The Orchard Team Huddle

Stockton just turned 10.  I thought I would share 10 wonderful things about him. 1.  Stockton is very loving .  He writes love notes and does secret acts of service for his family often. 2.  Stockton is an awesome big brother .  Mason follows him everywhere he goes because he is so fun to be with. 3.  Stockton has the most darling freckles and beautiful blue eyes with super-long lashes. 4.  Stockton likes snuggle time.  He likes to lay by me in bed an often asks me to rub his back.  He can't go to sleep unless I tuck him in and kiss him goodnight. 5.  Stockton is a good friend .  He thinks of other's feelings and likes to include everyone.  He is very loyal and will stick up for you. 6.  Stockton has a lot of energy .  He loves to talk and will tell me EVERYTHING.  I love that. 7.  Stockton loves music and has a great voice.  I love to listen to him sing along to the radio. 8.  Stockton h...

I have spent just a little bit of time whining about the weather we had to endure this spring baseball season.  As I was looking through my pictures the other day I found a few that reminded me of just how miserable it got at times.  I wanted to share the proof! Douglas playing in a snow storm.  Yes, snow.  They finally called it after 4 innings but this picture says it all. I love this one!  There are plenty of darling little girls out there for me to match Mason up with later on in life but right now this one is high on the list.  Janie and Mason snuggled in, heater at our feet, umbrella to block the wind, Diego on the Ipod.  It was COLD but we cozied up nicely. And the rain, rain, rain.  We had 3 rainouts last week.  I sat through 3 innings of rain just last night.  That is all it did day after day after day...and wind.  Horrible, annoying wind.  I love watching my boys play baseball but this spring got a little trying on...

It is hard to believe that Mason just turned 2.  I waited so long for him and now the time is just flying by.  Here's a recap of his special day....June 5th. Since Mason is the third child and spends most of his life attending baseball games for his older brothers, his birthday shopping was slightly interrupted as well.  I had made a trip to Walmart earlier in the week for some household supplies.  I figured I would let him do a little pre-birthday test drive while we were there. I couldn't buy his gifts with him there so I figured I would just have to come back.  We were so busy last week that the first time we got to shop for him was 10:00 pm the night before his birthday.  I knew I wanted to get him a scooter I had seen at Target but, alas, Walmart was my only choice by that time.  When the first Walmart we went to did not have an acceptable scooter or the construction truck I had decided on we headed to another one.  Luckily, the second attem...

I knew we would have some conflicts when we decided to let both of the older boys play Super League this year.  I just didn't realize how conflicted I would be!  Stockton's team decided to play in Las Vegas over the Memorial Day weekend while Douglas' team decided to stay here and play.  One of us would go and one of us would stay.  As we discussed the best option it came down to this.....the person staying keeps Mason, the person going gets the comfy car.  I know it sounds a little silly but I thought about this decision WAY too much.  I thought about how fun it would be to head to Vegas, just me and Stockton, warm weather, pool, baseball and no baby to chase.  Just a nice relaxing time.  I really could use a bit of a break right now.  Yet, I don't really love being the driver and I knew I would miss Mason terribly.  Staying home meant having the time to get a few things done around here, watching my oldest play in his last Memoria...