Summertime?

I find it hard to actually call it summertime...yet. We have had a total of about 2 days of sunshine so far...and by "sunshine" I mean, hitting 70 degrees! Most days are plain gray and windy or rainy and just "blah"...so even though the kids are going on their third week out of school...it doesn't quite feel like Summer yet.
   We have begun our T-Ball and Pitching Machine madness. I say "madness" because, well  for some inexplicable reason I decided to coach Lane's T-Ball team, with a friend...and as it turns out...Lane HATES the game. He doesn't mind hitting the ball if it is his turn, but the whole idea of waiting for the other team to hit while standing in the field...NOT so much on board with it. Ugh! The last game he actually refused to put on his shirt, then clung to my leg while I was trying to help the other kids, refused to even go outfield, and wouldn't sit in the line-up. I wanted to scream. Why do we do these things for our kids? I often am torn between wanting to just quit and chalk it up to "well, there's one kid who won't be a baseball player" and wanting to make him keep doing it because if not, "how will he ever get enough experience to KNOW if he like it?"
     At least the older boys, Landen and Seth are both loving pitching machine....they really do enjoy it and they know how to play and they do well....so that is a fun thing to watch! Hooray.
  Sadie has also started in piano lessons...so, besides the stress of the cost of having to pay for FOUR weekly lessons of piano, it is a great thing...because she really has been wanting to play and I think that she will actually practice without as much begging/reminding/bribing as the older three!
   Miles continues to hit major milestones all the time....it hurts my feelings that he is already over 9 months old. He has been crawling now since about 7 months and he has 2 teeth and he can pull himself to standing on things and cruise along furniture. He also can go up the stairs really well. (Not DOWN yet...so we will be waiting for the first big fall sometime I am sure! I may be a terrible mother when I confess this, but  I HATE those darn gates that people put on stairs...I never use them. ALL of my kids have fallen down the stairs either one or two times each, and that was that...they learned how to go down backwards after that...and it was never an issue, and I never had to deal with opening and closing gates all the time. Plus,  I don't think that my kids would remember to close them and there would be an inevitable fall eventually...even with the gate....so there...that's my 'bad mother of the day' confession!
    We are getting ready for a bunch of fun summer getaways coming up...the first one is going to be a weekend in Bear Lake with my husbands family. The kids will have a great time I am sure!  It will be a wonderful time for all. Although I always hate having to put on a suit, the company is great and Greg absolutely LOVES to hang out with his family and ask them fun questions. The kids are super excited to see their cousins. Plus, Paula always plans for the best food and activities.
    The next vacay will be my family's reunion at Aspen Grove....it has been a tradition now for the last 12 years (every other year) with all of my siblings and their families. It is so much fun and I really am looking forward to that...if you have never had the blessing of attending Aspen Grove...you are missing out!
   Well... the other thing that  I get to do this summer is to go and see Glenn Beck in SLC, it will be great...and my kids will get to spend time with their fun cousins! I can't wait for that!
    Here's to a great summer (if it ever arrives in Idaho). =)