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.

Changing and Growing

What does it mean to be a mom? Every year my sons change and grow and with that so does my role as a mom. Of course there are things that will never change whether they are 2 years old or 42 years old. They will always be my kids even when they are taller than me and married with kids of their own. Although I know that when they get older I won't be able to kiss away the hurts of life like I can now when they fall down, I'll always be there to pick them up. I promise to myself and my sons that no matter what happens in their lives they can know that they will have atleast 2 people that will always support them, love them, and believe in them: Mommy and Daddy.

Being a mom changes a lot when your kids become school age. Both of my sons are now in school and it's only been a month into this school year and I'm definitely being reminded of this. The summer provides a small break from that world and a happy reminder of the years when it was just me and my boys. I'm so proud of everything that they do in school and I love going through their papers and getting their artwork, but I definitely treasure the summer when it's just me and them and the memories we make together.

When the boys were babies my role as a mom was a lot different than it is now. My "uniform" was simply anything I didn't care if it got boogers, poop, or puke on. Black bags under my eyes were the norm and still they would say that I was pretty (when they could talk that is!) and before they could talk they would put their little hands on my cheeks and just stare at me with a look that can only be described as pure love (if you're a mom, you know this look!) They didn't see the stained clothes or the tired eyes, they saw me. When they were babies my role as a mom was to feed them, clean up after them, clean them, get their clothes clean...basically it was a lot of cleaning! The fun side of that was that the main attraction for the day was "What funny face is Mommy going to make today to make me laugh?" To this day they still get a kick out of that game. The thing I loved the most about when they boys were babies was showing them something for the first time. It was amazing to watch their eyes get big with wonder. I remember taking Matthew in his stroller down on the boardwalk across the river and showing him the river up close for the first time. I remember Riley kicking his kick toy and seeing it light up for the first time. We made up silly songs and I sang horribly out of tune to the delight of both the boys. Actually, I still do this and now they add their own verses to the mix!

The older that they get the more their world expands. They have teachers, coaches, and friends. They begin to branch out and create their own world. I feel so lucky that they still get so excited to include me in those things. They love that I get so excited at their baseball games (and cheer at the top of my lungs!), that I love going to their school open house, that I put their school work up on display. My "mom uniform" has changed a lot since their baby days. Don't get me wrong, I still rock the sweatpants and old shirts but they have their place and time. I highly doubt they would enjoy me showing up to their baseball games like that! A lot of the things that I had to do for them when they were little they can now do themselves and believe me they let you know it! Now, I think one of their favorite things to do is to help ME do things.

The reason I'm writing this post is because I am about to redo my dry erase calendar soon for the month of October. I was thinking about all the appointments and meetings and school functions that I will need to write on it. It got me thinking about how different things are now. I can't say that there has been one age that I have liked better than another because each stage had it's own great and hard things. I do know, however, that I'm excited about all of the new great and hard things yet to come.

Along with all the changes that a mom goes through, dad's go through changes as well. I'm thankful that I've had such a great partner, friend, and husband that has grown with me. I'm thankful that my sons have a dad that they can look up to and admire, even if they do beat him in a race around the yard (daddy says it was a tie..hmmm haha!).

Sometimes it's hard to deal with change and I'm not going to pretend that I don't cry like a baby when my kids get on the bus that first day of school..I do! I think back to the days when there were no words, just little hands cupped around my cheeks to a day we had this summer at the lake when out of the blue I was told by my son Riley "you're the best mom in the world!" promptly followed by Matthew saying "hey, I think that too!"...and it shows me that in a world that can be so uncertain at times we will always have eachother and LOVE.

My two sons

If someone would have told self proclaimed "indoor girl," me that I would end up having two sons, well I guess that wouldn't have shocked me all that much. However, if someone told self proclaimed "indoor girl," me that I would end up having two sons and enjoying the dirt, mess, outdoors, bugs, and general grossness that comes along with having little boys...now that might have shocked me. Now here I am with 7 and 4 year old sons and loving everything about it. I truly believe that I was meant to have boys so not only could I give them the best parts of me, but they could bring out things I never would have otherwise known about myself. Some of the biggest things have been that I never would have known just how much gross unidentified liquids or bugs placed in my hand, or grass stained clothes I could handle if it weren't for my boys :-).

Still, I'm not deprived of doing so called "girly" things that I enjoy. Infact Riley loves to make crafts and jewelry with me and he loves to watch me put on my make up. Matthew is great to take along to the craft store when you need to pick out what color to use or which project to make and he enjoys listening to mommy's music. Of course they both always have an opinion of what I should do with my hair...cut it or leave it long, keep the red or maybe go for a change?

I have opened myself up to many new things because of the boys. Through that we've been able to find things we all enjoy doing as a family like fishing, something I never would have thought to do or even thought I could do.

So, I may still be a pretty girly "indoor girl" that loves sparkles, purple, and jewelry, but thanks to the boys I can also get dirty and be gross with the best of them.

one of the many songs for the boys and Matt but I think it fits us perfectly: