T-ball 2012

 Batter up!

Dennis obviously LOVES coaching 

I got it!

Finn started T-ball this year, and it was...an experience.  This year was an introduction to the rules and basics, so in order to keep the many 4 year olds in line, Dennis helped out each practice. I think his main job was keeping Finn focused. Finn understood the concept of the game, and got excited when it was his turn to bat or run the bases, but his attention wandered frequently.  The last practice, the boys scrimmaged the other  4 and 5 year old team from Dike. It was a funny sight.  The poor coaches had their hands full. Boys were running the bases the wrong way, wandering off, forgetting to run after they hit the ball, playing in the dirt (that was Finn), filling their hats with dirt, (Finn again), and deciding that playing catcher means standing behind the batter, throwing dirt at him, and yelling "Catch!" (sadly, Finn). The other crowning moment was when Finn stood at the third base line and shouted. "Mom?  Where are you? I'm hungry, bring me a corndog!" Even though Dennis was the third base coach and standing less than two feet from him. You could clearly tell the kids whose parents work with them outside of practice, and no surprise, Finn was not one of those kids. I'm not sure if Finn will be a baseball star, but he had fun, and genuinely looked forward to each practice, so next year, perhaps with a little more guidance from Dennis and I, he will be a little better.  Or at least not use the infield has his own personal sandbox.  Whatever.

Swim Team 2012

 Norah loves to bounce around before each race

 Get set...

 Waiting with the other swimmers to swim

Socializing... 

 Still socializing...

 Getting into position for the backstroke, and still socializing

 Cheering on her relay!

 Waiting for the wall touch...

 She's off!

 "Did we win?" (No)

 Her favorite stroke

 Trying to stay warm

Chatting with Coach Jared

Norah LOVES swim team, and this year has been so much fun!  The kids all work so hard, and the meets get so long, but I think we are hooked. Norah is the youngest on the team, and the ages range from 6-18, but the cool thing is that everyone roots for each other.  It's a really positive experience and I love that. This year Norah improved so much from last year.  Norah competed in events #1 (100m medley relay), #23 (25m freestyle), #67 (25m backstroke), and #79 (100m freestyle relay). There are usually around 88 events. They did pretty good in the relays - they got 3 2nd place ribbons, and Norah got a 4th place ribbon for her backstroke, which we were pretty happy with, since she swims against mainly 7 and 8 year olds. The meets usually take almost 5 hours, so they are long nights and days for everyone, especially when we have to drive home after that! But, the boys were troopers who got pumped full of candy and junk food to keep them occupied. They even got used to the fact that even though we visit some fun, new pools, they don't actually get to swim in them, just watch a bunch of other kids splash around and have fun in them. Now that we are finished with swim team, Norah is already asking when she can start doing lessons again. It's getting harder and harder to keep this little fish out of the water!

Summertime and the livin' is easy

 Naked Sully Alert!

The house is at a point where it's a bit hard to photograph what's going on, so here are more pictures of what the kids have been up to this summer. The top two pictures were taken after the kids were playing in our little wading pool.  I was inside doing dishes, and I saw them outside sitting all in a row, so I snuck outside to be a little fly on the wall.  They were just giggling and being silly little kids, and it was a really great thing to see. Moments like those are why I quit work - and it's good to be reminded that it is all worth it.

The next set of photos are from last week when the kids decided they wanted to be in a band. They all were singing and banging on the piano, and then Sully threw in a little percussion action with the drum. It was loud and crazy, and pretty funny. 

Potty Time!!!

 The breeze feels so nice up here.

"Hey look! I'm naked!"

We are officially potty training Sully...which means that he is naked from the waist down.  For some reason, the boys caught on more quickly this way...even when we went out in public.  Proof of this is the first photo of Finn, streaking down Daisy St in Dike last summer when we were potty training him.  And Sully is falling right in step.  I took the kids to the park last week, and packed three pairs of shorts and underwear for Sully, and he wet right through them all. So I stripped him down, and he was just fine walking around footloose and fancy free.  Thankfully, we were with our friends the Paulsens, who witnessed Finn's naked escapades last year (he was streaking outside their house in photo one), so they were pretty uninterested with Sully's butt.  However, Sully wanted to be certain that they knew he was naked, so he lifted up his shirt and exposed himself to them, which meant it was time to take my little exhibitionist home. The good news is, after this day, he made the connection, and is now doing great using the potty. We have even been able to put pants on the boy, and even though he prefers au naturale, it doesn't look like he'll be running away to join a nudist colony...although this IS Sully we're talking about, so we're never quite sure what he'll be up to

Just truckin' along

 Hopefully this shows the siding color...a neutral green

 Here are my little workers! Such busy bees

The kitchen with the spray foam insulation

This is the company that did the foam insulation.  I thought Sandy and Lizzie would appreciate this!

Busy busy workers! The electrical work was completed this week, the siding was finished up (the front of the house will not be sided until the sheetrock is delivered and hung), we picked out the trim this week, we ordered appliances and cabinets. The siding color is hard to see, but it is a light sage green.  I love it, and Dennis thinks it looks "sharp", which is a pretty big compliment coming from him. Kim came over this week to help me make sure the paint colors blend throughout the house - THANK YOU KIM!!!

The insulation was also completed this week.  The kids took some of the foam scraps and decided they were going to build some birdhouses with it. It kept them busy for awhile. I do enjoy how creative my kids are.  They see bits of spray foam, and bam! They are off on a project.  Of course, the projects usually create a big mess for me to clean up, but I'm all about weighing my options here. Plus, they are only kids once, and there a plenty of birds that need homes, so play on kids.