batter up!

Peanuts! Popcorn!
One evening during our blackout, Diego and I wandered outside. He found a black plastic bat in the overgrown grass. The kind that might have been run over by the lawnmower before. One tennis ball later, he was swinging like he'd been part of the team for years. That's the thing about baseball...once someone picks up the bat, everyone wants in.


The bugs were chirping in the grandstands. The air was cool...well, at least cooler than it was inside.


And you can hate on baseball all you want, but it's still a great game for kids...full of cool gear, turn taking, and strategy. Fast ball, perhaps?


I haven't seen this two year old share before as well as he did that night.


And...he caught it without evening looking!! Well, really he's throwing it, but it looks like he caught it.


Then Babe Ruth stepped up to the plate.


Some quaked in their cleats and hid behind their gloves.


But the competition was fierce...we all know the saying, "it ain't over 'till..." and that's especially true in baseball.


The outfield can sometimes be a lonely place...but it's also a time to gather your thoughts.


A half time show of a little dancing...


...and laughter.


But we did have to call the game early. Diego kept being in the wrong place at the wrong time. You know what I mean? When you keep getting whacked with the bat every time someone takes a swing? Still, it'll go down as one of my all time favorite games.

hurricane irene

We watched the hurricane from the back porch. This little hot air balloon wind spinner never spun so fast in its life...at times it was parallel to the deck.


On the other side of the house, the little birds continued to flit to and from the bird feeder, even with the pouring rain and high winds. There's two huddled together in this picture.


We emerged after the storm to see what damage had been done. Mostly, it was just a lot of leaves and branches.


There's a driveway under there somewhere.



And it turns out we had a little more damage. Our 'shed that looks like a chicken coop'. A red X tree...it should have been taken down just a little sooner.


We lost power early afternoon. We just got it back Wednesday evening. That was longer than Isabel for us. But I'm not complaining. We were resourceful, neighborly, read books by flashlight, looked forward to sunrise, got in bed at dark, cooked pizza on the grill, played baseball and enjoyed each other's company. I think we might need to do this once a month now.


This was on the corner, the house beside ours.


I think I wanted it to fall on me only once...my kids fight, too, you know.

random thoughts

I love a good storm. Not hurricane size, but lots of rain and a bright lightening show. (As long as no one gets hurt, of course.) I think a slight smile might have even crept across my face as I realized my house shaking the other day was actually an earthquake. To know only God is in control, and I can do nothing about it is humbling and reassuring at the same time.


Diego and I stepped outside just before the skies opened up last night...for a little digging and investigating.


Lately, it hasn't been happening as much as I'd like. There's been way to much house cleaning going on around here. And strangely, you just can't tell.


Would you believe I still don't know how to really work my camera? I'm most definitely not a natural. I've read the manual. I've even read a book about it. I think a class is in order now.


In other news, potty training is interesting. He loves undies, sometimes. He's never used the potty though. Not once. He just likes to wear them around the house until he pees in them and then wants a new pair. No, he's not ready yet. But he sure looks cute in them!


Gotta run...here comes the rain...time to get the cardboard boxes out of the yard before they turn to mush.


Hurry!

love

Diego loves his 'tugas' (tortugas).


And I love watching him grow.


Tonight, I came home late with Isabela...we'd had a girl's night out shopping for bookbags. (We're definitely going to have more of these. She walked through the mall holding my hand. And I didn't want to let go.)

The house was dark when we got there, so everyone was in bed. The front door was locked so we had to get in the back. And I had to run back outside to turn the lights off from the car...when I got back in, the boys were up, excited to see us and our packages. But when Diego saw me come through the door, he ran up to me....and hugging my legs he says, "I love you Mom!"

There's nothing better.

why we're {not} homeschooling this year

It was a long, torturous road for me on deciding whether or not to send the kids to school this year. The images of happy children playing in the creek, learning their science lessons first-hand, or reading a book on a blanket under the clouds, these images still dance around in my head.

I spent many evenings researching late into the night homeschooling ideas, curriculum, thoughts and opinions. In my immediate surrounding of friends and family, no one homeschools. It could be because we live in a 'great' school district. What attracts me to homeschooling is not measured by test scores though.

Then there was the reality this summer: two kids I would occasionally have to lock out of the house in order to get them to play for any amount of time outside, a girl I could barely get to write a few sentences to her pen pal, a boy who would start crying when I said, "Let's go to the library."

What? Who's kids ARE these?

I started thinking the only reason they wanted to homeschool was to not do any school.

So I decided to give the other option a second look. Public school. These were my thoughts: It takes a village to raise a child. A school is a village, and for the most part, filled with teachers who have studied for years on how to best educate our precious kids.

But it's a watered down education, you say.

So we read at home. This summer we read A Lion to Guard Us, Because of Winn-Dixie, Stuart Little, and The Sword and the Tree, to name a few. These are old classics that are currently offered in a homeschooling catalog. We got them from the library.

We played board games and as we moved around the board, I realized we were adding and subtracting.

We baked. And we're missing some measuring cups. So we learned that 1/4 plus 1/4 equals 1/2.

But I still wanted my kids to play outside more. How could I make this happen? A garden. So we had a garden that flourished. Weeds right along with tomatoes and cucumbers. It attracted bumble bees, butterflies, cicadas, and praying mantises.

And I don't want them to miss any of this when they go back to school. I thought maybe we could start a garden at their school.

And what position should be open on the school PTA?? Beautification.

I'd say a garden qualifies.

So I signed up. The kids are going to school. I'm on the PTA. And the decision is made.

Am I having second thoughts? Absolutely.

There are amazing homeschooling blogs out there that I still read, essays from homeschooled kids that make me want pull my kids out tomorrow, but we're going to give school another try this year. Full-on.

Will I stop reading those homeschooling blogs? No way.

We're still learning at home. I recently picked up a book on my shelf, Honey for a Child's Heart. It's supposed to be a list a great books for kids to read. And it is. But it's so much more, and I recommend it.

I'm excited and nervous about this upcoming school year. I've turned over part of my children's education to someone else. And I've taken on a great project that just might provide education to other kids. It's the village coming full circle.

And if you ask my kids what school they go to this year, don't be surprised if they hesitate before they answer.

good book?

One of Joaquin's favorite books this summer was The Legend of Spud Murphy. It really is funny. He read it twice, then went on to read two others by this author, Eoin Colfer.

One day, we were working on our shrinky dink addiction, and I said, "Why don't you trace the cover of that book you liked?"

He wanted me to do it first....so I traced one and he colored it in with colored pencils.


This could be a fun summer project to remember favorite books your kids read...or something pretty to decorate a baby's window...I could see Goodnight Moon being one.

It could also be a great gift for a teacher (or librarian)...if you find out what their favorite book is. It is large enough to be a key chain or a Christmas tree ornament.

I even did one with a book cover that I thought was cute of a sweet dog saying, "I didn't do it."


Here's Joaquin with two of his favorite books.


Linking up here: Skip to My Lou...check out other great crafts.

who put an anaconda in the swift creek reservoir?

We had a close call yesterday.

We were at the park...the kids were running way ahead of me.

Down the pier.

At the end, there are steps that lead right into the water. (Who's idea was that, by the way?)

Joaquin was already in it.

Isabela was in it.

Diego was in it, with his shoes on.

I was just getting there, trying to figure out if I really wanted them doing this.

ALL OF A SUDDEN, a HUGE snake starts thrashing and writhing right at the bottom of the steps where my three precious kids were playing.

How big you wonder? Make you hand form a letter 'C'....that's how thick his body was. It was SO BIG I didn't even see its head.

The two older kids high-tailed it up the steps screaming all the way, leaving their two year old brother still tottering at the bottom of the steps trying to figure out how to get to the rocks.

I flew down there, grabbed his arm and pulled him up the six or so steps at once.

There's no picture to go along with the story, obviously, but the image is definitely burned in my mind. Really, I couldn't stop talking about until I figured out I could actually be scaring the kids more. We spent the rest of our time on the safe playground.

Later, as we sat on the bench at Rita's eating an ice cream, we thought how different our afternoon could have turned out and were thankful.