Batter Up!

It seems like yesterday we were headed to the ballpark to watch Caleb play.  Now, we have added John Sawyer to our list of ball players.  TBall is just so much fun to watch.  No stress, no rules, no outs-just lots of excitement!  He had a ball playing, and we had a ball watching!  In addition to TBall, we have one running track, one playing softball, and one playing soccer. My only complaint is this $4.00 gas!

 I am also living vicariously through Lindsey and her family.  They enjoyed a quick trip to Chattanooga, and I am sharing pictures from that. 

Cutest ball player ever!!                 

Getting everything lined up and ready to bat is definitely a process!  Everything must be just right! 

                                     

Cheering on our favorite TBall player!

I love seeing this!  It brings back lots and lots of memories.  I know John Sawyer (and Jack) will always remember their dad being right there on the field with them.

I think Jack was offering a little advice, and Pop was teaching Jack the art of eating sunflower seeds.

These guys had a ball and took in all the sights in and around Chatanooga.  I am so glad they got to do this!  

                                                                     More to come!

March

March is the beginning of a super busy time for us.  We have grandbabies playing soccer, softball, track and t-ball.  We will keep the roads hot the next couple of months, but I love watching them! I am super excited to be retired and able to travel to watch them. I have seen parts of the state I never knew existed!  So far, Maddie has had track meets in Lincoln and Wetumpka.  The first meet in Wetumpka was the coldest day ever! John Sawyer will have his first T-ball game this weekend.  We are super excited about that.  Reed and Lillian will get started soon, too.  We are also busy in the yard.  Sod and a little excavator work are next on the never-ending list.

We are so proud of Maddie.  She has done so well as a seventh grader competing on the Varsity team.  She's learning and improving every meet.   

Part of her fan club!  

John Sawyer and Jack's day care closed early each day last week and was closed all day Friday, so they got to hang out with us all week.  We had planned to do something special, but the rainy weather kept us at home.  We still had lots and lots of fun!

Cooking up something special!

Pop offered lots of pointers!  This brings back lots of memories! It looks like he's going to bat left handed and catch right handed.  

Why yes we have a tree climbing dog!  Birds and squirrels beware!

No comment on this technique, but it's looking good! 

More to come~

Thirty Six

 Our hard working, soccer loving, awesome dad and husband, and all around great son in law is celebrating his 36th birthday. We hope is day is filled with all the things he loves the most. We appreciate and love you bunches!

                                  Happy Birthday to you!!

Four

 It seems like just yesterday that we were welcoming our sweet John Sawyer. What a joy he is! This tractor loving, sand pile jumping, high climbing boy makes each day a little brighter. We love you bunches!

You are so very easy to celebrate. 

Happy Birthday!

Running and Jumping

Lindsey and Josh were out of town this weekend, so I traveled to help with the kids.  That just happens to be one of my favorite things to do.  I actually miss the days of afternoon practices, spend the night parties, and multiple activities all going on at the same time.  I am happy to say that everyone got where they were supposed to be on time!  

Maddie ran in a 5K and did an awesome job!  She was 3rd overall in the women's division with 129 runners.  Not bad for a 12 year old!! I am so glad I got to be there.

Several of her friends also ran, and they all did great.  

After the race, we picked Lillian up from a friend's house.  She asked what we were going to do.  When I told her we were going to the trampoline park in Auburn, she hugged me and said that this was the best weekend ever!  Indeed it was!

I just love this sweet boy!  That smile and those blue eyes are going to break hearts one day! And that picture in the bottom right is of those friends of Maddie's that also ran.

Pop and I also look forward to our outings and visits with these two cuties.

Crawfish time!  Even though I don't eat them, crawfish season means I get to tag along and get a good meal out, too.

I am very much looking forward to this rain moving out and sunny days moving in.  Look out yard-here we come!

Labor of Love

 

Full Disclosure-This post has lots of words and lots of pictures. This blog is how I document family happenings, and this was quite the process!

Shortly after Papa died, the kids felt we needed to consider moving to Papa and Grandmother's house. (They mentioned something about all the stairs and us getting older......What??) After being in our house for 34 years, I was not originally sold on the idea.  After some serious persuading, we began the process of renovating the house with plans to move.  The house had excellent bones, but was seriously outdated.  Reed began the process of making the house ours, and did most of the work on his own.  We did receive some excellent help along the way.  Lindsey and Josh painted almost the entire house, and helped install much of the new floors among many other things. Willie, Caleb, Skip, our precious grandbabies and others helped along the way. Sadly, Willie passed away during the renovation, and is greatly missed.

 Our goal was to take our time, complete projects as we could, and not be rushed.  This plan worked great until we sold our house earlier than planned.  We moved in with no kitchen and several little projects still uncompleted. I moved all of the little stuff in two laundry baskets, and set things up as I went.  We had a big moving day for the big stuff.  After the move, we continued working, and before we knew it, most things were finished!  I am going to list just a few of the things that were done.

1. The work began outside and included painting, new shutters, repairing boards that were eaten by squirrels, extensive roof work, wrapping the columns, replacing facial boards, new outdoor ceiling fans, yardwork, and eventually the pool.

2.  We moved indoors and replaced the front door, painted the entire house, painted the tile in two bathrooms, updated the bathrooms and more.

3.  One of our favorite projects was the new ceilings in the den, dining room, kitchen, our bedroom, and the bathrooms.  Reed's work on the ceilings and beams is just beautiful.

4.  Took a wall out of the kitchen, added a support beam and gutted the kitchen. This opened up the kitchen and dining room, and it's now my favorite part of the house.

5.  Added over 2300 square feet of flooring. We have plans to complete one or two of the back bedroom's flooring in the future.

6. Installed a beautiful new kitchen after waiting on cabinets for 19 weeks.  The work in the kitchen included new cabinets, ceiling, floors, island, backsplash, crown moulding, countertops, farm house sink and more.

7. Installed multiple new ceiling fans and light fixtures.

8, Completed a ton of electrical and plumbing issues.

9.  Installed new commodes and two new vanities.

10. Whitewashed 2 fireplaces.  Installed a new fireplace door, and converted it back to a woodworking fireplace.

11.  We literally lost count of the loads of stuff we threw away, gave away and took to the thrift store.

12. Installed a pool.

13. Installed 2 new AC units.

14.  Yardwork will continue forever! 

Before and during in no particular order-

Moving Day

She had one job-don't let Jesus get broken!! :)

After- Again in no particular order or season

Landscaping and sod coming this Spring.

Even though I was reluctant to move in the beginning, I can truly say that this is now home.  And as I looked at the "after" pictures, there has already been lots of little changes to rooms. The grandkids love having their own rooms and the yard.  Speaking of the yard, it's either going to kill me or keep me young!  

Come see us!