Pandamania

The boys went to Vacation Bible School last week while Oma was here. They had a great week learning many new songs, stories and dances. I think Oma would have liked to attend VBS as well!!! God is wild about you....WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.

Alex took the sit-on-the-floor and watch approach.....

Welcome to the jungle!!

Worldless Wednesday: Friendship Edition

Put Me In, Coach...I'm Ready to Play...

Our local MiLB team, the Indianapolis Indians, held their annual Kids Skills Clinic last night before their game with the Scranton Yankees. We love watching baseball up close at this great ballpark, but last night the boys got to get REALLY close-up and practice some drills with the team. There was the usual trepidation on the part of Alex, but once his brother took the field, he was in.

Heading to the outfield

Let's just watch for a while. Think he'll notice we are standing here???
Ok, we are in line and ready to work out

A view of the ballpark inundated with future baseball star hopefuls.

Almost our turn...

Let US tell YOU how this is gonna go down.....

High five man!

Oh I bow to the great baseball skills of ye "Tribe!"

Here it comes....

He's in position to make the catch....

Slingin' one in from the outfield!

Got his cut-off man....

These guys were great. Maybe it reminded them of when they were kids, who knows? I think they had as much fun as the kids.

Noah on the pitchers mound....why does that scare me????

Maybe if we stand here, they'll put is in against Scranton!

Thank you, Indians, for welcoming our kids to your field! GO TRIBE!

Wordless Wednesday

Benched

Over Memorial Day weekend, my boys built me a bench!! Ok, so the big one did all the work, but the little men tried really hard to help!

Enjoying the fruits of their labor....

Thank you, Opa!!!

Down Under in The Middle

This device is really handy:

....except when it goes off every 5 minutes with its shrill screetching "alerts." This thing could wake the dead. We had a stormy night here in the middle last night, so this mama got a nice little workout carrying 2 boys and a greyhound down the steps to the basement. Only the 15-pound dog came down on his own!
Our tornado shelter is under the steps in the basement, which could actually become quite cozy...who knew!? The boys woke up briefly, but they were more than happy to continue their schnoozles during the whole ordeal.

The dogs were a little confused about our midnight campout

The storms blew over quickly and were not as bad as had been predicted. I guess it was good practice for the future...I am sure we'll be back! When you live in the middle, a basement is a must-have!

Edelweiss

This past Saturday, we took a mini road trip to Greenfield with our dear amigas, T and A to visit one of the most special places on Earth: Edelweiss Equine Assisted Therapy Center. This place provides equine therapy for children and adults with disabilities. I donated my horse, Eli, to this place in 2004 thinking he'd be a good fit. Turns out, he has been. He is currently on sabatical at a neighboring farm trying out his hooves at being a show horse--WHO WOULD HAVE EVER THOUGHT THAT WOULD HAPPEN!!! If you know this horse, you would know that this is a freakin' miracle! Here is my boy:

All of us had a wonderful time watching the demonstrations, playing games, and riding the horses....oh yes...and getting dirty....VERY dirty. Despite the ominous clouds, the weather really did hold out beautifully...

This picture does not adequately capture how truly dirty Noah got.... At one point he was knee-deep in muddy water to the point his little cowboy boots got stuck and I had to pull him out sans boots!!! It was awesome!!! A had a great time too--this girl is not afraid to get down and dirty with the boys!!!

Noah took about 5 pony rides....he could not get enough. Even Mommy got to "ride" a Percheron with A! Dream come true!

This place is amazing, and it will ALWAYS and forever have a special place in my heart.