Team Brazil

Eli decided he wanted to get back into soccer this fall. Blaine and I were both really excited about this because last year all he wanted to do was flag football, and lets be honest--it was NOT his sport. With Blaine's current schedule, it gave him the opportunity to coach his team, something he has never been able to do--Eli was pretty psyched about! He was on Team Brazil and had his buddies Ty and Cannon on his team....and a bunch of other kids who had not played before. Not gonna lie...they were not the best team. They won one game all season. But the best part of all of it is that Eli did even care! He just had fun out there, and I think the main reason was that Blaine was there. Pretty darn proud of Eli and his attitude out there! It was a season full of too many rain out, a lot of losses, but a ton of fun!

Thanksgiving Break

We had a nice Thanksgiving break. I say it every year, but its my favorite holiday of all time. I sometimes feel like its Groundhog day the week of Thanksgiving break because it is the same thing every year--Thanksgiving punch party the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, Thanksgiving at my parents, BBQ on Friday, polachinkas on Sunday.  But I love it all!

 Unfortunately, our house was hit with the stomach bug the day after school let out. Owen was hit first. When we thought we were all in the clear, we ventured out for the first time to meet some friends at Cosmic Coffee.

 Eli sat like this and complained the whole time. I kept telling him to get a good attitude......then we got home and he threw up in the garage. Yep. He was the next victim. And thankfully the last. I felt terrible that I was blowing his complaints off!  So we spent the first three days of break at home holed up!

 November 21 is Mom's birthday, and this year fell on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving when we go make the punch. So we made her an Angel Food Cake in honor of her birthday, our first without her.

Punch making is always a fun night. And it seems that without fail, we are always short of some ingredient and someone had to run to the store to grab something!

 Thanksgiving day was wonderful. I did a terrible job at getting pictures this year, so this is all I got....

 Well, our TV broke on Thanksgiving. Which is a big bummer, but really if I had to pick a day to break a TV I think it would be Thanksgiving! Because we got a good deal on one on Black Friday! Never a shortage of helpers over here.

Friday BBQ lunch at Valentinas

 Sunday morning polachinkas with cousins.

Rollin' and a Scootin'

This kid! Oh he is so yummy and sweet and he is SIX months old!

He is a rolling and scooting machine! I dont remember any of the other boys rolling quite like he does. He just goes for it and can get across the room in no time if we let him. I still attempt to put a blanket down for him but if I turn my head for a second he is across the room. Just in the last few days he has started getting up on his knees and pushing up with his arms. I think crawling is just around the corner.

We started sleep training with him just after 5 months and he is doing amazing! He doesnt have perfect nights every night, but he is doing great. I will still feed him once if he wakes up for it. I secretly really love those times. I have loved it with each of the boys--the quiet of the house, just the two of us cuddled up together. It is a sweet moment that I know will be gone before I know it.

No one makes him laugh quite like his brothers. All they have to do is walk in the room and look at him and he gets the biggest grin.

How lucky is he to be surrounded by such brotherly love. It has been one of the greatest joys--to watch my boys together.

In the mornings before school, they argue about whose turn it is to get him out of bed, or hear him make a sound and all run in there. This is a moment I caught last week before school when they heard him wake up.

I started giving him a sippy cup with an ounce of water, per the pediatrician at his 6 month well check and he loves it! I think he would love solid foods, but I have been dragging my feet on starting that. He got a little taste of avocado and seemed to like it ok! Stay tuned for that development!

He went to vote for the first time! And handled waiting in line for over an hour like a champ!

He has started to take more of an interest in Maggie. She has been patiently waiting for this! I dont know who is more excited about it:) She has been so incredibly gentle with him! Even though I complain about Maggie all the time, she really has been such a sweet, gentle, patient dog with Tripp. I could not ask for anything more.

A few more random 6 month moments.....

The THUNDER!

Owen and Cash were able to be on the same baseball team this season. It has been so much fun to watch them together. Cash has played three seasons and this was Owens first season. So naturally, I was a little worried that Cash may dominate (not to be braggy, but he is pretty good), and Owen would get discouraged. NOT THE CASE! Owen holds his own!!!! Kid is a natural.
At the tryouts, I am pretty sure I had to pick my mouth off the ground when it was Owens turn. He killed it out there! And has continued to be a great little ball player throughout the season. They have both been on the leaderboard consistently throughout the season for RBIs, HITS and QABs. I really could not be more proud of the two of them. They have both grown so much this season--much thanks to our amazing coaches. We could not have asked for better coach for these boys to really tap into their potential.

They had amazing coaches and a great little team. Coach Jeff was the perfect coach for these guys. He gave them such an amazing foundation to grow on and an introduction to coach pitch that could not have been better. He was the perfect combination of serious and hard on the boys and keeping it fun.

 Coach Jeff owed everyone ice cream for some of his bad pitches that hit the kids:) So we all enjoyed a beautiful lunch at Austin Pizza Garden with the team with ice cream- his treat after our last season game.

They both did their parts to keep their team winning! Unfortunately they were eliminated from the end of season tournament and placed 3rd overall with a season scoreboard of 12 wins to 1 loss. It was a tough one to swallow- to end the season that way. Owen took the loss pretty hard with some tears along with most of the team, while Cash was his happy go-lucky-no-big-deal-self. I could not be more proud of these boys that worked so hard the entire season. I am excited to watch them continue to grow as little players.

And then there is this sweet little one. He came to just about every baseball game this season and was such a little trooper.