Thursday, June 30, 2011

More than meets the eye

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One of the things I tell my kids from time to time 
is that you never know what makes people act the way they do.

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Last week was one of "those" weeks for me.

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We had a lot going on with all those ball games.  
And Bethany's birthday and Father's Day.

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It was all good.

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Well, except for the dead battery and getting stranded at a gas station.

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And the misunderstanding with a friend.

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And hearing my neighbor's moving truck pull away 
only to realize she was already gone and I hadn't said goodbye.

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And the car dying again after being "fixed",
and getting a ticket for leaving it overnight in the ball field parking lot--
even though we called the police
and told them we would have it towed the next day.

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And the sunny weekend forecast turning rainy and chilly.  AGAIN.

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You know, every bit of that could have turned out much worse.  SO much worse.

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But there were a few times when my insides were wound so tight 
that I was just praying no one would cross me
and become the unfortunate victim of my stress.

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I'm so thankful that people were kind to me.
It helped me to not completely lose sight of the beauty.

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You never do know what makes people act the way they do--
unless you take the time to find out.
Kindness is always a good way to go.

So what about you?
What is something you tell your kids
(or yourself)
from time to time?

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Diamonds are a girl's best friend

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I know, I've said it before.  
Good thing it's true, 
because we are in the midst of ten consecutive days 
of ballgames and practices, 
with sixteen total events.  

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But you know what?
It really is fun.  There is not one kid on either team
who is having more fun out there than my kids.
And nobody does a better job
of cheering on their team.

They are truly a joy to watch.



Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Meet our new "tween"!

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We've been doing a little celebrating around here.

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She invited some friends

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and introduced them to that park we love so much.

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And yes, her brother came along.
He chose a special shirt to honor the birthday girl.
It says "Joy to the world..."(along with a few more of those lyrics)
Her middle name is Joy.
That's how he rolls.

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We had never taken a paddle boat ride there before

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so we decided this was a perfect time.
Another mom came along so all the boats had a grown-up.

One of the boats may or may not have wandered into a fountain
and gotten its occupants soaking wet.
Thankfully that other mom was prepared with dry clothes for all.

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A guy with his guitar came right down to the water to serenade us.
(Bethany thought he was a little strange.
I thought he was very sweet.)

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Then we played nine holes of mini-golf.
While the brothers played 18.

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Home for cake...

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...and a movie.

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Ahh, the first slumber party.

Some of them were asking if there would be chocolate chips
in their pancakes for breakfast.
I told them whoever went to sleep
could have whatever kind of pancakes they wanted
and whoever didn't would get worms in their pancakes.

You know what?
They all went to sleep.

They are big kids,
and they keep getting better!


Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Let's Hear It For the Boys!

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I have hardly posted any baseball photos this year, other than on the team site, but I certainly have hundreds of them.  It's just where to start?  But Amy just wrote a great tutorial over at iheartfaces.com about sports photography, and it made me think of this shot after a kid on the team hit the game-winning RBI.  Their challenge this week has the theme "Let's Hear It For the Boys!", and this team qualified for state after this win.  I'm giving them a big shout!

More boy (and man) photos here!  Go on--enter your own!


Sunday, June 19, 2011

What a guy!

My husband

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is the kind of a dad

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who can turn a plain old game

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of red light green light

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into a big adventure

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with complicated signals

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for different modes of movement.

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When he is playing

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it is not uncommon for complete strangers

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to stop and say, "Hey, I wanna play!"

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They may even be adults.

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He makes cool preteens

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forget their coolness.

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He is the fun machine.

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My kids are so lucky to have him.

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So am I!

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Happy Father's Day, 
to Lee 
and to amazing dads everywhere!

Sunday, June 12, 2011

Bright and Vivid

This week's theme is "Bright and Vivid" over at iheartfaces.com.

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I'm pretty sure this photo from my weekend qualifies.

This is where I have found so many of the people 
whose photos remind me to look for things
I don't ordinarily notice.
I can't wait to see all the bright and vivid photos this week.

You can too!


And more details.

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There was one more younger sibling at baseball this weekend.

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I couldn't possibly resist her cuteness.

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She completely entertained herself for an entire two hour game

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(with a little help from her big sister).

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I did watch the game.  I promise.  We won!

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It was a win-win for me!