Brayden playing T-Ball

My older kids have really enjoyed playing sports lately. It seems like it starts in October and the season doesn't end until school gets out. Brayden heard his older siblings talk about baseball and asked if he too could play. Why not? Both Hunter and Madelyn played T-ball why shouldn't he have the same experience. 

Take me out to the ball game.....

His first game was last week. We batted first. 

He hits!  

He runs....

Love those hands and his excitement.

He made a home run! WooHoo!

I don't think he realizes quite yet that everyone makes a home run in T-Ball. 

While in the outfield a gust of wind hit us pretty hard. He forgot his hat on the bench so when Mom realized this she ran it out to him. Hoping it would help with the wind. 

Thankfully the wind didn't last long. While on 2nd base he must have gotten a little board. 

He kept making funny faces by blowing out his cheeks.  

Sometimes when boredom struck we hid our face with our mitt!

And then the sun came out and we enjoyed the burst of warm sunshine on our backs. 

Brayden throwing the ball to home!

Brayden loved his first game. He feels pretty special that he get's to have 2 games this week. His coach will be gone so this Mom was asked to be the coach. He thinks that's pretty cool! So glad he's enjoying baseball! Makes all my time driving, every single day, for all three children playing worth it. Emily decided she didn't want to play this year. Maybe next year we'll have all 4 kids playing. 

Easter 2014

Our family spent Easter Weekend at Grandma and Grandpa Christensen's house this year.

The Easter Bunny found us!

As with tradition our Easter Bunny brought new socks, a new book and a quiet game/toy to be played on Sunday.

Emily was thrilled with her new chapter books. 

Her Sunday quiet toy was a dress-up princess magnet box.

 Kylie was quick to find the hidden candy in her basket.

She got a new board book and play-doh, her favorite! 

 Brayden loves to sit and try to read books. He was excited to find his book about a chicken that was his very own. This kid really loves TMNT and could hardly contain his excitement about these new socks.

His socks came in a package of 6 and he wore all 6 pairs that 1st day. I had no idea until the next morning when I asked him to change his socks and he pulled them each off one by one. Silly Boy!

His quiet toy was a little box of lego's.

Madelyn also received a new book, the first to a new series she's wanted to read.  She loves her bright and colorful crazy socks. Her quiet toy was a new family game, Spot It! We spend most of our Sunday afternoons playing games. She was excited for the new addition to our collection. 

In a house full of people and trying to get everyone ready for church that starts at nine, I missed taking a picture of Hunter. He to received a new book, new socks and marbles for his quiet game. The kids have had so much fun with this. I've had duct tape circles all over my kitchen floor all week while these kids play different games using marbles. 

After church and lunch we had a HUGE Easter egg hunt. There were a ton of eggs for everyone!

Uncle Jason was the guard at the door. At his signal they all came running out! 

Miss B. excited about her egg. 

It was a warm day outside and the kids all found a spot to sit and go through the hoard of eggs and candy they found.

Uncle Jason blew bubbles for the "little's" on the porch.

Kylie enjoyed trying to catch the bubbles.

Brayden found a lady bug in Grandma's grass.  

We had a great Easter weekend spending time with family.

Easter Weekend

During our stay in Hurricane over Easter weekend the daddies were able to help Grandpa Christensen around the house. He is still recovering from his shoulder replacement and help was greatly appreciated. 

My brother Jonathan took a ride on the lawn mower. He was able to mow mom and dad's yard and  

GG pa's across the street. 

Our dad helped finish the steps on their new porch.

Kylie was a great help! 

When the outside work was done. Jonathan fed GG her lunch. 

That home made pizza made her thirsty!

After lunch Grandma and Kylie gave GG a little massage. 

Kylie really enjoyed rubbing the lotion all over GG's arms. 

When her arms were done they gave GG a little foot massage.

After a hard day's worth of work Grandpa made homemade ice cream for everyone.

Cousin Noah is asleep on the couch but what happened to Brayden?

Must have spent too much time in the sun!

                                                      Who sleeps underneath the mattress?

And on a hard wood floor too?

Playing with cousins

During our Easter weekend in Hurricane the kids seemed to spend most of their time outside. It was beautiful weather. My girls were so excited to open the box of summer clothes to pack with. 

Kylie is definitely one of ours. She loves to be outside.

She really loves spending time on Grandma and Grandpa's car's. 

Hunter and cousin Noah was trying to out beat each other with how many times they could jump keeping their balance. Neither one of them did very well, or so I thought until I tried doing it.

 I was lucky to get 2 jumps in! Pretty sure I'm glad I didn't let Hunter try to take my picture.

 Madelyn and cousin Carlaya tried to build a fort in an apricot tree. They used a wheel barrel to get their supplies back and forth

Going back to get more...

Using a hay string that was tied between 2 trees the kids played volleyball.

Boys vs. Girls

For fun the kids decided to do a "real" egg toss, like I did during my 4th grade Easter party.

With every toss caught they had to take one step back.

Oops!

Someone got egg faced. He was a good sport!

Easter weekend is just not the same without being able to dye eggs together.

GG was able to sit at the table for a few minutes watching the kids dye their eggs. Too soon GGpa came back to get her to take her home.

We love spending Easter at Grandma and Grandpa's house. Not all of us were able to make it this year and they were missed. Hopefully next year we can do it all again!

4th Grade Easter Party

I love being at the school with my kids. They love seeing me there and I love knowing what is happening at the school. The past two years I have been on the Booster Club. Instead of having to choose one out of my 3 kids classes to help out in I'm there for the whole school throughout the year. This year I decided that I still wanted to be in the classroom with my kids so I signed up to be in charge of one holiday party for each of them. This was my last one for the year. The 4th grade room mom has been TERRIBLE this year. The teacher knows it, the kids know it and there hasn't been anything we could do to fix it despite the phone calls asking to help or just take charge. I was thrilled to learn this room mom was moving and wouldn't be around to get in my way for this last party. I went all out and everyone enjoyed themselves. 

 To start off our party we hid the kindergarten Easter eggs for their party. One of pro's about being in such a small community and school is that we can do things we wouldn't otherwise be able to do. After the eggs were hidden we went on an Easter egg treasure hunt which took us off school property. I didn't have to get permission slips or even ask the principal. I just had to make sure I had an adult with each group. I had 5 groups and we had clues that sent us to the Library inside the school, the Fire Station down the street, the flag pole in front of the school, the cemetery up the street and ended at the swing sets on the playground. All 5 groups went to different spots at different times so that they weren't following each other. I was running the entire time so didn't get any pictures. At the end the big treasure was otter pop's. The kids were thrilled they could have as many as they wanted. 

 After a short break I started in with are games. 

We had an egg-race. How many eggs can each team get to their opposing bowl in 2 minutes? If the egg dropped off their spoon they'd have to go back to the start and start all over. The winning team got 18 eggs! 

Our next game was trying to put 5 eggs in order. From an egg with one jelly bean up to the egg with 5 jelly beans. Only one team got this right.

Our last team game is always the favorite. Dipping your nose into vaseline to get the cotton ball to stick. Afterwards you have to run to your bucket and get the cotton ball to drop inside with no hands.

Our next game was the balloon pop. 

Everyone tied a balloon to their ankle and then had to try to pop their friends. 

 My last game was a egg toss. A real egg toss! The kids couldn't believe I'd bring real eggs, not boiled, for them to throw to each other. The kids started with a partner who was standing right in front of them. With each caught toss the kids were suppose to take one step back. I was surprised how many times eggs were dropped and didn't break. The kids thought this was the best part of the whole party.

After all our games they each got to decorate a cupcake. So glad I had this opportunity to help in Madelyn's class. It was a great party. The teacher has requested me to be her room mom next year since she's moving up a grade in teaching. Whether we are still here or not it made me feel good. So glad she appreciated all my hard work for the Easter Party.

Madelyn and Softball

I've told my kids that they can play any sport but only one sport at a time. Since Madelyn is currently playing volleyball she wasn't going to play softball. However after sign ups I was contacted and told that softball wouldn't start until the end of April or first of May, after Volleyball. They were a bit short on players this year so Madelyn decided she'd play after all. I think someone made a mistake while looking at the schedule. This young lady has been playing volleyball and softball for almost a month now! She's gone every day except for Friday's at one practice or another. Thank goodness volleyball will be over this week.

Madelyn had her first ball game last week in sunny and warm Kanab. However the wind picked up and it quickly went from warm to cold. None of the parents and families were prepared for the sudden change in weather. We were all huddled under a blanket trying to keep warm and away from the wind.

She did good. She's got a great arm.

The other teams pitcher was TERRIBLE. But I understand these girls are young and just learning. The balls went sky high or were grounders 3 feet before the ball reached the girls. Most of our girls ended up walking because of the balls including Madelyn. She was a little disappointed that she didn't hit the ball but she really didn't have the chance.   

Playing outfield! She loves it out there.

 She'd prefer to play outfield than hit the ball. She's seen other girls get hit with the pitch and I think she's a little scared of the ball now.  Hopefully she'll overcome this. 

Madelyn was suppose to have a game last week but her coach's father unexpectedly passed away. Can't wait to watch her in the next game. Hope she has fun!

Hunter and Baseball

The Baseball season has begun....

Hunter's 1st game in sunny and warm Kanab, Utah.

Here batter, batter batter..... 

He made it to 1st. After a few more hits from his teammates....

It's a home run and his fans go wild!

While in the outfield he got to play 2nd base.

While mom, dad and Madelyn are content to sit on the hard metal bleachers for 2.5 hours his younger siblings play behind us on the rocks.

The season has just begun and it's got me running. This young man has a 2 hour practice 3-4 nights a week  with 2 baseball games a week.  We won our 1st game and then lost our past 2. Hunter was bumped up to the Major league because players were needed. He is the youngest, shortest and smallest on the team. He practices hitting and catching in between school and his practices and many times on the weekend. I really hope all this practice will do him good and his coach will play him a little more. I did the score board at last nights game and was quite surprised to see that even the "best" players , the 7th graders (Hunter's in 5th) really struggled too. Sure hope he enjoy's this baseball season.