Top of the Pool

I'm sure you are all dying to know what happened with the baseball games yesterday...

The boys played the Bears at 3:00. We had watched them play on Friday and we were pretty confident we could beat them. Curly played well with 5 RBIs on 2 balls hit to the fence. He even pitched the final inning on a solid 22-10 win.

We ate a burger while we watched Dominica trounce the Gunners. The next and final game of pool play would decide who made it to the big game on Monday.

The game started with our best pitcher on the mound and Curly on 1st. The sky was an amazing palette of blues and pinks; perfect for baseball.

I will spare you the play-by-play and just tell you that Curly was amazing at 1st, digging balls out of the dirt and being that big glove everyone can hit. Final score was 9-4. 

A celebration at Glade's with milkshakes all around completed our 7 wins in a week. Our longest winning streak has stretched to 16.

The big game starts tomorrow at 1:00. See you there?😊💕⚾️

We Live Baseball

It seems like we live baseball lately. With the holiday weekend tournament and the 3 league games, Curly has 7 games this week!

They won on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and two games on Friday. We will have to see if they can keep that streak going with the 2 games tomorrow. If they win both, it will be more baseball on Monday.

Guess what they do when they have a Wednesday off?

Pool party with the team!!!

Guest Blog: A Day at the Beach by Teach

Honestly, I was so nervous to go by myself while Twiz was at work, but it turned out to be great! We missed Dad, but Twizlet loved every second by the sea! 

Twizzler enjoyed splashing and digging in the sand and I loved watching the waves. 

We were at the bay so they were small waves that were very kid-friendly, and except the horseshoe crabs and green head flies - it was a dream. ♥️♥️♥️

Trying on the Regalia

You already know that Sport is a senior, so you can probably guess what comes with that... end of year activities. We are all so excited that the pandemic is calm enough to allow some of the fun parts of graduating from high school.

He had a great time on Saturday at the Senior Dinner Dance with his friends. 

Several weeks ago they were able to have their prom and we already talked about his concert.

But we are most excited about having an in-person graduation ceremony next week. Just for fun, he let me take a quick pic of him trying things on.

Of course, this is only the stuff from Bingham. We also picked up his cap and gown for Salt Lake Community College last week. Our amazing guy is a double graduate. Oh, High Honors from SLCC as well... we couldn't be prouder.💕

Hidden Treasures

I've spent a fair amount of time helping Grandpa get more organized lately. We have sorted all kinds of papers and in the process unearthed some forgotten treasures. 

Grandpa was an amazing athlete when he was young. He was good at pretty much anything he tried. He played basketball for Snow College (#51 on the far left, circa 1959) and baseball for Utah State.

I didn't even know this pic existed. It's much more fun to sort through old mail and taxes from the last century when I might find something like this just under the next file

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My Favorite Part of Hogle Zoo

We have had so much fun with our pass to Hogle Zoo! Little Warrior and Little Squire have been wanting to see the animals for weeks, but we couldn't get our schedules to mesh until The Beast had a thing with some friends this morning. That left Beauty with several free hours so we could finally make the trip.

Curly had baseball practice, and we decided to leave as soon as he got home. Bossy offered to drive for me since she knew we had been out late last night and Gamer drove the rest of their kids. Beauty drove her car too.

That made for a big, fun group!

My favorite part was the train.

And the carousel.

Watching my cute grandsons was the best!

Too bad Baby Doll and I had to take off early, but there was no way we were going to miss her last soccer game of the season. She even played goalie for the first time ever!

Actually, I think my favorite part of the Hogle Zoo is the fact that I can go again anytime I want (as long as I can find a few cute kids to go with me).

Giddy-up!!

Burrito's Choir Concert

It has been such a strange year, especially for performing groups like Burrito and his choir friends.

I sang in various choirs throughout my Jr and High school years and we always stood in tight formations so we could blend with those around us.

The pandemic has really forced these kids to step up so they can share what they have been taught to do.

Burrito is right in the center of this picture. I was so proud of him tonight. They sounded amazing!

Swimming at the Aquatic Center

I almost forgot to tell you about our trip to the pool last Friday afternoon before the concert. Swimming was still under restrictions and we had to make an appointment, so I reserved for 12 people and then asked the kids who wanted to go.

Bossy's family was excited as was everyone at my house including Grandpa. As it turned out, my sweetie headed south to do some yardwork for his mom and he didn't get back in time to go, but Little Warrior was up for an adventure, so he came along.

We had so much fun that most of us stayed in the pool for nearly 2 hours.

We have got to do that more often.

Guest Blog: Happy Family and Happy Craftin'! by Princess

Hello everyone! It's been a while since I've written a post, so let me remind you which one I am. I'm Princess. I am one of the super overachiever, blonde, former dancers. Oh wait, that doesn't eliminate very many people. I'm also married and have had a kid in 2018, 2019, and 2020. Does that help? 

We recently got our family pictures taken and of course the second Mom saw them she asked if I would write a blog post so she could share them with everyone. I can't blame her, they are super cute.

So, what am I up to these days? The Frog just graduated from BYU with a BS in Computer Science (FINALLY!!!). He will continue to work at the job he loves as a web developer. To celebrate (and because he needed a new car) we went to a car dealership for the first time and bought him a brand new Hyundai Elantra. He loves it and it makes his 30-minute commute a lot more tolerable.

Tadpole turned three in January. He is such an inquisitive kid and has the memory of an elephant. He will be starting preschool in the fall and he is so happy to be back out in the world. He really loves being around people, which is a challenge for his shy mama. 

He starts up a conversation with every stranger at the grocery store and he tries talking to the family behind us at church (which gets loud with the socially-distanced pews). He loves crafting, cement mixers, and visiting Grandma.

Polliwog turned two in March and he is growing every day. He is quite a dancer (has been since before he was born). I turn on music and he can't help it. He just starts to groove. He also loves to sing and would sing for an hour before bed if I let him (sometimes I do). He loves balls, cars, and animals. His favorite person in the world is Grandpa and (like Grandpa) he is not so sure he loves being back out in the world.

We took him to a restaurant for the first time (in his memory) and he completely closed off. He sat in the corner looking scared for the first half. Eventually he opened up and took a bite of food. Then he started doing his happy dance. He is slowly being more and more ok being out in public, but he still doesn't enjoy it like his big brother. 

Duchess is 7 months old and, though she still looks chunky, she has thinned out a lot. Her personality is starting to shine through, but I'm still not exactly sure what to make of it. She wants all the attention, but then cries when there are too many people. Sometimes she insists on being held constantly, but other times she will casually play by herself for an hour. (Girls are confusing.)

One thing never changes though, she LOVES her family. She laughs when the boys play with her. She will snuggle with Mama all afternoon and the smile she gives Dad when he gets home from work is heart-melting.

Not much is new for me. The kids keep me busy. I'm still doing my craft blogging, but it comes in bursts. I'll have a week where I make five YouTube videos, three blog posts, and seven reels on Instagram and then I will slowly make one or two things for the next month. 

The majority of my day is spent playing, cleaning, and feeding the kids. I've become one of those crazy Instant Pot ladies and we've been trying lots of different foods. The Frog is obsessed with the curries I have been making and I'm slowly becoming accustomed to my house smelling like an Indian restaurant. The Frog also bought me a little greenhouse and I have been trying my hand at my first real garden. It's pretty small, but I wanted it that way. It makes it seem more like a fun project and less like a chore.

That's about it. I'll finish up with a few more pictures of my cute kids.

@amyelizabeth.photo took our pictures and she did an amazing job. I highly recommend her to all my Utah friends. And, I don't know, I always end all my blog posts with happy craftin'... so, I guess, I hope you are well. Thanks for reading and happy craftin'! :)