Last baseball practice- June.

This morning we had Henry's last baseball practice.

He's really come a long way since the first practice when he refused to leave the bench. Even the coach called him "Most Improved."

He was hitting all home runs today.

For once, I didn't cry the whole practice- just the first 5 minutes. Even though papa found a glove and baseball bat for me, I wanted to be on the field with Bubba.

Luckily, mama brought my breakfast and was able to distract me.

For once, Henry wanted to dress the part for something. He insisted that Papa give him his Reds cap.

Henry and his coach. His coach is also a coach at the local high school and is still good friends with many of the football players who now play for Clemson. He told us that Jarvis Jenkins is going to help him coach 4 year old football this fall. That might be enough to get us to sign Henry up.

After practice, they had one more team cheer. "Goooooo Tigers!"

Every week, the kids practice running bases. Henry was a little late to remember to run home from third.

New links- June.

It's long overdue, but we wanted to point out that we've added two new blog links to our sidebar. Both blogs belong to the boys of our neighborhood. The first is James and Andy's blog. They live down the road to the right. The second is John and Christopher's, who live down the road to the left. All four are a good time to be with.

You might notice that along with the boys next door, that makes 6 boys in the neighborhood. And there are four more families that have a total of more 8 boys under the age of 5. To be fair, mama knows of 4 girls on the block, but they are all over 7. John and Christopher's mom, Miss Juliet, says we probably don't stand much of a chance against having a boy. But a girl should would help even out the numbers.

Slushies- June.

This morning, mama wanted a treat, but didn't want to drive to the Starbucks to drop $5 on a drink. Luckily, we've got a magic bullet and some Chai tea mix from the last Tastefully Simple party.

She was even nice enough to give some to me. And a straw too!

Mmmm!

The best part is that Henry spotted the Magic Bullet after school and scored us orange-strawberry-blueberry slushies after lunch! Two in one day!

WARNING: Don't come to South Carolina in the summer!

Last night, papa and Henry cleaned out the garage. (And Henry earned a 10 cent book for all of his hard work- Curious George Wins a Medal.) After he blew out all of the dirt and leaves, papa came across this spider. That thing was seriously as tall as a brick. Mama tried to get papa to kill it, but he said that thing probably would eat half the bugs in the yard. We think maybe he was too scared because it jumped at him when he tried to get a picture of it.

Field trip- June.

Today, Henry's class went on a field trip to a park in Pendleton. We feel like fools because we've never been to this park before. It was great- and shaded. Mama finally got a picture of Henry and Kefu, though Henry refused to cooperate.

Henry wanted to take this picture for PawPaw.

I climed the stairs to the top of the slide, but refused to slide down it. Instead, I stood at the top and told all the kids when they could go, like a life guard at a water park. "Go! Slide!" Apparently, I broke a heart today too. Henry's classmate Landon spent most of the morning following me around and helping me out. When I was up on the slide, he came up to mama and complained that no one would play with him. She asked if he had asked anyone to play with him and he responded "I keep asking Henry's little sister and she won't ride down the slide with me." Sorry Landon, I like boys my own age.

I wanted to ride that motorcycle ("sickle!"), but after two minutes of making my own vroom sounds, I got mad that it wasn't going anywhere. I got off the bike and looked all around it to see what was the problem. Turns out the whole thing is made of wood and the wood is attached to the playground. No amount of pulling could get it loose, so I had to abandon the cause. By the way, how does a little girl get so dirty so quickly?

On the way out, I climbed the "tuttles."

Now that we're on our "no clutter, crumbs, or messes or else the ants will get worse" plan, mama used some of her birthday money for a new mini vacuum to sweep under the table three times a day. (We generate a LOT of crumbs.) It's essentially a Dust Buster with a detachable handle. Henry was PUMPED to use it. He literally vacuumed every inch of floor in the house tonight, including the stairs. Looks like this purchase has already paid off.

Did you think I couldn't get any cuter? Check out this video of me singing with papa after I insisted he rock me like a tiny baby.

We need to update more- Henry.

Mama really has been slacking on the blog posts and the pictures are really piling up.

Sunday was Mother's Day. Papa made mama a big fancy breakfast then took June and I hiking so mama could have the morning to herself. She went to Walmart and spent an hour just walking around. Then she puttered around in the garden until we got home. The real highlight was when papa took us out for a fancy supper- Long John Silver's! We ate in the park and headed to the docks to look for fish and ducks. Here's the best picture we got of the three of us. Maybe it's the LJS, but mama is looking thick. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad if she weren't carrying so low.

We don't always eat delicious fast food fish. On Monday, we were able to reap the benefits from our garden. The broccoli is in! Mister Taylor, this is for you. Next time you come, you can put up a Yelp review of mama's cooking.

At least mama has a good excuse for not updating. She's been busy sewing. Most of her projects, she can't show because they are gifts, but she did make two more cardigans for herself. After seeing more pictures, she thinks maybe she should go out in public in tank tops anymore. (At least until it gets to hot. She already broke the rule today.) And after she saw this picture, she thinks maybe she needs to spend a little time putting on some makeup too.

Here's papa, Junie, and I showing off my latest creation. We got the legos back out in our toy rotation and we've been building with them every night. Mostly, I just want to build square houses and use every single piece I've got. It uses up a good 45 minutes and keeps me pretty quiet.

Here's papa's latest work. Take a look at that beard. I'm surprised no one at Clemson has told him to shave it yet. He looks ridiculous. Or totally awesome.

We couldn't convince him to use this picture for his Clemson website. Like father...

...like son.

Yesterday, I asked mama was "irritating" meant. She told me that irritated was how she felt when I screeched loudly for no reason. She's started a no tolerance policy when it comes to my "irritating" habits.

One example was yesterday when I had to put my paints away after some loud yelling when June was asleep.

At Christmas, we borrowed some molds from Great Grandma Seibert so we could make some plaster of paris ornaments. Now we have a big bag of these cool ornaments from the sixties. Hopefully, we can have them all painted by Christmas.

Mama's working on putting away some old clothes. She squeezed June into this little jumper one last time. It used to be a dress, but now it is only a shirt. It was so tight, I don't know if June could breathe.

One of June's new words is "Tee!" as in "Let's turn on the TV and watch Dora!" She also gets excited every time someone's opens a computer because she thinks she'll get to watch something.

Mama's birthday week- Henry.

When we got home on Monday night, mama was NOT pleased to find we had another outbreak of tiny ants in the kitchen. To keep us occupied while she cleaned out the pantry again, she got the bins of toys out of the attic for us to rotate. We played happily by ourselves for a few hours. I was so happy to have our "new" toys, that I packed up the bins with old toys, put away all the new toys, and even carried mama's bags upstairs. She asked me what my game was and I responded "I have work to do, mama. I don't have time to play games."

June remember that she loves the red, round blocks and has been building very tall towers.

"Oh no!"

On Tuesday, we got a notice from school that a few kids in my class had strep throat. Of course, I came down with a fever that afternoon. On Wednesday morning, I complained that my throat hurt. Normally, mama wouldn't rush me to a doctor over a low fever, but she decided to play it safe this time. The doctor looked at my throat and assured mama that a low fever and a red throat didn't always mean that I needed antibiotics. Mama was a little offended because she is not a drug demanding, freaking out mom. So she celebrated her silent victory when the strep test came back positive. While we were waiting for the prescription to get filled, mama took me to the Sonic for a slushie for my throat. Good thing we went to the doctor so early. Mama thinks we got the meds before the strep really hit me, so I never really felt that bad and got to go back to school on Friday.

Things didn't improve on Wednesday when papa discovered that we had no hot water. One look under the house at the water heater (that was gushing water) and we knew we had a problem. The bad news was that our old hot water heater (original to the house-35 years old!) was shot. The good news was that the plumbers were able to get the new hot water heater installed in under four hours.

(This is completely off subject, but want to hear a funny story? Mama was lamenting how we were bleeding money this week with exterminator bills, plumber's bills and doctors bill's. So they decided to move some money over from their savings to their investment account, thinking that maybe if it was invested, nothing else could break in the house. Papa joked "Well, this ought to guarantee a stock market crash tomorrow." And don't you know, the stock market did crash. On a technical glitch. Sigh. There goes my inheritance.)

Thursday was mama's birthday. In addition to the great present of a new hot water heater, we took her to a strawberry farm down in Anderson. We had a great time! June and I each had our own tupperware containers to carry. We both insisted on picking our own strawberries. Mama liked not having to bend over (except when June wanted to pick mushy strawberries off the ground). June was so mad when mama insisted on putting a lid on her bowl and really lost it when mama didn't let her hold it in her car seat.

Here's half of our bounty and two sweaty kids.

June shook her bowl so much that most of her strawberries were bruised. So mama spent the afternoon making 4 jars of freezer jam out of June's berries and chocolate shortcakes for my strawberries.

We took mama out for supper for her birthday. She declared it a holiday and drank a beer with her burger. Then she really got lucky when someone came out to the patio where we were sitting and smoked a cigarette upwind from her. Have we ever mentioned mama's weird pregnancy cravings to smell cigarette smoke? Not to smoke cigarettes, just to stand next to someone who is smoking. Sorry, little brother or sister. She did it with us too, and we turned out okay. We'll be rooting for your and the few brain cells you have left. Papa says its the best mood mama's been in in months and is trying to figure out a way to get mama's doctor to let her have a beer every night.

When we got home, there was an ice cream caking waiting for us. Looks like mama dropped enough hints and now papa knows to get one every year.

Today, we all took late naps and no one woke until after 5:30. So after supper, we decided to have a movie night. (Did you know you can find codes on the internet for free Redbox rentals?) We rented the Princess and the Frog. I liked the alligator and June though the frogs were hilarious.

Mama though we were pretty cute watching the movie, so she took some pictures. June in focus.

Me in focus.

And we'll take you out on a video. I came up with a really funny impression this week. No one is quite sure what it is an impression of, but it's me saying "That's impossible" in a really funny voice. Mama couldn't stop laughing and I was reduced to the giggles eventually too.

The train museum- June.

We had so much fun with Miss Susan, but Henry repeatedly worried that papa would mind that we left town while he was gone.

Since Spencer is on the way back home, we decided to stop off at one of our old hang-outs- the north Carolina Transportation Museum.

First stop, the gift shop and the Thomas train set. Since I can now say the word "Thomas," I obviously thought that I should be the one to play with the Thomas train and not James or Bertie. Mama made us take a few turns, before Henry just let me have Thomas for good. But mama drew the line when I insisted on having the two coal cars Henry had. She made me stand outside with her while Henry played inside by himself. (It was a rainy Monday morning in early May- we owned the place.) Henry eventually just tried to give me what I wanted because he knew my fits would mean an early departure. As nice as that was, mama wouldn't let him appease my demands.

Things have changed since we last visited the Roundhouse. There were lots of new trains in each "parking spot."

There was a full size replica of the Wright Flyer. Henry remembered when he visited Kitty Hawk with Papa and Grandpa Seibert last summer and liked how the Wrights had to lay down on their bellies to fly the plane.

Do you think these two kids are related?

We faced a long drive home on a drizzly day, but mama had a secret weapon hidden in the front seat. We miss you, Cookout.

Despite the fact that the car DVD player finally kicked the bucket, we were very good for mama on the way home. She did rig up her laptop so we could watch a movie, but the sound wasn't loud enough, so Henry and I sang the whole way home.

Well, almost all the way home. Of course, I fell asleep 10 minutes from home.

Over the weekend- June.

Papa went to Providence, Rhode Island this weekend for a boys weekend/bachelor party and to cheer on some of his friends as they ran the Providence marathon (way to go, Mister Paul and Mister Zac!).

Mama feared four days alone with two kids. Especially when one of them is a two-year-old stinker who thinks she's four, like her brother. Why wouldn't I think I'm all grown up? Look at my new big girl chair! It has certainly curbed all the standing up and jumping that I used to do in my booster seat.


I think mama and papa are starting to figure out that I have them wrapped around my finger. All it takes is a display of adorable like this and they let me watch an episode of Dora. Wait until the end of the vider to see me practice some of my words.
On Friday night, Henry's school celebrated its 50th anniversary. They had a big party complete with games, barbeque, entertainment, and a tiger bounce. Henry jumped in the tiger bounce a few times, but I was enough of a stinker that mama didn't get a picture. Despite the fact ot was almost 90 degrees and really stinking hot, I wanted to play with chalk in the sun. (Yes, my shorts are way to big.)

Supper was a huge disaster. The lines were long, the programs longer, and my nap was short and Henry didn't take one at all. Here's a big public thank you to Mister Tony and Miss Juliet for helping mama out with two onery kids, even though their kids needed plenty of their own attention. Mama would never have made it through supper on her own.

After supper, mama wasn't ready to start fighting over bedtime, so we stayed a little longer to play. I played with the bean bag toss for almost 20 minutes. I even went behind and got all of the bean bags out myself.
While I played, Henry drew a little house. He won't draw much, but must feel confident in his house drawing abilities. I wish mama had taken a picture of the card he drew for PawPaw. It has our house, our vegetable garden, our "moss garden" (that's what Henry calls the herb garden), the garden hose, and the sun. (Sorry if you haven't gotten it and we ruined the surprise, PawPaw.)

Despite the fact that mama had to drag both of us home screaming and crying (Henry was mad they took the tiger bounce down and that he didn't get to say goodbye to Kefu and I was mad that they gave away the balloon decorations and I didn't get one), the night wasn't a total bust. Mama got video evidence of the first ever performance in which Henry actually sang and completed the hand motions, and didn't just stand there with his mouth open and his finger in his belly button! It's a miracle!

Mama was so worn out over the whole evening that she drove to the Dairy Queen all the way down in Pendleton and got herself a blizzard. And she was so mad at Henry and I that she only gave us one bite each. She was so anxious about the rest of the weekend alone that when Miss Susan called, she decided to drive us all up to Greensboro to visit her. And we had a good reason, too. After all of her hard work, Miss Susan was accepted into the Wake Forest Medical School! Since Mister Paul was up in RI, we figured she might want some company to celebrate. (Who doesn't want to celebrate with a pregnant lady and two kids?)

So on Saturday morning, we went to baseball practice and spent some time at Miss Juliet's house while mama packed the van (Thank you, thank you, thank you, Miss Juliet!!!). We got into Greensboro in time to see the very end of a low-rider car show. I wish mama had taken more pictures of the low-riders jacked up with their hydraulics. Don't look too close at this car. By the time we walked down to the car show, most were already gone and we only got a picture with this car with the lewd lady on the side.

On Sunday, we mostly piddled around the apartment. We took a lot of walks, including one down to the train yards just a few blocks away. It was fun until mama realized she lost the house keys and we had to spend the next hour retracing our steps 4 times before she found them in the grass by the house.

I tried to sneak out in a pair of Miss Susan's shoes, but mama caught me and made me put my squeakers back on.