He's a power hitter!

This is how Grayson hit a DOUBLE!
First you try to look cool and knock imaginary dirt off your cleat.

Then you get your bat ready, and wiggle your rear.(Sorry you can't see that part in the picture.)


and SWING!

Then you run like crazy while the other team scrambles for the ball, drops it, throws it in the wrong direction, and drops it again. Then you stand on second base and smile while three of your team mates strike out.

Afterwards Grayson said his teeth were chattering so hard he almost couldn't hold on to the bat. It was SO COLD! The thermometer at our house said 38 when we left and was a whopping 43 when we got home, and the stupid coaches decided to go an extra inning since it wasn't raining. Grayson was shivering bad! Right as we were leaving there started to be a light mixture of snow and hail. Perfect baseball weather!




Rowan and Fuller did their best to keep warm. Fuller whimpered so much about being cold that I finally broke down and gave him my gloves. When we got home I had to get into bed for about an hour just to get my core temperature up.

Evidence that they really are listening

Paul and I have been talking more lately about finding healthier options for foods we like. I realized just how much we'd been talking about it yesterday, when I poured Rowan a cup of juice. He looked at me and said," This doesn't have any high-fructose corn syrup , does it?"

You know you live in a small town when.....

...this menace and his gang of web-footed trouble makers are among the top 5 reasons for traffic hold ups.

Rowan just loves the geese, especially when we have to sit and watch them cross the road. This big one's a real mean fellow. When I pulled the van over and rolled the window down to take his picture he instantly started hissing at me and rushing at the side of the van.

My heart swells with pride

Well, I may have earned myself the title of "Most Embarrassing Mother EVER" for taking these pictures, but I just had to do it. Plus I did give him fair warning, I've been telling him since September that before the year was over I was going to get a picture of him being a crossing guard. I have been really proud of him for sticking with it. Some mornings have been pretty cold, wet and miserable, but he hasn't complained. The only thing that he ever complains about is when someone else gets "the good corner" and he gets stuck at the boring crosswalk back by the parking lot.

In this picture he's trying to figure out how to pretend I don't exist.

Just look at him, so alert to keeping his classmates safe!

I kind of feel bad now for thinking he just signed up for this because he heard they have a great end of the year party. Even if that was true, he certainly deserves some kind of reward for all of those rainy mornings!

Sun, fun, big deals, and sad goodbyes

This weekend started out on a very positive note. On Friday Rowan and I went into town to run some errands. While we were there we happened to drive by a big toy store, with a sign out front announcing "Final 3 days, 70% off everything." My first instinct was that they must not have anything good left, but I decided it was worth a look. I managed to fill a cart to almost overflowing with things my kids will really like, and all at an amazing price. According to my receipt I saved almost $160, and have lots of things in reserve for birthdays or next Christmas. The funniest part is that Rowan was so excited that I bought him lunch at Burger King on the way home that he seems to have completely forgotten about all the toys I bought. He didn't even tell the other kids we went to a toy store.

Saturday we woke up to a gloriously sunny day. We were so excited for Grayson to finally get to play a baseball game, after having his first two games canceled on account of rain.




















At this level of play third base can be a very boring place. Only one runner ever even made it to third base. I think Grayson spent more time watching the birds flying over head than the game.



















Grayson ended up striking out both times he got up to bat, as did the majority of his team (and the other team). The final score was a 1 to 1 tie. Grayson says he's decided baseball is boring and he isn't going to play next year. So I guess that's two down and one to go in that sport. Maybe Rowan will be my one kid that likes baseball. I kind of doubt it though since he's an "action" kind of guy.


Then I got my kids , plus a few of their friends to work on getting the cars clean.

Once everyone had completely soaked each other, they didn't get too much work done. Fuller was the only one that stuck it out until the job was done. That's why he got paid in cash, while everyone else got paid in ice cream.



























Later I watched Paul do a little planting in the garden. We're crossing our fingers that the frosty nights are behind us.




When we moved here three and a half years ago, our kids quickly made friends with a pair of brothers two houses away. This has been a great set up, someone for everyone to play with. These kids had the added benefit of being nice to Rowan. They are way more tolerant of his tagging along than any of the kids' other friends. They have played together 5-6 days a week since the day they met. Awhile back they sadly announced that they are moving to Nevada. This weekend was their last weekend here. The kids spent about 7 hours together yesterday, enjoying every last minute. The goodbyes were quick, but back at our house the tears were many. Everyone feeling like they were losing their best friend.

We'll be keeping our fingers crossed that whoever buys their house has some nice boys to play with.

One of a kind

As Mark Twain once said, "Clothes make the man."

When it comes to Rowan this is very true. Rowan is a quirky little guy, and definitely marches to the beat of his own drum. Most days will find him wearing at least one (but usually more) article of clothing inside out, backwards, on the wrong foot, or all of the above. One of the main things that he likes to wear backwards is his underwear. This makes total sense to him since the better picture is on that side of the underwear. Unfortunately it also means those undies are riding up his rear all day. He also likes to wear coats upside down, boots on the wrong feet and pants with the back pockets in the front. If you happen to mention to him that something he's wearing is on wrong he'll simply tell you "I like it like that". Today when I dropped Rowan off at preschool he was actually dressed completely correctly(except for the fact that he refused to wear socks). When I picked him up it was a completely different story. When I left him he was wearing a long sleeved shirt on the bottom, with a short sleeve shirt over it. They were both facing the right direction. When I picked him up he had the long sleeved shirt off and wrapped around his neck and the short sleeved shirt was now on backwards. Oh, and he had his coat on upside down. I can only imagine what went through his little head that inspired this change. He truly is unique.

There's always lots to learn

Motherhood is such a great occupation! It's so full of learning opportunities! In the last 24 hours I have learned the following "valuable" lessons.
- Dora can't do anything without Boots.
- It's possible to "read for 20 minutes" in only 10-15 minutes.
- It's my fault that they stayed home from school sick and therefore can't play outside with friends in the afternoon.
- It's possible to be "too full" to finish dinner, but still have room for dessert.
- Freshly shampooed carpets can make you feel really good about your house, at least until your kids come home and accidentally spill the disgusting contents of their lunch box on them.
- Never assume that the perfect flower blooming in your yard, the one that you've been waiting to take a picture of, will still be there in the morning.
- Flatulence is apparently always funny, even when it's gross and really inappropriately timed.