Birthday Party

Hayden and I went to Conway on Saturday for my niece's birthday party. She turned 7. Hayden is not really thrilled with that because they will be the same age until he turns 8 in (gulp) less than four months!!
Saturday was actually my nephew's birthday. I canNOT believe he is 12. Time has just flown. Here he is with Mommaw and Poppaw! Isn't he just so handsome?Poppaw and Mommaw with all the grands.
His favorite soccer team is the Arsenal. So you know I had to search far and wide to find gifts having to do with the Arsenal for him. (That's what any good Nannie would do, right?) I cannot even express how much this guy means to us. Hayden just adores him. I will always have a special place in my heart for him. He was our first little boy! Gosh, he is not little any more.
He is so psyched to be getting as tall as his Momma.
Now on to the birthday party girl....her party was at a gymnastics facility. The kids all had a grand time playing and being silly.
Waiting is sooooo hard.......
Even for cousins......
The rope swing into the pit was one of Hay's favorite activities....
Wouldn't it have been nice if I had not cut his head off in the picture? HAThere was a lot of running and we loved that.....
Two of my very favorite people.....aren't they beautiful?
My niece LOVES turtles so Hayden and I got a precious gift bag with turtles on it for her....I think she likes it as much as the gifts.....
A little surprised, maybe?
I think she liked this gift too!
Another photo of my pretty lil' sis
Silly little birthday girl.....(her momma will be so proud I got this picture)
There is just no telling what was going on here.....
More waiting.......
Aren't those attempts at smiles pitiful? These were two worn out puppies by this time in the party.

Best Buds

We spent Friday evening with our friends, the Cash family, at their home. It was a great time for all of us. Hayden and Ethan had a fantastic time. (even when the Dads were working them out pretty hard). I cannot imagine there is anything the two of them would rather be doing than playing some sports activity.
They worked on infield quite a bit which was really nice since neither of their coaches appear to think this is important. (Yep, had to get that little dig in there)




A big plus for our family is to get to see this precious little girl. Scarlett just makes my day any time I can be around here. She is so pretty and just full of imagination.

After the Dads worked the boys out pretty hard, it was time to hit up the water. These guys were worn out!!!

I think the best part for me in all of this is that these two have become fast friends. It is so nice to have a family to hang out with and everyone get along. We thank God that he brought this family into our lives to share many more times with along this path of life.

Bad?.... No Awful...... No Terrible

Okay I know I should not be this way. The boys are all 7 (although I do question whether that was true for the BIG kids they played last night. But they played terrible. It was just miserable. Hayden got so upset. The hat came flying off the head several times as he made his way off the field. The competetiveness, coupled with that short fuse, was so apparent last night.
After the game was over, Hayden noticed a couple of his teammates were crying. Of course, first he had to tell them NEVER cry on the baseball field. (Hmmm, wonder where he got that?) Then he told one of them we played with a good team in the fall, this year we play with "crump". Now I don't know what crump is and I think I probably don't want to know. When I asked my little friend why he said that...he very matter of factly told me, he was trying to not say a bad word. HA
I guess the good part is that they at least looked good in their uniforms. Shame on me. Hopefully they will be encouraged to at least try harder for the rest of the season.....I can dream right?



(P.S. I know these photos are blurry, etc. I have got to figure out what settings to use outside in the evening with the ball lights on.... Maybe I can figure that out during the remaining 13 games)

Easter Weekend

What a great Easter weekend we had. We began the weekend by going to Louisville to see Pitt play baseball. (Yea right) We went to see Ryan and Katy. If Hayden had his way, we'd go see Ryan every weekend. These two are just too fun to watch together. Hayden listens to Ryan more than he does any of us. He LOVES the attention. But mostly he just loves Ryan.
Here they are on the field on Friday evening. I was freaking out that Hayden was going to get red mud and dirt all over him. Silly me, the field is not real dirt....
After the game got rained out, we went bowling. It was just too much fun. Hayden has definitely not mastered the art of bowling but the boys beat the girls and that made him happy. HA
Katy and Hayden picked back up from this summer and just had a blast. We were so fortunate to get to share our weekend with her too!!!

One of my favorite Saturday afternoon photos.....

My other favorite Saturday afternoon photo
Saying goodbye is always so hard. Hayden went back two or three times to get "just one more hug"
Hayden slept a large part of the drive home. Harold and I had planned to sleep in and get up in time to go to church. But no.....we were awakened bright and early so our fella could see if the Easter Bunny had come.....
He loved finding those Easter eggs all over the house. It rained here all day on Sunday so the eggs were left by that bunny all over our house.
My very special fella in his Easter suit. He was so proud to have a tie on. (We are going to have to teach him to hold those chins up so the doubles don't show though....his Momma has been doing it most of her life....he should catch on quick)
How much do I love this precious boy?
By the way Poppaw he did get a haircut on Tuesday so his hair is much better now.
Hope everyone had a happy and blessed Easter and remembered the real reason for the celebration.

Two Friends

Oh how these two would like to play baseball on the same team....they have so much fun together. Maybe another season....for this year...we will just have to suffer through playing against each other

Lots of Favorites

Hayden got to be at his very favorite place last night for his first scrimmage game of the Spring Season.
Here he is doing his favorite thing....batting. Getting ready to do another favorite -- run and attempt to steal bases
Not a favorite activity......waiting for his turn
Oh so not a favorite....coming off the field after being tagged out trying to stretch a single into a double.....
How sad....(a favorite pic of mine though - shame on me)....he said he had never been so embarrassed......
Wearing his favorite number....going to his favorite base....the hot corner...ha
So wanting to score another run
My favorite fella.....

Good Citizens Day

Yesterday at school was Good Citizens Day. This is the treat for the kids who have not had too many behavior problems during the preceding nine weeks. (The teachers determine this by the number of cards a child has had to pull during the nine weeks. But don't get Harold and me started on this system. We really do NOT like the card thing but ...that's a whole different story.) I was lucky enough to get to go to the school for part of the festivities. Radio Disney was on hand and there was a lot of dancing going on (however, I was IMMEDIATELY told when we got outside that I was NOT allowed to dance -- my goodness how humiliating would that have been to have your Mom dancing? ) Hayden just LOVED being outside during the school day for an extended period of time. We are very proud of him for earning the opportunity to share in this celebration!!Hanging with his some of his buds......
Seeing Mrs. Parker and getting wonderful hugs.......
Just hanging around.......
So precious (even when sweaty.....)
One more note....Aunt Johnnie if you see this Hayden and I both send our love and hope you are feeling MUCH better VERY soon. XOXOXOX