The Only Thing Funner Than Winning A Ballgame...

...is getting to play it in the rain!!! We kept expecting them to call the game at any time, but the game just went on. There was no lightening or anything..just a very heavy, pouring rain. Carter thought it was the coolest thing to get to play in it!!!

As you can see, the weather started out perfect!

Carter getting geared up for catching before the game.

Here is A.J., a little brother of one of our players. He had such a good time playing in the rain. This is what all of our players and coaches looked like before the game was over. Our boys were so HAPPY with this win and had a great time playing!! These are the games that make all of the effort worth it!!
We have our homeschool field day tomorrow at the park. I hope the rain holds off for that!!

Carter

Seed Germination

We planted a series of seeds to see how different variables change the germination process. Our control group had rye seeds with nothing done to them. Then, we placed our next set of seeds in the microwave before planting them. Our third and fourth sets of seeds were exposed to different levels of radiation.

We gave each container of plants the exact amount of water every other day.We started the project when we were still studying plants but have just now started to witness the results of them. As predicted, the control group produced the biggest, healthiest plants. The seeds exposed to microwaves bloomed but not as big as the control group. The seeds exposed to different levels of radiation did not bloom at all. It was interesting as well as scary to see how different variables have such an impact on germination.

A Good Friend!

As promised, Chelita showed up on Saturday to help us clean out our pool. Jeff had to see some patients and go to baseball practice with Carter, but Madison and I were ready to clean it out. Carter and Patrick also got in and did their part. It took all of us around 5 hours of work to get it ready to fill up, but we had a great time doing it. Chelita got in there and helped scrub those walls with the same zest as she would have had it been her own pool. I appreciated her so much!! Madison ran the shop vac and directed the entire process...she has always helped Jeff and knew exactly what we all needed to

The kids all had a great time playing....finding little frogs to play in the water once we started putting water back into the pool. It was so fun to watch them slip and slide in there with those frogs!!!

We had grilled cheese sandwiches out on the deck for lunch. The weather was so beautiful. What could have been a hard work day turned into a play day :).The pool is still filling up today..on Sunday, but the kids have all had friends over playing in it. Madison and her friend, Elyse, finally got too cold and got out the 4wheeler, go-cart, and tent stuff to play something else. Jeff and Carter are off fishing. It's so hard to think of doing school tomorrow....this beautiful weather is torture!!

Thanks Chelita for all of your help. I enjoyed you and your boys so much this weekend!!

The Best Medicine

Like most everyone else lately, I am so ready for school to be over and for summer vacation to begin. I just feel like I am in a rut with things and struggling at the same time to finish all that we have to do before we can call it a year with school! I'm ready to be out of the house every day with kids over and friends to hang out with. I love to be home, but I start getting a bit cranky when I'm ready to be around people and do something besides our every day routine. That's why I have been taking the kids and as many friends as possible to the park as much as we can for the last couple of weeks. As an extra treat today, we took Chelita and her boys with us! Chelita is the kind of person that just carries happiness and fun with her. Yes, she can get down like the rest of us about things, but she never forgets how to find fun in any situation. That along with the fact that we just seem to bring out the kid in each other, I knew that I needed to be with her today. I needed to laugh and take life less seriously today. Thankyou, Chelita, for helping me do that...LAUGHTER really is the best medicine!We ended up with 7 kids, Chelita, and me. First, we went fishing at the park. The fish weren't biting...or at least not what we were trying to feed them. It was still fun watching the kids learning to bait the hooks or, in the case of the boys, skipping the poles completely in favor of the nets. It's so fun to watch how excited Remy, Chelita's youngest son, gets over any little thing that he finds in the water. He could be running at us with a rotted stick and his excitement over it would spill over. Afterwards, we took our stuff over to the playground area and let the kids play and walk on the trails. As the evening set in, the weather was so perfect. I think I could have pitched a tent and stayed out there all night, giggling and carrying on like we do when we are together.

Instead, we loaded everything up and took the kids to eat at a sandwich shop with outdoor seating.

We stayed at Chelita's for a while when we took them home...the boys love climbing the trees in her yard. Then, we dropped Madison's friend, Abigail, off at her house and ended up staying there to visit and let all of the kids play for a while with Abigail's brother. We finally dropped Josh off next door and made it home around 9:30 tonight. I was excited to see that Jeff was putting the pump into the pool, which means that we get to clean it out and get it ready for summer tomorrow!!! We have a lot of work cut out for us tomorrow, but if Chelita and the boys come over to help, as she said they were, then we should be able to turn it into something fun! I'm looking forward to it.

I'm Confused!

Aren't they supposed to get taller as they get older?!?I never know what they are going to come up with next!

We Are Trying!

Even though I usually let my kids have the same breaks as the public school kids, I decided to put off spring break to make up for some lost time. This week reminds me of why I usually let them off with the school kids. I try to never turn down invitations that the kids get to play, so it's hard to fit school in when my kids' friends are out of school and ready to play. It was good, however, that my kids worked hard to finish their school each day by noon so they could have friends over.

On Monday, their cousins came over to play. Carter had his first baseball game that evening. The boys had a friend over on Tuesday then spent the night with him on Tuesday night. Madison had her friend, Abigail, over for the night. Since Abigail homeschools, she did her work here on Wed. I told the kids if they would finish their work by noon that I would take them, as well as Josh and Abigail's brother to the park. They finished their work on time, so we packed a lunch and took it with us. The weather was perfect! I took my book and read while the kids all played.Josh stayed the night with us on Wed. and went to Carter's game with us on Thursday night. Carter's team lost again, but it was a very close, intense game. The kids all wanted to go back to the park, so we invited the cousins, Bailee and Caiden, to go with us on Friday. We were going to do it after they finished school but decided to go in the morning to beat the rain. We took lunch again and spent most of the day there.

Madison took her drawing stuff.

So, we managed to fit in school and fun time with friends. This week just made me more ready for summer break!!!

First Game of the Season

Easter 2009

The weather started out great for the Easter weekend. The kids just couldn't get enough of being outside on Friday. Even though we aren't taking our spring break yet, I did let them off Friday.We dyed our eggs on Saturday, then went to Jeff's parents' church to hear their Easter program on Saturday night. I love going to church on Saturday night instead of Sunday on Easter because we are able to slow down and enjoy it more. The program was beautiful, and it was nice to re-visit the church where we attended at one time. Afterwards, we went out to eat. The kids woke up before we did on Sunday morning, but they waited for us before getting their baskets. I'm so glad they are old enough to do that now....no more getting up at 5:00 or earlier!! Afterwards, they hunted eggs. For once it didn't rain the night before Easter, so they were able to hunt them outside. Later in the day, we cooked out and had an egg hunt with our neighbors. As soon as it was over, the rain hit!! We spent the rest of the day inside playing board games and making Easter candy. This was the first Easter that I can remember us staying home all day. We like spending Easter with the cousins, but it was also nice to not have to rush so much. It was a good day.