T-Ball

This was the first year that Amelia was old enough to play t-ball, I was so excited when I heard about sign ups.  I went home and asked her if she wanted to play t-ball, and she said, "no, I want to do dance."  WHAT??  So I asked again, explaining it more this time, her response was the same, "no."  I looked at Nathan in disbelief and asked him what I was going to do and he said, what any other parent would do, make her.  Of course he was only joking, but Amelia had little to no desire to play t-ball and I wasn't going to force her so that conversation was over.  Fast forward maybe 3 weeks later where I see my sister Brittney talking about trying to get her son, Eli on a t-ball team.  I complained to her that I couldn't get Amelia to play, she wisely suggested I tell her that Eli was playing and ask her again.  So that evening I went home and asked her again, "hey Amelia, Eli is playing t-ball in Republic, do you want to play on his team?" Her response, "Eli's playing? I want to play on his team."  Well ok, that was easy enough.  So here we are playing t-ball.  These of pictures from our first and third practice.  Games start Monday, I'll keep you posted on whether it's successful or not.  :)  I'm sort of counting on her being the one kicking up the dirt and dust while watching the ball roll past. 

Playing catch!

She sort of throws like a girl. :(

Throwing was not her favorite part.



Notice the ball is still on the tee.  :)

Good job A!

A hit!

She's got the swing mostly figured out.



Swing.



Third practice and she's hitting the ball better!

A New Beginning

We been in the market for a new home for awhile now, are intentions where to build on 40 acres of land we own in Marionville.  We had a builder, we meet with an architect, we had blue prints, we had a bid on our 'forever' home.  But something didn't feel right, there wasn't a peace about the whole situation.  We looked at the multi-list daily, praying something would come on the market that we loved, something we could raise our family in, anything.  But nothing came, but we still didn't feel at ease with building.  We then expanded our search to Republic, which was a HUGE decision for us.  It's only 20ish minutes down the road, but we were both raised in Marionville and moving to Republic would be a HUGE HUGE deal.  On March 2nd Nathan called our realtor, who is also a family friend and asked about going to look at a house.  She suggested we go that night.  So we did, we all loaded up and went and looked at the house.  Fast forward one week to March 10th, when we made an offer on that house. After a counter, another offer, another counter and yet another offer they accepted our offer on March 11th.  Talk about stressful!!  We officially closed on the house on April 7th and moved in April 12th.  I was most worried about making it a smooth transition for the kids, but they seem to be doing great.  We painted both of their rooms prior to moving and are still in the process of decorating.  But so far so good!  We are looking forward to making lots of new memories in our 'Republic' house.    

Our home.



She wanted to get right to work.

Lots of pink!

Amelia's striped wall.

Their 'playground'  I'm loving having a fenced in back yard too!

Asher's 'baseball' wall.

Riding scooters on our new driveway.

My favorite part, I now have TULIPS!!! 

Valentine's Day Fun (I know it's May 1st, oops)

When Amelia's note about making a valentine's box came home in her bag she immediately told me she wanted to make a cat.  Ok.  So I went to pinterest, found some cute ideas and hit up the dollar store for a few supplies.  One evening her and I were home alone, Asher and Nathan had ran a quick errand, so we went to work.  You can see that she was working hard and get really did pretty good, I think our cat was wonderful and more importantly Amelia LOVED it.

Working hard.

Finished product.

The kids had lots of Valentine's Day fun this year.  At the beginning on the month we did a fun heart shaped craft and pink strawberry brownie (which were amazing). 

On Tuesday Nathan was in St Louis, so it was just the kids and I, so we hit up Build-A-Bear for a new Valentine's Day stuffed animal.  Got to love coupons, I paid a total of $20 out of pocket for two stuffed animals! 

Add caption

Thursday morning Amelia, dressed in PJ's, took her cat Valentine's Day box to school and had a lot of fun exchanging valentine's with all her little friends.  Thursday afternoon Mema threw a Valentine's Day party for Amelia, Asher and Kylie.  She went all out!  The kids LOVED it.  Friday they went to Sara's and got more goodies.  Friday nights are gymnastics night, and we had planned to eat at Ruby Tuesday's afterwards, but the place was PACKED, so we hit up McAlister's and then headed home to give the kids their gifts from Nathan and I.  They both received a new pair of Tom's, some PJ's, a book and for course some candy.  LOTS of Valentine's Day fun!

Add caption

 

Add caption

Add caption

 

Add caption

Add caption

Motherhood

Being a mother is hard work!  Some days I just want to throw my hands up in the air and give up, but I know that's not even an option.  It's days like these I feel as if I'm praying that God would help me ALL DAY LONG.  I love this Facebook post from an Author and Women of Faith Speaker that I follow.

Add caption

Some days this is SO me.  Other days I just stop and take it all in, I'm amazing at how quickly they have grown and the things they can my accomplish on their own.  I especially love when I find them like this.

Add caption

Add caption

Add caption

Add caption

Add caption

At times they fight like crazy, but they also love each other like crazy.  I love our crazy, silly, sweet, and imperfect little family that God has truly blessed us with.   

Two months.

It's been two month since I last posted.  A lot can change in two months, a lot.  I'll play catch up over the next few days.  In the mean time, here are some random iPhone pictures. 

Little did I know that he had a double ear infection the day I took this picture.



I told her the letters and she wrote her last name without my help.

The finished onesie quilt.  I love it!



Practicing cutting.



Zoo Day with friends.



Playing at the park.



Getting so BIG.



Her current obsession, foam rollers.



Silly face.

The perfect day!

The weather yesterday was gorgeous!!! I knew they were forecasting the high to be 66, so first thing yesterday morning before we took Amelia to school I told the kids that after naps we could play outside.  Asher's response was priceless, "Thank you Momma for saying we can play outside after naps."  I think we all have a little cabin fever! 

So we took Amelia to school, ran a few errands and then came back home for some Momma and Asher time.  I'm not going to lie, I love Tuesday mornings when it's just my little boy and I.  We often put dinner in the crockpot, do dishes, clean up the house, and work on laundry, but he's right by my side being my little helper.  I will miss this time with him next year when he can go to preschool
too.

So yesterday morning I was in Asher's room cleaning out his closet when I hear the door bell ring.  I knew it was the UPS man because I had heard the truck pull up. Side note: this is how our UPS man rolls, not sure if this is common but this is what ours does, walks up to the door, rings the bell, throws the package down and gets back in his truck and leaves.  When the door bell rang Asher yelled someone's at the door momma, I told him it was just the UPS man bringing a package.  He follows up with lets go see and takes off.  I stayed in his room to finish up folding the laundry I taken out of this closet, because I knew the UPS man was already gone, I had heard the truck leave.  Asher comes running back and says "Mom come on there's a man waiting at the door for you."  Silly boy just wanted me to get the package off of our porch.  So I let him go out and get the package.  Let me tell you it was the best package ever! Nathan got me a pair of Hunter boots for Valentine's Day! Perfect morning, check.  I tried them on immediately and fell in love.  Bring on the rain!



So awesome huh???

And as promised after lunch and naps we headed outside to play and take a walk.  It was amazing!  The kids played in the rocks, and I was able to do some trimming/weeding in our landscaping and just enjoy the time outside for a change!  Perfect afternoon, check!



Riding her bicycle.

  


He chose to walk.

Selfie while eating fruit snacks.

Disney Live!

Friday night we had tickets to Disney Live! at Juanita K. Hammons Hall.  We are headed to Disney in August, so I naturally thought this would be a great precursor to the real deal.  I'm very happy to report the kids LOVED it.  It really was a lot of fun.  Mickey and his Friends singing and dancing, how can you go wrong?  It was hard to get GOOD pictures, but here are a few I snapped with my phone.

My people.  Love them.



They were engrossed.



My little man.

Mickey and Minnie.

Both of them dancing, I was nervous Asher was going to fall onto the people in front of us.

Shake it!

She was loving it.