Would you mind?

Would you mind sending up a little prayer for us this weekend? Nothing's wrong, in fact, it's kind of exciting, but we could use some help with a decision we hope to be making soon. For those of you that will be visiting in September, you will appreciate the effort we're putting in now, trust me. :) Many, many thanks!

Proud owner of a...

new camera!

Aaron got me a Nikon D200 (kinda fancy!) for Mother's Day. I know, it's early, but whatever. :) It came last night, so the first chance I had to use it was at A.J.'s game this morning. Here are some of the shots I got.

Click on the photo to enlarge it and look at his facial expression. It's concentration at its best.

















Here he is rounding second on his way to third.


















The last inning he got to play catcher.

Sport snack time

My friend Miss L is just venturing into "big kid parenting" and the various activities of said big kids. She wondered about game snack assignments: what works, what doesn't. So, I'll share what we have seen (since we are on our third season of Little League, we must be experts) and then I'll ask for your suggestions in the comments.

What has worked:
juice boxes
water
gatorade
(more of all those on hotter days)
granola/cereal bars
fruit roll-ups
muffins (especially for earlier game times)
crackers (goldfish, etc.)
chips/pretzels

Hit or miss:
fruit (though grapes or orange slices are usually winners)

Not so much:
cornuts (yuck. not many people's favorite, especially kids)
frozen pbj sandwich things (really?)

I'm not remembering much else at the moment. Anybody have other ideas?

Update: No, it doesn't have to be healthy. I've seen doughnuts, though, and that seems a little much. Run a bunch and then a blast of sugar and fat. Ugh. That's a tummyache waiting to happen.

The Game Ball

Be sure to listen for Levi's comment at about 1:10.

A fine play-(A.J. playing pitcher)

A Levi update...

Remember a couple of months ago, Levi had just turned four. Now, he has exploded, linguistically speaking. For the last couple of weeks, he has asked about what words mean and what "that" word is. Then, on Monday after pre-school, we were driving home when he says, "Mommy, what does 'on way' mean?"
me: On way? On way? "Oh, 'one way?'"
Levi: "yeah."

He had just read a "One Way" sign. Oh, dear. He's reading. And he's four. A full year and a half before he even starts kindergarten. We are in so much trouble. And so are his teachers.

We knew for a while that he could read his classmates' names. A few weeks ago, his teachers established a sticker chart, and when a child earns seven stickers, they get to choose a prize from the treasure chest. He likes to look at the chart and tell me how many stickers his friends have. And, he is always right.

But now, he's reading new and unfamiliar words. He's not reading lots or words, that I know of yet. But I'm guessing that by the end of the school year, he'll be reading full books (Dr. Seuss and others) without much trouble.

And by the way, we didn't ever work on this with him. We have never done any kind of flash cards, quizzed him on letters, or any other common method. In fact, when he was about two years old, he looked at the letter "G" that was sitting on the fridge and said, "G, guh." Not "G, juh." He already had figured out that G makes the "guh" (like in "gull") sound.

Let me just say it one more time.

Oh. No.

Basketball is awesome

Hi, this is A.J.

I played basketball at first and second recess today. At first recess, it was a tie, 8-8. At second recess, it was 10-2. My team won. My team was called the Lakers. The other team was called the Celtics. My team had Darwin, Nathan, me, Sedrik, and Alex. The other team had two very good players. Their names were Jacob and Trent. Jacob was a third grader. Trent was a second grader. All of my team were second graders. Darwin was a good player on my team. The first one is the best, all the way down to the fifth. Darwin, Nathan, Sedrik, me, and Alex. The other team was Jacob, Trent.



Love,
A.J.

A little note...

The latest comment on my pictures post was from Sister Heydt. So here's a little note to her.

Sister Heydt,

You're right, I don't think I remember you. Our paths didn't cross long enough, since we moved days after I turned 6. However, I do remember the little house behind the church that we used for Primary. I remember having sharing time in the living room, and classes (which were combined, because of so few kids!) in the little bedrooms and the kitchen. And, you're probably right about the behavior, too. I'm sure Drew and Patrick weren't the best listeners. :) Yes, we knew Sabra and Bryan when we all were in the Bear Creek Ward. Aaron was their home teacher, and Sabra and I were in Primary together. We knew Bruce when he was little, he's about a year younger than our A.J. I'm really glad you commented, and please feel free to do it again!

Bethany Sudholt Pabst