The best of the rest of May

Besides all the "big" stuff that happened in May lots of little daily things happened as well.  I absolutely had to take pictures just to annoy my kiddos.

Samuel had the biggest and busiest month of anyone.  He played on two different baseball teams and a flag football team.  He had a second piano recital and a little musical at school.  It's a good thing he likes to be active!

playing his duet with his teacher

Samuel with Mrs. Harriet

Elena and all the kindergartners performed at school.  They are all so cute!  Elena is a cute flower! She continued to love swim team and looks so cute in her googles!

Ranger and I started running together.  At first it was just a little over a mile, but he is getting more acclimated to the heat and humidity.  We finished a 4 mile run in 39 minutes on Memorial Day.  Cats can be an issue and require lots of extra leash holding by me, but I am really happy with how well he is doing!  Ranger also picks up Emma from school every day with me.  He loves the car!

Drew and I had a fun afternoon on a Saturday to ourselves.  The kids all participated in the "Kids Run the Ballpark" at Rice.  They did some announcing, field crew work, sold items in the store, and did lots of touring.  They had a great time.  We had a great time at lunch and watching 5 innings of baseball with no kids!

Mia's downtown is yummy!

Yes these cute faces sold me some Rice gear!

Haude had career day.  Samuel was an Army Ranger.  Elena was a vet.  Jonah was an "I'm not sure".

Finally, I started my little job at church.  I have loved volunteering at Golden Gathering in various ways for years.  I started attending the monthly gatherings in September when Elena started school full time.  I have loved every minute.  Our sweet guests have a special place in my heart and it is something I look forward to every month.  When my friend retired I had the opportunity to be the Golden Gathering leader.  I have big shoes to fill, but I am super excited about the opportunity.  My first on my own meeting was this month and I made these baseball cookies for dessert.

So, May was filled with lots of craziness and activities.  We made great memories.  June brings the end of school and the start of our summer travels.  I am ready for summer!!

Happy Easter

Happy Easter!  We had a wonderful, meaningful, and fun Easter weekend filled with great church and family activities.  Our weekend actually began on Thursday with the Maundy Thursday service.  This is my favorite service of the year because it involves children, youth, and adults.  It includes traditional and contemporary music.  And, I get to sit with my entire family instead of us all being at different places in church. 

Saturday our friends came with us to the Eggstravaganza at church. The kids had lots of fun enjoying the secular silliness of Easter.  I think the favorite thing for them was the Easter egg hunt because Easter definitely includes candy.  Drew and I also gave the kids their baskets on Saturday.  Sunday is so crazy that there is no enjoyment in giving the baskets and the kids can't enjoy them. I think this is one of my smartest mom decisions ever!

Everyone was happy with their candy, books, and random other fun things!

My "basket" from Drew which I absolutely loved!

Sunday we had a lovely service at church followed by a butterfly release.  The symbolism of new life is easy for everyone to understand.  Having butterflies sit on your hand is also pretty cool!

In addition to all the Easter activities was baseball.  The kids and I went Friday night.  Some of us went on Saturday afternoon.  And we all went on Sunday after church.  For the second year in a row Rice has played at home on Easter weekend so we had our Easter meal picnic style. 

They participated in an egg hunt after the game!

Our Easter picnic

He caught a Rice home run ball

One of the reasons we started following Rice baseball and going to the games is because Drew went to school there.  For all the time we spend at games we have never taken the kids on the campus to see where Drew went to classes.  So, after Sunday's game we toured the campus and the kids loved it.  It was fun for Drew to share his experiences with the kids and I think they were really excited to see where their daddy went to school.  They also thought it was pretty funny that it was the third college that Drew attended (lots of letters after his name)!

Our weekend was not filled with much besides being together, watching Rice win baseball games, and rejoicing in our Risen Savior.  It was a wonderful break in the craziness of our daily life.  I am so thankful for these beautiful, crazy kiddos and Drew. 

Happy 8th Birthday Samuel Keath

Happy Birthday to my sweet Samuel!  At 7:25am on Friday he turned 8!!!  I gave him lots and lots of kisses on the way to the bus stop and embarrassed him thoroughly.  It was fun!

His day began with a birthday kiss from me when I woke him for school.  I don't think he has ever dressed so quickly because Samuel knew ice cream was waiting for him.  Cherry Vanilla was his pick this year...

I took Samuel Chick Fil A for lunch and we got to have a fun little birthday lunch at school.

Then the birthday craziness began.  Samuel invited four friends to go to the season opener Rice baseball game.  I downloaded a template to make these awesome invitations.  I am so glad other people are crafty!  One sweet boy thought it was his actual ticket!  That was what he wanted for his birthday party.  So almost as soon as school ended his friend began arriving for cake and presents.  Samuel requested a chocolate chip cookie cake that looked like a baseball....easy!  I decided to get each boy a Rice t-shirt instead of a goodie bag.  Then it was all up to Drew to feed the boys at the game.  Easiest party ever!

Samuel has assumed his baseball watching position for the next four months!  I have no idea why we buy that boy a seat.

Samuel and his friends

With all the craziness of Friday night we didn't give Samuel his gifts until Saturday.  Samuel knew this ahead of time and was totally fine with extending his birthday celebration.  Drew made Samuel a baseball hat holder.  It is super cool and Samuel loved it!  He also got a new baseball bag and that was a huge hit as well.  Finally we gave him a new Army toy and Pokemon cards.  If Samuel isn't playing baseball or football he is playing Army or with those crazy cards.    It makes him happy!

Louisville Slugger cut in half with pegs added

This sweet boy is such a gift.  He is growing into such an incredible person and I am just so proud to be his momma.   His smile makes me happy.  Those adorable freckles on his nose and cheeks make me want to hug him.  His love of sports and desire to talk with me about it all the time makes my heart full.  Listening to him play the piano and secretly admit that he really likes it is awesome.  He is a good student, he works hard, and he is kind to others.  Samuel plays sports with his entire heart.  And that is Samuel....cautious, but all heart.  He gives his all to the things and people he loves.