First Harvest

The boys picked their first fruits from the garden yesterday. We have a few radishes that were just right for picking, and it’s a rule of gardening that your first pick of the season MUST be enjoyed while you are still standing in the ‘fields,’ so we did just that.

 

We eat radishes in our salads, sliced thin, so I was a little surprised when their first bites were followed by wrinkled faces and spitting. I don’t guess they’ve ever eaten them whole, and they were a bit spicy, so I got to finish one off, and we saved one for Craig. Jake is the only one who actually ate his. Oh, well. I don’t suppose we’ll have much luck with the beets, either, but maybe when we get carrots or tomatoes. The lettuce is looking beautiful, and I can’t wait until we can cut some of that to eat. I’m still planting corn and the warm-weather crops, but before long, we’ll have a gorgeous, full garden. It’s so nice to see the work pay off!

Yesterday was the boys’ second baseball game, but the first that I got to attend. The first one, last weekend, coincided with a birthday/adoption party for our NEW niece (officially, anyway), Keira, so the family had to split up. Craig, Levi, and Luke went to the game, while Jake and I went to the party. The first game, while a loss, was pretty good. This game wasn’t so spectacular. Luke got hit on the side of the face with a ball before the game ever started, and I’m expecting a nice, big, black eye this morning. Levi got on base, but Luke never hit a ball. He also missed his turn to bat in the last inning because he wasn’t ready, and got in trouble for horsing around and being unsafe in the dugout. Nice. The kids and parents both got a talking-to after the game, then we had our own little conference at home about behaving, representing the family name, and being a bad example of homeschoolers, as the only ones in the whole league, as far as I know.

Jake, who spends the game time wandering around the complex, making friends, reiterated for us a joke we overheard him telling in the… press box(?). Whatever that box is where the person running the scoreboard and the announcer sit. Apparently, he wasn’t doing a very good job of protecting our family reputation, either, as his joke involved a cab driver unknowingly kissing a man disguised as a nun. So, we got to have another talk about using common sense, and not telling ANY jokes you learn from your friends at church before telling them to your parents first. Isn’t that fun. Let me clarify, though, that neither this joke, nor any that he’s told, are terribly offensive, or dirty, mostly just inappropriate. We’ve had to explain in the past that ANY joke that begins with, “So, this duck walks into a bar…” are not appropriate, even if the rest of the story is totally harmless. So, it’s not like he’s recanting Cheech and Chong, or anything (like the ones I knew when I was a kid! Gasp!)

While our kids were in their various positions, tarnishing our name, as it were, Craig and I were in our shady outpost below that afore-mentioned box-thing, keeping the game score. Since we are the only parents on the team not engaged in other volunteering positions during the game that know how to keep score (learned last year for the same reason), we got the job. It’s not bad, except that you don’t get to do much cheering or talking, because you’re too busy marking plays, and, as we learned last night, you don’t have as much time to monitor your kids when they aren’t on the field. I found it amusing, however, that before the game started, and Craig hadn’t yet arrived, I had to ask one of the coaches which side was left field and which was right. Thankfully, our kids are only 7 and 8, so scoring isn’t that important yet, but I know the coach had to be seriously doubting my ability to keep the books, lol. I never miss an opportunity to display my sports ignorance, of which I am not ashamed. Craig, on the other hand, may find it a little annoying.

This week, we are packing and planning for our weekend at the Spring Camp Meeting, which we eagerly anticipate every year. As the boys get older and more self-managed (hm, looks like we still have a while), it will be more and more fun, because we’ll get to relax and visit more. Right now, we still have to worry about whether they are near the pond, or the fire, or digging holes in the yard, etc., but every year it gets a little easier. Jake is able to go off on his own quite a bit (with a muzzle, perhaps), and it won’t be long until they’re all wandering around on their own. I look forward to those days, though I know I’ll miss my little boys… some days more than others, I’m sure.