Softball/ baseball season

We are in Softball/ Baseball season which means we are in the crazy time of year. I love it when this season starts and I am completely done with it when we have reached the end. This year we have Penelope in Softball that is 2 times and week. And we have Austyn in t-ball that is once a week. They both really love it!

This is Austyn's first year and he is beyond excitted. He is on the team called "Nationals". He is not much of a "talker" normally but during t-ball he never stops talking. He refers to T-ball as "B-ball". He does so many cute things during practice/ games. For instance when he first started hitting the ball off the T he wouldn't hit it far. So before he ran to first he would get the ball and throw it further. Also if he hasn't been told to run to the next base he would stand his ground on the base and not let any other kid on. He is just too cute.

Penelope is on a team called "the stingrays" and their team color is jade. They are known to chant or scream (as little girls do all too well) "lets go Madison! Lets go!" By the way almost 1/3 of her team is named Madison. She has one school mate on her team and several more that go to the same school. She isn't scared this year like last. She use to get scared about everyone watching her, especially her mother. But once she started relaxing and having fun she is doing well. I am so glad that she is not struggling with that this year. I ended up being the dug out mom. I have my own t-shirt and everything. Russ is usually helping out on the field or being a catcher behind home plate. I got enough ribbon to make little hair things for all the girls but I haven't gotten around to actually making them yet. I need to get on that.

Batter's Up!

  It's that time of year again! Batter's up!

Penelope had her first day of softball practice today. She did so well. I was surprised how much stuck with her from last year. Plus! Her coach this year is a softball coach at the local high school. So I am really excited about this opportunity.

This got me thinking about where we were last year. Last year at this time Austyn was crying desperately to play softball with sister. It took 3 different days of practice of walking with him on the basketball courts, crying his eyes out, before he finally gave up to just watch. This year we will be starting him in T-Ball (but they have a slightly shortly season so he hasn't started yet). Sometime during Penelope's season last year, we started potty-training Austyn. Funny thing is, we are still potty training him. LOL. However he is doing a lot better. In fact! He pooped on the potty 3 times recently. So we are defiantly making progress.

Penelope was still in preschool last year. Now she is a full fledged kindergartner. Wow have we had some ups and downs with that. But I am hoping that the rough parts are over with.  I doubt it, since she still has at least 12-16 more years of schooling to go.

We have officially entered a different phase in the raising up of children.  Currently in between taking Penelope to school, gymnastics, softball, soon to start t-ball for Austyn, church functions, additional school functions our plate is full.  We have made it into the "soccer mom taxi" phase.

Other stuff that has been going on for us.  The kids both had the influenza B virus (flu).  Penelope missed a whole week of school from it.  Austyn caught it but thankfully it didn't hit him as hard.  Just when we were getting to be a picture of health, Russ got an eye infection called irisitis.  (Where the black part of your eye is inflamed and infected.)  It makes it very difficult for him to see lights.  He got it last year, also around soft-ball time, surprisingly enough.  The ophthalmologist said that it could come back.  So we got him into the doctor to get the eye drops so we are letting them kick in. 

I started a new hobby.  I started crocheting.  At first I was making small swatches, dreaming of making many fancy things.  I am still dreaming. I still am very much a beginner.  But my teacher is so good she knows how to help me make beginning things look really good.  LOL.  Recently I made a lion baby beanie.  I think it turned out really good.  So I got encouraged to make a lady bug baby beanie.  I still have dreams far beyond what I  am capable of but I am getting there.  Too bad the cool weather is going away.  I would have done a lot more.  But there are still things to crochet even in warm weather Like the bottom picture: a starfish dollie. nbsp;

 

Lessen

Overall Austyn is doing better (now a week from the event). He started walking Tuesday night. He walks with a limp and he still crawls from time to time. He still complains of the pain and so we give him some ibuprofen when he does, which ends up being about 2 times a day. His foot is very tender, or at lease he treats it so. And whenever he bumps it or it gets jolted somehow he ends up in tears. This sprain will take a while to heal, I guess. So continue to pray that all the ligaments and muscles go back into place and are healed.

Penelope who was having some problems with school. Mostly circulating around not liking school, not wanting to practice letters, numbers, words, math, and wanting to just have fun with her friends. In which my mother said, "I can understand that". Of which I responded "Well I don't! She needs to love school. Its a great thing to be able to learn. She should enjoy it." God help me for pairing this daughter with this mother. Anyways she started a kind of tutoring for after school, which they call 'intervention' where she gets one on one attention to go over writing and phonics. The morning of she was fighting with us about getting ready as usual and telling us how much she "hates" school. At dinner that evening she proclaimed, "I love school! I love intervention." Russell and I sat there shocked for a moment before we both cheered. It isn't a complete 180 degree turn around but she is doing better which is a relief. It was getting to the point that I didn't know what else to do. How do you teach a little girl who refuses to be taught? It's not like I was trying to teach her to be nice to her friend or share her toys. I'm trying to get her to do repetitive tasks to learn her sight words or addition and subtraction. She is defiantly my free spirited child.

I recently finished reading a book a friend let me borrow titled 'Rebekah: Women of Genesis' by Orson Scott Card.  It is a fictional novel based on the biblical character Rebekah, the wife of Isaac.  It was so good.  Quite a page turner.  I had only read one fiction novel based on a biblical character and that was about Prophet Jeremiah titled 'He who Wept' by Thom Lemmons.  It was way too much in his head all the time that it was hard for me to read. But I really like this one and related to the main character, Rebekah, very easily.

It did get me thinking about a certain topic.  There is that moment in Rebekah's life (as a the character in the novel) that she is young and adventurous and ready to do great things for the Kingdom.  It brought me back to my own moment.  You know that moment....That moment where you are in your teens, or young adult.  You have your whole life ahead of you.  And think how you want to make a difference somehow.  But it is only by the pass of time that this idea flutters away.  Real life happens and the goings of everyday only make for normal and not world changing.

I remember this desire early on.  I didn't quite know what I wanted to do but I wanted to do something big. After I completed nursing school, I got married, and I felt my life can begin.  I could go out and be.  I loved my job.  Loved that I worked at one of the best hospitals in the United States.  And then I got pregnant.  My job didn't make exceptions for my growing baby.  Didn't seem to like the set backs that I was no longer wanting to do heavy lifting.  When returning back to work after having my daughter, people got upset at me for pumping privately at work during my breaks.  It went all the way up to management and they sided that I may be requesting too much to get that opportunity to feed my baby.  I knew what they were pressuring me was against California law.  I knew I could fight it.  Have this be my big moment of what I stood for.  But I didn't want to be known for forcing breastfeeding.  Either that or ended up just being a coward after all.  I switched jobs to closer to home, a local community hospital that had a more family friendly atmosphere.  More women and moms who know what it was like to have other commitments besides work.  And I gave up the idea of being a world changer.  I loved that job, but I didn't love the stress that it started giving me and it wasn't worth it.  Shortly after that was when my desire to stay home came.  No maybe not.  I remember going back to work in the first place after having my daughter and not wanting to leave her.  I never cried, but I worried constantly.  Would call my mother-in-law during every break to see if she was still okay.  Only with my son did my anxieties lessen.

But Rebekah stirred in me the desire to do some life changing thing.  Only I'm not holding onto the dead sea scrolls.  I can't birth another Jesus to save all mankind.  I just continue in my ordinary.  I am okay with my ordinary.  In fact I love the life Russell and I have chosen to live so far.  I am happy for the choices we have made.  But part of me, in the deepest part, still wants to do something big.  Maybe someday. 

 

Baby Jesus and Santa

Okay, I'm gonna start at the beginning....

Russell was raised in a loving Christian home. His parents decided early on no Santa, no Easter bunny, nothing. I was raised in a loving home but not in the church. My parents told us the whole Santa thing, until we found out on our own. They would have gifts from "Santa" (interestingly enough in my mother's hand writing).  Russell's brother and his family decided to continue the tradition, no Santa.  I remember learning about this when Russell and I were dating.  It didn't go over well with me the first time.  Hey, my favorite movie is "Miracle on 34th St".  Anyways, Russell and I did talk about it before we got married and we both agreed that we were ok with Santa.  Also because it would help include my family more.  In addition, as I saw Russell's brothers children grew up each one of the kids while entering public school struggled a lot with Santa.  At moments they would believe, because it was pushed so much at school.  But the struggle at home where it was reinforced that it's not real.  The look on the mom's face.  The look on the kids face.

So that brings me to how we did our kids.  I was okay with my kids knowing about Santa.  Like I said it was a way of tying in my family with the holiday.  But I always wanted Santa to be the runner-up.  I wanted Jesus to be the reason for the season.  I wanted Jesus to be more real to them than Santa is.  So we have decided to do some things and not to do others.  To have lots of talks.  To answer questions slightly differently.  But we still have fun with Santa.  But that brings us to now.  My daughter entered Kindergarten.  Wow, there is a lot of Santa push.  You would think some over zealous, doesn't have enough to do person (almost said lawyer, but I'll play nice) would claim separation of church and state.  After all, Santa is still celebrating Christmas.

Also, one of our normal family functions, "Back to Bethlehem":  Where a whole church changes their land into the city of Bethlehem.  There are people dressed the part walking around.  Everyone is in uniform.  Roman soldiers will yell at you if you look at them wrong.  Jewish teachers are in the corner teaching from the Torah.   And there is Joseph, Mary, and a real life baby in a barn that you can go see.  I loved taking the kids there, however; I am having a hard time finding one around.  There is one where we live but it is happening when we are going to be out of town.  When we go visit family they already ended.  Unless anyone knows of one?  Please.  That was my way of making Jesus more real.  Seeing Jesus' birth,  walking through Bethlehem. 

It's harder for Russell too.  He is having a hard time answering Penelope's questions about Santa.  I like to answer things like,  "Well, honey, he is as real as you want him to be."  Or something like that.  And at the end I always ask her, "What are we really celebrating?" and Penelope knows to answer "Jesus' birthday". 

Plus now that she is getting older there are some things that she can do now....write a letter to santa, sit on Santa's lap (we did these for the first time this year).  I was thinking about doing 'The Elf on the Shelf'.  For people who don't know.  It's a book and a toy elf.  You read the book, which has something to say about this elf that is really real and is going to sit up on a shelf and watches to make sure the kid is good or bad to tell Santa.  The parent without the kids knowing moves the elf occasionally so the kid really thinks that maybe it is real.  I told a friend about it.  Said I was thinking about it because I wanted the extra assistance/ leverage in having proper behavior.  She said it reminder her a lot about idols in foreign lands.  An inanimate object that is "real" and can pass "judgment" on you.  My response was, "Say no more.  Not gonna do that.  Don't want to miss with that".  I'm not condemning you for doing it.  I just couldn't after making that connection.  (That friend also does no Santa with her kids). 

We don't do presents from Santa.  We haven't yet done cookies and milk for Santa.  Never left a carrot for the reindeer.  Presents use to sit under the Christmas tree as I bought and wrapped them until the kids started getting into them.  Now they only come out right before hand.  I like the cartoon character of Santa.  I like the make-believe-ness.  Encouraging him being real, as much as Mickey Mouse is while you are at Disneyland (Hey, we are really big Disney fans.)  And somehow it has slipped away from that.  Is it a phase that I cannot completely control?  Is there a different direction I should be going in?  I'm not about to tell my daughter, "Sorry honey.  But really, Santa isn't real.  It's just a fake story."

FYI I'm not looking forward to Christmas with the older cousins who know very well there is no Santa and my daughter enthralled with him right now. 

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Penelope Preschool graduation

 I'm not going to mention that it has been a long time.  I'm just not going to say it.  I'm moving on from that, ok?  Okay.  I'm glad we are on the same page.  : D   

I wanted to upload some photos of Penelope graduating from  preschool.  She did a great job during the performance.  I'm very proud of her and that she is getting over her stage fright.  My little girl is growing up and Mommy isn't quite ready for it yet.  She'll be turning 5 next month.  Every once in a while I will say to Penelope, "Mommy has decided that you can't turn 5.  You have to stay my little girl." To which she will reply, "Naaa, Mom."   : (   I can't believe it.  Where did the time go?  She'll be starting kindergarten this August!




 

Penelope's finger

I know, I know, I haven't posted in forever. I'm a horrible blogger. But I'm here, right?

Anyways I had this adorable story I thought I would share that I think is just so funny! One night Russ, Penelope, Austyn and I were all sitting down at the kitchen table eating dinner. In the middle of dinner, Penelope showed us her middle finger. Totally flipped us off. Russ and I were pretty taken aback from it. Russ was the first one to tell her not to ever do that. He went on about how it wasn't acceptable behavior. Something you never do and defiantly do not show to your parents. And then drilled her on where she had learned it. Since it was a school day, our first assumption was she must have seen someone do it in class. We drilled her and drilled her. Surely someone taught her how to do it there. Did you see someone do it? Did someone do it to you?

Looking back she looked a little confused, I attributed it to her not really knowing what it meant. She eventually gave us a boys name (I don't really remember his name). She told us he had spit at her today. And though it wasn't the finger she was talking about, I'm sure he showed her the finger. We went on about how we might see people do things but that doesn't mean they are ok. We talked about not following behavior but deciding on our own what is good. Eventually when both Russ and I had had our peace we finally changed subjects and continued with dinner.

About 10 minutes later she showed us her middle finger again. But this time she pointed with the other hand to the hang nail that was bothering her. Oh boy. Did we get that wrong.

a post about....everything....

Lots of things have been happening around here. Above are pictures we took of us going up with Granna and Papa to Yosemite for the day.

Below are some pictures of us carving pumpkins and enjoying 2 different Halloween festivals.























Below we have some pictures of Austyn's 2nd birthday. Can you believe he is going to be 2 already!?! My baby is growing up. We had some of our friends over to the house and had a little birthday party for him.

I feel like lots have been going on around here. There is so much to update. But not quite sure where to start. Last time I updated it was 90-degrees and still felt like summer. Now we have already gone through our 2 weeks of wonderful 70 to 80 degree weather and have hit fall. It's now cold with an average high of 50 -degrees. We are approaching living here in fresno for almost a year. And in case you were wondering, yes, we still love it here. And we love being home owners.

I decided after Penelope had another bout with her stomach trouble to have her checked out. I have a co-worker who has a gluten allergy and when I was describing Penelope's symptoms she was having a lot of the same symptoms. After talking to her Pediatrician and then going to see a specialist we got her tested for gluten allergy and we are tring to get stool samples to check many other things. The gluten allergy came back negative. Her stool samples are hard to get. (You can stop reading if this is TMI for you and skip to the next paragraph.) They gave me a little container that would catch any droppings. For whatever, reason she is scared of it. I begged, and bargained, and tried talking her through it. She sat on it to go pee a couple of times. She even sat on it while she watched a movie on the portable DVD player. And still nothing. Someone had the idea of putting saran wrap on the toilet and she wouldn't notice. Let's just say it didn't work. She noticed and there was a big mess. Then we drained the toilet several times in an attempt to "cetch it". In about 2-3 weeks of it, we caught 1. ONE! Ugh. I was hoping once she saw that was all she had to do the other samples (we need a total of 3) would come easily. But nope. I called the doctor, she doesn't have any other options or ideas. Just keep trying. Can't move forward until we have the samples. So we are hoping, praying, that we can get on with it already.

Russell took the kids to the zoo with some friends. And Penelope was climbing on something she wasn't suppose to and fell back and hit her head really hard. I ended up meeting Russell at the Children's hospital and a great friend picked up Austyn for us. She had a "mild" concussion according to the ER doctor. Looking back I don't really know what was mild about it. She had a horrible headache, nausea and vomiting. Through the night we had to wake her up every 2 hours to make sure she was ok. Being a nurse I know the reasons why we do things. What I am really looking for is if she is having a small brain bleed. What really happend to her is that she hit her head so hard that her brain actually bouced around in her skull and caused small microscopic connections between her nerves to tear. It was awfull for me. And probably something as she gets bigger that she has a small memory of but will eventually be no big deal. She of course recuperated fine.

We are going to vacation soon. yay! Can't wait. More details of that when we get back.