Tournament in Cortez

 Lorelai had her first softball tournament this weekend.  It was held in Cortez, CO and it was amazing! Finally, the girls were up against other teams of their same ability.  We've been playing tournament leagues and it's been hard on our girls, many of whom have never played the game before!  So it was incredibly motivating and confidence boosting for our girls to go up against some teams at their level! We had three games on Saturday: 11:00, 3:30pm, and 6:30pm so we were at the field all day.  How they played determined how many games they'd play on Sunday during single elimination.  

Lorelai's batting was amazing. The first two games she got on base every time.  The third game, she received her first strike out of the season but I think the call was terrible.  She was beyond exhausted by the end of the day.  

Sunday we played our first game at 11:00am.  If we won, we'd be in the tournament.  It was so close!! Almost went into extra innings.  Great game but we lost and went home after that.  It was such a good time!!  There's 10 videos below in the web version.

videos below...

Mother’s Day!

For Mother's Day, the kids let me "sleep in" while they made breakfast with Daddy.  They made pancakes, bacon, fruit, and made my coffee.  They also got me a new spring wreath for the front door that I had been wanting and they showered me with artwork they've been working on all week!

Last year for Mother's Day, we had only been in Durango for 2 weeks and some new friends took us on this waterfall hike right by our house.  It was great for the whole family (even the 2 year old that we had at the time).  When Joe asked me what I wanted to do this year, I told him I wanted to do the same hike!  Maybe it'll be a yearly tradition.  The kids are a bit older and we took Bruno this time too!

Great Mother's Day picture.  The water was low this year as we are still going through a drought.  Hopefully next year it's better!

Kids sending little stick/pinecone boats down the stream

All the kids have their own camebaks now!

Bruno did amazing! Hikes are hard for danes because they don't have a lot of stamina so we have to make sure they're nice and easy.  He carried his water, bowl, and towels and did great!  Although, he did sleep the rest of the day!

 

Waterfall picture by Lorelai and a Best Mom Worksheet by Lorelai

A card and picture from Evelyn. The card says "I love Mom because she is the best parent ever. I like her so much because she does the best mom ever. I love her the best.  Love, Evelyn." So I guess it's safe to say that I'm the best!

Artwork from Lorelai

Artwork by Evelyn and Scarlet.

Artwork made by Evelyn

Candle made by Evelyn at school

The flower pot is so cute, though the flower is struggling.  Hopefully we can save it.  Scarlet brought this home from school on Friday

Videos below in the web version...

hit by pitch...

 We are very proud of Lorelai and her toughness.  Due to Durango being such a small size, there are only two city league softball teams in her age group.  We are very similar in skill, experience and ability.  However, to get more opponents we also play some teams from neighboring towns.  Most of these girls play year round and travel for tournaments often.  They are GOOD!  They pitch fast!!!  It can be quite intimidating for many of our girls who have never even played before.  Well, last week we played Farmington and they faced their fastest pitcher yet.  Lorelai was so nervous but she stayed in the box and rode it out, and eventually walked.  However, she did get hit in the head in the process.  Shook her up a little but she's so tough!!  Don't worry, after this incident we bought her a faceguard to attach to her helmet.  She didn't get to take a base when she was hit because the umpire thought the ball had hit her bat but I think the bat hit her helmet when she was knocked down and that's the metallic sound you hear.  

Caught singing..

 Scarlet loves singing and often does it at the top of her lungs.  A lot of the time she is singing a song that she makes up as she goes.  This video was taken just before bedtime and she's just supposed to be going potty so we can read a story and I can tuck her in.  It's funny...

Class Pictures

 The school year is almost over and the kids took their class pictures. I think they came out great!

Lorelai's 3rd grade class

Evelyn's 1st grade class

Scarlet's preschool class, the teachers, and even their class dog, "Johnny".

April wrap-up...

 Pictures from April...

Our annual mulch delivery is here!  Joseph is in heaven getting to operate the dump!

It's a big job mulching all the yard and garden area but I have little helpers who keep me company.

Child labor is cheap but you get what you pay for...

Taking a little rest from hauling water cans and shoveling mulch

Scarlet likes to discover the little surprises that start to pop up

What's a lollipop between siblings?

"Lola, please play with me!"

Joseph wanted to help making his lunch so he offered to get his own bread out of the bag...this is so helpful...

Yes, we still have some lingering Easter treats

Joe took Lorelai fishing for her first time of the season

Lorelai has an obsession with fishing.  She can't get enough!  And they had great luck their first time going this year... they each caught 3 fish in just one hour!

Sleepy boy...it's time to get up

Playing with his blaze track

Scarlet MAY have picked one of Mommy's daffodils from her garden

Saturday mornings can be lazy sometimes...but this is how she wants to eat her breakfast

I splurged and actually bought myself something for the lake...not sure if I'll be sharing

I love Evelyn's stories.  She had to write about how animals move and how they're different in their movement.  I think she did a great job!

She did a great job having a topic sentence and a conclusion.