Baseball Season

Baseball season was a lot of fun this year. We had the kids play for the Mascoutah Khoury League which is a great league for them to play in. The coaches were really good and it's in a small town near our house, so it has the small town feel with the people you meet. 

 Fredbird came out for picture day! He's very funny and had the kids laughing the whole time.

 Audrey wasn't normally dressed in curls for her games. It just so happened that she had her dance dress rehearsal the same day as a game. I think she really enjoyed looking like a princess while playing softball.

Ethan's game improved dramatically this year. He was one of the best players on the team. Right now he is all baseball all the time. He's practically memorized all the stats on his baseball cards and he has quite a few. He definitely knows all the players, who they play for and what position the play. 

Jacob's games were on Tuesday and Thursday nights. Ethan and Audrey would often get bored at the games and find a way to occupy themselves. They found dirt to be the best remedy for boredom and often required baths when we got home.

 They were so proud of their accumulation of dirt. This picture doesn't show it as well as it could, but they are covered from top to bottom. They spent quite a bit of time throwing the dirt up in the air so it could land on top of them.

Below was a typical scene from Audrey. I think her goal was to see how dirty she could get. It was trying on Doug's and my patience to watch, but she was having so much fun it didn't seem right to stop her from this simple enjoyment. And let's face it, it's way better than putting a phone in her face so she could play some games. 

CARDINAL'S KIDS CAMP

Jacob and Ethan went to a Cardinal's Kids Camp and guess who was there...Fredbird! How many kids get to get a picture with him twice in one year.

     

 Jacob worked so hard at baseball this year and it showed. Like Ethan, he improved dramatically from last year. We were very proud of him and loved seeing his determination to do well.

CARDINAL'S NIGHT AT BUSCH STADIUM

The Khoury League has a night at Busch Stadium each year. The kids got to walk around the perimeter of the field with their teams. However, since no one from Ethan's team showed up he walked with Jacob's team. Afterwards we had tickets to see them play the White Sox.

 

                         

Easter

The weather couldn't have been more perfect on Easter. We enjoyed a wonderful morning of going to two services together as a family because it was my week for volunteering in children's church. After that we headed over to the Jones' for a relaxing day of hanging out together. 

 This picture didn't do Audrey justice for how gorgeous she looked that day. 

She was definitely a princess and she enjoyed every minute of it.

 Alex and "baby" Jacob

 Ethan, Audrey and Jacob

 Cooperating as much as possible to take pictures. The really wanted to start looking for eggs.

 Ready, Set...

 GO!!!!

 "Baby" Jacob wasn't sure what the hurry was about!

 I think everyone was happy with the amount of eggs they found!

 Pictures of us were an after thought as we were getting ready to leave to go home.

One of these days I'll remember that pictures of the parents are just as important as the kids.

Bowling Night with the Squadron

We had a squadron bowling night on March 2nd! It was a great turnout with around 150 people from the squadron. Doug said if he bowled a perfect game he would give everyone $1000, so they rigged the outcome when he was done to show a perfect game. Everyone got a good laugh.

Wow! Has it really been that long?

I can't believe I haven't posted since Halloween. Sorry everyone. I'll try to get on top of catching everyone up with the big stuff soon. I guess the lack of blogging speaks for itself. Life is ridiculously busy for Doug and I right now. I just keep telling myself only 15 more months, only 15 more months...that is until his command is over. We actually love what we are doing and there are so many great rewards from it. I just hope we have the stamina to keep going at this pace because there is no way to turn off the valve.

Audrey and Ethan's T-Ball Practice

                         

 Most of the family had flown in for Doug's Change of Command by Monday evening, so they all got a chance to see Audrey and Ethan play baseball. It was quite a show since Ethan likes to ham it up while he is at bat. 

Easter

This Easter was really fun for us and the kids. Doug and I went out on Saturday night to buy the kids their first pet. We came home with a guinea pig and a really large cage that thankfully blends in with the fireplace. See if you can pick it out in the background.

Since we've had so many storms in the last few days they had to go hunting for eggs in the basement. 

So Sweet. Daddy and his little girl.

Our new guinea pig! Bucky!!

Already a part of the family

Snow? Really?

This wasn't just a dusting of snow, this was a significant amount of snow that dumped on us yesterday. The kids even went out for 30 mintues to go sledding and play.

Just to provide a good visual of how things changed in just a week. This was a pciture I took seven days ago...

 ...and this was the picture I took yesterday!