Well, spring flew by! The boys all played baseball this spring, so that occupied pretty much every night and every weekend with practices and games. Carter and Jonah played in the Rec league in Arlington. Jason and I coached them, with the help of my brother, Uncle Cheeto. Jonah played short stop most of the time because he has a good glove and a strong arm. He hit the ball really well, too. Carter is obsessed with baseball! Every day when he gets home from school, he grabs his glove and my glove and asks me to throw with him outside. He loves it! I throw with him every day. I know one day, he won’t want too much to do with me so I am loving this time now! Carter played first base because he’s really good at catching. He also has a great arm. He throws right handed, but he bats left-handed. He’s my little sports’ enthusiast! Isabelle loved cheering for her brothers at their games. She had friends at the games so she was never bored! Beau played for the Arlington Tigers Major 12’s. We have had a very busy season. We’ve had tournaments almost every weekend since the beginning of March. Beau is playing outfield mostly, but he’s gotten to pitch a few times and play third base a little. He loves it!
I did a lot of subbing this semester. When I subbed, Izzie went to her babysitter, Julie’s house. She loves Ms. Julie!!!!! They have so much fun together. Isabelle is growing up so fast. She loves to wear her hot pink tutu and leotard. She loves to twirl around and pretend she is a princess! She is such a prissy little girl, but she loves to play rough and tough with her brothers. She’s such a mixture of sweet and sassy! We were watching college softball on TV one day and she told me she is going to pitch like her Mommy one day! She wants to do everything I do-she’s my mini-me! I always wanted a little girl so I could do all the girly stuff and I got it! She loves to have her nails painted and her hair fixed! She and I love to go get pedicures together! She sits very still and tries really hard not to mess up her nails!
School came to a close in May. Carter went on a field trip to Cici’s Pizza. He got to make his own pizza! That was fun! Carter had his Kindergarten recognition program where they sang several songs and he got a certificate. It was very cute. They sang a song about the bones and muscles! I can’t believe my baby boy will be in first grade next year! We will miss his Kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Grimes! She was awesome! Sniff sniff! Carter is also my little thinker. He thinks about and analyzes everything. He is very organized and knows where everything is.
Jonah turned 8 in April! We had a birthday party and sleepover at our house. It was so much fun. We had about 12 little boys spend the night. They stayed up all night playing games, watching movies, and eating popcorn! Jonah had his 2nd grade music program where he sang all patriotic songs. It was a great program. He made the best grades he made all year! Two A’s, one B, and one C. Yeah! His C was in Language Arts. The boy does NOT like English! That really hurts my feelings, since I’m an English teacher! Oh well! He’s my science and animal nut! He loves all kinds of animals and he loves nature! His field trip this semester was to Lichterman Nature Center and he got to hike around the woods/ponds and pet a snake! It was right up his alley. He says he wants to be an archaeologist. We will see.
Beau finished 6th grade and now has that first year of middle school under his belt. He doesn’t exactly love school. He would much rather play sports! He takes art and P.E. in middle school. I wish he would take Chorus because he has such a great voice, but he won’t. He thinks only nerds sing! Beau has had some medical issues this spring as well. He started having major allergic reactions to something (he broke out in enormous whelps all over his body and his lips swelled drastically). After numerous doctors and different tests, his allergist determined that he was allergic to himself! WHAT! What does that mean? Who knows, but hopefully he will grow out of it. His insulin resistance is also getting worse so he had to quadruple his medicine for that. Boo! But, he’s a trooper! He handles all of this very well and with little complaint.
Well, spring was busy and summer doesn’t look any slower, but that’s how we like it!

Cooperstown
Beau’s baseball led us to Cooperstown Dreams Park this year! What an amazing experience!!!! There were 104 teams there and Beau’s team finished 17th!!!!!! It was awesome! Beau struggled this week; I think the pressure got to him. He wanted to hit a homerun so badly that he stressed himself out. He didn’t hit any bombs, but that’s okay! The experience was just incredible. The Dreams Park is the most amazing ball park I’ve ever seen. I can’t wait to go back in 4 years with Jonah! We rented a house for the week in Oneonta, NY with our great friends, the Brewington’s. Isabelle and their daughter Chloe are good friends so they played with baby dolls and played dress up all week. Jonah, Carter, and Kyle Brewington played great together all week as well; they played whiffle ball and Legos! It was so relaxing having a huge house and huge yard for the kids to play in while we weren’t at the ball park. We got the chance to go to the Baseball Hall of Fame while we were in Cooperstown. It was awesome seeing my dad, Jason, and our boys checking out all of the baseball records and memorabilia. What a dream!
We left Cooperstown and went to Salem, Massachusetts, where we walked all around and checked out all of the history. We toured The House of the Seven Gables, which Hawthorne wrote a novel about. I got to stand in the exact room where Hawthorne was born. I was in awe just to be there. We toured a very old, historical cemetery, with tombs that dated back to the 1600’s. From there, we went to Boston. The boys all went to a Red Sox game (Jason, Grandad, Beau, Jonah, and Carter). They loved it! They got to ride a subway to get there. We are now Red Sox fans, I guess! Izzie, Mom, and I hung out at the hotel. We ordered in some Italian food and crashed out early! It’s been a very long week!
Overall, this has been an amazing trip! Jason and I talk about it all the time; we would probably have more money and I know we’d have more time if we didn’t play sports, but we just love it. More importantly, the kids love it! They love sports and they get to learn how to be part of a team. They learn how to succeed and fail and how to put others ahead of themselves. Being part of an athletic team is so much more than just the sport; it teaches them life lessons that simply cannot be learned anywhere else. Most importantly, however, our family gets to share our love of Christ with all the people we meet through sports. Our sports are our mission field!