Last T-Ball Game

Isa and Sam had a fun season playing together.  I am glad it's over but they were really cute to watch.

Sam running the bases is one of the cutest things ever.  He is so serious but if he would look up and catch my eye, his dimples and smile would appear for a quick second before he put his game face back on.

Number one reason I am glad to be done with baseball for the year: Stella.  Her rock throwing, disappearing, tantrums over wanting more candy, etc. were exhausting.

Memorable

Wow.  Yesterday was a roller coaster of a day.  We have not had good rains for weeks and weeks and are in such a severe drought.  We have been praying for rain every day but yesterday of all days, we needed it to be dry.  Benjamin's championship game was scheduled for 5:30pm yesterday.  If they had to cancel due to rain, it would have been rescheduled for Monday.  I am headed to Colorado with the kids on Sunday so Benjamin would have had to miss the game or miss Colorado/time with cousins he doesn't get to see often.  I really didn't want him to have to make that decision.  We had a big, scary storm come through at 3:00 yesterday.  Both grandmas were driving to be here for Benjamin's game.  My poor mom encountered the worst of the storm in Ft. Wayne.  We thank the Lord that they arrived safely.  And we thank the Lord that the weather cleared long enough for Benjamin to play his game.  We had more storms come through last night and this morning.  

Thankful for rain.  Thankful for safety. Thankful for baseball.  Thankful for Benjamin.

Drew did a great job coaching this year.  It was so fun to watch the boys improve tremendously from their first practice to last night.

Benjamin vividly remembers losing 13 to 0 in the championship game last year.  They played so well against another good team to win 11 to 4 this year.  Post game huddle.

 Mighty Molars!

 First place.  Happy boys.

 Silly boys.

 Awards presentation.

Showing off his trophy to Grandma Pam.  Nana stayed for most of the game and then had to bail because the game time got pushed back to 7pm and she had to drive home.  Papa made almost every game this season but had to miss tournament because of work commitments.

 Celebrating at Ivanhoes after the game with trophy in hand.

Self Trained

We have a LOT of traveling and transition coming up so I had no intention of potty training Stella until we moved into our new house.  (Drew got a different job and we will not be living in the residence hall anymore.  Both sad and excited about that change.  More on that another time.)  

However, Stella had other plans.  For the past month or more she has been asking to sit on the potty to poop and lots of times would actually go.  Every morning and after naps she would hold her little bladder until she went on the potty.  She was showing lots and lots of interest but I still didn't have the energy to get rid of her diapers.  Sunday afternoon she refused to put a diaper back on.  She was crying and throwing a fit and would take the diaper right off.  Okay Stella, we get the message.  Six days later, trips to the store, baseball game, and grandma's house and she has had minimal pee accidents and zero accidents of the other kind.  

Two months ago if you would have asked me my least favorite thing I have done as a parent, I would have said potty training.  And I would still say that for the other three but this girl was a breeze.  It doesn't even really seem quite fair for it to be so easy but I'll take it.  

Our one problem with Stella's determination and strong will is that she believes she shouldn't have to wear clothes now that she is wearing undies.  We got lots of smirks at the grocery store.  I did find a shirt tight enough that she couldn't get off but she went without pants.  A strong will is a good thing right?  Because I seem to keep having strong willed kids.  

Knipps

We are so thankful our dear friends made the long trip from the West coast to spend the week with us.  It is close quarters in our apartment and my youngest two children were walking nightmares during lots of moments.  Thank the Lord for friends that love well and pass no judgement.  It was so great to catch up.  It had been way too long.

Samantha's birthday is coming up so we celebrated Thursday night.

Samantha and our Samuel are a match made in heaven.  They both love cars.  Kristi and I made lots of mentions of "When you get married...", "At your wedding..."  Just planting the idea while they are still young.

Blue eyed beauties.

Stella was very excited to have a baby around.  Clara gets upset when she sees her mama leave the room.  Stella was trying to comfort her.  She kept patting her head and saying, "It's kay."

 Stella loves to wear her swim goggles and asks me to put them on multiple times a day.  It's too much.

 "The Sams".  This will be darling in the slide show at their wedding reception I think.

 Bedtime stories.

Samuel was a little smitten with Clara.  He was often found sitting beside her, handing her toys, admiring her, etc.

 She was determined to have his cereal even after he got her a bowl of her own.

 Little friends.

Love that Samuel and Stella are doing the exact same thing in this photo.  They are two and a half years apart but Stella is catching up to Sam.

 Big friends.

 Goodbye hugs.

Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to a most wonderful dad!  We love you.

Future College Roommates 2026

I love how far apart they are standing in this photo.  Sweet boys.

My Marathon

Okay, so it was just Taylor's Family Fun 5k.  I realize that my "marathon" is some people's daily jog.  However, for a woman that hasn't run since her sophomore year of high school when she was forced to run for Volleyball conditioning's 7 lap run, this was a marathon.  Betsy, do you remember my needing to stop and throw up on that 7 lap run and the coach screaming at you to keep going and not check to make sure I was okay? Memories.  

I committed to myself and my family back in September after my week of isolation to get my body strong and in shape.  I couldn't run more than a block then but today finished the 5k jogging.  I may have been jogging more slowly than I can walk but hey, who's keeping time?  Okay, so there was someone keeping time but I paid them no attention at the finish line.  Benjamin and Eloisa rode bike, Drew effortlessly and without ever looking winded (not bitter about that) pushed Sam and Stella in the stroller, and I huffed and puffed beside him.

Thankful for the encouragement of my sweet family.

Summer Fun

We had an exciting day at Papa and Nana's house on Saturday.  Two of Papa's brothers and their wives were visiting from Oklahoma.  It has been a long time since we have made the trip to Oklahoma so it was great to see them.  While we were there, Stella got stung twice by a bee and Drew pulled a tick off of Sam's back.  Ticks are just nasty, people.  

Swinging...

 Sprinkler...

I think Stella and her cousin, Charlotte, could pass for sisters in this picture.  Sweet profiles.