No lack of imagination

For those of you who don't know, Amanda and I met when we were teaching, many, many moons ago. We both taught high school English, but became fast friends when we found out that we both love photography* and baseball.

The reason I bring this up is because today they came over for lunch and afterward the boys played while Amanda and I chatted. All of a sudden we realized that the boys were reenacting a scene from Don Quixote. I'm pretty sure neither of them have read the Cervantes story, but there they were, acting out the famous "windmill" scene. Granted, the windmill was actually the washer and dryer. Regardless, it was neat to see them dressed up in their knight garb, armed with swords.

It makes a book-lovin' momma proud.

*I just appreciate, whereas Amanda can exhibit extremely well her love of photography.

Redsfest Extravaganza!

Two days of too much fun all thanks to wonderful Aunt Joanie! One of the perks of working for the Reds is that she is able to get us 2-day passes into Redsfest, which we wholeheartedly enjoyed! Friday night we headed down with Grandma & Grandpa R. and met up with Aunt Erin, Uncle Joe, Uncle Hog, and Aunt Mary. Walking in the door we each received a "backpack" bag filled with fun stuff like coupons for free chips and guac from Chipotle (woo-hoo!) and a Reds winter hat.

We watched a really cute "Kids Press Conference" where a line of youngsters stood patiently to ask a question to the panel of players. Most were things like, "What do you eat before a game?" and "What position did you play in T-ball?" The players were really cute with the kids, and as always, The Cowboy was a show all by himself. One thing Kevin remarked on was how many of the kid reporters were "Banana Phone Callers In Training." (If you don't know what I'm talking about, I'm not sure I can explain it to you.)


The Louisville Slugger Museum had a really nice booth, complete with coloring, tattoo, and batting stations, along with these over-sized bat and glove. Charlie just hates when he can't do what his brothers are doing.

Because of extra tickets from Aunt Joanie and tickets given to us by Aunt Jill (her company is a big sponsor), we were able to invite some of our friends! This is Louie with Katie and Bryce waiting in line for hitting. Katie is Louie's classmate.

Benny's putting a hurting on the ball.

Lou goes up to show them how it's done.

Rosie Red, Mr. Redlegs, and Gapper (shown above) were walking around the convention center and were more than happy to pose for pictures and sign autographs. Here Katie gets him to sign her bat. (Thank goodness they decided to bench Mr. Red, whose freaky alien head scared kids and adults alike.)

On Saturday we headed back downtown and Mommy and Daddy thought that the sheer joy of being surrounded by baseball in December would make up for a bad night of sleep and no naps. No surprise--we were sadly mistaken.

On Saturday we were able to invite even more of our friends! Amanda, Owen and Eli came with their Grandma and Grandpa (for some cute pics, check out her blog). Another friend from Louie's class, Max came with his mom, dad, and sister, Carly. The boys were out of their element and barely spoke to each other! Lou was excited to see Owen and Max was excited to see a friend of his that happened to be down there. Oh well!

They had an awesome area set up for kids that had a jumpy house with slide, pitching into a "catcher" with a hole cut into it, and basepaths for running. Eli and Charlie had a blast just pitching and hitting back to each other.

This is a picture of the boys during one of their hundreds of waits in line for the jumpy house. Isn't it great how much fun they have together?

We decided it was high time we had a picture of ourselves on the blog! (That's Amanda, if you didn't figure it out.)

You can't tell, but this about the time that things began to unravel. I was pretty worn out and ready to go. We were actually heading toward the exit when we came across this John Deere exhibit. The boys wanted to check them out and each climbed on their own.

For whatever reason, they weren't happy with their own and wanted to get on their brother's. In particular, Ben. He started flipping out and I tried to subdue him but to no avail. Major meltdown. The likes of which I'm not sure we've ever had out in public. Kevin grabbed Ben and took him out into the hall while Jay and I put coats on the other two. (Did I mention Uncle Jay drove down on Saturday to go with us? Well, he did!)

Overall, we had a really great time. This experience just reiterates the IMPORTANCE of sleep in a young child's life! We can't wait until April 6th: Opening Day for a really great season!!

off topic

Hi.

I've been debating on whether or not to write this post because this isn't exactly the forum for it, but it's an important request. In this season of love and joy and hope I was thinking that maybe you can open your heart a bit more to say a prayer for my friend.

I'm a big believer in the power of prayer, positive thoughts, and would really, really appreciate if you said a quick prayer, a few positive words for my friend, Fort. You may have seen on this site a link to her blog called "B Positive: Not Just a Blood Type." I have been friends with Melissa, also known as "Fort," since we were freshmen in Jefferson Hall at OU.

You may know someone similar to Fort, but I doubt it. She is one of those people who doesn't have an enemy in the world, makes friends as easily as others blink their eyes. She is completely outgoing and interested in the world around her, eager to make those around her feel welcome and have as much fun as she is having. She is loving and caring, but also funnier than heck and has a knack for getting a smile out of just about everyone.

For about six years now she has been fighting cancer. You can read her blog for background, but basically she started off with Stage 2 breast cancer. In fact, she found out she had cancer and was pregnant on the same day. She lost her son when she was six months along. He would have been five this October. She beat the cancer, but a few years later it resurfaced, this time at Stage 4. She beat it! and we had a good time celebrating that. Unfortunately, about a year ago things started not going so well. She's been having treatment for a while now, but two weeks ago got so sick she was admitted into the hospital. Yesterday she was admitted into hospice.

I don't want this description to be all sad because, as you can see with the title of her blog, she has combated this illness with the very best attitude one can muster. She has opened my eyes to this world I didn't understand, and even though I still have a hard time wrapping my brain around so much of it, her incredible dedication to her blog has allowed me to realize that just because you are told you have cancer it doesn't mean that you have to stop living.

Fort means so much to me. I think the world of her, and believe that she has influenced me in ways that she'll never understand. Please keep Fort, her husband John, and her family in your thoughts and prayers. You never know what a little prayer can do.

Have a good weekend.

Santa Char wanted me to tell you...

Ho-Ho-Ho!

Holiday Junction!

After school today we headed down to the museum to have lunch with Owen, Eli, and Amanda, and to see the holiday train display. Much to our surprise, we ran into Grandma Alice and Lexi, too!

It was all we could do to pull them off the ride-able train. The volunteers who work there could not be any sweeter. Joseph, the man working the gate, let the train go 'round and 'round because no other kids were in line and the moms and grandma wanted to chat.

Later, there was a woman reading Christmas stories to the crew. Benny felt the need to show Charlie how story time is done, but Charlie was doing fine on his own.

Again, I was chatting and poor Charlie left the story to press these buttons. Each button operates something on the train table (i.e. the lights, or the actual train). Another nice volunteer picked him up so he could see and just as comfortable as can be, the two of them stood there and watched the trains go.

Owen and Louie would not let the lady stop reading. That, or else, they're the most thoughtful of the group and didn't want her to feel bad because all the others got up and left.

Yep, I'm still yapping while some stranger takes care of my kids.

Fun with snow

There was no stopping these boys from going out in the snow. Only stalling them.

I was able to get them to wait until Charlie woke from his nap. Then, the getting "appropriately" dressed took longer than it probably should have.

Here are a few pictures from our first snowfall of the season.

They had their tools out and working hard on fixing something or other.

But the joy and wonder of the marshmallow world was not to last.

Charlie did not know what to think of his older brothers.

And when Benny landed face-first in the snow, it was all over. We went inside to dry off and have some hot cocoa.

The sixth of December was covered with snow...

Today is St. Nicholas Day and in our house that means that when you wake up you find special treats that St. Nick has left for you in your stocking. This year the boys each received a jungle hand puppet, chocolate candy, along with apples and tangerines (apparently, St. Nick didn't realize if you leave bananas in your vehicle outside in the freezing weather they turn a really unappetizing brownish-gray color).

We woke to a yard covered in the beginnings of a snowfall and after admiring the beauty of the first real snow, they dived into the candy, then began using the puppets and tools for wrestling each other.

Lou's not a big fan of tangerines, or anything citrus. He put on a good face, though.

Charlie had no idea what was going on. His brothers were in his face checking out if he got anything good.

Now he's excited!

But the real joy came when he realized what was wrapped in shiny paper!

Watching in anticipation of making snowmen and having snowball fights. Mommy's not sure she wants to brave the cold today.