Household Historians!

Cole has been emailing back and forth with his Great Uncle Dick and they have found a common interest in both baseball and Civil War history.  Uncle Dick sent Cole an enormous packet of Civil War brochures he has collected on various visits to National Battlefields.  Cole is fascinated and spent the majority of the morning reading through these great brochures and telling Cooper and me about information that he has already learned in school.  What a reward to see his interest in history explode with each and every piece.  He showed us how to use the key at the bottom of each map to determine which army was which and was excited to find anything that he already had learned about in third grade and trump it with additional info.  So cool!

Cooper, of course, just wanted to touch them all and Cole was quite protective of his new collection! 

Now we must plan to visit some of these great places in history and build on the spark these gifts created.Thank you, Uncle Dick, for your interest.  We are really enjoying them!

Cole makes All- Stars!

          

We just found out that Cole was chosen for the 8U All Stars this year and we are so excited!  At the ceremony this morning, they called out each all star where each boy received a tee-shirt with the names of the all stars on the back.  Super cool!

Here are some pics of the big day!

  Cole and Coach Mike Yawn

 

 

All Star Tee Shirt

 

2010

Yankee All Stars

Caleb Oakley (pitcher)

Alex Yawn (1st base)

Cole Hubbard (2nd base)

The best dress yet!

My sister in law, Cynthia, gave me some leftover material she had before moving to Raleigh last week (Thanks, Cyn) and from one of the fabrics I was able to make this dress and bloomers last night.  It truly is my favorite one yet and I think Ivy looks so beautiful in the muted brown and ivory.

2010 Summer Kids' Series at Thoroughbred 20

Now that school is out and baseball season is over, we are all looking forward to some much-needed down time.  Summer plans have us spending a lot of time with friends both new and old.

I just learned about a great Summer Kids' Series at the Thoroughbred 20 in Cool Springs (Thanks, Molly) which we plan to attend as often as possible.  Every Tuesday (June 8 - August 10) at 10am they are playing a kid-friendly movie with $1 admission and $1 for popcorn and drinks.  This, my friends, is a great opportunity for us to get together with the kids for cheap, fun, family-friendly entertainment.  Please let me know if you want to join in!
The schedule is as follows:

• June 8: Night at the Museum
• June 15: Night at the Museum 2
• June 22: Aliens in the Attic
• June 29: Ice Age
• July 6: Ice Age The Meltdown
• July 13: Ice Age Dawn of the Dinosaurs
• July 20: Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium
• July 27: Alvin and the Chipmunks
• August 3: Alvin and the Chipmunks The Squeakquel
• August 10: Tooth Fairy

Ivy likes to crawl into this dish towel drawer and sit and watch while we cook or clean the kitchen.  This was taken the other day during a rare moment that Cooper would look at the camera.  They really are good buddies and both of them look up to Cole so much.  I love watching them now that they all play together and it amazes me how, all of a sudden, Ivy is hanging out with them rather than watching from the sidelines.  And when I hear them all belly-laughing together it fills me up to the tip top!

Though our Memorial Day Weekend was stopped short due to the attack of some crazy stomach bug (sorry Shaffers and Dee Dee), we can look back at an amazing Mother's Day.  We went down to Lawrenceburg to surprise Granny, Paw Paw and Dee Dee.  Here are some pics of our special day.

 

I hope your holidays were wonderful, too!

Yankees knocked out in the first round!

It was a humid scorcher at the ball park last night.  And, despite a valiant effort, the Yankees were unable to pull off a win - losing to the White Sox 11-1.  It was a shocker, given that the White Sox had the worst record in the league with only 3 wins this season.  But last night they were a different team.  They hit and fielded like...um...10 year olds?  While the Yankees merely played an 8 year old's game.  This agegroup is so unpredictable.  One night your best hitter will be the biggest, strongest dude and the next night he'll act as if he's never held a bat while the little fellow from right field will clock it to the fence.  It's crazy but so much fun.

Cole had some great fielding last night.  He was, yet again, our 2nd baseman and really has gotten the hang of that position.  At one point, the guy dove out sideways toward the bag (and by "sideways" I mean the kid's body was HORIZONTAL in the air) to grab the ball and hum it to first for an out.  I looked over both shoulders to see if there were any agents nearby.  Apparently not.  He was awesome out there but didn't have a good night of batting.  Two ups resulted in a quick return to the dugout with a discouraged and frustrated boy quickly losing steam. 

So, we're out.  Sadly, the Cubs (the team we barely beat for first place in the regular season) ended up with only 7 players showing up to their game and were forced to forfeit.  So the #1 and #2 teams are done.  We silently hope that the White Sox come through to win the whole thing.  What a wonderful season!  Way to go Yankees!

Despite the heat wave, Ivy enjoyed her usual snacks from the small strip of shade behind the dugout.  Not a peep from Miss Priss the entire game.  She ate goldfish and chips of ice and watched each inning like she knew what was to come.  She doesn't walk yet (although she's very close) so she doesn't care to sit in the stroller for a period of time.  As soon as she takes off, I'm sure I'll miss more of the games due to the chasing of this girl. 

Oblivious to the outcome of the game, Cooper was able to spend one last evening with his new buddy Isaiah.  Since it was tournament time, there weren't as many games going on which left the field behind ours open.  They spent a majority of the game running the open bases and having a ball.  I think we have a lifelong friendship here.  They could not have been happier - as this picture shows.  We will certainly miss our nights at the ballpark and look forward to next season with great anticipation!

Sew much fun!

I've been sewing some dresses and skirts for Ivy.  Here are some pics of my latest creations.

Cherry Pink and Red Sundress

with Fruit Border and Tie

Black and White Swirl Skirt

with Funky Floral Border

Blue Flowered Sundress with Lime Polkadot Border and Tie

 Brown Floral Skirt with Teal Liner

Funky Orange Sundress

with Leopard Trim

Lavender Flower Skirt

Pink and Black Paisley Sundress with Black Border and Tie

Pink Gingham Criss Cross Dress with Bloomers

Lavender Gingham Criss Cross Dress with Bloomers

Pink Gingham Skirt with Lime Ribbon Trim

Striped Multi Skirt with Flowers