Only the finest for daddy

Father's Day, a day to thank the man in your life for all he does, a time to recognize what a great father he is to your babies, and day to only give him the finest. 

Yeah, I'm pretty ghetto and just made him a box cake.

But the kids were excited about it!

We sent him out of the house for a while so we could bake and make him homemade cards and such.

His favorite is apple pie, but we decided to mix it up this time. 

And candles too!

But the real treats are always the notes.

To: DAD HAPPY FAther's DAY YOU ARE THE BEST DAD eVeR. --Hope

Dad thank you FOR everything you DO For me. you are best Dad ever. I am glad to have a dad Like you. Thank you FOR Leting me play sports. Thank you Forr teaching me about God. --Pierce

Thank you Paul for deciding long ago that you were willing to make the ultimate commitment with me! BONDED FOR LIFE, YES WE ARE. :-)

Happy Father's Day.

Until next season..

Since April we have spent hours at the baseball field. 

And boy did I like to complain about all those said hours.

But all complaining aside, this baseball life grows on you.

As we headed into the playoffs, of course all of wanted the boys to do well, but I think more importantly, we were all wanting wins so the season wouldn't be over.


And those Tigers started out strong!

With a major upset the first game!

And then another win!

But eventually we faced a team that was the equivalent of the Yankees. Geesh.

It was a hard loss, but more than anything I think the boys were shell shocked, what with their rap music blaring and do-rags on their heads.  As Pierce asked me later that night, "mom where were those kids from?!" Ha!

Our final game was Saturday morning, and before I knew it, I was watching them do their very last team huddle.

As one of the other moms said to me, "our family is going to need baseball therapy, we're all sad and going to miss you guys!"

And it's true! You get attached to the kids, the moms, and even the coaches.

Pierce keeps saying to me, "I can't believe the season is over" and as much as I was ready for a break, I feel the same way.

But for now, it's over.

Until next season...

Father's

This Sunday is all about Dad. 

And sadly, Paul and I won't see either of ours. But that doesn't mean that we won't be thinking of them.

I personally think that dad's get a bad rap. They are usually portrayed as dumb, lazy men who are no good. 

But I know better than that. 

Some of my earliest memories of my dad are him heading into work every Saturday morning. The rest of us would be asleep, (or at least I was supposed to be, I would always wait until I heard him close the front door, and then I would come bounding out of my room) and I could hear him getting ready, then he would leave the house in his three-piece-suit to work the day away. 

And Saturday's at the office weren't where it ended.

In my minds eye, I can still see him riding his tractor in the dark night with the headlights on so he could finish his work.

And he wasn't some absentee dad either.

He was always at every game, every boring play, and each horrendous dance routine.

And even though Tom didn't raise me, I know what an impact he had on Paul's life.

He dedicated his life to others, and even moved his family away to live a missionary life. That is a good man.

We will miss you Sunday.

"He opened the jar of pickles when no one else could. He was the only one in the house who wasn't afraid to go into the basement by himself. He cut himself shaving, but no one kissed it or got excited about it. It was understood when it rained, he got the car and brought it around to the door. When anyone was sick, he went out to get the prescription filled. He took lots of pictures.....but be he was never in them." --Erma Bombeck 

Definition of summer

Definition of summer:

1) The warmest season of the year, in the northern hemisphere from June to August and in the Southern hemisphere from December to February.  (per the internet, you know because google says so)

Definition of summer from a mom:

An idyllic time with your children to watch them play and frolic like young children should. 

Reality of summer:

A time of year when your children fight on a regular basis and by the end of the day you are at your wits end. 

I mean really, why all the fighting? Honestly, how hard is it to get along? And why must I be on them daily about this? AND WHEN WILL IT STOP.  

But between fights our summer is quite lovely. 

I'm doing my best to soak it all in.

And the perks of being home with the kids aren't too shabby.

There are plenty of moments without fights

Those moments just need to last longer.

Like all day longer.

 Something that helps is having friends around to play with them.

I guess this takes the focus off each other.

And lots of activities helps too.

You can't really fight when your head is stuck in a fountain.

 But you can shoot your aggressions out.

Oh these kids.

I love them to pieces. 

And even though they drive me crazy at times

I don't want this thing summer thing to end.

In all it's good and ugly ways, I love it.

I should have known.

Looking back on my Saturday morning and how it all went down, I guess I should have known something was going on, but I was clueless. 

When Jo started texting me at 7:30 in the morning asking me what we were up to today, I should have known. 

When Paul hopped out of bed before me, I should have known. 

When he encouraged me to get into the shower and get ready, I should have known. 

When Paul and the kids started to clean the house, I REALLY SHOULD HAVE KNOWN.

But I believed his story that his friend would be at our place at 10:00, and I just assumed he was being sweet cleaning....

And I believed Jo when she told me that she was in the hot stinky gym getting ready to work out...

But when that door opened and in walked in Nathan and Jo, trust me I did not know. 

I stood there with my mouth wide open, and in shock! My sister and Nathan were here and I had no idea they had planned this visit. TOTAL SHOCK.

And the kids were in shock too! Paul had told them that they were cleaning for me "as a surprise" but he left the other part out. And then it dawned on Pierce, they are going to watch me play my game! That excited him and I think made him a little nervous too.

Let me digress for a second.

I'm really thankful for a husband that would clean the house because he knows that would be important to me.

And check this, he even dressed up! I so should have known.

So off we went to cheer on the little guy play the first game of the tournament.

My poor sister may only have partial hearing now. Sorry about that Jo.

But when I get excited I jump up and down and scream.

And I also take to Twitter.

It helps calms me.

 I was so nervous for these little guys!

As my tweet said, we are a 7th seed team and our first game was against a second seed team. That team expected to win, but our little guys came out a different team!

But wouldn't you know the game got tied up and we had to go into extra innings.

And here's where Jo threatened to disown me, because I don't do well in these kinds of situations.

But lo' and behold!

And because I was screaming and running around I didn't manage to get pictures of the coaches picking up Pierce and all of them screaming in excitement. 

Our coaches were probably more excited than the boys! 

This team has struggled throughout the season, so this victory meant the world to them!

But what meant the world to Pierce? 

Having these two here to cheer him on. 

And this day meant the world to me!

I guess I should have known.

 Glad I didn't.