Fan Favorite

There's no doubt that Eli loves baseball. He has been wearing his glove around the house for months, and he loves going to play in the backyard. He especially loves being pitched to and hitting the balls. After weeks of waiting, the day finally arrived for his first t-ball practice. I picked up both kids from school, and we did a quick change in the school bathroom. For this first practice, we went all out with the full uniform. (I know now that athletic pants and regular socks are okay for practices!) The green socks were Eli's choice. And he wore his Daddy's old Orioles hat. Once we got to the field, Eli became a bit shy. Okay, full disclosure, there were some tears, but after I peeled him off of me, he smiled and participated the rest of the practice. I was very proud of him! Practices continue through the month of March, and then games will begin in April. It should be quite entertaining, to say the least!

Eli's teacher Mrs. Judy said that he is a "fan favorite" (her words) in the Bluebirds class. I loved hearing that. Hopefully it wasn't just a euphemism for being too chatty or boisterous! :) It made me smile, because he is certainly a fan favorite with us. This past week, somehow I had to take Eli to the store not once, but TWICE, and both times he chose the monstrous kid shopping cart, which made for the fun task of navigating the tight aisles and the check-out. But look how happy he is!

Emmy has started her practices too. In the machine pitch division, each week they have field practices and cage practices. Before that first practice, Boomer took her to a batting cage nearby so she could get used to the ball coming at her. Already we have seen a big improvement in her stance and swing. During the field practice this week, Emmy was noticeably more comfortable being out there. She is doing a great job stopping the ball with her glove or going after it if it gets through. We are especially proud of her desire to learn and improve. She will often ask Boomer or her coach questions to clarify a skill or a set of directions. 

At the end of this week, Boomer had a conference in Wilmington, and we certainly missed him. I missed him tonight as I hustled to get both kids to their respective fields for practice at 6PM! While in Wilmington, Boomer got to have dinner with Kyle and Carlin. He doesn't get to see them often, so it was nice that his conference brought him to their neck of the woods. 

Since we will be traveling over the Easter Holiday, we dyed our eggs a little early this year. Grammy had everything set up for us last Saturday when we arrived: 36 eggs in total. Each of the kids took turns putting their eggs into the color of their choice. In between dyeing eggs, they were back and forth playing ball in Grammy and Grandpa's front yard. It was such a beautiful day that we moms didn't fight to keep them inside. We finished up the last of the eggs and had a dozen each to take home. It will be a different Easter this year not at church and with our whole family, but hopefully the Easter Bunny will find us at our hotel in Florida. 

I am looking forward to the weekend ahead. This week has been a doozy, as I have coordinated two different field trips. For a field trip to Appalachian, we took a larger bus with a bus driver. But for the second field trip to a local business fair, we took this smaller bus. Enjoy this photo of me behind the wheel for the first time!