Norfolk

Lance and I are in Norfolk, VA this week. I had to be here for some training and Lance joined me for the trip. We drove up Monday morning. Eleven hours. Not bad at all though. Eleven hours in a car is easy when there's no one whining in the backseat wondering every 5 minutes if we're there yet.

Riley and Owen are enjoying a fun week at home with PawPaw and Nanny who are running our household more efficiently than Lance and I manage to most weeks. They are getting Riley to and from school each day. Owen had pre-k two days this week. Their schedule also included three baseball games, one baseball practice, church on Wednesday night and football sign-ups on Friday. Not to mention feeding the animals and watering the garden and new flowers. Thank you Mom and Dad!

Lance and I have enjoyed ourselves too. Lance has mostly stayed around the hotel while I've been in class but has seen a few things nearby. He saw the USS Wisconsin battleship which is in a port just a couple blocks away and more importantly he's found several good spots for lunch.

Today I'll be done at noon but we won't head home till tomorrow morning. Not exactly sure what we're going to do this afternoon but I think we're going to drive to Williamsburg, VA and see the original U.S. settlement of Jamestown too.

A few Riley-isms….

Following his baseball game Tuesday night,
“Whew! I’m getting too old for baseball.”

Explaining a situation at school with his on-again/off-again best friend,
Riley - “Collin always has to give me consumenses. If I don’t give him what he wants he always say’s he’s not my friend anymore. Or if I don’t let him get in line with me, he won’t share his ice cream money. Or if I don’t let him borrow something, he won’t play with me on the play ground. He’s not my friend anymore. I’m tired of his consumenses!”
Mom – ‘What word did you say? Collin gives you what?”
Riley – “consumenses.”
Mom – “Do you mean consequences?”
Riley (getting frustrated) – “Yes, that’s what I said Mom, consumenses.”

More Baseball Tales

If it seems like all I talk about on this blog anymore is baseball, it’s because it’s true. By the end of the month the season will be over but for now it’s what rules our world, or at least our schedule. Friday night after dinner we went by a local sport goods store to buy a bat for Riley. Did you know it’s not uncommon to pay $300 for a little league bat?! I knew there were people that were *way* more into their kids baseball careers than we were who might pay that kind of money for a bat, but I really thought that was the exception not the rule. I mean really. These bats are locked to the merchandise rack like fur coats! It’s ridiculous! Fortunately for us, Riley picked up and quickly grew attached to a $50 bat. Honestly I never thought I’d pay $50 for a bat but considering the alternative I thought we did OK. Especially since at least 2 kids on his team have the $300 version that he can borrow during most games. Not that he will ever choose those bats over his prized new bat. The icing on the cake was the ‘Hit Stick’ we also bought for batting practice at home. The ‘Hit Stick’ is a long, flexible pole with a rubber, ball-like end on it that both boys can use to practice their swing. We stayed an extra 30 minutes after the store closed practicing Riley’s swing in the parking lot. He loved it and was so excited. Seriously, he has been baseball-obsessed since those two purchases Friday night. We spent no less than 4 hours this weekend playing catch, pitching balls to him or holding the ‘Hit Stick’ out for him to practice with. Saturday morning I woke to an odd thumping sound. After I got up and investigated I found Riley in his room hitting plastic balls (like those from a ball pit) against his bedroom wall. Needless to say the bats’ new home is our garage and a new rule had to be made that it was no longer allowed inside despite Riley’s plea to the contrary and his promise to never ever do that again. Owen took a few swings over the weekend, but wasn’t nearly as impressed with the new equipment as his big brother. The first game with his new bat will be Tuesday night. He can’t wait!

Lance finished plowing half of his garden. This is the half where the corn will grow and he and Owen sewed the corn seed Sunday afternoon while I mowed the yard and Riley (yes, you guessed right) was hitting the baseball on his own. We are slowly but surely getting our outdoor projects done although the list seems to grow faster than we can check things off. What we did accomplish this weekend was done between a birthday party, a baseball game, baseball practice and of course church and a shopping trip to Sam’s.

Saturday night our niece Abby hosted a slumber party at her house with nine, 8 year old girls. Needless to say, my brother-in-law, nephew and youngest niece evacuated to our house Saturday night to escape all the estrogen. Plenty of female reinforcements were at their house to help with all the girls. Our house ended up being much like a smaller slumber party. Riley and Tyler shared the top bunk, Owen in his bed, Scotty and Kaylee in our guest room and another friend who wanted to join in the fun, Garrett, crashed on our couch. We enjoyed the company and of course the boys had lots of fun with their cousins.

One sad note from our weekend, instead of 10 we now have 9 chickens. As we were coming outside Saturday night to get in the truck and go find something to eat, Scotty noticed all the feathers in the yard. It turns out the there was a small area where the fence was about 4 inches off the ground and the chickens were escaping from their pen. Apparently this one had gotten out and Escher had found him. We knew there would be casualties going into this whole thing, but I really didn’t think Escher would be the assailant.

Lance and I will be driving to Norfolk next week on a business trip (Lance is tagging along with me on an NS trip) while my Mom and Dad sit with the boys. The boys are excited and Lance and I are looking forward to it too. I’m sure there’ll be plenty of tales to share following that week.

Baseball and Field Trips

Baseball is what we’ve been doing a lot of lately. Riley’s games have really become exciting to watch as there are now boys in his league who can knock homeruns over the fence. Riley isn’t quite there yet but he has gotten a few line-drive doubles and made some exciting plays in left field. Last night he jumped to catch a fly ball, caught the ball in the air (he and the ball were in the air) but then the ball fell out of his glove. Exciting even though he didn’t get the out! Catching fly balls in the air is still somewhat rare in this age group. Riley is the youngest on his team, the only one not to have turned 7 already. And since they are playing in the 7/8 year old league, there are a few mostly-8-year-old-team that have smeared them. But they have improved some each game and had a great near-win last night. Exciting! What’s also fun is that Riley is now looking for Braves games on t.v. and will sit and watch inning after inning of a professional game.

Owen’s league is always fun to watch too. Owen is not as into the sport as Riley but then again Riley wasn’t so into it at that age either.

Football sign-up is in a couple of weeks. It seems like the two seasons get closer and closer together. We’ll be done with baseball by the end of May and then football will start practice in July and games in August. We’ll get a little break at least and only have 1 son playing in football. It’ll be at least another year before Owen is ready to try that.

We have so much to do around our house and yard too, but there just doesn’t seem to be enough time. Lance did get ½ the garden tilled and hopes to get the rest done this weekend. Then there is planting the garden, but that is the fun part for Lance. I still have those azaleas to plant and the grass is in bad need of cutting again. The chickens are in their new home although there is some work left to do there too – build a gate and then clean up all the scrap lumber.

Wednesday I went with Riley and his first grade class to Noah’s Ark. It’s an animal rehabilitation facility and also has a children’s home for foster kids. I was paired with Riley and 3 other boys for the morning adventure. Would you believe I forgot a camera?! Lance had it all setup and ready for me and I left it sitting on the kitchen counter. The trip was fun. The kids got to pet a few animals – deer, goats, lama’s, ostriches. And they got to see many more – bear, monkey’s tigers, a lion, buffalo, tropical birds, chickens and the favorite by far of the 4 boys in my group - alligators.

Hard to believe school will be out soon. We’re all looking forward to summer which brings vacation, swimming and lots of fun outside.

Sore Muscles

Last weekend was a busy one and expect this weekend will be no different. Lance is preparing to put in his garden and tending to his chickens and I’m trying to get some yard projects done too. Spring sort-of lends itself to outdoor projects and we’ve enjoyed the great temperatures and blue skies.

Saturday morning both boys had back to back baseball games. Riley’s was first and although his team lost, it was a good game. It’s always fun to watch Owen’s team play and Saturday was no different. A kid on the opposing team had a player that tried to run the bases in reverse. You have to give the kid credit, doesn’t it accomplish the same thing? After we got home and everyone had lunch, we all went outside. First we moved the chickens from their 75 gallon aquarium home with a heat lamp, to the outside coop Lance had built for them. The boys helped us carry them 2-by-2 from the basement out to the coop. Ten in total and after seeing them in their new spacious home, it was easy to see they’d long outgrown the aquarium.

After the chicken-move, Lance and I used a 2-man auger he’d borrowed from his Dad to dig fence-post holes around his soon-to-be garden and the chicken coop. We also dug a couple of additional post holes for an entry-way to the garden that Lance plans to build a trellis over and some built-in benches. It was fun talking through that design and making plans with the eventual design to include a walkway leading from stairs down the side of our driveway. There is so much we’d love to do outside but we’ll just do a little bit each year until we get there. We’ve learned that landscaping isn’t cheap but we do both enjoy it so it’s fun to make plans and brainstorm ideas. Here’s a picture of the garden and the fence posts. Hopefully after this coming weekend the fence will be up and possibly the garden will be tilled too assuming the weather cooperates for us again.

Sunday after church and lunch we were all outside again. This time we were burying chicken-wire around the perimeter of the chicken coop to prevent any predators (namely our dog) from digging their way in to the chickens. I’m pretty sure this activity is largely responsible for my aching muscles on Monday. We dug a 2’ wide area, about 6” deep around the 60’ perimeter of the coop using a shovel, hoe and rake. Whew! And since I didn’t get to use my legs and glut muscles much in that project, I decided to take the boys bike riding later that afternoon. I didn’t want any of the other muscles to feel left out. By Monday morning I was sore but have since recovered and am looking forward to doing it all again this weekend.

Both Saturday and Sunday the boys were mostly outside with us, riding bikes, playing ‘army’, jumping on the trampoline and sometimes helping by digging random holes, handing Daddy tools and checking on the chickens. There were frequent breaks for a snacks and drinks because they were, “so tired and hungry!” And they both came running any time Lance or I uncovered a worm so they could promptly feed it to the chickens. Riley also caught a frog at some point over the weekend but we talked him into letting him go back to his ‘home’ in the tree.

This weekend Lance plans to wrap the fence around both the coop and the garden and I hope to get my 10 new azaleas in the ground down the side of our dam. If we’re feeling ambitious and have time to spare, maybe the garden will get tilled and Lance will have time to build more bird feeders and houses. Something he’s been doing during the week using scrap lumber of which he seems to have abundance. We also have to squeeze in two baseball games on Saturday and a birthday party on Sunday afternoon. On second thought, we might not get around to those ‘extra’ projects.

In other news, Mom and Dad are traveling around Kentucky this week. Her email this morning said they were at Mammoth Cave National Park. They did a 2 mile tour/hike yesterday and were planning on doing the longer 4 hour one today. Lance and I saw the cave on one of our visits to see his brother who was in seminary in Louisville at the time. It’s really amazing how massive the underground world is of Mammoth.

Before I sign-off, here is a good picture of our snaggle-tooth Riley. That other top tooth is loose too; I suspect he’ll have an even wider gap in a couple more weeks.

It's been a while

It’s been a while since my last post. No particular reason for the delay, I guess we’ve just been busy with everyday things.

Spring break was nice last week. I took off Monday and Tuesday. The boys and I went go to Kangaroo Kids one afternoon and met Mom, Alice, Jacob and Ethan. They had fun and were exhausted when we left. That is always a good thing. Another afternoon we met Alice and her boys at a park and they played for a couple hours – another energy-expending activity for crazy little boys. It was fun and to top it off we ran into Jennifer and Craig who I hadn’t seen in a long time with their new little one, Gabriel, or as Alice called him, ‘Little Hugh’ (Jennifer’s Dad’s name is Hugh).

Riley had a few baseball practices throughout the week, but no games because of Spring Break. Owen had none. We took the kids to play putt-putt one night, not realizing they stop letting people begin new games at 7:30pm and close at 8pm. We arrived at 7:35pm. Fortunately the lady at the counter was really nice and let us play until 8pm and assuming we wouldn’t be able to finish a game, she let us play for free. Riley and Owen were running through the course with excitement and managed to finish all 18 holes before 8pm. All that rushing was pure excitement since they were completely unaware of the time crunch. We finished our free, quick game of putt-putt and then went to eat dinner at our favorite Mexican spot.

Riley lost another tooth last week. I need to get a picture to post of that, it’s one of the top middle teeth. It really changed his appearance with that big gap there now.

Other than that, Lance finished up the chicken coop. The chicken’s will probably get moved into it this weekend. We had a cold front move through this week, so we were waiting for warmer weather. I think it should be safe now.Nothing big planned for this weekend. Two games tomorrow morning although the forecast is showing rain, we will see.

Lance borrowed an auger so I think he intends to begin digging post-holes for a fence around his garden. Somehow I think I’m going to get sucked into some of that work too.Riley wants to have his birthday at a county park that has a BMX bike track. We have been before, but I think we will make a visit to see how party-friendly the park would be and to let the boys ride their bikes on the track. Not sure if Owen will try the track or not, I’m guessing he’ll stick to the level path near the track.

I hope everyone has a great weekend!

Granny Irene

I’m not sure how old Granny would be today. I’ve never been good about remembering birth-years. Would she be 90? Mom, am I right? I know she has been gone now for 5 years and is missed very, very much. It’s so hard to believe it’s been 5 years. I had fun ‘remembering’ Granny Lois and wanted to do the same thing for Granny Irene. Here are some things I remember, please chime in on the comments section with your own remembrances…

I remember she always had Juicy Fruit chewing gum in her purse and would only give you a half a piece at a time.

I remember she always kept peppermint in her purse too. Mom, I think you do this now too.

I remember staying with her for a week every summer. I have so many memories from those weeks with her in Dawson. That week always included shopping and a trip to Calloway Gardens.

I remember her taking me to Calloway Gardens every summer. She always let us invite one of our ‘Dawson’ friends to go with us too. She and one of her friends would sit in the rocking chairs under the pavilion while me and Alice and our friends would play in the lake and on the beach.

I remember having sleep-overs in Dawson at her house with one of our ‘Dawson’ friends either at her house or at Mrs. Mervin’s.

I remember she loved to take her 3 grandkids shopping and was always very generous. I think she was largely responsible for our new school wardrobe each year.

I remember me and Alice always slept in her King size bed with her when we visited her in Dawson. We would get so tickled lying in bed at night and laughing at different things. She would laugh at us and then Alice and I would laugh at her uncontrollable laughter, it was an endless cycle. I think we sounded more like 3 teenagers having a sleep over more so than 2 granddaughters with their grandmother.

I remember her stirring up my ice-cream to soften it and make it like fresh homemade ice cream days after it had been churned. The expression on her face, well I guess you just had to be there.

I remember walking to and from First Baptist of Dawson on weekend visits to her house.

I remember Sunday afternoons on her front porch. All the adults sitting and talking and the kids playing in the front yard and picking up pecans from the lawn.

I remember watching T.V. on Saturday nights in her den while eating homeade ice cream.

On those same Saturday nights, I remember Alice and I scheming a plan to 'sneak' up on the adults while they watched T.V. We drew a schematic of the den complete with our route planned carefully. No way they would see us crawling behind the couch and under the coffee table.

I remember she always gave me and Alice a Madame Alexander doll for Christmas. That collection is still in Mom’s attic.

I remember she is largely responsible for my jewelry collection, generously giving me birthstone jewelry and many other rings and necklaces. I treasure each piece and although I don’t wear it daily, I try to wear one piece a week and always think of her when I do.

I remember going out with her and all of her ‘buddies’ in Dawson to play cards or eat at The Varsity. She was always so busy!

I remember eggs, over-easy with fried cornbread for breakfast. I’m hungry just thinking of it. The cornbread is something no one else has been able to duplicate since she died. I think it was the fresh cornmeal that made it so difficult to duplicate.

I remember throwing table-scraps across the fence to her neighbors’ chickens after each meal at her house.

I remember pulling under her carport on Friday nights after dark and her opening the carport door in her gown and robe giving us each a hug and kiss as we walked into her home. “Hey Deezy, Hey Doodlebug, Hey T-Ron.” We each had a nick-name.

Most of all I remember how much she loved us. We were her only 3 grandkids and as an adult I can vividly remember how proud she was of us as kids and how much she loved us all. Our comfort rests in the knowledge that she is with Granddaddy experiencing the splendor of Heaven and we will one day be reunited with her again. What an awesome day that will be!