Last day of school

Today is J's last day of 1st grade. He took flowers for his teachers and his lunch request was a lunchable. The kids all even get an extra hour of summer since they get out of school an hour early today! Yesterday, they had field day and Jakob had a lot of fun and got pretty sunburned. Jakob did a great job at school this year and is looking forward to 2nd grade. And, yes, he wanted his hair like that!

First Fruits

Jakob, Noah and I just split the first fruit from the garden. It was a strawberry about 1 inch long. It was tiny, but it packed a punch! We only got one little taste and I had to be careful not to drop the pieces, but it was worth the wait! I guess we could have had some sooner, but they are being eaten by something.
Currently the two boys are on the back porch enjoying a homemade watermelon pop. I needed something to do with the extra watermelon from yesterday so I tossed it in the blender with some ice and had enough juice to make 4. They seem to like it, and it's a perfect treat on a hot, muggy day.

Hocking Hills

Sunday was a beautiful day so we, and a multitude of others, decided to spend the day at Hocking Hills. It's a historical recreation area with tons of hiking trails, caves and waterfalls. After a picnic lunch we took the trails to Old Man's Cave, Upper and Lower Falls, and the bridge over the gorge. The bridge had some little cut out areas for kids to look through and Ben took full advantage of it. Keely had fun but she is not very 'dog friendly' so she had a few issues with the other dogs that were around. After about the half-way point she was too tired to really care about them anymore so she was a lot calmer. She even got her feet wet at the bottom of one of the falls. Jakob's favorite part was the tunnels that we had to go through to get to some of the trails. Noah's favorite part was going to the waterfalls. Ben's favorite part was climbing up the hills and scaring Mom to death while sticking his head through the bridge.
Jakob was so tired after all the hiking that he needed a pillow, Keely had to suffice.

Outdoor Living

A delicious dinner on the back porch. Followed by the boys playing in the yard, which they did much of the day because there was finally no rain.
Ben actually ate meat tonight. He's been chewing it up and spitting it out lately. Noah used to do that too. I think it might have something to do with getting his molars. Jakob didn't really want to eat more than just bread and carrots but he forced down the chicken, and Noah ate everything without complaining. Keely enjoyed the few tasty morsels she was given too.

Ben was having issues with an itchy diaper (time for potty training?) But a pre-bedtime bath revealed that it was Noah who ended up with a tick! EWWW! Steve got it out with only one try. Keely wishes that I was that good since it took 3 of us to hold her down and 10-15 minutes to get hers out in Virginia.

A good thing about Steve's trip back to Lodi was the vino he was able to bring back with him. We had a toast to the late Robert Mondavi, founder of Woodbridge winery, who passed away last week at age 94.

California Here I Come!

I headed back to Lodi last week with a group of operators and a supervisor for some training. It was great to be back and see everyone! While there, we hit some of the favorites, Lodi Beer Company, Matsuyama (sushi, which is surprisingly sparse in Ohio), In 'N' Out, and others. We also all got a tour of the Woodbridge Winery.

On Wednesday, I had a training session up at Incline Village (Lake Tahoe). It was a great trip. I just wish the rest of the family could have come!

Barrels of wine at Woodbridge Winery
Lake Tahoe, from the dock at the Lone Eagle in Incline Village

Finally, a game!

Jakob finally got to play a baseball game again. After the first game, the next four games were rained out. Jakob had a great game. The teams were pretty evenly matched. There were some great hits, some strike outs, and some pretty good plays, and lots of foul balls too. Jakob was higher up in the line up so he got some better pitches. A couple of the kids even slid into 1st (Jakob was one of them!).
Jakob's first at bat was pretty nice. He got a base hit, but Ben grabbed the camera so I missed it. There were already 2 outs, and he got stranded of first.
His second at bat (shown on the video) took a little longer. Coach King was getting a little tired so his pitches weren't all great - he struck out his own son 2 times. From where I was standing when he finally hit the ball, it looked like a foul ball, but apparently, it was fair. I put his base running in the video too, so it almost looks like a home run.

Z-Pack

So Jakob's eye was kinda crusty last night after he played in the rain for 15 minutes while we waited for his baseball game to start yet ultimately be canceled. Then he said it hurt, but I thought it was more for sympathy and getting to stay up longer than actually hurting. This morning he said that his other eye hurt and his throat and chest hurt. So, I made an appointment at the doctor and after wasting over an hour waiting in the room, it turns out that he has a little bronchitis. Is it me or has he been to the doctor more times since we moved here than in his whole life?! Anyway, we got a z-pack and he should be just fine.

Oh, and congratulations to Justin and Erica who welcomed little baby Ella Rose into their family on Friday!

GMI Race

Steve ran a 5K on Saturday at Lake Alma State Park. Noah decided to go with him if he could ride in the jogging stroller. After a quick stop at Wal-Mart for an innertube for the tire, they were on their way.
Noah said the race was really fun. We were all just glad that it stopped raining in time for the race.
When Steve sent the pictures to me, he made sure to mention that he quickly passed this girl in front of them!
Yay, Steve and Noah!!

Happy Birthday and other stuff

It's my sister Christine's birthday today!!! May is a busy month for birthdays and other celebrations. Cathy is finishing finals today and getting ready to go to AZ for a summer job.
Miss Emma Jae is turning 1 tomorrow. Yay. What a big girl you are!!


Fiona's birthday and our anniversary (9 years) is on the 22nd (thanks again for sharing your day).

Grace's birthday is soon too.





And Cathy turns the big 21 on the 30th! And it's about time!!!

There is so much going on this month that I may have forgotten someone or something. If I did, I'm sorry.

What the. . . ?

So Keely was barking earlier than 0'dark 30, so I didn't get up to investigate. At a more reasonable hour, she was out sniffing a small tree that had been broken off during a wind storm we had a while ago. I went out to see what she was doing, and on my way across the damp grass I saw out of the corner of my eye what looked like a giant slug. On second glance, I realized it wasn't a slug at all, but some sort of crustacean. I got a jar and, after Keely helped me find it again by almost getting her nose pinched - because it tried to hide in the grass, I picked it up to show Noah and Ben. It seemed to have some eggs tucked under it's tail, at least that's what I'm telling myself it was under there!! I didn't know what else to do with it so I took it out to the woods and put it out as close to the stream as I could get it.

Then, I went to the garden to see what kind of damage all the recent rain had done, and I believe I found what Keely had been barking at so early in the morning. There were tons of deer tracks in through the mud (and my lettuce). 2 or 3 of the strawberry plants had many of their leaves munched off. Do they not have enough wild food to eat? Oh well, I guess that's the price we have to pay for stealing all their land.

Eisteddfod

Jakob's school had a program this morning called Eisteddfod (don't worry if you can't pronounce it - it's Welsh). Apparently, there was a large Welsh settlement near Jackson. Eisteddfod is a traditional Welsh festival where singers and poets perform for prizes.
The students all performed songs either individually or in groups of 2-3. Jakob sang with his good friend Aaron who was on Jakob's basketball team and Noah's soccer team. They sang Yankee Doodle.

Happy Mother's Day!

We would like to say Happy Mother's Day to all the moms in our lives. We love you and appreciate everything you do. Especially to Fran, Marcy, Anne, Hilda, and Nana we love you and miss you.

Slow week

Well, this week has been pretty slow. Steve got back from his trip with his bros. And he changed his work schedule so he could spend some time on 2nd and 3rd shifts while they work on his projects.

Jakob had a baseball game on Monday and the game last night was rained out. It has been raining for 2 days now and although the garden needs it, the boys are restless in the house and have decided to start punching each other rather than just the more childish smacking or swatting.

Speaking of the garden, Noah and Ben and I planted watermelons, cucumbers, and carrot seeds this week. The cabbages and lettuce are sprouting and the strawberries have begun to grow. And I started eggplants in a box and I hope they grow so I can transplant them before June.

I had my Women's League meeting this week. We awarded scholarships to 2 students who are going into the field of teaching. Most of the women in the club are or were teachers, and some - like me - are related to teachers. The scholarship is given in honor of a woman named Patty who was out on a walk with her 15 month old son when she died from a totally treatable heart condition that she didn't know she had. Patty was a teacher at the time as were her husband and sister (who was in the club) and now her son is a teacher in a nearby town. We decided to invite Patty's sister, Sally, to the meeting so she could meet the recipients and the women currently in the group, because she only knew 2 or 3 of us. Sally also shared some history of the club and that she was the one who started the pumpkin painting venture that is the major fund raiser for the scholarships. We paint and sell pumpkins at Bob Evan's Farm Festival every year in October and it is an overwhelming success every time. The sad thing about inviting Sally was that she didn't even know we were still giving the scholarships. But she was very happy to learn that we still are honoring her sister and her noble profession. We had a great time learning about the original group of women in the club and spending time with each other.

So maybe the week wasn't so slow, after all.

Baseball season

Jakob had his first baseball game last night. All the kids have their names on their shirts and got to choose their own number.
Jakob started out at center field and had trouble seeing the ball because of the sun. He moved to catcher for the last inning. It was tough to get used to all the gear but he did pretty well. He's still learning the positions but he'll get used to it all. At bat, he had some pretty poor pitches from the coach, but he did the best he could. He managed to hit the ball 2 times but they both went foul. He'll get better once he builds his confidence a little more.

So, Ben was funny last night. . . .

As you know, I have been putting him to bed in his own bed for the last 3 nights. The first 2 nights, as I said "Good night. I love you," he responded with "I yuh Waboo" (I love Robert). Last night, amid protests of "No, me weep dow-dayoo" (no, me sleep downstairs) he changed his response to "I yuh Opa, Opa tadoo" (I love Opa, Opa's tractor). Can you believe it?! He's so silly. Then he said, "me wah dayway" (I want Gatorade). I told him he could have Gatorade tomorrow and he said ok. Then he stayed in bed!! WooHoo! I was so happy. Despite having a mini-nap late in the afternoon, he went to bed with absolutely no issues and stayed there until about 2:15 when he wanted a drink, but he went back to sleep with no problems. Yay!

Decor

The stormy weather is keeping us inside so I decided to finish my fireplace project. The best part about this is I got everything 1/2 price at Hobby Lobby!!
Jakob's baseball exhibition was canceled because of all the rain last night, so his first game will be Monday night. And now it's looking pretty nasty again.

Sleepy-head

I finally did it. I got Ben to go to sleep in his own bed all by himself tonight! After waking himself up earlier than usual and not taking his normal 2-3 hour nap. I talked him through it on the way up the stairs and said I would put him in bed and he was going to stay there. He said, "no, mommy sleep with me" (but not that clearly) and I told him I wouldn't. He protested a little and cried a lot but he only got out of bed 2 times before he zonked out. And it only took 10 minutes!
Then Jakob yelled really loud when he went up to bed and sort of woke Ben up, but he soothed himself back to sleep. Yay!!! And Noah did an OK job being pretty quiet when he when to bed so he didn't wake Ben.
Now I just hope we can keep this up. Tomorrow, Jakob has 2 2-inning exhibition games of baseball in the middle of the day, so I'll try keeping Ben awake again. Hopefully, it will work and Ben will soon get used to going to sleep by himself just like his brothers.
Now, I just have to wait and see if he comes down stairs in the middle of the night at all.
For the last 2 years, he has been going to sleep on my lap and many times will come down to our room and sleep in our bed, so it is time to put a stop to it.
Too bad Steve's not here to share in the fun!

garden fun

I got another section of the garden tilled yesterday. Noah and Ben were great helpers with planting. Ben helped carry his package of marigolds to the garden. He was so sad at the store when he was helping bring the marigolds to the basket. Noah was also carrying some and started to complain that his hand were dirty, so Ben looked at his hands and dropped the flowers. He cried and cried and cried. It was soooo sad. We picked them up and put them in the container again and he was better. He was asleep in the car less than 5 minutes later!!

We got all the tomatoes, bell peppers, basil, and marigold plants planted. Noah was a big help with the green beans and peas, putting one in each hole. Nobody wanted to help with the onions so I was on my own, but I could handle it! I also tried lettuce and cabbage seeds. We should see those pop up in about a week. I can't wait!!

A great day!

According to Jeff Foxworthy, when you're a kid, it's a GREAT day when your mother makes you get undressed on the porch before you come inside! That's exactly what happened to Ben yesterday.
We started the day at Lowe's shopping for a tiller and plants- finally. I had a lot of trouble starting the tiller, but Steve did it after work with almost no trouble. I hope I can get it started today. I tilled about 1/6 of the space but today I have to mix in good garden soil and do another section for peas and corn.
I can't wait to start again today when it gets a little warmer. It's a little harder than I thought to run but I got the hang of it after a while. And I'll get to plant my tomatoes and peppers today, too!
Noah and Ben had fun playing in the mud and running up and down the hill while Jakob rode on the 'wah moe-muu' (lawn mower) with Steve.
Jakob got bored with the mower, so he decided to help me try and get up the weeds from the tilled ground.