December 2 whiffleball game

We enjoyed another rousing game of backyard whiffleball yesterday. Highlights include the following:

Kristen blasting one all the way to the wall of the garage (record distance),

Kristen nailing the pitcher in the knee with a line drive (an injury was momentarily feigned, of course),

Kristen turning on an inside pitch and driving it into the neighbors' yard (they do have a dog. She's no Lassie, but thankfully she's nothing like the dog in Sandlot, so we were not in too big of a pickle),

Audrey cutting it short at 2nd base on her way from 1st to 3rd.

Both Audrey and Kristen wanted to keep playing after it got dark.

 

Actually all those things were fun and funny, but my favorite highlight is all the laughter!

And now here's Kristen with the stats:

kristen got 3 home runs and 6 singles and 2 dubbles and audrey got 3 singles 3 home runs and 2 dubbles

 

Injury update: the pitcher is listed as day-to-day, but it appears he will come through OK.

Go, Cardinals!

The Cardinals gave us another enjoyable postseason this year. The girls enjoy watching a few pitches here and there. Home runs of course are our favorite part. In one game that we watched, the Cardinals scored TWELVE RUNS! woohoo!

This is a pretty cool sign, right? It has bats, balls, a Cardinals shirt, and even the Cardinals pants that I wear. And how about that StL logo?! Just today, a certain adult woman that I know mentioned, "I don't think I even knew how to draw the logo that well until I was 16!" I won't name any names, but she has a young daughter, lives in the Hoosier state, and ALMOST beat me in a race one time (I was hopping).
(Yes, Kristen knows how to correctly write "R". she just had a brain freeze and wrote N instead)

Tidbits from Phil

the weather at the beginning of this week was BEAUTIFUL. We ate supper in the front yard, in our pants and TSHIRTS. On Wednesday we went for a neighborhood bike ride/walk/run (those girls are getting pretty fast!). I allowed them to wear FLIP-FLOPS (not the preferred footwear for biking and running for Daddy, but the girls clearly think otherwise). I informed them it was probably their last time wearing flipflops outside until spring. and then on Thursday morning it was 70 degrees and by nightfall it was 40 and dropping! hello fall/early winter! anyways, we happened to pass a shiny John Deere tractor on a trailer at a neighbor's house. we went over to check it out and the owner said "want to get up there, girls?" Of course they did, and had fun pretending to drive it! If you want to ask them sometime just how big the tires were, they will be glad to tell you!
In other news, one of Audrey's favorite Bible verses lately is "A harsh word stirs up anger, but a gentle answer turns away wrath." Thanks to Mommy's teaching, she learned some motions for it and does quite the enthusiastic job of it!
Kristen for the first time has a loose tooth on TOP, and i think we might be down to a few days on that.
Here is a cute photo from a nice evening trip to our favorite park back in September:

FISHING

On our vacation we did some FISHING! Audrey felt that the excessive heat was worth staying out there just for a few minutes, but she did stay long enough to help reel a couple of them in!
Kristen wanted to stay longer and she did a great job of learning how to cast, despite the dock railings. If you want to hear a funny story some time, ask her about the time that she tried casting right next to a boat!

Daddy realized that fishing is a great activity for fathers and daughters as it combines the outdoors with slow-paced time for talking!

Pretty in pink

She said...

Jan. 29, 2012, 7am. We were laying and relaxing early in the morning and Kristen started to get pretty antsy. I asked if she wanted to go do some jumping and "get some energy out." She looked at me with this giggly smile and said, "I won't get ALL of it out. Sorry. I'm always going to have it." that made me laugh. I didn't actually need her to get ALL of it out, but that was funny.

Jan. 7, 2012: "I dig doughnuts!" Kristen exclaimed after enjoying the sugary goodness in her quarter of the Lamar's apple fritter we were sharing.

Jan. 4, 2012: "Mommy, do you need any more 7-up?" Kristen sweetly asked (she and Audrey have been great nursing assistants while Mommy has been sick).

Jan. 2, 2012: Last night at bedtime Audrey realized that her finger "tasted like soap." So we went back to the bathroom and rinsed it off some more. A few minutes after awaking this morning, she checked it out and informed me, "My thumb doesn't taste like soap any more; it tastes like thumb again!"
late December 2011: Audrey informed me that she "had a bad taste called soap in her mouth."

With the cold weather setting in, we have been doing more in-home exercising since we are not as active in the outdoors as we were earlier in the year.  A couple nights ago I started doing some pushups but it wasn't long before Audrey informed me, "Daddy you're doing them wrong." Well, gee, Sweetie, I sure thought I was doing them fine. "What seems to be the problem?" I asked.  "You're not using your knees, Daddy." OK, Sweetie, well, I realize that the instructor in the exercise videos uses her knees, but me...I'm a big strong Daddy so I do them LIKE THIS!" (early November 2011)

At my job I regularly contact people in various parts of the world. At dinner time, Krisen likes to ask, "How was your day at work, Daddy?" and not long after that she and Audrey usually start the quiz: "Did you email anyone in Texas?" (on many days I do). Kristen's recent favorite: "Did you call anyone in Brazil?" (many days I do). Audrey's personal favorite: "Did you talk to Japan?" (She loves to remind us that "when it's daytime here, it's nighttime in Japan.") and most recently: "Did you email the Phillistines?"   !! (November 2011)