Get your game face on!

We're playing real ball now, boys!

J man has a new team, a new number and a new position, too.  This is serious stuff.

Kid pitch baseball is taking a little getting used to for all of us.  The boys are throwing harder than the coaches did last season, which really surprised me.  Coach Jeff was not looping it in there.

Nevertheless, these kids are striking out more than they'd like to sometimes.  Jackson struck out the first time up to bat on Thursday night, but he didn't let it get him down.

Thank goodness, because Coach Brian called him in to pitch at the end of the 1st inning.  We needed one more out...

and this time the kid came through big time!

It's amazing what a few pitching lessons from Coach can do.  Jackson pitched so well!

My little guy pitched 2 1/3 innings and only allowed one run to score.

He threw 43 pitches...

had 5 strikeouts...

one hit batter and two walks.  All in all, a great effort!  He even caught a ball that was hit back to him to end the 2nd inning.

Then he came up to bat again in the 3rd inning with bases loaded.  There was a full count on him, but he hung in there and hit it past the short stop.  The Wildcats scored two and Jackson made it safely to first base.  Yeehaw!  Wildcats won 12-4!  I have a feeling this season is going to be fun:)

First

Last week this little lady got her very FIRST tooth.

We were so happy for our baby girl, but a little bit sad, too.  Like her daddy said, "that's our baby."

 

 

Big sister had her FIRST day of school on Wednesday this week, and no one was sad about that!  All smiles around here for Miss Lila Lou.

We are so excited about her awesome teacher and know that she is going to learn so much this year.  She's the big girl on campus.  Hey now!

 

As she told her grandparents the other night, "I've got all my peeps in class with me."  Ha!  Love this kid to pieces. She's right, too!  She's got Brooklyn B., Calley, Henlee and Brooklynn S. 
So much fun. 

Jackson started playing on a new team this season.  All of us went to cheer on the Dallas Wildcats at their FIRST game on Tuesday night.  Go Wildcats!

He rolls deep and travels with plenty in his fanclub.  In attendance for the first game were Boom, Maddie, Uncle Andrew, Aunt Maria, Memaw, Poppi, and of course his sisters and parents.

He's playing big boy ball now.  They can steal bases, it's kid-pitch, etc. 
Time to get your game face on, for sure.  His buddy, Gage is on the team with him this year.  Gage's dad just happens to have a sports photography business, www.FocusedOnFun.com, and very nicely takes amazing pictures of all the kids for us. 

 

Fly-ball practice before the game.



We had announcers and music before the game began, too.  So cool! 
Batting third for the Dallas Wildcats, #24, Jackson Haaaaays!!!

Since it's kid pitch, there are more balls than strikes sometimes.  J man walked his first two times up to bat.  He stole second both times...

and then was on to third base.

He played third base the whole time, another FIRST, until he got called in to pitch at the end of the game.  That was a FIRST that he'd probably like to forget, but he tried his best.  It was hard to watch, but he got through it.  Not all firsts are fun, but it builds character. 

#24 scored twice, but the Wildcats lost 8-9.  So close!  Stay tuned for more fun baseball, soccer, gymnastic and dance updates.  We are so crazy busy this fall, but having a ball.

Labor Day Weekend!

 Labor Day Weekend at Texoma.  No other way to do it.  The lake level is just barely high enough to get the boat in, so we had to take a trip up there and get in our Texoma time. We've missed our lake trips so much this summer!

These three were happy as could be to be back on the inner tube.  They love it!

 

Baby Cami was good as gold the whole time. We are so thankful to have a "go-with-the-flow" baby.  Finally!

Happy girls:)

Daddy took his turn, too, with this sweetness.

We actually got to visit with my parents, too, while the little monsters were all playing on the inner tube.  It was so nice!

There was plenty of jumping into the lake...

and lots of "surfing" too.

Then it was time for the real fun.  Jackson was feeling pretty brave at this point. 
"Look, mom, no hands!"

Lila and I loved our time on the tube, also, but one of us was a little sore the day after.  These muscles got a good workout!

We went to dinner and then this happened--bedtime snuggles with her big brother:)

The next morning, Jackson got up bright and early and went on a boat ride with Boom Pa.  Then he took the girlies on a golf cart ride in their jammies.

A couple hours later we were on the water again.  It wasn't crowded at all. So crazy! Amazing, since it was the holiday, but we'll take it!



We took them over to see the boats in the marina, which was very impressive, especially to Cameron.

The afternoon was full of more tubing.  Even Gigi got out there for a few spins!

And Captain Jack worked on his boat driving skills, too.

This kid is becoming a Jack of all trades--four wheelers, horses, boats, golf carts. 
He can drive 'em all!

Happy Labor Weekend!

It's the Little Things

Sometimes just the smallest change can make a huge impact.  Take Lila's school for instance.  They have a new director this year (who we love!) and she decided to do Meet the Teacher a little differently this year.  Instead of everyone coming on one night for an hour, she had each teacher schedule a time to meet with the parents and student one-on-one. 

Isn't that so nice?!  We got to visit with Mrs. Rains for thirty minutes and didn't have to stand in line or anything.  Genius!

Lila got to color a picture while I visited with her teacher.  She got to meet the class mascot, too--Chester the Raccoon!

We think this is going to be Lila's favorite year of school yet.  She's the big girl on campus this time and loving everything about it.

Sweet Cami gave her seal of approval for Mrs. Rains, too.  School starts tomorrow.  Hooray!!!

Another little change to our day has also been the bus.  See that kid stepping up into the bus?  That's my child!  He rode it a few times last week to school, but today will be the first time to ride it home.  No more waiting in the carpool line for this mama!  Hallelujah!  It will save me at least thirty minutes every afternoon and the girls won't have to just chill in the car.

 

Yet another small, but fun change--VIP tickets to the Rough Riders game!  Thanks, Emily, for the tickets.  These two boys and their daddies had a blast.  They loved everything about it and even got to see the fireworks after it was over.  That was the big bonus for the little boys.  Free beer all night was the bonus for the big boys.

 

And they thought the JC Penney Club was pretty sweet, too:)

 

 

 

 

Earlier last week, Lila said sadly, "Mama, I don't think we're ever going to get to do anything with just me and you again."  I told her that of course we would, but that got me thinking.  I couldn't come up with one thing that we'd done, just the two of us, since Cami was born.  And that was just unacceptable!  So, we woke up on Saturday morning and I asked her what she'd like to do.  After listening to a couple of options, she chose for us to go to a girly lunch.  We put on our sundresses and headed out towards Chocolate Angel.  I called on the way and got the last table for lunch.  Yay!  It was so very, very cute.  They brought her lemonade in a china teacup.  Fancy! 

 

Then she ordered star shaped PB&J with fresh fruit.  She loved everything about it and used her best manners the whole time.

 

We enjoyed ourselves so much and will definitely do it again, sooner rather than later.  No need to wait 7 more months.  And as a bonus, little sister did fantastic with her daddy and brother.  They went to In and Out Burger and she was a doll, then when I got home she was sitting in her daddy's lap, just smiling away.  Made this mama so very happy.

 

Any finally, we always love us a reason to celebrate around here, and Saturday night we had a great one.  It was Aunt Lyndsie's birthday! The whole fam met at Gloria's in Addison to wish her a Happy 26th.

Uncle Scott lit all the candles...

and then J and L got to help her blow them out.  How fun!