Jay's 35th Birthday

Jay had to work on his birthday.  Then that evening we had the VBS potluck and program, so we didn't do anything too out-of-the-ordinary!  We did make him a heart cookiecake to bring to his office and then we got a DQ ice cream cake for that evening.  As previously mentioned in this post, he was really excited to turn 35!  His real present was to himself to give baseball another shot!

What's Your Name?

Luke has been becoming much more fluent lately!  He says funny things and has new words daily!  One evening at supper we got him going on "What's your name?"  He'd very happily pat his chest and say, "Luke!"  Enjoy!

Luke also enjoyed the tastes of summer at a recent suppertime!  WATERMELON!!!

VBS Summer 2012

Jack attended Vacation Bible School again this June.  He had a great time just as he did last year.  I also volunteered again on the last day to assist in escorting all of the kids to Paws & Claws for their "Big Give."  Each age level had a charity they donated items to.  Jack's group was animal/pet supplies and toys.  I think it was said that there were over 20 wagons full of donations that we walked over to Paws & Claws, a local pet adoption/rescue shelter in town.  It was a gorgeous day, 70 degrees or so.  They made a park stop as well!  To watch all the 4 and 5-year-olds walk down the neighborhood streets with the wagons was priceless!

Jack and his new church friend, Sebastian!

If this isn't the cutest...

On the last day of VBS, there was a potluck and program in the evening.  This  a picture and then video of the VBS rap!

VBS Rap!

Bishop Bulldogs Summer T-ball

Jack will be a Bishop Bulldog next year!  He's going to Harriet Bishop Elementary next year and this summer he has the opportunity to play on a PTSA sponsored t-ball team with other kids that will be ages K-2 next year.  It is the greatest deal ever.  8 Wednesdays, a t-shirt and an opportunity to mingle with other Bishop families all for $15!  Amazing!  He loved it and had a couple good hits!  His outfielding skills as well as the other kiddies out there were lacking but they all seemed to be having fun!

Northfield Millers--Jay's Latest Baseball Stint

One morning in May, Jay woke up super early (which isn't like him) and enjoyed a peaceful morning on the internet in the living room before the house awoke.  When I got up, he said very excitedly, that he had had a dream.  I said: "What was it about, Martin Luther King, Jr.?"  He didn't think that was funny but then proceeded to tell me that he had had a dream about a former baseball teammate, someone he hadn't thought about in ages.  It got him thinking that he'd really like to play ball again.  And NOT SOFTBALL, real baseball, he said!  So, he scoured the internet and found out that there is a 35 and older league and there just happened to be a team in our hometown of Northfield AND this former teammate played on the team!  With his June birthday approaching (which he would be turning 35), he decided to contact the coach.  The coach said he was more than welcome to play but was a bit leery when he told him he was a heart transplant recipient; he didn't know what kind of a player he was getting.  Jay wasn't sure if he might remember him from his days as a Northfield Knight; he hoped so.  Long story short, Jay bought about $200 worth of equipment (since he hadn't played in 12 years) and hit the road for his first baseball game in LeSeur, MN--some 90 minutes from home!  The first game was kind of a bust seeing they got beat 12-0 or something like that in just 5 innings, but he did get to play the last half of the last inning but never got up to bat.  The next game, just two days later was in Northfield and he was back at Sechler Park.  His first at bat, he got a TRIPLE!  He still had it and he was really excited!

Jay felt he really wanted another shot at baseball since his illness in 1996 did kind of halt his career.  He did come back for two seasons after his transplant but he was lugging around a lot of extra weight due to the meds and he just didn't feel good.  Jay's been running and in very good shape the last couple years and he felt this was his chance!  He's really excited about it and I'm happy to see him back into something he loves so much.  His other motivation was to have our boys grow up on the baseball field like he did.  He really loves the game and he hopes his boys do too.  So far Jack is loving attending his games and he's quite the little ball player himself--a t-ball post soon!

Jack watching his daddy play ball.  He loves going into the dugout and helping him clean up the field after the games!

Painting Luke's Room

After moving Jack to the basement, I got the bright idea to move Luke down there too.  I wanted to put him in my current scrapbooking room and then make the upstairs bedroom the new scrapbooking room/office.  Grandma and Grandpa Rickert had a weekend scheduled to take the boys so we could make the switch, but then my hesitations set in.  Not to mention, Jay's new baseball commitment interfered as well! (A later post on that!)  So, we decided to paint the room and leave him in there.  Both boys had been sleeping fairly decently and I didn't want to rock the boat.  We painted it a blue which will eventually be the color I'd want the new office to be anyways.  Here are a few pictures.

Strawberry Picking---June 2012

Summer is off in full swing.  I've been keeping the boys very busy with many activities.  (I find they behave better when we're out and about and then I'm not stuck inside annoyed at the fighting and whining!)  So, during our first full week of summer, we invited Grandma to come down for some strawberry picking!  It was a nice cool morning and Jack was a great helper while Luke ran the fields! We made a yummy strawberry dessert with the berries we picked!

5K Transplant Run--June 3, 2012

Jay's been running for a couple years now.  He's only done one official 5K race two summers ago.  He's been wanting to do another race, so when I saw a flyer for the Gift of Life Transplant 5K race, I told him he had to sign up.  We signed up as a family.  I walked with the boys and Jay ran.  We also invited Jim and Sandy down for the event.  He did great and it was a nice event, but he wasn't thrilled with the up hill start!

At the start of the race, the announcer asked transplant recipients to raise their hands.  Jay was only one of maybe 2-3 runners.  Many recipients walked, but only a few ran!

Grandpa Jim helped take a turn pulling the wagon with 80 lbs of kid in it!

Jack wanted to run across the finish line!