It's 1, 2, 3 Strikes You're Out!!!!

My daddy put me on the softball field when I was about 6 or 7 years old. I didn't know which end of the bat to hold or where to stand (btw my daddy loved sharing that story!).   I didn't know about running bases, etc. But, I finally learned and enjoyed many years playing softball with kids from my school and neighborhood. My parents spent many evenings watching us play ball and sometimes stepping in to help coach. When my daughter was 6 I put her on the softball field and then became her coach. I coached her for 6 years. There is nothing like summer time and ball parks. We virtually lived there. I love sports. Most all sports.

Now my son is 5 (he will be 6 in April) and I put him on the ball field this past Saturday. He didn't know anything about the bat or how to catch a ball. His throw is not so great either. But he will learn and I soon found out he has a hidden talent for baseball.

One of the Coaches showing Caleb where to stand, how to watch for the ball, etc.

I think he looks so tiny out there!!! 

Caleb is on the small side - um, let me rephrase that - he is super small for his age!!! He is not the youngest person on his team but he is the smallest. Most of the other boys are at least a head taller than he is.

One of the first things the coach did was to have them run bases. A couple of little boys started out and then Caleb started his run around the bases. The coach paced each boy before having the next run. Caleb was almost to 1st base when the boy behind him began to run.....as Caleb came up to 2nd base the little boy behind him was in front of him, as Caleb came up to 3rd base, the other little boy behind him was in front of him, and by the time he hit home plate about 4 boys had passed him up. Caleb is not a slow runner.....he just has short little legs that couldn't keep up with the longer legs of others. I have to say it was extremely funny to watch and oh I felt so bad for my little guy running his heart out and then being left behind.

His first day out he learned how to catch the ball - yes he missed quite a few but he got the handle of it. Then it was time to come to the plate for batting practice....I just cringed....I hated the thought of him missing every ball pitched to him (by a pitching machine 37 mph) - the laugh was on me -- Caleb swung and missed the first two pitches and then BAM!!! He connected and wow what a connect - I was almost reduced to tears (not really - I was jumping up and down yelling for my little guy!). Then came the next pitch - BAM!! And then the next pitch -- BAM!!! WOW!!! My baby can hit the ball!!! Now he just needs to know that you run to first after you hit the ball!!!

Coach showing Caleb how to hold the bat, swing, etc.

Getting ready to connect with the ball.

I put the camera away after the first couple of missed swings.

Shame on me.....I missed getting a shot of Caleb connecting with the ball!!!

For now the doctor is out.......anticipating the very first game, the cheering, the excitement.....um, the heat, the humidity...maybe the doctor should rethink this.....nahhhh, it will be worth it!!!!

The Wind Beneath My Wings

It's no secret I had a very bad 1st marriage. I went into that marriage full of life, happiness, and on top of the world. I left that marriage a very broken person, wondering if I could ever become my old self again, wondering about my self worth, my own intelligence, my skills as a mother, and myself as an individual. I left that marriage with a beautiful daughter who kept me grounded and gave me hope for the future. I never intended to get married again. NEVER, and I really mean NEVER. Around that time there was a song entitled, "Me and You Against the World," and it became my theme song with my daughter. Eventually I began to gain back my self, the me I knew was there somewhere. I made a decision to go back to college to get the degree I was working on when I married. Not long after this I was introduced to sweet hubby

(Thank you Kera!).

Sweet hubby was a blessing from the Lord. When sweet hubby asked me out on a date, it was "I would like to take you and Sarah...." What more could a person want than an individual in her life that recognized she came as a package - with a child. Sweet hubby never excluded Sarah in anything we did together while dating. In fact sweet hubby brought along Joshua too (his son from his 1st marriage). Sweet hubby always understood my need for independence and never pushed me on that. Sweet hubby did very gently take care of me. At this time in my life I was very serious about everything...working, raising a child by myself, and working on my BA....I had forgotton how to laugh or have fun...sweet hubby brought laughter and fun back into my life.

After dating for six years (yes, six years) sweet hubby and I were married. Sweet hubby was very understanding when I wanted separate checking accounts. At this time I was just finishing up my Master's Degree. Sweet hubby was very supportive when I spent hours working on my thesis. Sweet hubby was also supportive when I took a research job at the university which required a lot of travel. Then when the university asked me to teach 2 undergraduate classes at night, sweet hubby was very supportive again. Sweet hubby took over the household things so that I could live my dream of teaching at a university. Sweet hubby became the chauffer for Sarah taking her to school each day and eventually to early morning seminary.

When I told sweet hubby I was ready to get my doctorate he was right there beside me. I was working as an evaluator for a non-profit at the time and getting a doctorate meant driving 2.5 hours one way to Memphis two days a week. Sweet hubby closed down the business early two afternoons a week to drive with me to Memphis. Working fulltime and taking classes began to take up more and more of my time. Sweet hubby once again took over the household stuff. As I sat at a computer every evening working on projects, research papers, residency project, and finally dissertation sweet hubby would miraculously show up with a plate of dinner for me to eat while typing away. With a doctorate program comes many opportunities to present papers at conferences. As each conference came up sweet hubby proudly sent me away to make my mark on the world of research. In order to really make my mark in the world of research conferences became international. Again, sweet hubby proudly sent me on my way to do what I dreamed of doing and continues to support me each year as I come running in to tell him my paper was accepted at the Barcelona conference, the Belfast conference, and the most recent - Cambridge conference. Sweet hubby holds our house together when I am working fervently on papers for publication. Sweet hubby encourages me constantly to reach for those stars.

Sweet hubby never balked when I said I wanted to go visit Sarah - whether in Utah, Kansas or New York, he would smile and send me on my way. Sweet hubby is also very understanding about my yearly ski trips with my aunt or my trips with my sister and mom.

Sweet hubby is an example of service to me, never complaining when asked to do service for others or fulfilling his callings within our church. When sweet hubby and I got married my theme song, "You and Me Against the World" went out the door and was replaced by, "The Wind Beneath My Wings." Sweet hubby gives me the courage, the love, the support, and the desire to reach for the stars and live my dreams. I am truly blessed to have sweet hubby in my life. Sweet hubby is my everything and more. Sweet hubby is the wind beneath my wings.

For now the doctor is out....thinking about how truly blessed she is having sweet hubby in her life.

And to think.....having a Ph.D. isn't near enough education!!!!!

For Christmas Santa delivered this huge box with 1,000 lego peices in it.  The box stated on the outside "children 5 and up."   Santa knew that Caleb was 5 1/2 years old so this should be an appropiate age toy.  So on Monday we didn't hold school (MLK day) and decided it was time to open the big box and see what we could do with the contents.

The plan was to take all of this:

and make this:

So we pulled out the directions and started putting it together,

wait, I mean I started putting it together ~ then I took it apart

and started over.

Finally we got to a point where I could direct Caleb

on where to put the pieces:

Notice the laundry on the sofa waiting to be folded....

A long time ago someone told me the laundry will always be there -

the opportunity to play with your child won't -

I choose play instead of laundry - good choice!

Three hours later (YES, 3 HOURS LATER)  this is what we built:

And we were extremely proud of ourselves!!!
When I started working the project with Caleb I wasn't aware
that "5 and up" actually  meant "engineering degree."  I know that now.

Now the firetruck is waiting on the police car, motorcycle, fire station,
police station, etc. to be built so that there is a cute little "city" of  made by legos.
I still need to work on that Engineering degree - then we might construct the remaining peices.

For now the doctor is out......thinking seriously about obtaining that engineering degree!!!!

Oh, the places you will go.....

When I was a little girl my parents made it a priority for us to travel all through our home state of Arkansas - mainly visiting historical sites. Then my parents extended these road trips to include other states. Our vacations were not like other people's vacations. We didn't go to Florida to visit Disney World....no, my parents took us to Florida to visit St. Augustine - the oldest city in Florida where we also visited the Castillo de San Marcos and the Fountain of Youth. However, we did get to go to the beach for an afternoon - such frivolity when there is so much history to see and things to learn (this according to my mom!). Then later it was a trip to Illinois to visit sites for all things Abraham Lincoln and then to historical Nauvoo. When we were in Hawaii, we spent exactly one full day on the beach and the remainder of the time visiting historical Hawaii. When we finally made it to Disney World my dad loaded us up and we went to visit historic Church Street area of downtown Orlando and then on to Cape Canaveral and the Kennedy Space Center. On many of our journeys we saw presidential libraries, all types of monuments as well as historical church sites. Learning vacations became very much a part of my life to the point that I can't visit a place without exploring the historical heritage. I have since made learning vacations very much a part of my own children's lives. We have added visiting universities to our agenda as well. When I took Sarah on her first big road trip to the Northeastern part of the US, we included a visit to Yale University and Harvard University on the agenda. What a wonderful country we live in with so much to offer us in it's beautiful, rich, history.

I got this off of a friends blog and decided to put it on mine. The red states indicate all the states that I have traveled to.....and yes, I have been to all including Hawaii and Alaska. I have been to some states several times and will probably visit them many times again in the future. I love a good road trip and visiting places in my beautiful country!!!

create your own personalized map of the USA

Until next time the doctor is out....planning the next history trip for her family.....thinking maybe close to home - Natches, MS and the Antebellum homes...maybe!!!

Caleb's Corner

A few weeks ago we had Caleb tested to see where he is for his fine motor skills, developmental delay, etc.  After we got the results back and talked with the psychologist we decided it was time to make some changes for Caleb.  We prayed for guidance and we prayed some more and then we got our answer.   Homeschool.  Yep.  Homeschool.   Yep, I know, I said it.  I admit it.  I will NEVER homeschool my child.  I ate my words....not so tasty going down.  I have since learned that the public or private school setting is not for everyone and as a mom we MUST do what is best for our children.  So here we are....homeschooling.  Wow, for the first week I thought I must be losing my mind....how in the world was I going to be able to do the homeschool and everything else....then I figured it out....just do it like I do everything else...with passion, with love, with lots of prayer and guidance, with patience (oops, don't have much of that) and without a lot of sleep. 

I guess I should address the "why" for homeschool.  As most of my close friends and family know, we adopted Caleb.  We brought him home from the hospital when he was 2 days old.  His birth mom was addicted to meth during her pregnancy and this brought about many problems (physically, mentally, and cognitively) for Caleb.  His first few years were very rough.  You can actually read more on this in a previous blog. But to the point, we have been working with Caleb the past 5 years on his developmental delay (speech, motor skills, etc.) and on his health (lack of sucking reflex, breathing problems, and low immune system).  Caleb has made great progress but just wasn't quite where his teacher thought he should be as a kindergartener.   Therefore the reason for the testing.  The results:  Caleb was far more advanced than we thought.  His cognitive skills were well beyond the kindergarten level and his IQ represented this as well.  His fine motor skills had improved but could still use more improvement.  So why was he behind in his kindergarten class?   He needed more individualized instruction.   So homeschool was our option and a good option for us.

So we found our curriculum, we made daily plans, we got everything ready....what am I saying....there was no WE, it was ME!!! And then, Caleb and I created a special area in the corner of my office for his "school." And so we began. And Caleb is thriving in his homeschool environment. He loves working on the projects we get to do, on his workbooks, on his reading skills, and everything about school or learning. I hope it lasts!!!

Oliver even enjoys coming to homeschool sometimes!

Did I mention that I only average about 4 hours of sleep?  Did I mention that this is hard work?  Did I mention that I wanted to be an elementary teacher while in my first years of college and changed my mind after a semester of shadowing a class?   Did I mention that I never thought I was cut out for this?  Did I mention that I teach adults who are teachers?   Yeah, I thought so.....but here I am loving every minute of homeschooling this sweet child. 

Until next time, the doctor is out......writing up curriculum plans, searching for projects, searching for sleep, and enjoying my life everyday with my 5 year old.

A new bike for a sweet boy.....

In the past couple of months there have been several changes for Caleb.  First, his pediatrician decided that it was time to begin the ADHD medication that we knew would be coming due to his birth background.  With the meds in place Caleb has become a totally different person.  He is one who can concentrate for hours on a project.  He can sit still for long periods of time.   His motor skills have improved as well as his cognitive skills.  With the improvement of the motor skills and his desire to have a new bike, dad and mom broke down thier resistence and bought the new bike.  But let me back up a minute..... new bike was a big reward for improved behavior at school.....3 weeks of double smiley face stamps!!!!  Caleb had saved up about $10 (which is quite a lot for a 5 year old) and decided he wanted dad to take him to the bike shop to buy a new bike with his money!!!  So dad and Caleb went to the bike shop (very good friend owns the bike shop down the street from us) and Caleb picked out the bike he wanted.   So, one very excited little boy brought home his new blue and green bike (green is his favorite color, just ask him!).    

What fun to ride for hours and hours.  Now he wants to take his bike to the Big Dam Bridge and ride there.  Hopefully, his motor skills will continue to improve and the training wheels will come off soon.

Until next time, the doctor is out.....searching the internet for her very own bicycle

so she can ride with Caleb.......

Celebrating My Birthday with Sweet Hubby and the Razorbacks!!!

The doctor has a wonderful sweet hubby!!! How so you ask? Well, he took me to Fayetteville for a Razorback game on my birthday....now that is sweet!!! You see I grew up a Razorback....my grandmother is a Razorback; my momma is a Razorback; my momma's sisters are razorbacks; my siblings are Razorbacks; and therefore I am a Razorback - win or lose - Go Hogs Go!!!

But it wasn't just going to the Razorback game....it was the sheer joy of getting away with my sweet hubby sans sweet Caleb. Yep, just the two of us for two whole days....that in itself is almost a miracle since sweet hubby doesn't usually take time off for himself and rarely gets away from the homefront. But for me on my birthday he did just that.

We drove to Hogville on Friday afternoon (in the rain- lots of rain). Then we checked into our wonderful Marriot room, changed clothes and headed to downtown Hogville where all the action is on the night before a home game...crowded streets, full restaurants, lots of red, lots of Razorbacks...ahhhh, heaven, yes, yes, heaven for a Hog fan!!! We wanted to go eat at Doe's Steaks but we knew we were only dreaming...cause there was a two hour wait at Doe's on a Friday night, before home game, at 8:00 pm....we were hungry and didn't really want to wait two hours so we settled for the next best thing...Jose's Mexican -- down the street from Doe's Place. Yes, it was crowded but we were able to get a table pretty fast, and then ran into friends from home who were there for the fun as well.

Here is the evidence --- yeah, I was really there - in the nosebleed section- but hey,when you buy last minute tickets you take what you can get!! What a game it was!!!

Friday night at Jose's with my mocktail - Virgin Strawberry Diaquiri

Ok, so here I am not actually in side the stadium yet!!!  I am outside on a hill looking down at the stadium  for the kickoff....why outside for the kickoff, well, it had been raining a lot and I left my sunglasses in the car.  As we walked to the stadium the sun came out.....and.......sweet hubby walked back up the hill to fetch my sunglasses out of the car.....did I mentioned we parked 20 miles away from the stadium (well, not really but it sure seemed like it when I walked back to the car!!) anyway.....did I mention that I have a wonderful sweet hubby??????   He is.  He really is.  Who else would walk back up the hill to get sunglasses and miss the kickoff!!!!!

Very intense when Auburn decided to show up in the last quarter of the game to score 21 points - bam, bam, bam!!!!   Hey, my Razorbacks rallied back to beat Auburn 43 - 21!!!  Woohoo Go Hogs!!

My sweet hubby.

Half time -- Band formation - Go Hogs

Celebrating a Razorback victory!!!!  

After the game we made our way back to the car (20 miles up hill!!) and then headed south towards home.

On the way home sweet hubby offered to take me out for that steak that we missed the previous night, but no, no, no.....for me....I wanted to stop in Russellville and get STOBY's!!!!  One of my all time favorites!!!

Where one must have the famous cheese dip (I mean hey, Kris Allen made a beeline to Stoby's in Conway for that cheese dip as soon as he hit Arkansas --- what can I say...ummm good!!

I love having the sliced chicken breast in a pita.......ahhh, sooo good.

I think this was actually one of the best birthday celebrations ever.....

thank you sweet hubby -- you are the best!!!! 

For now the doctor is out.....listening to her sweet Caleb calling the hogs!!!!