Sunsets on the Lake

We had a great vacation. It is unfortunate when they end though. Kirk and I were able to take in sunsets at Grand Haven and South Haven this trip. I don't think there is anything prettier in this world than watching the sun set over the lake. I love how you can almost see it move down in the sky. I especially like that last little bit you can see before it goes into the horizon (water-sizzle). We spent a lot of time walking the Pier in Grand Haven and on the trails in Holland. Unfortunately, the temperatures were so high that the sweat just poured off of you. So much for looking good in the pictures. Just won't show any of those....just sunsets. So for 2 days we visited the coast at Holland, Grand Haven, Saugatuck, and South Haven. Not too bad for 2 old farts.

Ten reasons for some well deserved R & R

Konnor and his hand made mogel.

I know this post will make some of you sick...but it will be my last post until Sunday. Kirk and I are off for some much needed R&R. My MIL is coming today at 4 to watch the boys for a few days. We had big plans to go somewhere new, but I think we are going to settle for the comfortable and familiar Lake Michigan Coastline. I am going to try to give ten reasons why this trip is necessary...let's see if I can do it?! 1. Too many projects to relax around our house.
2. Grandma said she would watch the boys for a few days.
3. Baseball season is almost over.
4. Football starts in 9 days.
5. Football starts in 9 days.
6. School starts in a month.
7. Running kids around is taking a toll on my health.
8. Konnor has run me ragged (constantly on the go!)
9. Kraig and Konnor haven't been able to get along for more than 30
seconds all summer.
10. We have been going non-stop all summer and need some "alone" down time.

Too much whining I know, but I get so frustrated with myself when I'm stressed out. It is good for me to take a look at what I actually do in any given 24hours. It's enough to make your head spin.

White Sox win again!

For all of my friends that know me well, try not to laugh out loud at the next statement. I really do try to be non-competitive. Unfortunately, for reasons out of my control it doesn't always work that way. 2 years ago when I started coaching baseball, I would loose because I didn't understand the proper way to make a line-up. I had all of these fancy ways to pick the order (ie: alphabetical, rotating top to bottom, bottom to top, etc) I hated loosing just because I was trying to make everything "fair and equal". Well, guess what, this world we live in isn't always fair and equal. So now when I do my line up, I make sure that we will get those big hits and runs we need in an inning and then try to shake things up position wise. I know this is probably the wrong way to look at baseball at this level, but nobody likes to loose....right?! Some kids are out there for the mere fact that their parents want them to be there. I still have kids playing in the dirt, while my 3 strongest players are turning double plays. Hmmmmm??? I still think I have the best interest of the team in mind, so does it really matter that not everyone gets to play every position?

Another new NEIGHbor!

You would think that it would be no big deal to have a new baby at the barn, but each time it happens, it is like a party around here. First, I think that it is absolutely amazing that an animal that small can have a baby that big inside them. Secondly, WOW isn't nature grand! This is our newest and most "special" little friend. He had some trouble in the beginning, but seems to be gaining his own quickly. Tiny Tim (his name says it all) was carried in the uterus with his front legs tucked under him. Because of that position his tendons in his ankles (hocks) aren't stretched enough to let him walk and stand normally. With time that will hopefully correct itself. May need braces but should be fine. Secondly, Tiny Tim wasn't strong enough to stand and nurse. To make a long story short....I located a breast pump....worked with him on a few times....fed him with a bottle....and last night between the 3 and 6 o'clock feeding he is strong enough to nurse himself. HOORAY!!! I knew all that LaLache training would come in handy someday.

Baw Beese Indians

The baseball season officially ended yesterday at 1 PM and football season unofficially started at 6 PM. K3 had his last baseball game yesterday. They won 5-3 and were back to the same team we haven't seen for a couple of weeks now. Hitting the ball and making key defensive plays. Charger Football Camp started yesterday at 6PM. Both Kirk and Kraig get to attend this year. How exciting is that?! K2 and all the hornet coaches also attend this camp to watch for new skills and drills. I celebrated my 2 hours of peace and quiet by mowing the lawn until 9:45. I still need to trim mow but I could see in the dark. I also spent about 3 hours staining the pool deck. We started this task on Friday and now have to slowly finish all of the rungs. Not a very speedy or fun job.

Hey, batter batter...SWING!

I have to chuckle everytime someone asks me how my summer is going. Summer, oh yeah, that is the thing that is in between baseball games, if I remember correctly. Last night Kraig had practice at 5....k3 had a game (picked up by the 16 and under team) at 5:30....and Konnor had a game at 6. Not a single one of them in the same location. Both boys are in tournaments this weekend. It is the last of the baseball for them. Kraig has games at 4 tonight (jonesville) and K3 game(hillsdale) is at 5. Tomorrow we have a game at 11 and 3 for Kraig (jonesville) and 9 and 1 for K3(hillsdale). Kirk3 also has a game at 11 on sunday. The boys start Charger football camp from 6-8 pm on Sunday through Wednesday. Oh my....how fast summer is going.

I visited my old room at DMS yesterday. I was checking out the critter situation. I only have 1 millipede left. Definitely have some work to do before school starts. My room is supposed to be on the books for carpet here in the next few weeks. It would be nice to have it done so I could start getting the room in order. I am getting excited about being back in the "science" world. I did miss it! Not looking forward to pulling out the dress clothes and uncomfortable shoes though. Really enjoyed sweats and tennies on a daily basis.

Do you SMELL something?!

It is really a good thing for you that blogger doesn't allow for smell-a-vision because right now you would plugging your nose and covering your mouth. Chloe got sprayed by a skunk at 11 pm on Wednesday night. I was not willing to give her a bath that late at night, so she suffered with herself through morning. K2 found a recipe for shampoo that gets the smell out. Skunk spray oil which makes it impossible to wash out with regular soap. Here is the recipe that you will definitely want to make note of 32 oz peroxide, 1/4 baking soda, 2 tsp. dish detergent. It really did work. Last year when chance got sprayed I used tomato juice and special "expensive" soap from the vet. It didn't even come close to this brew. She is now fluffy and very white. I think the peroxide helped with that. You know what they say "Blondes do have more fun!"

No more POOP!

Fly poop that is....took us 4 hours to power wash the crap off the house. I can't even begin to tell you how disgusting that job is. Oxy clean is the chemical of choice though, melts that shxx right off the siding. It always amazes me at how dirty the house really is and you don't even know it until you start cleaning it. Hmmm....what other things around here are dirty and I just don't realize it?!

Konnor and I had a great game last night! He was able to hit and run without causing too much trauma to his neck. I'm glad there weren't any negative effects to his playing because he follows up with the surgeon this afternoon. That would have been hard to explaining how he blew open his stitches.

Update on Ms. Chloe...the vet is concerned that her left hip won't pass the OFA certification process. He said it won't hurt to send it in. If it doesn't pass, she will have to be fixed and NO puppies. What a bummer?! I felt alittle sad when he showed me the xrays, but better to know now instead of after she has had a litter. I would have felt bad if I allowed my dog to pass on the Hip Dysplasia gene. Her dad was certified, but her mom was not. Hmmmm....guess we will wait and see.

Miss Chloe Ann of Hillsdale

Today Chloe is having her hips xrayed and certified so we can breed her. The last time I took her she was two days too young, what a bummer?! Both the vet and I had her birthday wrong. What a bad momma, I know?! She had to be dropped off by 8:30 this morning. Not a good time to take her in because there were 5 other dogs being dropped off and you know what a social issue she has. True to form she tried to rip another dogs head off. She is such a brut. Not nice...doesn't really fit the personality we see at home. Oh well, hope I can find some sorry sucker that will actually survive breeding her.

We are off to power wash the house today. Thanks to the cows next door, we have more than our share of fly poop on a pretty yellow house. Even with 4 fly bags up, we still get pooped on.

Tonight is baseball as usual. Konnor has a game. I'm not sure how much he will be able to play. He still has a pretty stiff neck. I guess it will be trial and error. Drew and Konnor fished for 4 1/2 hours yesterday. I really don't care to see another worm or fish for awhile. He also swam in the pool for an hour (3 waterproof patches).
K2 and K3 have lineman night at the HS tonight also. Last night was a 7 on 7 at the college. I thought football didn't start until August?????

Bond....Kirk Bond!

Just a quick post of a "shot" (no pun intended) during the 4th of July festivities at Jim and Joyce's. We were actually trying to see how much more K3 had to grow before he would be as tall as his dad. He is still concerned that he has stopped growing. Not likely kid, you're only 14!

Day 4 post surgery....a little bit less whinny. He played with Bryan for most of the day. He rode his 4 wheeler and dug a tunnel in the back by his giant holes. Thanks to Beth he did get to be in the pool for a short bit. The 100% waterproof bandages work, but they aren't 100%, more like 98%. He went through 2 patches in about 30 minutes but it was definitely better than sitting on the stairs. It was so incredibly hot...the pool was very refreshing. He wanted to go to the Lake but didn't decide until 3 in the afternoon. I was not packing up at 3 just to turn around at 9. Maybe today, who knows?!

Saved by the .....BOAT!

I'M FINISHED....I'M FINISHED....It was definitely the funniest one yet! Too bad we have to wait a whole year for the next one to come out. I guess I'll have to switch back to my steamy books for awhile.


After another grueling day of Konnor whinning and throwing major temper tantrums, Emily and Darrin (Drew's parents) took Konnor and Drew out on the boat. They asked if I wanted to go for a ride too and I graciously said, "thank you, but I will enjoy sitting on the shore in peace and quiet". After a couple times around the lake, they decided Konnor would be ok to keep with them for awhile. PRAISE THE LORD!!! We had a few hours of QUIET! I had Drew all day thinking that would be the ticket. He did great until it was time to swim and he could only float around and sit on the stairs. Everything fell apart at that point. I will have to check into the waterproof bandaids that Beth suggested. I am a little leary because the surgeon told us a gross story of a man that took a bath when he had stitches.....yuck! I won't say any more. Konnor has his follow up visit on Wednesday. I am hoping he will give him the all clear at that point. I am hoping today will be better. I may end up taking him to the lake. I told my mom yesterday if she loved me she would take him for a few days....she said she did love me, but she didn't think that was the answer. Yeah, maybe not the answer for her, but it would work for my answer.

Not a good patient!

Well, the good news is that the surgery to remove the rest of Konnor's mole went very smoothly. The anethesiologist laughed when he told Konnor jokingly not to drive for the remainder of the day and Konnor said "does that mean I can't drive the 4 wheeler or dirt bike?" He said never in his years of practice has he had to tell and 8 year old that with a serious tone. He did a great job being big and brave through the whole thing. There were only a few tears by mom (and Konnor)as they wheeled them away. The bad news....he is not liking being on the couch at all. He has watched more movies in two days than he has all of his life. We also moved the game cube to the living room....not as fun as riding 4 wheelers and shooting birds. The tricky part will be not getting his neck wet in the pool. Do you think he could breathe very long with a garbage bag duct taped over his head?! NOT!! Wish us luck!

Dog days of summer.....

Don't really know what that saying means but it seem to fit this picture. This is Chloe and Chance telling us that it was way too muggy last night. Not much new and exciting around here. K3 starts drivers training today. I guess that is exciting when you think of adding another person to haul brothers around, but not too exciting when you think of your car insurance going through the roof. I guess this is one of those situations where you take the good with the bad.

Baseball update....Kraig has his final game tonight. Yippeee!!! K3 has practice tuesday night...Konnor has practice Wednesday night...Konnor is supposed to have a game on Thursday night (but won't be playing because of surgery on Thursday AM). K3 has District games on Thursday and maybe Friday. Kraig was asked to play in a tournament this weekend but we said NO. Enough baseball already?! K3 has one more tournament starting next Friday and then he is finished...just in time for football to start. Konnor of course has games through the 1st week in August because our season just started.

I would like to take the kids on a mini trip somewhere but there doesn't seem to be enough days in the week. We really haven't even been to the cottage this summer. How SAD!!

Forever a BOY!

Well, the tournament didn't turn out so great, but the boys sure did have a good time hanging out after it was over. They played 4 really hard games and finished 1-3. Not great standings, but the games were fairly close until the bitter end. The only problem with sports is there is always one winner and one looser. This Baw Beese team has only lost one game this season (until this tournament). It was a little hard to swallow the disappointment they felt. Good News! I made 15 pounds of sloppy joes and everyone brought something to pass for our after tournament picnic. As you can see, it didn't take them very long to shake things off. After the picnic, they all loaded up in Mr. Condon's motorhome and went swimming. Happy ending to a long week of games.

Happy Birthday to Kayla!

Our "girl" turned 18 years old yesterday. We had her over for cake and a really sad rendition of the Happy Birthday song. She picked out Vanilla cake with Vanilla frosting(and of course sprinkles). We finished off the afternoon in the pool. I sure do enjoy floating around in the sun.

K3 had his first game of the weekend tournament in Hudson last night. His team ended up mercying the other team. Same time and place tonight.

Konnor and I had our first game last night also. They played awesome and ended up tied 15-15 after 3 innings. Konnor had a great hit over 2nd base into the outfield. He picked up a double on that one. Not too many doubles are made in coach pitch.

K2 is at his second day of Hornet Football Camp. I love football season...he seems so much happier when he is coaching and hanging with his buds. I know it is tiring, but I still think he enjoys it.

AWESOME 4TH OF JULY!!

We had a great time at the Laingsburg Putnam's 4th of July get together. Konnor fished most of the day....not a lot of action but it kept him busy. I got to read on the dock(never enough though) while he fished. This series is so incredible I wish I could lock myself in a room until I finish 11 and 12. Sick I know! Kirk3 and Kraig also got in some fishing before the fireworks started. We had lots of yummy food, great conversation, and beautiful weather....what more could you ask for?!

Today is Kayla's 18th birthday. I made her favorite cake with PINK icing and SPRINKLES. Can't wait to cut into it. Unfortunately, it will have to be after football camp and before baseball games....I guess it's never dull around here. Konnor has his first game tonight and Kirk is in a tournament this weekend in Hudson. So I guess that answers the next question about what we are doing for the next couple of days.

Happy 4th of July!

We are off to Jim and Joyce's for a day of fishing, eating, and watching fireworks over the lake. Every year Jim puts on the most spectacular fireworks display for the residents of his lake. People will come from all over the lake on pontoons to get front row seats. We watch from the deck and I'm sure it's much safer there. The boys have all graduated from deck watching to in-the-hole helpers. Yes, makes me a little nervous but their dad is there to keep them safe. It is amazing what lighting fireworks does to even the eldest of the bunch. It is like watching a bunch of little boys run around....especially when they unexpectantly come off the launch pad and start shooting in a wrong direction. Joyce stands ready with the garden hose...I think it makes her the most nuts of the bunch.

Friday-Saturday-Sunday

Friday and Saturday were jam packed with all types of activities around the Putnam homestead. Kirk finished his basketball camp at Albion College on Friday @2pm. We hustled back to Hillsdale...changed gears...and headed off to Homer for a double header. K3's team mercied them two games and we got finished around 10. Kraig had a game in Camden on Friday night too. His team got mercied. Saturday morning both boys had games in two different locations. Kraig's game was in Jonesville (ended up getting mercied after a good battle) and K3's game were at FOD. His team split their double header. We got home about 1:45 and had to be at an open house at 2. Matt E. graduation party was great. The kids swam until they were prunned and we drank Mango Mohitos and chatted. Didn't get home until 10:30. Sunday morning was a sleep in morning. The boys finally stirred around 11:30. That was nice. I spent the rest of the day cleaning the house, doing laundry, and fishing with Konnor. Oh, I also got to give Chloe an hour bath after her swim in the swamp. She was completely BLACK. That really stunk!

Oh yeah, job update....I got my letter from the Superintendent on Saturday that stated....This letter is notification of your involuntary teaching placement to DMS science due to No Child Left Behind....yada Highly Qualified...yada...yada. I just wish they would admit to the real reason I am being moved. I was more highly qualified for the PE job than the science job anyways. (Masters vs. minor). Go figure. Well, better get a move on ....three physicals in less than an hour. Later.