Baseball Time!

It's that time of year when the cleats, bat and gloves come out... It's baseball season!!!  The boys are playing through the Y this year and so far, it is a great team!  Their coach has been coaching for years and he is teaching them lots of good things about baseball.  The first game was on March 29th and it was really exciting!  We got killed (11-5) but Rylan and Jacob did REALLY good!  I was so proud to see their skills and progress from last spring.  

 Rylan got a hit each time to bat and made 2 runs!!!

 Jacob got 2/3 hits and made it to base both times.

 The cheering section was out in team colors... GPOp and Granna are sporting their new Astro's shirts.

 And the fam... with our new Astro's shirts too!

We are so proud of the boys and cannot wait to see them grow this season!

March Wrap-Up... the one with all the sicknesses

The last half of March can me summed up in the photo... gatorade, jello, soup and crackers.  Our family started the vomit/diaherrea tummy virus on March 5 and it was not completely over until March 25.  We are so sweet that all 4 of us shared with each other and even with GPop, so our outings and activities only include a few of us most of the time.

 One afternoon when Jason and Jacob were the well ones, they went to the park to look with their binoculars at birds and reptiles.  Then they went to Tookie's for a big burger.  It was a super fun afternoon for them!

 BOth boys were well two days of spring break, so we hit the skating rink!  This was our first time and there was a major learning curve.  By the end, they both could skate the loop alone!!!  Jacob got a wicked blister on his big toe and Rylan got one near the top of his skate, but they both loved it and are ready to go back soon!  The photo below is how we saw them part of the time... as crab soccer!  Those silly boys!

 I loved skating with them!  This was near the beginning of our time...

 One morning when we were kind of well and kind of sick, we played a new game... Presidents Sequence!  I found it on Pinterest and the boys LOVE it!

 The other well day of SB, GPop, Granna and I took the boys to Galveston for a pirate themed day!  e went to Legends first and LOVED it!!!  It was very hands-on and the guide was fantastic!!!

 There was a big section on Jean LaFitte, so the boys LOVED that area!  They got to learn and play, so it was a win-win place!

 Then we headed to Gaido's for lunch... YUM!!!  It's a pretty fancy place and the boys thought they were hot stuff!  We all got fried shrimp and it was just as delicious as I remembered!!

 After lunch we went to Moody Gardens for a traveling exhibit about a found pirate ship, the Wydah.  It's put on by National Geographic and was really good.  Seeing all the pirate stuff was the perfect motivation to come home and play pirates all night!  ARRR Matey!

 Mrs. Sondra gave the boys these suckers for Valentine's and Rylan thought it was the best thing ever... pure sugar!

 When Jacob was sick, Rylan wanted pancakes, so we made them one morning.  He wanted to learn to flip them and he did a great job!  We may have the next Bobby Flay on our hands!

And that's March!  I am so tired of soup and smelling Lysol. Hopefully it will be a LONG time before that nasty bug comes back!!!

Strawberry Time!

One of our favorite things to do each spring is to go pick strawberries!  This is our fifth spring and we LOVE it!!!  Our little farm has grown quite a bit and gotten a little more commercialized each year.  We  still love the berries, but miss the charm a little bit.

 Rylan thought wearing the bucket on his head was HIL-AIR-E-OUS!!!

 Granna went with us for this first picking.  It was funny... the first row mostly had half-ripened berries. Then the second row had mostly squishy berries.  All that being said, we still picked almost 8 pounds of delicious berries!

 Granna and her two favorite berry pickers!

 This boy LOVES strawberries!  He eats them every single day.  Seriously, I think he may turn into a strawberry!

 This boy... he won't eat a strawberry, but he sure loves looking for them and picking a bucket full!

 Me and my boys... LOVE!

Jacob said he wants to eat them all raw, but I'm thinking at least one batch of strawberry bread is in our future.  I wonder how many times we'll go picking this year?!?!?  Many!

It's a Guy Thing...

Spring Break got off to a rocky start... the Thursday before SB, Rylan woke up in the night vomiting.  It was the beginning of a string of vomiting for several days from him and Jason.  However, on Saturday, before Jason came down with it, he took Jacob out for an outing.  They had a BLAST!!! First they went to the park and used their binoculars to hunt for all kinds of wildlife.  They also came back with quite a stick collection... to be used for swords, pistols and more!  

After about 3 hours of park fun, they had worked up quite an appetite.  Soooo, they headed over to our favorite burger joint, Tookie's.  Jacob LOVED the day with Daddy... and Daddy love it too!

Sidewalk chalk and Wedding Bells

The first weekend of March, Jason's cousin Laura got married in Humble, so Mark and Martha came down to go to the wedding.  They arrived about 10:30 on Friday, so we went through Chick-fil-a and Panera Bread and surprised the boys with lunch!  They had no idea we were coming, so they were super excited!!

 Friday night I cooked salmon and made a sheet cake.  It was all yummy, if I do say so myself!  The boys put on quite a ninja demonstration!  Saturday morning, we had a riveting drive-way basketball game.  The boys wore the parents out!!!  Rylan and Daddy won on a last play dunk!  After the game, we got out the sidewalk chalk and had a LOT of fun drawing!  Jacob made a logo for our team, The Bulldozers.

 Daddy and Rylan were very busy creating a perfect Yoda... right down to the toe-nail claws!!!  Rylan was so excited to draw the gimmer stick and green lightsaber.  LOVE it!!

 Jacob drew Momma!  He even drew pink shoes and green eyes!  Gotta love that boy!

 Jason has been creating all kinds of Star Wars themed stories and the new villian he made is Darth Jodine... here's what she looks like.  Rylan added her force push powers.

 Mid-afternoon, we all got cleaned up and headed up north for the big wedding!  Here is our bunch!  We clean up right nice!

 And the happy couple... Mickey and Laura!  The ceremony was lovely!  It was a treat to get to see Frankie, Gloria and her bunch too.  Congrats!  We were blessed to be a part of their special day!

We're Off to See The Wizard

Several months ago, Robyn got an email for pre-sale tickets for The Wizard of Oz musical that was coming to the big city.  We decided to make it a Momma and Kid outing!  We were all so excited!!! To be honest,  the WOZ is not one of my favorite movies.  In fact, it is near the bottom of the list!  The boys had never seen it until New Year's Eve.  Rylan especially LOVED the movie!  He's asked several times for us to buy it.  So, I was probably the least excited about the subject matter, but am ALWAYS up for a Flamingo outing!  We made reservations at the Spaghetti Warehouse.  Getting downtown was surprisingly easy!  We did not even slow down for any traffic!  Our dinner was quite tasty!  Heather and Holly both got lasagna and RObyn and I both got chicken parm.  The kids all loved the bread and their meals too!

 Our seven little Birds!  They were so well behaved!  The whole downtown is a bit scarier than the surburbs where we live. While waiting for our table, we saw a man and his wife from church.  He told us to be careful going out to our car because there are usually homeless folks who will get rather aggressive asking for money in the parking lot.  So before we left, we told the kids to be calm and get in the cars quickly.  As we walked out this kind church friend, joined us and walked all 11 of us to our cars and made sure we were safe.  What a simple act of love and protection!

 After a few wrong turns, we made it to the Hobby Center!  We were ready for some Oz fun!!!

 Just me and my boys!  GPop and Granna gave them some money to buy a program, so we got the $15 magazine.  It was really pretty and a great reminder of our wonderful night in Oz.

 Heather and Macy... I swear, Macy looks more and more like Heather every day!  So pretty!!

 Our brood was ready for the show to begin!

 Holly and Annelise!

 As we finally got to our seats, we sat with the mommas on the row above the kids.  They thought they were hot stuff by having a kid row!

 Lions, tigers and bears, OH MY!  This show as fantastic!!!  It was a wonderful production and may even have turned me into an Oz lover!  Rylan's fave character was the Tin Man.  Jacob's were the Mean Soldiers and the Scarecrow. Mine was the Scarecrow and Dorothy.  We loved all the scenes, but our faves were... when the evil soldiers turned good and did the stick dance song, the Munchkin dance and the Emerald City.  All of the costumes were beautiful, but Rylan's fave was the Lion, Jacob's the Tin Man and mine was Glinda.  I loved when Glinda entered from the sky and the curtain was her dress... so cool!

 Robyn, Kamri, Kaci and Kylie!  That sweet Kylie, at age 2, was GREAT!

 And the whole Flamingo bunch!!!  These are some of my favorite faces in the world!  Yes, we were half-crazy to attempt taking 11 people to the big city, but they all did wonderful and it was a night we will never forget.  Now, what will we go see next time???

Calling the Tooth Fairy!

Jacob lost his first tooth of first grade!  Last year he lost 4 in 10 days and then he has not lost anymore!  He was ready to lose a tooth and get a visit from the Tooth Fairy!  So one Tuesday night, Jason and I were at our United class and GPop and Granna had the boys.  The boys were putting on a ninja demonstration... not wild or mean or  crazy.  Rylan kicked up at Jacob, as ninjas do, and accidentally kicked his chin.  Jacob doubled over and started spitting.... blood and a tooth!  He felt the tooth fall out and did not want to swallow it!  So he left the tooth and the TF left him an Andy Jackson gold dollar and a note that said, "You lost a tooth ninja style!"  Jacob thought that was the BEST note ever!