Spring Baseball

Last week was the start of the Spring Little League season. James has been so excited for baseball to start up again! He dealt with winter pretty well, but as soon as the weather started to turn, he started wanting to be out practicing pitching and hitting!

He went to spring try-outs pretty rusty, but he still had a fantastic showing! He was drafted into the National League (which I guess is the more competitive/elite league for our area.) We were super proud of him, but I had some concerns. I primarily want him to have fun! We try not to emphasize wins or scores or anything like that, and we feared he would be in a bit over his head here.



But, it turns out, he's great! The coach is really doing a great job with the boys and James fits in perfectly! He is a shining star to the team. And they are actually learning how to play! It's a total change from the fall league - but it's a good one. James is growing up and he's definitely got a talent for baseball! He's thriving in the challenge and impressing me each time I watch him play!

Getting ready to bat
At the pitcher's mound
His two biggest fans! These guys are really in to it this year! They both will yell "go James!" whenever they see him. It is super cute.

March Madness

Last weekend, we drug the little tv outside so we could watch a little basketball in the shade of our wonderful deck tree. It was so fun! We brought our lunch outside and made an afternoon of it.


The view from my hammock



After a while though, we started getting request for horse rides! It was a very warm day (in the mid 80's) and we haven't had June Bug out since fall. So, we decided it was a good time to start her up. She was so happy to be giving rides again! And the kids were delighted!

Happy Spring!

Visitors

My family came to visit us just over a week ago. We had a great time! The kids enjoyed playing with both of them pretty much every waking moment. That is, when I wasn't putting them to work! ;-)

The very first thing Izzy did was Nana's hair!
Meanwhile, James and Wyatt kept Grandpa entertained with army guys and dragons!
Both James and Isabel enjoyed reading books to Grandpa and Nana.
JL and I were able to go out while my family was here. We chose a place known for great dancing, good music, and chicken fried steak as big as the plate!
We met up with a bunch of friends and had a great time!


The next morning, we piled the family into the van and took a 3 hr road trip for BBQ! Sound crazy? It wasn't - it was totally worth the trip!

A tiny little hole-in-the-wall place. That's how we knew it was going to be good!
And we were right - the food was delicious! It was all you can eat. Our crew went through 3 of these platters!!









We're really just a bunch of BBQ nuts!

A Special Dinner

Friday, Feb 24th.

We took the kids to a special dinner to share with them our big news.

I gave James the ultrasound picture. He examined it for a long time trying to figure out what it was. Finally he read the word "baby" written next to the image and then looked at me and said "You are going to have a baby?" To which Isabel squealed in delight and said "Let's name her Barbie Mermaid Tail!"




Everyone is super excited! Isabel has insisted that #4 (or quatro, as we call him/her currently) is a girl. She won't hear any other possibilities. Her brother brought her to tears the other day by saying that there is a chance the baby is a boy. She simply won't have that!

It's cute to see how excited the kids are. They ask about quatro all the time. :)