Graduate

Owen is going to be a big man on the elementary school campus next year as a Kindergartner. He graduated from preschool a couple weeks ago and was so proud. It was a cute ceremony complete with caps and gowns. He has had so much fun at preschool this year and done well at making friends. With him being my less-social kid, I wasn’t sure how he’d do but he’s jumped right in and had a lot of fun this year. He loves his teacher dearly and is sad to leave Mrs. Emily. We wish she could come to Kindergarten with him, but know that can’t happen. We’d be thrilled if he could get into the same class Riley was in for Kindergarten, but we’ll see. We have no say on that matter, so we’ll just pray for the right teacher for Owen.




Summer is here but it’s already slipping by way too fast. I can’t believe we’re already 1.5 weeks into it and they only get 8 weeks total. We are looking forward to our Panama City Beach trip the end of this month for a vacation and a baseball tournament with Riley’s team. We are looking forward to the sun, water and some family time together.

Owen-isms

O - “Mom, babies talk a whole lot, don’t they?”
Mom - “Talk? You think they talk a lot?”
O - “Yeah. And they just keep talking and talking and talking and then they cry because nobody knows what they’re saying. Because we don’t talk baby talk. Right, Mom?”

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O – “Mom, which one is faster, God or cars?”

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O – “I sure am glad Riley’s a Christian now, aren’t you Mom? Aren’t you glad Riley has Jesus in his heart now?”

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This is from my Mother’s Day card Owen gave me at the Mother’s Day tea at his school yesterday. His teacher asked each of the kids why they loved their Mom and wrote their answers in our cards. Here are Owen’s answers:

I love my Mom because……she is my Mom.
I love my Mom because……she always looks nice and pretty.
My Mom’s favorite thing to do is……..be with my baby sister, Megan.

4cm....still waiting

Well we made it to 39 weeks. Only 1 more to go till the due date. I told Lance last night I thought Thursday would be a good day for her to arrive. That would mean Riley was born on the 24th, Owen on the 25th and Baby Girl on the 26th. A cool birth order thing. Of course who knows what she and God have in mind, but that's my thought.

I had a few Owen-isms I wanted to share. I know after Baby Girl arrives, I'll forget completely to write these down so thought I'd do so while they were fresh in my mind -

#1 On the way to preschool yesterday -
"Mom, I think I grew a new freckle."

#2 We'd just come from Owen's practice at another location and stopped to see the end of Riley's at the ball park. Lance was sitting in his truck (it was cold) and we pulled up beside him in my car.

Owen rolled down his window and said to Lance -
"Hey! Did you just blow in from stupid-town??"
(apparently this is a line he got from an episode of SpongeBob)
He cracks himself up. Remind you of anyone else?

#3 Watching a favorite show on t.v. last night, Dirty Jobs. Owen said,
"Hey Mom. If we have a dirty job to do and we don't want to do it, we can just call them, right?"

#4 One night this week after tucking him in bed, "I hope our baby sister comes when it's day time. Cause I don't want to be too sleepy!"

That would be a first for our family. A daytime labor and delivery. Nothing wrong with hoping, right?

A few ism's

I figured I better post them before I forgot them entirely. Here are a couple of Owen-isms and Riley-isms:

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Riley said to me after sitting beside me on the couch one afternoon telling me about his day at school:
“After the baby is born, you aren’t going to be able to talk to me and Owen much anymore, are you?”
Of course I quickly corrected him and explained that although we’d be busy with the baby, we’d always have time to talk to both of them.

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Tuesday afternoon, as soon as I walked in the door from work, Riley greeted me and grabbed my hand. “Please come watch t.v. with me Mama. Before you cook supper or I start my homework, let’s watch t.v. together.” How could I say no?! He led me to my bedroom where he proceeded to find one of my favorite shows, Jon and Kate Plus 8. Talk about making my day!

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As Lance and I were tucking the boys in bed last night Riley said, “We had a good day today, didn’t we? None of the parents yelled and none of the kids got in timeout!” He then proceeded to make mention of the same thing in his prayers, thanking God for our no-timeout, no-yelling day.

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Owen came to the kitchen while I was cooking dinner one night last week (he’d been watching his favorite show, SpongeBob) and asked me, “Mom, how does Spongebob take a bath? His house is already full of water!” (For those of you who don’t know, SpongeBob is a Sponge and lives in the Ocean.)

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A couple weeks ago as we were walking out of Target, Owen asked me after studying the automatic exit doors, “Why do they have handles on those doors, Mom? They open all by themselves!”

Christmas Vacation

We've had a wonderful Christmas and New Year. I pray each of you have too. I'm only sad that it's coming to an end. I can't believe it went by so fast, but I've enjoyed having the time off with my 3 guys.

Christmas was a lot of fun for both boys. Their 'biggie' this year from Santa was an iPod iTouch. They love them and have played games and listened to music and videos each day since. Lance and I gave them a telescope from us. They've enjoyed that too. It was almost a full week after Christmas before we had clear skies we could look at, but it was really cool when we finally had a clear shot of the moon last night. Of course there were lots of other gifts too - nerf guns (I think we own one of every gun nerf makes now!), sketch pads, books, star wars action figures, a batman cape, x-box games, a Peyton Manning fathead for the boys bedroom (which I must say is very cool) and believe it or not I could keep going and going. They got so many cool things. Between Santa, Mom and Dad, grandparents and all our other family, my boys were no doubt completely spoiled. We tried more this year than we have in the past to really focus on the reason for this season. I hope all the presents didn't interfere with that lesson.

And since we didn't have quite enough toys in our house, we celebrated Owen's birthday today at Pump It Up. You may remember his birthday is on Christmas day, but we had his party today. Lance and I gave him a Nintendo DS, which he loves (maybe even more than his iTouch). He received several games and plenty of other toys too. Mainly though, I think he just enjoyed jumping and playing with all his friends and cousins at the party. We had a really cool SpongeBob cake made (I promise I'll post pictures soon) and Owen was very proud of his cake. It was almost completely gone when we left, which is exactly how we wanted it to be. I didn't want to bring any home.

Aside from all the present opening and toy playing, we've managed to make some progress in cleaning out closets and making room for our Baby Girl. There is still more work to be done, but we've made a good start. Lance also enjoyed an overnight trip with my Dad to South Georgia to camp and bring back a load of firewood. He's been outside off and on since then splitting a few logs here and there. He brought back a trailer full of oak, definately enough to last us a while. And we've enjoyed sleeping late, eating big breakfasts and hanging out at home relaxing together. It doesn't get much better than that.

I'm not really looking forward to returning to work on Monday and I know the boys are looking forward to going back to school on Tuesday. But ready or not, I'm afraid it's coming our way.

Eyes

Owen noticed a long time ago that his eyes were blue like mine, and Riley's were brown like Daddy's. I was tucking them in bed last night and Riley was saying how he wasn't tired and didn't want to go to bed and Owen said, "Mom, blue eyes like to go to bed and brown eyes like to stay up late, right?"

He is absolutely right! Riley and Lance are definately night owls and Owen and I like to hit the sack early. It's funny to get a glimpse into how kids categorize and understand things with the information they have about the world.

Owen-ism

Owen, in the car on our way home from church this afternoon.

Owen - Mom, look at that big cloud up there.
Mom - I see it, it is big, maybe it's going to rain.
Owen - That's the biggest cloud up there, that must be the one Jesus lives in.
Mom - Maybe your right, maybe that's the one.
Owen - Yeah, that has to be it. It has to be the biggest one cause a lot of people come up there with him, right?
Mom - Right! You've got it exactly right, buddy!

BTW - Don't forget to check in here Wednesday late afternoon. We hope to find out the sex of our little one at our appointment that afternoon!

Owen-isms

I'm in VA this week, so thinking about my boys at home a lot. Lance has made it through a busy day - school, dinner, homework, football and baths. I have to admit, I'm missing my boys like crazy but enjoying the quiet time to watch "Mommy Shows" all I want and even blog a little. And did I mention I have a 42" plasma TV in my room and just returned from having lasagna at Olive Garden?!

Lance sent me this Owen-ism from the football field tonight (via a txt message) and I realized I had a couple more to share as well.

Owen-ism #1 (tonight @ football field)
"I have an itchy spot and it won't unitch!"

Owen-ism #2 (last week @ football field)
Owen - "Mom, I don't think I'm want to be a grown-up."
Mom - "Really, why?"
Owen - "It's taking too long!"

Owen-ism #3 (couple weeks ago @ home)
Owen - "Mom, can the baby really hear me when I'm talking?"
Mom - "Yes, the baby will even know what his big brother sounds like when he's born and recognize your voice already."
Owen - "But he won't know my name when he's born, right?"
Mom - "That's true, we'll have to teach him your name."
Owen - (spoken directly to my belly) - "My name is Owen!"

Owen-ism # 4 (one night at home last week)
Owen walked into the kitchen as I was cooking dinner. He had on a skateboard knee pad on 1 knee.
Owen - "Mom, look what I found." (pointing to knee pad)
Mom - "Cool. Was that in your toy box?"
Owen - "Yeah, now I can jump off the bunk bed and not get hurt, right?"
Mom - "No! You can't jump off the bunk bed! What about your other knee?!"
Owen - "I'll just land on one knee, Mom. Please, just one jump?"
Mom - "NO!" (laughing just a little)

Although Owen is my cautious son, I guess this proves he is still a boy! The difference between him and Riley here is that Riley never would have asked permission to jump off the bunk bed. I would have just heard a big thump!

Callaway

Since our vacation, I had planned to take one more day off work this summer to do something fun with the boys before school started back. When my buddy, Dan offered me his season pass to Callaway Gardens a couple of weeks ago, that settled our plans. I called Alice and Mom and we made plans to go this past Wednesday.

I have a lot of fond memories at Callaway, so it was particularly special. Every summer when I would spend a week with Granny, she would take us to spend a day at Callaway. We'd take one of our Dawson friends and she would take Mrs. Edith and off we'd go. She and Mrs. Edith would sit under the pavillion reading books in their rocking chairs and my buddy and I would swim in the lake, ride the train, ride paddle boats and have lots of summer fun. Callaway is special because of those memories and I was excited to share some of that with my boys.

It has changed some over the years, but really is a lot like it was when I was a kid. Riley, Owen and Jacob loved the water and spent most of the day splashing around. Ethan wasn't very interested in the water but hung out with Nanny in the shade while the others swam. They have a play area out in the water with lots of inflatable toys - rock climbing walls with slides on one side, 2 huge trampolines and several smaller ones. Riley and Jacob loved playing there, especially jumping on the trampolines and landing in the water. Owen tried one of the smaller trampolines but was a little more cautious and ended up watching the older two. You'll notice in all the pictures below, his hair is dry. He absolutely hates to have water over his head or get splashed in the face. We'll have to overcome that sooner or later, but for now he prefers to stay in water where he can stand.

We all enjoyed a game of putt-putt too and a ride on the paddle boats. Unfortunately the train was out for repair and the circus didn't have a showing on Wednesdays but I don't think the kids missed either of those, there was plenty else to keep them busy.

The cousins all played really great together and except for a few arguments over who was going to pick the movie for the ride back, they got along great. Thanks, Dan for sharing your pass with us, we had a great time!

Owen playing putt-putt.

I guess we need to work on his form.

Riley playing putt-putt with Ethan watching.

Three silly boys.

Three Muskateers

You wouldn't believe how many shots I have like this with none of them looking at the camera. At least Jake and Ethan are smiling in this one, better than my two managed to do for the camera.

My 3 Guys and Me....no more?

As most of you probably already know, I may need to change the name of my blog pretty soon. We are expecting a 5th member to our family next March! We are very excited about our new addition. Riley and Owen were very excited when we told them the news. I think the newness has already worn off for them. I'm guessing it probably won't be till March when the reality of it all really hits them. Riley wants another brother, and Owen would like a sister. Actually, Owen would like twin sisters, he said that way our family will be 'even' with boys and girls. We'll have to wait and see. I'm about 6 weeks along now and it won't be till 20 weeks before we know the sex of the baby.

So far my pregnancy is going great. I've always loved being pregnant and have been blessed with very easy pregnancies. I'm praying this one will be no different. Knowing that this will likely be our last, I'm trying my best to savor each moment of this pregnancy. I know it will go by all too fast.

Owen's prayer as I was tucking him in a few nights ago, "Thank you for God, Thank you for Jesus, Thank you for Mommy and Daddy and thank you for our new baby. Please help our new baby to come here in 2 days. Amen." I couldn't help but giggle at his request and had to explain that it was important that the baby grew inside Mommy for 9 months before he or she came out. I'm not sure he understood, he seemed a little disappointed but again 9 months will be gone before we know it.

The boys have been camping this week with my parents and Jacob in Parrott. It sounds like they've had a great time. Four-wheeling, collecting fire wood, playing in the irrigation system of the neighboring sod farm and even swimming in the neighbors pool. Mom said one night as she was cooking dinner, Jacob came inside and asked her if they could just stay 100 more days. Owen chimed in and said, how about 1000 more days! I think that must be some indication of how much fun they have there. They are on their way home now and should be here in the next hour or so. I'm anxious to see my 2 monkeys and get some hugs and kisses!

Lance and I have enjoyed the quiet time at home this week. Lance has finished washing our deck with a pressure washer and then with a deck wash. Now he has to let it dry for several days before sealing and staining it. What a job! Today we both worked in the yard. Cut grass, ran the weed eater and I actually got a lot of planting done. I put 4 rose bushes in the ground that Mom had given me for Mother's Day and also 10 azaleas that I've had even longer than the roses. It feels good to have that all done.

I'll try to post at least weekly updates as I have pre-natal visits and changes in my pregnancy. My next appointment isn't until July 29th.

Another busy one...

It was another busy weekend but definitely full of fun. Saturday was all about baseball. Riley and Owen each had their final games of the season. Both boys played well and finished the season with some nice hits and good plays. Owen had 2 balls hit to him at first base and stopped them both and then proceeded to get back to back hits off a pitch. Way to go Owen! Riley’s team struggled the first few innings of their final game, but rallied in the last 2 innings. Riley squeezed out 2 solid base hits and looked good fielding a few balls out in left field with strong throws to the infield.

Sunday after church we headed to an ice-cream shop for Owen’s end of year t-ball party. Owen was so proud of his trophy and we were proud to hear the description his coach gave of our O. He said, “This young man is a great ballplayer and an excellent team player. He always responds with a ‘yes sir’ and I don’t think I ever had to remind him to get back on the field or pay attention. That is rare for this age group. And he’s a great left-handed hitter too!” That is consistently what we hear from his teachers and now his coaches, that he is well behaved and very obedient. I’m so proud! I only wish he behaved that way for Lance and me but I guess he knows how to cut a few corners at home and it doesn’t help that his brother is pretty good at pushing his buttons.

We left Owen’s party and headed to the park for Riley’s birthday party. We were a little worried about the weather forecast – thunderstorms. It turned out there wasn’t any need to be, we had beautiful sunny skies the entire time. We had his party at the BMX track and used the picnic pavilion there. The kids were in a hurry to hit the track so we cut the cake, opened presents and off they went to ride. The track is a double-‘S’ so a couple times around and they are ready for a break. We cooled them off with popsicles and they headed right back to the track. Riley had a couple of falls, but nothing too bad and he was back on his bike after dusting off the dirt. Owen declared himself the ‘coach’ and positioned himself at the start gate to watch and coach. Our niece Abby had a good tumble on the paved berm, but thankfully she was OK too, only a few scratches on her hands and chin. Riley told me later that night that it was his favorite birthday party ever. That is all I needed to hear to declare it a success. I’m so glad he had fun and all his friends, most of which had never ridden on the track, had fun too.

Memorial Day Weekend

We had a great Memorial Day weekend and although I didn’t get to any of my projects I had planned, we had a lot of fun and enjoyed our time together playing and relaxing. Our grass is still tall and my azalea’s are still in their pots, but we shared lots of fun and laughs and for that I am grateful.

Saturday was of course the big day for our now 7 year old. He enjoyed the day and as I described in my previous entry, had us pampering his every whim.

Sunday we headed out to the lake after dropping off Owen with PawPaw and Nanny who were taking him and Jacob camping for the week. It sounds like they are having a lot of fun. We talked to them last night as Owen and Jacob were playing in the water, splashing in the irrigation system that was spraying across the road from the neighboring sod farm. They had enjoyed the day riding four wheelers and playing in the sand and a sprinkler. Nanny was worried her earlier bath had already been un-done and they would be heading to the tub again before bed time.

Lance, Riley and I had a fun Sunday and Monday at the lake with his family. We took full advantage of the beautiful weather on their boat and riding their two jet ski’s around the lake. Riley enjoyed a couple of rides on the jet ski’s but I think enjoyed swimming and jumping off the boat more than anything else. After getting a late start on the water Sunday, everyone voted to spend the night with the GG’s so we could start all over again on Monday. Unfortunately my sister-in-law ended up miserable all night and after a Monday morning visit to the emergency room learned she had a kidney stone. After a dose of some powerful narcotics, she slept the day away while the rest of us played some more on the water. PawPaw bought all the grandkids new fishing rods that were very cool and sparked a new interest in fishing for all of them. They were rocket-launching fishing rods which meant no casting skill was required and added a whole new element of fun to the day. They alternated fishing and jumping into the lake for a swim to cool off. Of course our sweet O was missed terribly but knowing that he was having the time of his life on his camping trip put a smile on my face. It was a fun day and a great end to a great weekend.

On a side note, I have an Owen quote to share. This was while eating dinner at Longhorns Friday night.
Owen, "Mom, I know what it means when you're full."
Mom, "What?"
Owen, "It means you can't eat anymore, right?"
Mom, "That's right. Good job."
Owen, "Well how come it hurts to be full?"
I went on to try and explain how your tummy was being stretched, etc. I'm not sure I did a good job but thought it was funny that he described being full as painful. He's right! That's exactly how we all felt as wel left Longhorn that night, in pain!

Riley the Brave and Owen the Astro

Riley is making big plans for his birthday weekend. He wants to see the new Indy movie this weekend and has already asked for breakfast in bed Saturday morning. I think he got that idea from Mother's Day since Lance and the boys served me. Too funny!

More later on the birthday boy, but I wanted to make a quick post to share the boys baseball pictures from this season.

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.

Opening Day

Unfortunately my brother-in-law, Scotty, was admitted to Emory Thursday night with heart complications. I ended up working from home on Friday so Lance could be at the hospital with his family while Scotty underwent a heart-cath procedure to diagnose the problem. The procedure brought great news – they were able to fix he problem by eliminating some scar tissue on his heart left from surgery at 5 years old. There would be no further treatment needed for now and everyone was beyond excited and thankful. Unfortunately after being discharged on Saturday, he was re-admitted on Sunday for a pulmonary embolism (blood clot in his lung) as a result of the heart-cath procedure. He will be in-patient for a few days as they resolve the clot with blood thinners. Please keep him and his family in your prayers.

Not completely understanding the circumstances, my boys are excited since it means their 3 cousins spent the night with us last night. A sleep over on a school night is otherwise unheard of!

Although overshadowed by my brother-in-law’s stay in the hospital, opening day 2008 was largely a success. It was a long day but we couldn’t have asked for better weather and plenty of fun. The parade was at 9am, which is what both Owen and Riley were looking forward to more than their games. Lance went with Owen and his team and I went with Riley. It’s a short parade route, maybe 1 mile if that, but they love throwing handfuls of candy at the scattered bystanders on the roadside. Owen’s game was immediately following the parade/opening day announcements at 11am. Have you ever seen 3 and 4 year olds play baseball? It is so funny! Owen is quite proud that this year he is one of the 4 year old veterans who can occasionally hit the ball without the assistance of a T. He did that during the game and made his turn around the bases. Another boy on his team had a great hit and then proceeded to run to centerfield to fetch his ball. Too funny! Even funnier was the jabs Lance made at this kid’s Dad, a former Atlanta Brave.We had a few hours after that before Riley’s 2:45 game. All the teams have fundraising booths and the local high school ROTC runs inflatable slides and bounce houses so there was plenty to do before Riley’s game. Nacho’s, Dippin’ Dots, Cokes, Cotton Candy, Hot Dogs, it was all there.

Riley’s game went well too. They lost, but still a good game. This is the first year with real strike-out’s. No T to use if you miss the pitches from the coach. It’s still coach pitch, but no T. It tried to rain on us before it was over, but nothing more than a drizzle until we got in the car after the game was over and then it rained pretty good. Owen kept complaining that it was “dripping on him.”

OB’s BBQ for dinner. I got to pick since it was my birthday. A busy, hectic day for a birthday but I got to watch my 2 guys do some of their favorite things – play, eat, play baseball – you can’t ask for much better.

This update wouldn’t be complete without confessing my ‘uh-oh’ on Friday. Lance was at the hospital with his brother (40+ miles from home) and I was taking the boys to the ball field, they both had a 6:30 practice. We headed out and as soon as the garage door closed behind me, I knew what I’d done. My keys (car and house) were on the kitchen counter behind the now locked, garage door. Oops. Lance has the only other house key. Even worse, my cell phone was also on the kitchen counter charging. Needless to say we had an opportunity to meet our nice neighbors who called their locksmith friend who was at our house in about 30 minutes. So after nearly 45 minutes and $90 later, I again had possession of my keys and off to the ball park we went. At least we made it in time to get everyone’s uniform for the Saturday morning festivities.

Awana Grand Prix 2008

Wednesday night was the big race. It was exciting. I’m not sure how many participated, but I’m guessing there were about 20 cars. I should mention too that were were very impressed with the sophistication of the race. All the cars have to weigh-in (requirement is under 5 oz.). The track is a 40 foot aluminum track with 4 lanes and the finish and start are electronic. All lane assignments and results were all on a laptop which was projected up on the big-screen in the gym for everyone to see. All they had to do was feed in each kids name and car and the computer determined which cars raced when and in which lane until everyone was done. It also kept the running tally of everyone’s race times and speed. Like I said, very sophisticated.

The races were 4 cars in a heat. The track has 4 lanes and each car raced once in each lane, so 4 runs each. Owen started the night off in the first heat. He ran 3 heats in a row and won all three. He later raced his 4th heat and won that one too. He was *so* excited! Jumping up and down and cheering for his car. He looked at me and said, “I’m a good racer, ain’t I Mom?” He was so proud! What was even more entertaining was watching the Dad’s. They had a lot invested in this race too. At one point the director asked all the kids to move away from the track and to find a chair to sit in and then he also said, “And all the Dad’s, please move away from the cars.”

Riley raced a few heats after Owen and I think he won 2 of his 4 heats. He was excited too and they were great about cheering for each other too. Abby, Tyler, Riley and Owen were all exchanging high-five’s and cheering for each other’s cars too. After everyone had raced 4 times, they took the top 4 cars times and did one final series of 4 heats, once in each lane for the final 4. Owen, Tyler and Abby all made the final 4 along with another little girl, Hannah. Owen did well in the first 3 heats, placing 2nd or 3rd in each one. Then in the final heat, his car jumped the track and finished a full 1.5 seconds behind everybody else which threw him out of the running for the top 3 trophy spots. He was disappointed, and we all think robbed, but what can you do? They wouldn’t run the heat over again because his car crossed the finish line even though it was off the track. Tyler won 1st place and Abby 2nd place so we were excited for them.

I called a trophy shop today and ordered a 3rd place trophy for Owen. Since we really think he should have won and he was so sad and disappointed, I think this’ll make everything right in his mind. We’ll just tell him that he won a trophy after all, he’ll be so excited. If he had lost fair and square, I wouldn’t have done this since I know there is a lesson learned in loosing as well as winning. But given the circumstances, we though this was a good idea and so Owen will have a trophy to show off after all.

Awana Grand Prix 2009, watch out. We learned a few secrets this year and our cars will be even faster next year!

Coaches

Riley’s comment during Owen’s Tuesday night t-ball practice, “Mom, Owen’s coaches are really nice. They keep saying ‘good job’ and ‘nice swing’. He has great coaches. I like his coaches.” Unlike Riley’s coaches, O’s are just happy when they are looking at the ball and not playing in the dirt or looking up at an airplane (something Owen did more than once Tuesday night).

But after last year especially, I really like Riley’s coaches too. His coaches don’t yell, unlike last year. I’ve never seen them yank their kid off the field for a ‘whippin’, unlike last year. They are just a little rougher around the edges than Owen’s but given the age they are coaching, that is probably reasonable.. Here are some comments heard this year from Riley’s coaches:
“Where were you looking? Not at the ball!”
“If you let another ball go by you without getting in front of the ball, you’re running a lap.” (This was said from coach to coach’s son)
“If that ball ever touches the fence, then you outfielders aren’t doing your job.”

But that is all balanced out by lots of these:
“Nice play.”
“Great throw!”
“Good snag.”

You get the idea. So although Riley noticed right away that Owen’s coaches are “really nice.” His are pretty good too. I’m looking forward to a good season for both of them. Another perk this year is that both teams have great sponsors. That means us parents won’t have to come out of pocket for uniforms, trophies, end of year parties or anything else. It also means this team Mom doesn’t have to worry about running a fundraising booth on opening day.

The season is shaping up to be a busy one. We have practice with one or the other (or both) every day this week except for Wednesday and Saturday. I don’t know how families who have more than one kid participating in more than one activity at time do it. I’ve met plenty who have that sort of schedule. Two at a time in the same sport is as busy as I care to be!

Baseball and Bicycles

Our weekend was nice. We figured we better enjoy it because before we know it, baseball season will be in full swing and our Saturday’s will be spent at the ball field. I went down Saturday morning and signed both boys up for baseball. Owen will play in the same league he did last year with 3 and 4 year olds. Riley will move up to the 7/8 year old league since he’ll turn 7 in May and that is their cut-off. I hesitated about moving him up but then realized that since most of his fellow first graders will be moving up, that is where he should be. With a May birthday he is a few months younger than most of his friends but I think he’ll want to stay with them in baseball. The biggest change with this league is kid’s pitch. I think the kids throw 3 pitches and if they throw a strike then the coaches throw 3 pitches too….something like that. It’ll be interesting. Lance plans to start coaching Riley at home on his pitching since that is what he really wants to try. I wouldn’t be surprised though if it’s the 8 year olds that get that opportunity. Not the young-starting-the-season-as-a-6-year-old-but-almost-7-year-old on the team. We’ll see.

Friday we ate dinner at my Mom and Dad’s. Chili and hotdogs. It was good. No occasion. Mom and Dad are about to head out for a 2-week camping trip and wanted to see everyone before they left. I guess there’ll be more of these to come! They deserve it! My boys invited themselves to spend the night and of course Nanny and PawPaw said yes. Lance and I went home kid-free. Saturday morning I cleaned house – bathrooms, kitchen floor and hardwood floors. All were long overdue! Although not fun, it was so nice to be able to do it without any interruptions, no one running across my clean, wet floor and without the guilty conscience I always suffer for doing things like that rather than taking my kids to a park or doing something fun. I knew they were having a ball at Nanny and PawPaw’s. After I finally picked up the boys around 4pm or so, we stopped by Sam’s on the way home and picked up some steaks for dinner. We grilled out and watched The Game Plan on dvd for a family movie night. Cute movie. Riley had been dying to see it since it was in the theatre but we never made it. It’s a football movie and that is all he needed to know to make it a must-see in his book.

Sunday after church, we hung out at home. Lance did some yard work. Later Riley and I went to the school parking lot for a bike ride while Lance stayed home with a sleeping Owen. We finished the day with hamburgers on the grill and American Gladiator on t.v. Riley and Owen’s new favorite t.v. show. They have their own challenges during commercials taking turns being the competitor and the gladiator. I would never watch it if not for them, but it’s so much fun to watch with them. A new episode tonight, yeah!

Owen is running a fever today and coughing too. I pray it is short-lived and he doesn’t share with his brother, or anyone else. He’s moping around and not really acting like himself. This might explain the rare nap yesterday afternoon too. My poor O. Maybe Gladiator will cheer him up!

After I got home from work (and after some Motrin was at work in Owen), the boys were ready to head outside. Riley's latest obsession - his bike. He loves to ride it down our driveway and see how far he makes it into the pasture before he stops. He also learned the art of making donuts in the gravel. Even after a few crashes and some scraped up hands, he kept doing them. Dare devil! My little-not-so-dare-devilish-Owen also decided today that he was ready to try his bike. That's right, the one that he got for Christmas 2006 (thanks PawPaw and Nana!) and has never even wanted to sit on before (even with training wheels). Today he hopped on and was peddling himself all over the garage. No dare-devil stunts for him, but it was a very big deal that he decided to give it a try. I bet before the end of the summer, his training wheels will be gone too. Once on it, he was hooked and so proud of himself. He was begging me to take him to the park to ride but I told him we'd have to wait till another night. We'll have to go one day this week for sure.

5 minutes till American Gladiator. The boys are in their bean-bag chairs anxiously waiting. I better go join them.

Until next time….

Bubble Baths and Puzzles

No more snow pictures. Unfortunately the ones I took last weekend didn't turn out. I guess that's why I'm not the photographer in the family. Along with the snow weekend though, we did have lots of indoor time. We made cookies, played board games, took long bubble baths (after I explained to Owen why a snow day was not a good day to blow up the kiddie pool, even if we were to set it up in the garage!) and put together a puzzle. A couple more pics from last weekend...

The hour-long bubble-bath from last weekend

Riley and his 3-D puzzle of King Tut

Unfortunately neither Lance or I had the camera in our hand this weekend, but we did enjoy the nice weather (mid-50's as opposed to snow!). Saturday, Lance chopped up a dead pine tree that he and my Dad had taken down a couple of weeks ago. I helped too as we hauled most of it over to our burn pile and the smaller pieces we stacked up next to the campfire pit. The boys were busy chasing bad guys around the house and jumping on the trampoline. It was a productive and fun day. We ended with dinner at Thearon and Tracey's house to celebrate Zach and Tracey's birthdays.

Today it was sunny and warm again so we headed to Target and then to the park after church. The boys had a few bucks left to burn. Riley's from the tooth fairy and O had a few bucks from his birthday left. We hung out at the park after that for a good 2 hours before coming home. It was nice and there were tons of others who had the same idea. It was a bit crowded. Great for Riley because he made several instant-friends. Owen mostly followed his brother around or played on his own, but he had fun too.

Back to the grind tomorrow and the countdown begins towards another weekend. Hope everyone has a great week!

Faith of a Child

I’m not sure what sparked this thought or how this conversation came about. Out of the blue one day last week as I was cooking dinner and Owen was riding his Mickey tricycle around the dining room table (yes, my kitchen is officially a race-track), we had this conversation:

O - “Mom, one day everybody dies, right?”
Me – “Yes.”
O – “And then when you die they bury you in the ground, right?” (not sure how he knows any of this, he’s never been to a funeral)
Me – “That’s right.”
O – “And then someone digs you up later.”
Me – “No. Nobody digs you up.”
O – “Yes they do, Mommy. Somebody digs you up so you can go up to Heaven.”
Me – “We’ll sort-of (not sure how much I should try to explain here). You do go to Heaven, but nobody has to dig you up.”
O – “Yes, Mommy. Jesus digs you up and takes you up to Heaven. That’s what he does, Mommy.”
Me – “OK. Maybe you are right.” (I think he has a pretty good grasp on the whole concept, I decide to leave it alone.)
O – “I’m right Mommy. That’s what happens when you die.”
Me – “You are so smart, Owen. Where did you learn that?”
O – “No where. I just know it.”