WHAT????

May, it has been since May that I posted.  Summer went fast, as it always does.

Working on some posts to play a tiny bit of catch-up.

Matthew is 7!

7 years old, that is hard for this mama to believe.  I remember this sweet baby at a year old....

and now he is a big 7-year old.

He is the sweetest kid I have ever met.  He loves baseball, riding his bike, star wars and legos.  He loves to help and will do most anything if you just ask him.  He has incredible patience with me and little brother but not so much with himself.  He recently discovered crunchy peanut butter and cannot get enough.

We celebrated his birthday with a special outing that consisted of 7 things for him.  He started off unwrapping a new pair of boots, we then headed off to Krispy Kreme for breakfast followed by mountain biking and fishing at Hays Nature Preserve.  After that we hit up Toys R Us and let him pick out a new Nerf gun.  After a shower and a short break we went to the new trampoline park in town and capped off his special night with a dinner with friends at Mellow Mushroom.

Mother's Day Camping Trip 2014

For Mother's Day we decided to get away for the weekend, the menfolk in the house were thrilled by the prospect of camping so off we went to the woods.

This is the first time we have truly backwoods camped FOR REAL since becoming parents, we've car camped a decent amount but always near amenities if needed.  This trip we hiked all of our gear in a couple of miles, made camp and proceeded to CAMP OUT!

Capturing the LOVE between these two 

 is one of the best parts of being their mom.

 Look, over there.

 We finally found the waterfall.

 With a half mile or so to go on the way to the truck both little people were DONE!  

Our sherpa had no problem carrying their load....

We literally did not see another soul the entire weekend until we were a half mile or so from our vehicle on the way out.  It was PERFECT!!

 We most certainly made some memories and are planning to make this an annual excursion.

And I Quote

We were pulling out of the driveway a few days ago and Matthew sees the internet service truck and promptly asked is he was coming to our house.  I said no, everything is working fine at our house.  He said, no it's not, he needs to fix out internet so we can watch baseball games on TV. 

We canceled cable several months ago and he is just now missing it.  They really need an a la carte option!!

Baseball Season

It is that time of year again.  Baseball season is upon us.

We strive to be very intentional in what activities we choose to participate in.  We recognize that these years are short, formative and really want these guys to enjoy being kids but baseball is the thing they have both gravitated to so come spring we prepare ourselves for the craziness that is March, April and May.




Willie took the plunge and is helping coach Matthew's team.   He is doing a great job and to say his skill of patience is being tested is the truth but I think even he has been surprised by how much the kids have improved over the course of the season.


Matthew is in prep league, they get to attempt to hit three pitches from the coach and then get a chance off the tee.  He loves it and his skills are certainly getting better.  Many afternoons, when not at the ball field, I find myself playing catch with or pitching too this little guy.  He is developing a pretty good arm and every once in a while he gets a wince from me when I catch one of his zingers.

Kimber was thrilled to finally HAVE A TEAM.  After two years of cheering on big brother he certainly earned his time on the field.  He is not afraid to get in front of a ball and his throw is getting better each week.  He is on the Phillies and I will admit Tee-Ball is the cutest thing to watch! 

Easter 2014

 We were blessed with an incredibly beautiful Easter Day.  We went to the early service at church and were then privileged to see one of Matthew's best little friends be baptized at the second service.  It was an incredible morning....14 seconds after getting out of the car Willie and I look over to see these crazy children relieving themselves beneath our Japanese Maple.....boys will be boys right?

Next up was our annual Easter photo shoot.  These boys are getting so big but we so proud to be wearing ties like Papa!!

Later in the afternoon a few friends joined us for Easter dinner and a little egg hunting.  

The "big" kids hid the eggs for the little kids.  They did a GREAT job.

At the end of the evening we challenged each family to build an egg protector out of popsicle sticks and rubber bands, I have never seen all of these kids sit so well...and are they not adorable???

And the first drop!

The mulch pile served as an excellent egg hiding area, who knew?

 Little egg hunting buddies

 

 That little basket I made him when he was little is getting a bit small.

CANDY!!!

 

I think this song is by far my most favorite "easter" song.  It humbles me every time I hear it!