The Carnival's in Town

This weekend was Western Days in Elgin. It started with a carnival!

It was family night, so you pay once price and ride as long as you want as many times as you want. 

It's the best and cheapest way to do it.

The boys had a blast!

Hamilton spent time with his buddy Cooper.

Hollister spent time with Jack and a friend from school they found. The great thing about this carnival is its small and in one area. So, Trevor stood in the center and watched Hollister and his friends, while I went around with Hamilton.

Trust me, the three of  them are up there at the top! 

Round 1- All Stars

Round 1 has ended. 

We lost last night. 

We are the 4th seed for Round 2 which starts Friday night.

Hollister had 2 singles and a triple. 

He scored three runs and had an RBI. 

He had 3 assisted outs and 2 individual outs. 

All Star Weekend

Hollister is part of our Elgin Youth Baseball league All Star team. 

This is his first year as an All-Star. 

Trevor is coaching. He is the pitcher for our team. 

For this tournament, ALL coaches wear full uniform. 

Trevor is thrilled with this. He thinks it should be like that all season. 

Of course, his biggest fan has to be a part of it as well. 

We began our first tournament on Saturday. 

We lost the first game 11-10 Saturday morning at 10:45. 

Hollister had 3 singles. 

He also had 3 assisted outs. 

The tournament is double elimination. Any loss from here on out and our team is out. 

Saturday afternoon at 4pm we played a second game. 

WE WON!!!

22-12

Hollister had two triples and a double. 

He had 2 RBI's and had 2 runs.

He had 1 assisted out. 

With that win, we played a third game of the tournament Sunday morning at 9am. 

Remember, a loss, and we are done. 

WE WON!!!! 

15-4

Hollister had a single and TWO HOMERUNS!!!! 

He had 2 RBI's and scored 3 runs himself. 

He had 2 assisted outs and caught 1 pop fly for an out. 

 This win also guaranteed us a spot in the next level of all-star tournaments next weekend. 

The remaining games for this tourney will put us in a "seed" spot for that tournament. 

 I will have to work on getting some better pitching pictures of Trevor. Sorry, I missed his face. 

Hollister on deck. He is the second batter in our line up. 

Waiting for his pitch. Not sure which at bat this is. Since he was 12 for 12 though, it doesn't matter really. 

We played another game at 4pm Sunday. 

WE WON AGAIN!!!!

17-7!!!!!

Hollister had a single, a double and a HOMERUN!!!! 

He had 2 RBI's and scored 2 runs. 

He had 1 assisted out and caught another pop fly for an out! 

As you can tell, Hollister played very well! We are really proud of him and his hard work!

This win means we are at minimum the 4th seed for next week's tournament (4 out of 6) 

We will continue play for this tournament Monday night at 7:45pm. 

Stay tuned! 

Mop Head

Hamilton had a full head of hair for a while. It just kept growing and growing. 

Finally, I just couldn't take it anymore and took him for a hair cut. 

He did really well while we were there. After a while, he said, "this is taking for-ever". 

In his eyes, 5 minutes is "for-ever". 

He looks much better now though. 

Two Cool Dudes

 Hollister wanted glasses  like his Daddy. He succeeded.

Father's Day- 2014

Last week we celebrated Father's Day by Trevor smoking a brisket all day. It was incredible as always! I hate that he cooks his own meals, but not really. We all reap the benefits from his awesome BBQ skills.

I gave him a bag full of "pop" treats! The boys are trying to get the lollipops and Pop Rocks. So far, he is guarding it all pretty well.

Picture taking was a joke with Hamilton. Everything has to be silly with him these days. 

I just kept snapping and this what I got.

The boys took him to a baseball game this past week over at the Dell Diamond in Round Rock. 

Trust me, Hamilton is happy, just not wanting his picture taken. 

Even though it was his Father's Day present, their Daddy bought them Dippin Dots.

The boys are still in awe of Spike, the mascot and they had to hunt him down for photos.

It's one of those things I miss about living in Round Rock, being so close to the baseball field. But, a trip every once in a while is still super fun!

Baseball Buddies

The boys' regular season ended at the end of May. Both received medals for being in the league.

Hollister is part of the All-Star baseball team. This past weekend, they played in a tournament. This has become familiar territory for us. We spend a lot of time with these people. Everyone brings snacks, food, drinks, etc... we sit under a nice tent to shield the sun and relax between games. We seriously spend 90% of our time with these people. We are a very close knit group.

Sometimes  this what Hamilton does during games. 

He was actually sick on this day. When he woke up, he got sick. He and I went home immediately. 

Poor kid. 

Most of the time though, this is him. 

Sassy and playful! 

Notice that he is always in baseball gear, always! 

This past weekend, our  team took 3rd place. Only first and second are given medals or trophies. It was disappointing for our kids, but losing is part off the game as well. 

The official all-star tournament begins in a week and a half. Stay tuned for those updates. 

End of 2nd Grade

Last Day of 2nd grade

Hollister had a great year. He had great friends in his class and he had the best teacher ever. Mrs. Douglas was the perfect match for Hollister. She is so good in fact, she was voted teacher of the year for her school.

Hollister made the AB honor roll for the entire year. He was also voted most friendly by his teacher. We think that fits him perfectly! 

Hamilton also had his last day of day care. 

We had lots of art work to view. He has been busy. 

Hollister will start 3rd grade in August and Hamilton will begin his last year of day care. 

CJ will be a senior! 

Mom will be moving up to 7th grade Math. 

For now, we will be enjoying our summer. 

FM System

Since Hollister's hearing has gotten worse, his doctor suggested we get an FM system in place at school. It did take some work and us being patient, but he does have one in place now.

His teacher wears the microphone and fm system. We aren't completely sure if it is working yet. Hollister is having a hard time communicating if he hears differently with it. 

There are several factors involved here.
First, Hollister still has packing from his surgery in his ear. The last appointment we had, they said, we were about "half way there". Whatever that means.
Secondly, Hollister is due for an adjustment for his Baha. You would think this would be an easy endevaor. oh please, nothing is easy when it comes to this Baha!
We have to go to our original audiologist or pay $375 to the  new one because of insurance purposes.
This is not a big deal, our original one is in Austin. Making an appointment with her though has been comical. We had to make it 3 weeks out. Okay, no big deal, Hollister is hearing fine.

But seriously? Why does this all have to be so complicated?

Since it is the end of the school year, I will follow up when school begins again in August. We now also have a representative from our service center that is available to help with this kind of stuff. I feel confident that everything will all fall into place when it needs to.

17 Again!

Note: For some reason, this post got lost in my blog world and I never posted it. This was about a month ago and CJ actually turned 17 in April. (oops)



No, I am not wishing to be 17 again. You couldn't pay me to go through those years again!

But, we are celebrating 17!!!

CJ turned 17 earlier this month.

17 isn't a very eventful year, except it does feel weird to me to have a 17 year old and a 4 year old!

We celebrated with a fun family dinner at Fujiyama Steak House. This is a restaurant where they cook in front of you.

CJ finally got what he has been asking me to give him for a LONG time.


No, I wasn't trying to keep him out, just didn't make it a priority.

We also went to the Cheesecake Factory for dessert. This has become a tradition on CJ's birthday.

Seriously, he should just look at me and smile. 

He's not putting a fist up at me. He is showing his muscles for eating such a big piece of cheesecake). 

And yes, he is just happy to have cake and strawberries. 

Sorry for the dark pictures, it's very dark in that restaurant. 

The six of us aren't together very often anymore. The night was very nice. 

Food can definitely bring us together.