She Scored!!!

Today was the first day of girls' fast pitch softball. Joy and Esther are on the same team. This is their first year to play softball after playing Fall Ball (baseball) this past Fall. We are all having to get used to watching softball...different than Little League Baseball. The pitching is rather sporadic so there are lots of walks...and with those walks come lots of base stealing. Esther managed to draw a walk and then stole herself around to score! Woo Hoo, Esther! Joy is contemplating her next at bat while waiting in the dugout in the third picture and her next at bat is the fourth picture. They both managed to connect the ball to the bat which most did not. They played a game this morning and then another this afternoon. They were supposed to play two more but they needed to leave for a ministry gig so had to miss the last two games. Grammy was rather glad that she didn't have to sit out in the sun for two more games!! It was a bit chilly this morning, but by afternoon it had warmed up very nicely and got rather warm with the sun beating down. Esther is the youngest and smallest on her team. The other teams they played had some really big girls on their teams as can be seen by the picture of Esther on third base next to the other team's third baseman. I'm sure that it was a bit intimidating to be out there playing against some so much bigger than you! Some of the pitchers could really get it across the plate fast...others struggled. Joy and Esther's team lost both games but made a very good showing...only losing by a couple runs in each of the games we watched. Because of the ball games, Woody headed off to do his Saturday errands early...so early that the library wasn't opened yet. He only went to WalMart today. He has also worked out in the yard. The games wore me out and I haven't accomplished much since getting home...did take a nap and read a little. We are now settled in for another very quiet Saturday evening...both of us are ready to put our feet up! I will end the blog wishing our daughter, Melany, a very happy birthday!

Moon Over the Ball Field

Elijah's team played in the moonlight tonight. Well, they do have lights on the field so the moon was just added illumination. Brrrrrrrrr! Hope that warm spring temps hurry up...can't take too many late games when it is this chilly! Elijah's team stayed ahead for most of the game...until the other team tied it...being home team was definitely an advantage as once they went ahead the game was over...good for the shivering fans! Elijah's team won 12 to 11...another close one! Good game Elijah...good hitting, good first base playing. Friday is my day off from school and I pretty much took it easy for a while this morning. My major accomplishments of the day = skinning and deboning six chicken breasts = getting most of that in our freezer = then cooking two for our supper= Rosemary Chicken and Corn Italiano. By the time that was cooked and eaten it was time for the ball game. Woody worked out in the yard despite the chill and wind. He went on a four-mile walk this afternoon. He had batting practice with Elijah late this afternoon...getting him warmed up for this evening! And, Elijah came away with three hits for three at bats...so batting practice worked! We are now home trying to warm up. Hope we can warm up before it is time for the girls' first game in the morning!

Which Winter is This?

I have been cold all day. I guess this is one of our many "Spring Winters." Just not sure which one it is. One place I heard that it was Dogwood Winter and another Redbud Winter. Both are blooming so not sure which winter it is and I can never remember the order our "winters" come in! I just know that it is so much chillier than it has been...and my old bones are not happy! I had a usual Thursday school day. Esther had her long time and she cross stitched and then did a little drawing. I had a rest after lunch and then got busy making Chicken Zoodle Soup (noodles are spiralized zucchini). We had that for supper...perfect day for a good hot bowl of soup! We are slowly approaching the time when it won't be soup weather...but today it definitely qualified for soup to taste extra good. It has been much cooler, a bit windy at times, and misting some...so a good day to stay inside. Woody did walk four miles mid afternoon. When he got back, he went next door for a while as Nathan and Kathy went on a date. We are both now settling in for the evening...books in hand, TV or iPad in front of us, and an easy chair to support us. Looks like another quiet evening for these Dorrells. Tonight's picture I took when Marie and I went on our "barn photography trip." He was posing up on a mound of dirt when we turned down a road next to his farm and he was still posing when we came back. I think he knew that we were looking for subjects for pictures!

And, The Wind Doth Blow!

The wind is really blowing. When I looked out the window to see what was happening, I was met with this beautiful sunset! I guess the winds are blowing the storm clouds away. Of the storms that have been happening today across the South, we were pretty much missed...only a little thunder, a little hail, and very little rain. We did have a tornado warning (which means one has been spotted on the ground), but I think that it was in another part of our county. The siren didn't sound very long for us. Woody and I both went downstairs and headed towards our safe place...the downstairs bathroom which has no windows. I did stand in the bathroom for a few minutes...Woody never did. Woody took his four-mile walk early this morning...getting ahead of predicted storms for the day. I had school this morning on the usual Wednesday schedule. Abigail had her long time and she finished with her step-by-step directions of "How to make a zippered bag." Then we started catching up her sewing notebook. Woody headed off to Aldis and Kroger mid morning. I put away the groceries after Abigail finished her sewing time. I ate a quick lunch and headed to the church to work in the library for a couple of hours. Donna, Fran, and I accomplished quite a bit with a new book order and I got the printer to print (a dilemma that I left last week). Woody was working in the yard when I got home. I came home with the intention to make Chicken Zoodle Soup (zucchini noodles instead of pasta noodles), but I just didn't have it in me to do it. Headed to my chair and have been listening to the wind whistle around the house. Woody is challenging the old computer to a game of Scrabble. I am about to head back to my chair and do some reading.

Nail Biter!

Just home from Elijah's ball game...talk about a nail biter! The Giants, Elijah's team, had been ahead the whole game...and then came the last inning...the Giants were ahead by five...and the other team started getting hits and no outs...all the other team could do was tie it, as there is a five run limit per inning...but Elijah's team managed to hold them to "just" four runs and won the game 8-7. Way to go, Elijah and the Giants! Next game for Elijah is Friday and then the girls will have two softball games on Saturday. Woody and Graham kept the official score board. Nathan is helping to coach Elijah's team so that is a new experience for him. I had school with just Isaac today. He got a lot of good work done for school and then he also did his weekly paid job of vacuuming the stairs with the hand-held vac. Woody worked out in the yard planting flowers today among other things. I headed off to get my hair cut early in the afternoon. Then stopped at Ruby Tuesday's for a late lunch...had to get my free birthday burger before time ran out! It was good too...as were the fries! We headed off to the ball field around 4:30 and got home at 7:00. After getting home and parking the car, Woody headed off on his Tuesday walk to the Prayer Room at church. I headed upstairs to blog...and that pretty much concludes another busy day!

Busy Monday

Seems there wasn't much time to sit and rest today...then when it was time to blog, I had trouble getting out of my chair! I started out the morning, as usual,with school. Isaac and Joseph came over first for their time of preschool. It was raining when they came over. Woody decided that he would take his four-mile walk in the rain today. Sometime while I was reading with either Elijah, Esther, or Abigail, Woody went to the Life Care to have Bible study with Jeff. Joy had her long time today. She decided that it was time to update her sewing notebook so we spent most of her time finding pictures of her sewing projects and printing them. Next time she will put them into her notebook and it will be up to date once again. After lunch, Elijah came over for his long time. Today we finished the book that we had started to read this morning and read another one. He then built various geometric shapes with the magformer set that we have over here. He also chose the next book that we will read during his reading time. He's going to read an e-book this time that we checked out from the online service that our local library provides. While we were checking out that book online, I got a notification from his baseball team...so we read that. That notification stated that his ball game that was supposed to be this evening was cancelled due to the field being too wet due to the rain. So next game for Elijah is tomorrow and the girls will start their games on Saturday. Woody and I went to a funeral visitation for a "young" man (he is definitely young when he is 11 years younger than you are!). He died of a massive heart attack while trimming some trees in his back yard. He was the picture of health. We really just don't know from one day to the next...When we got home, Abigail came over and asked us to come eat the meal that she had prepared. Abigail's day to cook is Monday's. She had used the cookbook that we gave her for Christmas for the lasagna and for the peach crisp. Both were yummy! Good cook, Abigail! I then came home and collapsed from all our activity! Woody headed off for Monday night prayer meeting. We are home and settled in for the evening. The next time I sit in my chair I don't think that anyone will be able to pry me out!

Play Ball!

I finally got to use my Christmas present, a stadium seat! Little League season officially got underway today. Elijah's team, the Giants, played the Reds. Elijah played first base. Woody left the game saying that he couldn't believe that they (the Giants) had won. They had been behind the whole game...behind 5-0 after the first inning. But they rallied and won it in the bottom of the 6th 9-8. Good first game, Elijah and teammates! It was fun to be out at the "old ball park" once again. We will be seeing one field or another quite a bit this season as Joy and Esther are playing girls' softball. Their games begin next week, I think. Woody did his usual Saturday errands--library and WalMart. By the time he got home it was time to eat lunch and get ready to head out to the ball park. I have been finalizing tomorrow's Sunday School lesson.