Videogram from Kathleen

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Found the Pics!

Just recovered all the pictures from my camera of my parents visit. Above is why the University of North Carolina colors are, "Carolina Blue." They actually refer to it as a color down here. Duke Blue or Carolina Blue. Up north we would say, Royal Blue or Baby Blue.
Sad day when only ONE of my kids would go visit the Easter Bunny! Bubba was so excited! I said to Johnny, "Come on, you are only in Kindergarten, go sit on his lap!" Johnny's response was, "Mom, I already know it's just a guy in a bunny suit!" TEAR!

Mom and Dad in Up-Town Charlotte.

This is just in the middle of the city on a street corner within all the hustle and bustle of the city.

Such a beautiful, clean, city!

Freedom Park, in Charlotte, NC

Last night, saying our goodbyes.

The boys wanted to do a "Granny Sandwich." They were all giggling!

Was a little harder for Curtis to convince Pop to sit on him!

We're all missing them! Good Times!

My Parents Visit

My Mom and Dad made their way down here for Spring Break this year. After 30+ years of coaching spring baseball, my Dad was able to take a Spring Break Trip for the first time, since he isn't head coaching this year. The boys were SO excited for Pop to see them play. Johnny's game on Saturday morning was cancelled, and rescheduled for Sunday afternoon due to rain. My parents would have missed it if it was Saturday morning. Johnny said all night, every time he woke up he "prayed and prayed" that it was rained out so Pop and Granny could see him play! His prayers were answered! Sunday started out with a Tournament for one of Curtis' teams. Dad and I got there bright and early for warm-ups and enjoyed watching them win.
Love this pic of Curtis #12 (Aaron Rodgers Number) and his friends all watching a team with friends on it play.

Then we headed straight over to Johnny's rescheduled game.

They won as well!

Coach Erik pondering his "game plan." LOL

Here's Erik telling Johnny to go to 2nd base on one of his hits that day.

After one more win for Curtis on Saturday, and another one on Sunday, Curtis' team was in the Championship game for the first time ever. They played a heck of a game and lost by one run. Here is Curtis getting the first baseball award of his life, and he was SO excited my Dad was there to see him get it!

SO PROUD!

Monday night brought a "double feature" as both boys played at the same time on fields next to each other. We were busy running back and forth from field to field.
The rest of the week the kids had school, and it left time for my parents and I to do things around Charlotte. On Tuesday when all three boys were in school, we hit up a lot of shops that they don't have in WI. On Thursday we went into Charlotte's Up-Town area and walked around while all three boys were in school. We also went to Freedom Park. This was a nice break for all of us. I took a lot of pictures, but can't find them on my memory card. I'll post when/if I find them. After school on those nights, Dad took Curtis and Johnny to some games at the local high school. The boys were loving it!
Finally, on Good Friday we went to the Whitewater Center. My parents watched a lot of rafting and kayaking.

The older two and I do an adventure ropes course.

And the boys rock climbing.

I wish I would have taken pics with my camera instead of my phone of my parents and the boys. Hope I can recover the pics, but grateful that the ones my dad took turned out. It was a fun, FAST, week and we can't wait to do it again with them someday!

Dedicated to my SISTERS!

Day in the Life of Kindergartner

Every year on St. Patrick's Day "Lucky the Leprechaun" visits our house, does some naughty things, and leaves a treat for the kids. This year, Johnny got the best teacher! She does so many projects while still incorporating all the state standards and challenging the kids. (Not an easy task to do as a teacher these days, compared to when we were younger!) Johnny was so excited for the latest project...a Leprechaun Trap! He had to build the trap first, and then make a "How To" book with drawings and in detailed sentences explaining how he made it. Right up a 6 year old's alley!

The finished product

Johnny thinks the leprechaun will smell the Lucky Charms bar, and see the "fools gold" on the sticky mouse trap. He then will slide down the "slide" to get it, and stick to the trap. Johnny did this 100% on his own, even spray painting the box and paper towel roll by himself in the woods. The only thing I did, was I wanted to put the trap in the box so he didn't touch it and get stuck. With that said, it shouldn't have surprised me last night when I was putting him to bed and he was quietly trying to hide something from me under the covers. I asked him what was wrong and he pulled out his hands and had the sticky trap ALL over himself. It was also stuck everywhere he touched! One our garbage can lids was covered, the handle of the kitchen sink, the paper towel dispenser, door knobs, banister of the stairs, etc. Textbook case of "Boys will be Boys!" Mom told him "Don't touch the trap" and he made it five whole days without doing it, but just couldn't resist any longer.

Although the trap never did catch that pesky little leprechaun, it was a lot of fun and quite the learning experience making it!

Johnny's has also been begging to have a garden. We told him this year we would plan and prepare for one. We started reading about them, and bought all the seeds and were mapping it out when we came upon a MAJOR road block...our home association does NOT allow for gardens! So, we started with a few pots on the deck this year, and if it works we'll add some more pots next year. Strawberries are coming up GREAT and the boys are loving every day when they can walk out and grab one or two for breakfast!

Johnny planted 5 herbs and they are all starting to sprout and come up as well.

Finally, with all the trees in bloom, and plants coming up, it's my favorite time of the year...NOT! Thankful that there is allergy medicine readily available as our counts are at record numbers this year! (This pic was taken the day after I power washed all the deck furniture!)

Spring Time

We'll, it's spring again, and that means lots of fun visitors in the south. Here are two un-welcomed visitors I saw on the sidewalk during my bike ride the other day. UGH...
It also means the start of spring sports. The older boys are playing baseball and having fun. Johnny was so pumped to be on the "Braves" this year just like one of his favorite baseball players, Tony Mueller.

This goofball spends half his day like this!

Curt-Dog seems SO old to me!

And Bubba is FINALLY old enough for soccer at the YMCA. He's been begging me for about a year, and I've put it off as long as I could. He was in heaven during his first clinic yesterday!

My Big Baby

Ever since Andy could talk, I always teased him about having another baby. At one years old he would yell, "NO!" At two he would say, "No, I Da Baby!"

Here's his latest reaction at three years old, and I thought it was too funny not to share.