A Whole Bunch of Randomness...

I can NOT believe it's already May! Spring always catches me this way...unprepared for the onslaught of busy-ness. We roll out of winter, still halfway in hibernation, and just as we're beginning to wake up and enjoy the nice weather, BAM...the activity fairy sneaks into our family calendar and fills it to the brim! The month of April was a complete blur for me...in fact, as I look back over my calendar, I can't even believe that we made it out of that month alive and breathing. But, we're here in May and after my big crop this weekend, things seem to be slowing down just a fraction of a hair. So, onto some of the randomness that made up the month of April:

K-Girl is playing softball (t-ball) again this year and has throughly enjoyed her Knockouts team. they have the cutest uniforms in the league, and look smashing out on the field all together! DH was a bit worried when he heard the words, "pink and black" and hoped that the team shirt was going to be black with pink lettering. Some crazy thing with guys and pink...I don't get it! Anyhow, even with all of the shenanigans of the girl's softball board and association here in our town, K-Girl is enjoying the game and being part of her team. She really hits the ball hard off that tee!

Chooch is playing baseball on two teams this Spring (don't even ask...we don't know the answer ourselves) and has enjoyed every second of the action. We have participated in 2 tournaments lately and his team earned 1st place in both. The team is playing so well together and we are all so proud of their success. This past weekend was especially fun because they played in a 16 team tournament in the big city and we made it to the finals and ended up beating a really good team to win. The big city trip was fun for our whole family, too, because we stayed with DH's aunt and uncle that we hadn't seen for a while, and it was so fun catching up with them. Isn't it funny how you can go forever without seeing family, but as soon as you meet up, it's like you just saw each other yesterday? I love how that works!! Here's a pic of Chooch and K-Girl with the FIRST place trophy...

April was also my birthday month! After a rough start involving my cell phone and a tub of water, it turned out to be a GREAT day. DH surprised me with an awesome birthday gift...I really thought he was going to get me perfume because a couple of weeks ago, I dropped my perfume on the bathroom floor and after cleaning up the shattered glass, I managed to save a few drops of it and keep it in a tupperware for later. DH thought that was taking frugal to whole new level, so I just assumed he would get me perfume. But, NO WAY, he went out of his way this year and got me the fancy camera that I have been drooling over for forever! It is SO nice and I have had TONS of fun taking pics of the kids playing their sports. In just the past couple of weekends alone, I've taken over 1000 pictures. Ugh, and now I have to download and go through them all! But, it's a fun process for me and the pictures are SO, SO good!

This post is long enough as it is now, so I'll finish the randomness of April later this week...still to come, Easter, Family Camp, and who knows what else!

First Home Run!

Wowsers, what a weekend! Chooch's team played in a local baseball tournament, so we had 2 games on Saturday and played the seeded games on Sunday. Happily, we kept winning on Sunday, so we ended up playing 3 games, and the last one was for the championship. We went up against the other local team that we have played before and it was a great game. Both teams played VERY well and there were a ton of great plays throughout.

The BIG news for our family, though, was that Chooch hit his first ever, coach-pitch, over the fence, home run!! WOW! Some of the boys on his team had hit homeruns before and a few also hit some in this game, but I didn't seriously think that Chooch was ready to smack the ball that hard. But, he has been working very hard at batting lately, with lots of batting practice in the cages with his team and swinging at the Hit Away in our backyard, so I guess all that hard work paid off!

It was an awesome moment to see the ball go over the fence and to watch Chooch run the bases with a big old grin on his face. I was too busy clapping and cheering to catch any pics of him during his homerun trot, but I did complete this digital layout that will go in Chooch's scrapbook.



Unfortunately, Chooch's team didn't end up winning the championship game, but they certainly kept the game close for most of the innings and all of the boys were excited about the amazing amount of homeruns that were hit. Chooch loves baseball and this game was certainly one that he will remember for years to come!

The Itching and the Sneezing...

Life in East Texas is great for the most part, except for this time of year. This evil yellow stuff appears and soon after the itching and the sneezy commences...

no matter what allegy medicine you take...

no matter how dutiful you are about taking your medicine correctly...

no matter that you try to stay inside and away from the evil yellow stuff...

all is for naught as the evil yellow stuff starts to fall.

It's Springtime in the PineyWoods and like a blanket of new fallen snow, the East Texas area is covered with a layer of the evil yellow stuff, also known as pollen.

I suppose it's the over abundance of pine trees that we have in this area, but my goodness, I can't even imagine how so much pollen exists. It covers everything...and I mean e.v.e.r.y.t.h.i.n.g. When I get up to take the kids to school, I have to turn on my windshield wipers just to be able to see out the window to drive. All of the cars in town have a yellowish hue driving around...it would actually be pretty amusing, except for the itching and the sneezing that results.

So, I had been itching and sneezing for a couple of weeks and finally got myself to my doctor to renew my allergy prescriptions. It didn't surprise me in the least when he told me that this county that I live in ranks number 2 in the nation right now for allergens. NUMBER TWO in the nation for allergens. That's something to be proud of, right?

I think it's starting to get better because we finally had some good hard rain last week to wash a lot of it away and I figure that the trees have to eventually run out of pollen. At least I hope so! Here's a shot of the end of my driveway during the rain last week...yes, all of the evil yellow stuff floating on top of the water is POLLEN!!!

City League, 2nd Place

Well, the Lufkin Rockets ended up 2nd in City League play after a grueling day of basketball. You can read all about it here on the team website. It was a long day, playing 3 games, but the boys did really well and never gave up. If only we hadn't lost that coin flip!!

The next week, we attended the Basketball Banquet/Awards Ceremony. It is quite the community affair and it's held in the Civic Center. We ate hamburgers and chips and had cake for dessert while watching all of the teams receive their awards. On the way out, Chooch said, "I can't wait to put my new trophy with all of my other trophies. 2nd place is the best!"

Daddy (ever the competitor) replied, "Well, 1st place is the best, but 2nd place is pretty darn good."

To which Chooch matter-of-factly said, "No, 2nd place is the best. I was in 1st place last year with The Unit team, so I already have one of those trophies. And now I have a 2nd place one to go with it!"

Perfect. I love how kids look at the games. It really doesn't matter who wins or loses at this age. As long as they are having fun and learning the game.

Remind me to come back and revisit this wisdom when baseball season goes into full swing.

Versing the Tar Heels

Chooch enjoys playing all sports, but here lately, he is especially interested in basketball. He's on a city league team, the Rockets, and has really enjoyed the season. The team has 2 great coaches, who care about all the right things, in the right balance...the kids having fun, learning basketball skills, and winning. The Rockets have had an awesome season, with only 1 loss in city-play, but we had a crucial game on Saturday morning against the only undefeated team in the league, the Tar Heels.

Chooch woke up bright and early and marched into our room and announced, "Today is the day that we are versing the Tar Heels!" Chooch has used the word 'versus' as a verb for a long time now, and I never have the heart to correct him because it sounds so cute when he says it!!

We all piled out of bed, ate some breakfast, got ready and headed out to the basketball game. Chooch was really excited and it turned out to be a pretty good game for him....

He made three free throws (I think) but more importantly, he was really into the game and even had a couple of fouls called on him!! Basketball is a different sport for Chooch because of its aggressive nature and it has been hard for him to get used to people bumping into him and pushing him to fight for the ball. But, it seemed like the light really went on Saturday morning and he was right in the middle of the action, toughing it out with the rest of the boys!!

The game ended well for the Rockets, too, because we walked away with a win and we're now in first place in city league play (the other team lost another game last night). One more game to go on Saturday morning...if we win, then the Rockets will be city-league champions. Let's not talk about if we lose, though!!

Kay-Girl Rides a Horse!

We gave Kay-Girl a choice of basketball, gymnastics/dance, or horseback riding lessons this Winter and she chose horseback riding, hands down. It took me awhile to get around to calling, but I finally did and we went for her first lesson this week. She was SO thrilled and just couldn't wait until Thursday, the day of her lesson. We came home after school and she changed into her jeans and boots and then headed out for the barn. Kay-Girl was chattering the whole way, excited about her first lesson.

When we arrived at the barn, we met the girl who was giving the lesson and she told Kay-Girl it was time to meet Ralph, her lesson horse. We walked into the barn and when the girl opened up the door to the stable, Kay-Girl stopped dead in her tracks when she saw Ralph, the LARGE lesson horse. I don't think Kay-Girl had any idea how big horses are when they are up close and personal. She was very nervous and didn't really want to go into the stable, so I went in with her and we brushed Ralph together until she was less nervous. Eventually she warmed up to Ralph and the girl giving the lesson.

Here are some of the best pics of the big event...first, here's Kay-Girl leading Ralph around the ring...she looks so small, doesn't she???

And here she is getting up on the saddle for the first time (with a little help from the yellow steps!)

Proper riding form and all...

One of the exercises was for Kaylie to try riding with no hands...look at that little grin!

At the end, I caught this picture of Kaylie sneaking a pet on Ralph's nose:

On our way home, I asked if she had a good time and if she wanted to go back next week for another lesson. She said, "Momma, I want to have riding lessons EVERY day of the week. Maybe not on Saturday or Sunday, but definitely on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday." I told her that she needed to get a job!!!

Happy Valentine's Day!