The Braves Game....oh...um...I mean...The Rays Game!

Outside of Tropicana Field

A few weeks ago the Atlanta Braves were in town playing against the Tampa Bay Rays.  Jeremy loves the Braves so we decided we were crazy enough to take the kids to a game.  Once I got over the sticker shock of taking 5 people to a baseball game :( get use to it Michele:( and the fear of a child having a tantrum in the middle of the stadium, we actually had a great time.

Jeremy walking his son into the stadium to see the field for the first time.  This was a big moment for him.  Jeremy I mean ;)

We got there early and watched the teams warm up. We tried to catch some balls out in right field during batting practice, but never got one :(

Watching batting practice.

Let me say...the Rays stadium is VERY kid friendly.  I would most certainly go back again with the kids.  They have a whole family friendly section.  We didn't get to explore much of it, but we did get to let the kids sit down and color for a while.  They also have a carnival game area (where the games are free to play...isn't that nice?)  If we want to touch the sting rays, we'll have to go even earlier next time.

We had seats with a great view.  We were in the upper deck....just to the right of home plate.  It was great.  The girls borrowed some binoculars from some neighbors and that kept them busy most of the game.

Hahaha...so silly!

Nate watched for quite a while and was busy eating snacks and lollipops, until I ran out of treats.  Then, he got to play on the phone :)

I took this picture, anticipating the steal. 

Isn't our camera cool?!?!  From the upper deck, this is the detail I got.  Clearly he was out!

It was  a wonderful family afternoon.

Golfing

Nate went golfing with Jeremy and Greg while we had our Fancy Nancy Party.  He was very well behaved, and apparently had a lot of fun.  At the end of each hole, when asked his score, he always said....."TWO".

Way to go Buddy! 

I need Jesus my dear one...just as much as you need him

The great thing about homeschooling is that God is always using me to teach my children (OK, I know you don't have to homeschool for that to happen...but this examples ties directly into our curriculum) Case in point:

A few nights ago I "lost it" with my children. As in...I exhibited no self control in my attitude, my words and my actions. It was terrible..and yet another time of teaching forg...iveness and repentance.

Fast Forward to today....our new memory verse for the week comes up in our My Father's World study. It is....Proverbs 29:11 "A fool gives full vent to his anger, but a wise man keeps himself under control." Yep...we brought up the other night and how mommy acted like a fool because I gave "full vent to my anger" and not like a wise man who keeps himself under control. Then...Nicole confesses, "Mommy, the other night when you were mad, I wanted to remind you about our Bible verse "Pleasent words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones." Because your words weren't very sweet or healing.

*sigh* Yes my dear one. I need Jesus just as much as anyone else. Such great conversations can come from our sinfulness along with great rejoicing over God's grace to cover those sins with the blood of Jesus.

I share this...not to get everyone to remind me I'm a great mom or to make me feel better about my attitudes. No...I was wrong and acting in full fleshly sin at the time (and I knew it!) But to remind you to take those moments, seek forgiveness and reconciliation and draw your children back to their need (and Your need) for Jesus.

It's Potty Time!

Nathan is potty training...I mean, potty trained.  I mean...potty training. Well, I'm not sure what I mean.  I guess it depends on the day.  Nate has been potty training for about 2 months.  That is 1 month, 3 weeks and 2 days longer than the girls potty trained.  It has been hard.  It has been frustrating.  Yes, I have cried and prayed through it...and I still don't think we are done.  Well, since he just wet his undies again, I know we are not done.  BUT...he is in undies 24/7, 100% of the time.  He has been for a while now...which is why I guess I can declare that he is potty trained...but really, he is still training ;)

Whew, boys are harder than girls.  At least my little guy is.  He did horrible at first, then ok, the really good...then worse than horrible, then ok, then bad...and for the past few weeks it's been great.  (I define horrible as "several dirty (i.e. poopy) underwear changes per day".  I define bad as "never once going pee in the potty through the day" and I define great as "Only pees a little in their undies when they realize they have to go...or one accident when we aren't at home".

So, as you can see...I have very loose definitions of success here.  Apparently, this is somewhat normal for potty training boys (maybe girls too...I don't know...my girls were a dream! - and it felt like it at times).

I would like to label this next section as

"Things my daughters need to know when they become mothers and have to potty train their son."

(Nathan, I apologize now for any embarrassment I cause you as a grown man when you read this.  I promise not to break this article out at your wedding...but I may at the birth of your firstborn son ;)

1.  Your son MUST run around absolutely naked for the first few days.  I made the mistake of keeping undies on him for a while thinking "When he has an accident, at least it won't spray around everywhere and will form a little puddle at his feet."  A mother of a boy told me this was wrong thinking.  Let me explain.  There is a good chance your little guy has NO IDEA what his little "pee pee" is for, except perhaps for grabbing (which mine rarely does because he always has clothes on...I like clothes, I force my children to like to wear clothes too...unless we are potty training ;)  A little boy MUST SEE HIMSELF pee.  As in...he must see it come out so he knows what is going on...and why it is happening.  This was our first step of success.  My poor little guy had no idea what I meant when I sat him on a toilet and told him to pee.  After a day or two...he had a better understanding ;)  Now, it's up to you when to clothe your child again I guess.  Once I could tell that Nate had this concept down, we put undies back on (again..I am "For" clothes).

2.  You son MUST sit BACKWARDS on the toilet.  Ah, yes...This...This is the key to successfully potty training a boy.  At least in my experience it is. 
   
Let me stop here and say this first....for the first two years of Nathan's life...I was constantly asking about what to do when I started potty training him.  Does he sit? Does he stand?  No one gave me a solid answer.  So...I sat him on one of those dorky little Cars potty seats with a lame excuse for a pee pee splash guard.  Since the splash guard wasn't tall enough, I would force his little, you know...down into the toilet, because as it was, it would just allow pee to be sprayed in my face, which would induce more crying (by me of course, he would probably laugh).  I also bought a really expensive Baby Bjorn potty seat, with a more respectable size of a splash guard.  However, it was a super hard seat and hurt poor little guy's tush (haha...man up, right?  I'm sure Nathan will be utterly embarrassed when he reads this as a teenager...then, completely grateful again as a father.)
   
Anyway...back to the issue at hand.  A very wise mother of 5 boys all under age 8 gave me extremely wonderful advice that No One every suggested.  Put him on the seat backwards.  Backwards?!?!?  I don't understand...why?  Put him on and you will see. 

The pee will *almost* always go down in the potty (once he's figured out how to make it fly high over the seat...deal with that immediately ;)  So....accurate aim is important and backwards potty sitting sure helps with that.

Remember rule 1 and the importance of a boy seeing himself go potty.  Well...think of all the entertainment, just a little bend at the waste and he gets to see himself in full action.  It's a boy thing I think...and it works ;)

Finally, the seat is narrower towards the front, so his little tush is supported.  He's not holding himself up...dangling over a pool of nasty water that he most certainly will fall in if his arms give out.  Nope...not gonna happen with a backwards sitting boy.

I would also assume this aids in transition to going pee while standing.  I, for one, am not brave enough to explore this option quite yet.  At such a time, I do plan on incorporating Cheerio target shooting into our potty moments.   

I did finally get him to pee outside last week...here's hoping there will more of that in the future...you know, when we're camping or probably just about any time he gets a chance ;)

And that...is my potty training for boys advice.  Don't breathe a word of this to my sweet little guy until he's a strong young man I can claim "forgetfulness" that I ever wrote this post :)

Camping

Our poor, sweet little Nicole has been asking us to take her camping for about 2 years now.  Last year was a wreck...and during camping season here, we just couldn't.  So...this year rolls around and we are in transition from moving our lives.  We kept trying to find a weekend to go, but it just wasn't working.  So...finally, a few weeks ago in early April, we put the tent up in our own backyard.

Nicole was appeased...all she wanted was a campfire and a tent.  Mommy was happy because I really didn't want to be in the woods with three children and a puppy dog.  Daddy..well...there was a fire, so that made him happy too:)

The kids "helped" set up the tent and loved every minute of it.  Nate and Hannah enjoyed playing inside the tent together and yelling at Lucy the dog to stay away. 

The best (ok, scariest...looking back now, we can laugh but this could have been really bad) part of the night was when the kids wanted to roast marshmallows.  Jeremy said to them "First you have to find a stick".  Nathan reaches into the fire pit and grabs a stick that is on fire!!!!  Jeremy was right there and controlled the situation immediately.  Nate was perfectly fine.  Mom and dad...well...we were a bit on edge after that ;)

Nathan got stung by a random wasp at night while exiting the tent.  That was weird.

Surprising the  kids all slept in the tent all night long! (yes...I stayed in the tent too...even though I kept thinking about how close my couch (or even my bed) was.  Lucy stayed in her kennel...maybe sometime she can stay out with us though.

I very much enjoyed camping the backyard.  Clean up was fairly easy.  I wasn't afraid of wild animals since we have a fence, and bathrooms were close by.  All in all...it was a great family weekend.

The Island of Pirates

After Christmas, when we owned our new home, but didn't have the time or man-power to move in yet, we were really in limbo (as far as where to live). We ended up staying with Jeremy where his new company was putting him up at...on a beach.  Score for us!

The view from our room was wonderful.  We had a big two bedroom room with a kitchen (Yay!)

Because of all the craziness in our lives the weeks before, I decided to take these few days and do only two things :1. Clean our new house, about an hour away and 2. Play with my kids.

Nathan...love this little boy!

Unfortunately, a cold front came through and we couldn't use the beach the way I originally planned.  However, I must say that I enjoyed the beach far more with pants and a sweater on than I ever did in a bathing suit.

They were so cold...but as soon as they saw how big the beach was...they took off running and screaming like wild children :)

The kids and I had a blast while Jeremy worked (sorry honey).  The beach was HUGE!  The biggest beach I had ever seen.  The wind was strong and very cold, but we enjoyed it (well, Nate cried quite a bit...but the girls loved it).

They dug holes

Nicole's lower body was completely covered

Played race with the waves (Hannah got so wet one day that her sweat pants kept falling down, haha)

The enjoyed the beauty of God's creation (so much so that I "caught" Nicole wandering off singing praises to God.  She told me that the beautiful sky and water just made her want to sing praises to the Lord!  What a pure child like faith and love for the Lord she has...I LOVE it!)

I love this picture

And this one too

I forget why, but one night Jeremy had to work really late. So...the kids and I put a pizza in the oven and ate cookies and watched a movie, after taking a sunset walk on the beach....it was perfect :)

Amazing sunset

Our final morning, we were even able to get out there before the sun found it's way out of the clouds.

Beautiful sunrise

This was an extremely peaceful few days that our whole family needed...it was great!  And, I would definitely want to vacation here again!

Atlanta Braves

Every year, Jeremy asks to go to an Atanta Braves game.  We finally made it.  I think this is the first Braves game we've been to since the year we met in 2000 when we went with the college group on a trip to Tennessee. 

Jeremy "pitched" to see how fast he could throw while we waited for the rain delay to end

They played The Florida Marlins earlier this week.  We made it over on a rainy Tuesday afte work.  When we got there, the game had been delayed.  After waiting an hour (and being entertained by the employees at the stadium), the game finally started.

The field crew cleaning the field up for play.  They were actually using brooms and sweeping water into dust pans.

We had great seats, 11 rows up behind the third base dug out (got the tickets for $13 each...cheaper than going out to the movies!).  OK, to be honest, I was scared the first severa "at bats" that a ball would come rocketing off a bat and smack me in the face.  We didn't get any balls in our area, however a player did (acidentally) throw a bat far beyond us and almost hit a lady in the head.  Thankfullly, no one was injured, and I'm pretty sure Jeremy was a little bummed HE didn't get that bat ;)

I don't think there were even 3,000 at the stadium the night.  Between the Marlins not being a great team and the weather, no one was there.  And, there were certainly more Braves fans than Marlins fans (a little sad I suppose)...we even had a Buckeye sit behind us :)

Our seats....see how full the stadium was.

We had fun yelling for the players and doing the "wave".  We ended up moving further up the stands near the end of the game because the guys in front of us were getting to drunk and were yelling obsinities at the players. 

Chipper Jones leading off of first

Chipper's hit

We saw Dan Uggla make history by reaching 30 consecutive games with a hit (I believe he's beyond that record now too).  So, it was fun to chear for him. We saw some great home runs, and only one or two really good plays.  However, we thouroughly enjoyed our time.  The game went into extra innings until the Braves scored the winning run in the 11th.

Someone being interviewed after the game.

Good job on the win guys

Just before leaving, we went down to take a couple of pictures.  Afterwards, a player threw us a game ball which was exciting. 

Our after the game shot

Jeremy got a ball!

Since it was already midnight, we decided to go ahead and try to get the ball autographed.  We waited for about 30 minutes with a group of about 15 other fans.  When the players started coming out, most of them totally snubbed us.  We really wanted Chipper Jone's autograph, but he refused to come near.  I did snap one picture.  Kind of a bummer.  It'll probably be the last time we get to see him play in person.

Chipper Jones coming out of the locker room. This was a close as he got...and the camera is really zoomed in. To bad he couldn't show a little appreciation to his fans...however, it actually really exciting to stand there hoping someone would sign the ball :)

So, after a late start, extra innings and autographs hopes dashed, we left for our 2 hour drive home.  We got in bed a little after 3:00am (and had to wake at 6:30).  It was worth it though.  Jeremy got to see his baseball game and we had a super time!  We can not wait to take the kids, especially Nathan to a ball game one day.

Evening at the Beach

Last weekend we made an impromtu visit to the beach for burgers and fun.  Grammy and Gramps came along, as well as our friend Jeremy and his two children, who are just a little older than Nicole.

We had a perfectly wonderful time.  Jeremy had been away all week working several hours away, so some high quality family time was is need.

This was Nathan's first time to the beach.  He wasn't terribly impressed with the cold water and sticky sand, but other than that...he seemed to have a fun time.

It was very windy, so the waves were to big to take the kids in, and the water is still a little cold.  But, Nicole and Hannah had fun playing in the sand, and at the edge of the water.  Actually, Nicole was being pretty brave and going in the water alone...until she asked if there were fish in there...when she quickly moved away from the waves because the fish "might get her". 

Someone before us had made an alligator out of sand, so just before we left, the girls had fun destroying the alligator.   I thought Nicole asked Jeremy if he wanted to help "wrestle the alligator", but really she said "wreck the alligator".

We got some fun family pictures too.