A Monkey and His Uncle

Ray, my older brother came for a visit back in January.

I really enjoyed his visit...always do enjoy his visits...but I think Tater may have enjoyed this visit even more than I did!

I wasn't sure if Tater remembered Uncle Ray or not; he often confused him with Mr. Ray, our yardman. But it didn't take him long at all before he had Uncle Ray down in the floor 'playing rough'.

Or was it Uncle Ray who had Tater down on the floor???

If only you could hear Tater laughing through all of this!!

Things settled down for a bit, and they got out the Disney games....

Disney Dominoes....

Disney "Snap"...which we usually just turn into a matching game cause Tater doesn't really understand the concept...he just likes to say "Oh, Snap!"

Then it was tickle time again....and posing for Nana...notice how they matched with their gray t-shirts and blue jeans...totally unplanned!

And finally Tater calmed down enough to have his picture made with Grannie West.

Thanks, Uncle Ray, for coming to play with Tater....and for coming to visit your middle sister....your favorite, I am sure!!!

Blogging Catch-Up

During my two-month lapse from blogging, there really was plenty to blog about, just no time in which to do it! Today I happen to have the day to myself, so my goal is to do at least two blogs of things that happened between early January and early April.

I had planned to work in the yard today. The forecast was for rain in the afternoon and evening, but I figured I could get some plants in the ground this morning before it started raining. (I am saying all this because I have so much FAITH in the weather forecasters! Bad idea!) It is now 2:50 in the afternoon, and I have not even set foot in the backyard! First of all, I woke up around 4:15 this morning hearing the sprinkler system....it's supposed to run in the wee hours of the morning on Monday and on Friday...I had it set on Thursday. What that really meant was that the ground in the flowerbeds would be too wet....we have so much clay in our soil that if it is too wet, it is impossible to work with...it's like working with clay, imagine that! Then it was cloudy all morning and sprinkled and spit like it was actually getting ready to rain. Now, this afternoon, the sun and the clouds are playing their own little game of chase, there is no rain, and the wind is blowing...forever blowing.

BUT, my house is clean, there's a cake in the oven for Kerry's meeting tonight, and I have time to blog!

Play Ball!

The day finally arrived last Saturday...the day I got to watch Caleb play his very first ball game! I have dreamed and waited for this day since he was just big enough to play 'catch' with Nana. Having girls, playing 'baseball' with a toddler was all new for me. I didn't know much about baseball at all until I started watching it with Kerry and going to a few games. And I found out that I really like baseball! And I REALLY liked playing baseball with Caleb. He could throw that little baseball straight to me when he was 2! When he was big enough to really handle the bat, I started pitching to him, and he was uncannily good at hitting most of them! The funny thing is that he would throw with his right arm but bat left-handed. As soon as he would hit the ball, he would take off running across the yard while I 'chased' him with the ball until he got back to wherever the bat had landed. That meant he was 'safe'. So the next thing we did was put out some 'bases' so he could run the bases. But he would always run to third base first! We worked on that, too. Sometimes he would let me bat, and I would let him chase me with the ball! I know, it's a pretty hilarious mental picture...a 50ish Nana running around the backyard with a preschooler, but it was heaven to me! I had SO much fun watching him learn to play ball. It was a special thing between Caleb and his Nana. We even gave him a T-ball set for his 4th birthday. I could hardly wait until he was old enough to play T-ball...and I could go and cheer him on at his games. And now he is 5 and old enough to play in the city league! His team is the Cubs, and he is #6! And he is TOO CUTE!

In 'ready' position as shortstop!

First time at bat!

Running home from third base!

His second game on Monday night, he played first base.



After his first game...with a 'sno-cone reward'...with little brother, Connor, who is gonna be our next great baseball player!!

I can't really put into words how I felt as I sat there during that first game, watching my little Caleb play a real game, catching a ball in his little glove, crouched in his 'ready' position, standing at the tee with his bat and eyeballing the ball, then swinging and hitting the ball, running to each base, then sliding home... Oh my, it was just so neat! I may not be the loudest fan, but I will be one of the most sincere, most dedicated, proudest fan that little boy has, because I will never forget. I am so proud of my little T-ball player!

Where Have I Been?

Wow! No post since January! Where have I been? Not sure, but I guess I've been pretty busy.

• Grandkid Birthdays: Grandkid birthdays are so much fun. Part of the reason is that someone else is doing all the planning and stuff...I just go and have fun with the grandkids and take pictures....and sometimes make a cake! Connor kicks off the grandkid birthday season in November, and Caleb follows in December. Then we skip January...January is the ONLY month we don't celebrate a birthday in our huge blended family of 20! Then Aidan's is in February...can't believe he and Caleb are 5, but then there are 4 grandkids younge and one more on the way, so I guess they have to be! So we went to Plano to celebrate with him at the Airplane Museum near Love Field.

• Tater turned 3 in March. We made mini cupcakes and took them up to Glenn and had lunch with his mommy. Then we celebrated his birthday last Saturday at the park. He had a Diego-themed party, and I made his cake, my first cupcake cake!

• Annaliese and Jordan both have birthdays in April. We'll go to Plano the weekend after Easter and celebrate Annaliese's 2nd birthday. Jordan will have his birthday party in May after his mommy gets through with school. THEN, it will be just about time for the BIRTH day of our newest grandchild...toward the end of May. YAY! I can't wait to meet him and hold him and spoil him right along with the rest of them! And now that Samm is here, we'll have her birthday to celebrate in September!

• Besides grandkids' birthdays, I've been doing quite a bit with the church. I'm still working on the completion of the church directory we started back last November...that's a l-o-n-g story. With the help of a ministry team, I have started a women's ministry called Blessings from the Heart. I don't mean "I" started it...as in created it...I mean I helped get it organized in our church. It is a wonderful ministry put out by Grace Products, and we have 12 ladies in the Sunday afternoon group (which I lead) and 20 ladies in the Thursday evening group. In addition to all of that, I am doing the publicity for our upcoming revival which starts the week after Easter.

• Last Saturday, after the birthday party, Caleb had his first T-ball game. What fun! That is a post all in itself!

• Saturday we are getting together with all the kids/grandkids for an Easter egg hunt at Bill & Carey's...hopefully I'll post a separate blog on that, too.

• I'll close out these bullets with this....Tater had his Easter egg hunt at MDO today. When I picked him up, and he got his Easter basket to show me, he picked out one of those big candy marshmallow-center eggs. "Look, Nana! It's a BIG jelly bean!"