Saturday BASEBALL!

whoaaaa slow down. Whew! Today! Both boys ready for the baseball parade and opening ceremonies at 8:30 a.m. Vance makes breakfast, gets the boys to their parade trucks, the littles and I go a bit later. We get there, good friends surround us. The Reyers offer us donuts and muffins. Oren throws a few fits. I head home with the littles. Oren naps, Hazel and I "upcycle" a thrift store find and let the chickens free range a bit. We have home grown salad for lunch. Vance, Willem and Merit get to Willem's field before 12:30 for his 1 o'clock game. Hazel, Oren and I arrive at 1:45. Merit runs to the car and says "I am SO hungry." I offer him graham crackers out of a princess lunch sack. Oren does NOT want to be at the game. Hazel wants to be at the playground near the game. I make sure the fundraiser packet that is due is in the car. Phew. I come home and try to feed everyone before Merit has pictures at 4:15. His game is at five. I need to line dry a load of clothes. --------- BASEBALL. I can't really tell you how much our family loves it. But you probably know this, otherwise, I would be reading magazines and sipping coffee on a Saturday while maybe weeding or cleaning a bathroom or two.

Life is good. And there is SO much to be thankful for. And when my sister in law Cary had four children the ages my kids are now she would tell me she would fall into bed every night. I am living that right now. These days, I am excited for 9:30/10 p.m. and hope that I can read for ten minutes. But my head hits the pillow and I am out.

Will, pitching.

Watching Merit and Will be part of a TEAM, hearing them cheer on their team mates, watching them WORK and watching them do their best is such a sweet gift~

our life!

Old books from the thrift store this week

This photo was taken at 8:30 this morning, right before they left for the parade! 

Cheering on these boys and their teams has been so much fun.

And I am so very thankful for their coaches.

Off to... you guessed it! Baseball! 

Tuesday Morning

Lavendar

I love lavendar.

I have so many weeds. I do try to avoid photographing those.

Willem and Clover

These kids are ballers. We start em' young.

Therapy

Entertainment

I am such a farm girl at heart.

The Crazy Chicken Lady is back

Their personalities! darling creatures

The last post about me and my sisters weekend may have been refreshing for those 

of you who are not crazy about chickens. ;-)

dirty water and a stick, what a fun combo

So, these chicks seem to have become teenagers! 

They move more quickly. They fly more. They eat and poop more. Their looks change daily

so we really can't tell them apart. Although I have been told Darla is the loudest. Bob Jo Fred is big. He/she has more red on his head.

Today we are getting two more newborn chicks. Leghorns this time. 7 seemed like a good number for us. 5 New Hampshire Reds and 2 Leghorns. And we are hoping there aren't any roosters in the mix, but who knows! Vance talks about eating these chickens some day... ummm hmmmm we'll see. I do know I want to provide a wonderful life for them and am so excited about fresh eggs! I am thinking of starting another blog. Strictly about chickens. I am sure I would have a lot of followers! bahaha! 

Sister time = being thankful and feeling REFRESHED

Our sisters weekend was GOOD for the soul.

Friday morning Vance pulled out of the driveway with the camper and all 4 kids! I waved and blew kisses and was quite certain I had never been at this house all by myself. At least not in years!  They headed to Yakima for camping and baseball. When I learned that the 12 U Chiefs, the team Merit is on, was going to play in an out of town tournament the same weekend I was meeting my sisters in Seattle I thought "oh boy!" But Amy Raymond was awesome and said if Vance wasn't up for taking all four kids there, their family would take Merit. Vance decided, however, that he was up for the adventure! And Amy and Morgan said they would help him and oh my goodness they did! This baseball family is just that; family.

Hazel told me the day before they left that she couldn't wait to sit on Kari Visker's lap. She also loves Emma Vela and Ishmael's sister Vivian. All my kids feel very comfortable around the Raymonds. Morgan likes to cuddle Oren and he relaxes in her arms. So, that was that! I knew everyone was in good hands.

After a wonderful visit with Shannon and then Lisa Friday morning, I loaded up the car, said goodbye to my chicks (no easy task) loaded the dog and took her to the Boarders and hit the road for our SISTERS WEEKEND! 

I picked Natasha up at the airport at 3:30, our first stop was Starbucks, then we met Lesha at the hotel! So fun!! Dinner at the Cheesecake Factory that night and AGAIN the next night. We slow sipped lattes, shopped, enjoyed the free continental breakfast at our hotel, talked about light hearted stuff and giggled and talked about serious stuff too.

IKEA is always fun! 

so often you will find us in the "red zone" 

I wish there weren't so many miles between us but that, quite possibly, is why these weekends are amazing and special and refreshing. I thank God for these courageous, brave, fun girls!!! And just an important side note: Natasha flew to San Diego after our girls weekend and met with heart specialists there. This was something her Anchorage heart failure specialist requested she do. The appointment was good. They were hopeful and there is so much now that can be done to help someone with heart issues. I pray we all grow to be old women. And that we can all watch our own children and each other's children grow up. Our mom never got to experience being a grandma, I hope we get this chance... and all the while I want to trust God's plan. 

Enjoying THE NOW

In less than 24 hours I am going to be with my sisters. I can't tell you the joy this brings me! Oh my gosh, they encourage me, they make me laugh, we have been through tough stuff, fun stuff... all the while leaning on each other! And they will listen to me go on and on about these darn chickens! And well, I have a few friends who will too - you know who you are! :-) 

Spring Break 2015, making memories with these sweeties!

all boy, rough and tough Oren has gentle hands when it comes to these babies

Oren is HOT and COLD. He is intense. He is FUNNY. He can be so sweet. His hugs and kisses are amazing. He reminds us a lot of Merit at this age! 

He went from the easiest going baby to a toddler with lots of spunk and some attitude! lol

Today felt so full. I am trying to get all the groceries these guys will need for while I am gone. I am getting caught up on laundry. Vance and I got the chicks situated. Their weekend will be busy because Merit has baseball. Oren took a good bath today and got his hair washed and then when I got back from the grocery store he was SO dirty. With a big dusty grin on his face!! He had been throwing dirt, eating dirt, chasing chickens and butterflies I am sure...

I got a good long catch up with Katie A. today and that, as always, is good for the soul. We have nine children combined, so good long catch ups aren't that easy to come by. ;-)! 

Spring break has been good! I wish I would have played more basketball and UNO with these kids but the days get busy and I always wish I could "play" a bit more! 

Okay, so my sisters are brave and amazing. Natasha has a heart appt. in San Diego following our girls weekend. She is being proactive, she is taking great care of herself! 

PRAYING that the appt. goes well and PRAYING that these girls have lots of positive cardiology appointments in the coming years. Touching on this on my blog is ...well, difficult. Because I want to respect their privacy, but I also believe in the power of prayer! Our mom didn't have the knowledge they have regarding this heart stuff. 

Being able to just BE with them this weekend feels like an amazing gift! I am so excited! And you know - Worrying gets us no where. Our prayers are heard and they bring us peace. And there really IS something about just enjoying THE NOW.

Country Livin'

I think I took 100 pictures on Easter Sunday. I am glad I did.

"Mom, let's be outside together, just you and me. You can work in your garden and water your flowers and I will color." - Hazel Jane age 5

Today was beautiful! I sat outside, drank my cofee and watched the chicks. 

Later in the day I sat in the field with Willem and Hazel while Nellie and the chicks ran around.

Tonight I let two chicks play for a while, out in the tall grass with the purple flowers! They are so darn cute.

I have one more excuse to put off laundry, dusting and bathroom scrubbing. (yikes)

I can't get enough of these girls. 

I thought babies and puppies grew fast. Chicks grow SO fast!