Memorial Day Slam

This weekend, Maggie and I got to take Carli to her Glory tournament in Ennis.  Keith had a day surgery on Friday so once we got him all settled in at home, we packed everyone up and wished him well.  Our first stop was hitting with Coach Jeff.  I'm not sure who has more fun...Drew or Coach Jeff!  Ha!  Once we finished at hitting, Drew and Ava went to spend the night with Grammy and Pa while Maggie, Carli and I headed to Corsicana for the night.  Maggie screamed at us the entire way there...turns out she still doesn't like the car seat.  But once we got to the hotel, she was quite happy to lay out and stretch!

I love our family and their willingness to help and support my kiddos.  We had to be at the ballpark by 8 am.  Uncle Andy, Logan and Pa all showed up by 8:15 and between the three of them got Carli warmed up to pitch the first game.

Overall, I was pretty happy with Carli's tournament.  The team as a whole struggled and Carli had her moments but she overcame her fatigue and "woe is me" attitude more than once to support her team.  She pitched the first game and did well.  She laid down a bunt, put the ball in play and they won that game.  She played outfield the next game.  Didn't see much action but a ground ball or two.  She did get a bunt down to get on base once.  They lost that game.  Their first bracket game was against the number 1 team in the state...like the team plays 12u tournaments and wins.  The girls were so intimidated that they pretty much just laid over and died.  :/  I may have done a bit of talking to Carli on the sidelines at left field about sportsmanship and teamwork.  She ended up having to go in for relief toward the end of the game and I was glad she got put in that situation.  She needed to see how hard it was for her fellow pitcher to be working so hard and a defense not doing their job behind her.

They came back their second bracket game and won it - Carli rested that game and came in to pinch run a few times.  They lost their final game, not b/c they played a better team but b/c they played a team that out hustled them.  Every one has an off tournament, as long as they learn from it, it's not a loss.

Uncle Andy, Logan and Pa stayed the whole day with us and I thoroughly enjoyed their company.  Maggie did awesome.  We had our tents set up to keep her in the shade most of the day.  Aside from screaming at us the entire way home, I'd say she enjoyed being at the softball field!!

 These two are more alike than they'd like to admit.  I'm thankful for their special relationship and Logan's willingness to spend the day cheering Carli on and giving her a hard time!

My Strong Willed Child

After a battle of the wills yesterday when it took 3 hrs for her to vacuum...our house only has 5 area rugs and Ava had picked up everything off the rugs...Carli woke up determined to bake some muffins for breakfast. She even cleaned up afterward...has done her pitching, hit the tire and is ready to wipe down the bathrooms. I'm not sure what happened between yesterday and today.. but I wish I could figure it out!!

My Pa

I snapped this picture on the way out of church on Sunday.  Having four kiddos going all different directions is hard!  And if it weren't for the help of grandparents and friends I would be stressed beyond belief.  But our village is awesome and I am so thankful for Grammy and Pa this weekend helping us out.  Ava played in a tournament in Chandler and begged for both Keith and I to go.  Grammy and Pa helped make that happen.  Pa took Carli to Corsicana to practice and Grammy kept the two littles at home out of the heat.  Then Sunday morning while Ava and Keith went back to the tournament, I loaded up the rest of my crew to head to church.  We sat with Grammy and Pa and they helped me with Drew and loved on Carli.  It may not seem like much to some but I guarantee these are the things my kids will remember.  Drew saw this picture on my phone and immediately shouted,"Hey!  That's MY PA!!!"  Yep, our village is awesome.

12 Years

Maggie Rolled Over

Maggie stayed with Grammy today so I could cram in a few hours of work.  I'm not a good tummy time Momma.  Wasn't with my first three, and still not!  While Drew was swinging, Maggie was admiring the leaves on her blanket outside and apparently decided it'd be a good day to try to roll over and check out the grass too!!

Drew's First Haircut

Well, I did it.  I took Drew to get his hair cut.  He was all okay with it...climbed up in the chair and was ready to go.  Then they put a cap on him and he was not a fan of that!!

Turns out, his curls got kinkier as soon as he trimmed off the ends! His hair was 6 inches long before the trim. He took off less than half! But it was getting to be a knotted mess in the back and when my first thought was man, it'd be so much easier to pull this back in a ponytail...I figured I'd better trim it so as not to be tempted!

We celebrated his first cut with a cookie covered in icing...which he ate the icing and not the cookie!

Crazy how much a simple haircut makes him look so much bigger!

Happy Birthday Ava!

Dear Ava-

I cannot believe that you are turning 8 years old!  It seems like every day and week that passes, you continue to grow and mature, but still…EIGHT!?  The last year has been amazing.   We transitioned from T-Ball to softball, sprinkled in a little basketball, and jumped right back into softball.  You dominated 2^nd grade and finally decided you’d learn to ride a bike!  What amazes me the most about each accomplishment is how you do it.  It seems effortless how you fit in with others and make friends.  We’ve often wondered if you really like softball, or if you just like to play in the dirt and be with your friends!  You are an amazing big sister for Drew and Maggie.  I know that Drew looks up to you and loves to play with you.  He misses you like crazy when you’re at school.  Seeing the two of you playing together (usually in the dirt) always brings a smile to my face.  Maggie is in for a treat as she gets older!  You are the glue that holds the Hays kids together…the go-to playmate for Carli or Drew.  You are a peacemaker, sometimes a little too sensitive, but a joy to be around.  When you want something, you’re strong enough to work for it and you won’t quit until you get there.  I’m so proud of the girl that you are.   I take no credit for most of it, because I think it’s genuinely who you are…it’s just how God made you!  I love to watch you play…whether that’s softball, basketball, or playing in the dirt…you do it all well.  Your mom and I are proud to be your parents, and we’re thankful that God allowed us to be.  You really are an amazing kid, and I know you are going to do great things in life!   We love you, Ava!

With much Love,

Daddy 

Friday Firsts...

I'm not a birthday party mom.  I tried with Carli and Ava the first three or four years but I never really enjoyed the planning, stress and just the stuff.  Lots and lots of stuff!  So the last few years we started doing experiences for birthdays.  This year for Ava's birthday we decided to take her zip lining.  She was so excited to finally get go and to get to go with just Keith and I...that's right, Maggie spent the whole day with Mawmaw!  And we both survived!!

Keith took the girls to school, walked them in and forgot to walk Ava to her class.  Ha!  She was estatic!  They came home and I promptly left Keith with the littles and went back to the school b/c Carli was showing off their G/T projects that morning and was a wee bit upset that no one was going to come see her.  So I made sure to go and made Keith drop off Maggie b/c I figured I'd have a hard time doing that anyway.  

Carli with her poster and diorama.

She reluctantly agreed to take a picture with Ava's projects. 

But what's even cooler, is that our sweet neighbors came down to see Carli too.  The kids have developed a very special relationship with Mr. Joe and Mrs. Bobbie.  Carli was so pleased and proud that they came by to see her!

After making sure the other three kiddos were sufficiently taken care of, we loaded Ava up and off we went to go zip lining.  We took Ava to the New York Zip Lining Adventures out near La Rue.  She was so excited and smiled the whole way there!  Once we got there and checked in, she got a little nervous but she never let that stop her!

We did the six line zip line tour.  Honestly the first two lines were the hardest.  Ava made me go first every time!  She did so good though and by the end of the last line was ready to do it all again!!

I'm not sure we'd ever get Carli to go do the zip lining but Ava would go back in a heartbeat.  She had so much fun and it was a joy to just spend the day with her and see her enjoy herself so much!  :)  After our zip lining we went into Tyler for lunch at the mall (yep, she picked) and then to order her cookie cake for her class party on Monday.  We ended our Ava adventure day with letting her shop for her birthday outfit to wear to school.  If ya'll know me, it's a pretty big deal to go shopping with me!  Ha!  She's a good little shopper, pretty decisive which helped me survive!

We picked up Carli a little early from school, then gathered up our littles who had had a great day with Mawmaw and off we went to Rusk for some softball.  Carli and her Troup Bomb Squad came up a little short but she was all smiles afterward to get to go eat with Ms. Patty.  She also got to see Braleigh and Amanda and our favorite neighbors had come too! 

It was a busy, wonderful Friday!!

Family Pictures

Sunday was the day that we got to finish out our group gift to Grammy & Pa at Christmas!  Full Family Pictures were on the schedule for Sunday evening!  Love Mrs. Laurie Gould and the amazing job she does with our kids to get some great pics.  Can't wait to see how our big group picture turned out!

Maggie found her giggles!

Drew and Pa found the cows!

My Pretty girls

And got a long needed shot of Pa with his youngest pun'kin, Maggie.

Weekend at Home

Carli's tournament in Waxahachie got rained out so we had a very rare Friday night at home with the whole crew!  When given the option to go out to eat or stay home, everyone wanted to stay home!  The kids choose to cook their favorite dinner:  nuggets, mac & cheese, and fries.  We threw in some crescent rolls and brownies too!  Ava helped with nuggets and rolls, while Drew arranged the fries and Carli made some brownies.  It was fun to have everyone involved and my kitchen was literally destroyed but we didn't care!  

After dinner, everyone wound down in their own ways.  Drew had a bubble bath while Maggie cooed and grinned at us.  The girls got to play on their kindles before bed.  We were all in bed by 9.  It was nice!!

Saturday morning, Maggie slept til 9!  It took four kids but I finally got on that sleeps!  The other three were up by 7!

Our sweet neighbors, Mr. Joe and Mrs. Bobbie, invited us to the BigFoot Bash at their store in north Tyler.  Originally I planned to take Drew but only to see the truck not to see it in action as it was scheduled right in the middle of nap time.  But with the whole family home and Keith to help with the bear that is Drew with no nap we decided we'd stay!  But first, we had a Bueno date much to Carli and Ava's delight!

I missed getting a picture with Mr. Joe and Mrs. Bobbie but they were busy!  There were lots of ppl there!  The kids had a blast climbing tires, doing a bounce house and free drinks and chips!

Big Foot started at 1 and Drew was so tired.  But he wouldn't leave so we stayed put and despite the look of complete exhaustion on Drew's face, the was so amazed by the monster truck!

We even took the kids to Toys R Us for their going out of business sale and picked up a few things for the beach in a few weeks.  Drew is so much fun in the toy store.  Lots of "WHOA!," "WOW!," and "Did you see this?!"  He's pretty good at understanding he can only get one toy, and it doesn't keep his amazement at bay!  We followed up the toy store with bundt cakes and then came home to grill steaks.  It was an awesome day!