from october to december-

more family pictures

18 months

flashback

my answer for being overwhelmed with my professional photography...procrastination by looking at my own pictures. these were a 'real day' look at our morning when ben turned one.
he is so much bigger now-walking, running, jumping, talking...18 months has come and gone and i really do cherish all the moments we have :)

family pictures

while in oklahoma last weekend we had fun taking some pictures using the great barns at the farm-

the last game

baseball teaches many lessons-
how to handle being on the spot
how to handle a pressure situation
how to think on your feet
how to compile all your coaches have told you into automatic actions
how to overcome a loss
how to not let one disappointment get in the way of enjoying the game

i never really thought of baseball this way until this season. i thought of it as long hours at the ballpark when it is cold, when it is hot, when the sun is in your eyes, when you can't make the games because of scheduling issues, when your watching him pitch and you are so nervous for him that you feel a little sick to your stomach.

anyway...
i learned my own lesson about baseball this season. it is a stage. a practice stage for rehearsing so many things that will happen in life. and i am so happy that grant has had this stage to go through some really great and some really hard moments.

this was the last tournament of the season. this game decided whether or not they would advance to the championship game. they were up, they were down, they pulled within one. last inning-2 outs. grant is up. i don't remember the first strike. i remember snapping at the girls because they kept asking when we could leave and trying to make sure ben didn't wander off as my heart was beating in my ears. the second pitch he hit a beautiful ball that went foul. coaches shouted at him that 'he needed to protect now, he had 2 strikes'

3rd pitch-he didn't swing. umpire called strike and the game was over.
tears and tears and more tears from my strong and capable boy.
i was heartbroken for him. he came over to me and kind of leaned into me-not a real hug because that wouldn't have been very cool.

i told him it was alright. it was a game. it is going to be ok.

this is hard. watching him not be able to fight back his tears as the team huddles around for their end of game talk.

i heard several kids tell him 'it's ok grant'

coaches made a big point of talking up all his previous plays. how well he had pitched the game before. how he started the rally with his hit the innings before.

bobby is awesome and really always knows what to say in times that this-keep it cool. no pressure-just unending support and encouragement.

grant bounced after the game. he says he wants to play again next season. he is not letting this situation effect his wanting to get back into baseball. he is not giving up at one disappointment.

i am very proud of him.
thank you baseball.

soccer has started for the girls- 

one of ben's favorite things is to point out all the people and objects in the pictures in the hallway. the truck is always first, but then the fish and then papa and then emily, anneliese and grant...

he also likes to attempt to use the cats as a stepping stool to see those pictures that are too high. he puts his foot on a tummy and looks at me and smiles his little smile :)

books continue to be a favorite-especially tractor books when nana is reading :)

fall feelings

it was chilly this morning-and pleasant outside in midday. fall is close!

 grant and emily were both a little under the weather today-so instead of running around to baseball and soccer we took it easy watching football and taking some walks to see the new hay bales.

 anneliese is now wearing glasses-usually just during school-but i wanted to take some pictures of her new look :)

birthday party time-4 posts in 1

emily turned 8-hard to believe but it's true. she wanted a party that had bobbing for apples, sculpture projects, apple pie and a piñata. the weather was warm enough for the water slide-so the sculpture projects did not see as much action, but i'm sure we can save them for next year- 

 bobbing for apples will have to become a new tradition-the kids had more fun than i expected

 water slide! i didn't get too many pics (i think i was getting a small boy to sleep)

 the apple pie (provided by calista) was delicious!

 cute babies :)

 the true expressions of these sisters

 nana got emily her first real art supply box. another big hit! thanks to nana for her tremendous help in making this party happen.

 the piñata-on the zip line. it was a tough one-everyone got 2 turns-but grant brought home the candy-

tom turned 87-and sharon hosted the annual party on labor day weekend. it is always wonderful to spend time watching all the kids play together. tom drove them around behind the mower. this was of course ben's favorite activity (TRAC TOR)

luke turned 3 and had a super cool swim party. happy birthday luke!

alexander was born on august 18th-and i was so excited to get to meet him this past weekend. thank you to nana and bobby for covering everything on the home front so i could spend a wonderful few days catching up with melissa and her family.