Special Christmas Gift for Kid # 2

These pictures were taken the afternoon of January 2nd. While Darren had Alexia and Elijah off somewhere (seriously can't remember where), Parker decided to interrupt my pieces of quiet by asking, "Mom, will you play with me?" Normally I would put him off because of something else that needed my attention, but this time I put what I was doing aside and asked him what he wanted to do. He received a science kit for Christmas this year and so we decided to be scientists together. He had the kit and I grabbed the camera in order to document his findings. Together we roamed our yard and then the neighborhood looking for cool things to take samples of, draw in his notebook, and take pictures of.

Scientist Parker off to explore the world around him. Mom, why do you have to take my picture so much?

Look at these cool things that are falling off of our trees in the front yard. I'm not sure what kind of seed these are but I sure have found a lot of them in my kids' pockets.

Why do angry ants advance across all Arizona? :) (just a little mom speak there)

It's very important to document everything properly.

Good thing for gloves in prickly situations.

We found this cool leaf that Parker thought looked like a dinosaur claw at the park.

Dinosaur claws/weird earrings ya know, whatever.

I know I shouldn't include this picture of our afternoon of fun but here is my boy after hearing that it's time to go home. He was a very sad little boy at that moment. Don't worry Parker, we'll play again soon.

Some favorite recent pictures of Elijah

This one was taken at Grandma Stewart's house on Christmas day.

I love how red his lips are...

...and his blue blue eyes. I call Elijah my pretty boy. I swear he could have passed for a girl as a baby. You don't know how many times I was tempted to put him in one of sister's dresses. I didn't okay? I just thought about it...many times.

He was running from Aunt Missy in this one. I hope I look that happy when I smile.

Elijah loves his Elly or Ellio. They are good buddies.

And this picture is for Aunt Alena. Couldn't you just squeeze this little Yay-who! He calls cowboys "yee haws." We passed two guys in the parking lot the other day who were wearing cowboy hats. Of course he had to point and say "Momma, Yee haws, yee haws."

Now this is fun!

Parker has been asking about playing baseball for forever. Seriously. I can't remember when he didn't want to play. It's his daddy's first love - no I mean it - and I think it has rubbed off on his boys. Even Elijah is always ready to go outside and play some "ballcatch" as he calls it. I've been promising Parker he could play coach pitch ball for a while now. He never batted off of a tee so starting them there seemed a waste. He is finally old enough and the weather is cool enough so we signed him up. It took me finally calling the league to find out what team we were on. It seems they had overlooked putting him on a team, so I actually got to choose and picked the one with practice right up the road and on Fridays, so no fight to get homework done first. The countdown to baseball practice was nerve racking. "Not today right mom?" But Friday finally came.

His first game was the next day - and his momma had a blast. I know he did too. Watching this little boy of mine be so excited about something is so much fun. All the fun being had out their on that field makes me giggle. Repeatedly. It makes his daddy grumble. Repeatedly. Baseball is serious stuff remember.

So forgive my lack of video camera skills - after all, I'm still a mom trying to watch the game too.

This first one is of Parker in the field.

The rest are of him batting and running the bases. The second in this group shows Parker's preoccupation with his uniform. Most of you know Parker takes his costumes and dressing the part very seriously. I couldn't help but giggle as I watched him at every base pull his pant legs up higher and higher. Darren couldn't stand it and I couldn't stand still for the giggles it was causing.

I asked Darren if maybe he had thought about coaching Parker. He told me maybe in a few years when the kids are a little more serious about the game. Not enough competition going on out there for my hubby.

As we left the park and walked back to our car Parker held my hand. "Momma, today my dreams came true." How's that Parker? "Now I'm a real baseball player."

Alexia loves...

...her Let's Play Music classes. My friend Renae teaches the music classes and she is so good at it. I can't believe how much Alexia has learned and improved since she started with Renae. This will be her last semester and she has started writing her own song. When she's finished I'll video her playing it. Here is a picture of her with Mrs. Renae at their recital last summer.

...clogging. This has been so much fun for Alexia. I think she may have stumbled upon a serious love here. It's so fun watching clog around the kitchen to the radio while emptying the dishwasher. Her recital was in December and we all went to watch the fun.

This is Alexia with her good friend Kalissa (Renae's daugher)- and yes, they are the same age. Now that I think about it if it were Renae and I in this picture the height difference would be pretty similar. ;)

Miss Maddie is Alexia's teacher. Alexia loves her to death.

They Change so Fast

I ran into these pictures the other day. The first one is of Alexia on the first day of Kindergarten. The second on is of her on her last day of Kindergarten.

She grew up so much that year. I put her in the same clothes on purpose so I could later compare. Now I am sure the clothes shrunk a bit in the wash but she also grew three inches that year. I'll be interested to see how much Parker changes this year.