April Showers

The TCAP (pronounced tee-cap) tests are behind us. Easter has come and gone. April is almost over. There's only five weeks of school until summer break!

BASEBALL. I think about half of Ben's games have been rained out since I last wrote about them. Their win-loss record isn't looking that good, but at least they do have one win under their belt now. We've played at a couple of fields where they don't use the mercy rule and we wind up being batting practice for the other team. In spite of this, we've seen these kids really improve out on the field.

The coach has moved Ben over to first base in the last two or three games. It's not the same as playing shortstop, but he's adjusting. He was part of a very exciting double play the other night. We've also told Ben he needs to swing at anything he thinks is in the strike zone. One night Ben hit a triple! Unfortunately, he was thrown out when he tried to steal home, but it was a close one.

COLD EGGS. We had our Easter egg hunts a week ago Saturday (the 16th). It was cold! In fact, this year equalled a hunt we had about three years ago for being cold. Kilgore Park is a great place to have this event, but when it's cold, damp, and windy it can be downright miserable on that hillside. I wore my insulated coveralls to the older kids' flashlight hunt that evening and did not regret it one bit. I think the kids who came had a great time in spite of the weather.

MR. JIMMIE'S SURPRISE. I have mentioned before how blessed we are to have Jimmie and Susanne Pitt as neighbors. Both of them are some of the most caring and giving people you'll ever meet. Mr. Jimmie has helped me with some emergencies before as I have recorded here, but what those of you who don't live around here don't know is just how much Mr. Jimmie does to help out the people in this community. There isn't a week that goes by that he isn't involved in something for someone else.

Last Sunday was Mr. Jimmie's 75th birthday and Mrs. Susanne organized a surprise party for him up at church. Vicki volunteered me to get him up to church without arousing his suspicions. When the time came that afternoon I made up some story about a project I needed to get done at church, and being always ready to help he jumped in the truck and we headed off. Before we left Mrs. Susanne told me she thought he suspected something was up. That said we stopped by Aunt Mar's house to get a ladder and tools for my "project." This completely threw him off and I was pleased to see that he was completely surprised when his party got under way. It made my day to do something for the man who does so much for others.

GOT TO CHECK THOSE PATENTS, NATE. The dishwasher was full so Jenna was hand washing the dishes that didn't fit to get them out of the sink. Vicki called Nate in to dry for his sister.

Nate is a cheerful worker, but that doesn't mean he isn't thinking about how work can be made easier. This must have been on his mind because at one point he piped up and said, "When I grow up I'm going to invent a machine that washes and dries dishes."

Then Vicki said, "You mean something like a dishwasher?"

At this Nate looked at the dishwasher which was humming away with a load of dishes and growled his disappointment in having dreamed a little too late. Keep it up buddy, one of these days you will think of something no one else has thought of.

Joe