Play Ball!

I think Tyler and I have been waiting for this day since the day Neal was born, the day that our son would start to play baseball...T-ball to be exact.  

This spring we signed Neal up for his first T-ball team.  It is a league for 4-6 year olds and meets close to our house.  The kids meet for six saturdays this spring and practice for 30 minuets and then play one inning against another team.   It is the perfect introduction to T-ball for him and he LOVES it!   Actually I wasn't sure on the first day if Neal or Tyler and I were more excited. 

It was really fun to have my sister, Anna, here for his first T-ball game.  Neal had his own little cheering squad from the sidelines.  We had fun cheering for him and watching him hit the ball and run the bases.   Gwendolyn even skipped her morning nap to watch all the fun.  

Tyler his been helping work with Neal's team and gets to be out in the field with the kids, throwing balls and helping them in the field.  I love getting to see them together enjoying the game and I know its really special for Tyler to get to teach his son how to play his favorite game.  

Tyler has been teaching him to bat left handed and Neal has done great.   Now as his mom I think everything that Neal does is great, but really he has quite the swing and can hit the ball a good distance.

We love to play in our backyard and practicing with him and we're looking forward to many more springs filled with T-ball and baseball games.  I have to say one of my favorite spring pastimes is enjoying the sun with friends and family at a ballgame, and it's even better when your son is the one playing :) 

 

Our Easter - 2014

What a wonderful weekend!!  Our Easter was filled with lots of fun memories and all the usual Easter activities.  

We had a sunny day on Sunday and enjoyed all heading out to church a bit early to visit with everyone there over coffee and doughnuts to celebrate Resurrection Sunday.   This was the first Easter Gwendolyn and though she didn't really participate in any of our Easter activities (she slept through most everything) she sure did have fun playing with her brothers Easter eggs.

One of the highlights of my Easter was that Gwendolyn stayed with us for the entire church service.  She usually goes to the nursery after the worship but she was so happy and quiet that I kept her with us on Sunday and she lasted the entire service.  I loved getting to hold and snuggle my little girl during the sermon, which made for a wonderful start to my Easter.

Neal loved doing a small egg hunt first thing in the morning and was so excited about the small little Easter Basket he got after finding all the hidden eggs.  He has been enjoying his Easter candy for the last few days, and I have too :)  

Out church always does a big church picnic for Easter dinner and this year was once again a lot of fun.  We were able to be outside at a park this year and it was a wonderful time with our church family.  We ate lots, lots and lots of food, played family games and enjoyed great fellowship with everyone.  I love spending the holidays with lots of friends and family and so an all church picnic was a great way to spend time with those we consider "family" here in NC.  

And naturally what would a holiday be without a little photo shoot right?...

There were a lot of pictures taken of the kids and at the end of the day I realized we didn't take one family photo.  I need to get better at remembering to get all of us in a photo, I don't know that we really have any family photos of the four of us. This was the closest I got to getting all of us and this was by accident since Neal photo bombed the picture of us girls :)

We hope that y'all had a great time celebrating Easter and that you were able to have lots of meaningful and good conversations with family and friends about the good news of our Risen Savior.  I know we talked about the Cross and Christ's Resurrection with Neal lots throughout the last few weeks and he had lots of questions so I continue to pray that the Lord would stir in him (and Gwen) a love for God and a faith that leads to salvation.

Spring has Sprung

The weather is beautiful outside and we are loving all the sunshine and ability to play outside before the heat and humidity arrive.   During the day we love to venture out and play at the park.

Gwendolyn is now old enough to enjoy the baby swings and Neal loves to run around and play like the playground is his super hero hideout or a pirate ship.

I also was so excited to have a group of friends who decided to all run a 10K together.  It was a stretch for me, since running is not really a passion of mine, but it was fun.   We were able to train and work up to a 10K over the last few months and then all got to run together a few weekends ago...

...well we all started together but ended up all finishing at different times, but we all finished!! It was a great accomplishment for us all and we were so happy to have each other to keep motivated.  The Lord also blessed us with a perfect sunny day to run outside.  It was amazing!   Now the question is, Can I keep up the running and exercise without a race awaiting me?

A Tornado Warning

We got a tornado warning a few weeks ago and it was the fist time I have actually gotten the kids up and sat in our "tornado shelter" (really the stairwell in our house).  

After receiving a phone call from a friend, making sure we saw the tornado warning, I quickly turned on the TV and immediately heard them name some cross streets just a few miles from our home as the area they were concerned about a possible tornado forming.   So, I quickly woke up the kids and we had a little "party" in the stairwell until the tornado warning was lifted.   This all happened while Tyler was traveling which made it even more interesting as I was on my own.  Neal loved our little "party" and even asked the next night if we could hide from the tornado again.  Thankfully no tornado actually formed and we didn't even get any strong winds.  It was quite the eventful evening, however I hope not to have to experience it again, even though Tyler missed all the fun.  Even the idea of a possible tornado is something I don't think I'll ever get use to, which is why I am so thankful we hardly ever get these warnings here.