Happy Halloween!

Carson definitely liked some parts of Halloween better than others. He seemed to like carving a pumpkin at daycare.

And he liked sitting with his friends and looking at their pumpkin.

He was anti-costume from the beginning. We tried it on when it came in the mail and he immediately wanted it off. He put it on this morning b/c Miles told him that's how he gets candy. He is VERY motivated by candy. He's our junk food eater.

By the time they got to daycare, he decided he hated it. Darrin left him like this and apparently he cried for 10 minutes. One teacher said that she'd never seen him so upset. He got over it at some point b/c I saw some pictures throughout the day and he was happy again.

We had a costume contest at work. We dressed up as 'A Week of Tennessee Weather'. It's very appropriate b/c we can experience all four seasons in one week here.

After work, we went trick or treating with friends. Their neighborhood is crawling with kids and a lot of the houses are decorated. This was the year for scary costumes. That's what all the cool kids were doing. Miles is Jason from Friday the 13th (2nd from the right).

We ran into another friend while trick or treating. Miles also went to a door and it was one of his teacher's houses. It made his night. He loves his teachers this year.

Carson wanted to walk for a little while but rode in the stroller most of the night.

He's usually not very good in the stroller, but he was a trooper tonight. Whenever he got a little fussy Miles gave him some candy. He had more candy tonight than he's ever had. He still went to sleep fine which made us very happy. Hopefully he'll stay there all night.

I had fun hanging out with my friends too. Last year we rode on a trailer but this year we walked b/c we couldn't get everything together. These are all baseball moms. Being gone at the tournament all weekend made it impossible for us to plan anything. I actually preferred walking. It was a beautiful night and it felt so good to walk and talk. 

It started to rain so we went back to the house where we met to play a few games. Unfortunately the tornado sirens started going off and we all felt like we needed to get home. It was a fun night, but with Carson it was almost better that we were forced to leave. 

This was the first night that Darrin hasn't had practice in months. It was so nice to be home together after trick or treating. Volleyball ends this weekend. It's always sad when a season ends, but I'm looking so forward to more nights like this in the near future.

Weekend Wrap Up

Every weekend is busy around here, but this one was especially so. Darrin drove back and forth to Alabama twice for two of his games, so that in between he could drive to Martin, TN to watch a former player get inducted into the Hall of Fame at our previous school, UT Martin. It was a tough weekend for him, but he wouldn't have missed it. She was an incredible player and we love her and her family very much. 

He was so happy to see several former players. 

After both his games and this excursion, he met us in Memphis for the final day of Miles' last tournament of the season. Saturday it was just the two of us b/c Carson stayed home with my mom. That proved to be a very good decision.

The boys played in a Pink Out tournament in Cordova, TN. This is the third time we've played here and we've done well every time. They like playing here and they love wearing pink!

Their first game started at 8:30am. Sundays are always win or go home. They ended up playing four games over the span of 12 hours, and walking away as champs!

It was a beautiful day and the boys seem to have fun and just enjoy the day. Winning tends to help that cause :)

That's Miles base running on first. I'm pretty sure that is his favorite part of the game. He taunts the other team. He's going to have to re-evaluate his strategy when they get bigger and stronger. They tried to pick him off at first one time and he took off to second. They always work on diving back. He must have already had it in his head that he was going b/c he never hesitated.

I love these ladies. They are a joy to be around. Everyone celebrates with each other when their kid gets a chance or does well. We have a really good thing.

Before the weekend was over, Miles played every position on the left side of the field...left field, third, short stop, pitcher, and catcher. He likes pitcher the best. I like watching him pitch or play short stop or left field probably the best. Catcher makes me really nervous b/c passed balls are everything at this age. Third makes me kind of nervous too b/c there are so many throw downs from the catcher. 

None of them are perfect at this age, but he holds his own in the field. He had several good plays this weekend. He made the third out in a triple play during the championship game! It was probably the best moment in baseball thus far. Our crowd, and even our coaches, went nuts. He also got his first kid out at second from a thrown down at catcher. Very exciting also!

Not so exciting was the fact that he got hit in the back twice in one game. Once was between the shoulder blades. One of the coaches gave him a knee to sit on to catch his breath. He's still hurting today.

He pitched one inning as a closer. We needed to save our pitcher for the championship game. We just needed three quick outs from Miles and he did that. He gave up one run, but we were up by a lot so the coaches said to trade runs for outs. He did his job well. All the kids did their jobs all weekend long and that's why they won.

Pure joy after doing what he needed to do in that one inning. He aims to please and he knew his coach was proud of him.

That ended the fall season. I'm ready for a break, but it was a storybook ending from the weather to the time with friends & family to the championship. Special thanks to my mom for holding down the fort so we could take in every minute of it. Way to go, Hornets!

5 Pics - Day 4

I took off one day during Miles' fall break to hang out with him, and so he wouldn't have to spend so much time at Darrin's office. We had a lunch date at Snappy's Pizza. They have a crane game in the back of the restaurant that we are obsessed with. We are going to win an iPad mini one day! We should have just bought one with the money we've spent playing the game, but where's the fun in that??

Carson had 50's day at school. Nailed it.

This is a perfect representation of what our mornings are like.

Miles got sealant on his teeth the other day. Again, this is the dentist that gives their patients headphones and plays a movie on a TV that is mounted on the ceiling. He got so relaxed that he fell asleep. She was asking him questions and he wasn't even responding. We started taking him here from his first dentist appointment b/c we were afraid he would have anxiety about the dentist. I'd say it has accomplished what we wanted it to!

Carson had picture day at daycare yesterday. He looked so cute! I can't wait to get the proofs back.

Wordless Wednesday

They Don't Get This From Me

I actually have seven pictures to share tonight! Both my boys like to read. Sadly, they most definitely did not get that from me. If I have time to read, I have time to do anything else...mainly watch TV or sleep. I did go on a girls trip one time and thoroughly enjoyed reading on the beach. So maybe I do like to read when I have nothing else to do. When I'm at home, I can't sit still long enough to read. Darrin likes to read books related to coaching or self help, but doesn't read for fun. Of the two of us, he's more of a reader than me. 

Miles enjoys reading a lot. I'm not sure if he loves it, but he likes it. He goes in spurts and doesn't love just any book.

His favorites are Dog Man, I Survived, and Magic Treehouse. He also likes the 13 Story Treehouse series, Captain Underpants, and Bad Guys.

Miles' absolute favorite is Dog Man. There are 5 so far and he read all of them in record time. They are very easy reads, but he literally reads them in a couple hours. The next one comes out at Christmas and Marmee has already pre-ordered it for him.

Carson loves books right now. He's finally to the point where he enjoys some longer books rather than short board books. He brings books to Miles and wants him to read them. Most of the time Miles obliges.

 

This cry face has nothing to do with the book. Just a reminder that Carson is two, y'all.

Carson's favorites right now are Corduroy, Corduroy's Halloween Party, Curious George, and the Itsy Bitsy School Bus. My favorites to read to Carson are Llama Llama (Miles never liked them???), Little Excavator, and I Love You All the Time. The last one is a random book that my mom picked up somewhere and I love it. It has the sweetest message. I tried to include a link, but blogger went nuts. It's by Jessica Elin Hirschman.

Before bedtime, Carson gets two books. We read them in a recliner in his room. After the first book, I remind him that he gets one more book and then it's time to go night night...and then he repeats "night night". For this reason he might stay in a crib until he's ten and the recliner will probably stay in there too. 

Miles typically gets 15 minutes of reading time in his bed. When we tuck him in, he sets a timer on his Echo Dot. When the timer goes off, he turns off his light and goes to sleep. His reading time is much less consistent b/c if baseball practice runs late or he's watching something on TV with us, he might just got straight to sleep. He reads a lot at school when he finishes his work early so I don't worry about it. 

I have a theory that people who read a lot are better test takers. I also think that being able to read quickly and comprehend is a great life skill. I'm so hoping that my boys continue to love books.

5 More Pics

Here we are for 5 more pics. These two were very pleased with their pockets the other day. They did this with zero prompting.

I'm afraid Carson is going to be a hair twirler like mom, Marmee, and Miles. He's not as obsessive about it as Miles, so maybe there's still hope.

Two weekends ago, another baseball mom and I stayed in a room with four boys. We had a suite with 2 queen beds and a pull out couch. It actually worked out nicely. Our husbands can't always come on the weekends b/c of work, so we might do this again. The boys loved every second of it, especially the indoor pool.

We all know I'm not a fan of forts, but it's been entertaining Carson lately, so who am I to stand in the way of that?? I need to give Carson a little credit. He's been doing much better about playing with Miles and even by himself. In general, he's been easier to manage lately. It is such a welcomed relief. Getting to this point has been H-A-R-D at times.

Sharp dressed boys for church on Sunday. This was about two seconds before we had to fly home in record time and get ready for baseball. Life is nonstop around here!

5 Pics

It's been a while b/c life got really busy with work, volleyball, baseball, and having a 2 year old. I have so many pictures that I want to share, so the plan is to share 5 a day in no particular order. Surely I can make time for 5 pictures a day??

I took Miles to a Halloween store to pick out a costume. You can definitely find them cheaper online, but he loves going to this store. We went last year too. They decorate and play creepy music. I let him just wander around and look. To my dismay he wanted to be something scary this year. He settled on Jason from Friday the 13th. I miss the days of a fireman or Batman, but at least I still have Carson.

Carson got stung by a bee at daycare. His fingers swelled and a rash went up his arm. They gave him Benadryl but it took a little while for it to go away. Darrin went and got him. They went home for a couple hours until Carson asked to go back to daycare. I think he remembered that they were painting which is his favorite thing ever. They said he never even cried. He is the toughest kid.

I have two pictures to show for this...I love the way Miles always goes to the mound to give the new pitcher a pep talk. He's a good little teammate.

Carson is the best sleeper. I can probably count the number of times on two hands we've had to put him in bed with us. Unfortunately, several of those times have come in the last couple of weeks. He's been a little out of his routine. I think his teeth are hurting. The other night, he said  "teeth hurt". He seems to do better when we give him Motrin and Oragel before bedtime. He's not a good bed partner, but he's very cute to wake up next to in the morning.

Crystal and Steve drove all the way down the other night to watch Darrin's midweek game. It was soooooo good to see them. When we moved three years it put us 45 minutes farther away from them, which makes it a little over 2 hours. That has made it much more difficult to see each other especially with both of our busy schedules. I sure do miss them.

I don't know if anyone still reads this, but it's good to be back. See you back tomorrow for 5 more!