Saturday, May 30, 2009

May 26, 2009

Tis the season for T-ball and chiggers . . . this one little girl on the end just couldn't quit scratching!



All the kids seem to have a good time playing, and it's nice to see them all display good sportsmanship, and encourage each other.




I kept Eli busy with the clover, while I took a few pictures. Thank goodness it kept him occupied! He's such a busy little bee, that I rarely get a chance to put him down to take a few shots.


Maybe that's just the overprotective mother in me.



May 25, 2009

The weather cooled off and the rain moved in.


It was quite refreshing, and just what I needed for a busy Monday!

May 24, 2009

After church I had the girls pose with Eli, for my LOAD layout prompt.


It makes me wonder what type of secrets the girls are spilling . . . and if Eli will always be their little go-between.

May 23, 2009

Our Fun Day event went better than we'd dared to hope!




For the frog and turtle races, I hadn't really expected so many kids. We ended up with somewhere around 25-30 and I split them into two age groups, so there would be room for everyone. You can see that my mom did her best to make sure her grandkids got first and second, by having them pick up their turtles and racing across the finish line. Unfortunately I put a fly in the ointment by disqualifying them both. (*Shame on mommy!)




And the cake walk was a riot! At a quarter a try, it was packed and everyone was hooping and hollering and laughing at the antics of everyone else!




The inflatable rides were also very popular and I was busy for most of the day.




After the meal, we had a water balloon contest. I think the kids enjoyed breaking their balloons on their partners and they didn't care who won, just so long as they got wet.



Eli slept in my arms for a good portion of the day, and when he woke up, all he wanted to do was ride the train. The "conductor" even let him take a turn at driving and ringing the bell.

It was great to see the community out supporting each other and the 4-H kids. It had been a long time since the town had had an event like this one. Too long! We're hoping next year will be even better.

May 22, 2009

Today was a flurry of activity. Trying to get everything lined up for the Fun Day event was rather stressful.



I'm basically to the point where I'm thinking it will go how it goes and if we make enough to pay for all the supplies and such, we'll have a successful event.




Our poor little town needs so much improvement, but it seems like no one is willing to take the bull by the horns and get things rolling. That is . . . until my sister-in-law stepped in.



She's good at getting the ball rolling and delegating. Unfortunately I was the main delegate-e. It's been a heavy burden, but one that I hope will reap some rewards for the community. We'll see how tomorrow's event goes.

Friday, May 22, 2009

May 21, 2009

Run, run, run as fast as you can . . .



I was up early this morning to go to a garage sale with my mom. Luckily, Dave watched the kids, and I snuck out before Bayleigh woke up. While we were out, I ran a few errands and then headed home to see if Eli was feeling any better.

He still had a temp, so I got him an appointment at the doctor's office. Mom, I and the kids hit the road at full speed, got the doctor's appointment out of the way and picked up some more stuff for the Fun Day event this coming Saturday. We made it home JUST in time to unload groceries, change Bayleigh into her T-Ball outfit and make it to the field for her photo session and her game. The only decent photos I captured, were of the pine tree I was sitting under with Eli, during the T-Ball game . . .

My house is a disaster and I'm exhausted. Have I mentioned how glad I'll be when Saturday is over with?

May 20, 2009

Bayleigh's last day of school was today. She had a short day, and only went until 11:30. I'm SO glad school is out for the summer!



After Dave got home from work, he took her down to the creek to catch crawdads and they also brought back some HUGE tadpoles. (One had even started growing it's legs!) They are all now housed in a big tub out by the garden, and Bayleigh likes to go out and check on them first thing in the morning. I hate to break it to her . . . but one morning she's going to go out to check on them and they will be gone.

Eli is still running a temp and not acting up to par, but I'm hoping he feels better tomorrow. All the planning and phone calls for this weekends Fun Day event is starting to wear on me. I'm pooped! And I don't like to wish my time away, but I can't wait until Saturday is over with. I need some serious rest.

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

May 19, 2009

Today was Bayleigh's last full day of school. She HAD to finish this puzzle before she got on the bus . . .



and then Stacey, Eli and I headed off to her awards ceremony at school.




No sooner did we get home, than Eli started throwing up all over the place. He was a very sick kiddo, and I'm hoping he feels better soon.




When Bayleigh got home, Eli was starting to feel a little better, so they both played with the tinker toys. I think I'll name this photo, FRAMED. What'dya think?




And right before bedtime, my dad called wanting me to take a picture of the wild boar he shot, down in my parent's hog lot. The "wild pig" population is starting to move into our area, and I think a hog hunt may be in order . . .

Monday, May 18, 2009

May 18, 2009

Another crazy Monday full of house cleaning. Dave took half of Eli's stitches out today . . .



and finished up the chicken coop/pen. The chickens are officially out of the basement! YIPPEE!



Sunday, May 17, 2009

May 17, 2009

Today was Bayleigh's first play date at someone else's house, without mommy or daddy being present. I think it was a big step for both of us!


As soon as I picked her up, she asked me, "Mom, when can we get a trampoline and a hot tub?" I'm not sure I'm ready for all this . . .

May 16, 2009

I've been re-working my schedule and routines for Summertime . . .



I'm hoping to have a family meeting as soon as school is out and help the kids get their schedules down, and get hubby to help decide on the best days for "family day" and "mommy and daddy time".


My poor little punkin . . . I can't wait until these nasty looking stitches come out in a few days . . .

Friday, May 15, 2009

May 15, 2009

After I cleaned two gallon bags full of cilantro . . . I finished up some housework and then spent the rest of the day catching up on blogs and computer stuff . . .



Eli fell asleep for his afternoon nap about 10 minutes before sissy got home from school, and as soon as she came in, she found something to occupy her that wasn't noisy.



She just loves these little math problems and anything else that pertains to learning. I'm such a lucky mom! And see those little dots above each problem? I used to do that too! I found it comical that my little girl inherited this little trait.

After about 15 minutes of problem solving she laid down on the couch and took her own little nap. It was a peaceful hour or so for momma! I needed that!

May 14, 2009

Tonight was our first T-Ball game. Dave helped coach . . .



and the kids had a great time! I'm not sure what they were all looking at here,




but something sure grabbed their attention! At least for a few moments . . .




and here's my girl in action! I liked this cut off shot. Something about it just grabs my attention, so I had to put it in here . . . pardon me if I'm a little proud of my girl. That's just how some parents are, you know . . .



Of course our first game had to be against cousin Kasey's team. I don't think Kasey wanted to let Bayleigh run to home plate. She has a pretty determined look on her face . . .




And the comic relief of the game . . . Eli playing with his little girl friend. I couldn't resist getting shots of this . . . Darby was trying to tell him something and this was his standard response. What a BOY thing to do! He's already blocking females out at TWO! This doesn't bode well for future relationships!

May 13, 2009

After last night's late trip to the ER, I ended up getting up at 5:00 a.m. to get the dishes and laundry done, before heading out for the Kindergarten field trip to the Zoo. I can't say in words how grateful I was for Dave to be off work today! I don't know how I would have managed Eli and two wandering, inquisitive girls at the same time! Bayleigh and her little Zoo buddy wanted to see the giraffes first . . .



and then the elephants. That's all her little buddy wanted to see. Luckily I spotted this momma goose sitting on her nest . . . which I thought was really cool . . .



and then we made our way to the petting zoo, which was completely at the other end of the zoo. So the girls got to see ALL the animals, whether they wanted to or not!




Bayleigh's little zoo buddy gave out at the tiger pen and wanted me to carry her, but I quickly put the nix on that one! I'm OLD and I was trekking along just fine, so I thought surely those little legs of hers could function until we finished the tour . . . so I let them take several breaks to rest their legs.




Of course mine wasn't tired at all! She wanted to know when we got done, if she could go back and play at the playground area. We let her have a few more moments of play with her school buddies . . .


and then we made a few stops to pick up some gardening supplies. The kids both took a short nap before we made it to Lowes, and I was feeling in desparate need of one myself! Unfortunately I had to wait until we made it home. The only thing that kept me going was a hot fudge/carmel sundae from Culver's.

Late nights, early mornings and a kindergarten field trip can sure take it out of you!


May 12, 2009

I love seeing a man wielding a vacuum . . . even if it's my LITTLE man. Obviously my morning schedule is rubbing off on him, and if I do things out of order, he will definitely let me know about it! Apparently my OCD has rubbed off onto my youngest. Whether this is good or bad, we have yet to tell . . .




Overall, today was a very productive day for the housework. When Bayleigh got off the bus . . .



I stopped along the driveway to get a few pictures of my Irises. I happened to glance up to see a giggling girl and a full moon. Crazy kid! I'm glad no one drove by on the highway and caught her in all her glory.




Shortly after she got home from school, thunderstorms started moving in, so I contemplated not taking her to T-Ball practise . . . but the coach called to say we'd be having practise in the gym, and Bayleigh begged to go, so I called grandma to see if she could watch Eli, while I drove Bayleigh to practise.



On the way back from practise, mom called to say that Eli had ran into the entertainment center and gashed his head open. I was thinking it was probably just a small cut, but when I got home it was 20x worse than I'd imagined. Thankfully Dave came home from clinicals, right on my heels. We bandaged him up, grandma took Bayleigh home with her, and we headed off to the Emergency room for stitches.




Luckily we got in quickly. My little man was a trooper and hardly cried at all (he did MUCH better than I would have)! After the stitches were finished up, one of the nurses brought him an ice cream bar, and Harold the security guard fixed him up with this cute little rocker. He came out of things no worse for the wear, and now he's got a favorite new chair to sit in.

After hitting Wendy's for a *really* late supper, we made a quick trip through Wal-Mart for bandages, picked up Bayleigh around 10:30 and got everyone to bed by 11:30. What a day!

May 11, 2009

Monday's are ALWAYS crazy around here. A plethora of laundry, dishes, picking up, taking out the trash and vacuuming.



My little girl is such a sweetie. She picked this pretty iris for me today (THE ONLY YELLOW ONE IN THE BATCH!). Maybe someday I can explain to her that I'd rather see them growing outside the window, rather than withering away in a vase inside the house.




And after I'd washed all the bedding and caught up on laundry, I came in our bedroom to put the duvet on the bed, and caught Mr. Elvis smack dab in the middle of my clean sheets. Apparently I'm not the only one in the house who appreciates clean sheets.

I ended up having to wash Bayleigh's bedding TWICE. You see, my sister-in-law came up to the house, so I could help her paint signs for the Cross Timbers Fun Day event on the 23rd of May. Bayleigh and Kasey ended up playing in Bayleigh's freshly cleaned, freshly laundered room, while Eli "helped" me paint signs out in the garage. When I came in, Bayleigh and Kasey had apparently been jumping on the mattress on the floor (where Bayleigh sleeps for the time being, since she doesn't like her bunk bed) with dirty feet, there was a huge bowl of Cheetos in the middle of the bed, the girls both had drinks sitting on the hardwood floor (Bayleigh had spilled a full glass all over the floor already), and they were both coloring on the sheets with markers (thank heavens they were the washable kind). I swear I can't turn my back for a minute!




While I was waiting for her bedding to dry, the second time around, I decided to snap a family portrait for my L.O.A.D. layout. I finally got everyone to bed and finished up my layout about 10:30. What a day!

May 10, 2009

Mother's Day was wonderful. Who could ask for more than cards, chocolates and a day with the kids! (Unless it could be kids that behaved!)


They were both wild and unruly all day long. Even during Sunday School! It makes a momma proud, I'm tellin' ya!

Sunday, May 10, 2009

May 9, 2009

Today was our church picnic . . .



I'm glad I remembered to bring shovels and pails . . .




otherwise Eli wouldn't have had any place to put all his treasures.




And as busy as Bayleigh was, playing with the older kids, she spared a few brief moments to come and play with Eli.




It was a fun filled day and we had a WONDERFUL meal! There's very few things better than the great outdoors and food.