Dear God...

On Sunday mornings, Will goes to the Littlest Angels class (Sunday School) while we go to Mass.  After Sunday School, we always ask what he learned about.  And every Sunday, with the most exasperated tone, Will answers, "Ughhh, JESUS!" 

Do you think he's hoping that one Sunday he'll walk into class and the topic of the day will be Iron Man?!?!


This week, Will brought home his prayer list:

I'm sure Peter Pan and Sonic would appreciate your prayers, too.

Amen

Fun Run 2011

The 21st annual Fun Run & Family Picnic was today at Jack's school.  We were worried that it might be rained out, but the priests were asked to pray, prayers were answered, and the skies cleared!

This past week, Jack told us that he was going to run in the 5K.  Brent and I tried to explain how far a 5K is (3.1 miles!), but he would not be discouraged.  Jack had made up his mind...he was running the 5K!  Then Will said that he wanted to run the 5K, too.  Well, we put the kibosh on that real quick and suggested that he run the 1 mile fun run.  He was just excited to be able to run.

We split up the running duties.  Daddy and Will would represent the family in the 1 mile.  Mommy and Jack would represent in the 5K.


Pre-race warm-up activities:

I'm comin afta ya!

Will psyching himself up before the race.

The pre-race stretching.

We may not look athletic, but we were feeling it.

The 1 mile fun run was first.

Will and Brent are lining up with the other runners.

Earlier in the day, Will was talking about wanting to "win the race", which led to an important discussion about doing your personal best and finishing the race.  We told him how proud we were that he wanted to run; not many 4 year olds can run a mile.

And here they come to the finish line!

WILL RAN A MILE!  Good job, buddy!

Brent said that Will ran for 2/3 of the way and then they came upon a big hill.  They decided to walk up the hill.  Wise move.  When Jack and I saw them round the corner into the school parking lot, we started yelling and cheering for him.  You could see Will's face just light up!  He was so excited.  And he just looked so cute.  =)

Next up was the 5K...

Jack's teacher, Ms. Ross, was also running.  She was excited that Jack was stepping up to the challenge.

That's my boy!

We're psyched and we're ready!  Bring it!

And we're off.  Due to our amazing speed, it was hard for the camera to capture us clearly!

And what did Will do to entertain himself while Jack and I were running?  He practiced all of his grumpy faces.

Our little curmudgeon needs to keep his skillz sharp.

Oh wait!  Here we come...

Jack raises his hand in triumph!  He sees the finish line and he knows he's gonna make it!

A 5K completed at 7 years old!  Way to go, baby!

We're finished and we're happy.

After the race, I asked Brent, "Now that you've run the mile, do you think you might take up running?"  To which he quickly responded, "Nope.  Hated every minute of it!"  Hahahaha!

We enjoyed a picnic dinner of hamburgers, chicken sandwiches, chips, fruit and cookies.  We stayed for the awards ceremony, and then headed home for baths and bed.

It was a fun day challenging ourselves to push beyond our comfort zones.  We'll do it again next year!

A Peek at our Week 2011: Week 12

Saturday, March 19

Will's first T-ball game was today.  He put on his jersey and his authentic major league Red Sox cap and suddenly he looked like a boy to me.  An 8 year old boy.  And while I was excited for him because he was so excited, I wanted to just cry because my baby, MY BABY Y'ALL, is turning into a BOY right before my very eyes.  Please make the growing up stop!  Pleeeease!

Sunday, March 20

When Brent was in law school, we treated ourselves to a pair of new bikes.  We had so much fun riding those bikes together.  Then we had a baby and moved to another state.  And the bikes were put away.  Brent decided that it was time to start enjoying our bikes again.  So he pulled them out this weekend, cleaned them up, got new tubes for the tires, and we rode our bikes again.  And it was fun again!

  

Monday, March 21

Maybe because it was one of the coldest winters on record for our area and I am so over winter, but I am really enjoying Spring this year, more than I remember enjoying Spring in a long time.  The tulip trees, the hyacinth, the tulips, the daffodils, the Bradford pears, the cherry trees...they are so beautiful!  Watch out Fall, Spring might just edge you out for my favorite season of the year.
 

Tuesday, March 22

The tables were turned...Jack was waiting on the sidelines while Will had T-ball practice.  While entertaining himself with my MP3 player, Jack found the song Amazing Grace (My Chains Are Gone) by Chris Tomlin.  He has sung this song during Mass at school, so he was having a great time gettin' his praise on, completely oblivious that all of us around him could hear his singing!  I am sure the Lord enjoyed it just as much as we did.  =)

 
 Wednesday March 23

 

This week, Will's class is studying dinosaurs and today, they were paleontologists on a dinosaur dig!  He jumped in the car telling me that he ate dirt and bones.  Come to find out that Will used his shovel (spoon) to dig through the dirt and rocks (Fruity Pebbles) until he found the bones (gummies).  Preschool is so much fun!

Thursday, March 24

Report card day.  Jack brought home an excellent report card!  We, of course, are so proud of him.  He asked if we could go to California Pizza Kitchen for dinner, and that sounded like a reasonable reward to me.  We met Daddy at work and then walked next door to CPK.  Jack devoured his BBQ chicken pizza and then talked us into Key Lime pie.  Yum yum yum!

Friday, March 25

These feet served me well today on my 5 mile run, so they deserved a little pampering.  My pedicure lady did a fantastic job massaging them; she spent a long time massaging and massaging and massaging.  She is such a dear!  Don't the piggies look purty?!?!  Now they won't feel naked and embarrassed in yoga class anymore.

Friday Funny

I love me some Beyonce, especially "All the Single Ladies." 

But this Anita Renfroe parody "All the Wrinkled Ladies", that would be pure genious!  LOVE. IT.

Just try not to dance along; it is impossible.

http://video.yahoo.com/watch/7403558/19367207

Now, can I get an AMEN?!?!

Will's ABC Favorites

I've seen an ABC meme circulating around the blog world lately, and while I wasn't really interested in playing myself, I was intrigued by how my boys would answer such a questionnaire.  So I changed the categories to be more pertinent to their lives and set about interviewing them.  Most of the questions were  "What is your favorite...", but their ages and weights are accurate information (they love to weigh themselves and know exactly how much they weigh).  They both loved playing and it was fun for me, too!


A. Age: 4

B. Book: The Llama Llama books

C. Color: red

D. Dessert: "Turkish Delight" = chocolate pudding with whipped cream and sprinkles (The name Turkish Delight came from The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe)

E. Elephant or Ibis: Elephant (Alabama)

F. Friend: Truck Monkey (stuffed animal) & Brody in my class

G. Game: Sonic game (for his DS)

H. Holiday: Christmas

I. I Like About Me: my body and my brain

J. Job When You Grow Up: astronaut

K. Kisses or Hugs: hugs

L. Laugh Out Loud: when somebody tickles me

M. Memory: when I got to get my Sonic DS game

N. Nicknames: Willie B, Willie the BB

O. Oranges or Apples: apples...apples are my favorite fruit!

P. Pet Peeve: when people do everything and I just have to sit there and watch

Q. Quiet or Loud: quiet

R. Restaurant: Chick-fil-A, I love chicken nuggets!

S. Sport: baseball & hockey

T. Thing To Do: watch TV

U. Underwater Animal: orca whale

V. Vegetables You Don't Like: broccoli

W. Weight: 40 pounds

X. EXcellent At: playing the Star Wars DS game

Y. Yummy Food: raw cookie dough

Z. Zoo Animal: the squirrel monkey

Jack's ABC Favorites

I've seen an ABC meme circulating around the blog world lately, and while I wasn't really interested in playing myself, I was intrigued by how my boys would answer such a questionnaire.  So I changed the categories to be more pertinent to their lives and set about interviewing them.  Most of the questions were  "What is your favorite...", but their ages and weights are accurate information (they love to weigh themselves and know exactly how much they weigh).  They both loved playing and it was fun for me, too!


A. Age: 7

B. Book: Lego Star Wars Ultimate Sticker Collection Book

C. Color: purple

D. Dessert: coconut ice cream

E. Elephant or Ibis: Ibis (Miami)

F. Friend: Gracie

G. Game: Lego Star Wars (for his DS)

H. Holiday: Easter

I. I Like About Me: that I have a summer birthday

J. Job When You Grow Up: marine biologist

K. Kisses or Hugs: definitely hugs

L. Laugh Out Loud: Ms. Ross's jokes

M. Memory: When we went to Hilton Head and stayed in the new house with its own pool

N. Nicknames: Jackie B, J

O. Oranges or Apples: apples...I don't really like oranges.

P. Pet Peeve: having to do chores

Q. Quiet or Loud: quiet

R. Restaurant: Pizza Hut because of the stuffed crust

S. Sport: swimming

T. Thing To Do: play my DS

U. Underwater Animal: beluga whale

V. Vegetables You Don't Like: broccoli

W. Weight: 48.8 pounds

X. EXcellent At: writing books

Y. Yummy Food: spaghetti and meatballs

Z. Zoo Animal: otters

The Zingers Just Keep Coming

Another edition of Out of the Mouth of Will...

Friday afternoon, we were sitting out of the deck enjoying a great day.  Will climbs up into my lap and starts examining my face.  "This one here", he says pointing to a wrinkle on my face, "looks like a goat."

We went to our favorite local pizza joint for dinner.  The walls are covered with all sorts of interesting memorabilia, signs, pictures and what not.  While we were waiting on our pizza, we were playing a game of I Spy.  Will says, "I spy something hideous."  I reply, "Do you know what that word means?!?!"  Will, cuts his eyes at me and says, "I sure do.  It means terrible.  I spy something hideous...Daddy's hair!"

He is such a dear!

If you ever feel like you might be a little too proud of yourself, I'll send Will right over...

And then of course there is Jack...our little prince.  Never to be outdone, he tells us tonight he is NOT going to be a lawyer.  When asked why he doesn't want to be a lawyer, he matter-of-factly states:  "lawyers are always fighting with one another....I am not a fighter, I am a LOVER!!!"   Yes you are, my little prince, yes you are.

Put Me in Coach, I'm Ready to Play...

Saturday was Will's very first T-ball game and he loved it!  Will plays for the Red Sox and he chose #6 as his number.  We are playing at the YMCA and it is the first year they are doing T-ball.  There are only two teams, the Red Sox and the Yankees, so we will play each other for all 6 games.


Before the game started, we had the playing of the National Anthem...

The first pitch of the season was thrown by the mayor of the town.  Pretty impressive for 4 year old T-ball.

T-ball is so fun because each inning everybody gets to bat and everybody gets to play in the field.  The last player in the rotation to bat "hits a homerun" as he is allowed to clear the bases.  Lucky for Will, he was the last to bat in the rotation for his first time up at the plate.  And he didn't know this automatic homerun rule.

Will's first at bat.  Coach Jordan was giving everyone a few helpful pointers...like where to stand and how to hold the bat!

He gets a hit!  It was a solid hit, too.  It went into the "outfield", meaning that the ball got behind all of the fielders.

He hit a homerun!  Will was so excited that he jumped on homeplate.  Will was one of the few players that knew where all of the bases were, so he was able to round the bases pretty quickly.  The credit goes to big brother Jack who took Will out to run the bases before the game started.  One of the many advantages of having an older brother.

On his way to the dugout after his homerun, I heard Will say, "I KNEW I COULD DO IT!"

Will did really well in the field, too.  

Will in ready position at shortstop.  I'd never seen this before, but they had little hula hoops down at the different positions so everyone knew where to stand.  What a great idea for the little ones learning the game!

And this is what I love so much about T-ball.

Will and several of the other players going for the ball.  But what I really love is the little kid who is oblivious to all the action because there is something far more interesting going on in the dirt!  We were pleased to see Will play aggressively; he wasn't afraid to get in the middle of the pack to get the ball.

In the second inning, Will didn't bat last so there wasn't a second homerun.  However, he did get another hit...this time a double.  

Will takes off for third base.

Mercifully, the games only last 1 hour at this age.  That is really enough for both the players and the coaches (aka cat herders).  Brent was a volunteer coach for this game and he was totally exhausted.  He spent his time on offense making sure everyone knew to run to him at second base, and defense was spent putting everyone in position and then chasing the player down as he darted off into outfield for no apparent reason!

Doesn't he just look like a baseball player?!?!  

 

 

The Red Sox defeated the Yankees 15-13.  I was surprised that we were even keeping score in T-ball, but yay, we won!  Will had a great time and was so excited about the team's win and especially his homerun.  He told me that he was so fast that no one could catch him!  He'll be reliving the glory for weeks to come!

Play Ball!

  

A Peek at our Week 2011: Week 11

Saturday, March 12

Beautiful, beautiful weather today!  Jack and Will spent all day outside, partly because Daddy declared that everyone would be playing outside and then promptly locked the door.  I don't know if Will crashed the party or not, but he never passes up a chance for food and fellowship.

 
 

Sunday, March 13

This little curly-headed cutie, affectionately nicknamed Princess Laughs Alot, loves Jack, and he absolutely adores her.  Whenever Jack is nearby, the Princess is always calling "Dack!  DACK!", just to make sure that she has his undivided attention.  She definitely has him wrapped around her finger because he just dotes on her.  Here Jack (aka Anakin Skywalker) is pulling Princess Laughs Alot all over the yard because her legs are too short to reach the pedals and she wanted to ride the trike.  How's that for royal treatment!

 

Monday, March 14

After dinner tonight, we noticed that our woodland friends were also enjoying their evening meal.  We counted at least 20 deer across the fence.  Now if they would only stay on the other side of the fence, then all would be well.  But they don't.  They help themselves to our roses, daylillies, and hydrangeas.  Thus, leading Brent to wage war over his flower beds.  Ahhh, nature!

Tuesday, March 15

 

Have I mentioned before what a great frat boy Will is going to be?!?!  Here he is practicing his skillz.  This picture will be excellent material for his wedding rehearsal slide show.  Our little monkey makes me laugh every. single. day.

  

 

Wednesday, March 16

I have been going in to Brent's office several hours a week to help with administrative work...can't beat free labor!  Today, I wasn't able to get everything done before it was time to pick the boys up from school, so we went back to Daddy's office this afternoon.  They love visiting Daddy at work.  Will thinks that Daddy's office is better than our house and he wishes that he could live there.  I am suspicious that his desire to relocate has something to do with the unlimited supply of chocolate found in Brent's partner's office.

  

Thursday, March 17

It was a fun St. Patrick's Day!  Both boys had leprechauns visit their classrooms.  Will's class tried to trap the leprechaun, but he was too quick and sneaky.  The leprechaun did leave them chocolate gold coins as a little surprise, very nice considering they were trying to catch him!  The leprechaun that came to Jack's class gave each of them a shamrock with a poem written on it and a penny for good luck.  Jack wanted a special Irish dinner, so I made Shepherd's Pie for the first time and it was delicious!  Then we had these cute 'Gold at the End of the Rainbow' cupcakes for dessert.  (Artistic license taken with the Airheads rainbow...use your imagination, people!)

Friday, March 18

Just recently, Will had started biting his nails.  A nervous habit, I know, but one we didn't want to turn into a lifelong habit.  So we made a deal...if he could stop biting his nails and let them grow "some white", then we would buy him a new game for his DS.  Last week, Will and I went to Target, he looked at all the DS games, and decided that he wanted a Sonic game.  That very day, Will stopped biting his nails.  And tonight, when we "saw enough white" that we were convinced Will had conquered this habit, we went to Target and he got his game!  And he is so excited!  And we are so proud of him!

 

Down by the Creek Bank

Friday afternoon, the boys and I spent some time exploring at our city's Nature Center.  We went on a hike through the woods looking for animal tracks.  We saw lots of robins, but no animal tracks.

So we spent the rest of our time at Wildcat Creek.  The temperature was pretty chilly, highs in the low 50s, so I warned the boys not to get wet.  "You will be very cold if you get wet!"  And my boys were very obedient and stayed clean and dry.  Ha ha ha ha!  I guess you can't have nearly as much fun if you're dry?

Jack calls this 'crossing the creek like Indians.'  He was showing Will how to hop from rock to rock.

Will was a cautious explorer.  He liked to stay close to the rocks where there was sure footing.

They just couldn't resist the water.

Doesn't Jack look like Huckleberry Finn guiding his raft down the Mississippi?

The shoes are wet now, but the smile on his face says that he doesn't mind one bit!

He just took off the wet shoes & socks and kept on exploring.

Doing a good deed...Jack fished a few pieces of litter out of the creek.  He is always shocked that people would litter and not take better care of our environment.

Jack wasn't the only one with wet shoes.  Will had to take some time out to dry his piggies.

Tom & Huck

As expected, the Nature Center strives to reduce, reuse and recycle and to teach all of its visitors to do the same.  One 'reuse' project was to make art out of recycled bottle caps.  All around the grounds, you will see bottle cap butterflies, frogs, bees and flowers.

Do you think I could convince Brent to make a couple of these for our flower beds?!?!  Probably not.

Jack and Will are signed up for a week of Summer Camp at the Nature Center, so this afternoon was just a preview of all the fun they will have!  I'll be sure to dress them to get wet & dirty...