DJ & Jack's 1st Soccer Game

Since the boys’ games got rained out last Saturday, due to Hurricane Lee, our first soccer games were today. The boys played great. Jack’s team & DJ’s teams both won even though we are not allowed to officially keep score. Secretly, we all keep score, especially the players! This was my first year of coaching & I have the privilege of working with both 1st and 2nd graders. I have to say DJ has really come along way with his soccer abilities since he first started about 3 years ago. My kid was a superstar today. He scored 7 goals & did he ever work the field! We still have our work cut out for us.
We have been blessed with a beautiful weather this week, however, we have much warmer weather coming our way next week. Our pool temperature is 82. That is still a little cool for our newly aquired thin Alabama blood, but with our pool solar cover coming & the higher temperatures coming, we will hopefully push it up around 88! No worries, we are still making good use of our new waterhole. Landscaping kicks off this week & then I can put together the pool pictures from start to finish.

School has Begun

I can’t believe the boys almost have their first week of school completed. Jack started Kindergarten with Mrs. Deese and was lucky enough to know one of his classmates. He and Emily went from preschool to kindergarten together. He is doing great with the transition. I am so proud of him.
DJ started 2nd grade and he got Ms. Moberg. He didn’t seem really excited at first, but once she started giving them math quizzes, he was very excited. He came home asking me to time him while he worked on 100 addition problems. He completed 72 in 5 minutes.
Most importantly, my life got a whole lot easier. Both boys go to Hutchens Elementary and it is less than a mile from our house. It has certainly quieted down since this summer. I have gone from pulling two boys off of one another to monitoring the school cafeteria during lunch and starting my classroom mom duties. I will also be coaching DJ’s soccer team. Our first practice is tomorrow. I am very excited for this school year!!

Family Movie Night

We decided to have our first movie night… Pizza, popcorn, the big screen. We even had our movie picked out earlier in the week. A friend recommended Secretariat. The pizza happened, but since it didn’t come out until later than expected, we ended up just watching it downstairs. The movie was a hit for both kids & adults. My soon-to-be 7 year old now knows that you need to win the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness, and the Beltmont in order to win the Triple Crown. He also learned that the last time it was done was before Uncle Mike was born- June 1973. His comment was- “that sure was a long time ago!”
After the pool today, they wanted to watch it again. They spent the next hour taking turns being Secretariat & racing around the house winning. It was fun until Maggie joined in & started chasing too!

Jack's 5th Birthday Party

Jack has had quite the busy week. He had his end of the school year party, as well as, his last day on Thursday, he graduated on Friday, and his birthday, as well as, the celebration on Saturday. Needless to say, we all rested at the Richmond pool today after church! Jack’s party was at the Partridge Plantation in Irvington, AL. There were pony rides & a hayride for the adults & children. They got to play on an old tractor, see a lot of different animals & climb on a jungle gym area. The kids had a great time. The pictures that daddy took will tell the story much better!

The Birthday Boy 

Jack & Talus on the Horse Swing

Aren't they Cute? 

My 1st attempt at a Cupcake Cake

Super Fun Day!

The Graduate

Our baby, Jack, has finally entered a new phase in his life. He is now moving onto Kindergarten & joining his big brother at Hutchens Elementary. He just finished up at Cottage Hill Presbyterian Preschool. It was a place where he met lots of new Alabama friends and he will even be going to Kindergarten with one of them- Emily. As per Jack’s request, we had dinner at Bonefish Grill & then went right to graduation- Friday, May 2oth. It was a great ceremony of singing & reading & then of course the scrolls were passed out. Many of the girls got bouquets of flowers, but Jack got a cookie bouquet… which he & DJ were quite delighted with as they munched on it during our journey home.

  

Maggie

So much to update once again….I haven’t been keeping up & we have a new dog, a new grad & a birthday. We will start with our pup. She is lucky Jack & mommy saw her. We were driving along Jeff Hamilton Extension in Mobile, AL & we saw her playing chicken with a few cars. Our plan was to get her off the street, but unfortunately, a large black dog had other plans for her. We saw Maggie get attacked before our eyes. It was heartbreaking, but don’t worry this story has a happy ending. Maggie was treated by a local vet & she is making a full recovery, Her back & hind leg look nasty, but she is healing. Emma and her are best buds & play continuously. I wanted to find her a good home, however, I was informed she had one! We are now a 3 dog & 1 cat household.

Baseball

We have spent a lot of time this spring at the fields at Christ United Methodist Church watching and playing t-ball. Jack and DJ have practice on Tuesday and Thursday, respectively, and both have their games on Saturday. When we are lucky their games are scheduled close to each others. This weekend, however, isn’t one of the lucky ones. DJ’s game is first thing in the morning & Jack’s game is late in the afternoon.

Favorite part of his Baseball Game

Hangin' with the Bay Bear

We also made time to go to a local game. We watched the Mobile Bay Bears play last weekend. They were undefeated until we watched them play. The boys had a great time. They wore their t-ball shirts & walked on the field with their teammates. They also got the chance to chase the Bay Bear across the field.