Father's Day!

This sunday, June 19th is Father's Day. It's time to celebrate Dad! I feel very fortunate that my sons have such a wonderful daddy. From the moment we knew I was pregnant with our first son, Matt had a connection with Matthew. He would talk to my belly and Matthew would kick like crazy when he heard daddy's voice. Now, here we are with 2 sons that just adore him.





Matt is a great dad for all the things he does from the little things to the big things. He is their biggest fan when it comes to sports, from helping out their teams to practicing with them in the yard. He is proud of their accomplishments at school and helps with their homework and projects. He attends and participates in every cub scout meeting. He dances to silly songs, plays funny games, and is the best water balloon match player you've ever seen.






I have so many wonderful memories and moments that I will never forget. I know the boys feel the same way. It makes me so happy for them to have such a loving, caring, and involved dad. I know that when they become dads themselves they will know exactly what a great dad should be, because they have the best one around.

baseball, t ball, and swimming, oh my!

It's finally here, that time of year full of baseballs, dirt stains, and cheering for my boys!

Yep, that's right, it's baseball season! This is Matthew's second year of baseball and his fourth year with the BYA. This is Riley's second year of t ball. Things get pretty crazy around here once baseball season starts.

I often find myself wondering how two little boys can create so much dirty laundry. For the majority of the year one would really think that I have about 10 kids instead of 2. Then baseball season comes around. I thought the laundry was never ending before, ha! Grass stains, dirt stains, stinky socks, and sweaty hats galore! I must say though after a fresh wash and fluffy dry, my boys sure look splendidly handsome in their uniforms.



I love watching their games. In the times I watch them out there having fun and playing it makes all the stress that came before disappear. What stress you may ask? Well, as fun as having your kids in sports is there is a lot of work that goes into it! It gets especially interesting when you have more than one kid in a sport. Somehow I've managed to get myself, both kids, and my husband to different places at the same time. Yes, I'm magical. Last week I was able to get Matthew to cub scouts, attend his meeting with him where he made a presentation about the hockey game his Aunt Jenny took him to, while at the same time I got Matt and Riley to Riley's T ball game in time, and was also able to make it back to Riley's game to see him have a great hit without using the Tee!

It's still the beginning of the season but the boys have both been doing very well and having a ton of fun!



There are so many things that I love about watching the boys play sports and I've talked about about that here before. I love when they look to make sure I'm watching, I love cheering them on when they succeed and yelling "good try!!" when they strike out. One of the things I love the most though is that they have such a wonderful Dad that comes to every single game, supports them whether they win or lose. I tell them often how lucky they are to have a Daddy that cares so much. We are both very proud parents indeed!



Another fun thing we've started is swimming lessons! We take the boys swimming quite a bit but they have always needed assistance of a noodle or other floatation device. So, we thought it would be a good idea to sign them up for swimming lessons. They are only once a week and Matthew has class with kids his age and Riley's class follow immediately after with kids his age. They had their first class and absolutely loved it!! Matthew was so confident after that first class, it was just great to see. The teacher came over and told us that both boys did very well! Matthew is a lot like his dad in that he isn't overly expressive, so to see him smiling that big and laughing and being so confident, it was great!! Riley looked so cute, his little feet splashing all around. They had so much fun and it's a great thing for them to learn!

So, we have a lot going on but it's all fun! I don't ever want to over schedule my kids but I do think having certain activities to look forward to is a good thing. The first rule, however, is always: school comes first. Things get hectic around baseball but it's only for a short time in the spring and then the leisurely days of summer are quick to follow. I think it's important for them to have things to look forward to, exercise, learning, team work and most importantly FUN.

Spring is here!

It may be rainy and kind of chilly out there right now, but don't let that fool you..Spring is here!!

There are certain things that I love about every season. With Summer it's that I have the boys home from school, no schedules, just fun from sun up to sun down. Fishing is our staple summer activity, we go pretty much every night. Trips to Kennywood, walking to get ice cream, so much fun! Fall is my favorite season. I love the weather. I love that I can cover up in a cozy hoodie on some days and then walk out of the house with no jacket other days. I love the pumpkins and farms and don't even get me started on Halloween. Winter, well snow is beautiful to look at though I absolutely loathe driving in it. Still, building snowmen, having snow ball fights, and trying my best to push my husband into a pile of snow (though he always manages to get me first!), is so much fun! Finally, there is Spring. Beautiful weather, the beginning of fishing season, sports for the boys, lots of outside activities!

We've been lucky enough to have been able to go fishing a couple times already this Spring. Hopefully the weather gets nicer in May! The nicer the weather gets, the more fishing we can do! The boys love fishing so much! Spending the day at the lake is probably my favorite thing to do. It's peaceful and relaxing yet exciting at the same time. The boys always find something new to explore. Matthew is becoming quite the master fisherman, he has caught over 100 fish!! Each time we go fishing I bring along my notebook. It's not just any notebook mind you, it's THE notebook. It's a purple (of course) notebook in which I record each day we go fishing, where we are fishing, and all the fish we catch listed by who catches it, what kind of fish it is, and how many of those fish that person has caught. Yes, I'm a dork. It may sound silly but I know it will be something we will look back on years from now and it will be so great to flip through. The boys like it too because they can keep track of just how many fish we catch! Riley loves looking at the fish that we catch but for the last couple years he's been more interested in finding frogs and butterflies, though this year he wants to be the one catching all the fish! It's exciting that they are both so excited about it. I'm so glad that 3 years ago we decided to take a chance and see how the boys (and indoor girl, me!) would like fishing at the lake. I never could have guessed the great memories and wonderful times that would follow.

The other thing that comes along with Spring is the start of baseball and t ball season! This will be Matthew's 4th year playing with the BYA, he played 2 years of t ball and this will be his second year of baseball. For Riley, this will be his second year of t ball. I love watching their games and can't wait for them to start. So far they've each had a few practices and games are starting really soon. In fact, Matthew's first game is in less than a week! I can't wait! Matthew is doing very well at practice and having a great time! Riley is doing well and has surprised me with how well he is throwing. I'm glad that they enjoy it so much, I know I sure love watching them play. Even though I know they should be focusing on their game/practice, I have to admit that the thing I love the best is when I catch them looking to make sure that I was just watching. It just makes me want to yell out "Yes, I'm watching you, I love you!!!!" Do you think that would embarrass them?! haha!

Well, I may be just a little embarrassing but one thing is for sure, they know I love them and that's worth a little embarrassment I think.