June Joy

I miss bloggers.  Maybe I need to track down new voices, because I know there are blogs.  But I miss "Mom blogs".  The old-fashioned moms sounding off and sharing their world without any monetary incentive.

So, following the advice that it's "better to light one light", I'm going to get back to my own blog and just write for myself what I wish others would get back to.

June has been cold, but that hasn't stopped us from launching right into swimming lessons for 4 of our kiddos (the pool has cancelled on account of weather twice).

When I run the kids, Sam loves to hit the park as we wait for the swimmers.  Since I only have him with me (besides the 4 in the pool), I do what any mom of 9 will do when she finds herself alone with just one: she takes pictures as if he were her first and her only.

He isn't my first, nor my only, but he is my baby, and he's looking at Three.

Today we began potty training, and it's going well--we've had success on both levels, and I'll leave the details at that!

It is also baseball season.  My husband coaches Bilbo's team, which is awesome because Legolas gets to be the official "bat boy":

 and Gimli is the official first base coach:

 I absolutely love having my men folk sharing and bonding in this way.  It's a real family effort, and makes it a lot of fun to cheer for.  That said, my main job is to stay home with the little kids and get the swimmers to swim team and the little kids down well before the ballers are home from the games!

pitching

 Happiness is...

And last, the first injury of summer (it always happens), this year, it's "stitches" (just the purple glue)!

Good as new!