First T Ball game

Bug's first T-ball game was tonight.  it was a nice way to finish up our vacation week.  The weather was perfect- about 60 degrees F, sunny with a little breeze.  Bug was so excited and I got drafted into being a coach.  True be told, I was ready to take over coaching after a few things, so being drafted was fine with me.  I am not sure the head coach is too excited- especially after I took a tee shirt and hat- but all the other dads who were drafted into being coaches got theirs. But back to the game- they do not keep score, every one bats, there are no outs. each inning is both teams batting through their team- we had 10 players. The games are 4 innings or 1.25 hours, which ever comes first.  Tonight, we were in the field 3 times and batted 2 times, so we played 2.5 innings.

 Bug started in center field of the in field.  The kids can't hit that far, so all the kids are in the in field or dirt area of the ball field.  Bug ended up at home plate and at first base a few times during this inning.

 The kids bat in order of their shirt numbers and Bug is number 5, so he is early in the rotation.  here he is on deck, with the batter before him running to first.

 second inning, the coach decided to put Bug at catcher.  My fears were on high alert for this since they have no special equipment for catcher because in T ball, there is not supposed to be a catcher!!!!!!

 This is the extend of the catcher equipment- Bug's batting helmet.  I really was freaking out.

 The third inning Bug was on Third base and I moved to coach there since the kid on first base also had a dad on the field.  My coaching positions were first base, third base and during our batting rotations, I was in charge of getting the batters lined up and ready to go.

This is Bug at third base with a friend from church who was on the other team.  They were both happy and having fun.

Bug says his favorite part of the game was playing catcher.

Love and hugs,

Deb

Butterflies and double rainbows

The sun was shinning today.  So Bug and I and some friends headed out to see the Butterflies.  My thought was to go during the week when all the kids would be in school, but as we drove up to the Butterfly show, there were 5 buses lined up and kids getting off.  Very disappointing.  But we got in and Bug was excited to go hold some butterflies.  Little M went with us and he took some time warming up to catching butterflies, but he caught on and had a great time.

After the butterfly show, we walked down to the overlook to see the river.  On the way, Bug and Little M found a phone booth- I did not realize there were still some around.  The funny part, the boys could not figure out how to get out.  But they thought it was cool.

Bug was supposed to have Tball practice tonight.  Now we have had something like 13 inches of rain this month, at least 5 inches this week, so I could not believe that there would be practice.  I called his coach and left a message and got no return call.  I called the head guy and I was told that practice was on, and he was heading over to the fields then to set up for another game that was being played (on the second field).  The fields were total mud pits, and it had started raining as we drove over.  But we sat there waiting for the coach to show up and I am glad we did.  Because as the thunderstorm moved to the east, these double rainbows came out.

What a great day!!!

Love and hugs,
Deb

finished the kitchen painting and praying for friends

I finished the painting today- actually we finished painting today.  This is toward the end when I had finished painting the upper area above the cabinets and was pulling off tape.  Bug, by this time was down playing with a friend.  It still looks blue to me, but tonight after dinner, I finished pulling off all the tape and it looked green.  I really like this color.  I have a feeling this color is going to end up in a certain bedroom that is purple.  Of course it will be another year or 2 before I get to that room since it houses my home office right now and I am not moving everything in there out for a week or 2 to complete the painting.

on sadder notes- my friend T contacted me late last night with news that her grandfather had died.  My prayers are with her and Y as they go thru the funeral and settling grandpa's estate.  I got word tonight that another friend is holding vigil by her significant other brother's bedside as he is dying.  My prayers are with her and her family during this time. 

Bug and I are off to the allergist tomorrow to determine next steps in treatment of Bug's allergies.  We will likely be stopping at the store afterward to pick up some pillow covers and mattress covers too.
We are scheduled to get another storm tonight and more rain tomorrow.  We have had the wettest April on record here and with a little more than 2 more inches of rain, we could have the wettest month on record.  The local weather forecasters are stating we will likely make the new record tomorrow night.  My front yard looks like I never cut grass last week and the back yard is well on the way to also looking like a jungle.  I am dreading grass cutting on Thursday.  My poor lawn mower is going to be overwhelmed with all the grass.

Love and hugs,
Deb

Allergy testing and painting

Bug's day started off on a rough note- allergy testing.  he looks horrible here, but his arms were numbed (using a medicine called ELMA), so all he felt was the pressure, no pain. 

 The results: Bug is allergic to dust mites, 1 common type of mold, 2 types of grass, maples trees and 2 types of weeds. 
The dust mites explain why his allergies trigger in the fall, as the furnace gets turned on.  I will be getting our heating ducts changed and makes some more changes to help with this.  We have a follow up doctor appointment on Wednesday with the doctor to go over next steps.

 After the appointment with the allergist, Bug and I headed over to see Pap and Mam.  Bug took a nap and so did I.  By the time Bug woke up, his arm was looking much better.

 After some fun with the kids in the neighborhood, Bug and I started the painting of the kitchen.  Bug really was excited to help me and did a great job

We have about 25% left to paint and it is the hardest- all around the tops of the cabinets and behind the refrigerator.  But it should be done by tomorrow night.  Then I just need to put everything back up on the walls.

love and hugs,
Deb

A visit from 2 imginary characters in ne 24 hour period

Easter Morning as an adventure.  it started with me trying to figure out how to keep Bug out of the living room where the eggs were

'hidden'.  we ended up leaving for a 30 minutes and visiting McD's for drinks.  Then we picked up Mam and Pap.  Bug was very patient and very good natured about the wait. Here he is, ready to start his hunt for 22 plastic eggs.

the haul early on.

The Easter Bunny branched out to the kitchen too, because Bug asked about it last night.  I wish we could have been outside, but more rain arrived today.

The haul and the pirate patch from the Easter egg hunt yesterday.

After all the Easter fun, and after the family left, Bug and I checked out the back garden.  The apple tree planted last fall is blooming.

The 2 apple trees planted a week or so ago, are budding out.  Apples possibly in our yard next year!!!!!

Bug then took over picture taking.  The Japanese Maple in the backyard.  it finally screens the neighbors deck.  So we can sit on the patio and enjoy dinner without the neighbors looking directly at us.

Bug took pictures of the blooming spearmint.  The only issue with this spearmint is that is growing in the yard.  The people who owned this house before me, planted it directly into the ground.  Mint takes over everything.  So I am constantly fighting it.  I think I have gotten most of it out of the backyard, now I am working on the side yard.

Our onions in one of the gardens.

And finally, Bug lost his second tooth tonight.

The tooth fairy is ready for the next visit tonight.

Bug has allergy testing tomorrow morning.  He seems fine with it and I am not making a big deal out of it.  But his doctor was great and provided a cream that will numb both of Bug's arms before he tested.  I am taking the camera, but I am not sure I will have a free hand to take any pictures.  Bug already asked if I will hold his hand, which I of course will do.  But I also told him, I will hold him on my lap if he wants and the doctor allows it.

Love and hugs,
Deb

playing with The Easter Bunny and hermano

Bug and I headed over to hermano's house today for some 'day before Easter" fun.  we saw the Easter bunny's helper

You would think that Bug was not having fun, but he was.  He was smiling, but hermano missed the smile here.

Bug got every one smiling here.

The Bunny preparing to start the hunt.

All done.  Seriously, the grab and dash hunt took all of 2-3 minutes.

Bug was quite happy with his haul.

On the way back to hermano's house, we drove pass the fields were the cows are now.  flooding is occurring and vaca Daddy had to put up some temporary fences to keep the cows and calves from getting into the flood waters.

These are some of the cows up in the 'drier' area.  It is quite muddy.  There is much more rain expected this week, hopefully these areas will stay dry enough that the cows can stay here.

After driving home, we stopped at the mall to do some shopping for Pap. Bug saw the train and that was it.  He had to have a ride.

After church tonight, Bug and I had dinner with Pap and Mam.  Bug loves hiding under Pap's chair, but with the way he is growing, he will not fit under the chair much longer.

for Popi, Momi Mireya and the girls: On Friday, when we talked, I was trying to tell you that it was raining here, but I kept using the Spanish for snowing.  No wonder you could not understand me.  We have gotten record breaking amounts of rain this year and we are expected to get nearly 10 inches of rain this week.  We have many roads flooded and as you saw in the picture from the farm, lots of standing water.  We came home today to some water leaking in our basement- not a lot, but enough to be an annoyance.

Well, Easter Bunny momma needs to go prep the eggs for the hunt here tomorrow.

Love and hugs,
Deb