Boys and Baseball

I simply cannot get enough of this picture I snapped on my phone just before walking out the door to Titus's first baseball game. I am the lucky wife and mommy to two incredibly gorgeous guys!

Titus was beyond himself excited to get to play organized baseball this year.  

You would think he was in the world series with the amount of effort and concentration he put in.  

This. Picture. My little man!

 Watching his teammates bat really captivated his attention. 

His first time crossing home plate, with his tongue sticking straight out just his like his mama when she's concentrating. Poor kid!

I love this kid!

 Determination. 

Titus had his own cheering section, which included a dearly loved couple from our small group, his Aunt Suzy and cousins. Well, and his mom and sister too. He humbly requested more cheering next time as he didn't hear anyone rooting for him. 

 I think he took a drink between every inning. Granted it was a beautiful 73 degree day!

 Daddy's helping coach his team, which is a lot of fun for both of them!

He played left field and pitcher both during his first game. He much preferred being pitcher because he really just wants to get in there and be a part of the action.

  

Titus really wanted his cousins to get to come watch him play. 

I promise he's not picking daisies, there is a ball in his hand!

This girl is growing up way too fast. She has such an encouraging heart as she cheers her brother on.  

 And just like that, his first baseball game has come and gone. I have a feeling there will be many more games to come however. This kid LOVES baseball! 

Titus with his favorite playmates... the cousins!

Titus Turns 8!

Today my precious little boy turned eight. As in, only ten short years from being an adult! Be still my little heart... how can my son be eight already? I swear I remember all of the details of his very first "Birth Day" as if it was just yesterday! 

(p.s. My adorable nieces are about to turn 15!)

I brought his Birthday lunch request (McDonald's) to school and ate with him today. Then we played foursquare until he ever so politely asked me if he could go play with Andy instead. It's okay, I will try to focus on the fact that he invited me out to the playground and asked me to play with him for a little while instead of focusing on the fact that he ditched me! 

Then for dinner he requested macaroni and cheese, egg-n-a-hole, oranges and rootbeer floats. I thought it was a really strange combination, but I obliged him none-the-less!

He opened up his gift from us, which was a camera. My budding little photographer/videographer will undoubtedly get some good use out of his new "toy". He's already been busy taking pictures tonight. Here are a few of them! 

 

Now we just have to figure out what setting it's on that is causing the vignetting. I'm sure he'll figure out how to use it to it's fullest extent in no time. This kid has one of those minds that just turns and whirls and works all day every day. If I do say so myself, he's a rather exceptionally bright kiddo! First he will conquer his camera... then he'll conquer the world! Too much? What can I say... he's my BABY!

And finally, here's an interview with Titus. I so wish I had done these earlier/more often. It's so fun to compare his answers today with his answers 2 years ago! Happy Birthday Titus!

Titus's Birthday Interview

What is your favorite toy?

(6) Starwars and Legos.

(8) Legos

What is your favorite food?

(6) Macaroni and Cheese.

(8) Macaroni and Cheese

What is your favorite book?

(6) Starwars books.

(8) Calvin and Hobbs

What is your favorite place to eat?

(6) The place where we eat peanuts and drop them on the floor. The warehouse? I don’t remember what it’s called… (Roadhouse Grill).

(8) Grammy’s!

Who are your best friends?

(6) Logan, Weston, Josh and Bruce.

(8) Andy, Sam, Mark, Hunter and Eli

What do you want to be when you grow up?

(6) Lots of things. Police officer, fire fighter, a cowboy, a worker, a builder, a racecar driver, and that’s it.

(8) A Lego Set Designer

What is something you are good at doing?

(6) Going through tiny holes. Playing Lego Starwars. Playing the Wii. And that’s it.

(8) Playing the Wii. Taking pictures. Making noise. Being funny.

What’s your favorite movie?

(6) Starwars.

(8) Starwars

What is your favorite treat?

(6) Cookies!

(8) Grammy’s desserts.

What is your favorite subject in school?

(6) Mostly English and Spanish.

(8) Library, P.E., Technology

What is your favorite thing to do?

(6) My favorite thing to do is playing with Legos and my Lego sets.

(8) Read and play

Where’s your most favorite place to be?

(6) At Josh’s house or Logan and Weston’s house and Disneyland and Legoland.

(8) In my room

What’s your favorite holiday? 

(6) Christmas

(8) Christmas

What do you like most about yourself?

(6) I have no idea.

(8) That I’m funny

What is your favorite game to play?

(6) Sorry

(8) Lego games and Wii games

Do you think you’ll ever get married?

(6) Yup, of course.

(8) Yes

How many kids do you want to have?

(6) Ten! Actually, 20. Well, I think 30. I think 40. 20 girls and 20 boys!

(8) However many I get

Tell me about your family.

(6) Daddy’s the funny one. And he likes to wrestle. Leeann’s sometimes freaked out by people and she’s also funny. And mommy likes to do the computer a lot. She does the phone a lot too.

(8) My family are my mom, my dad, Jade and Leeann. Leeann is pretty dramatic. Jade laughs a lot. Mom cooks and Daddy makes funny jokes.

What are you looking forward to about your Birthday party?

(6) Getting lots of Starwars stuff. McDonalds, friends and that’s it.

(8) Having all the guests I want there

Another First Day of School and a New Addition!

Along with zillion’s of parents everywhere, I sent my precious kiddos off to school today. Grades 2 and 4. I still so quickly and easily think of them as being 2 and 4. These days go by so quickly!

Titus is proudly sporting a huge gap in his smile where his two front teeth used to be. He is as silly, active, witty and fun-loving as ever. I love being this little guys mommy!

And this one. My teeny, tiny, itty bitty little girl. Who, apparently, is hardly a little girl anymore. She now boasts a bigger shoe size then her mommy and is growing into an exceptionally stunning young lady.

These two. I simply cannot get enough of these faces! Sometimes I take a step back and ponder how blessed it is to be a mother. What an awesome, incredible job I’ve been blessed with!

And finally, the blessing of being a parent can come in various forms. Let me introduce you to our newest addition, Jade. She is 16 and has been living with us for nearly a month now. We first met her when she was 14 and we were excited to get a chance to interact with her again a few months back.

Jade needs a place stay until she’s ready to graduate and get out on her own. We’re very excited to welcome her into our family. The kids have especially enjoyed having a “big sister” around lately!

Which means tomorrow I’m also sending a kiddo off to high school. That’s just crazy! A good kind of crazy of course!

Baking With My Buddy

Titus and I spent some time baking together today. There's nothing super exciting, or even blog-worthy about this moment necessarily, except for the fact that I really enjoy baking with my kids at this stage in life.

He did manage to crack an egg onto the floor. I wish I would have snagged a picture of that too!

I feel like I've been so far behind in blogging our family memories that I just haven't blogged much of anything at all. When I look back at the stories I used to blog about when they were little I smile at all the things I would have otherwise forgotten if I hadn't written them down.

I especially love when I come across posts about the little everyday things. Like this. Just me and my buddy making a disaster out of my kitchen baking one of Rob's most favorite treats, The Pioneer Woman's French Breakfast Puffs.

Who knows, maybe I'll start blogging more of these random everyday moments before this stage of life is also just a memory!

Let the games begin!

There are plenty of days that I miss the fact that my children are no longer babies. 

Today is not one of those days, however!

We pulled out Settlers of Catan, our favorite board game!

 It requires at least three players to play, so we don't get to play it very often. And, it takes around 2 hours, so it's not really one that you can just pull out and play quickly with a few friends. Before we had kids we played it a lot, but it's mostly been sitting in the closet over the last several years. 

We had some time and wanted to do something special with Titus since Leeann was out on a special date of her own (pedicures and shopping with grandmas!). We decided to teach Titus how to play it. He has a strategic mind like his daddy and a competitive streak like his mommy. 

That's a very good combination for playing board games! 

This is a fairly complicated game. In fact, the box says 12+. However, Titus can play Chess and Stratego rather well, so we thought he might be able to catch on to this game over time. 

It didn't take much time at all! He quickly wrapped his mind around a lot of complicated pieces of this multi-faceted game. Mommy and daddy didn't help him win, but we did go easier on him than we normally would if he knew how to play. We always try to be nice to first-timers!

Lo and behold, he pulled out the win by amassing the largest army, hiding a victory point and stealing the longest road from Rob at the end! I'm such a proud mommy!

As wonderful as babyhood is, there's definitely a lot to enjoy about having school-aged kids.

I am so excited to have another Settler's player in our house now! Unfortunately, I think this little boy might give me a run for my money... I'm not sure I'm ready for that yet! 

Titus's 6th Birthday

Titus turned six on Friday. Six! If you'd like to know how I feel about it you can head over here, to my other blog. This one is about preserving family memories. That one is about my thoughts and feelings and things I ponder from time to time.

Anyway, here on our family's blog I now present... Titus's sixth Birthday!

His special day started out with breakfast with Daddy. Daddy almost always takes the kids out to a special breakfast of their choosing for a special date. Titus chose Cork's donuts. He enjoyed his huge donut and strawberry milk before heading off to school with some extra donut holes to share with his classmates. 

We enjoyed a super fun party with friends and family at McDonald's. Despite my last minute party planning, everyone he invited was able to attend which made for a really big, really fun, really crazy adventure. He even had a couple of friends from school attend, which was a first for our family--and totally awesome!

These are Titus's presents from the friends (and family) at his party. Legos, Starwars and Nerf. Yup, that's my son! He was so excited about all of his fantastic new presents and they couldn't have been more perfectly fit for him. 

And the "adults" at the party, minus the mom driving around town to calm her fussy baby, had a little too much fun with the Ronald McDonald lips on a stick that our Birthday party hostess brought out to us... just because they had them lying around. Apparently we looked like the type of people that would make good use of them I guess! 

It was so wonderful to have a stress free party where the food, cake and ice cream all came with the package and there was plenty of space to play and have fun. All we had to do was show up and bring the Birthday boy and his presents. No set up, no clean up, no planning. Having a kiddo who's Birthday falls smack in the middle of the holiday season makes the relatively few dollars spent on the party worth their weight in gold! 

The night before the party I did Titus's six year-old interview since I knew we wouldn't have time to do it the next day. Titus watched me type his answers verbatim as he said them and he literally corrected my spelling, grammar and dictation skills all within the course of this short interview. He's one smart cookie!

Titus’s 6 Year Old Interview

(Questions by mom, answers by Titus)

What is your favorite toy? Starwars and Legos.

What is your favorite food? Macaroni and Cheese.

What is your favorite book? Starwars books.

What is your favorite place to eat? The place where we eat peanuts and drop them on the floor. The warehouse? I don’t remember what it’s called… (Roadhouse Grill).

Who are your best friends? Logan, Weston, Josh and Bruce.

What do you want to be when you grow up? Lot’s of things. Police officer, fire fighter, a cowboy, a worker, a builder, a racecar driver, and that’s it.

What is something you are good at doing? Going through tiny holes. Playing Lego Starwars. Playing the Wii. And that’s it.

What’s your favorite movie? Starwars.

What is your favorite treat? Cookies!

What is your favorite subject in school? Mostly English and Spanish.

What is your favorite thing to do? My favorite thing to do is playing with Legos and my Lego sets.

Where’s your most favorite place to be? At Josh’s house or Logan and Weston’s house and Disneyland and Legoland.

What’s your favorite holiday?  Christmas.

What do you like most about yourself? I have no idea.

What is your favorite game to play? Sorry.

Do you think you’ll ever get married? Yup, of course.

How many kids do you want to have? Ten! Actually, 20. Well, I think 30. I think 40. 20 girls and 20 boys!

Tell me about your family. Daddy’s the funny one. And he likes to wrestle. Leeann’s sometimes freaked out by people and she’s also funny. And mommy likes to do the computer a lot. She does the phone a lot too.

What are you looking forward to about your Birthday tomorrow? Getting lots of Starwars stuff. McDonalds, friends and that’s it. 

Silly Kids!

I let each of my children have 1/2 hour tonight to be in charge. I explained to them that they make the rules and can do whatever they want. BOTH of them chose to watch a movie! Seriously, I thought I was gearing up for some real kid-inspired fun... I must figure out a way to expand their imaginations!

Jabber Jabber

I am amazed at how much my son talks. I mean he talks, and talks and talks regardless of who's around or if anyone is listening. And he just keeps talking and talking and talking and talking. Right now they're at the table doing school work and the kid just keeps on jabbering! About absolutely NOTHING! I wonder where he gets this from?