This One's For the Papas & the Grandmas

Dear Papas & Grandmas ~

#1:  The boys & I are over the whole fever/cough thing.  Woohoo!  :) 

#2:  I think Chad is beginning to show signs of catching the fever/cough thing.  Bummer.  :(

#3:  We received our new dishwasher, last week.  It made a horrible, grinding noise. 

#4:  The newer, new dishwasher arrived this week.  It works...HOORAY!  It really wasn't bad washing dishes by hand for the past month, but I'm mighty thankful to have that sweet machine back in my life.

#5:  J was a little stunt man & jumped out of the swing, the other night.  He hurt his wrist, but the official word is that he's ok.  No broken bones.  A cast for the summer wouldn't have been fun.

#6:  L had a wonderful 4th quarter report card!  It's fun to listen to him read, & it's amazing to witness all he can read, when we're out and about on errands.  He.reads.everything.      
 
#6:  It wasn't our intention to be out driving around in the middle of a tornado warning.  Sometimes, these things just happen here, in good ol' Oz.  The good news is that we're fine!  I guess that's obvious, seeing as how it would be a tad bit creepy for you to be reading this from me, otherwise.

The scoop:  Chad & I drove to the east side, for an outdoor jazz concert.  The boys were at home with their super reliant sitter.  The weather became wacky pretty fast, so we decided to end our date, before it started.  Tornado warnings were popping up & we didn't feel right about cozying in for a concert while leaving the sitter to deal with the ever increasing weather issues. 

On the drive back home, we saw this, to the north of us:



Just a happy lil' wall cloud

 Now, this wasn't heading toward us.  Never fear.  However, other storms were appearing & forming crazy clouds ahead of us.  By the time we reached our side of town, we actually heard the sirens.  Clouds were swirling.  Rain followed.  Then, after pulling our van into the garage...hail.  Thankfully, not as large as the hail that damaged our still-needs-to-be-repaired roof.

Now, aren't you glad I didn't call you while we were racing home & seeing wall clouds?  You're welcome.  :)

#7:  The boys started their baseball/T-ball season.  L plays machine pitch & J plays T-ball.  After his first game, L said, "It was AWESOME!"  Chad has been impressed with L's throwing/catching skills.  He's even had some hits!!

L

L

J

T-ball is a great!  J has had some hits & he's always alert in the outfield.  While some kids do show some knowledge of the game, they're all still learning.  Here's what I learned about T-ball, after watching ONE game:

• Sometimes, it takes kids many, many, many swings, to hit the ball off a tee.  
• It takes one coach AND five/six other adults (per team) to help the kids practice & play a game.
• If an adult doesn't hold back the batter's bat, while the "catcher" puts the ball back on the tee, being a catcher would result in multiple head injuries.
• Playing in the dirt is still a popular pastime.  After all, large quantities of it fit in the palm of the mitt & in the hat!  Plus, you can draw pictures, dig holes, & make imprints with your shoes.  Dirt.  Who needs toys???
• It's more dangerous than soccer...especially during practice.  Oh.my.word.  High energy...low skills.  Balls flying everywhere.    
• Stopping a "grounder" resembles trapping the ball like it's a small mouse vs. scooping up the ball, with the glove.
• Sometimes, someone on base forgets to run to the next one.
• When a ball is hit, every player in the field runs after it...leaving behind their field positions.  J scooped up several balls that came near him.  However, when he went to throw it to "first base," the first baseman was right next to him.  So, he just handed it to him. 
• Sliding is a must, if you want to look like a professional.  

I have a great video of J sliding into home, but can't get it to upload.  He did this dramatic slide...and landed about a foot away from home plate.  It.was.awesome!!  So cute!

Well, that's the update from here.  Hope you're all having a great week!