Let's Play Ball- Round 2

And just like that, t-ball season is over. We had the closing ceremony and trophy award this morning. I'm generally happy and impressed with how Tyler did for his first real go at a sport. There were many times that we had to yell "baseball ready" or tell him to pay attention and quit collecting rocks, etc., but all the kids had a very short attention span for an entire game. When he had the opportunity to play first base or be on the pitcher's mound, where all the action was happening, he really enjoyed it and did great! I personally loved having an excuse to get us out of the house and I'm looking forward to doing it again. Below is a collection of pictures of various positions that he played and with his baseball buds. :-)

Up to bat with a little coaching instruction-




running to first


Playing 1st base~










Playing 3rd base~


Dugout~


Tyler and Trace


Keane and Tyler


On third base, running home~






Playing 2nd base and having a quick conversation with buddy, Jacob, while he's on base. :-)


Jacob and Tyler after the game~


Playing first base again. Love that he has his glove up and is ready for the action!~








More batting fun~






Quick clip of him hitting the ball~

This is what lala land looks like. :-)




Good game, Good game~


Huddle after the game~


Tyler and Trace




with Grandma Dale and Grandpa Bill~




Getting ready for his "pro" baseball pictures~




Group shot




Receiving his trophy at the end of the season~




I loved that he took a second to actually take a look at his trophy. He was SOO proud!

Family Fun night at Tyler's school

Here are just a couple short clips from the great family night and fundraiser that Tyler's school did. You have to watch them from a PC or device with flash player. :-)

Kinley was grooving while the class before Tyler was performing.

Tyler's art display at school.

Look who's been in a cast

I'm not surprised that my dare-devil daughter would be the first one to end up in a cast, but I thought it would definitely be due to something more dare-devilish than what landed her in this one. She was sitting in my swivel desk chair and Tyler was spinning her around. It's something they often do for fun when we're upstairs. I was cleaning in the room next door when she fell off the chair and didn't actually witness it, but I would have never guessed that she'd have an elbow fracture from falling off a chair two feet tall onto the carpet. She was definitely in pain and after a horribly failed attempt at me trying to pop her elbow in place (because I thought she may have had a nurse maid's elbow due to similar symptoms as when she had that before), we took her in for an x-ray with a hairline fractured elbow diagnosis and three weeks in this very expensive fashion accessory.

April 19th-


Fast forward three weeks later and we are heading in to get this sucker removed!! Long bath this evening, here we come!!
May 10th-

Tyler is 5 years old!

Five years old with some updates and things to share... Let's just jump right in.

We have just a few weeks left of pre-school and then it's off to "the BIG school" for kindergarten. Tyler is actually very excited about this, however, I guarantee that once he has to get up early every.single.morning, that excitement will wear off. He's not a morning person and he gets that honestly because neither am I. They consider you late for kindergarten at 7:45am!! We are barely getting up at 7:45a now and it's usually a struggle to get moving after that. Our whole schedule is going to change- dinner time, bath time, bedtime, when I fix lunch and breakfast, when I work, what time I go to bed... everything, and none of it sounds very appealing to me. And entering the system and thinking about having a school schedule dictate our personal schedule for the next 12+ years isn't appealing either. The past five years with our relaxed routine have been sooooo nice!!! However, I'm trying to start out the school year positively- can you tell?!? ;-)

Tyler really wants to buy his lunch at school AND ride the bus, which would definitely make things easier on my end, but I'm just not on board with either. We did talk about letting him buy his lunch one day a week as a "treat" after we see the menu. I know it will be something fun for him to do socially. I know that riding the school bus would be fun as well, especially since a few of his neighborhood friends will be riding the bus, but not only can I not imagine getting him up an extra 45 minutes earlier for this, I've heard that the kinder and 1st graders get made fun of on the bus by the 3rd-5th graders and are called the "Kindergarten babies" and they even have a chant to go along with it, and I just can't see that going over well with me at all. We've recently had a couple of issues with some of Tyler's "best friends" from school now just doing unacceptable things to him, which resulted in me having a come to Jesus conversation with them on the playground about their behavior towards Tyler. NOT looking forward to more kids and nonsense, so avoiding the bus may be the best route (get it... get it?!?). :-)

Tyler and his little friend, Macy, have already made plans to get married when they get older. He has even been so kind and invited me to tag along on their picnics that they will have in the HEB parking lot, while drinking beer. Seriously! :-) And he thinks that she will be a great mommy, just like me, when she stays home with their kids, while he's riding his rocket in outer space. And it gets better because he plans to do all of this with his little girlfriend, Madelynn, in tow! Yikes! We'll have some clarification to do on how this whole thing works when the timing is right, but for now, it's cute to hear these funny stories and to hear each little girl claim him as their boyfriend. By the way, Macy and Madelynn are best friends. HaHa!

He has really gotten into collecting rocks (sorry, I mean, crystals) this past year. It started with school and he brings home 15 tiny crystals every day. And now he acts like he's on a personal mission to find anything shiny and pretty on the ground, no matter where we are. I don't have a clue what I'm going to do with all of these treasures that he finds. He's about to wrap up t-ball and I think we'll give it another shot in the Fall. At least he says that he wants to do it again. He's planning to do some art classes, a tumbling class and a martial arts class this summer. Those classes, in addition to our FUN vacations we're planning, will keep us very busy this summer!

One thing he's kind of gone backwards on is his sleeping situation. He was doing so great and finally sleeping in his room all night by himself and then he ended up in my room during the Christmas holidays when we were all so stinkin' sick. He was coughing/choking at night and wanted to be near me and I wanted him near, so we put Kinley's baby mattress next to my bed and that's where he's been sleeping since. I've offered his room and bed to him several times, but he wants to stay in my room. He's also going through the phase of being scared of the dark and for whatever reason, he's scared of the smoke detectors and has a real concern about the house catching on fire. I can only guess that it may have something to do with Mamma losing her home to the fire because he's mentioned it several times, but I don't know... that was 1 1/2 years ago. The ongoing struggles with our sleeping situation. Although, I honestly don't consider any of this a struggle anymore. It is what it is and everyone is getting good, solid sleep. Once I got over what others might think a long time ago, I've realized this is ideal for us and I doubt that I'll be reporting in five years from now that he's still sleeping in my room. HaHa, who knows though... we might really be an extreme case of attachment parenting. ;-)

In following with what we did last year, here is a list of the same questions I asked Tyler on his 4th birthday and his new answers below.

1. How old are you? 5.
2. What is your favorite color? Blue and golden.
3. What is your favorite toy? My Spider-Man Stunt City and my Batman castle and my dragon castle and my Transformers and my grocery store... So, all your toys are your favorite? Yeah, all of them. Even my Iron Man mask. (I think he was easily distracted by toys considering we did this in the play room. :-) He spends most of his time playing with Avengers and Rescue Bots).
4. What is your favorite game? Bowling. (We recently did this for a birthday party and he's itching to go back! In general, he loves hide-n-seek, tag, and wrestling with his Daddy).
5. What is your favorite thing to do outside? We like to have picnics in my fort or the clubhouse. (He also loves playing in the sand, digging in the dirt with all of his construction vehicles, swinging, and driving his truck around the yard).
6. What is your favorite thing to do inside? Play Iron Man baby. (Iron Man baby is a game that Tyler and Kinley play and it’s something very new. He loves playing with Play-doh, coloring, watching cartoons and we have enough toys to keep an entire daycare entertained.)
7. What is your favorite TV show or cartoon? My TV show and the cartoon is Max and Ruby. And my regular shows are Iron Man baby on Youtube.
8. What is your favorite outfit? Wearing my Captain America shirt and blue jeans and my Captain America socks.
9. What is your favorite animal? Cassie, that’s my pet cat.
10. What is your favorite song? Rock-a-bye, baby. (Random answer. :-) He likes Kidz Bop and mistakes The Black Eyed Peas for Kidz Bop, which I think is hilarious. He likes "Life is a Highway" by Rascall Flatts and calls it "California music" and still enjoys anything that is considered Rock & Roll).
11. What is your favorite book? Bible and Iron Man. (He loves reading construction and Rescue Bots books. A few of the nightly regulars lately are: Gingerbread Mouse; Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star; The Little Kitten and Ruby's Rainy Day).
12. What is your favorite fruit? Apples and bananas. (We eat a lot of fruit! His current fav is cantaloup).
13. What is your favorite cereal? Cheerios, the honey cheerios because they are so yummy.
14. What is your favorite snack? Fruit snack.
15. What is your favorite drink? Water and lemonade.
16. What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast? Cereal. (Funny because we don’t have cereal that often and when we do, it's a struggle to get him to finish. He loves when we do pancakes or cinnamon rolls).
17. What is your favorite thing to eat for dinner? Pasta shells with spinach. (He also loves grilled turkey sandwiches, and fish or shrimp).
18. What is your favorite holiday? Spring. Spring is a season. A holiday is like, Christmas or Valentines... Oooo, Valentines. Why? Because you get to tell nice things like I love you. And then you might need to run to the store and if you find Angry Birds, you might get to give them to someone in your family. (This might be a hint-hint).
19. Who is your best friend? Joshua A. and Ethan and Carter and Mommy and Daddy and Kinley.
20. What do you like to take with you to bed at nighttime? Captain Teddy Barrett, Lovey, blue dolphin. (He’s still taking a sippy cup of milk, although he hasn’t been finishing it lately so he might be phasing this out).
21. What is your favorite restaurant? Chavelos (He also loves Chick-fil-A and Mama Fu’s).
22. What is your favorite place to go to? The bowling alley.
23. What are you excited to do this year? Play at the pool with my whole family. (He's been talking about kindergarten and our summer vacations a lot).
24. What do you want to be when you grow up? Policeman. Just yesterday you said you wanted to be the boss of a construction company. Okay. Yeah. You want to do a bunch of things, huh? Oh yeah. (This really does change pretty often).

Video of answers. :-)

Take 2~

Take 3~

Tyler's new ride~

Having too much fun with his birthday present from Mommy and Daddy! :-)

Happy 5th Birthday, Baby Boy~

Dearest Tyler,

You are now FIVE years old! A whole hand old!!! Unbelievable! It’s crazy to think just how fast the past five years have gone by and a little scary to realize that the next five years will go by even faster. Before I know it, you’ll be 10, and then getting your driver’s license, and then graduating high school, and then moving out of the house! I don’t know if I’m ready for all of this yet, but ready or not, you are growing up! I want to go ahead and put this down for the record now that you have [promised] to either live right next door to me or at least really close by when you do decide to move out of the house and this is a promise that I plan to hold you to. ;-) Before I get too far ahead of myself, I’ll just enjoy the now for now.

Five brings on a pretty huge milestone because you are about to head off to kindergarten in just a few months. I know I’m not ready for this one, but maybe I’ll be surprised. I had a hard time letting you go to pre-K this year and that was just two days a week for a few hours, but it turned out to be such a great thing... for both of us! I loved watching you form many friendships and connections all on your own. I loved that you had a sense of schedule and independence. And I loved that you were learning about God and so much more. Much more than what Dora and Diego can teach. ;-) You have enjoyed pre-K so much and I know you will enjoy kindergarten as well. And I know that once the anticipation of kindergarten becomes reality and we settle into our new schedule and routine, I’ll be okay as well. It’s just very hard giving up so much time and handing over so much control to someone else when we’re talking about MY baby. I do think you’ll be in good hands. I wouldn’t let you go if I felt otherwise. We just took a tour of the school (which is top notch, by the way) and I enjoyed sitting back and watching your enthusiasm and excitement for what’s about to come....your classroom, the computer lab, the art room (where you will even get to make pottery!!), the gym, the cafeteria, the playground, and the most awesome library. You really are going to have so much fun! You are going to have new adventures and make new friends. And as you make new friends, I hope that you gravitate towards the people that will lift you up and see you for the sweet, generous, smart, confident, funny, clever, awesome, and cool kid that you are. Don’t let anyone’s words or actions break your self-esteem. Kids can be mean, but don’t let those people dictate your self-worth. You are important!! You are special!! You are loved!! Anyone would be incredibly lucky to have you as a friend. And if/when you do encounter those mean kids, I want you to know that I will always, always be in your corner to listen, guide and protect you... kindergarten and beyond!

These past five years with you have been such a blessing. I feel so lucky to have been able to stay home with you and share this time together... to watch you grow and become such a great kid. And while I'm sad that all of our time won't be spent together once you start school, I am looking forward to sharing an awesome summer with you! We have some really big things planned- Disneyland, South Padre, and a lot of other fun stuff to fill in the gaps! Yes, I'm getting as much quality time as I can get before you head out into the world without me. ;-)

As I close another letter, I want to thank you for another great year filled with beautiful memories. You recently asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. When I told you that I’m doing exactly what I hoped to do, be a Mommy, you replied with, “That’s all?!?" Oh, sweet little dude, you have no idea! I've got the BEST job in the world because of YOU!!! :-)

Happy Birthday, Baby! I love you!

Love, Mommy

Birthday boy waking up!




We had to open "just one" present first thing. The big one had to be opened when Daddy was home. :-)


A quick Super-hero pose before heading off to school!




FIVE!!