Making Memories

It's been a making memories kind of a week.

Taylor had a big hit (and on top of it her first one. Ever.) on Tuesday. She hit the ball H.A.R.D. into left field and had an RBI to tie up the game. Pretty sure I had tears in my eyes and was maybe screaming just a bit too loud. We celebrated with ice cream. She wore her hair tie to school with a soft ball shirt the next day. She's been pretty proud every since.

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The Procession of the Species Parade is always a big deal in Olympia. We go and watch every year. This year, Maddie's class was IN the parade. We went to a costume making party at the school and the girls picked out costumes and then they looked at me and said:" What are you going to be mom?" and I tried to play it all off like I hadn't heard them. Then, the next day, Maddie comes home with a duck hat for me to wear in the parade because yellow is my favorite color so I should definitely be a duck. At this point, I know I'm going to have to be in the parade. But I'm not going to be a duck. I quickly cruise through Pinterest and find butterfly wings that I can make and tell the girls that I'll be a yellow butterfly. Of course they want to be a butterfly, too. So, what do we do? We embrace this new idea full force and go to JoAnn's to get the materials we need to make wings and a tutu. I won't lie. I wasn't jazzed about doing this. BUT. I loved every minute of it. The girls worked so hard on their tutu's and wings...making them both expect for the outer part of the wings. We laughed, we worked hard and then we marched proudly in the parade.

The highlight for the girls was getting to put on face paint. Thank goodness Grandma Carolyn has mad skills in the painting department. She rocked it.

The parade itself was a very fun and unique experience. We were in the last group of the parade and by the time we actually got to move forward we had been waiting for over an hour. The girls walked their little hearts out. They smiled and waved at family and friends.

 Moments like these make me a happy person. I love to see my kids with their friends, love that they want to be with me and to do things like this with me and I love that at the end of the night, I have sweet sleeping butterflies like this one.
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This is one of my favorite spots in Olympia. I drive by this spot every day. Sometimes 2 or 3 times. I never stop. I finally stopped. The girls and I raced across the street, holding hands and giggling to get this picture. Olympia has my heart.

We were blessed with some beautiful weather this week which meant that we had to have a Friday night bon fire! We roasted marshmallows which turned into tasty Smores.

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Somebody had a birthday over the weekend. His request? To be with his family and to have Dirty Dave's pizza for dinner. We made him a delicious breakfast and then took him to the movies. And after the movies, we convinced him to take us to a couple of estate sales. This may or may not have been on his list of things he wanted to do on his birthday but he was a trooper and we scored a few new items for our house! We love you Daddy!

 These two....insisted on getting their pictures taken at the movies. They are being "scary".

 

This was a good week.





Fast Pitch Opening Day!

We were welcomed into the world of fast pitch this weekend. It was a day full of uncertainty by our girl; anxious worries about being able to hit, knowing what to do. But then she arrived to the field and all the pieces fell into place. You could see her relax as her teammates arrived, giggles erupted and high fves and cheers began.

 

 Having her dad as the coach helped, too. He has a way of calming her down in every situation that makes her feel anxious and worried. It was fun to watch them together.

 She's making new friends but this friend has been by her side for a long time and she's so excited that they are getting to play together.

 She didn't have a lot of action but she was ready!

 I love this picture of daddy and daughter! Taylor only got to bat once and she struck out but she gave it a good shot!

Miss Maddie braved the cold to watch her sister. It didn't last long though as she was drawn to the park AND her cousins made a surprise trip to come watch the game which meant extra play time with them.

I'm loving being a team mom! Prepping helmets, organizing her uniform, making cute snacks.....it's a good fit for me.

We are looking forward to many more games this season. We are, as always, bursting with pride over all that our girl is doing.

Back in the swing of things....

We are back to reality in full swing after our little warm vacation in Mexico. I haven't warmed up since I've been home and I feel like my tan that I worked really hard on two weeks ago has been shivered off slowly this past week :) We welcomed our "regular" schedule with open arms though as all of us were ready to be back to normal.

My dear friend and teaching partner is expecting a baby boy in July. The girls and I got to go to a baby shower for her this past weekend and this is what we gave her. They have a super hero theme going and when I saw this idea I couldn't resist. I'm. In. Love. With. Them. and I can't wait to see his monthly growth in them either!

They were super easy to make! I bought the printable off of etsy, downloaded them onto transfer paper and then ironed them on to the onesies. This will definitely be a gift I'll be making for future baby showers as well!

Maddie came home with her class friend, Curious George, this week. She gets to have him with her at our house all week long and then writes about the fun things they did together throughout the week and weekend. George's highlights this week were.....Swim lessons, playing American girl dolls (Maddie took that picture!) and playing at the park with Maddie while Taylor had fast pitch practice.

Taylor and Dave have been busy at fast pitch practice 2 days a week. They have their home opener next Saturday! I am going to have to prepare myself for their games....a new stress level for me as Taylor is up to hit. Oh.My. I hate the feeling and of course want her to hit the ball :) She is slowly starting to figure out how it all works. She picked her number (57- her daddy's!) and she said: "I'll play wherever but I don't want to have to swing my arm all crazy in that one spot" (The pitcher). Made me laugh.

Over the last few years, I've become an obsessive antiquer/thrift shopper.  I have no idea where it came from or how it became a thing for me. But it's real and I love it. And apparently, so do the girls. A few months ago, we noticed that a new thrift shop had opened. I kept blowing it off because it was next to a not so great spot in town and I really wanted to check it out by myself first before I took the kids. I ditched that idea yesterday and spur of the moment asked the kids if they wanted to check it out.

 It actually turned out to be a great little store. I didn't find any treasures, but the girls did!

The rule with the thrift store/antiquing is you have to use your own money :)

We were stopped at a light and I looked back and saw them very engrossed in the new game Maddie had bought. Too cute.

 

Wondering what kind of treasures I've been hunting for lately? Well, this one I fell in love with in a Mexican flea market. I had to do a lot of bartering for it but as you can see, it now resides in our kitchen where it's a mandatory thing to b.happy.

 

And I leave you with this adorable girl. It took Dave and I almost 2 hours to get her braids out and we had to use a pocket knife to split the ends but she was a happy camper with her very curly hair.