Feeling a Little Green

If you know anything about my husband, he loves any holiday where he can dress up like a fool and get away with it.  St. Patrick's Day is one of the holidays - he thinks he's Irish and feels a little green.

This year we made it to the St. Patrick's Day parade in a nearby city (we skipped last year because of weather).  Drew loves parades and all the free loot he gets thrown at him.

This year we changed up our seating location - we usually sit right at the start of the parade, and this year we moved to the other side of the bridge more toward the staging area.  So while we weren't on the official parade route (we missed the first 3 entries) we still had an awesome spot.  Time was of the essence - we had to pack up quickly and get Drew to his T-ball game immediately following.

The first few things we missed were the police and fire kicking off the parade, but we managed to snap a photo with Daddy and Drew in front of the firetruck while they were still staging.

But once we got through the first few entries, we saw a steady stream of participants. 

Drew always loves the Geico gecko.

What's a parade without a few clowns...

And I really like this shot.

 ... I believe he was trying to score more freebies.

Of course Dave got dressed up for the occasion  - would you expect anything else?  While Dave had his photo snapped about a dozen times by various reporters and was interviewed briefly by one, sadly he didn't make the paper this year.  (He and Drew made it the first year we went to the parade when Drew was 2).

And here's a short story before heading to the next picture.  Before the parade started Dave and I were talking about the Rose Parade we saw 6 years ago before Drew was born, and how George Lucas was the Grand Marshal and we saw Darth Vader and the Storm Troopers.  Drew was so excited about that and was promised to see pictures/videos of that later.

And then we saw this at the end of the parade...

Oh. My. Gosh. Did I have an excited 5 year old!  He's in love with anything Star Wars right now (thanks to Angry Birds Star Wars).

Dave captured this video on his cell phone as the Empire walked by:


After the parade we hustled home to get ready for T-ball and a Birthday Party. 

Sunday after church, on the actual holiday, we continued our St. Patty's crawl by heading back for the annual Festival.  We like strolling through the vendors and seeing what's out there - with a beer or two in hand - and Drew likes going for the rides.

This was the first time we've lived here and the weather was amazing for the weekend - so that meant it was even more crowded than years past.  But as always we had a good time - until they started running out of beer..... party foul.

Making Outs

Last Saturday was Drew's 2nd T-ball game. I know some of you may get sick of the T-ball highlights but for our baseball loving family around the country - they are interested and this blog is for them anyway... so there you have it.

Drew at shortstop for the first inning...

And then his first at bat of the first inning...

Don't you love the action!?

This shot was when Drew made his way to third base by where we were sitting - a few batters later.  The kids can only advance one bag at a time at this level, no matter where they hit it.  There are no outs. 


Again the entire National's team did great and Manager Daddy was proud of Drew making two outs in the second inning while he was manning first base!  I managed to miss the first shot I was so excited and captured a nice picture of tree branches... but I get these shots for his second out.

The gentleman in the green shirt is one of Dave's assistant coaches.  The gentleman in the white shirt above is one of the coaches from the Diamondbacks - the other team.

While I didn't catch the actual out, you can sort of make out the ball to the left of the first base.  Drew got it in his glove and got the kid out.



At this level they play three innings and everyone gets a turn to bat.  The last batter then clears the bases - essentially getting the grand slam. 

That was Drew at the end of the third inning clearing the bases.  I love our baseball Saturdays!  We have another game tomorrow before a 2 week Spring Break hiatus.

Avery Arrives!

On Thursday night we got the text that Matt's wife, Rana was going to have a baby!  And little Avery Joy made her appearance shortly before 11am on Friday weighing in at 7lbs and 19 inches long.  It was all I could do to focus at work before leaving to get Drew and Dave to head over to the hospital and give her our first cuddles.

We asked Drew what he though of his new cousin - yes, Drew's the only boy among a sea of girls - and he said "She's cute" in a shy quiet voice.  I think he was intimidated, but liked what he saw.

And here's Grammy with Avery...

Grammy and Great-Grandma Geri were at the hospital all night waiting for the big delivery.

Uncle Dave with Avery...

And then his own baby....

I think Drew's grown a little since his infant days!

GrampC with his 4th grandchild.

And GG with her 8th (I think I counted right) great-grandchild.

And Rana's Mom Jan - a.k.a. Granny.

Have you seen a prouder Daddy?  Tough guy Matt melts with a baby girl in his arms. 

He actually begged to sniper the baby away from whomever had her.  Quite the change from the day Drew was born and we forced him into Matt's arms.  That's what time and your own child will do for ya.

And the family photo... awwww

Welcome to the family little Avery!

At Rana's shower everyone was asked to guess the day she'd come, the weight, height, and hair color.  no one guessed the day,  but Nancy C. picked the 7th, Grammy Kathie picked the 9th - Avery arrived on the 8th.  Nancy guessed the weight at 7lbs, 19 1/2"... gotta say that's pretty much spot on if you're going for the tie.  Grammy picked 6lbs 15 oz, and 20 3/4".   I tried to get Rana to cross her legs until the 12th - the day I picked, but Avery had other plans.  Her Auntie will remember that.... ;)

Let's Play Ball!

Saturday marked a big milestone in our house - our first Opening Day!  Dave is a baseball freak and has since turned our lovely 5 year old into one as well.  It's a good thing Drew likes baseball otherwise we'd be in trouble.

Dave is the team Manager as well and so they had their first game scheduled for Saturday at 11am.  Before Daddy left to get the field prepped, we took a few candids outside.   

Then Daddy went to the field and we met him about 30 minutes later.  Drew started running on the field to warm up with some of his teammates.

Then they had to line up on the bench to get ready to have their first ever at-bat!  Dave put numbers 1-10 on the bench and the boys were instructed to sit on their number until called up to get their helmet on and grab a bat. (one of the boys is already on the field)

Drew is the second one in, # 65.  Oh and a cute aside story... Dave let Drew pick his first Little League number before he gave the jerseys to the other kids.  While Daddy really wanted Drew to pick his former little league number (#11) Drew was adamant he wanted 65.  When we asked why... "Because it's the age I'm going to be and the age I am now".  Who can argue with that logic.

Back to the game...

Drew was number 3 in the line-up and I was wearing multiple hats, I was instructed by the team manager to take control and get the boys ready with helmets and bats so he could focus on the tee and getting things moving.  The same said manager also instructed me to take lots of pictures of the game and video.... I tried to meet all of the bossy manager's requests ;)

Here was Drew's first ever at bat.  I missed getting the video turned on fast enough.

At this age and in this league, they don't keep track of scores, outs or any thing.  All kids get an at-bat and then the inning is over.  Then they head out to the field to play defense - this happens three times.

Here is their first outfield experience...

Notice Manager Dave is reminding the boys to throw to first - and Drew (front center) and his new teammate are more interested in the batter at home plate.

The boys then have another at-bat and head back to the field.  Second inning Drew was playing 1st base!  There's another Assistant Coach who was helping the boys who played 1st base know where to stand and how to handle the ball.

It was a great first game!  All in all, the team made three legitimate outs by fielding the ball and getting the runner at first base out.  Some of the kids weren't understanding why they got the kids out, yet the kids remained on base.  It was kind of cute.

And as Manager Dave said, the boys were crushing the ball!
 

Drew and the team had a great time and were already talking about the next game.  I think they had a lot of fun - which is always great to see.  And a couple of the boys stopped playing in the dirt long enough to try and go after the ball - a big accomplishment with 5 year olds.

Go Nationals! 

Walking the Red Carpet

The night before the Oscars, Dave and I had the chance to walk the red carpet...

This was for the formal dinner/auction fundraiser for Drew's school.  The theme was an Evening of Lights.  It was really cool how they literally had the red carpet and the Oscar statues.  There was even a "reporter" asking all the ladies who they were wearing to then be given a glass of champagne.
 

We found our seats and grabbed a few drinks before dinner - which was steak and salmon.  After dinner they brought out a casino and I played craps the rest of the night for a chance to win raffle tickets.

We came home with a raffle prize win of a Magnum of red wine and two bottles of port.  Then we won a silent auction item for tickets to Beach Blanket Babylon.  We can't wait to head out to San Francisco to enjoy that one.

We had a great night.  That was the first night I finally felt better (after more than a month of being sick).  Of course that all caught up to me the next day - and no I wasn't hung over.  I didn't drink that  month.  I wasn't used to stay up that late.

Dave and I are looking forward to doing this again at Drew's next school - he only went to this school for TK and he'll move to our neighborhood school for Kindergarten.

Stories From School

Tonight it was our turn for a Halloween Book from school. Each child put together their memory from their first field trip to the pumpkin patch.

Here was Drew's contribution:



At the Pumpkin Patch,
I saw 200 pumpkins.
I found two pumpkin darts.
I like the hay maze.

And then the picture he drew of himself among the pumpkins. It's great to see how much his art and storytelling have changed in just a few months!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Super Bowl: It's All About the Commercials

For Drew, Super Bowl was all about the commercials and one in particular in fact...  here is the video of his favorite.



Drew loves the song Gangnam Style... and he heard that song from the other side of the house and had us replay it over and over and over again.  We caught his dance moves on camera.