Da Bay Bears

Patrick's coach made arrangements to have their T-ball end of the year party at Hank Aaron Stadium in Mobile, AL (home of the Mobile Bay Bears). Yes, THE Hank Aaron who broke Babe Ruth's homerun record -- without the help of any performance enhancing substancesWe had the party at the stadium's beach club before the game started. Here's Patrick with one of his buddies, Adam (who happens to be Patrick's coach's son). They are so funny to listen to. Patrick's T-ball team got to go on the field, introduced by the announcer and got to say their names on the microphone. Patrick thought that was pretty neat. They stayed on the field for the national anthem as well. I thought that is pretty cool thing for a six year old. I was 25 yrs old before I got to sing the national anthem with a professional team. Thanks to Maria Fortuna--I was her guest when she sang the national anthem for one of the 49er games at Candlestick Park. We got the star treatment that night and I got a date with a 49er safety two weeks later. Ah youth...but I digress.We sat on the front row, field level. Sweet!


Teddy Bear--the team mascot . He danced, he stood on his head and as Ronan says "he shook his booty".
Ronan's new best friend, Andrew, who is also coach's other son kept Ronan entertained during the game. Jim and I laughed at the heckling that went on on our row...'hey mister, give us a ball! give us a shirt! throw the ball here" After 3 hours of that, Andrew caught a baseball thrown by one of the players. He was so thrilled.Coach gave away the trophies at the game. We are fortunate to have a wonderful set of coaches. Word is that Little League is competetive, practice and game schedule difficult etc etc. It is definitely more "competetive" than Y-Tball but at the age they start T-ball they are ready for a little "competition". It fosters team work and improves focus/concentration and the kids start seeing the "big picture" of the game. We had a fun season--I don't even remember how many games we won or loss. All I know is how well the kids played together as a team--win or lose. It also helps that the parents were cool and were focus on how the game is played not winning. Thanks Coach Scott, Coach Joe and Coach Beau's dad (oops I can't remember his name). Fireworks after the game was a special treat. Ronan wanted to take pictures..so here are some of his fireworks shots. Not bad for a 3 year old.

Remembering Heroes

The Gulf Coast Symphony has an outdoor concert and fireworks every year in honor of those who serve the armed forces. This is one of our favorite events to attend here. The program consists of patriotic hymns. One of the numbers is a medley of the armed forces songs and they ask all vets and people currently serving to stand up when they hear their song.
We went with the Reynolds family and the Kangs with their two cute maltese babies. John got back earlier this year from deployment in Iraq.


I scanned the park grounds for WW II vets. There are not many of them around anymore. I am so grateful for all those who serve but the WW II vets I am most thankful for. My father was a young boy when WWII broke in the Philippines. He doesn't talk much about it but he would sometimes tell me snipets. His father died protecting one of his sisters during a Japanese raid in Manila in which during the chaos his whole family got separated. While hiding from the Japanese, he watched his pet dog killed by one of the invading soldiers. Then the Americans came. He freaked out the first time he saw a tank. He remembered the Hershey chocolates that troops dropped from the planes to the villages. But most of all he remembers HOPE brought by the Americans. What would life be had the US not gone to the Pacific ? I know I would not be here blogging away. I would not have the life I have now.


So on this day, I thank those who have served and continue to serve in the armed forces. I thank the men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice. I thank the families who are left behind some temporarily some permanently. Lastly, I thank my friends currently serving, especially my sister in law, Berni, my brother in law, James and my husband for serving without complaint, but do it humbly and quietly. You are heroes!

Tickle Fight

The boys have waited four months to do this with their dad!

TODAY is the day!

Jim is coming home late this afternoon! WOO HOO!! Two days later than scheduled but it's better than two months later. Patrick has been marking the calendar and the highlighted areas are the possible days he would be coming home. We can't wait for him to be home and become a complete family unit again.

After over 20 hours of flight time, Jim is finally home! One of his bags didn't make it out of Baltimore but that's okay as long as he made it home!


We are so happy for him to be home. It's been a challenging four months. But I really can't complain when so many have longer deployments and are deployed in more dangerous zones. The boys and I kept busy with school and other activities which in some ways made us miss Jim more. He is pretty involved with household duties and especially with spending time and playing with the kids.
Our neighbors across the street made this sign for Jim. I was so touched when I saw it. I am so very lucky and so very BLESSED to have such wonderful friends and family. They have helped me so much this past few months. They've brought meals, watched the kids, kept me entertained and laughing. They've also been so understanding and patient when I was negligent at returning phone calls or making phone calls. So many people have told me that if I ever need any help all I had to do was ask. I don't think they know how much that meant to me. Thank you, thank you, thank you wonderful friends and family

Welcome home Jim! and I silently welcome uniterrupted showers/baths, trips to the grocery store by myself, time out with the girls and some itty bitty quiet time.

Spring Splash Serenaders

Dora, Boots, Sharks and Crawdads!

YES! ALL IN ONE DAY! Yesterday was Jim's birthday. Although he wasn't here to celebrate it, we celebrated his special day with awesome friends who were also celebrating birthdays. Blake's Morgan turned 3 and Shannon's Hayden turned 6. Cynthia and Jenni just wanted to celebrate spring and the crawfish season by hosting a Bonfire and Crawfish boil on the beach. It was a fun day of sun, sweets, sweets, more sweets and crawdads!!!










Birthday girl with Dora and Boots










The girls loved Dora! Some of the kids got a little scared of boots. But then again, a blue monkey on an early Saturday morning might scare me too











The boys were looking for Diego. I told them he was sleeping in.









After Morgan's party we headed off to St. Andrew's swimming pool for Hayden's birthday party. He had the best tasting Scooby Doo birthday cake.
The kids had a great time swimming and sunning and eating! I was just happy hanging out with the other moms.










Scooby Doo where are you?










Enjoying the sun and the pool











What a ham!













After Hayden's party we went home and took a two and a half hour nap. And I'm glad we did! We were the last ones to leave the bonfire, crawfish boil. There were about I think at least 8 families. We all had a blast! The Boskovitch & Neff family hosted the event and they did an awesome job!!! All we had to do was bring side dishes.

Our awesome hosts!!

Check out the spread!

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"I want to ride the school bus mom!" (Grad Night)

It's hard to believe that nearly four years ago, that's what Patrick said to me which prompted me to enroll him preschool. At that time it was already August and all the preschools were completely filled so I ended up putting him in a Mom's Morning Out program at First Baptist Early Education Center (FBEEC). Two weeks later a spot in the two-year old class opened up and Mrs. Trenchard called to let me know. Who would have thought that one little phone call would change our life. We have had a fantastic time at preschool these past years especially this last year. Patrick's teachers have been so loving, nonjudgemental, and very nurturing. They helped Patrick develop into a confident, focused, and emotionally intelligent young boy. He is intellectually prepared to enter first grade but more importantly I'm confident that he will be able to deal with the social conflicts that can happen in the playground or classroom and they have given him a good start in his spiritual growth.

The graduating class on stage! They look so proud!

The whole school sang this cute song called "If I were a butterfly". It's become a big favorite in our house. We sing it all the time. It's about accepting yourself for who you are and thanking God for creating a unique person that is you. LOVE IT!

Ronan's class also graduated that evening. That's his future engineer friend Nicholas sitting next to him. Ronan was in Ms. Kelsey's Two year old class. Unlike Patrick, Ronan was a reluctant preschooler. He preferred to be with me than to go to school at least in the beginning. He loves Ms. Kelsey and I'm so glad she was his teacher. What a very very kind, patient, and loving woman.

The boys receiving their diplomas. Stephanie & Bill took us out to graduation dinner that night and when Stephanie asked Ronan what he got during graduation, Ronan replied " A MAP!! ".I guess, a diploma can be seen as a map of some sort.


We got our "map" now...we're chillin' out

When Ms. Trenchard asked the kindergartners what they will do to serve God when they grow up...Patrick replied "a fireman".And when I asked Ronan what he wants to be when he grows up--he exclaims "an astronaut!"
I'm so proud of my boys! Thanks FBEEC!

Kindergarten Year in Review

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