Take Me Out To The Ballgame

The boys went to their first 'real' baseball game and hosted their first sleepover on Sunday

Isn't there a rule about getting kids wired on blue drinks and foods?

It was a wonderful nite for a game - the clouds threatened all day, but ended up just cooling things off and making for a beautiful sky. They let the kids play catch before the game

and the players were great about signing autographs

They walked away with these great bats and a ball

They tried for some balls, danced and played with all the silly entertainments, and basically had a great time!

And imagine my surprise when I saw this poster of Aunt Libby's league in the bathroom?

Not sure if the blur is equipment or operator error

Zach came home with us, and introduced the boys to Billy Exterminator, a mulleted animal do-gooder - there were possums and rats and all sorts of vermin in the episode we watched

Zach and Jack practicing good oral hygiene

and the three of them pretending, with varying success, to sleep - this picture was taken at about 10:45 PM...silly, giggling boys!

Jack Norworth

Bells will be ringing

It's official - tomorrow is the first day of Advent and I am READY, as are these two sweeties. We're trying to figure out a way to ring the bells for the Salvation Army's Red Kettles - it was a charity Aunt Libby preferred, and they love everything about it for some reason, so this will be a new attempt at being charitable this season. The giving talk has been rampant at our house, and they seem to be really getting it this year (fingers crossed and beatings to commense as needed LOL).

WalMart was doing free pix with Santa today and

Harry wanted to tell Santa his wishes for Christmas,

or did he just want to get his picture taken?

Jack wanted no part of it since it wasn't "our Santa" and Daddy was at home.

Hopefully next weekend :-)

OK, this is my favorite Christmas song - something about the heaping on of sorrows and those amazing harmonies of the Eagles. It's my last sad one, okay, maybe Blue Christmas, but it's in honor of all of you who have said you're just not into it this year. Hoping you can get your Merry on soon :-)

Eagles

Happy Birthday, Dear Aunt Libby!

Yesterday was my Dear Aunt Libby's birthday, and though she's been gone for 7 years now, her spirit lives on in our lives in so many good ways. It was hard to write about it yesterday because some days I just miss her so, but I did don a SB shirt and head to the gym in her honor (Say HEY, HASAYers!)

She was funny and feisty and I never visited her without someone coming up to her to tell her a story about how they watched her play ball, how their life was turned around by her counseling or teaching them, or some such inspiring thing. In my memory, she was always the person in our family who first went to college and really embodied a love of education. She made me laugh, she made me try to be a better person, and she loved my darling husband. My beloved Aunt Libby died in September of 2001 and was buried on September 11th, so that's where I was 'when the world stopped turning.' I always like to think of the ways that it HASN'T for so many of us whose lives she helped to shape.