Baseball/T-Ball Season

Here are my spring ballers!  Mason was on the baseball farm team again and Darcy played her first year of t-ball.  Mason knew exactly what to expect so no big deal.  Darcy had no idea what to expect and was tentative about playing but she always had a smile on her face and said she had lots of fun in the end.  I think she and Bree will play t-ball together next year, and we're thinking about switching them to the softball league.  As for Mason?  Not quite sure yet.  I was hoping he would learn to dislike baseball enough to not want to play again next year because he will move up to minors which means traveling to games.  I was not, however, hoping he would have a miserable season.  For some reason we only had a week or two of practices before games and then all practices stopped.  That meant the only time the kids had to work on any skills was in a game situation, and they only got to hit twice a game if they were lucky.  There was very little skill improvement all the way around.  Last year he did really well for his age.  This year he was pretty much stagnant and I'm pretty sure miserable most of the time.  He only got a couple hits all season and the games are so darn slow at times they just stand in the field and never touch a ball all game.  Though there was one game where he had a hit and he was responsible for getting 3 outs all by himself for the team!  He actually caught a pop-fly which was a great moment :) and he fielded the ball for outs on first and third bases as he was playing those positions.  Great game!  At that point I thought I had lost the battle and we would be watching him play in minors next year, but that was one gem in a pile of coal.  I'm pretty sure(?) he won't be playing next year.  Darcy had her ups and downs but she had some good friends on the team and had a good time.  She want's to play next year for sure.  I'm glad the season is over, we were gone in the evenings 3 or 4 nights a week and then Saturday's were shot since they both played hours apart.  Its fun to watch but after awhile I just want my life back.  Now, on to summer fun!

I love how their feet don't touch the ground!

Happy Easter/Birthday Drew!

Drew is going to be annoyed with my ordering in this post because she was constantly telling us her birthday didn't fall on Easter this year, Easter fell on her birthday because her birthday is constant.  Easter isn't.  Yah, yah, yah, but we had a few Easter activities before the big day so I will address Easter first.  Sorry Drew.  We always head to Corvallis for an Easter party with my family on the Saturday before Easter so we decorated eggs on Friday night.  We are much more interested in decorating than eating the eggs but I think next year we will get another dozen or so on top of the 5 dozen we did this year.  Its just so much fun to get dye all over the countertops!  We end up with some "cool" color mixes.  We achieved a poop colored one this year!  

On Saturday we skipped baseball/t-ball games to hang out with the cousins.  We always have an egg toss and Paul and Mason always cheat.  This year they used a hard boiled egg.  Last year Paul had extra eggs in his pocket to replace broken ones.  He cheats on the egg drop off the garage roof too.   Let's win at all cost!  Looks like I'm rubbing off on him.  

 This is the mad dash to find the plastic eggs filled with goodies.  This is only the kids 10 and under.  The older ones really have to search because the uncles like to hide the eggs for them in impossible places.  The kids love it.

 Bree found her name egg!  They get a special treat in these.  Rule is you can only grab a name egg if its your own.  Last year Mason got his wires crossed and only looked for his name egg.  He had an empty basket till I hurriedly explained to him he could pick up the unmarked ones.  Crazy guy, what did he think there were a million laying on the ground for?  Obviously Bree knew what she was doing.  After fun with the cousins and Grandma and Grandpa we visited with Paul's mom and cousins for a little bit and then high-tailed it home so we could get to bed before the Easter Bunny showed up.  Whew, we made it!

Easter morning the kids woke up to filled baskets and 5 dozen eggs to find.  They did a pretty good job, we only had one missing.  Thankfully I found it the next day near a plant before it could rot.  The morning and church were devoted to Easter, the rest of the day we spent celebrating Drew's 10th birthday!

10 years ago my life was blessed with my sweet Drewsy.  What a blessing this girl is to me and our family.  She is the ultimate big sister, always willing to help out and always willing to give things up to the younger kids, even when I tell her she doesn't have to.  She is kind, considerate, smart, athletic, funny, an avid reader, and loves to have conversations with mom and dad.  I love watching her grow and I know she has great things in store for her.  Once she sets her mind on something she figures out a way to achieve it, no matter what is standing in her way. "Can't" is not in her vocabulary.  What a great trait to have.  This year we had strawberries and angel food cake and she got a basketball, legos, and some dreaded clothes (I always hated clothes as a gift.  BORING!)  I hope she had a good birthday, it was unique anyway.  I never would have thought Easter would be so late in April.  Love you Drew!