little sister

There is something special about being the little sister of two older brothers. Abby continually cracks us up with her antics; and with the things she has learned from her brothers. She loves to make "scary faces," which you can see below, and the sense of humor she has is certainly unique. Lately, she is into what I call "little boy humor."You know, any mention of the words butt, poop, or anything related and she is hysterical.

I was doing something in the kitchen the other day and Abby said, "so,"....to which I replied with the So, So, suck your toe rhyme (I know, I should've thought that through first), and she laughed and laughed after the 'underwear' closing, and she said "that is SO funny."

Another cute story from recently....

We were getting out of the car and she pointed to her throat and said, "mom, what's this?"

I said, "your throat?"

She said, "no, this" (pointing to a specific spot)

I said, "oh, that's your adam's apple."

Well, she thought about that for a minute; looking very confused, as we have a friend named Adam, and said, giggling... "No, it's my abby's apple."

She makes me laugh everyday and constantly reminds me to enjoy these silly moments and for that I am so thankful.

my "all-stars"

We just finished up yet another season of baseball in our household. Jason coached 2 teams this year; Matthew's T-ball team, the Mantarays, and Ben's Rookie team, the Silverhawks.

I must say, I was glad we were moving up to the next level of the game this year (Ben's team). The last few years we've only been in T-Ball and the games move SLOW, and the kids really don't get it very well. It's certainly entertaining occassionally, but more time is spent by most kids playing in the dirt than focusing on the "game."

However, in Rookie league, as they call it, the kids are really starting to catch on to the logistics of the game. Most of them that is..... Some rules are still tricky, and they're learning as they go, but it's much easier to watch and comes alot closer to resembling an actual game.

A few season highlights we've had: Matthew is becoming quite a slugger. He whacked several into the "outfield," and he's also gotten brave enough to slide. Mostly to be able to say later, "Ben, did you see me slide?" Ah, the approval-seeking little brother.

And for Ben there were several highlights..... he has 'a head for the game,' as Jason calls it, and it's been fun to see him develop that side of the sport. He also caught a pop fly, and slid head- first into homeplate. He enjoyed pretty much every position, but especially catcher and pitcher. As with every other sport's season this past year, he is totally obsessed with baseball right now. He watches ESPN in the morning to see scores, has been reading books about baseball's greatest players, and has recently asked me if he can look up stats on espn.com.....which is all hilarious to me coming from a 7 year old!

But I'm glad he enjoys it, and he said the other day that baseball is his favorite sport. I probed a little further, and reminded him how much he liked football during the season and he insisted, "I know, but I like baseball more..." I'm sure that makes Jason proud! :-)

kite running

If you haven't read this best-seller yet, you really must. It's captivating, and disturbing, and heartwarming. Strange to be all of those, I know....

I finished it over the weekend's long drive, and if I wasn't reading it, I was wishing I were. It's good. Really good. And I actually haven't been able to stop thinking about it since!

Just do nothing for the next few days and READ THIS BOOK!!

Can't wait to read his next book, recently released, A Thousand Splendid Suns.... I've heard good things about it!

father's day

I won't be around this weekend, so I wanted to blog a post to all the dads out there, and especially to our resident Daddy-O (as Abby calls him) to say Happy Father's Day.

One of my favorite things in marriage has been growing a family together, and getting to see Jason in a light that I would not otherwise see. He genuinely enjoys the kids, and it shows. He and the boys enjoy many activities together; fishing, hiking, playing ball in the yard, wrestling on the floor, and watching SportsCenter, to name a few. Many of these Abby enjoys with them, but she REALLY enjoys playing tea-party in her room and reading books most with Daddy-O. Oh the things a dad will do for his daughter (see pic below!!)

Jason is a terrific, very hands-on dad, and the kids and I are so blessed to have him.

backseat fun

I know, the title is misleading, and this is not about what you're thinking at all...read on.

We told the kids to get their pj's on last night and that we had a surprise for them after....

They were compliant, and anxious to find out what we had in store. In the meantime, Jason and I gathered sleeping bags and sweatshirts, and folded down the seats in the back of the van.

We all met at the mudroom and loaded up to drive approximately 3 blocks where we backed onto the curb and opened the back.

Then we piled in and watched fireworks from across the field, all snuggled up together in the back. It sounds picturesque, but don't be fooled. We had our fair share of "I can't see." "He's in the way." "Get off me!" comments, but these are really the moments that I try to appreciate in life, and I hope that one day when our kids reminisce of childhood that these are the times they remember as well.