Mother's Day

Our pool opens each year for the summer on Mother's Day and our boys had been counting down the days!  Unfortunately the weather was less than ideal but we went as soon as it opened with the thought that we'd be rained or stormed out pretty quickly.  I guess there's a reason we aren't meteorologists because we ended up staying until 4:30 despite the wind, rain, and chilly day.  Carter was so proud the be the first one in the pool for the year and the first to try out the new slide...where does this competitiveness come from?!?!

Everyone spoiled me to death and we had a great day together.  We are all so happy that it's once again time for pool days!

Sportsters

This weekend was a whirlwind but a fun one:).  Carter and I ran a 5K for his swim team bright and early Saturday morning.  He runs with me on occasion and was excited to have the chance to do it in a real race.  He was cute and had some good buddies there that he started the race with but he came over to me to make sure I knew he was just doing that to be nice and that he wanted to run it with me.  They got off to a speedy start but I stayed close behind and Carter and I pretty much ran the whole thing together.  He needed a little encouraging here and there to keep up the pace but did so well and was the first 10 and Under boy to finish and did so in a speedy 23 minutes.  These are some serious athletes he swims with so he (and I) were really proud of how well he did!

Next came Hudson's first soccer game and the sweet little waves from the field are about the cutest ever.  He loves his spectator section and gives us lots of smiles, waves, and occasional commentary.  He scored the first goal and was thrilled with himself as you can imagine.  Next up was Cooper and his soccer game.  He is fast and aggressive and so fun to watch on the field.  He's got great instincts and typically ends up in the right place and the right time and is aggressive enough to get a few goals.  Saturday was just one but he was very happy with himself but it makes me so proud to see he is equally as excited when his teammates score a goal and is the first to run up with a congratulatory cheer and hug.  His happiness and excitement are contagious and just make me smile:).

Last but not least was baseball practice for Carter and Cooper.  Carter moves up to pitching machine and seems to have a really good team so hopefully it will be a fun year.  It's refreshing that he's finally at the age where they keep score, outs are counted, etc. but also a scary thing for me because I don't want him to mess up!  Cooper moves up to coach pitch and also has a wild but talented little team.  He has a good friend on his team and loves the chance to see him but also has a few troublemakers we could all do without!  We will see how it goes!

Cooper had his first sleepover with his baseball friend Ryan and Nunu and Pop took Carter and Hudson to the Carolina baseball game to finish up the day.  They had a blast and brought home an extra innings win against State, which is about as good as it gets!  Coop loved having his friend over and it was so nice to just have them so they could have full reign of the house without pesky brothers.  All in all it was a busy but fun weekend doing all the things I love best...sports, family, and fun.

A New Day

Judging by my hammer posting, you can probably see that I've decided to get caught up with the blog.  I've been debating for some time whether I should just wrap things up or try to give it a go again.  Time in each day is of the essence and I don't feel like I have enough of it sometimes!  In order to have time to exercise each day I've already let more than I care to go around the house but I do think it's worth it in order to do something for myself.  I've started taken less and less pictures with my good camera and far more on my phone as I'm sure is the trend with many people.  I don't often sit down at the computer unless it's to look something up, which is probably a good thing because the room I'm currently sitting in that used to just be our bonus room has now been converted into the ultimate fort, complete with a train table, camouflage, tinker toys, and passwords.  In fact I had to steal the computer chair I'm sitting in from said fortress and I'm sure I will have some questions to answer when my crime is discovered!

With all of that said, I love this blog.  I love looking back and seeing what we were doing in years past, seeing how little these precious beings of ours were, and reminiscing about things I hadn't thought about in a long time.  I also love reading about milestones and things that I swore I would never forget but inevitably do.  I know some people have blogs and use them to keep family and friends updated that aren't close by and that's how this initially started.  It has, however, become much more than that to me.  While I love the opportunity to share funny stories and happenings with everyone, I also love that I can chronicle things like that for us personally so that we can look back and see and read about what we were up to at different points in time.  It's just a neat little glimpse into moments I would have otherwise forgotten.

While my recent posts probably lack the sweetness and funniness that I hope to typically convey, at least I feel caught up on the significant things that have happened in the last few months.  I plan to try and stay a bit more current and to keep the funnies coming because they happen on a daily if not hourly basis!

I would feel remiss if I didn't mention that my sweet, dear grandfather passed away last week.  His health had been declining for some time but especially in the last two weeks.  We were actually going to go visit him the day he passed away.  He was such a great man and I have such fond memories of him and the stories he told.  He has absolutely passed his love of all things Carolina and sports to me and to my children.  When I think about him I instantly picture his sweet smile and am reminded the most of what he always told me.  He always told me how proud he was of me and that he loved me.  When I was little I remember thinking about this and wondering why in the world is he proud of me?  What have I done to make anyone proud?  Now I get it.  As a parent, I can clearly understand exactly what he meant.  Proud honestly doesn't even seem like a big enough word to describe such a powerful feeling.  I am absolutely overflowing with proudness towards my children and the amazing little boys that they each are and for my grandfather for teaching me how important those seemingly ordinary words are.  Granddaddy, I am so proud to have been your granddaughter and we all love you so much.  Thank you for being you.  

Easter

I love seeing our boys so excited over things like Easter and yesterday was no exception.  They love to see all the goodies the Easter bunny brought them!  They racked up and have new socks, clothes, toys, balls, and candy to last at least a few days:).  I love Easter Sunday church and I also love teaching our children about the importance of this holiday.  I think other than Hudson they are really starting to get it and realize that the holiday is about far more than Easter eggs and toys.

 I really just can't handle the cuteness of this little boy in seersucker!

 This boy...if you could see this child in person.  He looks like an adorable angel.  His blue eyes are so pretty and bright that you look at him and think there is no way this child could ever possibly do a thing wrong.  He has an innocence about him that I just can't explain but it just doesn't come across in pictures!  I so want a good picture of him that really captures "him" but I guess I'll have to just keep trying!

 Carter has entered and not yet emerged from the "awkward fake smile phase"!  He is such a handsome little boy who will no doubt be the object of many a girl's eye but just like his brother, capturing that on camera can sometimes be a challenge!

Zoo Trip

Because of our snow and ice days we missed from school, the boys had a shortened spring break and were only off for 2 days.  We made the most of our time with a trip to the zoo, defy gravity, and a park day.  Our trip to the zoo always starts off with Johnson's in Siler City but this time it just wasn't as great as usual so maybe we will have a different plan next time!  It had been a while since we'd been to the zoo so it was a lot of fun for them to see all the animals as they really didn't remember much from previous trips.  Hudson's favorite was the lions and Cooper and Carter loved the baboons:).

A glimpse of the polar bear in his fancy new habitat.

 Hello there black bear!

 Lions!

 Boss says it's time to go!

Basketball and Snow Days

Carter and Cooper both played winter basketball this year.  Cooper was hesitant and didn't really want to but we knew he would have a good time so we signed him up anyway.  He ended up with a few friends on his team, which made it even better.  Cooper was definitely the smallest on the team but surprised us instantly with how aggressive he was.  He looked for his shot the second he touched the ball, which wasn't always a good thing, but it was good to see him put himself out there and heave it up with confidence:).  If he didn't have the ball, he was yelling at whoever did with his hands up to pass, pass!  He was absolutely the peskiest defender I've ever seen and wouldn't even let his player touch the ball.  He had a great time and is already working on his moves for next year.

Carter moved up to the next age group so he was young for his team but did great and loved it so much.  He was decked out perfectly at each game with his Marcus Paige shoes, which he was just a teensy bit proud of!  He is a great ball handler and mostly played point guard but is more like me in that he's more hesitant to shoot.  He came around as the season progressed and had a few really good games and from what I understand is really tearing it up in the pick up games at school now:).

 My lack of pictures of Carter isn't for lack of trying!  The court he played on had funny lighting and they would all come out blurry and crazy colored.

 We had a few snow/ice days this winter, which meant for lots of smiles, laundry, and sledding for this family!  First came the ice storm, which wasn't ideal but made for some really great pavement sledding!

 Next came the real snow but it wasn't quite as much as we had anticipated.  I think Jamey was more upset than anyone!  The boys had a great time sledding, playing soccer and making snow angels.