Zach's First T-Ball Practice

Zach had his first t-ball practice today. It was quite cute and his coaches did a fantastic job. When the kids first arrived, they had them throw the ball back and forth. That was quite interesting and Zach was quite a hoot. The kids really handled turns well and were supportive of one another. You could definitely tell the four-year-olds from the three-year-olds.

In the picture below, a ball rolls past Zach.

Zach is getting some instruction on how to use his glove. Personally, I'm pleased he has it on the correct hand. That was a battle last week, but he has it now.

The kids huddled up for a few minutes with the coaches, ran the bases to warm up and then did some stretches.

Then the kids got into to position and took turns batting. This was so cute. Often, after hitting the ball they wanted to chase it instead of running the bases, but they each got to practice running the bases.

Zach manning 3rd base...sort of.

Clara was such a trooper. The practice was right outside our building, which has a playground next to the little field. She played for a while and then came on over to watch.

Zach was funny batting, and had to be directed to each and every base. He ran fairly well though!
After each kid had a turn batting and fielding, they all got in a line to bat while a grown up stood on each base. They wanted the kids to only worry about running the bases so each grown up would yell their name when it was time for the child to run to that base. By then, they had been at it for an hour and you could tell the kids were pretty much done. The coaches presented each player with a rice crispy treat in the shape of a circle with frosting designed to look like baseballs! Clara was even given one too. It was a lot of fun and Zach is very pleased that he had practice.

Flash Back!

I had posted very short clips of this video just before last Christmas. One of the girls singing with Clara spent the night last night and told Clara to google a clip of her sister singing...and I saw this video posted. I decided I had to snag it for the blog.

I am so thankful to Clara's friend's mom for posting this!

Loving Spring Break!

Today is the Saturday before we return to school from spring break. We've had a nice and relaxing break and managed to get a lot of items checked off my list of things to do before my trip to Quantico. Clara had a friend spend the night and they had a great time.

This morning I was making waffles, while chatting with Wendy and Dad when Zach decided he wanted to eat Whoppers instead. I told him no. My resourceful young man hauled a dining room chair into the kitchen and got them for himself. On a side note, he is wearing the other pajamas Mimi made him. He said, "Ohhh! They're so cute!" You should hear how he says it...adorable.After her friend went home we checked the mail and then went out to play. I wanted to work on Zach's ball skills. His practice last night was canceled due to rain. It is rescheduled for tomorrow. I am looking forward to watching them play. He wears his ball cap all the time now.
Clara is fun to watch! She doesn't stay with it for long. For a while I was a troll chasing after them. Then, as I'm chasing her...I realize she has dropped our game and is frolicking after a butterfly.
We are loving this warm weather. Zach is struggling with my desire to remove his layers. He now insists on wearing a long-sleeved tee under his short-sleeved ones. I tried to put shorts on him the other day and he got very upset and was trying to make the hem reach his ankles. I'm sure he'll adjust as it warms up. He is at least now leaving the apartment without his coat on, so there IS progress. Clara on the other hand has to be told to dress warmer on some days. They do balance each other out!

Baseball Season is Here!

I have to confess. I completely forgot about the parent meeting for Zach's baseball team last night. And what makes it even worse is that it was held at our building's playground!

Luckily, an email was sent out last night about what to do if you missed the meeting, so this morning I set out to get the yen to his coach to discover they live on the same floor of our building. Small world. Anyway, she brought me Zach's uniform (minus the shirt as it is having his name embroidered on it now) and he will look very cute but swamped. The pants are youth small. The hat is big too. I forgot to ask what their team is called. It didn't cross my mind until I looked at his hat. I do not read Kanji.

I very excited as he starts practice Friday evening. I'll take plenty of pictures. I'll also ask the name of the team. In this picture he is telling me the flash is a bit bright, so of course I had to use this picture.

Happy Easter!

Last night we dyed the eggs. Clara stayed up quite a while placing tiny stickers on the eggs too. She did this while I was putting Zach to bed. When I came out, I found that she had written the Easter Bunny a note, put the eggs in a bowl on the table for him to hide and left out some cookies.

Here are pictures of their baskets filled.

Clara was very tickled to get Barbie in a Mermaid Tale 2!

She also gave Zach the ins and outs of typical Easter candy. He didn't quite know what to do with the massive robin's eggs until she said, "Bite it, Zach!"

Peeps on a Stick!

They each got a travel buddy to make their upcoming flights a little more comfortable. They LOVE them. Here, Zach was stroking the raccoon saying he loves it.
After Zach's nap, we went out to enjoy the best day of the year...64 and sunny! We tossed the scooters in the car and went to the pirate playground.

I just love this picture of Clara Grace!

There is little Zach can not handle on a playground.

These slides are scary to me and the kids zoom down them.
The kids watched Hop after baths. Clara likes to sleep with me on non-school nights when Charlie is away. She was reading while I put Zach to bed. I went in to tell her lights out, and found this. I HAD to snap a picture.

Happy Easter!

Month of the Military Child

April is Month of the Military Child. It is celebrated all month at the school, but today (Saturday) MCCS had their celebration day with bounce houses, snow cones, cotton candy, etc. They always have the same Japanese ensemble perform at the end of the celebration and I just love them. As soon as we arrived, the kids wanted a snow cone. I thought it was cold. Zach agreed to put his coat on right after I snapped this picture. You can't tell, but they are having a blast!Here is the ensemble. They are awesome. They are so precise and smile the whole time. There was a little girl with her ankle all wrapped up and she continued to hop around too.

Zach was so cute as he shook hands with each girl that came by.

This has to be the BEST balloon creation I've seen.

Just as an aside, I have been meaning to snap a picture of the TV's current performance. Do you think something is wrong with the TV? I do. Luckily this disappears after the TV has been on for a few minutes.