Two Elephants

One day last week Jeremiah told me, "Need something."  I asked him what he needed and he said, "Animal."  My obvious next question was, "What kind of animal?"  "Elephant."  Now, mind you, he doesn't have a favorite stuffed elephant or anything.  He just decided he needed an elephant.  So we went up to his brothers' room, where there is an accumulation of 8 1/2 years' worth of stuffed animals of all types.  We were able to find three elephants (and I can think of at least one more we didn't find).  Today he again decided he needed some elephants, and brought these downstairs with him.

Jeremiah video

I'm working on the best way to include a video here on the blog.  The new editor I'm using doesn't have an "insert video" option that I've found.  For now, click on the following: video and it should take you to the vimeo site for a video of Jeremiah.

Backyard Fun

First there was this...

...and then down came Jeremiah

This is our second hand-me-down Cozy Coupe.  It's probably at least 7 years newer than our older one, and still not very new.

Harley enjoys hanging out in the yard with us.

How to Catch a Leprechaun

Joshua brought this home from school today.  In case you can't read it, it says,

"How to Catch a Leprechaun"

"I wood go to his house and say your piza is here and grab him"

Not an Ideal Day for Baseball Photography

One of these days we'll be sitting on the home dugout side and I'll be able to take pictures of the boys' faces while they're batting instead of their backsides.  We were at the park a LONG time today because of team pictures and two games.  Most of my energy was occupied with keeping track of Jeremiah and trying to watch the games, so I didn't get many pictures taken.  The pictures I did get were of swings-and-misses rather than hits.

Joseph was 2 for 3 today with a single, a double, and a pop fly to third base (or was it short stop?)

Final score:  Angels 24  Other Guys 4

Joshua is not holding his bat on the wrong side--he had just swung at the ball.  I missed about half of his game while Joseph's game was finishing up.  Tony is Joshua's coach, so he goes with Joshua and I go with Joseph when their games overlap.  Joshua is still playing t-ball, so there is no score.  Everyone gets to swing at up to 5 pitches, and if they still haven't hit, they hit it off the tee.  They can actually get out at first base this year (last year they got to stay on first no matter what).  I believe Joshua was 2 for 2 today.

Here's hoping next weeks' games are more photographable.  (Is that even a word?)

Joseph's First Baseball Game

I got just a few shots at Joseph's first game. Keeping track of the younger two and trying to watch the game didn't leave much time for photographing--especially since I have to put my lens through the fence and keep my back to the little ones to take pictures.



This is before the game started--I wasn't interrupting the game. Joseph played pitcher (it's machine pitch, so the "pitcher" is just a defensive position), right field, and left field.
Joseph was 3 for 3 batting. Each hit was a single, though his dad, who was keeping the scorebook for our team, scored one a double rather than an error on an overthrow to third. (The overthrow allowed Joseph to get to second.)

On third, ready to score.

Final score:  Angels 14, Other Guys 1

Happy Easter

The baskets last night after the "Easter Bunny" filled them. Can you tell which one belongs to which boy?

The younger two are standing on the bench. Love the action of Joseph's ball.

You can just hear him saying, "Ooooh!" can't you?

Jeremiah held the car up because he thought I should take a picture of it.

After church, but before they slid down the slide and got their seats covered in pollen. It's not the best picture of Joseph, but the best of the other two.

Dyeing Eggs

It's egg dyeing day! This is Jeremiah's first year to participate. Notice the concentration in the following shots:

I'm sure Granddad especially likes the way Jeremiah holds his mouth as he works. : )

Joshua decided to let Joseph have his last egg--he was finished by then.

Most of Joseph's eggs were two- or three-color this year.





And now, a few artsy photos for you:

Early Spring Break Week (sorry it's out of sequence)

One sign your son might have strep throat:

He falls asleep in a chair at 5:00 in the afternoon.

This was Sunday. I took him to the doctor Monday and got him started on antibiotics.

By Tuesday he was well enough for us to head to the zoo.

Jeremiah is very excited that he can go to the zoo without being stuck in a stroller, as you can tell by how enthusiastically he went up the stairs.

Jeremiah especially liked to get eye-to-eye with the snakes.



Joshua is into silly pictures lately.



Makes you wonder what is going through Joshua's mind. Joseph needs a haircut. He got one the next day.


Are you looking at me?

Egg Hunt

Back on Wednesday we had the rescheduled neighborhood Easter egg hunt.

Here is Joseph's haul.

Joshie's take.

Jeremiah didn't stand still enough for me to get good pictures of his eggs--all my shots of him were either blurry or of the back of his head.

Can you believe Jeremiah actually walked right up to the Easter bunny and wanted to sit on his (her?) lap? Neither of the other boys would have done that at that age!

Spring Break Continues...

Joshua has reached the point where he enjoys reading a book to himself! Hooray! He still reads it out loud. I'm sure reading inside his head will come soon.

We spent some time this morning at a smallish botanical garden in Spartanburg.


Joseph and Jeremiah had to show each other some things on the sign.

Jeremiah is saying, "CHEESE!"

Proof that I went, too.

There were a variety of things blooming. Forsythia, redbuds, saucer magnolias, camelias, lenten roses (I think that's what the sign said), tulips, pansies, and some other things I couldn't identify. Daffodils were about finished, and dogwoods were just starting.

After this, we went to the outlet mall, where I took no pictures. After lunch at Burger King (again, no pictures) we went to Kings Mountain National Battlefield. I did take a few pictures there, but nothing spectacular. It was in the 80's, so the 1.5 mile hike around the battlefield (which was actually a wooded hill, not a field) had us all worn out!

Chau Ram Park

Today we went for a hike in a park outside Westminster, SC.

To get to the trail head, we had to cross a long suspension bridge. Daddy had fun making it shake while we were crossing.

I like this shot of Jeremiah better, but it doesn't convey the length of the bridge as well. Even the first one makes it look shorter than it was.

The hike looped up through the woods for about 1 1/2 miles and then followed along the Chauga River. There were lots of rocks and rapids.

Same shot from farther away, again to give perspective.

Joshua preferred the water over the hiking.

After a picnic lunch, we went back to the river to "wade." The slippery rocks in the puddles quickly caused all three boys to get their shorts wet. Only Jeremiah had a change of clothes, so the rest had to ride home wet.

As always, you can click on individual pictures to see them larger.