Blogging at Mike's request

According to Mike, he has been taking some heat about the lack of updates to our blog. I take full responsibility although he too has the ability to type just the same as I =) Right now the kids and I are with him in State College, PA. It is beautiful here! We were blessed by a wonderful family to have the opportunity for him to stay in their garage apartment. The place is small when we are all here, but more than perfect when he is alone. The kids and I have racked up well over 2500 miles in the van since mid-June but we are appreciating every second of seeing this great countryside. When we aren't in the van traveling to see daddy or other family we have been at my parent's house. Luckily, my younger brother scored a job with the Muskegon police department and moved out of my parent's house just in time for his "suite" to be cleaned, carpeted and repainted for our arrival! The kids love being there and playing with their cousin, Catherine, and the kids next door (Mike's childhood home). I can't even explain how liberating it is to have a backyard. Our whole day is spent out in the back yard playing with all the toys my mom salvaged from our childhood and her garage sale adventures. She, being the ex-preschool teacher that she is, made certain that she has one of every toy for the 3 grandchildren so to limit the arguments. Caleb's favorite thing to do is play in the little car (you know the red one with the door that opens and the yellow top). He also loves to play real or imaginary baseball with anyone who will indulge him. This is a game he does not tire from. The other night he played with my dad for an hour and 45 minutes throwing the ball to my dad who was the batter. Maggie enjoys her time with Catherine and Gabby (next door neighbor). They play house, princess, and restaurant. She also loves being "teased" (spoiled) by her grandmas. On another note, we have a contract on a home and should be closing on it the end of August. We have been wanting a house for at least 2 years and now just seemed like the right time. Mike will still be doing this job with the Pirates and traveling from March to the first week of September but we decided it was best to have a "home base." The house is in Spring, TX north of Houston. Mike already has contacts for pitching lessons in the off season and we have several friends in the area. These next 2 months (Aug and Sept) will be a huge scramble for us. Between Mike's season (ending the 6th of Sept) , closing on the house (Aug 31st), a wedding in Austin (Sept. 11), and instructional league in FL (Sept 15th) the kids and I have to pack up and move from MI (more miles in the log) and Mike has to travel to FL, load the U-Haul and move the stuff to our new home. We will need prayers for 1. a smooth closing 2. good planning 3. safe travel 4. resilient kids 5. an easy move. The list of details is overwhelming for me and I am trying to take it one day at a time. We couldn't be more excited at the notion that we will not have to move our stuff again for a long time! We will definitely be traveling a lot but it will be more fun when we know where we will land when the travel is over. P.S. we did buy a new camera and I have lots of pictures to be loaded . . another day, sorry.