T-Ball Lessons

Today was Hannah's first T-ball practice! We were a little nervous since she didn't even know what baseball was. In any case, we took her out and practiced throwing and catching. She started to figure out her throw and had a couple of nice ones. She was unable to make any catches (unassisted), but did manage to ground many balls! She didn't like the ball to pass her, so she was diving all over to get it. She swung quite nicely, she still wants to hit it from three inches away, but by the end of practice, she was taking a full swing. Since it was their first practice, they made sure all the kids made it on base, and ran all four bases. She did seemingly well compared to the others. Her skills were right with the bulk of the pack. Maybe this will be something she will eventually love. We are just trying all the options now with the hopes of finding a sport she can continue with. Can't wait for the first game!

Ed's Birthday

Thought this was too cute to not post! Ed turned 31 the other day. We attempted to make a 3 and a 1 out of the candles, but it wasn't pulled off very well. The one turned out ok, but the 3 looked like a bunch of candles thrown inthe same spot of the cake! Oh well. Happy birthday ED!!!

Easter Dinner

Easter dinner was at Amy and Ryan's house. It was a delicious ham, potato salad, green salad, rolls, fruit, cake and ice cream. (I really need to start taking pictures of our meals!) Afterwards, while dad took grandma back to the nursing home, we walked to the park. It was such a gorgeous day. Mom and I handled the kids on the toys while Amy, Ryan, and Ed broke Hannah's new soccor ball in. It was quite entertaining at times since it has been many years since we have kicked a soccor ball. While waiting for her turn to kick, Amy kept Holly and Maggie entertained with their ball. Holly has about fifteen pounds to lose to be at "ideal" weight...whatever that means! Maggie on the other hand seems to be in pretty decent shape and was running circles around Holly. Hopefully the weather will continue to get better so we can have more and more park ventures. After everything we did throughout the day, the kids crashed as soon as we got home. I couldn't have asked for a better day!

Easter

Easter was a very peaceful day. We started out seeing what the Easter Bunny brought the girls. Hannah was so excited to receive Tangled. She has been asking for it for a month. I kept telling her to put it on the Easter Bunny list. Elayna also got a movie. Of course, it was Dora Egg Hunt. After checking out what the Easter Bunny brought, we put on the Easter dresses and were off to church. Afterwards, we went to "big" grandma's house for breakfast and to get another Easter basket. Here he brought them books, sunglasses and sandals. Finally, we stopped by "little" grandma's house where the Easter bunny brought them more books and sidewalk chalk.

Coloring Eggs

After the Easter Egg hunt, we came back home and dyed Easter Eggs. We had thirty eggs to color. They did fairly well for the first twenty four, but became bored with it and wanted to go outside.

Easter Egg Hunt

Saturday we went on an Easter Egg hunt at the church. There were about 40 kids in all. The area they used was the size of a baseball field. About a third of it was coned off so the kids three and under could be successful and not overrun by the big kids. The eggs in that area were sitting on top of the grass and very obvious to find. There were only 4 kids under 3, so Elayna was very successful...that is until the first egg broke open. Once she saw that there was candy inside, she was DONE! She has a huge sweet tooth. Hannah had the other two-thirds of the field to scavange. When they shouted "GO" all the kids ran in the same direction. Ed yelled at Hannah to run a different way and she did. She had her basket half-filled before anyone saw what she was doing. She also found a very coveted "golden" egg. Besides looking quite shiny, it had no more value than the other eggs. Still all the other kids were talking about it and Hannah felt like she found a huge treasure.

Elayna Turns 2!

Yesterday my baby turned 2! Oh where does the time go? As is fitting, we had Dora everything...cake, outfit, gifts, sheet set, wrapping paper. I had a little too much Dora by the end of it. For a combo birthday gift, my parents pitched in for a trampoline inclosure! Ed is already trying to teach Hannah that it is a wrestling cage! HA! Oh well, I feel a little safer now than I did. Also, Elayna received a Dora house, Dora Castle, Dora Mermaid, Boots stuffed animal, clothes, and a couple of miscelaneous other gifts. Hannah was only a little jealous. Lastly, we took the crib bars off of her crib and turned it into a toddler bed (wipe a tear). It is official...Elayna is no longer a baby! :(

New Pet

In 2000, we just moved into our first apartment. In the giant mail bin was a package for Ed. It was a MGD box wrapped in duct tape. When he opened it up, there was a big plastic owl inside. From then on, almost yearly we received an owl in the mail. For Christmas's and birthday's Ed would get owls from my father. Soon, all other friends and family jumped on the band wagon seeing who could get him the most unique owls. I remember one that was picked up at a garage sale for 25 cents. When he unwrapped it, it had the price tag still attached (on purpose) and dust on its eyes! Hilarious. Although he won't admit it, I think Ed has developed a love for owls as well. I guess one would after 11 years of owl gifting. In any case, Ed came running in the house the other day wanting us to look at something. We gathered the chidren up and looked up in our pine tree. Wouldn't you know it, there was an owl living there. Under the tree were tons of pellets full of bones and fur...kind of neat actually. I guess we finally received the real thing!