Grace's "new" Cinderella Bike

Grace got an old bike from the neighbors next door and she has been practicing! Atticus is also getting better all the time! I got some quick pics on night on our walk one night back in April.

 Here, Grace is putting her Cinderella figure and her palace pet mouse back into the "carriage" basket on her Cinderella bike. Of course!

Atticus's First Year of T-Ball

Here's a little summary of T-ball for Spring 2017! Atticus had a really good time and improved over his T-ball season. His team was the Milwaukee Brewers and his number was 7. In this league, they did everything on the tee for the first game and then after that, it was coach pitch for 4 or 5 balls and then they would switch to the tee to let the kids hit. Everyone made it around the bases, one base at a time and they switched positions all over the field. The most common part of watching this group was when the ball was hit, EVERY kid, from all over the field, would run to the ball and dive bomb it until some lucky player got it and then sometimes, even throw it somewhere. And it seemed that many times, when the last player at bat hit the ball (and got a home run so all kids on base ran home), one of our players would chase those kids all over the field getting them out. It was a zoo! But, it was cute and fun! We played on the little t-ball fields at Bachmann and Wayne Smith in College Station. The toughest part was that we had 2 games (and 3 for makeups) during the week for about 7 or 8 weeks. They were some tired kids in April and May, what with all of the school activities, end of year exhaustion, and t-ball games! But, it set a fun baseball foundation with Atticus! Here's some pictures and a video I compiled...although my video skills are not great!

 First game!

They batted in the same order each time. Stacey (Greer's mom) and I usually helped at the bench and having them in order of their jersey number was so helpful!

 Most of these pictures are a couple of games as the season went on. 

 Ellie & Grace became good friends this season! They played and played and it made games so much more fun for them (and us!)

 Grace, Ellie, Greer, Atticus & Brody

 After one game, Atticus and Grace wanted to stay and play and run the bases and play on the t-ball field. So, they did!

 Below is one of our last games. It was common to see Atticus taking a couple of breaks during the game.

 And below is one of the dive-bombs. I think Coach Michelle was tired of trying to tell the kids to stay in their areas and not ALL go for the ball, but what do you do? At least they are hustling?

 Atticus got to play pitcher at this game.

 

 

 

 

 I love this photo below. Somehow, throughout the season, he started raising his leg to throw the ball. It would take seconds to actually throw it, but so funny!

 A discrepancy on the play, I guess?

 And at his last game, they all got T-Ball trophies. It was a great season!

Mother Son Aggie Baseball Night

So, last week I saw an ad for $15 for two tickets and a concession stand voucher to celebrate Mother's Day in Aggie Baseball Style. I asked Atticus if he would want to go and he said yes! So, tonight when Vic got home, we headed out the door. I know I haven't blogged his T-ball season yet to make this make more sense, but I wasn't sure if he'd last the entire game or how into it he would be. For T-ball this season, it took until game 7 of 12 for something to click with Atticus and with me and for me to finally see that he really did like playing and really was learning and really was making progress and trying hard and enjoying T-ball! But, he is still young and I didn't think we would stay all 9 innings and I was totally prepared to leave at any point he was bored or wanting to do something else tonight. Well, that never happened. He was SO into it. He had so much fun watching, cheering them on, eating nachos and popcorn, dancing and doing the fun Aggie baseball traditions, and constantly adding up the runs to tell me who was winning and then getting frustrated (as any Aggie would) that we were not the team winning. It was the BEST night with him. Sometimes, I just really need to make sure I take him out all by himself to do something fun. I think his love language his one-on-one time (combined with snacks!) because every time I get a chance to spend time with just him, I am just extra-reminded how grown up he is becoming and how smart he is and how much I love this sweet little boy so much that my heart explodes. Anyways, it was a great night! A few thoughts I want to remember:

• In T-ball, there are no strikes or balls or strikeouts, so this was so new to him. I mean, in general talk, it's confusing. When we pitch, we want to strike them out, but when we bat, of course we do not want to strike out. So, it was confusing! And how do you know it is a ball or a strike, sitting where we were? You don't until they tell you. So, Atticus finally just got in the habit of watching the umpire. He decided if the umpire didn't do anything, it was not a strike and if he put his hand out to the side, it was a strike. Simple enough for me if that worked for him. But, then we added in foul balls being strikes unless it was the third strike and we just had to move on. Too much information and I was confusing myself!
• He really really wanted to find #7 (his T-ball jersey number) on both teams. SHSU had a #7 playing, but not A&M. So, we looked up the roster online and sure enough, A&M didn't have a #7 at all. 
• He had a hard time deciding whether to wear his Aggie shirt and hat to the game or his Brewers T-ball hat and shirt to the game. He even considered wearing one of each at one point. He loves to wear his T-ball hat and shirt to school (and today was "sports day" and field day, so he got to wear them both). I convinced him we needed to support the Aggie colors, so he agreed. But, it was a big decision this afternoon.
• Before the game, he really wanted to know if he would be playing with the Aggies and if they played coach pitch or machine pitch or kid pitch. So, I explained that it was kid pitch but they were college kids, so adults. He also really hoped that the Aggies would be playing the Brewers. Then, I tried to explain the difference in the Aggies and the Brewers, and why that wouldn't happen. So much to learn.
• Also, I told him he could bring his glove and try to catch a foul ball. Well, our seats were general admission, but my friend Tribbie let us come sit in empty seats around her. They are on the 1st base side really close to home plate. They are great seats! But, he can't catch a ball there because of the net. After the 4th inning, Atticus was ready for dinner, so we left to get nachos and a hot dog and went to sit on the grassy area by right field. He was soo glad because then he could catch a foul ball. At one point, he was just standing there with his glove in the air just in case. Now, keep in mind, if we really had a ball come toward us, I think he and I both would run away. I have been hit in the face before with a baseball and he's still gun-shy towards balls being thrown at him. But, it was fun to think it could happen!
• The baseball Aggie traditions are fun. And there is so much music; every time a new Aggie batter comes to the plate and between every inning there is some kind of clip of music playing. Atticus loved that. Once we got to the grassy area, he just danced and danced between bites of nachos! ha! If something was being yelled, he would yell it. And for the last 2 innings, we went back to sit in the stands with Tribbie. One Aggie's last name is Shewmake, and some people would hold up their shoe while he was at bat. Well, Atticus decided to do it too. Of course, afterwards, he asked if he really had to put it back on or if he could just leave it off. Always the 6 year old.
• He loved and didn't love adding up the runs on the scoreboard to see who was winning. He loved it because he loves math right now. He didn't love telling me we were always losing!

Anyways, I just had the sweetest, best time with him talking to him and teaching him baseball things (the little that I know) and hanging out with him. Although, he did tell me, after I confirmed that we lost, that maybe we should change the rules and maybe the team with the least amount of points could win instead.  Good idea, Atticus!

I think there are only a few games left, but he told me he wanted to go back. So, maybe we will be able to do one more game before the season ends! Here's a quick video that is just my Instagram videos all strung together and then some special photos!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_lqOCtqfgo

 

 These are the same picture from back in 2014 and now in 2017! What a difference! (but the snack is the same!) Oh my handsome little Atticus!

 He wanted to stay the entire 9 innings! He never lost interest!

And at the end of the game, we took a picture that we also took back 3 years ago when we took Atticus to his first Aggie baseball game at his birthday when he turned 3. The funniest part - look how long his legs are in each picture!

 

Mother's Day 2017

I had the most wonderful Mother's Day! I got to take naps, have quiet time in the house, eat delicious food, get the most wonderful gifts and go to church with my favorite people!

 The weekend started off with "Muffins with Mom" at Kindergarten. Atticus made a Mom book about me and I loved it! He had been talking about it for a few weeks because they would work on a different page here and there. I will cherish it forever!

On Sunday morning, I woke up to flowers, pictures, breakfast casserole and this metal arrangement of roses. Apparently, the day before, when Vic took the big kids out, they went to the Farm Patch in search of a bigger metal goat like we saw back in October. We have a small one in our front flower bed, but they were going to give me the big one. It wasn't there, so I got roses instead! :)

 At the farm patch on Saturday.

 Special treat! Lunch at Sam's with Dad!
And here they are the next morning:

 Grace's hair is the best here!

At church on Sunday, they had a booth setup and took our family picture.

This cutie loves sunglasses right now. She will take them off and want you to put them on her over and over! That afternoon, Vic made us a delicious dinner and the kids swam outside! It was a great weekend!