I am a baseball mom

Our baseball season is briefly ending this weekend with a road trip to a state tournament.

My oldest son, 9yrs, plays for a local travel baseball team.

They started practicing in January, tournaments started in March and about to wrap things up for a couple of months.

This is what my foyer area has looked like for the last 4 months.

I'm seriously hoping to fix this before we start up fall ball.  ;)

Gotta little project hoping to help in the garage.

We don't travel far, but it usually means a whole day.

With 3 younger siblings along for the ride.

We bring LOTS of stuff.

One area park just outside our city, has NO shade.

So I got a cool giant sports umbrella from Sam's.

My rolling cart is awesome. It fits loads of snacks and toys for the younger spectators.

Z man usually pitches or plays right field.

We go through batting gloves like water.

But this boy LOVES his baseball.

Never tires of it.

Has played 30 games so far this year, about to play at least 4 more, and is still not ready to be done.

This awesome pop up tent has been great for the other kiddos.

We got it back when the oldest 2 were babies and we took a trip to the beach.

It rolls up into a flat circle.

Makes for great shade or protection from early season cool breezes.

And a place for tired ones to curl up for a while.

We bring lots of food always.

I love a yummy ball park hotdog, but we are at the park too much to be eating those all the time.

I got these cool containers from Old Navy.

They not only hold each kids lunch but folds out to eat from as well.

Z isn't the only ball player we have in the house.

This was Micah's second and last year in t-ball.

So being a 4 year baseball mom veteran I have a few tips that I've learned thus far and what works for me.  ;) 

Here are some of my fav related products:

IRON OUT~it works miracles on red clay and white baseball pants.

I just figured out to use it well.  You can't go by the directions on the container.

It is very toxic, so work carefully.  I pour a ton into a small plastic clean wastecan and some hot water to cover the pants.  Soak over night.  Wash in washing machine.  Voila, white pants.

You can get it at Walmart in the plumbing section.

ROLLING CART~I got mine from Staples.  It holds our sidewalk chalk, picnic blankets, pop up tent. cooler bags, etc.

SPORT-BRELLA~Got ours at Sam's.  Makes for nice shade over a picnic blanket for the little ones.

Frogg Togg Chilly pad~a must have for when you play ball in the deep south when spring brings 90F++ heat for like 20 days plus straight.  Really helpful when Z played 3 games this past Sunday in 97F heat.

Zachary has trouble with his heels and foot pain in his cleats.

One thing we do to try to help is he takes them off immediately after/between games and put these on.

As far as my strategy for keeping the siblings happy during our long tournament days, I bring lots of stuff.

Crafty stuff.  Like copy paper and crayons, stickers.  I've gotten wooden snakes and wood markers from Oriental Trading before.  Or clothespin dolls.

I really try to change it up.

Small toys.  Like squinkies or mini Lala Loopsey dolls.

Sometimes colored rice and petshop animals.

Or playdough or sidewalk chalk.

I avoid bubbles.  I found out the hard way during an all-star tournament last summer that folks tend to get upset when the bubbles float across the batters box.  :)

Snacks.  Here I am careful because I have boredom snackers.  So I bring a lot of healthy stuff so I have no problem handing over snacks when they get the frequent munchies.  ;)

Here are our staples:  grapes (kept super cold in the cooler are quite refreshing), sweet peppers, unsalted cashews, string cheese, ham n cheese tortilla wraps,popcorn, homemade granola bars and homemade salsa and chips.

I do bring a couple of treats for reward for patient good behavior.  ;)

Calling all Caped Crusaders

We have a birthday coming up next week.

I bet you can guess what is planned.  :)

My little man has been obsessed with Batman for some time.

To cartoonize a photo for free click here.

I was fortunate enough to have a pic of Micah in his Batman costume from last Halloween.  :)

And a few links.

Batman pictures, clipart and coloring.

Batman party ideas.

More party stuff coming soon!

What a princess wants a princess gets: a felt princess tiara tutorial

A few request came from Miss Princess Maressa recently.

And who can say no to this adorable face??

She wanted a pink cape with a big 'M' on it.

Just like her brothers' capes.

Tutorial here.

And to go alone with such a fancy cape, a comfy princess crown/tiara.

So many of those plastic ones frustrate my 4 year old who claims they either hurt, or don't stay on.

So I thought a felt one would solve both problems.  :)

Here's the tutorial:

I started with a favorite plastic crown.  I took a piece of paper, foled in half and drew a likeness.

I cut this out and traced it onto stiff white felt.

Using this template, I cut 2 in the stiff felt and one in thick batting/interfacing.

Then I added thesilver rick rack and some sewn on felt layers.

I also made an elastic band with white cotton fabric and elastic.

Then I placed the layers together with batting in the middle and the elastic band on one side and sewed the layers together leaving the other end open.

Then I used a strong craft glue to add lots of bling bling.

Once dried I sewed the otehr end with the elastic band inside.

She quickly wore it the very next morning at breakfast.

My happy orange laundry closet

Just recently gave my little laundry area/closet a happy makeover.

This the the eye sore it was before.

I am not a fan of the wire shelving.

So those had to go.

And the clutter.  ugh

Some went away, some went in clear boxes on a shelf in the garage (which is a work in progress itself).

So I had lumber cut to fit and painted it white to make a neat shelf.

I have another to go up too higher to hold bulk items like paper towels and light bulbs, etc.

On one side I hung some hooks I found on clearance at Target to hold drying bathing suits and unmentionables.  :)

Something else that had to go were the awful disfunctional bifold doors.

Now, not only do I not have to fight with them on a daily basis, I have more room to reach in this space.

It also allowed me to move the washer and dryer to one side allowing more storage space on the other side.

On my shelf along with all the detergents and whatnot,  I have some tins from Target dollar spot to toss lint and treasures (ie coins, buttons, tiny toys, beads, etc) I find in the wash.

Jars and small metal buckets keep common tools handy.

Since getting rid of the doors, I bought a set of window panels and cut the hem to size and hung up with a tension shower rod.

But I admit I love the fun orange space so much I find myself more motivated to keep it nice and neat so as to keep the curtains open.

Sigh....happy happy color.

Almost makes laundry bearable fun.

Miscellany

Well summer break is in full force and we haven't slowed down yet. 

 But we're having a good time...just tired.

  I really hope to find more time to get over here to my blog. 

 I've got some tutorials, some before and afters and whatnot. 

Then there's the birthday parties coming up.  :)

So far we've posted a summer list (like many other bloggers) on our fridge.  That and a calendar. 

 I think the kids like to check it every morning at breakfast to see what's up for the day.

We're hosting a craft camp for our friends on Friday mornings. 

 Our first one we made these squid like seen on  Whatever. 

It was a little ambitious to try to do with 13 kids in one morning.  :) 

But they loved them.

I'm making a ton of iced coffee to keep up with the active schedule we've been keeping.

Brewing 4 C water over 1/3 bold coffee

Pour in 2 qt pitcher/container

Add 1/4 C vanilla syrup

Add milk moslty to the top (see photo) or to your preference.

My other fav snack is a yummy plain cheese bagel from Target bakery and a homemade cream soda.

Speaking of bagels, we hope to try our hand at making some homemade bagels this summer.

I dunno...there is just something  about making stuff yourself. 

 Plus to get the really good bagels is expensive! 

Trying to get back in creative mode. 

Scavenged the house for all cheap glassware to spray paint.

(as seen in a magazine and on various blogs)

Yeah that was fun.

Hubby says "I don't get it."  lol

Maressa had her first ballet class. 

She didn't stop grinning the whole 45 mins.

The other 3 loved watching her cute lil self too.

Mental note to self:  make sure she wears less baggy undies that day.

And we're been to the water fountains for a free splash.

For the most part they all enjoy it.

Maressa however did request me making them smaller for her.

See you tomorrow with my very happy laundry room/closet makeover.