Birthday party fun…
Afternoons outside…
Hanging out with buddies!
Is it summer yet? We’re ready!!
Mother’s Day
What a delightful Mother’s Day we had! We got to celebrate with GJ on Saturday night before she left and she and I were both awarded the “World’s Best Mom” trophy!
Maxwell’s confirmation class read their chosen verse out loud and Maxwell did an outstanding job. We then had brunch at the club. I also made the kids take about 10 photos in an effort to get one that I loved and they obliged…not happily, but they obliged! The best Mother’s Day gift ever!
I ultimately called these two pics the best of the bunch! I sure am lucky to have this crew and, man oh man, do I love them.
I then hung with my friends for a little bit before playing some tennis.
Robert even cooked dinner! Winning all around!
Everyone makes jokes about wanting a “day off” for Mother’s Day but, honestly, right with them is the only place I want to be. Happy Mother’s Day to me!
Bible Club
Like the past few years, we hosted Bible Club for all three kids’ grades at our house – well, 2nd and 4th at our house and 6th grade at GJs! Frank’s grandmother handles that one and I’m totally hands off. It’s been a great program for these kids all through elementary and I really am thankful for how much she poured into those boys. I think she’s going to miss that crew next year when they are at the JH!
The 2nd grade girls came on Tuesday mornings. We got a bit more streamlined with food and Fran picked up the same breakfast for them each morning – bacon biscuits from the Pig!
We even had a guest speaker for the last one – Etiquette with Amy!
The 4th grade boys come on Wednesday morning and I think we’ve finally learned how to keep them all under control. A few minutes of basketball, then we lined them up along the brick wall and give them breakfast while a dad teaches the lesson. They they get to play some sort of game about the information and I’ve been very pleasantly surprised with how much of the information they are actually retaining! We also made breakfast much easier for the boys this year. Everyone sent me money and I order Krispy Kreme to be delivered to by doorstep at 6:45 every week! Doesn’t get easier than that.
The early mornings get a little rough but it’s nice to do it and it’s a good way to get to know the kids in their grade!
Ballpark baby
Of course I can’t talk about baseball without recognizing my ballpark baby! The best sport around! She was also my videographer this year recording each one of the boys’ hits!
Of course, bringing a friend with you to the ballpark is even better!
Now it’s time for these baseball players to go watch some soccer!
Love them all!
Yankees
Spencer had an all around fantastic season of rec baseball this year! I really liked his coaches and he had some fun teammates that all did their part. They had an interesting season with 3 wins, 3 losses, and 4 ties. Yes, 4 ties! I don’t know if we’ve ever had a tie in baseball before but we had 4 this season. I guess that just means the teams were pretty evenly matched.
This was a particularly early 8am game on a freezing morning!
Spencer also played catcher some.
Spencer got to pitch a decent amount and proved himself to be a fantastic pitcher. All those hours spent at Dbat this fall really paid off! His batting was excellent as well. He’s really good at reading the pitch and knowing when not to swing – and when to go for it! He played 3rd base most season and made some good plays.
I wasn’t sure about this team at the beginning of the season, but they all steadily improved and hit their stride just in time for the tournament where they turned it up!! The coaches went all in to put our best foot forward and moved Spencer to first base where he showed up and showed out!! He made some incredible, down on one knee, toe on bag, stretch it out catches for several outs at first. I was so proud of him for being flexible (literally and figuratively!) and able to play wherever they needed him.
They easily won the first two games in the tournament – they beat the Giants 4-10 in the first round and then shut out the White Sox 11-0 in the second round. They then had to face the 1st seated Braves in the championship game. The Yankees saved their best playing for the main stage. Graham pitched the entire game and had a 70% strike rate. Spencer played first and made some unbelievable catches. They only gave up 1 run and then won it all on a huge hit by Will that knocked enough runners in to win the game 7-1! Pretty exciting!!
4th Grade World Series Champs!! (Fun fact – Maxwell won the World Series his 4th grade year too!)
Coach Blackmon, Elliott, Graham, Whit, Spencer, Will, Rex, Nabers, Tinnon, Moss, Grayson, Coach Russell and Coach Baker
I’m just so proud of Spencer. He keeps showing up and putting in the work. It’s paying off and I hope he continues to be recognized for the athlete he is. But, even better than that is seeing him recognized for the kid he is. Two different adults came up to me after the game to tell me what a good kid Spencer is and how encouraging he was to their son all season. That’s better than any championship trophy!
What a kid! What a team! What a season! Now on to summer ball!!