First T-Ball Game

Andy had his first t-ball game this week. His team did great! They all hit the ball really hard and even made a few plays at 1st base.

I didn't get as many pictures as I would like, but I got a few of Andy batting.

And running after he hit the ball.

And some super cute spectators.

Look! Mommy made it into a picture!

Memere held the umbrella while the princess did her homework. There were actually a few sprinkles out there!

Luckily Andy has a ton more games, so I will have a lot more chances to get pictures of him out there!

Fun with Auntie Kay and Uncle Monster

Our neighbors have been cleaning up their back yard and they gave us a super cool old barrel.  So Chris and Kay came over and helped us turn the old barrel into a fire pit!

First step was to dig a hole.  It was a group project.

Silly Gooses, intrigued by the hole!

Three kids in a hole. They are so funny, they couldn't stay out of it!

Then it was time to cut the barrel. The sparks were awesome. The kids ran screaming.

And of course, the final result, was the best part. It was like camping in the back yard! We ate smores and cuddled by the fire. Success! Thanks for the help Uncle Monster and Auntie Kay!

Few More Softball Shots

Julie is really enjoying softball! She especially likes pitching.

She is also getting more comfortable batting. And she looks adorable doing it!

Of course, Sadie is still her biggest fan!

Julie's Award

We found out at Julie's Parent Teacher conference that she was going to get an award at the assembly.

She was super excited and we were so proud of her. She got an award for "Excellence and Enthusiasm in Reading" It was the perfect award for her because she is a great reader and she LOVES it!

John and I were both able to get off work to watch. Grammy, PopPop and Memere were there too!

 And as a super special treat, Uncle Justin (who was still off work to help with Jemma) came!

Congratulations Julie, we are so proud of you!

T-Ball Opening Ceremonies

This past weekend Andy had opening ceremonies for T-ball. It was such a fun event, I had no idea what to expect. But Andy was thrilled when my co-worker Paula invited him to throw out the first pitch of the season!

He got to warm up, and throw the ball to Mayor O'Malley.

He did a great job and  Mayor O'Malley totally played it up. He was thrilled.

Mayor Pro-Tem Sturtevant was there as a backup catcher.

All the kids also got announced with their teams and got to run the bases. Here is Andy running his heart out.

He was a total star, so proud of himself and we are so proud of him!

Softball

Julie is playing her first year of real softball. Her team name is the Green Dragons. She is loving every second of it!

I am loving watching her, and especially loving that 2 of the awesome girls I played softball with years ago, have girls on the team. It is bringing back so many memories.

 So far, Julie is really loving to pitch. She has pitched 2 innings out of about 5 that they have played, and seems to enjoy it. She has even asked for us to work on pitching at home.

It's fun watching all the girls learn together and I will definitely be taking some better pictures as the season continues.

Jemma Abigail

A week ago today we welcomed our newest cousin, Jemma Abigail! She was born March 9th and is simply perfect!  She weighed in at 6 lbs 13 oz and 19 inches long.  Audrey did great, and is already feeling wonderful.

Lauren is a great big sister and loves having Mommy and Daddy home.

We went over to visit yesterday and neither girl wanted to hold Jemma, but Andy couldn't wait. Just like his daddy, can't wait to get his hands on a baby!

Welcome to the family Jemma! We love you so much already!

Mind of Her Own

I know it's a surprise, us having a child with a mind of their own. This one has been showing hers a lot lately. But, none of us really mind, even Julie and Andy are so tolerant of her bossy and sassy ways.

This is how Sadie got ready to go to the movies. Baby, owl, tutu (hard to tell, but it's there) and super hero mask. All set.

At school the other day, we picked her up and she was wearing different pants than when we dropped her off. We asked if she had an accident and the teachers told us that she was outside playing and didn't want to go inside and potty so she just pulled down her pants and went potty in the sandbox. Oh geez.  They had her change her pants, just because that is what they do when the kids don't make the potty, but it definitely wasn't an accident!

She has also taken to coloring all over Julie's homework and hogging Andy's bed at night. But they still love her.

And while she is a little pill at times, other times she goes with the flow, sitting through a big kid movie during nap time even if it means falling asleep in the restaurant booth after the show.

Conferences

This week we had conferences with Julie and Andy's teachers. 

Andy was first. Mrs. Lee told us how happy, caring, sweet and attentive he is. She kept saying what a great role model he was for the rest of the class. Of course this made us so proud, and is huge considering he is one of the youngest in his class. She said that she never has to re-direct him, he is always on task and he is doing great with his letters and numbers and is even showing off how he can blend sounds to read words! We are so proud of our big man!

Julie's conference was next and Mrs Lewis really knows Julie after teaching her for 2 years now. She told us how Julie still shows so much enthusiasm for everything they do in the classroom. She is a leader, and loves reading and is amazing at math. Mrs Lewis gave us a story Julie wrote about our camping trip in January. The kids were supposed to try to fill a page. Julie filled 3. Mrs Lewis may have used the word overachiever, but we already knew that.

When I got back to work, everyone asked how the conferences went. Have to be honest, it's pretty fun getting to hear how awesome your kids by people who spend so much time with them.