As promised.....

A few more cheer pictures from last week. The girls spent most of the afternoon perfecting the cheers they learned at cheer basketball camp. They were having such a great time in the sun and everyone was included...even the smallest cheerleader.

The grand entry

Love that Millie is just doing her own thing!

Go Hornets!

After the cheering was done Millie wanted to play a little ball but first she wanted to pose for a few shots.

I can't remember what she was saying in this picture but the expression is priceless.

And remember those cute, fluffly little chicks that joined our family in March.......

Not so cute anymore.......

I never knew that chickens grow so fast! Really...it's amazing how quickly they lose that fluff and grow their feathers. These guys are pretty much free range during the day when we're home. It took them awhile to get used to the idea of roaming but now they're all over the place and it's really fun to see them pecking around the yard. We just have to keep the little girls from chasing them. Millie has no fear and loves to grab them and squeeze them....a little too tight....a bit reminiscent of "Of Mice and Men." We still have the original four and added two more to the family in May. Hopefully we'll be getting some farm fresh eggs by the fall.

Both the big kids are in camps this week. Maggie has all day soccer camp and Sam has half days of baseball. I was a little hesitant about all day for Lu but she had a great time today and has lots of good friends at camp with her. It's hard sending her off all day when it's summer but with her need for socialization we have to keep her busy somehow!

I still have a back log of pictures from Madi's graduation that must be posted this week! I WILL get to it! We are loving being home together and looking forward to getting all our adoption papework rolling this week. Check out the Henry blog for updates on that! In the spirit of my brother's creepy baby doll photography I leave you with this one of Jo and her baby Sugar. Happy Tuesday!

2 bits, 4 bits...

Maggie spent this past week at basketball camp....she learned a lot of cheers. Hmmmm....she did learn a lot of basketball skills too, I'm pretty sure. Her and Kennedy spent yesterday afternoon teaching the little girls all kinds of cheers. More pictures to come!

Happy "flippin" Birthday!

I can't believe we have an 11 year old! "Tweeny Bopper" as he likes to refer to himself now. Love this boy and all the excitement and adventure he brings to our lives. We are so blessed by you Sammy and thank the Lord for you each and every day! Love you honey bunches~

In Training

There's a couple monkeys in our house that don't count sleeping as one of their gifts and talents. I won't name any names................

I have such vivid memories of "sleep training" Sam. Fighting to keep him in his bed. Baby Wise, Ferber, the family bed....we tried it all. And guess what? He eventually slept in his own bed all through the night. To this day he is still a night owl but that's just who he is....much like his mama. When the other girls occassionally had sleeping issues it didn't bother us because for one..we don't mind the company in bed and two...I knew eventually they'd get the hang of it. Our smallest sweet cherub however is not catching onto the sleep thing and I will take most of the responsibility for that. In an effort to keep the rest of the family sleeping I have given into her middle of the night fits and get up with her every night....still....she is almost two...in two weeks! I know...way too old to still be waking every night. A couple weeks ago I declared we would be in training{sleep that is} as soon as the kids were done with school. Last night was our first night of training. Not so good. Amelia went to bed with Rock and Lu and I made our camp downstairs. As with every night Jo went down like a champ and just like every night she woke up about midnight. She screamed for about 20 minutes before the gagging started so I went in to comfort her, find her blanket and her binky and then laid her back down. This only made things worse. I tried laying back down but the screaming was so loud. Sleep was not happening so I sat on the stairs with my head in my hands and prayed for her. This of course brought the memories flooding in. When we were training Sam I would sit on the stairs and pray and more often than not cry too. So this was the exact spot I was sitting when Sam woke from Jo's cries. He came out to check on the situation. "Wow, somebody's crabby" he said and then went to use the bathroom. On the way back to his room he rubbed my back for a minute and said "hang in there mom." Full circle? How sweet that my first terrible sleeper was now encouraging me to stay in the fight with my latest tough sleeper! So I hung in there and yes, eventually sleep happened. Night one down.

Play Ball!

Baseball finally wrapped up after a long season of rainouts and make-up games. Both kiddos had a great season, improved lots, had fun with their friends and learned a ton from their coaches. Before we signed Maggie up this year we really drilled her about her desire to play. The past three seasons have been fun for her but it's definitely more of a social sport. Not that there's anything wrong with that but with the busyness of our lives and the cost we really wanted to make sure she was commited for the right reasons. She was blessed with a fantastic coach and a great group of girls this year. I'm sure she would say this was by far the best season ever and toward the end of the season she could be found many a night out back working on her pitching either with Sam or against the throwing net. It was fun to watch her improve and enjoy the game and of course the chatting time on the bench wasn't bad either!

This was Sam's first year in kid pitch and there was clearly a learning curve that came along with that change. He did a great job and after having an undefeated season last year it was good for these guys to have a season of challenge and growth. He's played with a few of these kids for three years and next year a lot of them will be splitting up. I know Sam will be missing his buddies but I think I might be missing their mamas even more! Us moms enjoy our bench chats too!

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The Ranger coaches...these guys have coached together the past three years.

Maggie and Coach Mike

Cupcake madness

I have so many fun pictures and memories to write about from this past weekend but I'm busy working on my 500th cupcake for the week. Okay not quite 500 but very close! Be back soon! Check out Henry's blog for some exciting news we got today!!

For your viewing pleasure

I'm behind on my blogging...I'm aware....I just can't seem to find the time right now. I will be back with more baseball highlights and pictures but I couldn't resist posting this one now! Crack me up!

*yes...that is snot.

Rain, Rain....

...please go away. And really it's okay, you don't have to come back on another day! I think we've seen enough of you this Spring. And while I try to always have a positive attitude about your wetness and gloominess, this mama is starting to lose it! Yes, Jo and Millie love to play in the puddles but I'm ready for them to play in the pool and run through the sprinkler, eat outside and run with bare piggies. So rain, take a hike! Sun we would welcome you at anytime and you will never wear out your welcome!

*sorry for the whiny post but sometimes a girl just has to get it off her chest!