About Saturday's Game(s)

Well, y'all remember Saturday's game/practice schedule... Boy, did that turn out differently than we'd expected! The boys all managed to get up, dressed, geared-up, and out the door on time.

(I took a few pictures, but couldn't get any that really worked in the lighting. It was bright enough, but just not clicking... and it wasn't until just now that I realized what the problem was with the lighting -- it's back there, on the other side, the *morning side*, of the house. We're never up and outside to take pictures with the sun over there!

The boys, however, didn't care at all. They were stoked! They were even willing to mug for me and play it up a bit. This is their "cool" pose:

(Yeah, I have no idea. I was never a little boy.) Anyway, these photos were taken Saturday morning, around eight. And that was the last I saw of two of them... until SIX O'CLOCK THAT NIGHT! James had not one game, but two. Zorak dropped a very worn-out Smidge and EmBaby Duo around 12:30, after James' games ended. Then he and James went on to watch John play, thinking they'd be back shortly.

Well, John had not one game, not two games, but FOUR games. Back-to-back-to-back-to-back. GAH! Turns out, it was an official tournament, tied over from the games the night before (yet nobody thought to mention this, at any point). If you win, you keep playing. All. Day. Long. I didn't send him with food! I had breakfast burritos planned for when he got back! Thankfully, he'd had a high-protein breakfast, and some blessed soul bought team burgers and drinks after game two.

The poor kid played until a quarter to six that night. That's nine hours of playing ball, folks. He's *tough*. And in the end, his team came in second. He's so proud. That medal was enough to keep him awake for the drive home, and if I'd thought to take a picture that night, it would have looked much like the ones posted above, except perhaps his smile's a little bigger. Zorak and James were slightly burnt from nine hours in the sun, and Zorak was just about dead on his feet.

I was right - I so got the better deal on that one! The littles and I stayed on the couch, watching Johnny Quest, episode 1 (over and over - toddler OCD kicks in at the strangest times), singing spider songs, playing with the dog, and calling Daddy to make sure nobody had been taken to the hospital, abducted to Guatemala, or struck by lightning (in other words, to find out why they were gone so long!)

Yeah, it is a good thing they're cute. ;-)
Kiss those babies!
~Dy

No Fear

It's a good thing they're cute.

Tomorrow's schedule:

8:30AM (AM?!?! *whimper*) - James to the field 10 miles west of us for a 9:00 game

9:00AM (SO not much better than 8:30...) - John to the field 15 miles east of us for a 9:30 game

10:00AM (WHY, rec. association? WHY? Do you people not sleep in?) - Smidge has practice at a different field, but at the same park at James' game

Heh. I get to stay home and labor.

Somehow, I think I'm getting off easy. (Although I do hate missing the kids' games. This will be James' first game, ever. *sniff*)

Fortunately, John's going to get a ride in with one of his team mates. It's really nice to have lived here long enough that we know the other families. It's also really nice of them to call and offer to haul our children, in addition to their own, to the games. It's... well, I'm feeling very blessed about our Forever Home Community right now. We're gathering Our People. People are getting to know us, and to like us, and to look out for us. You can't legislate that kind of community. You have to build it.

So, hideously early timeframe aside, Zorak just has to hold the fort between Smidge and EmBaby (oh, I hope he plans to take EmBaby...) while James' game gets started.

John had a tournament game tonight. James had practice. Smidge was pretty upset to discover he'd been left behind. Well, he'd been sleeping. You couldn't have paid one of us to wake him up to haul him around for that!

Same progress on the labor. Consistent, small contractions. All. Day. Long. Five to seven minutes apart, but still not long. Nothing beyond uncomfortable and irritating. By the time this thing kicks off, we're probably (hopefully?) looking at 30 minutes, tops. Boy, wouldn't that be fantastic?

The boys' uniforms are in the dryer, and I'm going to go wrestle my body pillow from Zorak and catch some shuteye!

Kiss those babies!

~Dy

Woops.

I had a sweet, poignant post all made up in my head, but it has a picture that needed to go with it. I just spent ten minutes looking for the camera so I could upload it and regale you with Smidge's utter Cuteness on the field today... turns out, it's still in the car. And it's dark out there. And to be honest, I get all stiff and hobbly when I walk. So that's just going to have to wait for tomorrow.

We picked up the dog. He's lost weight and he smells like the mudholes elk rut in. It's disgusting. But he's otherwise just fine, and was very happy to see his children. He even shed all over the car on the ride home, just to share his joy with us. The car now smells like something died in it, right after servicing the herd. *shudder* This wasn't the best trip for the ol' pregnant olfactory functions.

The retrieving of the dog pretty much threw the rest of my nicely laid plans right out the window, and we spent the rest of the morning playing with him (mostly in the form of trying to keep him downwind from us while still being affectionate), airing out the car, and then... off to the fields. Tonight was a snap - two practices, same park, same start time. WOOHOO! I could go year-round if it was always like that!

EmBaby has been out of diapers for three days. She's still striking out on the Big Jobs, but for your basic functions, she's 100% dry. Even after naptime. Even at the ball field. (And you'll be glad to know I'm keeping in shape by making the trek to and from the bathrooms every twenty minutes. Considering it takes us five to get there, five to get back, and five to hang out and touch. every. single. thing. in the stall, that gives me a five minute rest between laps! Not a bad cardio plan, really.) And the best part is that it's of her own volition! I just ask if she's still dry, give her a High-Five for being dry, and call it good. Success. Can't ask for an easier job than that!

The balcony project still has not begun. The pickets we thought we could use on the front panels of the fence, we can't. Rats. The fence is still lingering, waiting for a row of pickets before we can move on to the balcony. Everything else is done on it, though, and it's really nice! The wire is strung along the back, stretched nice and tight. The Plan for the backyard is starting to take shape, too, now that we have visible parameters. Just as I lamented that we're three weeks behind schedule, a friend suggested I look at it more positively. She said we aren't three weeks behind, we're "a full week ahead of being a month late". Well, heh, when you put it that way, right... (well, actually, when you put it that way, I have to wonder if she's been into the rum. But she makes me smile, and she's wonderfully supportive, and I'd share my rum with her, any day.)

Our addition of typing and piano to the curriculum is a huge hit so far. That's my happy spot for right now: the children's sweet smiles, total enthusiasm, and warm hugs. Happy Spot, indeed. And now, it's a little late, so I'm going to meander back to my other Happy Spot and drift off to dream of dogs in baseball suits chasing children through open fences while some lopsided freak plays piano tunes on the balcony-o-death. Er, something like that. (Sometimes it's best that we don't always remember our dreams.)

Kiss those babies!
~Dy

A New Thursday Plan

Traditionally, our school week has run Mondays through Thursdays, year-round, with Fridays off for errands, appointments, and hanging out with Dad. After today, I realized that is not going to work this year. For some reason, the planets, stars and traffic lights have all aligned to make Thursdays our new Activity Days. (If I didn't know I'd be getting out of it here in a couple of weeks, I might have a more colorful moniker for it, but we'll use this. For now. Zorak may voluntarily rename it himself after the baby is born.)

The two big boys have piano on Thursdays. This made sense to me when I scheduled their lessons, as it requires a drive into town and we could hit the market on the way home. It wouldn't interfere with Zorak's alternate days off, or with any spontaneous long weekend plans we might want to make. Boy, did I feel smart! (S-M-R-T...)

But then, I'd forgotten about Scouts. The boys' pack meets Thursday evenings. Well, okay, I thought, that's not too bad. It still gives us most of the afternoon to finish up projects and lessons, and we can still have supper together as a family before they have to go.

But THEN (and all you well-seasoned baseball families started laughing at me two paragraphs ago, didn't you?) I'd forgotten about baseball. Specifically, about how three teams' worth of children might muddy the scheduling waters.

As it turns out, two out of three have practices Every. Stinkin'. Thursday. Smidge probably will, too. I'll find out more on Monday. I'm afraid to find out more.

My beautifully orchestrated Thursday brainchild has suddenly morphed into scheduling hell, erm, "Activity Thursdays". We have to be somewhere, or en route to somewhere, from one in the afternoon until NINE THIRTY at night! Kill me now. Please.

The boys handled the stress quite well today. I am beyond proud of them. EmBaby held it together very well, also. Can't complain about the success of our indoctrination plan: "Flexibility, Grace, and A Can-Do Teamwork Attitude" (or, as I call it in my lesser moments, "Just work with me here, will ya?") By six o'clock, though, I knew something would have give.

*cue drum roll* *angels sing* *light shines in a very conspicuous manner from above*

What we have here is another beautiful point for the Homeschooling Flexibility Plan (HFP). For the rest of Spring Term (and possibly Every Spring Term Hereafter), we'll implement the HFP. We'll now have school on alternate Fridays, with Thursdays reserved for Music, PE, and Group Study. Yay. (I was going to say "Thursdays off", but Zorak pointed out that it's not like we're all sitting around on beanbags, eatin' Cheetos, watchin' TV. Yet another reason I love this man.)

We'll spend Thursday mornings in preparation for the Activity Gauntlet, instead. My hope is that by enacting the HFP, we can attempt to make at least 80% of our obligations under the following conditions:
1. Nobody's out of breath from bolting across three parking lots.
2. Nobody's crying because Mommy lost it and threatened to move to The Mosquito Coast.
3. Nobody has to starve during one of the many Long Periods At The Field.
4. We don't go broke at the Snack Shack in order to meet condition #3.
5. All gear is, if not actually ON the correct child, as least IN the correct vehicle.
6. We can come out of the season without major scarring, an automobile accident, or having left someone at home (at piano, at Scouts, etc.) inadvertently.

If we can keep our focus on the fact that each of the activities they're in, when taken separately (and preferably on different days), are high-quality, life-enriching activities, each chosen for a clear purpose and in order to provide specific benefits, and that all of the above activities are those which the children enjoy and from which they learn a great deal... (breathe in, breathe out)... then I think we're all good.

Kiss those babies!
~Dy

Quick Update

Em's napping and the boys are supposed to be reading quietly in their room. I've got to wake her here in a bit and throw the two Littles in the tub, so I'm taking a water break and trying to bolster myself for the Rest Of The Day. We have to be at the field at four, and won't be done til eight, so I figured I'd blog now because I don't think I'll have time to blog tonight.

Forever Home Update:
We're about two weeks behind on the big projects. What's coming along, however, is coming along nicely. I think the only thing we won't get to by Zorak's birthday is installing the new kitchen window. That's okay, though. It'll come.

I was mistaken when I said the creek "nearly" overflowed its banks the other day. It did flow over - straight over the driveway! Washed away eight inches of top soil/gravel and two rows of cinder blocks! It nearly dislodged the railroad timbers that form the skeletal structure of the drive over the culvert. YIKES! We've got to do some major shoring up of the drive or we'll find ourselves having to park at the courthouse and hoofing it two miles to the house. ;-)

Zorak's picking up t-posts and a driver this afternoon, and then we'll buy the pickets and the wire on Thursday. The back yard will be completed, and, weather permitting, stained and lovely by the end of this weekend! WOOHOO!

School Update:
Gem, you'd asked about Smidge's work. I'll write up -- *hang on, have to go threaten, erm, remind the children what "reading quietly" means* -- *ok, I'm back* -- anyhow, I'll write up an general list of the things we use for his 'schooling' sometime this week and get it posted.

The two older children have just about finished their spring term. They've done quite well, and are looking forward to doing things a little differently for a month or two.

The new keyboard should be delivered Wednesday, which is good, because the boys have lessons on Thursday and I'd feel more than a bit sheepish if they hadn't touched a key all week. They're both thrilled about the lessons, though, and have done all their theory work for the week already. I think this will be a good addition to our routine.

General Update:
Today, the boys are a bit flighty. I am a bit cranky. There's still much to be done. What an ugly combination! Sheesh. You'd think we'd have a better plan in place than "wing it til something either clicks or falls apart". But, no. No, that is the plan, at least for today. Fortunately, once the Littles are bathed and the wash is put away, all we'll have to do is make up burritos to take to the field, load the wagon and go. I'm actually looking forward to the afternoon spent on the grass. :-)

Ok, timer beeped. Time to rouse the sleeping beauty and see if I can squeegee enough dirt off her to take her out in public.

Kiss those babies!
~Dy

Random Baseball Post

We've heard from two out of three of the coaches. So far, I'm tickled with one, a little nervous (or "cautiously optimistic", if you will) about the other.

John's coach is fantastic. I'm so excited! He coached John's team in the Summer League last year, and he is all about the boys and helping the boys learn new skills, learn to work together, learn to really enjoy the game. His whole family is so sweet, and so into just enjoying the kids. I couldn't have dreamed up a better coach for John. Plus, since we do know his wife and son, for those times when we have three kids at three different fields at the same time, we'd feel comfortable asking them to keep an eye on him for us. And they'd be glad to do it.

James' coach sounds enthusiastic and nice. They have only 11 kids on the team, and he has three others helping him coach, so there is a lot of potential for this to be a fantastic learning experience. He's also one of the football coaches, and after our football experience, I'm really hoping he's not all about getting into the Majors and making this Your Entire Existence At The Cost Of All Else. Because if he is, well, it's going to be a rough season for all of us - including him. I'm not going to be as quiet about abuses of power or neglectful coaching in baseball as I was in football. This isn't foreign turf to me this year, and I've been fortunate to see how it can be run, and run well. We'll see. I'm not going to pigeon hole him right off the bat, and he does sound very encouraging. I also really like his philosophy about the boys' attitudes and respectfulness - it's always nice to have similar standards with outside groups that you have at home. I'm just not all gushy and tickled like I am with John's coach. But it could be good. It could be very good.

Smidge's coach, we haven't heard from yet. He has, however, the ultimate faith that his coach will call soon and that he ("OR she," as Smidge reminds us) will be absolutely wonderful. The only thing Smidge is concerned about is whether we're going to make it into town before practice starts, to pick up "all the things I need to have, Mom!" Evidently, he's got a list made up and ready to go. Been saving up for this ALL YEAR, don't ya know?

And me? I've got my list of "travel supplies" and my "meals in minutes" stash ready to go. Just need to get to work on that foyer... :-S

But for now, I've got to get some rest. I'll post pictures of the latest in the Forever Home work tomorrow. :-)

Kiss those babies!
~Dy