First TBall Practice

Ellie has joined a tball team with her friends Tanner and Carson! We had our first practice and wow, I guess you've got to start somewhere, right? In Ellie's defense, everyone's skill level looked just about the same. A little uncoordinated, slightly clueless, but ready to have fun! We were also having 40mph winds, which didn't help the ball get into the glove any. They practiced catching and throwing, hitting, and running bases. Ellie kept telling Tony that he needed to try again every time he didn't throw the ball right into her glove. She hasn't quite figured out that part of that transaction is up to her. I think learning to run bases was the highlight of the day. The first try was when the coach (Tanner's Dad) lined them all up and told them to play follow the leader and to run from first to second and so on. He quickly realized that perhaps one at a time might work better, so there was a take two. This is my first attempt at posting a video clip, but if it works, take note of the moment someone must have told Ellie to "touch the base". Ever so compliant, she reaches down with her hand. We've got a lot of fun ahead of us! (and if you haven't noticed yet, take a look at Ellie's t-shirt...a true Texan I guess!)

Sour Milk

How do you know when your child has found yesterday's missing milk cup that has been sitting in the heat in the car? --- When she tells you, "This milk feels funny in my mouth." Oh gross.

Strawberry Picking Extravaganza - Year 2

This is the second year I have taken the kids strawberry picking to a local farm. Again, it was a big hit. Their strawberries are very different from the ones in the grocery store...smaller, sweeter, jucier, redder, and sun warm! We were warned not to eat the berries until after we paid for them. Try telling that to Matthew. Fortunately he didn't get caught, although coming in from the field with red stains dripping down your face might be a give away. Ellie insisted on wearing the same strawberry shirt that she wore last year. Thankfully, I still had it and she squeezed into it. We're going to need to find a new shirt for next year. Ellie was a very efficient picker this year, and pretty much only picked the red ones. Matthew was very good at taking the picked berries out of her box and eating them. He got tired after a while and just sat down in the rows. By then end of the trip we were all hot, muddy and full of strawberries!

Ice Cream Reading Party

We had a very big day around here yesterday.










It was a "celebration day" as Ellie named it. For the past few months Ellie has been learning to read. She and I do about a half hour each day while Matthew naps in the morning. We have been using two different programs at home, learning both sight words and phonics. Yesterday Ellie finished her first reading book! She has been looking forward to having an ice cream sunday party when she finished the first book, and while we usually do about two or three pages a day, she saw the end of the first book coming and I think we went though eleven pages yesterday! She would run through at various points during the day, saying, "Can I pllleeeaaasssee do more reading, Mommy?" Who can turn down that request? Ellie can now read all about the "cats in cans" and the "ham on the mat" and "the fat ant and the thin man". We all went out for pizza to celebrate all of her reading success, and then came home had ice cream sunday's with seven different types of sprinkles! Then she proudly took her completed book up to her room and looked through it, coming running to tell us about the various sentences she could read. She was pretty impressed with herself, having a book in her room that she could read every word in. Her next book is coming on Monday and we are already starting to plan her next celebration day. We are so proud of you Ellie!