Afternoon at the K

For Zac's birthday present, we decided to have an "experience" instead of a present. So Scott had promised Zac a Royals game. But just before Scott bought the tickets for this Friday, Uncle Michael called and offered us four tickets for the Sunday game! He is very sweet to call us often when he has extra tickets--this time, he was headed for France and couldn't very well see the game from the Arc de Triomphe (I had to look that up). So we decided to put the money we would have spent on tickets towards some of the "extras" at the ballpark--namely, a real ballpark snack that everyone could enjoy and fun at the new K kids' area. Even better, we found out Zack Greinke was pitching for the Royals. Apparently, that is a big deal.

We ate our lunch on the way and arrived at the ballpark with about 20 minutes to spare. Since some of us hadn't seen the re-vamped stadium, we took a walk over to the fountain wall and looked out over the ballpark. We took a picture of the kids by George Brett's statue, then hurried to our seats as the color guard marched out. I took great pleasure in showing little Blane how to remove his hat during the national anthem and place his hand over his heart. Then it was, "Play ball!"

The game was actually pretty good for the first 4 innings, as the Royals and White Sox stayed neck-in-neck with four runs each. It was a perfect American day--a beautiful sky, everyone in ball caps and Royals shirts, the smell of fried funnel cakes and other delicious goodies wafting around. I was in a sleeveless shirt at the loveliest of temperatures holding a little boy and watching America's pasttime with my favorite guys. It doesn't get much better than that.

We ordered peanuts (Seth's favorite) and got the guy to throw the bag to us. Seth sat next to me and crunched like a squirrel while I held a couple of shelled peanuts under Blane's nose for his perusal. "Try it; it tastes like peanut butter, " I urged. He did, but decided the two nuts I had given him were enough. Then he got restless, so after the 4th inning, we decided to head to the fun zone.

Scott got a handful of tokens and we started with miniature golf. Scott had to show Zac and Seth how to hold the golf club properly, and the guys did pretty well. Zac even got a hole-in-one on one of the runs! It wasn't a full scale course--just about six holes, but the guys loved it. Then Zac "ran the base" and compared his time with a sample Royals player. Next Blane rode the carousel, which he just loved. The boys wanted to go do the batting cages next, so I took Blane to the play area and we rode the carousel one more time. We got off just in time to see Z & S take to the batting cages. By then, everyone was getting hot and tired, so after one more run of the bases for both boys (to use up our tokens), we headed back to our seats. Fortunately, we were now at the 7th inning stretch. When we got back to our seats, the people behind us told us that the boys would have been on the Jumbotron if we had stayed there, because a cameraman had pointed in our direction. Bummer. Imagine our delight when a cameraman came down and sat near us again. Next thing you know, Zac was 7 stories tall on the "Flex Cam", showing off his muscles (with his younger brother popping his head in on the side of the screen) What a great birthday present!

We left at the bottom of the ninth after the Royals pitcher allowed 3 runs in, bringing the score to 7-4. Seth had a headache and Blane was miserable by that point. But Zac was so happy. What a wonderful way to celebrate 10 years on the earth!

Garage Sale Finds

Well, I visited that garage sale again. The one I posted about a year (!) ago--with the great table that now sits in my living room. I knew in my heart of hearts that I would never come across a find to equal that one, but it has somehow become a beginning of summer ritual for me and the boys.

So two days into our summer vacation, we walked up our street to the Nazarene church on the corner. They were kinda into it, since I told them they could each pick out a toy. The boys headed for the toy table while I meandered through the other areas looking for treasure. I found a few--a platter from Pier One, a couple of table runners from World Market, a weirdly-70's era carved bunny that caught my eye. Zac got a metal Slinky, Seth found a battery powered robot, and I'll give you three guesses as to what Blane picked out. :)

Then we headed for the checkout, by which was the furniture. We rambled through and observed the wares: glass outdoor table with worn Heinekin umbrella--no class; little farm table with chairs--cute, but too expensive and didn't need; bookshelf--too ugly. I then found a great little chest with a hideous paint job--maybe I would have liked it in the 90's, because it was forest green and had painted roses on it. The bones were great and it was only $10. So I got that. Then the boys and I discovered a bumper pool table--also $10. Perfect for the basement! I told them we would pick it up later...and we did. That night, Scott and the boys worked on stabilizing the table as it was pretty wobbly, but when we got it fixed up, the boys were excited. It's turning into a regular lounge down there in the basement!

"My Great Life" by Zac Harnden

Zac presented us with a book he wrote chronicling his life. I have scanned it for your reading enjoyment. The illustrations were done using his thumbprints (everyone who's orange is in our family--see if you can figure out who is who!)

(Ed. note: Sorry, the paper got crumpled! Since Blogspot makes it difficult to move pics around in the post--and therefore, I might have to re-upload all these pics to get the new scan in--I'll just give you the text: "When I was 6 years old, I started kindergarten. I went to Pioneer Elementary School. My teacher's name was Mrs. Gilliam. I remember when I was doing my work the principal came on the loud speaker and said, "The president was flying over our school." We all went outside and waved.")

Mom and Boys' Weekend

Daddy was gone over the weekend and it was me and the guys. We ate what we wanted, watched "Space Chimps" and went to a picnic. All in all, a fun time! Scott was scheduled to be home about 11:00 pm on Saturday night and Seth desparately wanted to wait up for him. The request was vetoed. We would have had a bear on our hands come morning.

Even though the guys and I enjoyed our weekend, it was great to have Daddy back!

Existentialism on the the Swings

Seth and I were in the backyard one Sunday afternoon. I was clipping and trimming hedges and he was talking to me. I never cease to be amazed at the things my children ponder. So much mulls through their little minds. Anyway, Seth was swinging and asking me the Big Questions of Life and Faith: why are we here? why didn't people both long ago and now believe in Jesus? etc.

I am way too finite to answer these questions correctly! And I had to put it in terms that an 8 year old would understand. But this is the task of every parent who brings a child into the world--to give them direction, to help them see that they are part of God's work and story.

I explained my belief in Jesus as God's Son and my Savior as simply and succinctly as I could. I told him that I believed our main purpose on this earth is to glorify God--in our lives, in our speech, in our conduct and business, in our reaching out to others for service and to tell them that they too can be His. I told him that our whole goal was to demonstrate Jesus and God to others in every way.

Seth, in all his precious honesty, said this was hard to understand. I told him that big people have a hard time understanding it too. In his young life, he hasn't really hit any adversity or gotten a good taste of the injustice than runs rampant on this planet. So I pray every morning for my children, for their health and well being, but most of all, that their eyes will be opened to the all-compelling love of God. My number one job is to teach them that God provides a bottom to their world, a solid ground to dig into when the handholds of feelings and situations have long since crumbled. It's all I know to do, for I have answers for nothing else.

Birthday Milestones

As is always the case, Seth and Zac celebrate their birthdays within a month of each other. As they've gotten older, the "big-dealness" of the birthdays have grown--for instance, we have an official "birthday dinner" on the actual day (waffles, anyone?), and usually have something fun on the weekend, like a movie night and no chores. A Celebration Weekend of sorts.

When it came to parties, we had a bit of a divergence. Seth opted for the traditional home party, with a sundae twist. We invited his buddies over (three came) for sundaes on Sunday, then had a treasure hunt and a balloon pop relay. Everyone had a fabulous time, and it was a nicer environment than last year, when the law of the jungle was the rule (8 boys with a cold April snowshower outside--never again!)

Zac has decided this year that he wanted to just invite a few friends to the pool for ice cream and swimming. Of course, that means we have to wait for the pool to open! But I think the fact that he is TWO digits now has affected his thinking in several ways. We're officially in the "tween" bracket now, and I see it in a multitude of ways. He's more of a big boy in how he thinks and responds now, wants to look cool, put away childish things. The birthday "hang-out" is a part of this.

I'm actually excited about it. All the boys are getting into ages where we can go places and do things without breaking out a stroller or diaper bag, searching for a lost paci, melting down because it's WAY past naptime or stopping to wipe noses/wipe mouths/tie shoes (okay, still some of that). They're little people you can have a real conversation with now. And they're fun...lots of fun. Here's to enjoying the next stage, because, like babyhood, it won't last.