September 2020

September was another sport filled month for the Heflin kids. That meant a lot of time spent at the ball parks after work and virtual learning classes. 

We played our second round game of the t-ball tournament. Unfortunately we had to play the top ranked team in the league. Landon actually hit his first ever home run! I could not have been more proud. He even played great at second base and got a few kids out. Brinley actually got the home run on video, but it is broken in two videos. Landon had hit a double but the outfielder over threw the second baseman so he got to keep running and he made it home safe. T-ball was a lot of fun this year and I am so glad that we were able to get to play. Landon became a much better player and really helped him get ready for coach pitch.

The kid's school had a scavenger hunt for all the kids in the community. The kids were excited to find it from just the first clue that they gave out.

We have never had the best of luck with growing pumpkins at home. This year our vines started to die and we were left with only this little pumpkin. Too bad that it was ready at the beginning of September. It was only 2 months early. Last time I planted pumpkins they were ready in July. So, I guess I am getting closer to the right time. 

Landon had started soccer and when we went to his practice Brinley got upset that she wasn't playing. I luckily was able to get Brinley onto a team and even better her practice is on the same night as Landon's. We started having our own practices, at both the fields and in our backyard. If I am going to do something I am going all out, which is what I am trying to teach the kids. You have to give all your effort in anything that you do. 

After practicing soccer we also started working on our coach pitch batting. The kids both said that they were interested in playing fall ball. Again we have to get to work!

The kids had to get up early one Saturday morning because I had to take the car in to get the oil changed. I stopped by to get the kids a little donut treat for being good sports which made them happy!

Randomly but I was so impressed to find this 6 frosted mini wheat family. I don't know why I thought it was so cool, but I had to take a picture.

Uncle McKinley came to town to celebrate with his girlfriend Taylor so we had to go over and see them too. The kids were happy to meet her cat Lexi. Uncle McKinley was happy to try out the kids Nintendo Switch.

I have been getting up early and walking or running around the neighborhood. A new friend has started to appear around in the early mornings, a little fox. I have seen him about 5 times now. Thankfully the fox runs away as soon as it spots me.

September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. It is only fitting that it is also the month where we celebrate pediatric oncology nurses too. We were given masks at work and I decided to make some cookies for my co-workers. It was my first time working with royal icing so I thought it turned out pretty good for a first time attempt. The top right corner picture is some of the cookies that the kids did, except for the football helmet with the cat paw (I did that one too).

Brinley's first soccer game was an early game and the fog was thick. The Cyberrays are a very inexperienced team. Only 3 of the girls have ever played soccer before. It was very difficult for them to get the ball across mid-field, which made the game very difficult to watch. Brinley said that she had fun. She actually took the ball all the way up the field twice. I was very proud of her.

Brinley loves animals, especially bunnies. I personally am not a animal person at all, but an opportunity came about with a co-worker who just so happened to have a bunny that she was having to give up. It was a perfect scenario for us and I knew that Brinley would be completely ecstatic about having her very first pet. We set up a date for my friend to bring to bring the bunny to the house. We met Sydney out in the driveway where Brinley first met Biscuit. The kids didn't believe me when I told them that they got to keep him. Brinley had the biggest smile when she was holding her first pet!

With virtual school Landon has to fill out this form every day to show the teacher what emotion he is feeling. We had planned a weekend trip to go down and see my brother in Nashville. This made Landon very happy because he knew that we would play lots of board games.

Uncle McKinley took us out to try a new spot called Biscuit Love. The top left was my lunch - a hot chicken breast with gravy biscuit. It was good, but it is really weird to eat a square biscuit. We also tried out another spot that he wanted to try called Peace Love & Little Donuts. They were all very uniquely flavored donuts. We had fun playing board games and just enjoying some time together. The only people missing were the Columbus crew and Taylor. Hopefully we will all be able to get together soon.

We also took Uncle McKinley to our favorite spot of the quarantine, Top Golf. We had the summer pass so we got another opportunity to get a couple hours of hitting some golf balls for basically free since we have gone so much. The kids really enjoy it. Hopefully I can get them to go play a real round of golf with me now that they have gotten better with hitting golf balls.

As with becoming pet parents also comes the joys of taking care of the animals. Jennifer has fallen mostly into taking care of the everyday up keep of Biscuit. Brinley spends most of her day holding the little guy.

Another Saturday can only mean one thing, soccer time in the Bluegrass! Both kids are working really hard. Brinley's team is relatively inexperienced and they struggle to even get the ball across mid field most of the game. Landon's team all played together last year and he is the new guy on the team. He is working hard on finding his place on the team. Both kids struggle with being aggressive during the games and don't try to go after the ball. It is such a struggle because minutes after the game they are fighting in the car about which kid gets to sit in which seat in the car. If they only used half of their aggression towards each other out on the field then I would be happy!

A local church was donating milk to all the kids in the area. You could come by and pick up a half gallon for each kid and they also gave you some cookies too! The kids were happy for some cookies and milk never lasts long at our house.

Biscuit has been a major success with Brinley. This little rabbit brings her so much joy and happiness. She tries to hold him all the time. At this rate he is going to be huge because Brinley doesn't even let him walk around much so he probably doesn't even get enough exercise. Landon had never picked him up before and he was too nervous to pick him up. So, Brinley picked him up and handed him to Landon. I am so happy to see the smile on Brinley when she is with her little rabbit.

Grandma and Grandpa came up to see the kids play in a soccer game. We also were able to get in a game of Rook while they were here too. It turned out to be a pretty awesome day for some soccer. I haven't been able to get as many pictures of Brinley playing in the games because I have started to help as an assistant with her team.

Landon has been slowly beginning to understand what he is trying to do during the soccer match. His team is no longer running around in a giant herd the entire game. Landon was so close to scoring his first goal in this bottom right picture, but he just couldn't get it in the goal. The kid on the ground in the red shirt is the other team's goalie so he just had to tap it in. Proud of him and his continual effort of trying to get better.

Our first fall coach pitch baseball scrimmage was quite the experience. The kids were all still in t-ball mode. We had to ask multiple times for kids to stop playing in the dirt and to stand up in the outfield. I am helping out as an assistant coach again which my kids struggle with at times because I expect more from them compared to the other players on the team. Here Brinley is on first, which I coach while we are batting, and her cousin Thomas is playing on first. 

The thing I hate most about virtual learning is that the kids are stuck all day watching the computer screen and then when they have free time they want to watch TV or play video games. Well, they don't get enough movement and activity in their day. When I get home from work that is not the case. I found a dirt hill in the neighborhood where they are doing some construction work. I went out with the kids and we ran the hill a couple of times. Landon really liked it and wanted to do it more. I just wanted to wear the two of them out and get their legs a little stronger. 

September was filled with sports for the Heflin children and a surprise addition to our family in the form of a little bunny named Biscuit. In the middle of a global pandemic we have tried to look for the best in everything. As much as this time in our life is difficult and different than our normal it has been nice to spend more time with the ones that I love on a normal basis. None of us are guaranteed another day on this Earth. If tomorrow one of your loved ones was taken from you then another moment is all you would wish for. So, even when its difficult just enjoy being around your loved ones! Thanks for reading and God bless!

August 2020

 August was a very interesting month once again in the middle of a pandemic. In July we had seen life return closer to normal, but maybe things opened up a bit too much because numbers started to increase once again. I had to use up some vacation time before it expired so I took a week off. We didn't go anywhere because of uncertainties with everything going on with the pandemic. Instead we made the best of a staycation.

Something that I had really looked forward to this year was attending Indian Summer Camp with my pediatric cancer patients at work. It was honestly one of the most amazing experiences being able to see these young kids run around and play without a care in the world. This year of course COVID has cancelled so many things and summer camp was one of them.  The camp directors sent all of the volunteers a little care package to say thanks for all that we do. So, I decided to recreate a camp day at our house. We had grilled cheese, did perler bead art, a campfire with s'mores, and we even had fried ice cream to end the night. The kids were so excited. 

Another big part of camp is getting pied in the face. All day long there are some circulating clothes pins that people try to sneakily attach to other campers. After dinner whoever is stuck with the clothes pins gets a shaving cream pie in the face. This game is much harder with just four people, but Landon and Jennifer ended up with them. Brinley just wanted to see what it was like so she volunteered to get pied. Then everyone pressured me into getting one too!

August was a month full of baseball practices and games. We even happened to have one game when not enough Red Sox players showed up to the game so we had to find kids out in the crowd. Brinley was happy to play. She played in the outfield and even once got a good stop and threw it in to Landon for the out. Afterwards Landon was awarded the game ball. The coach even told him that he had to share the game ball with his sister. 

I think I have finally finished canning for the year. Not because I ran out of produce, but due to the fact that I cannot find any more lids in the stores. We have lots to keep us through the winter. 

The kids have a little trampoline in the backyard and we also have a little basketball goal. The kids are always asking me to pick them up so that they can dunk the basketball. I decided to move the goal into the backyard and put it next to the trampoline. Landon loved getting to dunk. I am afraid that due to having two parents who are vertically challenged he may never get to actually dunk a basketball under normal circumstances.

Out on a run one day and I noticed this lone sunflower out in a field full of weeds. I love seeing things and people out in the world that persevere against all odds. So of course I had to stop and get a picture.  

One of my patients that I had the privilege to take care of for the past year passed away and he was actually from western Kentucky. I wanted to make the trip to pay my respects, but I had to take care of the kids because of Jennifer's work schedule. Grandma and Grandpa said they could watch them so that I could attend the funeral. After the funeral I started the drive to my parents house when I hit a piece of debris on the interstate which caused me another flat tire. Never in my first 35 years had I ever been in a car with flat tire and now I had two within a month. I hope that I got those out of my system.

While the kids were at Grandma and Grandpa's house they always enjoy playing on the piano. This time Grandpa tried to teach them how to play a song. He wrote out the notes and then labeled the notes on the piano. When I finally got to pick them up they both played Mary had a little lamb.

I was so excited to let the kids watch the movie Gremlins. It was one that scared me so much as a child, but I thought the kids would like Gizmo. Jennifer didn't think we should watch it because she thought it was too scary. Well, we should have previewed it because randomly in the movie the girl in the movie tells a story about how she found out that Santa wasn't real. The kids didn't say anything about it so I hope that they just didn't believe it. I would like for the magic to last just a few more years.

At work we have this little distraction toy that has a lot of hidden items inside a plastic tube filled with little plastic particles.Well, the penny has been considered impossible to find. At one point they believed it actually wasn't inside the container. An X-ray proved that it was in fact in there. A parent found it a couple of months ago and it had driven me crazy ever since. I had a little extra time one day and finally found it. I did use a little help from a google search, but never less I found it!

Another ball game for my little man. He has improved so much this year and I am so happy for him. We just have to work on his ability to take constructive criticism.

I absolutely love a water balloon fight. Thankfully the kids do too!

We even hit a few water balloons like baseballs before throwing them at each other.

At the beginning of June I mentioned to the kids about trying to get a big trampoline. They were excited, but I waited too long into the pandemic that they were no longer in stores. So, I looked on Amazon and found one. They said it would be delivered any time from 4 weeks to 2 months from the order date. Well, Amazon is usually quick so I went ahead and purchased it thinking it would be the earlier date. I was totally wrong and it ended up being a huge disaster!!! About a week before the two month delivery date was going to elapse I found a trampoline at a local store. I called Amazon to cancel the online order and they said it would be cancelled, but because it was a third party seller it would take a few days because they had to contact and tell them. Well, the third party asked me politely to please just wait because it would be there within 5 more days! I said no thanks. Well, the very next day the trampoline is delivered to my door and the box was broken  and parts were exposed and who knows if any were missing. I then had to call Amazon and tell them that the package I didn't want got delivered and it was broken on delivery. After another week of back and forth with the seller I finally got my money back. What a hassle, but the kids are so happy to be out and jumping on their big kid trampoline. I even told a couple of my co-workers about the trampolines at the store so they went and got one. We went and helped both of them put theirs together too.

Restaurants were closed during our actual anniversary, so we just picked a random night to got out and celebrate our 13th anniversary. We went to Jeff Ruby's and sat out on the patio. It was delicious and I enjoyed getting to spend some time with just Jennifer. We had one of the most amazing desserts to finish the meal.

The kids were excited to try the blueberry cake after we picked them up from MiMi's after our date.

Another baseball game for Landon and his Red Sox buddies. MiMi came to watch him play at almost every game. 

Brinley became obsessed with perler beads. She even started making ear savers so that your mask stays off your ears. She even made me a batman and ninja turtle one for me to take to work. If you look closely on the ear ring board you can see that she even made herself some earrings. She made some candy corn, pac man, baby chicks, and mickey mouse earrings.

I was volunteering at church with my Mickey and Minnie Mouse mask when it made me wonder what was everyone's favorite Disney movie. I posted it on Facebook and got so many responses that I decided to ask a random question of the day. This is something that I already do at work everyday, but it was cool to see what the online community answered too.

Grandma and Grandpa had come up to watch the kids play baseball, but the game got rained out. So we instead decided to go meet up with Andrea and Olivia in Cincinnati. We met at Eden Park for a picnic and play time for the kids. They enjoyed running around together and especially chasing the geese.

With our summer pass for Top Golf still active we decided to make the short little drive up to hit some balls. The kids have really loved playing the little mini games. I am just really happy to see them enjoy something that I like, which is rare.

As our last day before virtual school started I wanted to get out and have some fun. The kids picked lunch at one of their favorite places, Goodfellas. For dinner we even got some ice cream at Culver's.

Happy first day of school for the kids. Landon started 2nd grade and Brinley is a 3rd grader. I am so proud of these two! They are both really good students, I just hope that continues with virtual school. I also hope this is a temporary solution.

Grandma and Grandpa made the trip up again so that they could see Landon play t-ball. His team actually played horrible for this game, which was a round robin game for the upcoming tournament. We ended up losing the game and it turns out that we had to turn around the next night and play the same exact team to start the tournament.

The first game of the tournament the Red Sox looked like a different team than the day before. Landon played great both in the field and at bat. He was awarded the game ball. He was also given a participation trophy, which I hate! I think only the winners should get trophies. The kids were also really happy to see MiMi's new puppy that she got, Archie.

Helping coach has been extremely hard at times, but seeing him play on this night with much more confidence made it worth it. He has worked so hard this season to get better and we are working on being able to accept coaching from me without hanging his head after everything I say to him. They ended up having to play against the top seeded team the next night in the tournament.

One of my patients asked me one time what my favorite color was and I said blue of course. The next time he came in to the clinic he gave me this painted cross. I have it hanging in my garage and I see it everyday. Well, after eight years of fighting against cancer he finally passed away. He was actually the first child I took care of when I made the move out to the pediatric oncology floor. I was taking care of him when the doctor came in and told the family that he had cancer. He has a special place in my heart and I am not sure I will ever be able to tell a silly dad joke without thinking about him. Every week when he came into the clinic he would tell me jokes and ask for coloring pages. He would also ask if I could color with him, which I would try to do if we weren't busy. Just another great kid and I am so glad that I got to know him. 

The garden is still producing all kinds of tomatoes and the sunflowers are in bloom. I picked some and brought them inside so that we could see them up close. 

Definitely not the August that we had anticipated, but has anything is 2020 worked out like we thought it would. Sports kept us pretty busy and we were excited about the start of school, but that joy quickly faded away. I just always try to remember that with virtual school we are doing the best that we can under the circumstances. A lot has been put on the kids to try and be independent with their studies, but both of their teachers have done well with keeping us informed of what all we need to have done each week. As long as we are healthy I have a lot to thank God for each night. I know there are many people out there right now who are not as lucky. Thanks for reading and God bless!