Baseball Wrap-Up

Noah's baseball season wrapped up last week. It was a weird season with a couple games and practices getting rained out, one game the north wind was so cool that I wanted to get a blanket from the car and only one game that we sat in the stands dripping with sweat. All in all, Noah had a good time and was happy with his season but he did have some frustrating games. 

 He had trouble hitting the ball in a couple of games and that was very, very frustrating for him. He was dipping down with his bat when he swung (almost like a golf swing).

 It's hard for these kids to handle all the waiting that happens in baseball...Noah liked to keep an eye on the batting order while he waited for his turn.

 At the last game, my mom took Levi and his buddy Kreed to an open area to play baseball...but then their ball went in the dumpster! Luckily, Levi was willing to go get it and Grandma was strong enough to pull him back out!

 Noah nearly hit Ben (the pitcher) in the face with the ball. Thankfully he missed and Noah was relieved to have finally gotten a good hit again!

 He even managed a home run during the last game - his teammates were pretty excited for him when he got back to the dugout.

 He was the catcher for the last game. That afternoon before the game he told me, "I can't wait to be catcher! They get to catch and throw the ball more than anybody else!"

 By the end of the game he was pretty tired of wearing all the catcher gear, he told me the mask was too hot.

 Another year of baseball in the books. It was fun to watch this group improve during the summer.

I suppose it's just about time for Noah to turn his sports attention to football...oh my.

Bedroom Concert

The boys put on a rock concert for us in our bedroom! Isn't that sweet?! We didn't have to buy tickets or drive a long distance or deal with any crowds! 

 They played some pretty serious rock n' roll, too.

 Levi worked the crowd while Noah kept pounding away at the keyboard.

 In all honesty, they couldn't really pull it together to actually sing anything. They played their instruments and Levi belted out a few words, but mostly it was a lot of show. Plus, as is the norm, getting the concert set-up was the funnest part for them.

They play like this just often enough to keep me believing that they do actually have some amount of energy for creative/imaginative play in them.

House Progress

Things are rolling right along with the house...it's just that photographing siding, drywall and insulation aren't that fun. :-)

 All of our exterior doors have been installed:

 Ben was super-nice and made cookies for the drywall hanging crew.

 They worked in a hot, humid house and did a lot of work very fast.

 We have electricity! And Ben and I are busy picking out and ordering light fixtures.

 The drywall hanging crew used all corded drills so when they left over the weekend this pile of cords was left behind. I'm glad I didn't have to figure out that mess on Monday morning.

 The dumpster outside our house is filling up.

 But the house is looking mighty nice with all the siding on it!

 The rain in the past couple weeks has slowed down the siding process some, but the crew has been creative with finding spots they can continue to work.

Taping and mudding all the drywall is happening in the house now. Jeremy's crew will finish up siding this week and then before we know it, they'll be ready to paint the interior!

Sunday Funday at the Waterfall

Last Sunday my parents and I set out after church for an adventure with the boys.

 Our destination: the Chase State Lake and waterfall!

 My parents had never been out there and the boys and I were ready to see the waterfall again, plus Ben was busy golfing all afternoon - we couldn't let him be the only one having fun!

 With all the recent rains we weren't sure what to expect. Last summer when we visited the falls I was literally terrified that Levi would be swept away in the current. This year, though, it was perfect!

 I had a terrible time keeping up with them! The banks of the river were very muddy so once I finally got down into the water the boys had already gotten to the base of the falls! They're so fast!

 My parents weren't planning to walk around in the water and the muddy/steep banks weren't looking too great to them either. But they still had fun (right mom and dad?).

 Surprisingly, I had to convince the boys that simply sliding on their rear ends down these rocks would work out ok. But, once they got started they were eager to try it again.

 We walked up from the falls to the lake. The sun was very warm that afternoon, but the water was incredibly cool and refreshing.

 The boys worked for a little while on skipping rocks,

 but then Levi gave in and just laid down for a bit. :-)

 Once we got all the way to the lake they realized that their grandpa was on the lake shore skipping rocks.

 That looked like fun so they scrambled up the bank and over to him (again leaving me behind).

 We also found a whole bunch of shells while hanging out on this little bit of shore.

I think we might have to make this an annual adventure, but we'll bring Ben next time!

Erica & Rylee @ the Farm

We'd all been looking forward to Saturday for a couple of weeks. My sister and niece were planning to be out at the farm to get in on the tail end of wheat harvest - or at least that was the plan. The continued rains have kept us out of the fields for over a week now. So we kept busy doing other things! 

Levi and Rylee each took turns playing Grandma's violin. 

 And in the afternoon - just after it quit raining - we went swimming! I didn't think it was hot enough to get in, but the kids had a fantastic time in the water.

 Levi was pumped to be able to wear his goggles!

 My aunt and uncle have this fun (and fast!) merry-go-round thing.

 The kids got it going pretty fast! I got dizzy just watching them.

 My boys ate breakfast, lunch and supper at their grandparents' and it was great to share a couple of meals with Erica and Rylee. The  kids played dress-up and baseball and much more.

Our kittens are getting a bit more brave - providing quite a bit of entertainment for us. Although, each time Harrold comes around they puff up and hiss at him fiercely. 

 The weather was perfect for sitting on the deck and visiting. 

 And then FINALLY it was time to catch fireflies! Levi had been waiting all week to catch fireflies with Rylee.

Fireflies cover the yard between our house and my parents' - making it a magical place just after the sun sets. Erica was antsy to get going home so we had the kids start catching them as soon as the first ones were lighting up.

 Ben helped corral the bugs for the kids and they ran around and grabbed as many as they could!

 Nothing like running around the yard in your jammies catching fireflies!