Baseball, Puppy, Exchanges and a Giveaway

Once again, my fall weekends have been full of baseball.  The boys have been practicing and playing their hearts out. 

The team my oldest plays on placed third in their first tournament and second in the most recent one!  The last tournament was played at Ripken in Maryland.  The big honor was given to my oldest.  He was the starting pitcher for the game played in the Ironbirds minor league stadium!

One of the hardest things for a mother is to see their children hurt.  Well, it happens in baseball.  On Sunday, he was hit with not one, but two pitches ~ two separate games ~ but, he was hit in the same exact spot!!  OUCH!

This was the next morning.  You can see the laces from both balls on the left hand side.  Sadly, this prevented him from being the closing pitcher in the championship game.  They played hard, losing only by one point!

 

My middle guy has become quite the catcher.  His team is still in the developmental stages, but are improving and blending. 

This is one of his new baseball buddies.  If you follow the newsletter from the Strawberry Sampler, you've read of Beth's nephews.  Well, Chris and my guy are finally playing on the same team!!

That's Ms. Beth, she has become the official scorekeeper for the team!

While catching is his thing, he can also pitch when needed. 

This is the smile of a pitcher who just pitched a 4~pitch inning!! 

And even though they didn't win, the boys still had smiles and were ready to move on to the next game!

The little guy has been patiently attending his brother's games and playing on an indoor team.  It's really hard to take pictures inside through all the fences.  Here he is, my budding photographer, taking pictures at his brother's game.

And of course, he had fun making it look like he had really big muscles with his shadow! 

 

Panzer has been growing ~ at 7 months he weighed in at 104 pounds!!  He really enjoys his morning walks ~ he's up to anywhere from 1.8 to 2.4 miles each morning.  Bonus for me too, as it is getting me moving!  He loves his ball.

And playing tug~o~war 

And riding in the car 

Nap time! 

He takes over Daddy's chair, hiding his head, hoping we won't see him!

Signs of fall are around as well.

Pumpkins and gourds at an Amish farm.

The Amish have harvested their tobacco. 

The farms in the area are quieting down.

We've had some morning frosts. 

And, some beautiful, crisp mornings.  

 

Are you ready for some stitching now?

I participated in another Stitched with Love Exchange.  This one was called the Animal Antics Exchange.  My partner was Cherise and she was wonderful!  Here are the goodies she sent to me.

I just love this piece!  It is now hanging from the hutch in my dining room for everyone to see. 

She also included some threads, a chart, some buttons, ribbons, needles and fabrics!  All things that I can and will use.  Thanks again Cherise! 

And here are the goodies I sent to Cherise.

I included some fabrics, threads, buttons, ladybug ribbon, a ladybug charm and a brand new copy of the chart that I used part of to create my exchange piece.   

 

It's also that time again ~ time for the Tusal.  And once again, I am a little late!

You can see my jar looks a little fuller this time!  I decided to show it with my current progress on "For The Birds".  This is an enjoyable piece to stitch.

This following is a piece my mom stitched for her cousin and I framed for her.  I really love how this turned out.

 

I want to thank Vickie for this sweet gift.  She makes these bottle~cap pincushions that are just adorable!

Doesn't it look like a chocolate cupcake?  I love chocolate, so it's perfect!  And since I have all boys, I love to see pink!  She also made the pins, aren't they all great!?!

 

Phew!  Another long post.  Sorry for that!  I do have some giveaway news.  I am going to be hosting a giveaway, thanks to the Strawberry Sampler and in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month.  Unfortunately, most of us have been touched in some way by this disease.  We are still hammering out the details, but there will most likely be three winners and maybe even a little something more.  Check back next week for more information!!

 

In honor of Panzer getting me on my feet and moving, I will leave you with this Pooh quote:

“A bear, however hard he tries, grows tubby without exercise.”
― A.A. Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh