Father's Day 2016

Each year, the kids want to do something for Josh for Father's Day. Seeing as how tis the season for having children with me when I'm shopping every week, it's easy to let them pick something out for him when we go. They got a card (Darth Vader, of course), drew in them, and wrote nice little messages. Evie even drew two of the little people she can draw (think circles with four stick appendages) and said they were her and Daddy. It was cute and, for once, Josh actually liked the card and decided he's keeping it. Normally we avoid cards because he doesn't care for them and chucks them the next day. Not worth the money. They each picked a little something to give him and I think he enjoyed them. Evie spent the entire day wishing him a happy father's day and even made him a special bracelet from beads. It was cute.

It's funny, when I think about the difference between Mother's Day and Father's Day. For some reason, it always seems to be a bigger deal for the kids when it comes to dad. Yes. This makes me jealous. But I'm glad that they love Josh so much. It's great to see them get excited about a day to celebrate him. I woke before Josh and made him a batch of cinnamon rolls (his favorite) and made him homemade pizza (also one of his favorites). It was a good day for him.

Father's day for me, on the other hand, is bittersweet. I am blessed to have a great husband who works hard to make a life for us. He loves his kids and they love him back. But for me, a day where you celebrate your dad, it's tough. The last few Father's Days I've struggled. I usually begin the day with a flood of memories and end the day going for a long walk by myself to just compute all my feelings with no one around. This year, for some reason, was harder than last year. I kept seeing cards or gifts that I would have given my dad. I went for an extra long walk tonight. Happy Father's Day, dad. Wish you were here to hear that.

They Won!

Alex is in his fourth year of baseball. First year was T-ball, second and third was coach pitch and t6his year began the very first time of competitive baseball. This means that the kids do it all. Pitching, catching, and playing against other city teams. It's been a crazy time. Practice was long and hard and then we got smacked by spring rain troubles. It was bad. We got rained out of the first five games. And then the crazy began. We went from lazy summer to three games a week! Each Monday, Wednesday, and Friday we've had games at 6:00 in the evening. The games last one and a half hours or five innings (which ever comes first). It's been hot and sweaty evenings with extremely late dinners. It's been...well...an experience. They boys are all age 9 and 10. Truth be told, they aren't the best team.

Okay, that sounded unmotherly of me. But Alex knows that they aren't top of the line. Actually, up until this moment, they'd lost all their games. Some games were somewhat okay, but mostly they've been creamed. Until tonight. They won! It was fantastic. As a parent, I got such a high out of seeing my boy cross that plate and make a score that helped the team win. I get so anxious when I go out to these games. Especially when he is up to bat. He even had a pretty sizeable game injury two games ago. He slid, but it went badly and he somersaulted across the plate. He made the run...the only run for the game. But he hit his knee. Hard. He got a good scrape through this pants and the next morning his knee had a golf-ball sized fluid sack on it. I had to take him him to the doctor to make sure it wasn't cracked as he was in a lot of pain. He's fine, but still really sore. I, along with every other parent there, were super excited for the kids. It may have been just one win, but they earned it! Good job, boys!

It's hard to see, but the little number one is Alex's run from the game they lost. He got the only run.

Team Bulldogs after a win! They were hooping like they'd won the world series.

My big kid in full baseball gear.