LET'S PLAY BALL!!!

After waiting what felt like an eternity, we were finally given the green light to let the boys play baseball. There are restrictions, only immediate family can attend, people must be socially distanced and wear masks if closer than six feet away from someone, but it was worth it. We scrimmaged the Indy Cubs today and were a little rusty, but no one complained. It just felt so good to let the kids play ball! This field is actually in the backyard of one of the Indy Cubs' coaches. Drew would never come in if we had something like this!

Sold!

Along with toilet paper and Clorox wipes, stores can't seem to keep up with the demand for bicycles. With everyone home, people are looking for things to do outside, so they're hard to find. We decided to let the kids sell their old bikes and told them they could keep the money they make. Alivia's is much nicer and in much better shape than Drew's, but they both sold within days. The kids were thrilled!

Liv's sold for $85! Brad priced it for this on Craig's List and the buyer never even tried to negotiate! 

Drew's sold for $25. Really good because it was banged up quite a bit!

Meet Benji

Aunt Leslie decided to take advantage of working from home and decided this was the perfect time to add to her family. Sweet Benji has been such a blessing for her and Stephen. She couldn't wait for us to come see her. And Alivia couldn't get there fast enough either!

Redneck Dinner

While restaurants aren't allowed to have their dining rooms open, several have offered take-out and we've started taking advantage. Texas Roadhouse is one of our favorites, but when we saw this in the parking lot, we all got a good laugh. People really do miss a good meal at a restauraant. So much so that they're willing to bring their picnic table in the back of their pick-up truck so they can eat out. Just more confirmation that we're all losing our minds a little during this pandemic.

More Benefits

We're so fortunate to have the Boldt's as such good friends. Ben and Amy help us so often to get Drew here and there when we're running in multiple directions. And they are so generous to invite the kids to swim once in a while, too. The kids loved an afternoon at their pool.

Honors

Despite all of the virtual days, Alivia has had such a great year at MVMS.  She finished with the top GPA for her team (around 95 students) and was rewarded with certificates, a plaque and a visit from her team teachers.  The start of 6th grade was not easy, but once she got the hang of it, she soared.  We are so incredibly proud of her academic achievements.  I should also note that she couldn't have done this without her dad's help.  It's no secret he's the smart one in the house and I'm so thankful he's still got the math skills to teach them.  I certainly can't do it anymore!  He was quite patient (on most days) and truly is a large part of why they are successful.  But Alivia gets all the credit today!

 

Supporting Seniors

This has been an unfortunate senior year for so many kids and schools started asking for families to adopt a senior to help celebrate their accomplishments.  We chose to adopt two girls at Warren and I had so much fun spoiling them with gifts, snacks and gift cards.  Both girls have bright futures ahead and we wish them all the best!

Madison Waggoner - Madison's dad has done some handy work at our house over the last year.  She's playing softball next year while continuing her education.

Briana Rainey - Bri was the setter for WC's volleyball team and is headed to IU.  We enjoyed watching her play last fall.

A Little Luck

This kid found several four leaf clovers while we were visiting at Uncle Craig's today.  So he brought them home and taped them to the inside of his baseball hat.  He's hoping for a little luck this season. :)

Robots

Drew had an assignment to build a robot out of normal household objects, so Alivia decided to join in. There's nothing else to do, so why not! I think they enjoyed this more than they expected. Drew submitted a picture via email to show it was complete.

Happy Mother's Day

I was surprised with an amazing Mother's Day gift this year - a KitchenAid Mixer!  Since we've been spending so much time at home, I've baked out of boredom.  So now we can really get to work!  We've made cookies, brownies, snickerdoodle bars and have other ideas in mind.  Brad gets lots of points for this gift!

It's no secret that parenting is a challenge, but being a mom to these two is a true joy.  I have been so blessed with beautiful, hard working, smart, funny and loving children.  They may push me to my limits once in a while, but I couldn't love them more.  I feel so fortunate for every moment we have together.  Thanks for making today a special day for me!

And Liv texted me this. So sweet!

Rollin'

 Drew found Brad's old rollerblades and is loving them.  I think we'll put this on his birthday list this year.  These are a little big and very old, but minus one fall earlier today (see pic below), he's getting pretty good.

Corona Diaries: Back on Track Indiana Plan

Here's the plan as Indiana's begins to reopen in phases.  We are so hopeful for some normalcy soon!

Riding the Monon Trail

It was the perfect day for a ride on the Monon. We started on 96st Street and rode all the way to State Road 32, just before Grand Park.  We stopped for lunch at Subway before heading back to the car.  This ride is roughly 20 miles round trip, so it's a good distance.  There's enough traffic we can't push ourselves too hard, so it's pretty relaxing.  The kids did great!

Corona Diaries: Baseball Challenge

 This week was Drew's turn to come up with something.  He set a big ball on a tower made from flower pots and a bucket and sat the tower on the work bench.  Then Alivia tossed to him so he could knock the ball off with a hit.  I don't know how many times we had to video to get a good one, but it wasn't as many as I expected.  He was pretty proud of himself. :)

Corona Goodbye

Mt. Comfort Elementary teachers and staff did a drive-by parade to see the kids since it's been a while.  Since we have an educator in the house, we know firsthand how hard this has been on teachers and administrators.  They didn't sign up for this profession with the hope to work at home.  It was so good to see the smiling faces of so many people the kids have missed.

Brown County State Park

We needed some fresh air and when the Dayhoff's invited us to join them at Brown County for the day, we took advantage.  Traci and I have continued to work at Riley during the pandemic and felt we could socially distance from others in the park safely.  This was so good for our souls!  We packed lunches, hiked, let the kids play on the playground and just enjoyed some time with friends.  So thankful for a beautiful day to do this!