Baseball Boy

Apparently baseball starts pretty young here - haha! And that's ok, the younger they are, the cuter they are trying to bat, run, catch, and all of the above. To say he was excited when he found out he was going to be a Pirate was an understatement. (Although a wee disappointed to discover he wasn't getting an eyepatch). He chose #6, the beloved number of Predator Shea Weber (the boy is OBSESSED with hockey, wrong sport huh).

All in all it was a fun season of boys learning the sport Jake and I both played (see below). He was destined to be a baseball "boy of summer" :)

Jake, front row center :)

Me, in the monogrammed hat third from the right (my sister is on the end)

Jules mostly played in the dirt. And even though asked a million times, she had no desire to play. 

Well, beat the drum and hold the phone - the sun came out today!
We're born again, there's new grass on the field.
A-roundin' third, and headed for home, it's a brown-eyed handsome man;
Anyone can understand the way I feel.

Showing his teammates his "muscles"

Oh, put me in, Coach - I'm ready to play today;
Put me in, Coach - I'm ready to play today;
Look at me, I can be Centerfield.

Gideon, Ryder, Josh

He turned big overnight :(

Well, I spent some time in the Mudville Nine, watchin' it from the bench;
You know I took some lumps when the Mighty Casey struck out.
So Say Hey Willie, tell Ty Cobb and Joe DiMaggio;
Don't say "it ain't so", you know the time is now.

Oh, put me in, Coach - I'm ready to play today;
Put me in, Coach - I'm ready to play today;
Look at me, I can be Centerfield.

Running as fast as he can, even though there is no score, and no outs, even if the boys knew how to get someone out - ha!

Typical

Got a beat-up glove, a homemade bat, and brand-new pair of shoes;
You know I think it's time to give this game a ride.
Just to hit the ball and touch 'em all - a moment in the sun;
(pop) It's gone and you can tell that one goodbye!

Oh, put me in, Coach - I'm ready to play today;
Put me in, Coach - I'm ready to play today;
Look at me, I can be Centerfield.

My Tiny Dancer

Jules had parent day at ballet today. And pretty much all that means is Jules gets to come in her super poufy tutu costume and twirl around in her class. What that means for me is snapping my camera incessantly. What that also means is Jules crying and refusing to dance the first half of the class. Why? No clue! Shy? Scared? No clue. I will say she is a beautiful little ballerina though :)

And this one was just taken on my iPhone. Similar to the one above, but it's still super cute of course :) and with my phone! 

Memorial Day Kickoff with Kroger!

Yay, Yay, Yay! Summer is finally here! I love, love, love it!

The babes with one of our neighbors, Jacob

We started off the weekend with a cookout over at our house with our neighbors. I stopped by Kroger to get everything we need! Our menu consisted of burgers, hotdogs, baked beans, chips, cupcakes, and loads of fruit. 

What we also got, (and what often gets neglected) is the "other" stuff needed: Bounty paper towels, paper plates, Citronella candels, Tide to get those stains out, OFF spray, trashbags, etc. Ya know, the essentials you need but you often overlook because you get so excited about the good stuff! 
All those clean-up items are on sale this week when you load up your Kroger Card with digital coupons. 

That's what makes Kroger a good "one-stop" shop on Memorial Day or any get together. You can get your entertainment things, as well as the "other things" you need. 

This week Kroger has paper towels and trash bags on sale, and you can save $5 when you shop at Kroger between 5/26-6/1 and spend $25 in qualifying categories including paper towels and trash bags!- perfect for your get together!!

Check out all of Kroger's deals this week here. 

Also don't forget that its still time for 2X Fuel Points this summer!



I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls Collective, and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own. 

The Over-Scheduled 3-Year-Old

Let's chat for a minute, mkay? Sometimes it really drives me crazy how society is nowadays. And let's be honest...I am a crazy one and probably most moms out there are too.

I have two three year olds. We haven't really gotten them involved in many extra-curricular activities. They take a short gymnastics class through their school on Thursday mornings. We went to Mommy and Me classes at Gymboree when they were little. But that has been the extent of it.

So, when they turned three, I decided to maybe start getting them more involved in some things. Things, plural? At three? Surely I jest! After all, we live in Brentwood, TN. The abundance of activities available for a three year old would probably make your head spin. There is, of course, gymnastics. Then there is soccer, dance, basketball, baseball, hockey, karate, spanish, and swimming. Is your head already starting to spin around? Yeah, mine too.

We decided to keep them in gymnastics at school and then put Josh in baseball and possibly do dance or something with Jules. We haven 't done that yet, but Josh is in week 4 of baseball.

The baseball around here is Lil' Sluggers. It's not actually baseball, but a little group of boys and they teach them the basics: throwing, hitting, running bases, sliding, etc.

Josh is...how do I put it...not good. His attention span is that of a over-energetic gnat. He follows direction for a little while, then is in his own little world. But I of course think he is doing great for 3, because he's ummm three!! Which, is pretty typical of 3?? yes? no? He does good, mind you, and I do think he is learning to throw and hit, but...here's the thing. He's the worst on his team because he's the least experienced.- ahem...least experienced. AT THREE. Who knew I had to worry about enrolling him AT TWO so he could catch up to these kids??? And this is when I want to just throw my hands up in the air and throw a fit. When did it become the society where we already are instilling skills to make them so competitive at TWO. Why is my son behind at THREE? Aren't three year old just supposed to run around in the backyard and pick up sticks and stuff? I saw another mom I know at the last lesson and I was talking to her about her son, who is 3.5 and he got moved to the next higher class because he was so advanced. This was his 4th cycle of lessons. And he plays hockey. I love that her son is so talented, but poor Josh, lol. **beats my head against the wall**

It's all very, very frustrating. And here I am right in the middle of it, which just makes me depressed. And what if I pull him out? Then will he be even more behind? The main reason I put him in this class to begin with is so that he could do something alone, without Jules. She is the dominant, social twin. However, without her, he is shy and had a hard time making friends. So, I guess its good for him, right? Oh, yeah, and we also started swim lessons. So, yeah, thats three things. Not proud of it. *hangs head in disgust*

So, tell me moms. What say you? Do you guys already have your wee toddlers already over-scheduled? Please don't tell me I'm alone here.I don't want to be that mom. I really don't. But I may not have a choice.

Thats him in the Yankees hat :)

Poor little guy :(

First Beach Trip

Let me tell you a little bit about myself and my family. Growing up in East Tennessee, you were one of two families. You were either lake people or beach people. (some, of course, were both) Lake people were great. I had loads of friends with lake houses. I would go with them on the weekends and play on their ski boats pontoon boats. We would water ski, inner tube, or knee board behind the boats. Once we got a little older, alcohol might have been involved and we might spend the better part of the day on the boats riding along the lake on a beautiful East TN weekend. My family, however, was a beach family.

We went to the east coast for as many years as we could remember. We went every single summer, sometimes multiple times during the summer. (My mom was a teacher so she had summers off). We went to Myrtle Beach alot as a kid (the northern non-redneck side, although there were still some). When I was in high school we bought a condo in Hilton Head, so that was then our place of choice. My mother is a self proclaimed beach bum and at a moments notice you could find her on her way to some beach. My dad now lives in Hilton Head and some in Florida as well. We were definitely beach people.

So, to say I was SUPER DUPER excited about experiencing my babies first steps in the sand was a BIG understatement. We had talked about the when, where, whys of when it was going to take place. Jake thought they were too young (again, not until they are 15, hehe). And honestly, our trip came as a last minute spur-of-the-moment type of thing. I had a chance to go and found a friend and her 18m son at the last minute and away we went, my nanny in tow.

We went down to the Orange Beach area and had a WONDERFUL time. The babies had a blast and were absolutely the most well behaved children ever. Honestly, I clearly took the neighbors kids because I didn't recognize them they were so great. We watched videos in the car on the way down and back and they didn't make a peep. They slept good, ate good, and loved every second of the beach. They loved playing in the sand. They loved finding seaweed and throwing it back in the ocean ("ByeBye Seaweed! See you soon!" - Josh and Jules). They also loved to stand at the shore and pick up the wet sand and throw it back in. They were honestly SO GOOD. When can we go back??? I was relieved, elated, and surprised by how great they were. I definitely have beach babies and I couldn't be more proud. YAY!!!

***prepare for crazy photo dump***