Larry's Concert

I enjoyed watching Larry's concert at the end of a VERY crazy 2 weeks! I watched and listened nervously as he played his concerto cadenza style solo in the Grand Canyon Suite. He of course did a fantastic job and we're both glad that now it's finally over!!

Opening Day!

Little League season has officially started! (Although with the pre-season Wayne has had it seems like it started a while ago!) Austin had his opening ceremonies and game bright and early. We had to get him to the park at 7:15am. Since we of course stayed up late Friday night it was a bit of a struggle to get out of bed! But we made it and had a great time cheering Austin on :) This is Austin's first season in coach pitch and he is doing a great job and enjoying finally playing real baseball!
















Brett was so cute at Austin's game. He noticed all the flags raised for the opening ceremonies and he wanted to stop and admire them. On our way to the field where Austin was playing his game Brett began to peel the label off his water bottle to "make it be naked" as he likes to do ;) But the end of the label got caught and didn't peel off as easily as it normally does. Brett got frustrated at first, but then he realized that with the end still attached he had transformed his water bottle into a flag instead of a "naked Jay Bird" He was so excited to show off his creation!




















Wayne's opening ceremonies and game were later in the day and of course this was one of the first (of many to come) days of 90+ degree weather. It's funny how we were complaining how hot it was, but I guarantee that by the end of the season we'll be glad if the high is only going to be 94 degrees for any given game!

Wayne did a great job at his opening game. He hit a triple and two singles (batted 1000!!) He also had several great defensive plays. The coach was so pleased with Wayne's performance that he awarded Wayne the game ball! I am also particularly proud of the example he is to his teammates. It is so fun to watch him progress and come closer to his dream of becoming a professional baseball player! Step aside Chipper Jones, this Larry Wayne is on his way!!

Silly boy

Brett walked into my room to see what me and Bruce were up to. When he walked through door I said, "Boo." he did a fake whine/cry (somewhat resembling Snoopy when he gets in trouble on Charlie Brown) and said "Don't say boo. That makes little boys cry!"

Larry Wayne

Wayne wore his Larry Fitzgerald Jersey to his Arizona World of Baseball practice today. First thing when he walked in his pitching coach gave him a hard time for wearing a football jersey into a baseball training facility. Then when he stepped into the batting cages with the batting coach the coach said, "Hey what's up Larry?" Wayne said, "Not much." His coached a little taken back at Wayne's response questioned, "What? Do you always respond to Larry?" Wayne said, "That's my name." The coach questioned, "Your name is Larry?" Wayne nodded. The coach said, "you know I was calling you Larry because of your jersey right?" Wayne said, "I know, but that really is my name!" The coach was still giving him a questioning look so I chimed in and said, "His name really is Larry, but he goes by Wayne. His name is Larry Wayne." Coach said, "Oh, Larry Wayne, what's up L Dub?!" The rest of the batting lesson he referred to Wayne as "L Dub" :)

Happy Birthday Bailey!!

We had a great time celebrating Bailey's birthday (a day late) on Sunday. So glad that we were able to see our wonderful family! I think Bruce has had one too many slices of cake--what do you think?! ;)

A Little Slice of Heaven

As I dressed this boy for church today I couldn't help but think of what a little angel he is. A gift from Heaven for sure. We just love him so much. His sweet, peaceful spirit is exactly what we needed in this house!

New iPad

Larry is a proud new owner of the iPad 3. He's been eyeing one for a while and today I decided to just go out and get it for him! I'm also the reason he is the proud owner of his Dodge Challenger. Isn't he lucky to have such an awesome wife??!! ;)

Little League Season is in Full Swing!

Little League Season has officially began! Wayne's coach won the championship last season and is looking to do the same this season so Wayne's pre-season has been a little more intense than we're used to, but he's loving it :) It was cute watching them all line up from tallest to smallest to get their uniforms. Wayne's team has a lot of big kids on it this year. They probably needed 6 XL Shirts and they were only issued 3 so they had to squabble a bit over that ;)

Spring Training Game

Larry and I wanted to take the boys to a spring training game this season and when we found out that Jake was going to be the bat boy for the Brewers for one game we decided to go to that one! Wayne was SO jealous!! We got seats on the second row and realized that in the section next to the Angels dugout the front row seats were available so we told the boys to go sit over there and see if they could get a player to toss them a ball and it worked!! They even got the catcher to sign their baseballs! They were very happy campers! We love spring training. It's just one of the many great things about living in Arizona :)

Wayne and Larry were excited that we got to see Dan Herron and Ryan Braun up close!

Chunky Monkey

I can't get enough of this chunky monkey! Luckily he loves to cuddle because I always just want to hold him and squeeze him :) Can't believe he's already 11 weeks old!

Spring Break

We had a fun spring break just doing what we could in the great state of Arizona! It actually started off a little rocky with trading flu around the family Saturday, Sunday, and Monday! Thankfully we were all feeling much better by Tuesday. I was still pretty weak and tired from my bout of the flu on Monday so Tuesday we kept it simple and went to see the Lorax. The boys absolutely loved it! Such a fun movie :) Wayne also had his first session at the Arizona World of Baseball on Tuesday. For the next four weeks he gets to go there with 4 other members of his baseball team and work with ex-professional baseball players. He is so excited about this!! We're in full swing with the Little League Season and the boys are in heaven!

Wednesday we went for a hike. Lisa, Ashley, Katie and I took all our little ones (minus Katie's twins) to the superstition mountains. We were quite the site with 4 moms, 11 boys, and 2 girls! We thought we were going on an easy kid hike, but I don't think we found it because the trail we were on was all uphill! The kids were such great troopers and everyone had a great time. Like I mentioned

the trail was uphill which meant going back was all down hill. Katie, Dalton, Brett, Bruce and I got left in the dust on the way down while the rest of the kids charged down the hill full speed ahead. Ashley and Lisa headed up that crew and waited for us in the parking lot. I was carrying Bruce in the kid pack that situates the baby in front so I couldn't also carry Brett. In order to speed things up a little bit Katie started alternating between running Dalton and Brett ahead and then coming back for the other one. She was getting quite a workout by repeating this pattern over and over again ;) When we are almost to the bottom of the trail Katie ran Brett ahead and then told him to keep walking. He rounded a corner and when he realized he couldn't see us anymore he sat down and started screaming. (We knew exactly where he was and we were not very far from him, but he didn't realize that). In the meantime a group of older hikers from back East passed by me and Katie and rounded the corner to where Brett was before we did. Brett was expecting to see me and was startled when he saw an old man instead. He looked that old man straight in the eyes and shouted "don't take me!" The quick-witted-old man didn't miss a beat. He said to Brett, "Well I'm not going to take you, but if I were you I would be more concerned about that bear behind you!" Brett immediately stop screaming and turned around in fear to see the bear that he was certain was behind him. When he didn't spot a bear, he realized that the old man was messing with him and that made him even angrier! One of the women hikers that was with the old man punched him in the arm and said, "don't scare that poor baby!" He laughed and said,  "what I got him to stop crying didn't I?! I raised kids. I know how to handle these kind!!" We got a pretty good laugh at that :) 

The excitement didn't end there, however. When I got to the parking lot I realized to Ashley and Lisa were standing by my car laughing. We have Just Dance 3 for the Wii and one of the boys favorite songs to dance to is the EDITED version of "California Girls" by Katy Perry. I thought it was cool that Just Dance 3 edits the lyrics of the songs, but when I got to my car in that parking lot I realize the downside... the boys found the song on the radio while they were waiting for Brett, Bruce and I to make it down the hill. They of course were unknowingly blasting the unedited radio version of that song. I came up to my car to see that Wayne was in the driver seat, slouched down, one hand on 

the wheel with the windows down rocking out. Not to be outdone, Austin was on top of my car (yes, on top!) dancing--using all of his Just Dance 3 moves and more!! My car look like party city! Ashley and Lisa were laughing, shaking their heads,  and glad that it wasn't their kids!! ;)

Thursday and Friday we got to spend some time at the cabin with my parents. We had a good time enjoying the nice weather, taking hikes, riding in the Polaris and looking for fossils! Luke was certain that he found some dinosaur bones and a tiny fossilized ship from outer space!! The boys also went down to play near the creek and Wayne even got brave enough to go in! It was freezing cold, but he did it anyway! What a nut!!

Hallee's Birthday Party!

I totally spaced Hallee's birthday party and we almost missed it! Luke would never have forgiven me!! Thankfully Larry remembered so I ran down there with Austin, Luke and Brett. They got there just in time for cake, presents, and party favors so they were happy! Dreyson and Brett were very cute sharing their party favor bag :)

Best shopping trip with a toddler EVER!!

Apparently I took too long grocery shopping, but instead of crying and throwing a fit like he normally does Brett decided to just curl up and go to sleep!!

Things are Starting to Sprout in the Garden!

Austin loves the garden. We planted a few giant sunflowers for fun and they are starting to sprout. Austin is very proud because he not only helped plant everything, but he very diligently waters and takes care of the garden every day :)

Tire Swing!!

Larry and I found a company back East that makes real tire swings! We ordered one and had it shipped last week. It arrived at the end of the week this week and the boys were dying because I didn't want the box opened until we had time to hang it up on Saturday. (I didn't want parts to go missing!) They didn't even know what was in the box at all so I pulled up a picture on the computer to show them. They were really excited :)






Larry got it put up on Saturday. Wayne was at baseball practice so he missed the inaugural swing. Luke, Austin, and Brett went for a test spin. Brett started screaming right away and said it was "TOOOO Scary!!" He warmed up to it eventually though.









Darla was dying watching everyone test out the new swing. I don't think she had any idea what it was, but it looked like they boys were having fun and she wanted to be part of it!

Wayne Got His Cast Off!

Wayne was very excited to get his cast off! Everything looks great and he's cleared to ease back into baseball :)




Brett was having way too much fun on the doctor's spinning chair. He wants to know why we don't have one of those!