Homeruns and MVP

Though she's walking (walking!) in this picture, I have a one-year-old who, as of late, requires being in my arms for 98% of the day, and within touching vicinity the other 2%. Which is fine... admittedly tiring, but fine. If that's what she needs then I'm happy to give it to her. It just means that things like blogging (and oh, say, peeing) are currently taking a backseat.

Thankfully, I can share some of the excitement of this past weekend in pictures alone.

Second time up at bat:


Coming into home after his amazing HOME RUN! That's his coach waiting for his high-five


The game ball he won for not only the home run, but also an incredible stop, taking a line drive off the chin, and shaking off an injured finger to finish out the game:


Proud boy.

(More) Adventures in Geocaching

We've been a little too housebound. We've been sick with various ailments recently, and Everett was diagnosed with strep throat on Friday. On Saturday, no one wanted to hang around at home - including Everett, who felt much better after a good night's sleep and his first two doses of antibiotics - so we headed out to do some more geocaching. Since Everett wasn't up for hiking, we chose a series of micros that were right off the side of the road, all in row. Perfect for "park and grab" caching. At some of them, myself and one or more of the kids jumped out, and at others Mike took a turn. We did all 11 caches in the series, and enjoyed a leisurely ride through a beautiful area. When we finished with those, we did only two that were a couple hundred feet from the car...

One in a really cool wash




And one on a long (and beautful) winding mountain road, at the location of a no-longer standing General Store.



We were pretty hungry by that point, as it was well past lunchtime and we hadn't eaten since breakfast, so we decided to call it a day and head home. We'd been on the mountain road for a long time (which is funny in retrospect, given what followed) and didn't really want to retrace our steps. We weren't sure if it circled around to somewhere familiar or not, but we were having fun and willing to chance it. We promised the boys we'd stop at a store - when we found one - and get them a snack. We enjoyed the scenery; passed a campground, some tiny houses and old sheds, and a whole lot of miles of nothing. We were feeling pretty good about coming out to civilization soon, and then we came across this sign:


The sign made me laugh. What else could I do? There were tears in the backseat though, which turned out to be due to a fear of being "lost in the middle of nowhere." We reminded the crying party of the GPS, showed him the atlas with its detailed map, and told him that if all else failed we had cell phones. Mike did some quick research, and found that there was a turn-off road (that would eventually lead to the freeway) up ahead and that we would not in fact have to go the whole 60 miles. Onward we went.

It really was a beautiful area! Truly God's country. I pray I never get blase about the beauty that is Arizona.



It was well into the afternoon by then, but we were all enjoying the drive. It was slow going of course, as some spots were extremely rocky and/or steep or narrow, but no one seemed to mind, even the hungry boys in the backseat. It was an adventure.

And then there was a sound, and a "What was that?", and well....


Not to be deterred, the pit crew made quick work of the flat, and we were on our way again in 20 minutes.


Are you wondering if we passed any other cars? We did. In fact, two good samaritans stopped to see if we needed help while we (by "we", I mean Mike) were changing the tire. After we were up and running, we came across one of the very same good samaritans again, when they were dealing with a flat tire of their own. We returned the favor and stopped to help. We stretched our legs, and Tegan had a snack - the only one of us who was able to eat all day...



While we were stopped, we were passed by more cars, this time coming from the opposite direction. They were bearing news, and it wasn't encouraging. Three miles up ahead was a river that had to be crossed. A wide one, with large rocks and soft sand.

Did I mention my truck is not 4-wheel-drive?

It does have high clearance though, which played a big factor in our decision. Of the people who stopped, one thought we could make it if we took it slow and easy, and two thought we'd be foolish to even attempt it.

There were a few more brief tears. The kids, who were incredibly patient and pleasant for the entire trip despite being starving, were getting tired and were not happy with the new turn of events. But we all eventually rallied.

We had two options... not even trying, turning around where we were, and driving the many many hours back through the mountain (eventually through the dark); OR continuing on up ahead and risking either having to turn around like the others and driving the many many hours back through the mountain anyway, or even more worrisome, getting stuck!

There was really only one thing to do.

Mike took one look at the river three miles later and essentially said that it would be a piece of cake. And it was.


Until it wasn't.


Thankfully, no one panicked when it got stuck. It took some rock rearranging, some finagling, some praying, and of course some careful driving... but it was only a matter of time before he got it un-stuck. Our hoots and hollers must have been heard clear across the mountain when we'd finally made it back on dry land. My truck, and my husband, ROCK!

There were even more tears. This time, of happiness. The last hour of the trip was perhaps the best. The sun was setting as we were finally making our way out of the mountain, and everyone agreed that it was well worth the drive.






It was 7:30 PM by the time we made it back to the highway, and our first order of business was stopping at a Walmart to get the kids their promised snacks. We got them their snacks (and some dinner too!) then we headed home, all six of us tired and happy.

Buy me some peanuts and Cracker Jack

Last night was Paxton's first game of the season. He was so excited to be playing again, and got two huge hits - one a pop fly out to center field, and the other a foul ball that may or may not have hit one of the other parent's cars. We were all disappointed that Mike had to miss the game, as he was stuck in a meeting that ran late.

Paxton has a new coach this season, one who is much tougher than his first, and so highly invested in helping the boys really learn how to play the game. He's admitted that the practices have been harder (lots more running this time!) but he is enjoying it more than ever. His dreams of becoming a video-game designer have, for the time-being at least, been cleanly replaced by those of becoming a professional ball player. This is the face of a boy who loves baseball.

Exploring Arizona

I love Arizona. I'm especially loving Arizona today, as I listen to all my friends back east complain about the time change (Arizona doesn't do a time change). I'm also especially loving it for the beautiful weather, again at a time when New England is still getting brutalized with snow. Perhaps my favorite thing about the state though is the diversity of the landscapes. Mountains in one direction, desert in another; forests to the north, saguaro cactuses to the south. It is the quintessential place for anyone who loves to be outside as much as we do.

This past weekend we went on another geocaching trek, this time with Mom and Dad and the whole gang. It brought us up to Camp Verde, to a little tucked-away natural playground that can best be described as looking like the surface of Mars - at least the way it looks in my mind.




Yesterday, we spent another day out caching, enjoying another part of the state. I'm so glad that after 3 1/2 years, none of us has lost our sense of wonder. This is a great place to live.

FLYLADY (or, what I've learned from my shiny sink)

Flylady goes against everything in my nature. For one thing, I don't like being told what to do, so a schedule of any kind (especially one that has me doing housework every day) brings out my inner petulant child. Second, as much as I love having a clean house and thrive when things are organized, my natural inclination is more towards chaos. And finally, I tend to have an all-or-nothing mentality. When I want something done, I want it done all the way and I want it done NOW. Flylady's whole idea of baby steps, of starting with a shiny sink and adding new habits a little at a time, of decluttering in small 15-minute increments (instead of killing myself by trying to do it all in one marathon weekend) has been very, very hard for me.

It's taken time, and patience, but I am learning to let go and let my best be enough, and learning to trust that I will get there eventually! Somehow, along the way, some of this has actually been sticking.

Today I woke up feeling just awful. We've all been down with colds, and this morning my head was pounding, my throat was on fire, and it made me dizzy just getting out of bed. Now I've learned from a difficult pregnancy - and subsequent gall bladder issues - that the kids and I can manage even when I'm sick. The house, I'm afraid, is another matter altogether.

But today was different.

I didn't do the bathrooms, but I know that they're both clean because they both got their daily wipe-down yesterday. I didn't make the bed, but the bedroom is clean and everything is put away. After I'd had some ibuprofen and was feeling a little more human, I took the five minutes to empty the dishwasher and throw in one load of laundry (and one load was all that needed to be done) The boys were happy to do today's "mission" for me, which was to shake out the welcome mat and sweep up the front patio. I've gotten dressed, the house is clean, and I wouldn't be embarrassed if someone came to the door. Best of all, I spent 99% of the day drinking tea, getting better, and enjoying being with my kids.

Flylady is awesome.

Spencer and the Arrow of Light

This weekend was Spencer's Blue and Gold dinner banquet, the night he received his Arrow of Light - the highest achievement in Cub Scouting - and officially graduated as a Cub. Here he is standing onstage with his den


Shooting his flaming arrow


With the parents


Checking out his plaque. They are beautiful... Decorated arrows, stained wood, and an engraved nameplate.


No longer Cub Scouts!


Mom and her boy


Award nights are exhausting!


Right now, he doesn't think he's going to continue on as a Boy Scout. A few days ago he played soccer with some other kids while we were at Paxton's baseball practice, and loved it so much that he wants to give it a try. We got him a ball, and if the interest is still there, will sign him up in the fall! Busy boys.

Television and Other Evils

No, I don't think television is evil. I was going to save that for later in the blog, but there it is. I'm actually quite fond of television.

Every so often on my parenting message board, there is a discussion about TV. I am invariably the odd man out, the weird one who doesn't have any TV-viewing rules. The popular opinion - by far - is that TV should be restricted, doled out as a reward, or withheld as punishment. It should be shunned in favor of more "educational" activities, or it should be avoided altogether. Television is bad, television sucks up our kids and replaces them with zombies, television destroys brain cells. The word "evil" is inevitably mentioned.

Here's the thing with TV: We do watch it, and we enjoy it. TV inspires us, entertains us, and amuses us. We learn from it. It brings interesting people, places, and information right into our living room. It is the catalyst for countless discussions, and the jumping off point for lots of imaginative play. Earlier this week a half hour show sparked an entire afternoon's worth of ice shields and special powers. But... it's just TV. It's just another activity, or resource, that my kids could take or leave anytime of their own volition. They are as free to watch TV as they are to play outside, read a book, bake cookies, play video games or use the computer (two other "evils") do a science experiment, and the list goes on. I place no more or less value on TV as I do anything else. Last night after dinner, Everett and Paxton helped me bake cookies, and Spencer and Mike watched Food Detectives. Was one more valuable than the other? Ironically, I think the people who are so ardently anti-TV make it far more important than it needs to be - either so evil and corrupting that it must be avoided, or so special and rare that it can only be used as a reward or a punishment... both of which I believe set up some unhealthy associations. It's just TV! Would it be a bad idea to watch TV all day, every day, for days and days on end? Probably. I also believe it would be a bad idea to read all day, every day, for days and days on end. (This coming from a person who adores reading and is currently in the middle of no less than half a dozen books) Life should be about variety, among other things, and kids who are free to choose naturally seek out that variety.

I have trust.

Some people homechool because they want to avoid certain aspects of public school. In a sense, they want to make their childrens' worlds smaller. I homeschool in part because I want to make my childrens' worlds bigger. I want them to have access to as much as possible, and I want them to recognize that learning is, indeed, everywhere. Could we live without TV? Could we homeschool without TV? Of course! But I can't understand, when it's something we're privileged enough to have access to, why I would limit an entire resource of fun, enjoyment, and yes, learning, just because I can.

Teeth!

We all wondered if she'd be toothless past age one, but she just got it in under the wire. These two beautiful pearly whites emerged about a week ago.

(Please disregard the food all over her face)

Sweet Baby Girl

One year ago at this time I was in the hospital, staring in awe at my 9 pound baby girl, all wide-eyed and chubby-cheeked. Our fourth baby, Tegan, was so highly anticipated that I did something I never said I'd do: I had an elective induction. Past due, and in non-productive labor for over a week, my body told me it was done. When my OB suggested we go ahead and help nature along, I barely wavered. I was so very excited to meet my baby!!

I will never forget the way I felt when we went into the hospital - promptly at 6:45 AM thank you very much. Excited, nervous, and ready. So completely and totally ready. We hadn't found out the gender, a fact that the nurse found unbelievable, but having found out with all three boys (and knowing that this would be our last) we wanted to be surprised. And what a perfect, beautiful surpise she was!! I will remember that feeling for the rest of my life, that moment when they turned her over, that moment of suspension when we still didn't know if we had another boy or a little girl, a Gavin or a Tegan. Oh how I wished we'd let the boys be a surprise as well!

Everyone always comments on how happy we must be that we "finally had a girl" after three boys. The stone cold truth is that we are happy that we have TEGAN. Boy or girl, it wouldn't have mattered. But now that we know her, and from the moment we met her, we couldn't imagine a more perfect addition. God knew exactly the baby to entrust in our care (just as he did the first three times!) and we couldn't imagine life, or our family, without her.



So to you Tegan, on your first birthday....

I thank God for blessing us with you one year ago

I thank God for your big green eyes, and your huge, happy smile

I thank God for your sweet little voice, your deep belly laughs, and your ever-present sense of adventure

I thank God for your soft, curly hair, and the waterfall of ponytail on top of your head

I thank God for your chubby legs, and your puffy feet, and your squishy cheeks

I thank God for the way you adore your brothers, the way you dote on your daddy, the way you snuggle up to me at the end of the day

I thank God for the way you wave, and say hi, and scrunch up your entire body when you're excited

I thank God that I get to know, one last time, how beautiful and perfect it is to nurse a baby - who's fast becoming a toddler - and know that it is something special that only the two of us share.

We love you princess, more than you'll ever know.

A Week in Pictures ... and a few words too

Has it been only 9 days since my last blog? What a full and eventful 9 days it's been.

First, I'm sad to report that we lost the praying mantises. :( We still don't know what went wrong, but every last one of them had died by the time 3 days had passed.

On a brighter note, on Friday we released our butterflies. It actually took some coaxing to get them out of their habitat (I think I was envisioning them just gratefully bursting forth as soon as it was opened) but they eventually found their wings - and their freedom - among the bushes in our backyard.




In other animal news, Paxton's leopard frog tadpoles are still doing well, but Everett's tadpole is... off. We can't yet tell if he is dying or if he has just slowed way down because he is a critcal stage of his transition. I've been following the instructions, feeding him regularly (but not too regularly), keeping his water cloudy (but not too cloudy) etc. I guess all we can do now is wait.

We actually haven't had a lot of time to think about butterflies and tadpoles lately anyway, because we've been busy visiting! Our good friends Doug and Erika were here for five days and we had such a great time. We hadn't seen each other in six months so we had lots to catch up, necessitating lots of busy days and late nights... and in one case, staying up till 4 in the morning playing Wii, PS2 and baking cookies.

Our first order of business was going geocaching. We'd been wanting to do it forever, and were happy to finally have an excuse to go, and some willing cohorts to go with us. For the uniformed, geocaching is like a big treasure hunt game. You plug in some coordinates into a GPS, hunt for the cache - which is filled with little trinkets - sign the log book, take something & leave something, and re-hide it for the next person. It was a blast and it is now officially our new favorite family hobby. We can't wait to go out and do it again.






We also went to the Phoenix Children's Museum for the second time, and it was every bit as fun as the first.







Last, but most definitely not least, we celebrated both Spencer and Tegan's birthdays in one big party on Saturday. Tegan loved spending time with her grandparents and aunt and uncle, and she had a blast opening her presents






But the highlight for Tegan, in traditional Tegan style, had to be eating and enjoying her first ever birthday cake. I have to note again, for the people who have not yet heard me say it, that the lamb cake was made from the very same cake mold that made my first birthday cake 34 years ago. I was so very excited to make it for my own daughter, and what made it even more special was learning from my Mom that she too had a lamb cake for her first birthday. Three generations of little lambs! She commented that my grandmother - who passed away 5 years ago and whom I still dearly miss - would be tickled to know that Tegan had a lamb cake too... and I know that she was.






Spencer loved his cake too



and his presents




and having a real life police officer to show him how to use his new fingerprinting kit



All in all, it was a great day, and a great week... with great family, and great friends.