Astro Baseball Clinic

As part of the Astros Baseball Buddy Club, the boys had an opportunity to go to Minute Maid park and work with The Urban Youth Baseball League on of course, baseball skills.

They were both pretty excited about it, especially Hollister.

They didn't even mind waking up at 5:00am on a Saturday to get there in time! 

Signing in 

Waiting in the stands 

ASTRO LEGEND 

JOSE CRUZ!!!!!! 

He would be part of the clinic!!!! 

The boys were very excited about that! 

The kids were broke into various age groups and rotated around the field.

Parents had to stay in the stands, in one area. 

So, this was my vantage point for most of the day. 

 When they hit though, I moved closer and tried getting some better shots. 

Hamilton got to spend a lot of time with Jose Cruz because his grandson was in the same age group. 

 I do wonder what on Earth he is saying to Jose Cruz!!! 

 They took a picture with all the kids at the end.

Again, far away from the parents.  

 Afterward though, Jose Cruz signed autographs!!!! 

The boys were super excited!!! 

They will appreciate this more later in life, but they know he's a big deal! 

And not to be outdone by one Astro Legend, they had to get photos with some other favorites. 

Hollister really wants to meet Craig Biggio one day.

This cut out with do for now. 

And no surprises that Hamilton is all about the mascot, Orbit!!! 

This is what happens when you wake up at 5am and practice baseball for two hours.

You sleep on the way back home! 

He didn't even make it out of Houston.

The day continued with more baseball of course.

Hollister had another all star practice tournament in South Austin. 

He played in 2 of the 4 games.

New All Star jerseys too! 

His new all star number! 

He played first base a lot. Got on base a few times, scored a run and even got to pitch on Sunday. 

Official All Star tournaments start this Friday! 

Pool Fun

This week we spent several days at the pool. 

These awesome things make it possible for Hollister to swim and not be concerned about water in his ears! It is really wonderful to see him have such a good time in the water. 

They are specially made ear plugs just for his amazing ears. 

 Mommy got in on the fun too! 

Wait for it... 

SPLASH TIME!!!

  

They make their own games up too! 

So much fun, I'm sure we'll spend many days here! 

Lunar Golf

Monday we tried an indoor mini golf course. The boys have been before. It's a converted restaurant in a mall. It's glow golf. We were the only ones there for a while. Hamilton was all over the place. It was fun though.

See? Goof ball! 

And of course, my serious one. 

Ice cream afterward and yep, more silliness! 

Good first day of summer vacation! 

First Summer Tournament

I never tire of watching Hollister playing baseball. I hope you never tire of me sharing pictures of him doing what he loves!

Right before taking the field Saturday morning. 

 First at bat of the day.

For game one, Hollister had an RBI and responsible for 2 outs. 

Sunday Morning

Warming up in cages 

First game of day:

He walked and stole 2nd and 3rd

He singled with 2 outs

We lost this game 3-4

Second game of day:

He walked and stole 2nd

He caught a pop fly in the infield

We won this game

Third game of day:

He singled, scored

Got a tag for an out at 2nd base 

They lost this game though, which ended our play in this tournament. 

And these boys are troopers. They spend all their time at the ball field as well, rooting for their brothers. We find them in the batting cages a lot! 

Cooper, Hamilton and Chris

This was the first of several tournaments for us this June. 

For us, June = baseball 

End of the School Year 2015-2016

This school year has FINALLY come to a close. 

22 years for me in the books.

Hardest year so far.

In August, I never would have imagined the school year I have lived through. 

Personally, you know its been tough. 

Professionally, its been a challenge. 

I know things happen for a reason and I NEEDED to be at the same school as the boys this year. 

I have learned though, that professionally, I only want to teach one subject and I don't want to teach the same kids all day. 

For me, today was the last day of 5th grade I will teach. 

I am moving back to the middle school to teach 6th grade Math again. 

I am happy to know I will already know a third of the students I teach. 

(We have three elementary schools that feed to the middle school) 

And, on a side note. I started a "diet"on the first day of school with my neighbor. 

She got pregnant. 

I lost 37.6 pounds. It feels GREAT of course! 

(Still working towards my goal in that area.)

Hamilton completed kindergarten dual language as written about in the previous post about graduation. 

Hollister completed 4th grade. 

Hollister has had a challenging year in many areas. 

For Hollister, I have seen him grow up so much. 

He has some really close friends through baseball and school and 

they have proved to be solid for him.

He's had strong teacher who took special care of him for me as well.

I loved comparing the first day to the last. 

First of all, they have both grown soooo much. 

Hollister has filled out quite a bit and no longer has a neck like ET. 

Secondly, we don't use gel much around here any longer and they don't like collared shirts! 

For most of the year, I feel we lived in a fog. 

Many days, school was our saving grace. 

But everyday, we woke up with each other and started fresh, good or bad. 

I'm so proud to be these boys' momma and so glad my job gives me the opportunity to be close to them when needed and to spend the next ten weeks with them. 

HAPPY SUMMER! 

HERE WE COME! 

Kindergarten Graduation

Almost exactly a year ago we celebrated graduation from Pre-K and now we have celebrated graduation from KINDERGARTEN!!!!

But first, a visit from Papa before the ceremony!!! 

So glad he could make the trip. 

On a very rainy evening, we headed out for graduation! 

We have truly enjoyed Ms. Casales this year. She is a wonderful kindergarten teacher. 

Hamilton will continue to be part of the dual language program in 1st grade next school year. 

His good buddy Andrew.

Andrew's mom is a kindergarten teacher at the school. 

The boys not only are in class all day, but they play after school while their mommies work too! 

Leanna was able to come even though Kendrick missed due to work. 

He did show up for the reception though. 

This makes it official! 

Fun times! Super proud of this boy! 

HAPPY GRADUATION SON!