience, as they actually saw it land and chased it down.  They did a good thing in reading the directions and packing it up in the attached bag to mail back to the National Weather Service. They then sat it beside the kitchen sink so they could take it to the Post Office.  I thank God that this happened pretty late in the evening because otherwise I would have made a fool of myself with our landlord. Colin came out of the shower and reported that there was a terrible natural gas smell in the kitchen.  I had been rocking Saige to sleep and came out to find that the whole kitchen was filled with the smell of sewer.  I said that is not gas, that is sewage.  I then proceeded to look at every drain, and forced Colin to go look for leaks in the basement.  I did not call the landlord because it was so late at night, but made plans to call him in the morning.  About that time, Mallory came into the kitchen and said "wow that thing really stinks" - and we realized that we did not have sewage issues at all.  Apparently, if the battery in the weather balloon hasn't had a chance to wear down, it will emit a 'harmless' sulfur gas.  Needless to say, I was a bit disgruntled that they could print all these directions on the box about how to package it and return it, but did not mention that it should be stored outside!

I do enjoy my kids, they are amusing, keep me laughing and sometimes shaking my head.  I don't know what I would do without them, but I do sometimes wonder what the heck I should do with them too!  :)