Mary Grace Takes 6U Softball by "STORM"

Mary Grace is having a great softball season. We are officially half-way through the season and the girls are playing great! Last Friday Mary Grace reached a huge softball milestone... she hit her first ever HOME RUN! She was beyond excited! We were all beyond excited! We followed that big night with a game Saturday morning and our first win of the season. This past weekend, the girls won their second game and Mary Grace hit two more home runs. And, to top off the weekend, Mary Grace was picked for the Goodlettsville 6U Storm (All-Star) team. The Storm team will travel to weekend softball tournaments throughout the summer. Mary Grace is so excited... especially since Carleigh was also picked for the team and they will spend the summer playing ball together. This is turning out to be an awesome softball season... and we still have another month to go!

All I Want for Summer is My TWO FRONT TEETH!

It was bound to happen. Since the first day of school, I have been holding my breath, waiting on some type of playground catastrophe. I am that overprotective mom that follows her kids around the playground attempting to protect them from every bump, bruise, or fall. I am thrilled to help them cross the monkey bars, happy to wait at the bottom of the slide, and eager to push them on the swings. I love the park, but I will be the first to admit the whole experience makes me nervous... mostly because I hate the thought of my babies getting hurt. So, when Mary Grace started school I had to release all my fears and just pray that she would stay safe. She has loved playing on the playground... getting only a few minor scrapes and bruises along the way. That is until two weeks ago. While playing on the playground at school she slipped and fell and knocked out her two front teeth. Well, actually, she knocked out one tooth and the other was left just barely dangling. So, her dentist went ahead and pulled her other front tooth. She was such a brave little girl. When I picked her up in the office, her eyes were filled with tears as she stood there holding a towel to her mouth. I think she was in shock. But, after a couple of hours and a quick trip to the dentist, she was grinning from ear to ear with her new smile. She could not wait to get home and put her tooth under her pillow for the tooth fairy. She looks so cute... and sounds even cuter!

It's Fun to Play at the Y-M-C-A!!

This year our friend, Carleigh, celebrated her 7th birthday at the YMCA indoor pool. The girls were so excited about this party. I think we started the count down two weeks ahead of time. I was not too sure how Carolyne would do in the pool, but she had SO much fun. She really loved sliding down the frog slide and splashing and kicking in the shallow water with Tucker. Mary Grace had tons of fun with Carleigh and enjoyed meeting a few new friends. We followed a fun day of swimming with a trip to the movies to see Hannah Montana. The girls had really been looking forward to this movie... I think we have been watching previews for 6 months or more. They loved the movie... I have to admit, so did I! It was very cute and they loved singing along and dancing to the music. Since the movie, they have become pros at the "Hoedown Throwdown"... their new favorite Hannah dance. It was a weekend full of excitement and fun!

Easter "Eggstravaganza"

To get ready for Easter, we teamed up with the Smiths and the Hitchcocks for a night of dying eggs. This craft went so much better than I had anticipated... you never know what will happen when you have 5 kids, ranging in age from 2 to 7, all at one table with 6 bowls of dye. But, we had a BLAST! All of the kids made several eggs each... solid colors, tye dye, and even a few with character stickers. Mary Grace and Carleigh were super creative... they took a lot of time drawing faces on their eggs. Carolyne and Brody took a careful approach... they wanted to be sure to completely coat each egg with an even amount of color. Tucker was fast and furious... he dyed his eggs (and his hands) and finished them off by cracking the shells and digging out the boiled egg. We had so much fun! I am already looking forward to doing this again next year... another fun friend tradition!

Softball Season has Arrived!

Softball season kicked off with the first game on Friday followed be another game Saturday morning. I am not sure who was more excited in our family. Of course, Mary Grace couldn't wait to get on the field and play softball with all of her friends. Now that she is a little bigger, she really understands the game and enjoys it more now that she can hit well, run fast, and field most balls that come her way. Jason was excited to get back in the swing of our favorite spring sport... he loves coaching ball, especially since he gets to coach with Chris, and has so much fun teaching all of the girls the fundamentals of the game. Carolyne was looking forward to all of the wonderful snacks that she gets only at the ballpark... sunflower seeds, roasted peanuts, and ring pops. And, I was excited to be out in the fresh air with family and friends watching my little girl play ball. I just love this time of year!

Both games went really well! For the Friday game, MG played short stop. Her friend, Carleigh, played pitcher. Now that they are the oldest, it was great to see them playing big positions. On Saturday, MG played pitcher and a little bit at first base. She is so excited that she is getting the chance to play in a few different spots. She had two great hits on Saturday! She was really happy to see her cousin Kailey score her first run ever. Kailey is a great hitter and, over the course of last season, made it to base several times. Unfortunately, it was usually after the third out. On Saturday she got a great hit and was so excited to cross home plate to score a run for her team! We are looking forward to many more exciting games this season!

Mary Grace's Kindergarten Easter Egg Hunt

On Friday, Mary Grace's class celebrated the upcoming Easter holiday with an Easter egg hunt. To prepare for the big event, each child brought in a dozen candy filled eggs and a plastic milk jug. The children used their milk jugs to make a cute bunny Easter basket. Before the hunt, the parents took a little time to hide all of the eggs. Then, all of the kids gathered in the front yard of the school to begin the hunt. At the sound of the whistle, the kids went crazy. They had so much fun running through the yard and searching for eggs. Most of the kids filled their baskets, and suprisingly, shared eggs with those that did not hunt quite as fast. Mary Grace really enjoyed hunting eggs with her friends.

Carolyne is 4 Years Old!!

Two weeks ago Carolyne celebrated her fourth birthday. She was so excited... she has been eagerly anticipating her birthday for months. On March 22nd, we started her birthday celebrations with a party at our house for our families. She was so excited to have her grandparents, aunts, uncle, and cousins join her for lunch, cake, ice cream, and presents. She had a blast! We ended the party with a wiffle ball game in the back yard... I am pretty sure that was her favorite part.

The following Tuesday, she celebrated her birthday at preschool with her class friends. She picked out Polly Pocket cupcakes to take to school. She loved sharing the cupcakes with her friends... although the bright green and pink icing left her teachers with quite a mess. She was one of the last ones in her class to turn four, so she was so happy to finally reach this milestone.

Last, but not least, she celebrated her birthday with all of her little friends on March 28th at My Gym. Carolyne has been taking classes at My Gym since she was 2, so it was no surprise that she wanted to share this experience with all of her friends. The party started with free play time while music by Hannah Montana played in the background. Carolyne LOVED the music... as you all know, she loves any music from Hannah Montana and High School Musical! Then the kids played lots of fun games including dodge ball and freeze dance and took a ride on the zip line. Then, as a surprise to all of the kids and adults, Carolyne came riding out on a motorcycle bike covered in pink feather boas and wearing a crown to the tune of "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun". It was priceless. All of the kids enjoyed cupcakes and then a little more playtime including a swing on the hot dog, before we ended with a puppet show and a game of pop the bubbles. Everyone had so much fun! Carolyne has been asking every day when she gets to have another birthday party at My Gym. It was a great way to end her week of birthday celebrations!