Day Trippin'

While some traveled to far away places during Spring Break, Braden and I made a day trip to Rogers to play with "the cousins" It's been since Labor Day that we were all together, and even then we were missing Emmery and Baby Albert. On this trip we were missing Mason.

This is the first time we've seen Emmery in a long time and it was nice to spend some time with her. She is a very serious little girl, and the smile below was the first and only all day. We only got to see it here because her big sister, Hannah was tickling her.


Even after not seeing me for many months, she warmed up immediately and was very enamored with Braden and even wanted to ride home with us!


Chloe was not on Spring Break, but we got was home from school with an ear infection. This was following her doctor appointment and she was in tears soon after this picture was taken. The big comparison between these three was missing teeth; how many, which ones, and did the tooth fairy come and how much did she bring.


Here is "the boy" he is the only boy between Chelsea and Sarah. These are Sarah's "angels" Hannah (5 in April), Baby Albert (1 in May), Emmery (4 next week)

This is the spit fire, Brooke. As you can see she got a recent hair cut from big sis, Chloe.




Emmery crashed in the car on our way out to Chelsea's house and we were happy to let her sleep while we played outside.



Cousins Hannah and Brooke are best buds, especially since they are very close in age, Brooke will turn 5 in November.



We tried several times throughout the day to get a good group shot, as you can imagine there were always tears, or closed eyes, or someone looking away from the camera, or someone wandering off. . .here is one of our attempts. Hannah (Sarah), Brooke (Chelsea), Emmery (Sarah), Amiee (Chelsea) not sure where Braden and Chloe were.

Because it had been so long, I tried to get a lot of pics of Emmery. This was after dinner and right before we left for home.



There was a field right beside Chelsea's house that we were able to play a little baseball in. Apparently there are sometimes horses in this field so we had to watch our step. Braden was the batter, Granny was the catcher, I was the pitcher and the little girls loved being in the outfield and trying to tag Braden out.

In love with the camera

Braden is officially on his "first" spring break, and I am, too! The teaching gig has worked out perfectly with Braden's school schedule! We said goodbye to Daddy around 12, as he headed to DC. Braden wanted to know if he was going to see Barack Obama. Then we had to do a few errands of our own. We ended up on campus and while I was chatting with one of the PSU staff photographers in their studio, the other one started snapping these pics of Braden. As you can tell it took a lot to get him out of his shell.


This is his "Michael Jackson" hat that he got for Christmas and on a whim he grabbed it as we were walking out the door. He likes it because some of the back-up dancers wear one just like it in "This Is It."

How sweet is this face?

Save the Date for Braden!

As challenging as it is for us to find a free weekend to have Braden's Birthday party ( note this year it is on a Sunday afternoon) we realize it's just as hard for all of you to fit one more thing into your already busy weekends. It will be here before we know it, so please, among all of the other activities on your calendar, please pencil Braden in. Sunday, May 23, late in the afternoon, same drill. . .back yard fun!

Beautiful handiwork

Check out this amazing bracelet my beautiful dear friend the amazing Cyndee created!

All in the Family

 

 As soon as Braden and I got home from bowling, we got to have some fun with Mason and Blake in the back yard! Blake had the grill going and Mason wanted to play baseball just like Braden (he also wanted Braden's wooden bat and real baseball)

  

Blake took one look at this picture, still on the camera, and said "he looks so much older" I guess it's like a glimpse into the future of what our Braden will be like as a pre-teen!

 

  

King Pin

Braden had the pleasure of attending a "Bowling Birthday" party for twins Michael (above) and Aaron (below). They became friends in the first daycare he attended when we moved to Pittsburg and have stayed in touch ever since.

They are the nicest kids, and Braden had so much fun bowling!

 

Braden and an "old" friend, Lydia

  

  

  

These are the same two buckets that Braden would spend hours playing with at this same age, in Fort Smith. Then they were our dog's water buckets, and Blake would use them to soak wood chips in for the grill. Now they are just the wood chip buckets. Amazing that something so simple can provide so much entertainment.

While we enjoyed bowling, Blake sent me these pictures from his phone. He and Mason took a long walk in the stroller, then spent some time in the back yard!

Sounds like…

Blake and I both received this email from Braden's teacher, today…




Blake & Christel,

I thought this was too funny not to take a picture and share. Today we drew a tent and wrote "I have a tent". I was walking around checking papers and making corrections if needed. When I got to Braden, I was showing him that when he makes lowercase t's he needed to start between the sky and the fence. As I was looking at his paper, I noticed an extra word on his paper. At first I was shocked that he would write that so I asked him to read me what he wrote. He says, "I know I shouldn't have wrote it, but.... I have a dumb tent." Look closely at the picture and I am sure you will get a giggle too! I didn't correct his spelling just left it as is.

I am still laughing! It is moments like this that make you just love these kiddos more everyday!!!!

Hope you have a great weekend!! Once again, thanks for sharing Braden with me this year!! I truly enjoy him!!

Mrs. Vacca

Finally. . . A Day Outside!

Braden has been dying to get outside and play baseball, so finally on Sunday we were able to get some time in the backyard. Amazingly, Mason sat in the sandbox for the longest time while Blake and Braden practiced playing catch.


Braden definitely has hitting down, both pitches and from the T, but he needs a little work on catching. Blake has hopes that maybe he can play first this summer.



As with most things, Mason wants to do exactly what Braden does. So he got to practice his skills, too. Poor guy, this plastic ball was too big for him to pick up with one hand and he got so frustrated when he had to use both to put it back on the T.

Bat, hat, and stick. What more does a guy need?