Busy Week!

Last week was so busy! We finished up baseball, had Joel's last day of preschool and his preschool graduation and Levi had field day. On top of that we had doctor and dentist appointments and I had a "baby celebration" dinner with some of my co-workers who are also expecting new additions to their families this summer (they surprised me with some fun girlie gifts too!). Then we went to Abilene for Kynlee and Kamryn's recital and when we got home we hosted our final small group meeting of the year - hot dogs and swimming. It was a bit crazy, but fun! Here are a pictures from our crazy week...

Joel and one of his best buddies, Chase, on the first and last day of preschool :)

Baseball!

Levi just finished his first season of coaches pitch baseball. His team was called the Rockies and Philip was assistant coach. They only won 2 games this season, but I thought the team as a whole, as well as Levi, learned a lot and improved quite a bit by the end. Levi had a rough patch with hitting towards the middle and had 3 or so games without a hit. I was proud of him for sticking with it and working on hitting at home and he ended the season with a few games in a row with at least 2-3 good hits, including an infield home run! I love baseball and look forward to watching him and his siblings play in the future!

excited for his first game!

 

Participation medal!!!

Running Club!

This year Levi joined his school's  'Running Club', and he LOVED participating! Every Monday and Wednesday he stayed for an hour after school and learned about stretching, warm up, pacing and endurance (at least that's what he tells me). The club was preparing for their final meeting which would be at an HEBISD fundraiser 5/10K for disadvantaged students.

Levi and Philip ran in the 5K last Saturday and we were so impressed that Levi ran the whole 3.1 miles without stopping and finished at about 12 minutes/mile in 35 minutes, 15 seconds. He finished well before half of the runners in the whole race and in the top quarter for his age group. He really does love to run and has great endurance and is self motivated. I hope he keeps his love for running his whole life, what a great way to take care of the body God have him!

Adventure at the Ranch

A couple weeks ago we spent a weekend at my parent's recently completed lake house at the ranch. It rained a TON the day we were arriving, so much so that the drive took much longer and when we got there the main road heading to the house was covered with too much water to drive through. We ended up walking through the water with our luggage and then Philip and the ranch manager found a back way to the house while the boys and I got set up at the house and ready for dinner. The power went out, so we ended up enjoying our meal and getting ready for bed by candle light. Nathan was not a fan, but Levi and Joel had a blast!

When we woke up the next day the power came back on and the boys helped moe make some delicious breakfast. For the rest of the day we spent the majority of the time playing outside, splashing in puddles and checking out all the damage done by the storms.  We enjoyed lunch on the picture perfect wrap around porch, Moe sure is a good host and cook! After  lunch there was lots more play including board games a scavenger hunt, hiking around the property and with the boys spending a lot of time in just their under ware and rain boots, and a little fishing. Then we enjoyed another delicious meal followed by smores at the firepit. The boys loved sleeping in their bunk room and I know they will have many fun evenings pilled in that room with all their cousins in the future.  It sleeps 9!

the boys loved the "hideout" under the stairs

Our last morning the boys went to the catfish pond and were able to catch 2 large fish! (Joel requested we save them for his birthday!). We are looking forward to our next trip and the many memories our family will make at the ranch. My parents dream retirement home is a reality and we are thrilled to be able to be a part of it!

Celebrating Joel at 5!

We had a lot of fun celebrating Joel's 5th birthday with our family. His birthday fell on a Tuesday this year, so we waited to have his party with all of the family until Saturday. But, that didn't stop us from trying to make is big day special. For breakfast the boys and I went to our neighborhood donut shop. Joel doesn't really like donuts, but he is a huge fan of their sausage rolls, so he had 3 sausage rolls and a chocolate milk while the rest of us had donuts.

Nate and I brought him his choice of sonic for lunch and enjoyed sharing the meal with him in his classroom. After lunch he help pass out birthday treats, he chose to bring chocolate covered pretzels (refused cookies, brownies or cupcakes), to all of his classmates and then they all sang him happy birthday. He loved every minute!

giving his best bud Hudson dessert

After school the boys enjoyed popsicles and some play time in the backyard. Then while Levi and Philip went to baseball practice I prepared Joel's birthday dinner of choice; fried catfish, buttered French bread, corn on the cob, watermelon and oven roasted carrots. We all enjoyed his yummy meal and finished off the night with chocolate ice cream and gifts. Joel LOVED his presents and I am pretty proud of myself for knowing my little love so well. He hasn't stopped playing with them in the 10 days since.

On Saturday most all of our family came over to celebrate! Joel had a very specific plans for his party and I think he was happy with the results :) Dinner was build you own pizza for dinner with pineapple and cantaloupe and chocolate cupcakes for dessert. The pizza was a semi disaster because I failed to realize that the dough balls would stick to themselves, the waxed paper and the plate I prepared them on. Luckily with Kate's help we were able to salvage enough so that everyone could make a pizza and they turned out pretty yummy. Joel chose Italian sausage, pepperoni, bell peppers, mushrooms, black olives, onion, tomatoes and mozzarella cheese for toppings. Yum! He also requested his "very own extra big cupcake with 5 ninjas on it" for his cake. He loved the way it turned out even though it really looked kinda crazy.

oops the wind blew out the candle!

We had go-cart rides, ninja masks and a piñata for entertainment (as well as just playing in the back yard). Watching everyone enjoy the go-cart rides was hilarious! Joel kept a very serious face the whole time despite insisiting he was having fun. Levi and Nora had a blast, although Nora seemed a bit concerned when Levi was behind the wheel. Even the uncles jumped in and gave it a go even though it was a bit of a tight fit. So funny! Joel was right, "my family will have so much fun driving the go-cart for my party!"

All and all it was a fun night celebrating our favorite five year old! Thank you to all the family for coming out and for the wonderful, thoughtful gifts. Joel had a wonderful time and felt very loved!