Baseball Season!

So I decided Jude needed something to do...and I thought he should try baseball!  I really thought it would be T-ball, but it turned out to be coaches pitch...Jude is not even 4 yet, and has never hit a ball in his life, but ooookaaaay.

The season started in September, with 2 practices a week...

Where they did ridiculously cute stuff like stretch...

Later in mid October they started playing real games...twice a week! It seemed excessive to me, but we did it!  And for the most part Jude really liked it.  He got super bored in the outfield though and would revert to playing in the dirt, making dirt angels and just plain sitting down.  Jay spent most of his time standing near Jude to try and redirect his focus.

I think each kid got like 10 pitches before they brought out the T, so to be fair, they did have to wait awhile for any action...here's Jude in one of his better moments, I think he stayed up right for this whole video.

It was all slightly painful the 2 games a week where Jay had to rush home from work to be there in time and I had to feed everyone an hour early, and of course Ezra did not understand why he couldn't play and he screamed and cried pretty much the entire time to be on the field. Yeah.

But there were some unbelievably cute moments, and we did see huge improvement in Jude's skills, by the end of the season he was able to hit the coaches pitch at every at bat, and he had a basic concept of what the game was about.  He absolutely LOVES his shirt and hat and wants to wear them all the time.

But we may wait a couple of years before we try again.

How's it going?

Lately a lot of people have asked how homeschooling is going, and I have responded GREAT!  Seriously I am loving every (ok, maybe not EVERY) minute of it, but most of them! But I also usually say it's great SO FAR.  I realize I only have a K-4 and a K-5, and out time spent sitting at the table in active homeschooling mode is only about 1-1 1/2 hours per day.  So I know it is going to get harder from here. 

But, so far, it's awesome.  I am the one that gets to see their little faces lite up when they get the question right, and I'm the one that gets to read all of my old favorites and now new favorites to them, and watch as their love of learning and reading is growing every single day.

Annalee has recently started READING, and I would not trade being the one their with her that first day for anything in the whole world.  It was priceless. 


But with all that said, there are a few downers.  Like I have no idea where to fit in getting groceries anymore, and morning appt's are no longer good for us, but I keep forgetting that and scheduling them then anyway, and I have this little problem called Ezra.  He thinks he should be able to do whatever Annalee and Jude are doing including gluing and cutting. I gave in on the gluing, and am watching my supply of glue stick dwindle very very quickly, but that has helped a little.  Have not given in on the scissors though, and that leads to a lot of melt downs and poor Ezra ends up spending some of class time alone in his crib.  Thankfully for him, he is great at entertaining himself, I went to get him up the other day and he had his blanket over his head, giggling and saying "it got dark mama, it got dark!"

And there is also this part I am desperately trying to get used to while desperately trying to figure out a way to make it better...


The Homeschool Chaos...it takes over every single morning and takes a while to put back in order, and honestly some of it never goes back to the way it was before...


this is my dining room/homeschool room

 and that is the little bugger Ezra trying to get something, anything out of the cabinet he's not supposed to have...

And this is one of the display walls in the kitchen, this is only a couple of weeks worth, I keep having to switch it out to make room for new stuff!

They absolutely love seeing their work on display, Ezra will usually take his straight to the fridge and hang it up though!

So there you go, that's how it's going, we are enjoying ourselves, and I'm going to enjoy that for as long as it lasts!

And it was such a nice day...

Well at least before I decided I NEEDED to go to Hobby Lobby.  I finally feel close to normal again, and decided to do a little decorating for fall, and you can't do that without a trip to Hobby Lobby, right??

So after nap time I load up the kids, grab my little list and head out, get a couple miles down the road and realize I forgot my phone, so I turn around and go back, I should have just stayed there!

We get there, and after a short screaming fit from Ezra due to being put in the stroller (along with Jude), we are inside and shopping happily, I pull out my list, and head for the first item, Pumpkin orange craft paint...check, it is in the basket, Jude is happily holding the basket for me since it is nearly impossible to carry it and push the stroller... now I have 3 of my items off my list, but can't seem to find the felt...and I happen to look down at Jude, and he is covered...COVERED in ORANGE PAINT.  And, it is leaking out into the basket and all over his shorts!!!

I try to pull us over on an aisle with only one other person and pull out the baby wipes, thank you Jesus I still carry baby wipes!  And for the next 15 minutes I clean everything, the basket, the stroller, my items, the floor, ME, Jude the floor again, the floor some more, I just can not seem to get it all out of the freakin basket and everytime I put it down there is more on the floor.  Mean while the aisle I pick is like woodruff road at Christmas time, people are suddenly everywhere, and most of them staring at the crazy lady cleaning the floor in Hobby lobby, and then this MAN ( I mean seriously, what is this 60 year old man doing on the purse making aisle anyway???) is standing next to us intently studying whatever we are standing in front of, and at this point I am thinking, you are just going to have to move on MR. and come back in a few minutes when we are gone, cause I ain't moving...but does he???  Nope he squeezes himself between my double stroller and the shelf, and I am just praying Jude doesn't get paint on this mans sports coat, but at that point I was so pissed off, I almost didn't care, I mean was he completely oblivious to the fact that there was orange paint EVERYWHERE, and I was barely getting it contained???  It was crazy, and when it was as good as I could get it we moved on and by golly I got the rest of the stuff I came for, even though that stupid basket was still dripping watery orange paint on every aisle...


Here's the culprit, he kept saying "I'm very sorry mommy, I'm really very sorry" mmmhmmm...

And all the wipes....Yes I brought them home, what else was I supposed to do with half a container of paint covered wipes???

Too bad so sad buddy

I really am a bad mom, I absolutely hate to let Ezra use crayons, markers or play dough...he either eats them or colors all over himself, or the table, or the wall, or whatever he can find.  Neither of my other 2 really did this, they seemed pretty content to just color on paper and make stuff with their play dough...but not Ezra...

I do give in occasionally though, thinking surely this time will be different, he will get it and actually enjoy trying to create something, although I do buckle him in his booster chair now after previous experience, so he has limited damage range...

and then this is what happens...he decides to color his legs and hands, and when I take the markers away...

This pose is so classic Ezra...anytime he is unhappy with you, he crosses his arms and looks down and pouts...

He was mad at me for quite a while after this one...too bad so sad buddy...

Accidents Happen

Of all the children, we only have one that really likes to jump on the beds...they will all do it occasionally, but there is one that just can't resist, he can not be unsupervised in a room with a bed and not jump on it.  He will also take all the cushions off the couch and jump there too. 

Yes, we tell him to stop, and yes he has consequences when he doesn't...so far that has not helped, a few days later he'll be right back at it...

There are also natural consequences to actions...that was the lesson for him today...he got to see that all the times we told him "no jumping on the beds, you're going to fall and get hurt!" were not lies or mommy meanness...they were truth...

Thankfully he's ok, it could have been a lot worse, we were just millimeters away from an ER visit...

This is the outside of his lip, it's bruised and scraped...

and the inside...almost all the way through.... it already looks better and closed up compared to when he first did it...

It's really really sore, and I imagine that eating today is going to be a challenge for him...any wagers on how long it takes him to be right back at it???

Just a typical day...

 Bamboo, sparkly shoes, rain boots, bats and underwear...completely normal, right?

This what happens...

When I try to take a DECENT picture of all 3 of my kids at the same time..in the same photo...

at this point Ezra just walked out of the shot..

and he's back...

 as sweet as the hugging is, it's not what I'm looking for here...

 aaaaannnndddd..he's out again..

Seriously, I have no idea why this is what happens..but it does...every.single.time.