spring baseball

baseball

The little guy is playing in his 3rd baseball season this spring and it is a whole new ballgame. 

baseball6

baseball7

Single A Little League is the real deal.

baseball8

baseball9

Playing by the almost real rules means that sometimes the players pitch.

baseball10

baseball11

He’s learning when to swing and when not to.

baseball12

baseball13

baseball14

And, sometimes you don’t get a hit or get on base because they are actually calling strikes and outs.

baseball15

baseball16

He’ll learn a lot this season, and it’s not all going to be about baseball.

baseball1

Baby girl is learning how to be patient while she watches her brothers games again.

baseball3

baseball4

She’s already a pro at looking cute!

baseball5

home is…another baseball season.

just wait 5 minutes…

You know the saying.

I think it’s used all over the country. And, unless you have lived in multiple areas of the country you think it only applies to where you live.

Between my husband and I, we have lived in only 3 different cities, but they span from coast to coast.

We’ve heard it in Rochester, Denver, and Portland…and many other cities we have visited.

“Just wait 5 minutes and the weather will change.”

It’s been true this spring here in the Pacific Northwest.

Snow, rain, hail, sun.

We’ve had it all…and we’ve been playing in it all, too!

{here come LOTS of photos}

And, before we start this, a HUGE thank you to my husband, Ryan, for taking photos…and generally humoring me the entire time we were up on the mountain.

I can’t wait until we can all ski together!!

Spring skiing at Mt. Hood Meadows.

Easter egg hunt in the backyard.

Wooden Shoe Tulip Festival.

home is…springtime.

an early spring walk in the burbs

So, I want to blog about our awesome weekend, but I need more time than I have tonight.

We’ve had some incredible spring weather here in the Pacific Northwest and we’ve been out enjoying it.

Our tulips are blooming and I couldn’t be happier about how our new landscaping is looking. We get daily compliments from neighbors.

We’ve had to use ladders for multiple projects lately and our monkeys are quickly learning how to use them!

And, after dinner we went for a walk around the neighborhood. Something that Ryan loves to do with the kids.

Lala brought her baby and Bobo brought his “weapon”.

There were new decorations in a tree in the neighborhood that the kids were fascinated by. I am not sure if they are there to scare the birds away (it might be a cherry tree) or just for fun. Either way, the kids liked them!

He was attacked by a bad guy and I had to save him.

Yeah, good mommy moment…too busy taking photos on my phone…”Hey, she fell down!”

But, if I hadn’t been taking pictures, I would have never caught this moment, right?!

Baby girl was fine.

She’s tough.

We live in the burbs. We only need to carry a nerf gun for protection.

But, leave it to Ryan to make sure we are safe.

And, we got home and the monkey wanted to climb…barefoot.

This guy has no fear when it comes to physical activity!

home is…a beautiful spring day.

unexpected

It’s been quite a week.

Ryan’s been traveling for work.

Ben has been sick.

And, the weather has been wacky!

We have had more snow showers in the last week than we had all winter.

That’s not saying much for Portland, but it’s also saying a lot for Portland.

We don’t get much snow.

Rain, yes.

Snow, no.

So, while the rest of the country was enjoying spring or summer like temperatures today, let me remind you what winter looks like.

It started around 5pm on Tuesday Wednesday night…

Just falling, not sticking.

If you follow my Instagram feed (homeisablog), you may have seen some photos taken at 1am…I couldn’t sleep.

This morning we got outside early.

And, built a snowman.

“Hello, Snowman. I am Lala.”

(for the record, she no longer wants to be called a baby girl)

Ryan was worried about our recently sowed spinach, lettuce, and kale. I found (and knew from experience in Colorado) that snow insulates, so you shouldn’t cover your plants in the snow.

Despite the fact that it wasn’t even a normal school day for the little guy we declared it a “Snow Day!”

The little guy plowed snow with his new monster truck.

Our snowman watched happily.

The little guy decided the shovel was a better plow.

Lala gave it a try, but she wasn’t into the hard labor. According to her, snow pants were not acceptable fashion this morning.

So, I took some photos.

The little guy visited with the snowman.

And, posed for a photo.

Lala decided sitting in a chair under a blanket was warmer than playing in the snow. (Did I mention the not wanting to wear snow pants?!)

She’s smart, but…

…she’s got to learn to be tough if she’s gonna hang. We’ve got camping, skiing, and lots of other outdoor activities to do.

So, I snapped some more photos while the kids rested and played.

The blue sky was peeking through.

I am sure the Camellia would have been just fine without the snow.

There are definitely more to come.

By the afternoon, our snowman was all the snow that was left of our “Snow Day!”

He’s slumping a bit.

Looking watch over our garden.

By dinner, the kids were over the snow.

Lala moved on to dress up.

“Bat-Lala to the rescue!”

She was telling me that she needs a Lalaloopsy costume.

I agree.

These kids were raised in Oregon…they’re not used to snow.

We’ll have to see what our snowman does at night.

Stay tuned…

home is…an unexpected winter storm during the first full week of spring.

so lucky

Oh, it’s been a week.

The good news is that right now everybody is resting.

This guy has been really sick…

emergency vet sick.

We’ll find out more when we go to our regular vet tomorrow morning.

I’m exhausted.

I was up 3 nights with Ben when he was sick…including Saturday night from 1 am on.

The good news is that we all slept through the night last night.

Ben is no longer vomiting.

I had a few hours to myself last night when the kids were at our health club for a party.

I got some things done around the house (one of which was cleaning up my craft closet).

It snowed for brief periods today…and was sunny…and rained…and was just cloudy and cold.

Tomorrow is a new day.

Despite all the rough stuff going on, we still managed to have some fun last week!

Spring is trying to show up around here…

So we play outside whenever we get the chance…even if it is snowing!

And, my friends have been amazing offering to help me out with Ben or the kids while Ryan is traveling.

Thank you all for your prayers, positive energy, and offers to help.

Did I mention I am…

 home is…a little luck.

early spring in the pacific northwest

I love it here in the Pacific Northwest.

Sure, winters are wet and grey, but it makes spring that much more welcome once it gets here.

It’s here. For now.

{at least it was on Wednesday when I wrote this post}

I know we will still have our share of rain until June, but I don’t have to be worried about late April (or even May) snow like in Colorado. And, I am not celebrating the first week of spring with a snowstorm like our family in New York.

I saw my first hummingbird as I was washing dishes and looking out my kitchen window Wednesday night. When we return from our trip to Colorado I will put our hummingbird feeders out so we can watch them until October!

We’ve played in the mud when the rain takes a break.

Remembered some of our rain soaked and neglected toys.

Played leapfrog…

…and “dogboy”.

Taken our first spring swings.

Enjoyed the early blooms.

Watched the clouds pass above the trees.

And, put our feet up in the sun.

By the time I am finished writing this post the rain will be falling again. {and, it is}

home is…soaking up the sun.