mikey and baseball

mikey started with the summer baseball program a couple of weeks ago and had his first game last week. despite playing in 104* heat, the kids had a great time and they were so much fun to watch.

mikey was particularly entertaining to the spectators. it's not possible for mikey to just play ball. he has to do tricks, too. like sliding into home plate...except he didn't quite make it to home plate. he stopped about three feet short of it. then he kinda just sat on the dirt all confused, like he didn't know where he was. it was too funny.

he even had a chance to play pitcher. except it's tee-ball, so he didn't really pitch. the pitcher's job it to get the ball back from outfield after a play and throw it back to the umpire. 

of course, mikey couldn't just throw the ball. he had to do this spiffy, backward-over-his-head, throw-the-ball-without-even-looking smooth move and almost popped the next batter on the head. 

but the crowd went wild. and that's what mikey loves - to make the crowd go wild.

thanks for being so awesome, buddy.

i really love to watch you play.

finding joy

most days i don't even have to find the joy. it's always just there and easy to see. but some days, it's a little harder to find. on those days, i have to consciously not let the difficulty of the moment cloud my view of the joy. because the joy is always, always there - even amidst struggle.

last weekend, we decided on a whim to drive up to pine mountain lake and spend the weekend at a friend's cabin for his birthday. we thought it would be fine. no - more than fine. we thought it would be FUN. but it was...different. it was a weekend full of struggle. liam and wyatt's autism was "showing" and they had a hard time coping with the different environment and schedule, or lack thereof. there were lots of meltdowns, lots of tears. liam was up all night screaming, "i don't like this bed! i hate this bed!" wyatt cried for pretty much the entire time we were there and wouldn't sleep without me rubbing his back. and if i stopped, he would wake up and start to cry again. it was just difficult. plain and simple. so difficult that we cut the trip short and only stayed one night instead of two.

in between the meltdowns, tears, and struggle, i had to fight hard against my own emotional weakness and find the joy. but, like it said, it was always there. lots of it. 

i found joy in waking up on saturday morning to birds chirping 

and cool, crisp air coming through the patio door.

i found the joy in the big boys having the time of their lives in the woods. 

i found joy in the ease my presence brought to wyatt.

i found joy in the mister starting a bbq with pizza boxes and flint because we didn't have lighter fluid.

 i found the joy in liam squealing in delight when he saw the deer roaming right beside the cabin's deck.

  

 i found joy in watching cooper relaxing on the ottoman, just like he does at home. 

i found joy in watching wyatt sleep with his little bumbum in the air.

i found joy in our hike to the playground.

 

i found joy in the cute little diggers they had in the sandbox.

i found joy in liam's curiosity.

and i found joy and serenity in the beauty of cabin life.

stick it to me

i took the boys to the park yesterday {again. my goodness, i'm so sick of sitting around at parks, but i'd rather that than be sitting at home listening to them bicker} this particular park has a small creek that ran alongside. Of course, the bigs thought it would be a lovely adventure to hike down the little slope and explore the wilderness.

they hiked back up carrying armloads of sticks that they gathered...insisting we bring them home. umm, ok. sure. this photo wasn't even half of it all...

later that evening, the mister found mikey arranging his sticks into what looked like japanese characters, or power ranger power symbols, on the grass. you see, mikey firmly believes that he was born a power rangers samurai. and he has absolute faith in his fist of justice. 

our summer to-do list

if you haven't availed of this awesome summer to-do list printable from eighteen25,  you must hop on over there and do so now!

summer to-do list by eighteen25

the bigs and i sat down and discussed what we wanted to do this summer and compiled our very own list. 

it was so much fun! 

these kids are full of ideas, i tell ya. 

ours doesn't look quite as spiffy without the frame, so i guess the very first thing on our list is actually a trip to michaels!

wanna know what's on our list?!?!

• go to a baseball game
• see a movie
• go camping
• fly a kite
• run through the sprinklers on a hot day
• cheer for isaiah in a jiu-jitsu tournament
• go swimming
• make pancakes for breakfast
• make waffles for dinner
• celebrate mikey's 4th birthday
• have a water gun fight
• go to the water park
• go bowling
• collect sea shells
• pitch the tent in the backyard
• go swimming
• skype with uncle mike and auntie jessie {who live in hawaii} 
• play hopscotch
• ride the train at tilden park
• paint on canvas
• go to the beach
• bring flowers to lola at the cemetery
• swim in the ocean
• go on a family bike ride
• have a picnic
• visit grandma eden
• go to superfranks
• movie night with popcorn at home
• back to school shopping
• go to an aquarium
• visit zeum
• take a hike
• bbq hot dogs
• take home fresh eggs from the farm
• enjoy popsicles
• play catch with dad
• explore golden gate park
• make snow cones
• chase the ice cream truck
• play at the river
• go swimming
• spend the night at lolo's house
• play with bubbles
• mail a letter
• visit grandpa don and grandma april
• draw with sidewalk chalk
• family game night
• enjoy cookies and milk
• and go swimming some more!

and our list seems to keep getting longer. now that i've got their little brains stirring with ideas, they can't stop. it's going to be a super fun summer! 

what are YOU gonna do this summer?