Thoughts on T-Ball

Paul is so strong and so intelligent, I think he'll be a great athlete. He's playing T-ball this season and his favorite parts are, "the dugout and batting." So, he likes to bat and goof off with his friends. Fair enough.

Tonight was the first game of a tournament, and I thought I'd come up with a plan to help him stay focused. I offered him a bribe; if he watched the ball and didn't play in the dirt, I would pay him $5. He refused my bribe. I choose to believe he's just that ethical and wants to keep the game clean.

He didn't play in the dirt and did a good job, though his team lost. He did his best to watch the ball, but baseball just doesn't seem to inspire him - yet. I have hope that he will learn to love it and not be completely miserable, as I remember feeling playing softball. I'm glad I played softball; at least I understand the basics and can play a fun game if the opportunity arises. Hmm, on the same premise, maybe he needs to take piano lessons...

Just as an aside, Paul asked me, "why are you chuckling?" The question made me chuckle more because I liked his choice of words.

Swimming Underwater

TJ splashed in 6 inches of water, while I stood in about 4 feet of water in the pool. He decided to plunge into the water beside me, fearless. I looked at his head underwater and saw him struggling. I grabbed him up out of the water and he admonished me, "Mom, why did you do that?"

"I didn't want you to drown. What were you doing?"

"I was swimming underwater."

Haircuts

I work every third weekend. Up until a few months ago, I worked every fourth weekend. That third comes around a lot faster than the fourth. A lot.

Sunday, while I was at work, my dear, sweet, beloved husband decided the boys needed haircuts. I like their hair a little long, not because it is en vogue, but because it looks sweet and boyish. Coker likes them looking clean-cut and manly, which I can respect from his perspective.

Paul tells me they went to Coker's barber shop, but it was closed. I will tell you that I came home to little boys with strange new hairdos. Coker cut their hair himself. I'm afraid to ask where in the house he cut it, but I've yet to visit a room without hair on the floor or in the sink.

I took them for haircuts on Monday. They are now clean-cut, manly looking little boys.

Museum Day

This is my vacation week, so we're having fun! I mean it! We went to the museum today...

Paul breaks from fighting the dragon to smile for the camera.
Paul really enjoys the water play area. Yes, he is wearing a too-small blazer in the blazing Texas sun.
TJ loves trains and tracks.
Dino Dig! Notice the blazer has been removed.
Cooling off in the stream in the dino dig area.
On the way out, they really cooled off in the fountain. Lucky we had spare clothes in the car!

Peach Season

Coker planted a peach tree in our back yard a few years ago. TJ tried the first one this year from our tree. He likes it!

First Zoo Day of 2010

We didn't get to the zoo until afternoon, but it was still fun. Alec, Paul's friend came along. We saw lots of animals, rode the train, rode the carousel,

played on statues,

ate ice cream (and saw the gators and such),

saw the meerkats and basically had fun!

Easter Pictures

Here TJ is trying to fly a kite. He tried for a while, but the adults had more fun with the kites than Paul and TJ did. Paul wasn't out long enough for me to get a picture of him.Coker and the boys are riding back to the Sprott house with Annie after flying kites in the (very wet) pasture. That's why shoes are missing; they're soaked.

I managed to capture a great picture of TJ blowing bubbles, which is no easy feat on an iphone.

Here are the boys in their Easter suits. TJ didn't want to wear his "church" shoes. I think the tennis shoes are cute. God was pretty smart to make three-year-olds so irresistibly cute; they might not make it to four otherwise.

More Easter suit pictures in front of the hotel...