Baseball Day 7

FYI: Day 6 (last week) was cancelled due to rain.

It was quite a difference weather-wise this morning. A few weeks ago it was 85° and humid by 9am…this week we’ve had a cold snap so there was frost and it was maybe 42° by the time we hit the field.

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In the outfield playing third base. Well, playing catch AT third base. 🙂

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I didn’t edit anything out of the videos so you can see all that goes on. The boy in the red coat with Owen? Just running along for the heck of it (one inning they had to remove him from the field no less than eight times). And I have no idea why he pulled him down.

Running free while brother is in the outfield.

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While Owen was in the outfield, he actually took it upon himself to retrieve most of the balls and threw them back to the pitcher. He was much more involved today! Of course, there’s only one week left!

He CAN but WON’T.

We’ve reached the stage where he CAN put his shoes on (I’ve seen him many times) but when it’s just me and him: “It’s no use! I can’t do it!” Complete with whining…and often stomping and always a grouch face. Drives. Me. Batty.

I ask if he whines at school. No.

Does anyone help him at school? No.

Then why do you whine at home and say you can’t do it? [Crickets.]

Tonight I was having him try on a new pair of shoes that were EASIER than his current shoes…and OMG THE WHINING. He barely even pretends to try before saying he can’t do it. So I told him I’d send them back because whiny kids don’t get new shoes. He immediately says “I’ll be good. I promise” (his new mantra when I threaten to take things away). Sure, until I ask him to try again 10 seconds later.

Sigh.

Me three!

When I picked Owen up from school today, he asked where Papa and Grannie were. I reminded him they went home today and that I took them to the airport after we dropped him off at school.

Owen: But I don’t want them to go home!
Me: I know, buddy. I miss them…and Katie misses them.
Owen: I miss them, too—heh heh—I mean me three!

Trying to sell clothes to a resale shop

So, after Lin’s help sorting and organizing, I finally took two huge bins of Katie’s old clothes to the local resale place (Once Upon A Child). I was fully prepared to be outraged at the amount they offered me because I have seen others get pissy and I just assumed they would offer a pittance…but I wanted to try it at least once. So, I came up with the lowest number I would accept—$40, which would make each piece worth less than 50¢ (disappointing, but at least I wouldn’t have to deal with the stuff again). I even had Linda carefully pick out any stained things because I know that’s a big no-no.

So I dropped off the stuff and waited for the phone call. They called about 9pm to tell me it was done, but they couldn’t tell me my offer over the phone. So it was about three days before I was able to make it in. So I take a deep breath and go in. She brings over their blue box with a smattering of my clothes in it and says “These are what we could accept” and it’s literally maybe 1/4 of one box. I get ready to stifle my outrage at the offer…and she tells me $40.17.

Wait. What?

Yep, $40 for the tiny selection when I would have taken $40 for BOTH full bins. Needless to say I was shocked—AND THRILLED—but also extremely confused because I didn’t think there was anything wrong with any of it. So I asked why they couldn’t accept the other stuff. She said they don’t take blankets or socks (which I know was specific to my stuff) but then she went on about pieces missing from sets and stains. Okay, whatever. She may have just been spouting the generic company line…so when I got home we checked everything out again—just out of curiosity, mind you—with a fine-tooth comb.

Aside from the blankets and socks, we only found two pieces with stains and two things that were actually labeled as part of a set that didn’t have the matching pieces. But otherwise everything else was perfectly fine. Like footie PJs that were brand new, never worn, just washed (stuff Katie skipped size-wise). Or ones that were like new, definitely no stains, etc. Brand new onesies, etc. A perfectly nice dress that was in pristine condition that was NOT part of a set…?? And the best thing? Stuff I bought there a few months ago that was only worn once…and they wouldn’t take it back.

I just don’t get it. I mean, I’m happy with the money I got, but I am completely flummoxed as to why they wouldn’t take that stuff. The only thing I can think is they had an overstock of those items (though you’d think footie PJs would be hot since it’s the right season) and she just didn’t mention that. Sooooooo, I’m going to take it all back in a few months and see what happens. 🙂

My afternoon date!

I took Owen out for a special treat—a movie! We saw Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs 2 (he’d seen the first one).

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He really enjoyed it, and his favorite characters were the Watermelophants:

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Mine were the Shrimpanzees:

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If you want to see all the other cute and clever Foodimals check out their wiki.

All the way home we were chasing Watermelophants and he was Flynn, the main character. 🙂

Helping Grannie make apple pies!

I requested Lin’s apple pies for the freezer, so that was today’s project…and Owen was “helping.” Lin said he was very patient the whole time. 🙂

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Owen was playing with Stuffy (the blue dinosaur from Doc McStuffins) and was attaching him to the apple peeler using a rubberband as a safety harness.

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