Partying baseball style

These pictures are from the birthday party of Parker and Jack's friend, Luke. He is the son of my very talented photographer friend, Jenna. As usual, Jenna always manages to capture those pictures and moments that I would never think of. Don't you just wonder if Jack is taking that ball from Parker of if it is a nice little brotherly sharing moment. My money is that Jenna snapped the picture right before Jack hit Parker or vice versa! It was a very nice party and they especially loved their awesome "L" baseball hats. Good job Jenna!

Well, we set up the new pool today and as soon as I get a chance I am going to empty it and return it to Walmart. Apparently it must be on absolutely, totally level ground or it simply will not work. I put it on what I thought was level ground, but definitely isn't. The problem will be convincing Parker that we need to trade it in for something else. This could be ugly.

Summer begins!

I'm not crazy about this picture--at least how I look, but Parker looks adorable. We took this of ourselves before his graduation. That kid just contstantly cracks me up. We bought one of those little vinyl pools that have a filter and pump and he is just dying to set it up. I think he is going to be disappointed when he sees how small it is--I think he is picturing jumping in and swimming. Then again, maybe he will just be happy to get wet. For a child who is overly cautious about most things, he has never been afraid of the water. I signed him up for swim lessons and he is SO excited. I thought he would freak out (which is what he may do when we actually get there) but he can't wait. We haven't really tried to get Jack in the water too much. I guess we will find out this year how he is going to be. It just feels like summer to me this week. I love not being on the school schedule and being able to go where we want when we want. I also think that Jack behaves better when Parker is around. Or maybe he's just as naughty but Parker takes the edge off for me. Well, I just heard an entire basket of toys being dumped upstairs, so I had better go see what the little scoundrel has done now. I need a laptop upstairs, don't you agree?! Have a wonderful and hopefully sunny Memorial Day. I will be remembering my Grandma and Grandpa Graumenz who just would have gotten the BIGGEST kick out of my boys--Parker especially because he looks soooo much like my dad. They were special people who believed that family is the most important gift you are given. AMEN!

The Graduate--Part I

Parker "graduated" from preschool last night. Of course, he will be attending preschool again next year so this is Part I of preschool graduation. He was so funny. He started to get nervous right before they went up front, so I told him that all he had to do was stand there--he didn't have to sing if he didn't want to. I thought that maybe he would loosen up once he was with his friends and that he would go ahead and sing. No such luck. He went up there and stood as stiff as a board and didn't sing a note. He kind of moved his lips a few times, but definitely no singing. Afterwards we asked him why he didn't sing and he said, "you said I didn't have to." Oh well, at least he went up there which is an improvement from last year. And, perhaps even more important, he was dressed appropriately for the occasion. This is pretty big for him. He broke all his "rules." He had on "church pants" (that would be khakis to the rest of us), a "fancy" shirt, and a tie no less. WOW!!! He looked so handsome.

I'm a WINNER!

I had mentioned several weeks ago that I was entering my first scrapbooking contest. It was on a website that I love www.acherryontop.com . The rule was that you had to use 75% Scrapworks products to create a layout. Obviously this is a gimmick to get you to buy Scrapworks products, but it is fun anyway. Anyway, they picked one grand prize winner and 3 additional winners and I was one of the three runner-ups! I think there were about 40 entries, so there was some competition out there! I won a $25.00 gift certificate to the website and I promptly spent it and more. This was a very nice little confidence builder for me.

Baseball boys

Travis' baseball season has begun so we never see him anymore. I had no idea it would be this time consuming. They have practices or games pretty much everyday. It is Little League for heavens sake. I would be much more understanding if one of my kids were actually on the team. The other problem is that my otherwise fabulously healthy children turn into sneezing, runny-nosed, red and itchy-eyed monsters this time of year. I am so spoiled with their good health that I feel somewhat paralyzed by these insidious allergies that they both have. I am hoping that they outgrow them. Parker's have been slightly less traumatic this year, but that could be because we've had a pretty wet spring. Who knows?
Parker only has 3 weeks of school left. How is that possible? I actually kind of enjoy having him all to myself and not having to get up and get him to school. I am planning on making a conscious effort to really enjoy our last full year of before he starts kindergarten. I really feel that this year we are holding him back is going to be a bonus for him--and me. He is soooo entertaining! Speaking of entertainment, the more Jack speaks, the more I fall in love with him. He is turning into a very funny little boy. Knock on wood, but he has been fairly good the past few days. Of course, I haven't taken him in public either, but maybe there is hope yet!