First t-ball game

The first T-ball game was a success! Everyone did great. Will had a blast. He had quite the cheering section with 2 sets of grandparents, an aunt & cousin in addition to Elle & I. We're in a 4 & 5 yr old league and the team we played was a year old than us. It was amazing to see the difference in size and coordination! Of course, I took tons of pictures, but here are just a few. Oh - and one quick pre-game story. First, Will's game was at noon and he was dressed in his uniform by 9:30. Think he was excited? As he was getting dressed, he chose his Incredibles undies to wear. "They say POWER on them, mom, so they will give me power for my game today." Love it.

Justin is helping "coach". Here they are warming up before the game.

I love that the ball is right at his feet in this picture. I thought he had totally missed it, but J says that was just where he told him to stand. They were playing catch with another ball.

 

 

His first at bat:

Safe at first.

Every player bats every inning and they each only get to run one base. The last batter of each inning gets to run all the bases. They all play defense every inning and getting them to stay in any sort of position is hilarious. Half the team runs after a hit ball and they usually end up tackling each other trying to get it. The first inning, Will was catcher.

Ellie Kate kept trying to run out onto the muddy, muddy field. Thankfully, she became easily distracted once her cousin, grandparents and aunt arrived!

Some moments with Coach Daddy.

More defense...if you can call it that. :)

in the "ready" position

And the obligatory drawing in the dirt picture.

Aren't they cute?

And hooray for the playground equipment! This is where EK spent most of the game. Happy summer!

Ellie Kate updates

My dear Ellie Kate is becoming such a big girl! She's doing so well recognizing and naming letters. She can do a very lovely rendition of singing the ABC's, but she can now correctly (and consistently) identify about half the letters, which is exciting. She loves singing and dancing. She counts lots of things -- not always correctly, but she tries. She insists on doing anything her older brother does. She is a little daredevil - will try anything! She still loves babies and sings to her dolls, pushes them in the stroller, feeds them, rocks them, and puts them to sleep. Occasionally they even get to wear a real diaper. She likes to pretend to go potty on the "big girl potty", but no real success so far. We haven't tried to hard, but maybe soon. In a feat of pure strength she broke the lid off the toilet in their bathroom the other night. She walked in ready to "go potty" and came back out with that and said "here you go. broke." Add that to Daddy's to-do list.

The day before Mother's Day I was home with the kids and had taken a load of laundry up to our room. Apparently they decided to follow and I soon heard a crash as Elle fell down half a flight of stairs to the landing. Will reports the she did a somersault down the stairs. She ended up with a bit of a mark around her eye - just in time for Mother's Day. Needless to say I wasn't winning any awards this year.

 

The other night after dinner, the kids each got a sucker. Of course, EK's was blue. Isn't she just kissable?

T-Ball and more

Will is starting T-ball for the first time. Here he is before the first practice.

And after the first practice with his official T-shirt and hat. He's #7 and they decided on a team name of the Wildhawks (combination of wildcats and jayhawks). This was after the brilliant suggestions of the Muffin Men, the Dinosaurs, and Will's rather vocal attempt to be called the Pirates.

Justin is helping "coach". I'm looking forward to the first game after hearing all about practice. This ought to be a riot! Will is slowly coming to terms with reality in that he is not in fact playing for the Royals. Nor will his games be televised. He informed me earlier this week that I could just watch him on my phone if I couldn't be there. 1. Mommy's phone is not that cool. 2. How did you know people watch things on their phone? 3. You will not be televised. However, I'm guessing he'll have quite a cheering section given that he's trying to invite everyone he knows to come watch him.

Will has had a couple really funny comments and questions lately. First, I cut my hair pretty dramatically earlier this week. As we're driving home from school that day (the first time he has seen the haircut) he says, "Mama, I think something is different."
Me: "Really, Will? What do you think it is?"
W: thinking for a few seconds "Have I seen that shirt before?"
Ugh. Such a boy.

Last week (when J was out of town, of course) Will asked me how babies got into mommy's tummies. One of his friend's moms is pregnant and apparently they'd seen ultrasound pictures at school. Now, I'm all for telling the truth, not making up stories or silly words for body parts, but come on! He's 4! So, I told him it was a special miracle that God helped there be a baby in a mommy's tummy. Then he asked how the baby came out of the mommy. "Do you just open your mouth?" (I guess food goes in that way, so why can't a baby come out that way?) I told him that doctors helped us get the babies out. Thankfully those answers satisfied him for now. Any tips on better answers for next time would be greatly appreciated!

Wishing the weather would return to warmer, drier days so we can have more fun outside!

"Mom"

Will's teacher did a little interview with each kid about their mom for Mother's Day. Will's responses are in blue. So cute!!

My mom's name is Kelli
But I call her Mom.
My mom is 21 years old.
Her favorite food is soup. (as I was reading this aloud, he inserted "Just like me, mom!")
She likes to eat out at McDonald's.
I like it when my mom & I play together nice and read together in my bed.  
I like to help my mom with brushing my hair and playing games with her.
I know my mom loves me because she does so good for me!

Easter

My kids became egg-hunting pros this year! These first few pictures are from the egg hunt we went to with Nathan & Aubrey.

I'll never be fast enough to get a good picture of 4 kids at once!

Then we had our annual egg hunt and breakfast at "Ms. Emily's". Believe it or not these two events were a week apart, but I did dress my kids in exactly the same clothes. Elle's outfit was intentional, but I didn't realize until I was looking at these that I put Will in the same thing. Oh well! Will won a "big prize" basket filled with pool toys. I can't believe I didn't get a picture with him carrying it around! I think he showed everyone at the party - he was so proud.

Saturday night, Will & I dyed eggs. We colored them with crayons and put stickers on them, too. He did a really good job (minus the one spill you can see in the photos).

On Sunday morning we got to church earlier than usual to make sure we had a seat. After waiting patiently for a while, Will leaned over and whispered, "Hey, Mom, when is the Jesus show gonna start?" Both of the kids were sleepy, but I think they enjoyed "the Jesus show". I took advantage of having a photographer around while we were all dressed up to get a quick photo of the 4 of us.

The Easter Bunny came while we were at church and then we were off to my dad's. The kids, of course, enjoyed yet another egg hunt and some Easter gifts from Go-Go & Grampy. New sunglasses and sandals - yippee!

What a good-looking bunch of kids!

And, finally, after lunch we headed to my mom's for naps, one final egg hunt and a yummy dinner. I'm worn out, but we had a wonderful time with family and friends!