Just in case you were wondering

why I've posted so much this morning....it's because my boys are sleeping forever today!!!!  We didn't get home from the game until 11:30 last night and Barrett was so tired that he had trouble going to sleep. Brody woke up at 9:45 this morning (his normal "sleeping in" time is 9:00).  Barrett came out of his room at 7:30 this morning, took one look at me, and then went back to bed.  It's 10:45 am and he is STILL ASLEEP!!  I guess I should go wake him up for lunch at 11:00! lol  I'm glad Namaw lets me have a flexible work schedule so I can let my babies sleep in when they need the rest!

Random FB posted pics I want to go in my blog book :)

The boys love In-N-Out Burger!  We at here for lunch yesterday after church.  We ate at the outside tables and it was windy!  We had to chase after quite a few napkins due to the wind...but the food was yummy!  Brody still has no desire to eat french fries....whereas we have to wait to give Barrett any french fries until he's eaten an acceptable amount of his burger or fries is all he'll eat!

 

This pictures was from a month or so ago.  It was a beautiful evening and Mike took the top off our Jeep and then we rode around in the country just enjoying the views.  I thought this was a cool picture of Brody watching the train go by.

 

The other day at work I needed to ask Mom a question.  It was lunch time and the boys were at pre-school.  Typically the lunch hour involves eating hurriedly so that Daddy Steve has time to play baseball with the boys before he has to go back to his desk.  I guess lunch is a little more relaxing when the little ones are gone.  This is where I found Mom when I went looking for her.....

 

Rangers Game.....undercover

Last night we went to our first Rangers game of the season (as a family).  We went with our friends Darren & Tonya and their little girl Taylor.  This was the first time we've sat in the Home Run Porch at The Ballpark.  With these seats, you get unlimited food and cokes during the game!  We had hot dogs, nachos, popcorn, peanuts, and grilled chicken sandwiches to our hearts content.  They don't have lids for the cups at the Ballpark....and I knew this meant trouble.  Both boys spilled a drink!  At least it just got the ground wet and didn't soak them! 

The downside to sitting in the Home Run Porch is that you can't see the jumbo tron.  The upside is that when it started to rain....we were sitting under a covered porch!  You could see fans making a mass exit all over the stadium and it wasn't until then that we realized it was raining! lol

The Rangers didn't pull out a win last night....but we still had a good time.  (one of these games I'll take my REAL camera to the game so I can get a good family picture with something other than my phone!) 

 

The boys were super excited to get to the ballpark early because last night was Napoli jersey night and they each got a free Napoli jersey when we entered the gates. 

 

Delayed Presents are the BEST!!!

For Christmas, Tyler and Ann gave the boys a coupon to go on a tour of The Ballpark in Arlington (where the Rangers play).  They boys were soooo excited about this present (and adamant that they just went with Tyler and Ann....that Mike & I didn't try to tag along!)  The Saturday of our Mud Run was the big day!  Since Mike & I were at the race, Tyler & Ann picked the boys up from Daddy Steve and Namaw's house.  Axton came over to give them a send off in his Rangers gear! 

Since it's hard to comment on pictures that you weren't a part of.....I'll just let the pictures do most of the talking. I'm so glad that Tyler & Ann took their camera and took lots of pictures for us!  The boys got to see a lot more than they told us about.  All they wanted to talk about with us was the dugout! lol

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tyler and Ann - Thank you so much for giving our boys this gift!  Memories last much longer than toys.  They may have downplayed their excitement while they were with you....but they didn't stop talking about how much fun they had with y'all!  Thanks for showering them with your love!

Mother's Day Luncheon

Today was the Mother's Day Luncheon at the boys' school.  They sang a song for us, read a book to us, had a speaker, and served us a delicious lunch!  Brody got to carry the lunch to me so I got a picture with him...

 

but Barrett's class came out to sing and then went straight back to their room.  I'm guessing they thought it might be hard for the little ones to go back to school for the afternoon if they cuddled with Momma in the middle of the day :)

 

Before the program I asked Brody, "Are y'all gonna sing a song that's gonna make me cry?"  He said, "No, but we're reading a book that'll make you cry!"  As soon as the teacher read the title I was fighting back tears!  As many times as I've read this book I still cry every time!  To make it even harder....they had the pre-K kids (ie. Brody) saying the chorus and the teacher read the rest of the book.  Whew!  I'm sure I had mascara all over my face after that! lol  In case you haven't read the book Love You Forever before....here's the story (make sure you have some klenex nearby!)

Love You Forever

by Robert Munsch

A mother held her new baby and very slowly rocked him back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. And while she held him, she sang:

I'll love you forever,
I'll like you for always,
As long as I'm living
my baby you'll be.

The baby grew. He grew and he grew and he grew. He grew until he was two years old, and he ran all around the house. He pulled all the books off the shelves. He pulled all the food out of the refrigerator and he took his mother's watch and flushed it down the toilet. Sometimes his mother would say, "this kid is driving me CRAZY!"

But at night time, when that two-year-old was quiet, she opened the door to his room, crawled across the floor, looked up over the side of his bed; and if he was really asleep she picked him up and rocked him back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. While she rocked him she sang:

I'll love you forever,
I'll like you for always,
As long as I'm living
my baby you'll be.

The little boy grew. He grew and he grew and he grew. He grew until he was nine years old. And he never wanted to come in for dinner, he never wanted to take a bath, and when grandma visited he always said bad words. Sometimes his mother wanted to sell him to the zoo!

But at night time, when he was asleep, the mother quietly opened the door to his room, crawled across the floor and looked up over the side of the bed. If he was really asleep, she picked up that nine-year-old boy and rocked him back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. And while she rocked him she sang:

I'll love you forever,
I'll like you for always,
As long as I'm living
my baby you'll be.

The boy grew. He grew and he grew and he grew. He grew until he was a teenager. He had strange friends and he wore strange clothes and he listened to strange music. Sometimes the mother felt like she was in a zoo!

But at night time, when that teenager was asleep, the mother opened the door to his room, crawled across the floor and looked up over the side of the bed. If he was really asleep she picked up that great big boy and rocked him back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. While she rocked him she sang:

I'll love you forever,
I'll like you for always,
As long as I'm living
my baby you'll be.

That teenager grew. He grew and he grew and he grew. He grew until he was a grown-up man. He left home and got a house across town. But sometimes on dark nights the mother got into her car and drove across town. If all the lights in her son's house were out, she opened his bedroom window, crawled across the floor, and looked up over the side of his bed. If that great big man was really asleep she picked him up and rocked him back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. And while she rocked him she sang:

I'll love you forever,
I'll like you for always,
As long as I'm living
my baby you'll be.

Well, that mother, she got older. She got older and older and older. One day she called up her son and said, "You'd better come see me because I'm very old and sick." So her son came to see her. When he came in the door she tried to sing the song. She sang:

I'll love you forever,
I'll like you for always...

But she couldn't finish because she was too old and sick. The son went to his mother. He picked her up and rocked her back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. And he sang this song:

I'll love you forever,
I'll like you for always,
As long as I'm living
my Mommy you'll be.

When the son came home that night, he stood for a long time at the top of the stairs. Then he went into the room where his very new baby daughter was sleeping. He picked her up in his arms and very slowly rocked her back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. And while he rocked her he sang:

I'll love you forever,
I'll like you for always,
As long as I'm living
my baby you'll be.

Barrett's last game of the season...

 

 

 

Easter Lunch with the Family 2012

What?!? Easter was almost 3 weeks ago?!? Well...I figured you were inundated with Easter posts immediately following Easter, so I thought I'd wait until now to post about it. Either that....or it took me getting strep throat to finally have time to look through the pictures and pick a few to post ;)  We were missing a lot of our family this Easter (Tyler, Ann, & Luke were sick, Jon, Cindy, Bella, & Emma weren't in town, Ron & Jan were in China on a mission trip, and Matt wasn't able to come), but those of us present had so much fun! 

 

 

 

 

Heart of Gold

Today Mrs. Stephanie stopped me on my way into school to pick up the kids.  She said, "I have got to tell you about Brody!  He's one of the kids that is soooo done with being in pre K and is ready to move on to elementary school.  That's probably why he shocked me today!  We were practicing the last song for our end of year program.  It talks about being friends forever and how we can all be looking at the same sun at the same time (I don't remember what else she said the song said....at this point I was just standing there thinking 'Don't cry Staci!  Don't cry!').  I usually have a kid who will get teary eyed during this song and I saw Brody starting to tear up.  I said, 'It's ok to be sad.  We're sad because we'll miss our friends and won't get to see them every day like we're used to.' and at that Brody lost it!  He was boo hoo crying and sobbing!  It just shocked me!  Other kids saw him crying and it started a chain reaction!"

It really didn't surprise me at all that Brody would cry.  He has such a tender, compassionate heart.  He also pays attention and understands what is going on around him.  While some kids might just be singing the words to the song, Brody will be listening to and thinking about the words.  I'm so thankful that he is such a loving and compassionate little boy.  It shows in everything he does and I'm proud of the fact that he has such a heart of gold.

In other news....today was Texas Rangers Day at school.  The teachers were all teasing Brody about the fact that he considers every day Rangers Day.  This is true.  There aren't many days when he wears clothes that don't say Texas Rangers!  Barrett was super excited because I told him he could wear one of his Rangers hats....meaning he didn't have to let me fix his hair! 

 

Mini OK Vacation

After Barrett's game on Saturday morning, we loaded the boys in the car and started driving.  Brody immediately began asking questions.  "Daddy!  Why are you turning this way?  That's not the way home!"  We told them we were surprising them with a mini vacation!  We drove up to Oklahoma and had some fun exploring the great outdoors as a family.  We stayed a hotel in a small town and ate Mexican food at a place recommended by the locals (it was delicious!!!)  It was so fun to get away to the country for the weekend and take a few minutes to just breathe and be a family!

 

Barrett holding what he was calling "copines". 

 

My boys hiking together through a meadow...

 

Mike reminded us several times to stop and see the little things in life....like this turtle that was crawling along the road...

 

and this flower that Brody picked for me as we were out hiking....

 

Did you know there are mountains in Oklahoma?  Ok...maybe they're just hills...but they were tree covered and beautiful!

 

 

On our way home on Sunday we stopped at the Bass Pro on Lake Ray Hubbard.  It was a pretty sweet Bass Pro!  They had a deck all around the boats so you could easily climb in them and check them out.  After exploring the store, we ate at the Bass Pro restaurant.  We sat at a table outside overlooking the lake.  There was a cool breeze and the temperature was perfect for outdoor dining.

 

Baseball Family Weekend

This weekend we had a bunch of family out at the ball diamonds to watch the boys play! 

 

On Friday night, our schedule looked like this:

6:00 - Barrett's game

6:15 - Brody's team pictures

7:15 - Brody's game

8:00 - Mike & Staci's softball game

10:00 - Mike & Staci's softball game

It was just a little bit crazy!  I didn't get any pics of Barrett during his game because I was rushing Brody to his team pictures and finding something at the concession stand for Brody to eat for dinner.  I was busy feeding Barrett during the 30 minutes I got to stay at Brody's game, so I didn't get any pics of him either!  It was only his 2nd game of the season, so I'll have plenty of time to catch him in action.

Barrett had another game this morning at 9 am....so I made sure to capture a few pictures of him playing.

 

He got the only out of the game!  He was playing short stop and ran and tagged 2nd base to get the runner out!

 

Coach Brady was out of town, so Mike stepped in as head coach for this game.  Here he's holding the bat of an eager Barrett....waiting for the other team to get into their defensive positions.

 

YAY!  Barrett finally slid feet first!!!!

 

He left this on my computer....

 

So proud!!!

When I picked Barrett up from school on Tuesday, Mrs. Sarah said he had something special to tell me.  He ran to me and was talking excitedly about some award that he got and he kept talking about Texas Roadhouse.  Mrs. Sarah explained to me that one of the other teachers had asked Mrs. Sarah's class to go sit on a certain line and that Barrett was the only one in the class that obeyed.  They wanted to reward his obedience, so they gave him a "Super Star Note" and a certificate for a free meal at Texas Roadhouse!  I was so proud of him!  Not only did he obey his teachers....but he set an example for others!  This is the kind of leadership we've been trying to instill in our boys and it was so good to see him doing what we've been talking about.  James 1:22 says "Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves.  Do what it says."  Mike and I were proud of Barrett for doing what he's been learning about in God's word!

 

For the love of the game...

There's no doubt this boy has a love for the game of baseball.  If Daddy Steve isn't available to play catch during one of Barrett's t-ball games....Brody usually ends up sitting at the fence of one of the kid pitch games watching the "older boys" play ball.

 

Caught the Light

He may still be working on catching balls as a third baseman....but I loved the way he caught the light in his position during his game last week!  Too bad the fence was in the way of my perfect picture! lol

 

 

 

Brody reminds Barrett every at bat to slide "feet first".  Somehow he never remembers to slide feet first by the time he gets to homeplate!  It's more like a diving crawl to home! 

 

Mud Run 2012

A few months ago Tonya (the manager of our softball team...pink shirt below) asked if we'd do The Original Mud Run with her and Darren.  Tim and Bud (also on our SB team) also joined in for the big race.  The mud run is a 10k (or 5k....but we missed the turn for the 5k so we did the 10k! lol) cross country race.  Not only are you running across uneven terrain, you encounter 25 obstacles along the way.  Let's just say you don't exactly stay clean during this competition!  The 2nd obstacle involved swimming across the Trinity River (brrrrrrr!) and climbing up a muddy embankment on the other side.  From then on we were diving into muddy water, crawling on our bellies through mud, climbing up and over 20 foot walls, walking across a muddy/slippery log, and many many other crazy obstacles! 

Yesterday was race day and it was sooooo much fun!!!!  Here's a picture of the crew before the race:
Mike, Staci, Bud, Darren, Tonya, and Tim  (Darren & Tonya's daughter, Taylor, was just a spectator)

 

Bud's spikey hair didn't stay styled for long....

 

Tim's wife, Kristin, sat at this obstacle and waited for us to come by so she could take pictures.  Here's me and Mike climbing up the shipping container

 

And then jumping off it into a pit of muddy water!  You couldn't see the bottom to know how deep it was....but you had to assume it was really deep.  It looked like we were really high up when we were standing on top of the container!  The girl sitting down on top (by me...I'm standing about to jump) sat there for a while....afraid to jump!  If you look at the water just in front of Mike you'll see that there's a person there.  You can barely see the black of his head and then his hands sticking out to the sides away from Mike.  This guy was drowning in the deep water!!!  When Mike jumped in, the guy (over 6' tall and at least 250 lbs) grabbed on tight to Mike like a panicked drowning victim.  Mike said he couldn't talk to Mike and just had a panicked look in his eyes. 

 

Mike grabbed the guy and hauled him to the embankment.  He was very thankful to be back on solid ground!  I didn't even realize what was happening until afterwards! 

 

This was Mike's first 10k!  I'm so glad I got to do it with him!  We had soooooo much fun on this race!  I'm glad the others talked us into doing it!  Can you tell that we got a little dirty?

 

The after picture: 

Staci, Mike, Tim, Darren, & Tonya (I still can't figure out how Tonya kept her shirt so clean?!?)

 

After the race we headed to the clean off area.....there was a fire truck parked in the parking lot with some firemen manning the hoses spraying off all the dirty contestants!  It was freezing....but it felt great to get all the mud off our bodies!  Then we changed into clean clothes and enjoyed the free food and drinks provided by the race organizers/sponsors.  We found out that there's a kids division of the Mud Run.  I can't wait to let our boys compete!  They love any activity that gives them permission to get muddy!!!!