So behind!

Many, many fun things have happened, even before we moved, that I still haven't posted. There's the video from A.J.'s first orchestra concert, and his birthday, the first day of school, and lots of baseball. (Surprise!)

Today, though, I'll just put up some things from this week.

Wednesday was Parent/Teacher conference, so they were both out of school. I scheduled Levi's conference for 8am (A.J. is too old for mandatory conferences now!) and we headed out by 9. First up was the Trinity River Audubon Center. This is a new center, built along the Trinity River (which runs through much of the DFW metroplex) an on top of an illegal dump site. They "sculpted" the trash, covered it up, and planted lots of native grasses and other seeds. It is still in the early stages of succession, so it will be even more beautiful in future years. The drought this year also didn't help. The building, though, was mostly a disappointment. There was very little information available. Minimal, non-changing displays, and no staff to answer questions were bummers for me. I wanted to learn more about when the monarchs arrive back in TX, but no luck there. We did get several things passed off for A.J.'s Webelos requirements, and the river was beautiful.

Here are some fun pics.














 A.J. had to help Levi find the turtles sunning themselves on the logs.















 They liked this little fence.

 


















This is Levi learning to perch with the binoculars.

  



 

 He spent several minutes up there.

After hiking the trails for a couple of hours, we headed over to the Ft. Worth Zoo. It's a really nice zoo. Much nicer than L.A.'s. They even have penguins there! I didn't get any pictures, since we were getting short on time.

Yesterday was Levi's school fundraiser, the Fun Run. They set up cones on the soccer field, and the kids ran 30 laps each. Levi looked like it was easy, he just kept running and running, and running. 

Finally, a post. With pictures!

My sincere apologies.

Do we even have any readers left?  This spring has been MUCH busier than I expected.  I knew two boys in baseball would be busy, but add to that Aaron coaching A.J.'s team and being the Wolf den leader (which has at least two boys with autism/Asperger's!) and me writing at least one waste of time lab report every week, there has been no time for anyone to post anything.

We do, however, have TONS of photos of this period.  Mostly Levi's team.  Earlier in the season, the Team Dad suggested we get a photographer to take some action shots on the field.  At $5 for a 4"x6" image, that can get real pricey, real quick.  So I volunteered to take action shots of everyone and post them to a team shutterf1y page, where hopefully they can download whatever they want.  And probably get 20 prints for $5 instead of just one.  So, I took a lot of shots.  2,200 between April 1 and tonight.  Not all are of Levi's team, of course, but the vast majority are!

So let's take a look at some of these, shall we?

First up, Levi.  He's been a pretty busy guy, too.

He had his first ride on a school bus, which he has been talking about since last year.  His class went to the zoo!

We have been taking lots of walks, most of which end up at the park.  He was hamming it up one day and posing for the camera.

He also showed off his hard work at the school's open house last month.  Check out the answers to these questions:

And, meet his wonderful teachers, Ms. Azniv and Ms. Candy.  They really are the best.

But mostly, he's been busy with baseball.  They even got to try some coach-pitch for the last couple of games, and he was really excited.  He got a big hit, too!

Other things he's been working on, but we don't have pictures of include: learning to write his numbers, getting his first loose tooth, watching Star Wars for the first time (and falling in love with the Ewoks!), and getting his first four cavities.  So I guess some of those aren't exactly accomplishments, but that's a little look at Levi's life.

On to A.J.  Of course, his entire existence revolves around baseball.  Watching it, playing it, and now, learning how to figure out the statistics!  He decided to figure out his batting average, so charted each of his games in an Exce1 spreadsheet, and then did all of his teammates' stats, too.  It took him most of his free time for about 4 days.  But, now he can do basic functions in Exce1 and is starting to understand how math can provide information.  He also discovered, to his delight, that both his batting average (0.455) and his on-base percentage (0.636) are higher than those of Albert Pujols.  So, A.J. decided that that makes him a better batter.  We'll see about that. :)

Some pics of A.J. on the field:

That second photo is from a game they came pretty close to winning, against a VERY good team.  That catcher is their starting pitcher and really good.  His coaches saved him for last, thinking that the "lesser" pitchers would be able to handle Bistagne pretty easily.  Cole was brought in, and the boys just kept hitting.  He was nearly crying on the mound, he was so upset.  He eventually got the third out to end the game, but our boys were feeling pretty good about themselves afterward!

A.J. also joined the 1-3 grade chorus at school, called The Singing Eaglets.  They put on a show recently called "I Need a Vacation!"

He, too, showed off his work at his open house.  His teacher, Mrs. Bringas, is also awesome.  We'll miss her next year!

Cub Scouts is another activity A.J. has been working hard on.  He has really come to love the program and wants to earn as much as he can.  Tonight, he earned his Wolf badge, two arrow points, and two belt loops.  So proud of him!

So, you can see that we've been doing quite a bit lately.  My calendar is pretty full, and we've had at least one activity nearly every day for about a month now.  I'm ready for vacation, too.  :)

So much to cover!

We have been some busy people.  I've started spring quarter, the boys are gearing up for the end of school, Aaron has been to D.C. and back and is going again soon, and baseball, baseball, and more baseball.  Did I mention baseball?  Yeah, we're pretty busy.

 
We've also been hiking recently.  We headed up a trail we've been on before, but we went a fair bit farther.  This hike took us through parts of the wilderness burned by the Station Fire and then eroded by the torrential rains this winter.  It was amazing.  Most of the trees were completely blackened, but right under them were wildflowers popping up.  Looking at the hillsides was like looking at a painter's palette.  I don't think the photos will do it justice, but I did the best I could.  Be sure to click on any photo you want to see better.  It will blow it up.

     

These two show the torched trees and the beautiful wildflowers replacing them.

      

Here's a close-up of some of the purple flowers and the top of the ridge we hiked to.

These two show the power of the rains we've had.  The gully on the left is huge.  That pipe is about 3-4 feet in diameter.  The bench on the right had been up where the boys are near the orange flowers.  It's not anymore!

Last Wednesday was A.J.'s first Pinewood Derby.  He designed his car all on his own, and did some of the shaping and all the sanding and painting.  It won the design award titled "I Wish that were MY Car."

It was also pretty fast.  It came in 5th place overall and is leading in this picture.

Levi running to first base after a MONSTER hit to center field (left).  Throwing to first after making a play at 2nd base (right).

He LOVES his team and his teammates.  Note: the kid standing next to him in the left-hand picture is less than one month older.  Evan 11 (his nickname) is the tallest 5-year-old I've ever met.

If you get walked, with more than one ball in the dirt, you'll be smiling at first.

These two are simply examples of how much bigger most of the competitors are! 

This is A.J. warming up to close out the game.  He came in with a runner on 2nd, 1 out, and a tie game.  His team isn't likely to win many, and this game felt like the playoffs for these boys. 

Celebrating after what felt like a win.  It was the most exciting tie ever.  The other team treated it like a loss, and our boys were thrilled to treat it like a win.  Note: the boy standing next to Levi (red hat) is our ace pitcher.  He's really good.  He got a home run to take the lead, but then felt dejected to give up the tying run.  Don't be surprised if you see him in the majors in a decade or two.

Life is crazy right now, but we sure are having fun.  I'm starting to apply for jobs, so feel free to pray for me if you want to!

We've been busy!

We've been doing a lot lately, from Cub Scouts to Holiday Shows. Here are a few pictures from the last little while.

First up: Levi and his classmates put on a Holiday show last week. It was a huge improvement over last year's show. Everyone participated this year.  Last year some were shell-shocked by the lights and never moved a muscle. Not Levi, of course. He adores the stage.

This is the action you do while singing "The grandpa at the house goes snore, snore, snore."

And this is Levi with his best buddy Ryan.  Look how cute (sorry) handsome they are in their sweater vests.












A.J. has been dutifully working on his Cub Scout requirements. 

This afternoon he built a "barn" for our nativity set.  Our poor little people have been huddling together with no shelter for years now.  They finally have their stable.

And, since he's worked so hard, he earned two belt loops, a pin, and a bead at the December pack meeting.  Daddy is his leader, so A.J. got to receive his awards from Dad.










And finally, a lovely sunset.

We went to the beach on Black Friday and hung out with some great friends.  It was a little chilly, and rather windy, but we were rewarded with this view at nightfall.