End of September pics

September was a pretty busy month and I ended up with a lot of pictures to show for it! 

Hadley went to her first ice skating party for Reese's 7th birthday. After many falls the girls got the hang of it and were skating all over the place!

Hudson LOVES, LOVES, LOVES to pump my gas! He can do all of it except slide the card. So it was disappointing when I found out it is actually illegal for a child without a license to pump gas. In fact, you can even get a ticket or go to jail for child endangerment. Hadley and Hudson weren't excited to find this out and after considering the possibility of me going to jail Hadley said, "oh, great! Daddy doesn't let us have as much candy as you!"

Just some cute pictures....

Playing VET at school. I love getting texts from Hudson's teacher showing me the fun he is having!

Hadley had Kinley over to play and spend the night. In less than an hour they had already figured out how to wrap their arms with gauze to pretend they had broken them.

On our way to church. We always have to go about 45 minutes early so the kids can get a drink and something to eat AND so they can go in the church library and play games on the iPad (because they are so different than ours) and play with the trains. We usually read one book a piece as well.

Hudson making his own spaghetti. This kid is SO independent (with most things). He actually made the entire meal himself and only wanted me to supervise but not touch!

Ryan and the Guthrie fire department were working the Wildlife Expo and asked if I would want to bring the kids because Lisa was taking the boys as well. We thought it would be fun and would give Daddy a chance to watch part of the OSU game in peace.  The kids ended up having so much fun and it was really cool. You could go kayaking  in the middle of the arena, dig for worms, match animal footprints, noodle (for real noodling), and check out all kinds of fishing and hunting gear. But the favorite part came at the end when the kids got to get some dippin' dots. It was Hudson's first time to have them and he was in heaven!

And one last pic of Hudson looking so grown up! This is all happening way too fast!!!

The end of Softball season

So our first season of machine pitch is over and I think, overall, it went great! We only won one game but I think thats pretty good when we were the youngest in the league. None of our girls had hit off machines and by the end the majority were getting a hit each game. We are slowly getting much better fielding and though our throwing and catching have improved, I think its where the team needs the most practice. The positions are getting a little better established and I feel like the girls are really understanding the game. It was fun! The girls had fun, the parents had fun, and even the younger siblings got pretty excited about cheering them on. 

So proud of his sister!

I think Hadley loves getting to play in left field because she gets to be right out there with her daddy!

Standing in line for team pictures...and then, of course, a picture with her favorite coach.

Knightwalk

Another annual Knightwalk and this year the school ended up raising over $160,000! The kids had a walk Friday morning where they had raised money and that evening the school put on a Festival with moon bounces, carnival games, and food. Afterwards everyone heads over to the home football game. Hudson and Hadley loved getting their balloon animals the most. The clown making the balloon animals had on these enormous shoes that Hudson just thought were hilarious.  

Hadley and her balloon, Panda.

Walking to the game with Reese. This was just moments before Hudson took a nasty fall on the concrete and tore up his knee pretty well. Needless to say we spent much of the 1st half in tears.

Four of the girls reunited with Mrs. Burshek. They still love her like crazy and act like complete goof balls when they see her! And poor Amy can't even watch a game without them hanging all over her!

7:30 the next morning, sun shining in, and this kiddo isn't even budging. The fun night must have really worn him out!!!

Hadley's Egyptian Festival

Hadley had her Egyptian festival at school where they spent the entire morning discussing what they had been learning about Egypt. They went to each of the four 1st grade classrooms and had different activities in each one. In Hadley's classroom they dug for artifacts (or dug chocolate chips out of cookies). We were also able to get a class picture before moving on to the next class. 

In Mrs. Lewis' class they recited the 10 commandments and colored a picture of Jesus.

 In Mrs. Richards class they got to have Egyptian makeup put on their faces. Of course, this was Hadley's favorite classroom. It was even funny to see how 1st grade boys acted about getting make up. They all had fun but wanted to act like they were way too cool.

Hadley and Reese with their freshly applied make up.

In Mrs. Balan's class the kids learned a new song and then got to have a mummy wrapping contest. Some of the mummy's were so messy but William had four girls wrapping him and they did a pretty great job. I wish I could have gotten an after picture.

It was a pretty fun morning with Hadley at school. I am so thankful to have a part-time job where I don't have to miss out on these activities because these are some of my favorite days and memories!

First couple softball games

So our team decided to play our first season of fall ball. It is pretty crazy to have 10 games squeezed into 6 weeks (along with practice) but it has been really fun so far. The fall league is much less intense, and although score is kept,  none of the teams are ranked at the end of the season because it is used more as an educational year and practice for the teams. Therefore, we decided it would be a good time to go ahead and move up to pitching machine. We were going to have to next spring anyway so we thought it would give the girls a little extra practice. Our first game was rough! The girls had no idea what they were doing and I think only a couple girls got a hit. It also didn't help that we played some 9 year olds and some of our girls are still 6! Thankfully, they all have had a great time so far and it hasn't  even phased them. Here are a some pictures from our first few games so far.... 

Hadley had her turn at catcher. I wouldn't say it was her favorite but she sure looked cute in her catcher's gear. And at this point, the catcher probably gets more play than most of the other girls!

We may not win all the games but our girls sure make the best cheerleaders! They are loud and already have the cheers down pat...

This is a little brothers life on the ballfield. Hudson and Oscar LOVE playing in the dirt and their faces and bodies show it at the end of the game. We sure have been taking a lot more baths now!

Game 2 and 3: The girls started getting the hang of things and we got many more hits! We are definitely making some progress in the field as well. Second base has become a favorite of Hadley's but she has played a few times in left field and because of now being machine pitch she actually gets quite a few balls out there.

I got Hadley's first hit on camera...well sort of. I at least got the end of the swing. And I just loved her big smile when she made it on first base!

High-fiving daddy as she made it to third!

A few shots of another hit:

WE WON OUR FIRST GAME!  The girls were just SO excited!!!

More pictures to come....