Happy Monday

Lots of this going on lately . . . and I do mean lots.

I'm not complaining, though.

I love to watch my Jake and I love the excuse to sit and talk with the other moms.

The kids don't mind it either . . . they get to play with great friends at the games.

There is also a lot of soccer.
I love that, too. :)

The kids are out of school for the summer and I couldn't be more thrilled.
We have been so busy and I am looking forward to . . .
lazy days in the pool,
fun days with friends, and
creative play days in the house. 
I'm also looking forward to getting rooms organized and doing a few other projects (like painting our master bedroom and the kitchen cabinets).

I LOVE this summer list that Amy wrote about here.

 The kids and I will be sitting down to make one of our own today.
Oh . . . and by the way .  . one of my favorite bloggers, Val, from ValSoCal is hosting a giveaway in honor of her one year "blogiversary". 
Stop on over there and enter to win. 
She has the best recipes . . . I have tried many and have never been disappointed.


Have a great Monday everyone!
thanks for stopping by!
~cheryl

~Happiness never decreases by being shared.~ go share some happiness!!

my love / hate relationship with baseball season

Baseball season has officially arrived.

I just love watching Jake play . . .
he got a triple in tonight's game!! 
Cloud nine is what he was walking on tonight . . .
I love that between huffs and puffs on third base, he asked John, "Do you think Mommy saw me??" 

I'm glad I wasn't accidentally looking the other way, not that I ever take my eyes off the game. :)

I love that John is coaching.
I love that he is there for Jake
and I love that he is doing something that he loves to do.

After tonight's game, he was all excited telling me about all of the different signs. 
Just like a little boy. :) 
I love that.

I love that Jake gets to hang out so much with his buddies.



Now . . . I want to tell you something I hate don't really like about the baseball season.

Packing suppers.

I have completely run out of ideas.

Sandwiches, sandwiches, sandwiches.

Please help me out and give me some fun ideas of how I can feed my family a few times a week at a baseball park without using the word "sandwich".

Thank you!!

Always Pray and Never Give Up

Yesterday, my 10-year-old son, Jake, had a baseball game.
He pitched great, but he was not happy at all with his hitting. 
Actually, he was downright sad, mad, and depressed about it . . .

When I was putting him to bed, he looked at me and said,

"Mom, the thing that bothers me the most was that I was praying so hard that God would let me hit the ball really well and He never answered me."

Silence . . .

I explained to him that God heard his prayer, but for some reason was not wanting to let that happen.

We didn't have our usual book to read that night since we had already finished it, so I pulled a random book off the bottom shelf of his bookcase.  At first, he said he didn't want me to read it, but I opened it anyway.  It was a book  of stories that went along with parables in the Bible that my mom had given to Jake. I was curious to see what it was like.

I started reading.

I turned to a story about a girl who had been praying for something and God just didn't seem to be answering her. 

(um . . .hello!)

Jake was very interested now . . .

I continued reading about how this little girl waited and waited and kept on praying until God finally did answer her prayer.  He answered her prayer in a way that was different than how she had everything planned out, but it turned out to be for the best and she was very happy.

The parable that it paralleled was the "Parable of the Persistent Widow" (I didn't remember ever reading about this, so I looked it up)  It is found in Luke 18.  (verses 1 -8) A persistent person is someone who never gives up.  The woman in this parable had a problem that she wanted a mean and selfish judge to solve for her.  She kept on asking him about this problem until the judge got so tired of the woman bothering him that he did what she wanted.  If a selfish judge would help someone just to get rid of the person, how much more will God help his own children? 

God wants us to keep talking to Him about the things that worry and bother us. 

He cares about us very much and He never gets tired of hearing from us.

These verses tell us not to give up hope. 

We should keep believing and keep praying. 

It is wonderful to know that all of our prayers are being heard.  Our good Lord is always listening.

 

Always.

He will do what is best when the time is right.

Jake felt better just knowing that God wanted me to read that book to him at the right moment.  His cute freckled face was smiling just knowing that God was speaking to him at that moment and all was well. 
He was asleep within minutes.

Here is the book that I read to him . . . It was written by James Dobson and his daughter, Danae.

brothers

big brother

little brother

little brother wants to be just like big brother

I'm glad Luke has such a good role model to follow.

Hebrews 13:1

"Let brotherly love continue."

Summer Saturday

At 4:00 in the morning, I never would have guessed that Jake would still have his game today, but the horrible storm passed and everything dried up. They ended up losing, but they fought hard and the score was close. I am always so proud of Jake and his team.

After the game, we did a lot of swimming.

I am so thankful for our pool!!

We have really used it a lot this summer.
We are having some old neighbor friends of ours over for dinner tomorrow night.

I am trying to decide what to make.

I'm thinking about making bruschetta for an appetizer. (I've never made it before.) I'll let you know how that turns out. :)

I think we will just have grilled cheeseburgers with all the fixin's, strawberry spinach salad, chips, fruit, and s'mores for dessert.

I love summer . . . entertaining is so much easier when you can grill and eat outdoors!

More Baseball Fun

Jake's team won tonight!!

They played a team that absolutely creamed them two days ago. This time we almost slaughter-ruled them!

What a difference a couple of days make!! :)

These sisters of the players get a lot of time to play together during the games. :) I'm thankful that they have each other. (they play with Luke as well) They are supposed to have a game at 9 in the morning tomorrow, but unfortunately, it is supposed to rain tonight and in the morning.

It's too bad, because we are ready to play after a great win!!

Wheaton Saints Win!!

Jake's team WON two games in a row!!

He is #2, second row center, with his hands on his hips.

You go, Jake!!

Some Things I Love

I love how sitting in a "cool fort" in the trees for hours while their brother plays looong baseball games is actually fun.

I love this little boy.

I love this big boy.

I love togetherness and camaraderie.

I love simple things like Popsicles that make life a little happier.

I love dads who love their kids.

I love that Jake's team won a game on Sunday.

I love watching Jake play baseball and I love that he is learning important life lessons this year.

Baseball, Baseball, and more Baseball

We have been very busy with baseball lately. (this weekend, we had four games! very HOT games)

Jake's team is struggling a bit this season. Last year they were champs, so it is hard for them to keep losing. We are trying to keep it as fun as possible, though. :)

At first, I was a little reluctant about having to go to so many games, but I really love watching Jake play. It is so exciting and I am just so proud of him. It's really kind of nice to be "forced" to take the time to sit and visit with other moms and let the kids play with the other siblings.

Jake gets a little down on himself at times.

I am so grateful that John is there to keep encouraging him and to help him to be the best player he can be.

John is a great coach.

We are hoping for some wins very soon. Jake would appreciate any prayers about this.

:)

:)

Take Me Out to the Ballgame

What have we been doing lately??

a little bit of this . . . this . . .
this. . .
and this.

We love it!!

p.s. . . they won tonight!! (in the rain) Yay!!!!

My Guy

Have I ever mentioned how proud I am of this kid??

I'm just sayin' . . .

Hooray!! Jake's team won!

Jake's baseball team won their first game tonight! Their team has been struggling a bit this season, so the win was a welcome surprise!! Jake pitched really well and got two hits. I'm always so proud of him no matter what the score is, though.

Unfortunately, John was unable to help coach this game due to tutoring.

White Sox Game

On Wednesday, Jake had the opportunity to bring Caleb Larson to a White Sox game. They had so much fun and the Sox won!!! Yay! Thank you Uncle Colin and Auntie Diane for the tickets!!