1st swim of the season

My boys have been begging us to take them swimming at our neighborhood pool. So yesterday afternoon after church and naps, we went. The water was freezing!!! Cody and I were in our suits but were not crazy enough to get in. =) The boys loved it for a little while but after about 30 minutes--they were done. It was too ccccold!!!

Meeting the Mayor

The whole group--two classes

Colton is studying local government in Social Studies. So on Thursday, they took a mini field trip over to the city hall and met Jay Feibelman--the Mayor of Garden Ridge. The class spent about 30 minutes asking the mayor tons of funny and interesting questions. The mayor was good sport in answering them all.

Colton's class with the mayor

Colton really wanted to shake his hand=)

After the Q&A session, they got to tour the police department with the police chief. They were most impressed by the interrogation room and the holding cell. =) They also got to check out a police car.

"Driving" a police car

 This next picture cracks me up. It is of Colton and his best buddy Hayden in the back of the police car. We better never see them in the back of one of these again!!

This was a great way to spend the morning and reinforce what they have been learning. They all loved it!!!

Cooper's Nature Field Trip

Today was Cooper's last Kindergarten field trip. (Can't believe this school year is almost over!) Anyway, the field trip was to the San Marcos Nature Center. It was a lot of fun!!

Cooper and his good buddy Riley

The kids visited 8 different stations and never stayed at any of them too long so they loved it!
They used nets to fish tadpoles and other stuff out of a pond...

went into a butterfly garden...

Aaron, Bobby, Cooper and Riley 

 went hunting for butterflies...

 met turtles...

 released a ladybug(no picture-it flew away too fast) and got to see some lizards and pet a few snakes...

 and made a few crafts...

 They loved it and learned a lot too! Then we headed to a nearby park to picnic and play!

Cooper, Riley and Kyler

 It got pretty warm but was a wonderful day with my boy!!

My Sluggers!

As you know, we are super busy with baseball but we are all really enjoying it!

This week seems to have been a turning point for both of my boys. They have both started to hit really well. So exciting to see them improve week by week. Let me back up...
Colton has a very laid back personality and is not a highly competitive person! This is a good quality in a lot of ways but sometimes it makes him less motivated about sports. I am glad that this season he is a little more into the game and has more emotion about doing good or bad in the game. Anyway, he doesn't usually hit the ball when he is up to bat. He has had a few foul balls and a hit that got caught right at first but mostly strike outs. He does great in practice but in a game, the nerves get him and he lacks the confidence to take any chances. With it being kid pitch, the pitching is a little harder. Cody and I were getting a little frustrated for him(don't worry- we didn't tell him that) because we know he has a good swing and the coordination to really hit. Anyway, the other day we laid out a bribe reward. We told him if he would work hard and do extra practice at home without complaint and got a hit in the game, we would take him to get a new Skylander. He didn't have to make it on base or score a run, just hit the ball. So we practiced hard and at last night's game, he was pumped! His first chance to bat, he hit a great hit and made it onto first base. When he got there, he did a little victory dance. =) Then his second time at bat, he knocks the heck out of the ball and gets a triple! He was so excited and so were we! That means he gets two Skylanders but the better part is that he gained confidence. I think that is what he was lacking. It was so awesome to see him do so great!! SO proud of our #8.
Here is a video I took of the second hit(glad I was ready). You may want to turn the sound down because I am an obnoxious cheerleader. =)

I am hoping this boost of confidence helps the hits continue! 

He posed for a few pictures after the game for me to text to my parents. They are ever faithful fans and rarely miss a game but happened to be out of town this weekend. They were so upset that they missed it!

Reenacting ;)

Cooper(who plays coach pitch) has a pretty competitive personality and is always wanting to do extra practice. He had a great week this week too. After a lot of batting in his practice, he got a hit all three times at bat in his last game and two out of three times in his game today. Nice to see it clicking with him. He beams when he hits it and we do too!  Here he is hitting a ball today that got him on base today. So proud of my #3. 

Nothing better than cheering on my boys!!!

Ground Breaking

Our church is full of families with young children. So many that we needed a new building in order to accommodate all of the classes of kiddos. The construction just started recently and last night was the ground breaking ceremony. It was a simple but fun event. The kiddos all got hard hats and the older kids choir group sang a sweet song. After that, we all sang and said a prayer for the people working on the building and the future of the church and the children. Then we all released yellow balloons and ended the evening with ice cream sandwiches. 

So exciting to see the changes being made. Can't wait to see the new building!!!

Cooper's birthday party

Cooper's birthday was last Wednesday but his party was at Laser Legend on Sunday afternoon. We love that place!! Cooper's favorite friends were there and he had a great time!! They played arcade games, played Laser tag, had pizza, played Laser tag again, had cake and then played a few more games before we left. So fun and easy. My birthday boy had a blast!!

The whole group ready to go into play Laser tag.

Coops with his Kindergarten friends! 

The birthday boy getting ready

My big 6 year old and I 

playing laser tag

Colton--serious

Cody helping Carter

Aren't these cake push pops the coolest? It is a push pop with layered chocolate cake, vanilla cake and icing. Got these made by Cakes Azucar. So delicious and something different than traditional cake or cupcakes. They were a big hit! 

My nephew Landon and my Colton enjoying their push pops. 

Yummy!

My nephew Grady

Cooper and his good buddy Carson

Cooper and his good buddy Riley

Cooper and his good buddy Bobby

My nephew Luke and Cooper

My nephew Graham

Birthday boy with Aunt Stacy and Uncle Jason

Cooper with Nana

My boys and their great friends the Liles boys

My nephews Landon and Luke

Cooper and his good buddy Ian

The five of us

We came home and Cooper opened lots of wonderful gifts. He got lots of Legos, Nike gear, outside toys, a Nerf gun and Angry bird toys. He was so excited! 

Cooper is one lucky 6 year old to have such wonderful friends and family!!