ball, ball, and more ball......

So how was your weekend? What fun things do you enjoy this weekend? This is what we did ALLLLL weekend long... but honestly I would not have it any other way!

I watched these little guys play 4 games in 2 days in the State Tournament!

It was H-O-T... but we did what we could to keep this guys cool!

I watched them run hard every time!!!

I watched them make throws to get guys out!

I watched them make catches and my little man

almost caught a beautiful pop fly... but he missed it! :(

I watched these guys come up to bat and

hit the ball; an average of 16 times in 2 days.

And this little guy got his first HOMERUN on Saturday!

It was a 3 run homer!!!!

It was a hot weekend at the ballpark but it was FUN! We won 3 of the 4 games we played this weekend. We will keep playing until we loose another game and then we are out! It is bitter sweet for me... I want these guys to go all the way and win STATE... BUT....

this is where we are headed when ball is over... we were planning on leaving monday morning but since we won we are still here... so if we loose tomorrow night we will leave after the game but if not we will play again Tuesday night and we want get to leave until then... so we shall see?

Wishing you all a GREAT week and a Happy 4th of July!

See you soon with lots of beach and lake pictures!

Pickin' Blueberries....

Believe it or not we went here today....

and picked these puppies...

It was actually MY idea... can you believe THAT?

I know that is soooo NOT me but it was

something I wanted to do so we went!

Jackson concentrating on picking his berries "Check out this BIG one mom" Hollywood over here... picking her blueberries...

"Is this a BIG one too mom?"

brylee was so funny... she was her "GoGo's child" today... she picked a few and then "she was HOT & she was thirsty & at one point she said she was going to sit in the car"... I really don't know how in the world I got this girly girl priss pot but oh my she sure is one... she even wore her "accessories" to go pick blueberries... all she would need is her high heel shoes on and she would Be her GoGo made over! (some of my family is laughing very hard b/c they know it is sooo true)

Taking a break and enjoying some water too!

Look at all our blueberries we picked!

Carrying the bucket of blueberries back very carefully!

I think I would have cried if they had dropped them!

"Great Idea Mom?"

It was fun... richard and i got very "addicted" to it when we were walking back to the car we kept stopping at each bush and picking more we had a problem just walking by them and not picking them! I will not lie... it was HOT and we only picked for about an hour this morning and we got 4 1/2 pounds of blueberries... I was very proud of us! :)

So after we got home we searched on the Internet and found some yummy recipes for blueberries and tonight I made these....

Blueberry Strudel Cake!

Homemade Blueberry Muffins!

They were both really good! Richards says "after 8 years of marriage he finally turned me domestic"... ha... i actually like to bake... just not cook supper! There is a difference! :)

VBS

This week our church had VBS just for the preschool because last week they had XLR8 sports camp (instead of vbs) for the older kids. Richard volunteered at both camp and vbs (such a good daddy) but Thur. he was ask to go play golf so I filled in for him on Thursday. He was in charge of recreation so I melted for one day outside for a few hours with the littles playing games. Jackson's group came first and they were all into playing kick ball. I enjoyed playing with them! Pics L to R: the boys all lined up to kick, jackson about to kick, jackson dancing with the gorillas at the closing ceremony, j-man, his group, JT (love me some oppie taylor) and jp checking out his certificate! Next came brylee's group... there was mostly girls in her group. They all kicked maybe once and the rest of the time the hung out in the shade or by the water cooler... so girly! L to R: Abby and Makayla in the shade, the girls at the water cooler, brylee, brylee about to kick (she would stop the ball and then kick it... such a girl), brylee and son in law, brylee dancing in the closing ceremony she was ALL INTO IT, proud of her certificate!

We completed VBS and are God's Superheros!

after the last day of VBS we had a vbs volunteer pool and pizza party... the kids had a great time swimming, lucky for me i worked the day of the pool party... this pool was BEAUTIFUL... they had a water fall into the pool and the flowers were so pretty too... i was in AHHH for sure! It was FUN!

Nash-vegas!!!!

There is nothing like turning a work trip to the whole state of Tennessee into a good ole girls trip to Nash-Vegas!!! I "chose" to go work in Tennessee this week Monday through Wednesday and conned my dear friend Katy into tagging along with me... such a trooper!

A little background info about my J-O-B... i have to go to all (well a lot) of the Podunk maw and paw grocery stores that are in the middle of nowhere (most of the time) there are a few that are in "the big city" and "sell" them groceries. It takes me about 10 minutes in each store but about an hour or longer to get to each store. So therefore their is nothing like a good girlfriend to keep you company on the 1000 mile / 20 something store /3 day trip!

So for all you inquiring minds that want to know how in the world we made this FUN and what in the world we did... here you go!

We did a whole lot of this..... aka DRIVING..... or riding on Katys case....

And this is going to be your NEW best friend and you are going to listen VERY carefully so you don't get lost... DONT leave home WITHOUT it!!!!

the beloved tom tom gps

You start off your trip at this bakery and load up on meltaways, cinnamon rolls, cheese straws, and thumbprint cookies... they make great car snacks... and you must carry the leftovers around in your car the whole trip b/c really they are too good to throw away even when they are hard as rocks! :)

Then you drive a very long way towards Chattanooga... lots of conversation along the way... then you stop and eat lunch here... because you don't have this restaurant near you and it is very good "fast food Italian"! There bread sticks are YUMMY!

Then you drive for a few more hundred miles and this lovely place becomes your home away from home...and you are very happy they have this every morning... free breakfast... and might I add they have some yummy Cinnamon rolls and biscuits and gravy too!

You also eat dinner the first night here....b.c you don't have the restaurant locally either and i might add they have some REALLY good buttery croissants... YUMMY!

After you flip back and forth between bachelorette and jon and kate, you teach your friend how to blog stalk and then slept in your home away from home comfy beds and eat the free breakfast the next morning... you get in the car and drive a few more 100 miles.

Thank goodness for these babies...because they will keep you going and there is a sonic in every town i wished we would have counted how many sonics we saw during our 3 day trip... i am guessing at least 20... no lie... they are EVERYWHERE on EVERY corner!

Then you actually eat lunch their one day b.c you have seen it so much you start craving it... but by the end of the trip you are SICK of seeing the signs and are NOT going to eat there even if it is 3:00 and you have NOT had lunch yet!

Then you drive a few more 100 miles and you see it... the most "beautiful thing you think you have ever seen....Opry Mills Mall... outlet mall I might add... and you are more than willing for some retail therapy... and you close the place down making sure to stop in every store!

And you eat at this yummy restaurant inside the malls as well.... Rainforest Cafe! (sorry the picture is so small i look it with my phone)

Then it is back to your home away from home... to tired for TV tonight... a little blog stalk and off to bed and back up for more free breakfast.... then you drive and drive and drive some more... about this time you are getting TIRED of being in the car, your body is hurting from riding and sitting for so long and you are starving b.c it is 3:00 and you refuse to eat at the 10 NASTY fast food restaurants you have seen all week and keep passing!

You know you have been in the car too long when you see a I-65 sign with the beloved word BIRMINGHAM written on it and you party like it is 1999 and you are really only in huntsville... but it means it is close!!!!

So there you have it... a work trip turned into a short girls trip. Thanks for all the company, fellowship, and good girl time my sweet friend... we will have to do it again soon! XOXO :)

PS - Gezz is it me or did we do A LOT of eating???

BPM disorder....

I think I have been officially diagnosed with BPM (Ball Park Mom) disorder? I LOVE watching this little guy play ball! It is so much FUN!!!! I love all the "stuff" their team got... matching bags with their names on it and helmets too... they look so official... well as official as a six year old can look :) I LOVE how cute he looks in his uniform and his shirt has his last name on the back... ugh... i just can't get enough pictures of him from the back... i think i took 10... i have a problem! (And check out the infamous patch on his sleeve that had to be sewn on... thank goodness for friends that can sew b.c this momma is NOT domestic... don't even have a needle and thread at our house... really!) Like i said Who knew you had to be domestic for your kids to play all stars? I LOVE these cute little stars that they hang on the fence around the sponsor sign with all the players names and pictures in their ball uniforms... such a great way to show team spirit!

I LOVED (and got chills) when they did the "opening ceremony" before the game started... they called all the players names and numbers and they ran to the line and lined up when their name was called... so awesome.

They also played the National Anthem and I know this is not a good picture but I had to share it... look how precious my boy looks with hand "near" his heart looking at the flag.... brings tears to my eye... so sweet!

I LOVE watching him bat... and again not a very good picture but it is hard to get through the fence holes with my lens to take a good picture and watch too... but he went 6 for 6 last night! I LOVE the look of concentration and determination on his face... he was watching his coach seeing if he needed to stay or run... Here he comes from third base to home.... coach sent him (gave me a heart attack)... and it was going to be close whether he made it home or not....

Here is the collision at the plate... not a very good picture.... but he ran hard and slid but he got out... he said "i tried to push him out of the way but i couldn't"... LOVE IT!

I LOVE the excitement in their face after the game after they shook hands running back to the dug out shouting "we won"... they were so PROUD!!! ( and we were too)

After they beat Shelby Co. they got about a 10 minute break and had to play again. As Jackson said "Mom we get to play a double header"... LOVE IT! The second game we played Northport A (as in Tuscaloosa)... OMG i have never seen ANYTHING like it... I did not get any pictures b/c I was in shock most of the time... that team was AMAZING, INCREDIBLE, UNBELIEVABLE!!! We could not hit ANYTHING in the infield that they did not catch and "rocket it" to first base and get our guys out... their second baseman ran backwards, looked up and caught a fly in the air, they turned double plays like the major leagues it was unbelievable. I can't believe that The Univ. of Al. doesn't have the most amazing baseball team around just from pulling from Northport... these 5 year old kids we better than most high school teams. Obviously we did not win this game!

So we play tonight and if we win the first game we play another double header but if we loose we are done :(. Anyone else have BPM????

bows, bows, and more bows.....

120 ties later, a lot of hot glue, even more ribbon, and several burnt fingers later we are finished with these... Fall 2009 sample hair bows for BBTN! WOO-HOO!!!! thanks partner for all your help, fun times were had by all and great conversation as well! XOXO

My Little Slugger....

Jackson had his own accomplishments this weekend as well! He was chosen as one of the Chelsea All Stars for the 5 year old team. He had a game Friday night that we barely got in. We had about an hour rain delay Friday night but once the game started the boys played really well. However, about 4 innings into the game we heard this LOUD wind and we were looking toward the trees and out of know where the worst "wind storm" (that i am still NOT convinced was not a small tornado) came up. Everyone was grabbing their stuff and started running (against the wind which was NOT easy) toward the bottom of the press box for shelter. It was the scariest thing I have ever been in and I am NOT a "fraidy cat" when it come to weather (as long as I am NOT by myself). Thank goodness Mr. Randy had Brylee in his arms and she made it safely in the press box too. I could hear her screaming all the way so i knew she was coming. As soon as I got in there I looked at my mom and said "OMG where is Jackson"? so my dad and richard went looking for him. The coaches had all of them putting on their helmets and getting down on the ground and huddling around them to keep them safe in the bottom of the dug-out. They went and got Jackson and all the other players and got them in the press box too. About that time all the power went out and the ball park was black as midnight and we could not see anything. Bless those players hearts they were all SCARED to death and rightfully so!!!! The storm was in and out quick but that is all it took for a players mom to get hit in the head with a tent and get a goose egg on her eye and kids to be screaming, crying and scared to death. That is something I hope I don't ever have to go through again. Needless to say despite the storm we WON... beat Calera 21 to 6!!!! We were suppose to play again on Saturday but all the games we rained out :(... however it did make getting brylee ready and to her recital much easier...

Congratulations Buddy! We are so proud of you!

And thanks to GoGo, Grandaddy, KK, and Mrs. Cathy & Mr. Randy for braving the storms and coming to see Jackson play. We appreciate you so much!!!! We will be starting the Regional Tournament in Calera Thursday Night at 6:30!!! We should play thur, fri and sat and possibly monday if we continue to win... it is double illumination so basically we play until we loose twice! Go Chelsea! ps... the uniform jackson has on is their practice uniform we really do have nice uniforms that are not t-shirts but they did not wear them... :)

my dancing princess....

Saturday Night was Brylee's Dance recital! She did great; we were so proud of her!

Her first number was her tap routine to "Little Eskimos". This was her favorite of the two. She looked so cute in her little costume and did a great job!

Her second number was her ballet routine and she was a Dancing Tulip. She did a great job!

She was so EXCITED about getting her flowers after her recital!!!! She was also so excited about all the sweet family and friends that came to watch her dance. Thank you so much GoGo and Grandaddy, KK, Granny, and Mrs. Cathy (who some how we missed a picture with her) for coming to see our baby girl dance. We are so proud of her and we thank you again for coming to see her dance! We love you!

After the recital we all went to eat at Jackson's in Homewood! grandaddy and the dancing princess

After we ate we also went to SoHo Sweets and got ice cream!

Congratulations Baby Girl and your 3rd year of Dance!