First Game



 Today was Ben's first tee ball game.  He was the first batter. 

There are no out in tee ball here so even though the ball made it to first base before Ben, he still ran all the bases.  Everybody hits, nobody strikes out, everybody runs home.

On second.

Running to third.

Getting some advice from John on third.

Home.  But then he didn't know what to do.  He walked out into the field to his coach who was pitching.

Five from John.

In the field.

Second time at bat.

Having fun.

Looking worse for wear by the second inning.

Game over.  The game was just long enough.  Two innings.  Everybody batted twice.

A hot, fussy Mollie.

Headed home.

Construction Cake

Ben wanted a construction cake for his birthday.  I decided that we could make one ourselves.  I looked online for ideas.  Today while Mollie napped, Ben and I baked and decorated his cake.  He's digging a hole in the side of the cake with his backhoe.

 We iced it together.  We added green food coloring to canned white icing.  Ben chose this shade of green.  I pictured something a little darker.

The finished cake.  It's not perfect, but Ben is really happy with it.

Mollie Style

Tee Ball Practice 3

Ben had his third tee ball practice Tuesday night.  They were rained out last Thursday.  I really don't intend to take pictures every practice, but this week I brought my camera because it was John's first time to come to practice.  He's had to work late the last two.  Practice always starts by playing catch until everyone arrives.

One of Ben's coaches helping him practice catching.  He did catch a couple.  His face was so surprised when they actually landed in his glove.

On the mound with his other coach.  They got their uniforms last night and were all wearing their purple uniform caps.

Batting practice.  It turns out that in tee ball here they actually pitch five balls to each kid.  If he misses all five pitches, then they get out the tee.  Ben hit two pitches, but didn't know where to run once he hit the ball.

Team cheer.  One more practice until their first game on Saturday.

Making Brownies

Corvette

Sunday morning, Ben was running fever so he, Mollie, and I stayed home from church.  After church, John called and said he had wrecked the Corvette.  At first I thought he was making a bad joke, but he assured me that he really had a wreck leaving church.  He wishes he had driven the Altima. 



Children's Museum

MV and Janey spent several days with Nana and Granddady this week. We spent Thursday night as well and on Friday Nana and I took the four to the Children's Museum. The was Mollie's first visit to the children's museum. It was a little overwhelming because there were 200+ elementary school children there on field trips; however, the kids still had fun. (Notice I did not say Nana and I had fun!)

Shopping for fruits and vegetables.

Digging for dinosaur bones. Mollie had a snack while they dug.

Green Mollie Take 3

Is Mollie really a leprechaun? Baby Incredible Hulk? Maybe an alien? For some reason Mollie keeps coloring herself green. This is the third time.

Tee Ball Practice 2

Mollie entertained herself by drinking from Ben's water bottle and wearing his helmet during tee ball practice last night. She was frustrated because she couldn't do both at the same time.

Church

This is the church that Ben built. If you look inside, there are people and at the very front a preacher. (He's wearing a cowboy hat.) The structure kind of cut off on the left is a Sunday day school room.

Tee Ball Practice

Ben had his first tee ball practice Thursday evening. Ben looks little because he is. Tee ball is for 4-6 year olds. The cut off date is four by April 30, so Ben is the youngest player on his team.

Practicing running bases.

Second is that away. Ben didn't know. I'm not sure he even knew that you run bases. He just likes to hit.

Ben's turn to practice hitting off the tee.

They worked with each kid individually to get their batting stance right. Practice lasted an hour. Most of it was spent in the field. Ben stopped a few balls and picked a little grass. Afterwards, I asked him what he thought of baseball practice. He responded, "It was fun!" I'm glad he enjoyed it.

Kansans

Two weeks ago, we went to Jackson and visted with Bonnie Jeanne and Merlin. They are Mrs. Elder's cousins and were visiting from Kansas. Hi, Bonnie Jeanne and Merlin! We enjoyed seeing you.

Tuesday

When Ben should have been sleeping last night, he was planning an Adventure Party for this morning. For his Adventure Party, we took his magnifying glass, binoculars, and a couple of cardboard rolls (telescopes) outside to examine things.

He collected things around the yard and glued them to a piece of paper.

Mollie dressed to play outside. Somebody buy her dress up clothes for her birthday.

Ben has been busy today. He had an adventure party this morning, built a car at lunchtime (Murray was building a car on Sesame Street), and built a doghouse this evening.

His doghouse is two story. Notice the stairs leading to the second level.

Pet Party

Ben loves to plan activities for us all to do. This afternoon we had a Pet Party. He prepared a snack (crackers and water), a craft, and provided stuffed animals for us to pet. Ben and Mollie are working on our craft. Ben cut coloring pages from a coloring book. A dog for me and a cat for Mollie. We colored them and then he applied glue. Mollie and I stuck cotton balls on so that they felt like furry pets. This was all Ben's idea. He wanted to use yarn but we didn't have any. Cotton balls were his second choice.

A Week

I just realized that although I was taking pictures all week last week, I never posted any.

Mollie was playing very quietly Tuesday night while I was cooking supper. I should have been suspicious. She colored her hands green (again!). Then she sucked her thumb, which turned her teeth and tongue green too. Thankfully, it all come off in the bathtub since Mollie had a doctor's appointment Wednesday morning. It was a follow up from her last visit where she had a bad ear infection. It has healed well.

Mickey and Minnie had fun playing on the slide with Ben and Mollie Thursday morning.

A rare example of Ben and Mollie playing together well.

I just thought this was a cute picture of Mollie. Up close she was very dirty.

Even blankie needed to slide.

Ben building a road.

Thursday evening the Elder men attended the Wild Game Supper together at church.