~~ RUSH ~~

This weekend Michael had his first tournament with his new team - THE RUSH - He was on the fence about playing fall ball, but when he heard this team was looking for another catcher he thought it would be a good opportunity to put in some work and get some time on the field before high school baseball in the Spring.  Extra practice never hurt anyone, am I right?  He has been so lucky to always have amazing coaches and teammates and this team is no different.  He is the new kid on the team and he is working to earn his spot playing with the big boys - 16U - this season.  I ~ LOVE ~ to watch this kid play!  It makes my heart so happy.  It's going to be a fun, challenging season and I can't wait!  Love my #31 💛

~~ Number 31 ~~

I started to write about Michael playing with the Red Sox, and I will, but it's gonna be a long one and I just can't do that tonight. So, instead I have a couple of pictures of the game from 1 year ago tonight.  He caught and pitched that game.  It was a good night for baseball for #31.

~~ Lost: First Baby Tooth ~~

My baby lost his first tooth on Friday! This is both exciting and a little sad for me. It means he's growing up! Too fast and time is flying by too quickly.
But the excitement....
He was so excited to tell me how he lost it on the playground at school during recess and his little friend helped him find it. He was excited about the little green box that the school nurse gave him to carry it home in. He excited when he went to bedding knowing that the tooth fairy would be coming in the middle of the night to trade his baby tooth for cash.
And oh my goodness was he excited when he came running into the livingroom to tell me he woke up and found $5.00 beside his pillow. I love that sweet, innocent, little boy excitement.

~~ Camping ~~

This past weekend was absolutely gorgeous, windy and a little cool, but no clouds and lots of sunshine gorgeous! We were up early Saturday morning and excited about the camping trip that was planned with Jesse's Cub Scout pack. After all our bags were packed and the car was loaded up we headed west toward Enchanted Rock!

Once we were there, it became clear, pretty quickly, that there was a lack of communication and information. We paid ahead of time, but needed to pay again when we arrrived, something about the type of pass our pack bought. Initially we were told no lunch would be served by our pack, so we stopped for lunch on our way there. No big deal. But then, biggest miscommunication was a big deal. This campout was not going to be like the one last fall because it was primitive! That's right, I said primitive. No parking at the campsite and unloading all your goodies, too windy for a campfire, and a good 1.5 miles between the campsite and the pavilion where lunch/dinner/breakfast would be served.

Phillip and the boys getting ready for the hike.

Getting ready to start hiking to the campsite! We found out we would have to haul all of our stuff 2 miles to our primitive campsite. Remember where we are? It was mostly uphill and we had a lot of stuff-tent, sleeping bags, overnight bags, etc. I was NOT a happy camper!

The dads-Phillip and Brett-hauling gear to the campsite.

The back of Enchanted Rock (almost there).

Finally got there and got the tent set up. It was pretty darn windy, but it stayed up!

Hiking between the rocks (2 pics ago), and looking back at our campsite, on our way to eat dinner.

Jesse and Hank

After dinner we hiked back to our campsite. The sun was going down quick. Despite all the frustration with the arrangements the park was beautiful!

I was usually bringing up the rear, mostly because I was busy taking pictures.

Figured I better get one of myself-hehe. By this time we had probably walked about 12 miles and I was still able to put on a happy face!

The backside of the rock at sunset. We made it back to our campsite with about 10 minutes of daylight left. It was dark! No campfire meant no smores and no storytelling, so we were all in bed by 7:30. Not too early considering we were exhausted from all the hiking!

Waking up after a cold, 27 degree, night of primitive camping! At least the boys were able to earn their polar bear patch because the temp. went below freezing. After the last camping trip, which seemed so much colder, we were prepared with sleeping bags and layers of clothes!

We got up early, packed up everything and started our 2 mile hike with all of our gear to the pavilion for breakfast. It was early, but it warmed up quickly so Michael helped me out by wearing my sweatshirt down the hill.

Um, yeah, not smiling like I was the night before. This is my "I am SO over this" picture. See all those black straps around my neck? That would be all the junk I carried down.

Still, it was a beautiful morning and the scenery was amazing!

After breakfast prayer and meeting with the whole pack. Then it was time to hit the road home. We were so sore and tired and dirty, but overall it really was a great experience!

On the way home we stopped outside of Burnet to see the bald eagles. I wish I had taken my other camera with the zoom lens, maybe I could have gotten a better picture. Oh well. The nest was huge and one bird was in the nest.

You absolutely can not see the 2 bald eagles sitting to the left of the nest in this picture because it is so small, but they were there I promise.

It was a great experience and we have a great story to tell because of all the ups and downs (get it?) that we encountered this weekend. I am super excited the boys were able to earn a patch-camping in temps below freezing is a big deal! It was our first family camping trip and we had an awesome adventure getting to know our friends better!

~~ FIVE ~~

My little angel baby turned 5 today!

This morning started with him waking me up-just like he did 5 years ago. He hopped in bed and proudly told me, "It's my birthday!"

I hugged him tightly and insisted that he stop growing so fast! Really, stop it! The past 5 years have flown by so quickly, it amazes me. You know how people always say, "it seems just like yesterday." It is so true, it really does!

We spent the day talking about the day he was born and when he was a baby. We looked at his baby album and he saw pictures of his family seeing him for the first time. When he met his brother and sisters, the first time he met his grandparents, great grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins and neighbors. He got to see and hear the story of his baptism and lots of firsts, including his 1st birthday party. Ah, the memories. I love looking at the pictures and scrapbooks, but I will admit that I am a little bit of a slacker and there are some finishing touches I need to put on that baby album--5 years later. I felt bad that it wasn't/isn't completed. Of course, he didn't care, but I did. I'm determined to find some time to finish that album!

We celebrated his birthday on Saturday, with cake and Phillip's family, so today we just had small cupcakes today. Memaw and Aunt Sandra stopped by to see him and drop off cards for him. He'll be having a swimming party in September with his brother and all his friends.

Happy Birthday sweet boy! I ~LOVE~ YOU!

~~ Mild? ~~

It has been exactly 2 weeks since Michael mastered riding without training wheels.

You see that boo boo on his chin? He got that boo boo last night.

We had a wonderful, busy day yesterday and we got home around 7:15. The boys begged me to let them ride bikes because, "it has been days since we rode bikes!" It was late, we hadn't had diner, and I was tired, but I gave in. Now I wish I hadn't. I gave them until 7:45. They got their socks. shoes and their helmets and they were off!

Everything was fine. Until the last 5 minutes. They were riding around the circle laughing and having fun. Then all of a sudden Michael is on the ground, crying and screaming. I didn't see him fall and I didn't realize he had hit his chin until I walked over to him. I feel bad I walked over assuming he just needed to shake it off.

Jesse ran in the house and got him a cold wet towel for his boo boo.as I carried him and his bike back to the garage. What a great big brother! He calmed down once we were in the house. It helped that I promised him a Spiderman band aid if he let me clean his boo boo.

Everything was fine. Until he couldn't remember what happened or what he was suppose to be doing. It was weird! I ran his bath water and asked him to get his pj's then get in the tub. I was going to let him bathe while I got his dinner ready. So I came back from the kitchen and he was standing in the hallway. He said, "What am I suppose to do?" So I told him to get his pj's and get in the tub.

Phillip came home and talked to him about his day and his boo boo and then he jumped in the shower. Then Michael asks me, "Do I have to take a bath tonight?" His water was already in the tub and I had told him twice. I started to get a little freaked out.

I got him in the tub and bathed and he asked me several times--What happened? How did I get my boo boo? Did I cry? Did it bleed?

WEIRD! He didn't remember what happened 30 minutes earlier!

The final straw? He was at the table eating dinner and after Phillip got out of the shower and walked in he said, "I didn't know you were here."

I called the after hours nurse and she said to take him to the emergency room. I'm glad she said that because I would not have been able to sleep if I didn't find out if something serious had happened when he fell.

Oh, but let me tell you the ER is no fun with an impatient 4 year old! It took FOREVER.

It was probably 9:30 when we got there.

About 9:50 when our name was called and we went back.

At 10:08 we had seen the doctor and he wanted to have a CAT scan done, just to make sure everything was alright with Michael's little noggin'. At this point I was thinking, right on, less than an hour and we'll be going home soon. Not gonna happen. We waited for an hour. I swear they forgot about us, but the nurse claimed there was someone in front of us having a scan done also. That nurse, by the way, grumpy and not so friendly.

We went back at 11:10 and at 11:30 we were done with the scan and we were told it would be about 10 minutes. You see, the results were sent to the doctor that reads the scan and then he would call the ER doctor to relay the results to us about what they found, if anything.

Finally, finally at 12:10 we found out he had a MILD concusion. I was told he would be fine and we could go home.

We got home at 12:30 and crashed.

That makes trip #2 for Michael, in case you don't remember his 1st trip you can read about it here. He is only 4--OH BOY! Waiting was hard, but he did great and it was good to keep him awake and make sure that he really was okay.

~~ Michael ~~

I took this picture of Michael last night and played around with it a little, cropping and editing color, brightness, etc.

The original is on the left and the right is the "finished" product. Next to the original, I think the color looks so much better. What do you think?

~~ Rolling, Rolling, Rolling ~~

Less than a week later........

Michael is doing it on his own too! Now there really is no stopping them!

~~ Big Wheels ~~

A couple of weeks ago, a friend of mine posted pictures of her little man riding his bike without training wheels. He is 6 months younger than my youngest, so I figured it was time to teach both of mine to ride on just 2 wheels!

Saturday morning we all headed out to Academy because the only way I could get both boys to agree on letting me remove their training wheels was if I bought them elbow and knee pads. Seriously? They actually could use them for riding their skateboards. A bonus in the package = gloves!

We got home and it was just too hot, but that evening we were out there for a long time practicing! Both of them did real well, as long as I didn't let go. We worked on balance and pedaling and I ran beside them and behind them, letting go but staying close. The neighbor, Jessica, came out one time and told Jesse it took her like a week to learn to ride her bike. After that he was determined to beat her time and learn in less than a week.

After practicing a couple of times a day (I could only handle about 30 mins early mornings & evenings) for only 3 1/2 days.....

There is no stopping him now! So proud of him!

There were a few falls, but luckily not too many and no major scrapes or other injuries. I guess it was worth it to get those knee pads for extra confidence!

One down and one to go! Michael is making progress-he is doing great and with a little more practice, especially balance and confidence, he will be racing his brother around in no time!

~~ Pajama Parade ~~

It wasn't just another ordinary Friday at Michael's school today. Oh no, it was pajama day! We often have these days at home, but this is a first for him at school. Not only did they get to wear their pajamas all day at school, they had a little pajama parade. It was so cute all the kiddos walking around in their pj's. He decided to go super hero and wore his Batman pj's. Here is a picture of him and a few of his classmates in their pj's parading--some of them brought baby dolls, blankets and some even wore their house shoes.

I love little boy pajamas!

~~ Big Decision ~~

The decision made today was that I will start spending M/W/F 's with this handsome little devil:

I realize it has not even been a month since I graduated, but I knew that my chances of finding a teaching job mid-year would be, as my supervisor said, slim and none. It has also only been 2 days since students returned to school after the Christmas break. I am in the system to be called to sub when/if I am needed. However, there are probably 30+ recent graduates also "on call." Student teaching was NOT a paid semester and the cost of child care is outrageous.
SO.....a compromise of sorts.....He stays home with me 3 days a week and I will practice everything I learned the last 2 years teaching him. He goes to school 2 days a week and I am available to sub and practice (if I get called) everything I learned the last 2 years in the classroom.
It is win/win.
Bonus savings: I get to pick Jesse up from school everyday, so no after school care!
It just didn't make any sense paying to send him to school everyday when I am home all day not making any money. I'm excited to have some one on one time with my littlest man.

~~ Light Load ~~

We pulled into the driveway and as everybody jumped out of the car I said, "carry something in please." Michael is halfway into the garage and it appears as if he did not hear me. "Michael, you need to carry something in please." He turns to me and says, "I am." This is what he shows me....

Seriously? The straw and the lid from your Dairy Queen to go cup? Not the cup or the pillow or the blanket or the million toys, but the straw and the lid. That's my little helper!

My Pig

Michael's class did their version of the 3 little pigs

and my baby was pig #3.

Isn't he cute?

Getting the bricks for his house.

The big bad wolf knocking-let me in.

Not by the hair on my chinny, chin, chin.

Highlights.....October

Eventually I will be caught up. Here is a look at all the fun we had in October.

We started the month with another birthday. My oldest angel baby turned 5. He wanted to celebrate some place different this year, so we had a gymnastics party. He loved it, just look at that smile!

He decided he wanted a Star Wars/Darth Vader themed party, so everything was, even his cake.

Liz shook up our monthly bunco with an 80s theme. We all did our part to try to revive the fads that made the 80s so awesome. Of course, most of these gals were only babies back then, but don't they look great. Bunco was so much fun and it brought back some wonderful memories! I LOVED the 80s!

sdrawkcaB night at Awana.

A day at the pumpkin patch trying to pick out the perfect pumpkin. It was hard to choose just one picture to share for this outing. They were so cute and so cooperative letting me just snap away.

My Dalmation and My Darth!

And finally, our BIG news for the month.....we are homeowners again!