Graduation

Last week was Michael's Pre-K graduation. It was so cute. The kids put on quite a little show for the families. Each child went up to the podium to tell everyone what their favorite part of pre-k had been. Of course, Michael said "recess". I think that's the automatic answer for most boys. Henry was on pins and needles to whole time. He was so into the show. He sat in the aisle dancing along with them, counting and saying the alphabet. He had the best time. I think he's super excited to go to preschool next year now that he knows what's in store.

Austin

A few weeks ago we went to Austin. Joe had been asked by a Marine to come and swear him in at his commissioning ceremony. So we thought we would make a family trip of it. We had heard Austin was a really cool place. And it is, but not really for kids. It's a very college oriented town that takes pride in being weird. "Keep Austin Weird" is the actual motto and I think they do a good job. The naked man riding his bicycle through town was proof enough for me! We went to watch the ceremony which had a sword detail and the boys thought that was awesome. They all thought seeing Joe in his uniform was very cool too! In between graduation festivities we took the kids to the Austin zoo. We all had a good time!

Clare

Well, Clare gets shuffled around quite a bit during all of these games. Luckily her BFF, Keaton, is usually there to entertain her. They LOVE each other and have the best time. As you can see from the first picture, Clare is not so happy when Keaton is not around!
In other news, our little lady is fully potty trained now. This actually presents a small problem during Tball since the bathroom is a million miles away and she goes at least twice a game. I have to keep the training potty in the back of the car just in case. So glamorous I know!

Clare, none too pleased about having her picture taken:)

T-Ball Mania- Mike

Mike has been playing catcher this year. He loves hitting, but isn't really into fielding as much. Although the last game, he blocked the plate and tried to scare the runners away from the plate when he didn't have the ball! So that was pretty entertaining. His favorite part is the team snack at the end. His hitting is really coming along. He does a dance when he gets on base. He always makes a point to slide into home and then at one point, he did a cartwheel on the way back into the dugout. It is SO funny. He's an entertainer that's for sure:)

T-Ball Mania! -Hank

T-Ball Mania is in full swing. Between both boys we have games 3 nights a week. Hank's team is a riot to watch. Kids run all over the place trying to find 1st base. It's hilarious. At this age, knowing where the ball is and which direction to run is key. Any kid who knows both of these is way ahead of the game! So far, Hank is doing very well. He always knows where the ball is, and goes after it. No matter what. I guess he'll learn not to run to cover 1st when he's playing short stop! He hits well too. He really enjoys it and is so excited when he has a game:)

Opening Ceremonies

We didn't get too many pics during the event, but these were still cute:)

T-Ball Time!

Let the madness begin! The opening ceremonies for PARA Youth sports kicked off last night. Henry and Mike are both playing. It's so chaotic with both of them having practice and games sometimes at different places, but it's fun! They are both very excited to play! Mike plays for the Brewers and Henry plays for the Cardinals. As of today, we only got Hank's pictures done. The rain came before we got around to any games or to Mike's pictures so I'm sure we'll be making those up soon.

Marathon!

FINSIH: 4:46:02


Here we go!




Mile 23. Hitting the WALL....


Almost there!


Carolyn and I. Oddly enough, she flew in from Houston just to run with my partner Jennifer. Jennifer ended up falling back due to dehydration, so Carolyn and I became fast friends! Nothing like the misery of 26 miles to bring two people together!


Jennifer, Me and Carolyn

BLOGAPALOOZA!

These last few weeks have been the busiest I can remember in a long time! I'll start with Michael's Tball party, but be sure to keep scrolling down b/c there are tons of posts to read!

Michael's T-Ball season ended with a team party at Triple
Play. It's a bounce house place with party rooms. The team rented it out and ended with a pizza party. All of the players got a trophy and a medal. We were so so lucky to have ended up with this group. The coaches were so great and all the parents made it a good experience.

Dad and Wendy visit FL!

Dad and Wendy came over Halloween weekend and shared in all the fun! Sunday we stayed home and fished out back. It was a nice break from all the craziness!

Halloween x 3!

Halloween this year was the BUSIEST one we have ever had! We started our festivites on Saturday morning and weren't finished until Monday night! Mike was a pirate, Hank was a bullrider and Clare was a busy little bee!

Halloween with the Neighborhood

My friend Lisa puts on quite a Halloween party for the kids in our neighborhood. Everyone dresses up and meets at her house. She makes food for everyone and then her father in law pulls everyone around the neighborhood on a hay ride. He stops along the way and all the kids jump off and run to all the houses, collecting all the candy they can get their little hands on! Clare got right into the spirt of things. She would run to each house yelling "yaaaaaay!" and then run from each house saying "nexxxxt hooouusse!" She was trying so hard to keep up with the big kids, she fell 3 times, ripping the knees out of her tights. Although she ended up with some bumps and bruises, it wasn't anything a little candy couldn't fix!

Halloween

Sweet Seasons Farm is a place where the kids can go through a corn maze, go on a hay ride and play on their play ground. We went with my friends and we all had a good time. My dad and Wendy were in town for all of the Halloween festivites too:)

Marine Corps Ball!

Finally, after 3 yrs, Joe and I got to go to a ball again! Although we don't know too many people here, we still had a good time. We had a great sitter that the kids really loved. So having a night out was really nice. The Commandant was the guest speaker but as far as I could tell, the pageant was exactly the same as it was when we went to this ball 5 yrs ago:)

The Tooth

Last week I noticed that Hank's tooth had gotten a shade darker. After further inspection I found a "bump" on him gum. The dentist had been warning me all along to look for something like this, and bring him in asap if I ever saw one. So, we got him in with the pediatric dentist here. Her treatment plan was to strap him in the papoose, which is a flat board with velcro(sp?) straps, give him the shots in the gum and take the tooth. I was really worried about this. They weren't going to use any nitrous and he would be fully awake and aware of the whole thing. I stressed and stressed about what to do. I finally asked Mike's baseball coach (an orthodontist) what he thought. He said this particular dentist was great, but he thought it was odd that she wouldn't use the gas. So he called her himself. She still gave no real answer as to why she wouldn't use the gas. As it turns out, Mike's other Tball coach is also a dentist, fully experienced in treating kids, and had no problem using the gas. I can't tell you what a difference that made. Hank watched tv the whole time, used the gas as he was instructed, didn't even flintch when he was given the 3 shots and didn't care at all when they took the tooth. I was so happy we went another route. And how lucky are we to have ended up on a tball team stacked with dentists?!
5 stars for this experience!

Pre-K pics

Center Time



The class with Father Michael



His teacher Ms. Grassman



Recess



Grandparent's Day


Because Michael's class has two teachers, they have the extra set of hands needed to take pictures of the kids during the day! They post them on the class website for all of the parents to see. I think they have a good time!