Tuesday, December 26, 2017

The Phantom and more

Happy holidays!
December is about done and danged if we aren't starting to gain daylight again!
Spring is on the way! Which is good since winter finally arrived here and its damn cold. 

Chyann came home for Christmas and will be staying through the New Year.
It's been really nice having all the kids here. 

Last week Caden and I had the opportunity with a group of folks - parents and students from the school, to attend the Phantom of the Opera at the Orpheum Theatre in the cities.  
WOW! What a performance!


It was awesome!
We rode the school bus to the cities, which was perfect since that meant I didn't have to deal with the traffic or navigating in the city. Plus the bus was nice and warm. 

We stopped at a local mall before the play and finished up a bit of shopping. 
Had lunch too.


Oh and our boy got his braces off!
Look at that smile!
He is a beauty.


A couple of my gal friends also attended. 
I sure enjoyed visiting and hanging out with them.
We need to make time to get together more often.


Outside the theater.



A great day!

Stay warm :)


Thursday, November 23, 2017

Thankful



Happy Thanksgiving!

Drinking coffee, listening to the boy in the basement playing a Neil Diamond classic tune on the ukulele makes for a fine start to this day.
I've got to get moving soon though, there are more pies to create. 

At work last week we were asked to provide a picture of ourselves age 12 or 22 for a group team building exercise. I spent yesterday digging through an old box of pictures and came across a clutch from years past Thanksgiving and Christmases. 
Made me nostalgic for those days of spending holidays with my family. I'd love to be puttering in the kitchen with them today. Playing cards or dominos after the meal and grazing on leftovers into the evening with them. Making memories for my kids to remember of "family" holidays. 


The first basketball game was this week. 
The boys won their game and played well together. 
Since he didn't play for the last two seasons he wasn't a starter and did some bench warming, but when he did play he was great!

It was like deja vu seeing all the boys together again (plus a new face or two), they aren't the little boys I remember from sixth grade. Odd man-boys have taken their place. 

With any luck next game Caden will be johnny on the spot and grab a better fitting pair of shorts.
I found it weird that they wont let the kids take the game clothes home to wash, I'd be sewing them to fit better if they did. 


Hope your turkey day is wonderful!
later

Sunday, November 19, 2017

Sunday AM coffee


Good Morning. 
Can you believe November is almost over?
All the kids will be home for Thanksgiving next week.
I am really looking forward to that. 

So what's been going on here....
Lots and a whole lot of nothing. 

Baseball season ended mid-October. 
It was an eventful rollercoaster season for our boy, but he has came through it with a positive attitude and healthy. 


The kids are growing up.


Caden has decided to give basketball a shot this year. I was kind of hoping for a quiet few months until baseball started up again in January, but I guess not. 
First game is next week. 

We've had some lovely sunsets recently. 


A bit of snow here and there.
So far nothing has stuck. I'm hoping it stays that way until December. 


We went on a wine tour with friends recently and had the best time!
If you ever get a chance, check it out.



Some parts of the drive along the Mississippi river reminded me of Turnagain Arm in AK, minus the mountains of course. 



All else is well. 
Hope you are too.
later

Saturday, September 23, 2017

The beat goes on and more

 Drinking my coffee this morning it is already 77* out.
Sure its "fall" now, but you'd never know it. 
Hotter temperatures last week than we had in the month of August.
I'll take it. Although it makes finishing up my canning a hot sweaty job.

Lots going on around here. 

The annual Fireman's parade in town - our 15th year attending finds our youngest in the high school marching band. 


The band unfortunately continues to shrink and he is the only alto sax player this year.

Their main song was from Star Wars. 
Caden even had a sax solo!


They did a fun little dance.


He gets his braces off in 10 WEEKS!
Better be seeing those pearly whites after that in pictures lol


The big kids came out to see their brother in the band. 


Fall travel ball has began. 
Course every game is in MN and a 100+ miles from home on Sunday's.
Which makes for a looooong Sunday. Fortunately his team is scheduled for the noon and 2p time slots so there are no split schedules or hanging around for hours waiting to play again. 


He can only play 2nd base and short stop this season, which is fine. 
No pitching until next spring.


The games they've played so far have been really well matched. 
Lots of action, which makes the games a lot of fun to watch.


Their coach is a college student who plays college ball at a nearby University.
Looking forward to tomorrows games already.
Chyann will be driving from St Cloud to watch with us. The game is less than an hours drive from where she is.
Will be nice to see her. School and work have kept her really busy so far this semester, but she is doing well keeping up with all that she has to do.


It's that time of year again when the pastures have pretty much yielded all the edible grass for the season so the horses are back to mowing the yard.
Bird brain Jennifer eating seeds from one of my feeders.
She is a little porky, but not quite as porky as this picture suggests.


Last spring I planted a bag of mixed bulbs and this beautiful flower showed up just last week!
Anyone know what it is?


Leaves are turning and falling.
Coming home from my daily walk.


The apples are huge and heavy this year. This is the second tree to loose a branch from the weight.
I am making apple sauce and possibly apple butter today.


While the days grow shorter and we are busier than ever trying to do everything that we feel we need to do, it's important to remember to BREATHE. 

Just breathe and enjoy those small moments in life as they are gone in the blink of an eye.

Life is short.



 later


Sunday, September 3, 2017

Released and High School

 Happy Sunday!

It is going to be a beautiful day here. Low 80's and blue skies. 
Sounds like this may be our last hot day for a while. Next weeks forecast shows several days that we wont even hit 60*. I suppose it is September and all that, but I'm not ready for the summer to be done.

Caden was released last week to play baseball.
Right side infield only - which is second or first base. 
No short stop at this time.
Which is just fine.

He was nervous. This was the same field he broke his arm on.
He made a great showing with good hits and fast plays at second base.



Best part of the night for me was the drive home.
You should have heard him.
He was so animated and talked so fast!
Had so many things to tell us. 
How he did this, how that felt.
His excitement and happiness filled me up.
When we were almost home he paused for a few minutes and then says I have a new appreciation for baseball Mom and Dad. I don't ever want to loose this feeling. 


We thought that would be the last night for the fall league for him, but he got a call the next day asking if he could sub in for another team that was short players. Absolutely!
But that meant no going to town and getting a professional hair cut for the first day of school, so he got a "house cut" in 10 minutes. Doesn't look too bad if I don't say so myself lol


Two more games on Thursday and he had so much fun!


And the next day - Freshman year began!
High School folks!
Hard to believe.


Hope you all have a great SAFE holiday weekend :)

I'm off to pick tomatoes.
The salsa awaits.

Saturday, August 26, 2017

Saturday AM coffee

Good Morning.
Happy rainy Saturday.
I laid in bed this morning listening to the rain come down. 
Wonderfully peaceful.
Add in a few birds chirping out in the rain. Perfect way to start the weekend.

So what's been going on here. 

Our girl started her Sophomore year at St Cloud State this last Monday!
Gotta love that she sent the required first day of school picture without having to be asked. 

She is home this weekend for a short visit.



A lot of time has been devoted to tomatoes. 
Salsa and sauce.
Canning and Freezing.

I recently purchased the handiest gadget to help with the tomatoes.
It de-skins and de-seeds your tomatoes in no time at all and is kind of fun to use which is why Caden is liking to help this season.
The furry spectator is Dewey.


The eldest is working two jobs currently. He worked a total of 59 hours last week. He is busting his buns daily. It's nice having him home, although we sure haven't seen much of him lately. He is up and gone before I go to work and doesn't get home till after 6p every night. 



Relaxing on the porch last weekend after canning all day. 


Caden's fat cat Gizmo joined us for a bit.
Dad's reflection in the window looks ominous lol

School starts for him on the 1st. 


PT has been completed and he has been released to play baseball in the first travel season game on September 10th! 
I'm excited and nervous.
  

Hope all of you are well. 

I'm off to start grinding the tomatoes. 

later :)

Saturday, July 22, 2017

Saturday AM coffee

Coffee is good today.
I actually slept in till the unheard of hour of 9a. 
Didn't even hear Colton leave for work. 
He has a temporary job at a local farm helping out with crops and such. 
In his free time he is the cat walker.
Silver loves to go out and lay in the grass. 


We've had some beautiful sunsets recently.
We were on the edge of a big storm just North of us that produced this interesting cloud.


Our boy got his cast off and has started PT.
He was surprised by the decreased range of motion and muscle loss.
In the two weeks of PT though he has regained almost all his range of motion so that is good.
He is diligent in doing his stretches and exercises. 
First part of August he will see the doctor again and we'll see what happens next. 
Fall baseball and fall travel league are both coming up. 
He wants to play so badly. I don't think his Daddy wants him to play at all again this season. I say lets keep an open mind. See what the doctor says. It's not like he'll be released and go back to playing right away anyhow. He will still need PT - have to learn how to throw all over again correctly and that will take time. I don't want to completely rule it out right now.

Anyhow his team participated in the state tournament last weekend.


Caden kept the book and learned a lot.
Baseball is a game of numbers and averages. 


The boys mugging it up before their last game.
Unfortunately they didn't make it past the second round of eliminations.


They had some close exciting games though!


The kids hanging out on the back porch enjoying the nice weather last weekend. 
Chyann is back from her vacation and enjoying a few days at home before heading back to St Cloud.


Made my first batch of sweet and spicy pickles last night.
Still haven't had a ripe tomato yet. Think they are behind due to all the wet cool weather we had earlier in the season and I didn't plant any early girls or 4th of July varieties.
Soon though. Very soon.
Can't wait for that first tomato sandwich. 


Later :)

Monday, July 3, 2017

Welcome to July


June was a total blur. 

I thought a lot about blogging over the past month.
We had a shit ton of things going that kept us on the run.

Warning: Lots of pictures...

Baseball has been amazing!
We found ourselves in a different city every weekend from Friday to Sunday.

The A's first tournament weekend was in Rochester, MN.
When they took the field at 5p the temperature was 95*!

Our boy had some great hits and RBI's!


Stolen bases too.


Even hotter temps and thunderstorms causing game delays the rest of the weekend.


He has developed into a strong pitcher for the team. 
The Hubby keeps a pitch count and he is very efficient.


During the week he plays with his league team, the Orioles. 


This team is a mix of 14 and 15 year old's.


When the weekend rolls around again we are traveling, this time to Austin, MN.
Another smoking hot weekend with temps in the mid 90's and freaking windy!
He pitched into 20mph winds and did great!
At the beginning of the season I'd be nervous as hell when he'd take the mound, worried about how he'd do, but at this point I didn't get nervous anymore he is confident and gets the job done nicely.


On base.


These kids really found their rhythm and played excellent baseball.
In the evening the kids would all swim at the hotel and the parents would sit in the lobby visiting and getting to know each other. I really enjoyed it. Was like a mini-vacation.


Father's day weekend they had a home tournament and even the big kids came to watch Saturday and Sunday.

The last video/picture I have of Caden playing this season.


As the next inning he broke his elbow while pitching.
We watched it happen.
He threw the ball and immediately let his arm drop and starts walking to the catcher.
Coach comes out and leads him into the dugout.
Fortunately one of the other player's Dad who helps out keeping the book was there. He is an orthopedic surgeon and took a look at Caden. He asked about any old injures to his elbow, we said none. He said better get an x-ray ASAP.
We did and sure enough, broken.
Official name is fracture of the medial epicondyle.
Unfortunately a common injury for kids who are pitchers and growing.
The growth plate is weak due to new growth and the ligament is so strong it literally ripped a hunk of bone off.
Thankfully it wasn't bad enough to warrant surgery, but he is in a cast until the 7th. Then he will start physical therapy.

Hard way to end the season.
He still attends all games for both teams to cheer them on.

We got some camping in my birthday weekend with a great crew of friends. 


The weather was a bit cool and wet at times, but we sure had fun.
Caden found he was quite adept with his left hand playing hammerschlagen!


Live music on Saturday night featured Colton's old band mate Christopher!
These boys sure have grown up from their Orchard Warden days.



Our girl was home briefly on Friday with her boyfriend. 
They are off on a summer time road trip. 


Picture of all the kids. 
Chyann trying to get on her tippy toes to be taller than Caden. Nope didn't work lol


Anywho. That was our month of June in a nut shell.

Cooler than average temps these last two weeks and we only just got the pool uncovered on Saturday. Now the process of filling it and getting it ready begins. The Hubby wanted to scrap the whole thing for the summer since it would likely only be in use for a month or so, but I said naaah. We are opening it. 

Baseball.
Depending on how PT goes and when the doc releases him, Caden could potentially play on the fall travel team. I'm not sure I even want him to play at all again this season, but I think that little bit of hope that he MIGHT get to play again this season is keeping his spirits up.
He is not used to this inactivity.
He is going a bit stir crazy.
Course all my ideas to alleviate the boredom aren't what he wants to do.
What do ya do though. Sigh.

That's it for now. 
later :)