April 2015 - Dirtbags Baseball

Des's baseball career officially started this year! He is a Dirtbag! Many of our friends got together and created the best baseball team ever...and I'm not talking talent, I'm talking a great group of kids with laid back parents that truly enjoy one another. It has been a blast. Des picked up baseball very quickly. He is great at catching the ball and runs super fast. His very first at bat, he hit it on his first swing and slid into first! Safe! It was a ton of fun watching him play with his friends, catch several balls for outs at first base, and look so stinking cute in his uniform.

He says his favorite thing was winning (only happened twice) and just being on his team.

Daddy coaching it up.

Ben is in the green helping his little brother warm up before a game...

Ready at first base...

Post game high fives... 

Ben flirting with Maya, an older sister!

My sweet, sweet, stud...

March 2015

Oh March, one of our very favorites! Everything comes to life and gets rollin' here on the farm! Our month was filled with adventure. Ben was back on the baseball diamond with the Bullfrogs and Des got to start his baseball career as a Dirtbag! Brad was off to London, we got 21 cows and 20 chickens, celebrated Spring Break with lots of friend fun and played hard everyday. Here is an overview of some of the day to day fun we had.

GG had to go to the doctor. I think she had Strep throat. I wanted a hearing test done. Gaga and I think that she lip reads and that we are mistaking hearing loss for shyness. The doctor says her vocabulary is too good for a kid with hearing loss and blows me off. Says she probably has allergies and needs to be on medicine for the constant snotty nose. I disagree but whatever. She gets special lovin' from me for being such a good patient! :)

The DIRTBAGS. How cute is that name? And better yet, it's all of Desi's favorite people (and ours too!) on the same team! This is his very first baseball practice ever. I couldn't tell if he was more excited to get to be like big brother and play baseball or if it was just a sunny day with his best friends. :)

It just melts me when my hubbie is out there coaching his boys. Puddle on the floor.

This was the month of FULL PRINCESS MODE with this girl. Anna wig, dresses, jewelry. On this particular day she told me, "But mama, I'm not a girl. I'm a princess." My goodness. It's pretty darn fun to go from baseball practice to princess mode and back again over and over. Two completely different worlds. She loves having her picture taken, and taking selfies, and looking in the mirror and showing off her outfits to her daddy. It's all so confident and I am constantly praying that she never stops feeling pretty.

The accessories have launched this month in that she usually has about 14 necklaces and 4 bracelets and 2 rings and 8 or 9 headbands on before she is "ready."

Oh, how could I forget? And the crown...

Outdoors time is in full swing. Man, it gets hard to not be outside with kids, but springtime makes up for it in a big way. Here the boys are watching the storm roll in so they can play in the rain!

Other than that we just spend our happy days singing songs, telling stories, playing ponies, counting down the minutes until the boys get home from school (Genevieve usually starts asking if it's time about 9:30 a.m.), feeding our chickens and cows, visiting our papa and gaga, and enjoying every day!

February - Basketball

We finished up our second season of Upward Bound basketball with four more games in February. Here are some of the pics from those games. I'm sure Ben could tell you the scores and outcomes of each game, his AND Desi's but I cannot. :) I do know that they loved every second of it and they can't wait to play again next year.

Ben and Case (on separate teams this year) stand close during the national anthem.

The 3 Amigos on the bench (Nate, Des, and Cole)

The 3 Amigos lined up for a free throw (Cole, Des, and Nate)

Desi looking a tad lost. He is so fast and so stinkin' good but there were times when he would just check out. :)

Ben lookin' like the little stud that he is. He is very talented. :)

Ben going in for the score!

We also got our real hoop up this month that Papa got them for Christmas. They play ball every single night! They love it so much, especially when their daddy joins in. And with that view, I enjoy it too.

What would they do without each other?

January - Basketball

The time has come. That day I both anticipated with excitement and with a bit of dread. The time in our life that every wise woman told me about..."Just wait." They all said it. "You think you are busy now, just wait until those boys start their activities." I wanted to punch those women in the face. Seriously. It drives me crazy when people try to diminish your experiences and the time of life you are currently in. But, they had a point. Life with little ones IS crazy. But life with TWO kids in activities gives it a run for it's money. Ben AND Des were in basketball. Two kids with evening practice and two kids with games on the weekends. Plus a hubbie-coach. It's a whole new ballgame (pun intended.)

But the pride! The joy! The fun seeing your kids playing and competing and smiling and trying and being a part of a team! It's worth it.

Des loved getting to be like his big brother. His two VERY best friends Nate and Cole were on his team (and their moms were the coaches!) It was absolute hilariousness. Des is quite the little baller. He could follow the game, and score the points, and play defense...when he wanted to. Sometimes he just wanted to goof off with his buddies. Totally understandable and it made for some awesome courtside entertainment.

Ben made up a chart with each game's score for his and Des's teams. Des's team lost two and won two in January. I know Des scored in every single game which is big deal when you win games 14-12 and what not. :) Ben's team lost their first 3 games which was hard on him because they were undefeated last year. He is a great ball player and understands the game on a high level. His body movements are beyond his 7 years because he is automatically mimicking the hours of basketball he has watched. He dives for balls, he plays great defense and always goes for the 3 pointer (because he says the crowd cheers louder!). Brad had them learning a few offensive plays which Ben loved and they actually executed them a few times. He was the teams top scorer and the last week in January they finally got a win. He was so happy!

 And these two. Papa never missed a game and made sure to cheer loud for his favorite boys. That is when GG would let him watch the game. :)

 

We love this church league. They really keep it fair with everyone getting to play the same amount of time, really kind refs, and they do all they can to make it special for the kids. They have a huge blow up tunnel and before every game (which is sometimes 5 times) they turn out all the lights, get the spotlights going, blow up that tunnel, set off the smoke machine, and announce each and every player's name as they run out. It's exciting! The kids LOVE it and so does G!

Here's a video of it. It's dark and terrible but it gives you an idea.