Coach Pitch

Miles finally had his first baseball game last night. As you can see he has the "adjusting" part down. He actually played an awesome game--a couple of good hits and really good fielding. Unfortunately it looks like tonight's game will get rained out. Graham spent his time taking apart and putting back together a bunch of Lego men--in the dirt, of course.

Big Kid

Owen left yesterday for his first overnight camp. He didn't seem one bit sad when I dropped him off. I'm sure it will be a fun week of hoops, pizza, dorm life, and stinky boys!

Memorial Weekend

We started summer break with a long weekend trip to Atwood. The kids had a great time with their cousins and we were all happy to meet the newest cousin, baby Beau. The kids tie-dyed shirts, had a pool party (Grandma Rosie rented the pool Sunday evening), watched "Epic" at the local theater, all in between games of hide-and-seek, baseball, fort building, etc. Graham spent the entire weekend in nothing but a pair of underwear, mostly playing in the sandbox or at the water hydrant.

School's Out For Summer...

They've officially become 2nd and 5th graders!  Both boys had a great year with fantastic teachers.  I think they were both a little sad to be done.  We are so thankful that they both enjoy all parts of school, as well as the before and after school program.  I'm sure the next couple of months will fly by and before long you'll be seeing this same picture, although they will probably be a little taller, tanner, and blonder!

Hawaiian Hitfest

Owen's baseball team played in the Hawaiian Hitfest in KC this past weekend. In this tournament teams decorate their dugout and/or dress up. The boys played great on Saturday, winning all three games and claiming the #1 seed for Sunday. Unfortunately the Gardener site was canceled on Sunday due to the rain Saturday night. We hung out with Quint and Susan on Sunday morning before watching Owen's friends play a game at a site that wasn't rained out. Fun weekend with baseball friends.

Happy Mother's Day

We spent an enjoyable weekend in Lebo with my parents and brother/sister-in-law. The weather was nice so the boys spent tons of time outside playing catch, one-on-one baseball games, etc. We grilled steaks for the fam on Saturday and my mom cooked for us today. After coming back home today, we hit Anneberg for the batting cages (for the bigs) and the geese (for Graham). So thankful for these three dudes!

Hillbilly

Miles is so close to losing one of his two front teeth. He is enjoying his snaggle tooth and entertains us with his hillbilly antics.

House Update #5

Early May: the house is framed and we can walk around through the "rooms." Everything is braced so it's not real easy to move around. Adam is meeting with the electronics people this week (the only thing he cares about). I scoped out some house colors and rock styles this weekend.

Baseball Buddies

Owen's team has already played in two tournaments and a league double-header and I have no pictures to show except for goofy ones of the boys and their families enjoying dinner at Red Robin. The boys have been playing very well (until a looonnngg inning on Sunday) and now that we've had a bit of warm weather it's starting to feel more like baseball season!

House Update #4

Mid-April: the basement and garage floors have been poured and they should be able to start framing soon. Owen and Miles will both have egress windows so Miles tested them out for us.

And You Thought Basketball Was Over...

Owen played in his first 3-on-3 tournament today with a couple of teammates.  The rules were a little different but once they loosened up and figured out the flow, they played really well.  5-0!  

House Update #3

Early April--we have basement walls poured and some plumbing lines in.  A lot of the rock that they didn't haul off was used to fill in around the outside of the walls.  I'm guessing they will pour the basement concrete next, but what do I know?

 Basement--filled with pebble-sized rock...

 Garage--filled with sand...

Front yard--filled with dirt...

Fortunately the kids stayed in the car or I'm sure they would have been climbing and digging.  Even I was tempted to take off my shoes and walk through the sand.

Happy Easter

After the early mass this morning we headed to Lebo to spend the day with family.  We were so lucky to have such a nice day--Miles had been worried about where we would hide eggs if it was raining.  The boys made out like bandits!  The Easter Bunny actually brought them each a practical gift (baseball bag or shoes) since he knew how much candy they would get elsewhere.  Grandma Jean scored points by finding them more Nike socks in some cool new colors (and in sizes for Miles).  Aunt Nancy came prepared with 150 Easter eggs full of candy--not to mention the baskets from grandparents and aunts/uncles.  

 Graham totally understood what to do this year and managed to fill his bucket twice.

 The boys and cousins, McKinley and Maggie, waiting for the official "Go" to get started hunting eggs.

 This is as fancy as we get around here--neon collared shirts for Easter Sunday.

 Scoping out the next egg...

After emptying out the eggs, they played "Egg-Pong."

House Update 2

Mid-Late March:  We have footings.  Lots of metal rods sticking up everywhere.  I think I can see the shape of the house.  They have to put in a concrete wall on the lower side (to build on) due to the soil being looser than they expected.  

This will be the garage.  The white house in the background is where one of Miles' good friends lives. We've already discovered that they can yell across the way and easily make plans to come/go to each other's houses.  When I had the boys over looking at the hole, Aiden saw us and right away asked if Miles could come play.  I have a feeling there will be lots of trips across the "prairie."

Basement?  

Taken from the back looking to the front.  The house across the street (on right) is where one of Owen's best friends lives, so you can imagine he's excited to get moved in.

House Update 1

Early-Mid March:  We broke ground and as expected, hit rock.  A lot of rock.  Fortunately most of the excavation costs were planned for, and we weren't too far over this amount.  According to our builder, this should be the only flexible expense, unless we decide to make changes to the plan.  They dug the hole and removed the rock in just a couple of days.  The kids enjoyed climbing on the rocks and would probably be happy if we left a pile of it in our back yard.

Maybe we could have saved some money by having these guys remove the rock :)

Spring Break

The first half of spring break has been very enjoyable. No big plans which has actually been nice given our normal routine of being constantly on the go. Ryan and Kelli invited us over for tacos and KSU vs KU basketball over the weekend. The boys enjoyed baby Eli.
We met my mom in Topeka on Monday for some shorts shopping and playtime at Going Bonkers.
On Tuesday the Stockwells came to Manhattan and the boys did their best to wipe out the Pizza Hut buffet. Too bad the weather didn't allow us to go to the KSU baseball game as planned.
Wednesday was national "shred, file, or trash every document sitting on your desk day." I love those days! Now to get cracking on the school work I wanted to get ahead on...

Spring?

80 degrees on Friday! First sunburns from lots of outside time at BLAST. Too bad this weather isn't here to stay. I will keep my fingers crossed that it warms up while we are off this week.

Man Trip

Adam and Casey took Owen and Miles on a little man trip this past weekend.  They headed out early Saturday morning to cheer on the Cats in Stillwater.  Unfortunately the game didn't turn out in K-State's favor, but they still had a great time.  As you can tell, they were a little early for the game :)

 After the KSU game, they drove to Oklahoma City and stayed in a hotel with a fun pool so that they could go to the Thunder game on Sunday.  This was their first NBA game.  I don't think they were expecting so much entertainment throughout the game (music, blimp, contests, etc.).  They must've suckered Adam into these new T-shirts.

It sounds like there were lots of laughs on this road trip.  Although I don't want them to grow up, it's nice that they are old enough to go on fun outings like this.  I have a feeling this might become a yearly adventure.  Meanwhile, Graham spent the day with Grandma and Grandpa in Lebo while I shopped WITHOUT KIDS in Kansas City.  And I came home with a carload of freezer food that mom made for us while I was out spending money.  How's that for a good day?

Runner Up

We spent the weekend in Kansas City watching the last tournament of the year for the 4th grade Wildcats.  They called this tournament state, so the boys thought it was a pretty big deal.  The kids played great all weekend against tough competition.  They came up 3 points short in the championship game and had to settle for second place.  It was a fun season--kind of amazing how much they have changed throughout this season.  Owen loved every minute of it!  I think he'd be really sad now if he didn't have the end-of-season party to look forward to on Friday.

This tournament offered fun little contests during the down time.  Here the boys are competing in the team 3-point contest.  An official timed them to see how long it took for the team to sink 30 3-pointers.  Owen chose free throw contest (made 7/10) for his individual contest.

Owen had his own little fan club cheering him on.  My parents, brother and SIL, and Sharla/boys/Marcella.  I told Owen we were going to start cheers--he'd be totally embarrassed if we did.

These are the cookies my mom brought (and I pretended like I made, just kidding, but I have done that before) for the team.   They didn't last long.

During the two games on Saturday the opposing coaches chose a game MVP.  Owen was excited to be selected during the second game.  As you can see, Miles comes suited up as well.  He stays courtside and runs out for a couple of shots during time outs and halftimes.

Stacy told Miles to throw salt over his shoulder for good luck.  He was convinced this was a sure-fire means to win, so we grabbed a handful of salt before we left the restaurant to head back to the gym.

I'd say 2nd place is pretty darn good, but you can't tell from the looks on their faces here.  Great season Wildcats!  Now...batter up!