FIRST PLACE--CARDINALS

A few hours after Landry's championship game, Korley's team played in their championship tee ball game.  

This has been a looooooooong tee ball season.  

I'll be honest, I really didn't think we would make it through all of the games.  And, really, her team had only 9 players--if they had had just one more, there's a good chance we would have dropped out.

But, that wouldn't have been fair to the team.  So, we did what we had to do to keep her interested in tee ball.  

Bribery.  Motivation.

We told her if she played in all of the games, didn't complain, and tried her hardest, she could get her ears pierced when the season was over.  Now, we had to continually remind her of the bribe motivation, but it was the perfect incentive.  

Most of her time during the games was spent looking like she does in the first two pictures.  Daydreaming....and just generally bored.  

But, according to Korley, what she did enjoy about tee ball was: batting, high-fives, and snacks.  

Korley had an incredibly talented tee ball team (I'm so not joking--I've never seen a town take tee ball so seriously) and they ended up winning first place (out of 14 teams)!

We're so proud of Korley!  It has very little to do with how she played, but mostly for sticking with it and working towards a goal--even if the goal was ear piercing!! :)

And, in the end, I really think she did enjoy the comradery of playing on a team and the whole overall experience.  

FIRST PLACE--BAT GIRLZ

Last Saturday, May 21, was Landry's championship softball game.  They played the highly feared Hurricane's, who were in first place heading into the tournament!

However, our girls had worked hard all season and improved SO MUCH!  They ended up winning 8-2 and won first place!

I was obviously proud of the accomplishment--but even more proud of Landry for her character and sportsmanship.  She is so encouraging to her teammates and her opponents and I would be just as proud of her had they have come in in last place.

She has really loved playing softball and is enjoying all of the friendships she's made through it.  We are happy that she's doing something she's enjoying.  And, it's not over for us this season--she'll be playing on the all-star team!

Jeff was the Bat Girlz first base coach.  I am so proud of him, too.  There are a lot of softball "extremist" parents (that's the nice way to put it) and Jeff did a great job keeping everything in perspective for the girls when a lot of the other parents didn't.  I mean really, the goal should be to have fun!!

The big 3-5

My 35th (yikes!) birthday was last Friday, May 20.  

Jeff, the kids, and I met up with the rest of my family a couple of nights before at Pappasito's to celebrate!

I got some GREAT presents, but I'll have to talk about them in another post because I don't have the pictures with me now.  

I have a small notebook that I keep in my purse that I use to jot down grocery lists or to-dos.  

The other day I pulled it out and flipped to find a blank piece of paper and saw that Korley had written in it.

Love this child.  

3rd grade field trip!

I went on Landry's 3rd grade field trip to the Omni/Fort Worth Museum earlier this month.  There are 19 kids in her class and 10 parents went, so the kid to chaperone ratio was very favorable!

I just had Landry and her friend, MacKenzie, in my group.  They were such a treat to be with for the day!  I have loved Landry's class this year--it has been such a good group and I am going to miss this group of kids!

Mother/Daughter Tea

A couple of Sundays ago, Landry's friend, Chloe, and her mother, hosted their annual mother/daughter tea.  We didn't even know them this time last year, so this was the first year we went.

Landry really likes her friend, Chloe, but she was very skeptical of the tea.  

Firstly, she doesn't necessarily like being dressed up.  She's the first to run to her room as soon as we walk in from church and get into comfy clothes.  In fact, she asked if she could bring a change of clothes to Chloe's house so she could change as soon as everyone saw that she came dressed up. 

Secondly, she was convinced that she didn't like tea, and was surely not going to enjoy a party revolved around drinking it.  

However, she ended up having a lot of fun!  Fortunately, we did more than stand around and drink tea.  They had about a dozen different kinds of desserts, and Landry claimed that the punch served was the "best thing she's ever drunk" (drunk? drank?).

They also got to paint and decorate their own flower pot (an oversized tea mug) and plant flowers in it.  It was a really fun project for the girls!

The Ponies

A few Friday nights ago, our friends Tim & Sarah, invited Jeff and I to go to Lone Star Park with them.  Tim's company had a suite for the night and they had some extra tickets that we were fortunate enough to use!

I've been to the horse park before, and it is fun--but it's even more fun in a suite!  Amazing accommodations, amazing food, and a great view!

ANNNNND......I won $312 in one race on a $12 bet.  Turns out, sometimes it DOES pay to bet on the horse that has a jockey wearing turquoise!

Sorry these photos are crapola--they're from my phone.

The horse race trumpet guy came up to our suite and asked if we had any requests......crickets.  Turns out, not many of us know any trumpet songs.  I told him he could play whatever he wanted so long as it wasn't "Taps".  

Mother's Day!

We had a very relaxing Mother's Day.  It was a quite warm day and really the first day of the "season" that the kids spent most of the day in the pool.

My mom, dad and Lindsay came to the house later that evening to celebrate Mother's Day and cook out with us.  My favorite kind of day......

Landry & Korley--THE two biggest reasons I love Mother's Day!  ;)

And, us with my mom--the best mom I could ever ask for!!

Mayfest

The first Saturday in May, my sister and I took Landry and Korley to Fort Worth's Mayfest.  

We had planned on eating at Pappa's Burgers after Mayfest, so we tried to park there and cross the river on the rocks to get to Mayfest.  Unfortunately, we got half way across and were told by the funnel cake wielding popo to go back because crossing on the rocks was "too dangerous".  In fact, it was "so dangerous" that he sent a couple that had crossed with their toddler back across that had already made it over.  

Don't get me started.....

I'd appreciate the honesty much more.  Just say, look--we'd rather you come to this side of the obnoxiously crowded river and pay the $10 parking fee.  

The first thing the girls wanted to do was go in the petting zoo corral thing.  They had bunnies, pigs, ducks, chickens, and a bunch of other animals that gross me out.  The animals were for sale and the girls, of course, wanted to buy one.  Ew.  No way. 

Of all of the hundreds of things to do, the girls spent the most time in the "Texas Parks and Wildlife" exhibits they had set up for kids.  They got to be game wardens and "pull over" a boat and search it.  They learned how to shoot a bow and arrow (well, technically I guess it's just shooting the arrow).  They also got to fish for catfish in a big tank.  Korley caught this catfish in a matter of seconds.  

Landry didn't catch one--which made her very unhappy!

I couldn't resist buying a confetti egg and busting it on my sister's head.  It reminded us of the Buffalo Gap Arts Festival days when we were kids and spent hours chasing our friends around breaking eggs on their heads.  I may or may not have gotten a little too over-zealous and hit her a little too hard.  Judging from the disapproving shriek that came from the lady standing beside us when the egg broke, I'm guessing I may have!!

After we finally pulled the girls out of the Texas wildlife land, they got to play a few games of laser tag.  One thing's for sure--Korley might be young, but she shows no mercy.  

Going to the Zoo

Earlier this month, Korley's class went on a field trip to the Fort Worth Zoo.  

The weather was perfect--and because her class is so small and most of the moms went, the mom to kid ratio was great, which is the best kind of field trip--laid back and stress-free.  

I got zero pictures of animals, so you'll just have to take my word for it that we really were at the zoo!

This is Korley with two of her good buddies.  The little boy asked me a few months ago if he could marry Korley!  :)

Korley and her good friend, Reagan.  

They were exhausted by the end of the field trip.

This was the only group shot I managed to (attempt to) take. They were all lined up and looking at the camera and then one of the kids fell off the railing.  FYI, no kids were harmed in the (attempted) taking of this picture.

Last Royal Wedding Post (probably)

I have to admit--up until a couple of weeks ago, my interest in the royal wedding on a scale of 1 - 10 was about a 4.

But, my interest in playing dress-up and getting to wear a hat is a TEN!

My friend, Tiffany, had a royal wedding watching party last Friday night.  The one wardrobe request was to wear a hat!  Fine by me!  (I also requested that we talk in British accents all night, but Tiff shot me down.)

I really wanted an outrageous fascinator, but didn't want to pay an outrageous price for one.  I really loved the fabulous tackiness of this Princess Beatrice hat--which was the "inspiration" for the hat I made.

The big tall, blue feather duster thing on my head is my version.

Chandra, Sarah, Tiffany, me, Karin, Lindsay

Lindsay went all Union Jack on us (with a little bit of Alice in Wonderland and Megamind thrown in too).

Me and Linds

Me and my friend Karin.  She's a real life Canadian--which is more British than any of the rest of us! ;)

Tiffany and Karin had quite the dessert spread.  In fact, it was more impressive than many of the actual weddings I've been to!

With an actual wedding cake!!  Well, just a cake--but with their names on it so that makes it a wedding cake!

Thanks, Tiffany, for a brilliantly lovely party!  

On a different note, I bought the People magazine collector's issue the other day.  Tiffany had the issue of TIME from when Charles and Diana got married and it was interesting looking through it the other day.  I thought someday my girls might enjoy looking at the pics of William and Kate's wedding.  

I came home from running errands this afternoon to find Landry and Korley sitting at the breakfast table with sharpies totally defacing the magazine!!

I won't say for certain, but I may or may not have over-reacted!!  

I love how Landry wrote "weirdo" (or werdo) across William's sash.  

And in typical Landry and Korley personality differences, after I yelled at the kids may or may not have over-reacted, Landry said she was REALLY sorry--and Korley in a complete annoyed tone said, "wellllllll, do you have a magazine we CAN draw on?!?"