Bubba Pitches

My son, Bubba, and I went outside to play a little baseball .  He was the pitcher.  I was the hitter.

"Check this pitch out," he said, spinning in circles before releasing the ball.  "It's the anti-spin pitch!"

Okay.  Somehow I managed to hit the thing and send it across the yard as a ground ball.

Next pitch.  "Here's a slow pitch," my son said.  He came within ten feet of me and threw the ball straight up in the air.  It came down right in front of me, and again, I managed to hit it.

"You're good, Mama," Bubba said.  "Now try this one."  He whipped the ball so fast - right at my head.

I ducked and the ball crashed into the fence behind me.

"What was that?" I yelled.  "You could've knocked my teeth out!" 

"Sorry, Mama.  That was a head ball.  You had to use your head to get out of the way!"

Grrr.  Needless to say, that was the last pitch of the day!

Straw Thing

My eight-year-old son grabbed a packet of bendy straws and plopped them onto the kitchen table.  I glanced at the kid and went about my business.  I was too busy to inquire what he might be doing with those things.

About five minutes later, he appeared with a bendy straw necklace draped over his neck.  Somehow he had managed to connect all of the straws.

"Bubba, why do you have straws around your neck?" I asked.

"I made a straw thing, so next time I need a straw I don't have to search for one."

"Oh," I said, mildly amused.

"And you can use them, too," he added.  "Next time you need a straw for an art project, all you have to do is ask, and I'll give you one."

Wow.  Sometimes that boy really amazes me!

Boxing Bubba

There have been lots of moving boxes around my house lately.  My eight-year-old son decided to usurp one of them.  I found him parked in front of the TV, inside the box, wrapped up in a sleeping bag.

"Bubba, what are you doing?" I asked.

"Watching TV."

I guess that was obvious.  "Okay.  But why are you doing it in a box?"

"Because it's fun."

Of course.  Why else would he do it? "But Bubba, I need that box for packing."

"Mama, this is my box.  I'm all cushioned and comfy inside.  You can tape it up and send me to Georgia just like this!"

The Turtle Incident

We've had a lot of contractors buzzing around our house, remodeling things for our big move.  Of course my son, Bubba, had to befriend them.  Naturally, they all liked Bubba.

"Hey, Bubba," one of the guys said.  "Do you want to see something?"

Bubba looked at me.  "Can I, Mama?"

I nodded.  "Sure."  I couldn't wait to see what they had.

We went outside.  And what do you think we saw?  A giant snapping turtle.  It was crawling across my front yard.

"What is that thing doing here?" I asked.

"It crawled out of the back of my pickup truck," the man drawled in his thick Kentucky accent.

"Oh yeah?" I asked.  "And what was it doing in the back of your pickup truck?"

"It was on the side of the road when I was driving here this morning, so I picked it up and tossed it in."

I looked at that guy. "Okay.  So how did it get out of your pickup truck?"

The guy shrugged.  "Beats me.  All I know is he was crawlin' over to your neighbor's bushes.  I had to drag him out by the tail. Like this."  He picked up the turtle by his tail and let it hang.

Bubba giggled.  "Can I try that?"

"Absolutely not!" I said.

"Ya wanna see what else he can do, Bubba?" the guy asked.

"Yeah.  What else can he do?'

The man put the turtle down and stuck his big foot in front of its mouth.  And guess what happened?  The turtle bit the guy's work boot - hard!

I looked at the guy and shook my head.  "I hope those boots have steel toes, otherwise when you take your boot off, you might be missing a few of your own!"

The guy laughed.

Bubba grinned.    "Can we keep it as a pet?"

"NO!!!!!!" 

I asked the man to take that reptile back to whatever swamp it came out of. 

"Yes, ma'am," he said and picked the thing up by its tail and tossed him back into the pickup truck.

Oy gewalt!

Random Acts of Kindness Blog Hop: A Little Ray of Sunshine

I'm all about promoting random acts of kindness.  So when E C Stilson came up with this blog hop, I had to get on board.  Let me tell you a little about it.  This is a blogfest about sharing love and joy by writing about random acts of kindness that either happened to you or that you bestowed on someone else.  After the blogfest, Wayman Publishing will publish an anthology from the posts written.  All profit (through 2013) will be donated to charity.  Is that awesome, or what?  If you'd like to sign up, head over to EC Stilson's blog.

Now here's my story:

A Little Ray of Sunshine

 

 

       It was pouring rain. A homeless man stood on the corner with nothing but a backpack and a can for collecting coins.

       As my kids and I drove by, my daughter spotted him. "Mom, what is he doing?"

       I explained he was someone without a place to live and that he was probably hoping someone would drop some money in his can so he could get some food.

       "Can we buy him lunch?" my son asked.

       "And an umbrella?" my daughter added.

       I looked around and noticed a store nearby. "Sure," I said. We pulled into the parking lot and went inside. We found an umbrella, but not much of a food selection. The best we could get was a couple of Lunchables - turkey, cheese, and crackers with a juice pouch and Oreo cookies. "This will have to do," I said.  

       We paid the cashier and made our way back to the man. He was still standing in the rain.

       I walked up to him. "Hi. We thought you could use this." I opened the umbrella and handed it to him.

       "And these," my daughter said, giving him the Lunchables.

       My son gave the man a big grin. "Oreo cookies are my favorite. I think you'll like them."

       The man smiled, and his tired eyes lit up. "Thank you. Oreo cookies are my favorite, too."

       We waved goodbye and headed back to the car. My son took my hand and looked up at me. "Mama, I think we made him happy."

       "Yes, we did," I replied. "It was just what he needed - a little ray of sunshine on a cloudy, rainy day!"    

 

 

 

 

 

And here's a little news about a promotion Wayman Publishing is offering:  Buy any of Wayman Publishing's Books - some only 99 cents - and automatically be entered into our iPad mini sweepstakes!  Visit this link for more info:  http://www.waymanpublishing.com/


Thanks, EC, for having this blogfest!  I think it's a great idea! 

I'd also like to mention that EC is an incredibly talented, sweet lady.  She's a violinist - just like me, and a fabulous writer.  If you haven't read her book, Homeless in Hawaii, you should check it out. It's a true story with some very nice random acts of kindness sprinkled inside!     

 

 

 

 



3-Uped!

I've been 3-Uped by the lovely Beverly Fox over at The Beveled Edge. 

What is that? It's an awesome blog hop that Randi Lee put together.  It works like this:  "Each blogger will pick the blogger listed below them and then tell them 3 things they like about the person or his/her blog.  Easy enough, right?  And how good will you feel after making someone else's day?  I reckon pretty darn good!"

Well, Randi, you reckoned pretty darn good, because after reading all the wonderful things Beverly had to say about me, I'm flying on cloud nine.  Thank you so much, Beverly!

Now I'm going to 3-Up Lisa Buie-Collard

1-UP:  Lisa is a very talented flower arranger!  In fact, she just won first place for one of her arrangements in a local garden club contest.  She posted a picture of it, and it's just beautiful!  (I'm moving to Georgia, where Lisa lives. If I'm still there when my kids get married, I'm going to look her up and have her do the flower arrangements for their weddings!  (Do you do that, Lisa?))

2-UP:  Lisa really seems like a warm, caring family person.  From reading her posts, I can tell that she enjoys spending time with her husband and that she really cherishes her family.  Those kind of people are top notch in my book!

3-UP:  Even though I don't personally know Lisa, I get the feeling that she's really down to earth.  She seems like someone you can sit down with and have a nice cup of tea/coffee and chat about whatever's on your mind. 

Be sure to visit Lisa's blog (and Beverly's and Randi's!).   If you want to participate in the 3 Up blog hop, just go sign up at Randi's pad.

Stress Balloons

"Mama," my eight year old son said.  "Look what I bought at the third grade sale."  He dumped a bag of miscellaneous items on the kitchen table. 

I noticed a bunch of sand-filled balloons.  "What are these, Bubba?"

"Stress balloons."

"Stress balloons?"

"Yeah, aren't they cute?"

I looked at those things.  "Yes.  They're cute.  Now why do you need stress balloons?"

"Because you're feeding me Brussels sprouts for dinner.  And Brussels sprouts stress me out."

Bubba took a couple of stress balloons and threw them on the floor. 

"Okay, Bubba.  Now you're stressing me out."

"Why Mama?"

"Because my piggy bank doesn't have any money in it to pay for the damage your stress balloons are going to cause!"