Brady is a Texas Ranger! Here comes lucky #10!

We decided to give t-ball a whirl this spring. After trying soccer last spring, we figured it would be good to try something different since he's five years old. We were told by several people that t-ball at age four was too young since there is a lot of waiting around. He didn't looooove soccer so let's see how this sport goes.

We lucked out with some excellent coaches. They opened up their first practice in prayer and proceeded to tell everyone that if we lose every game, that's ok as long as everyone is having fun then that's what matters. The coaches are really good at teaching them the basics. You can tell they know what they are doing.

Here is Brady at his very first game. Isn't he the cutest thing in his little uniform? So stinkin' CUTE! He looks like such a little man!!!

Best buds! They are so excited to be on the same team. It was something we weren't guaranteed so we were very excited for our boys and our girls since they can play together during their brother's practices and games.

I was really hoping I wouldn't hear any complaining from Kelsey about having to sit through his practices and games. I was VERY surprised! Kelsey and Jessenia stood up the whole time and at the fence no less. They were so excited they couldn't even sit on the bleachers. I was so ready to remind Kelsey about how many dance practices, recitals and girl scout meetings Brady has sat through without complaint but luckily, I never had to bust out that speech! YAY!

Meet your two new Texas Rangers and their cheerleaders!

After the game, Kelsey ran up to him and gave him the biggest hug telling him how proud she was of him and his team. They lost their first game but you never would've known from these smiles, right?
I LOVE this picture SOOOOO much!

After every practice and game, they all pray together. This isn't a Christian or church league. It's just a regular old city league so they don't have to do any of this. This is all the coaches and I LOVE IT!

Another big surprise for me was how much I enjoy t-ball. I've never been a huge baseball fan, I don't know much about the game and I never understood all of these parents that get overly excited screaming at their kids on the field. Now, I do.
I don't know what came over me but this huge adrenaline rush became ever so present. I was yelling, screaming, cheering and I may or may not have JUMPED UP AND DOWN IN THE BLEACHERS. Who is this person??? Yes, I am that very obnoxious mom at my son's baseball game. Not just cheering on my son but cheering on our entire team. It is the most exciting thing I have been to. Yes, we are talking about 4-5 year old t-ball. I love it so much and I can't believe it. Ruth felt the exact same way. We just laughed at each other and said "Who are we???" We were both shocked. HAHA!

Watching Brady walk on that field in his uniform with his head held up high. That confidence and amount of pride is something I can't give him. I can't make him feel that no matter how hard I try. It is so emotional to watch because it makes him seem like such a big boy and to have Kelsey right there cheering him on is the biggest cherry on top!

Here is lucky #10 at picture day with his orange bat (it couldn't be any other color, you know!):

Here they are waiting their turn. You would think that I made them do this but no, this was all them. You can't force this.

The team picture: Texas Rangers T-ball

As of right now, we have won 2 games and lost 1 game (our first game). The weather has been unusually cold and rainy so we've haven't had a game in over two weeks. We are praying tomorrow's game doesn't get rained out. :)

Easter!!!

Our church's Easter service is my favorite. I love it more than Christmas service and that says a lot!
Every year our church moves Easter service to MTSU's Murphy Center. They have lots of buses running to pick you up from your parked car and take you to the front doors of Murphy Center. It is a lot of hassle and generally I don't love crowds but I don't mind it one bit at Easter. In fact, I even look forward to it every year.
This is a video invitation from this year which showcases last year's service. It's pretty long but I have watched every minute because I love it so much! At 23:33 Pastor Allen shares his sermon from last Easter.

2013 Easter Celebration Invitation from World Outreach Church on Vimeo.

This year's celebration was even more special for us because Kelsey (and Jessenia) was a part of the Kid's Choir and performed in both services. You can tell she was a little nervous but goodness, look at this crowd??? Wouldn't you be, too?

It amazes me that so many people come together to celebrate Easter and with my daughter participating in it just made me cry my eyes out the entire weekend!!!
The Saturday evening service was insanely packed. In fact, we FILLED Murphy Center to capacity!!! The stadium holds 11,520 people and people were even standing!!! The fire marshall had to turn people away for the first time ever! Thankfully, we had another service Sunday morning. It was packed to capacity with standing room only but no one was turned away!
Here are Kelsey and Jessenia performing a mash up of The Afters "Light Up the Sky", TobyMac "Unstoppable" (I used to LOVE DC Talk!!!) and Owl City "Good Time"

This next part is my favorite at around 1:20 where they make the transition and it's all over. I just lose it in tears. The song "One Thing Remains" and to hear kids singing the lyrics:
Higher than the mountains that I face
Stronger than the power of the grave
Constant through the trial and the change
One thing… Remains [repeat]
[Chorus:]
Your love never fails, never gives up
Never runs out on me [3x]
On and on and on and on it goes
It overwhelms and satisfies my soul
And I never, ever, have to be afraid
One thing remains
AMAZING!
You can always tell when I start to cry because the camera shakes, lol. Another part at 6:30 I start crying again and Kelsey notices then whispers to Jessenia "my mom is crying" and they laugh at me. She thinks it's hilarious when I get emotional at the things she does! :) Ruth and I were an emotional mess at both services!!! Goodness, I cried all over again putting these video clips together and writing up this blog post. Brady is sitting next to me as I type it up and he's asking me why I'm crying, lol. Who knew that when you became a mom every little thing could make you cry at the drop of a dime!

 

Here is a picture of my handsome husband and son! Brady asked Jay if he could wear some of his perfume for Easter. We had to explain perfume is for ladies and cologne is for men. HAHA!

 Brady got a new backpack and lunchbox for next year (a little early, I know!), a kite for a summer beach trip (they don't know anything about it yet, HA!), a small stuffed bunny and a little candy. Kelsey received a chair with her name on it (Brady already has one), a Texas Rangers shirt (Brady's tball team), stuffed puppy dog, a kite and some candy. They loved it.

Every year, the Easter bunny leaves footprints on my floor. I never knew how much my kids looked forward to that tiny part until I overheard them talking to friends (prior to Easter) about how the Easter bunny does this every year. lol Cute!
After attending/performing in both church services, we had friends come over for lunch and we did an egg hunt in the house. The kids LOVED this so much that they spent the rest of the day making their own egg hunts for each other. We weren't going to let the rain ruin our fun!!! :) They each found a golden egg with a gift certificate to Sweet CeCe's frozen yogurt. YUM!

As you can see, we had a very full and fun Easter this year. I LOVE EASTER!

Royal Caribbean Cruise: Day 7 {Our Last Day - At Sea}

This is it. Our very last day. It came SO fast. Before the cruise, we wondered if seven days would be too long to be "stuck on a boat" and I can confidently tell you the answer is N-O. NO! In fact, we said we could go longer next time. Ten days would be perfect, I think. :)

Our last day began with another character breakfast. You can make reservations for it on your days at sea. Months in advance, we chose to book it for both days. We figured if it was really good, we wouldn't want to miss it. It was the exact same both times.

Joel, you better enjoy that chocolate milkshake for breakfast, buddy. You know you don't get this at home! :)

One of our favorites was telling the kids that we were going to go see the new movie "The Croods" in 3D!!! We were ALL excited and shocked about it because it was just released in the theaters at home. We couldn't believe our cruise had the movie already. Nice touch, Royal Caribbean! If you haven't seen this movie yet, I highly recommend it. We will definitely purchase the DVD when it comes out.
It was refreshing to see a movie with the kids and not have any cringe-worthy moments. We never had to wonder if the kids understood an inappropriate joke. So nice for a change! All of us really loved the movie and could watch it again and again!

Our girls posing before dinner. :)

I think they got used to Ruth and I constantly taking their pictures, you think? :) Sassy pants!!!

They went to kids club for a little bit and the boys enjoyed superhero themed activities...A LOT! They made their own cape and decorated it plus face painting...seriously, they think of everything!!!

I miss this gorgeous view! AHHH!!!

Our last towel animal was an alligator! I'm sorry, Brady, but mommy can't make creative towel animals for your bed. :-) Soak it up, buddy! hahahaha!

Ruth told me that Joel asked her when they could go back to the kid's club again. So sweet. We never could have dreamed that this vacation would have been such a perfect balance of family time and mommy/daddy time. I think we could all get used to it. :)
We are so thankful to have had such a wonderful experience and we can only pray that we'll get to do it again someday.

Royal Caribbean Cruise: Day 6 {Cozumel, Mexico}

I remember stepping foot onto Mexican soil and taking a big breath then exhaling. I can't really say it felt like home but it felt pretty darn good and comfortable. I just love Mexico. It felt so good to be back in Mexico!!!

Our friends had never been to Mexico before so we were very anxious to show them why we love it so much even though Cozumel was brand new to us all!

As you can tell from our travels, we didn't book many excursions at all. Cozumel was the exception! We really wanted to explore and do it safely with our kids in tow. After doing some research on tripadvisor, we found an excellent private tours company to show us around! This company was rated #1 and after reading countless real reviews we booked our travel guide. I am SO glad we did. The reviews didn't lie. We would definitely use this company again.

Gerry was SO NICE! He was very patient and arrived prepared with car seats for us. He drove very safely without us even asking and took us anywhere we wanted to go. We really just wanted to sight see the island. As we were driving around, we saw a local school doing a parade. So sweet with all the cute costumes.

We came across a Mayan calendar. Gerry told us that no one believed the world was going to end like some of those crazy Americans. :) The Mayans believe the calendar simply resets and the world will experience a new time of “enlightenment.”

We saw a neat local park, little shops, etc. We just wanted to take it all in!!! Gerry was so sweet, he was prepared with a large cooler for us and stopped to get us ice so we could get some Dos Equis for the ride. The kids enjoyed the Mexican juice drinks and snacks at the local store. Much MUCH more affordable than Grand Cayman.

We stopped at the beach and it was GORGEOUS!!!

Daddy and Brady in Cozumel. The color of the water is amazing!

Brady and Joel holding hands exploring the beach. So cute!

Our gang in Cozumel. This was one of our favorite places during our cruise.

Gerry was so kind. He was searching for seashells for our girls. They loved it. :)

Little baby seashells for my girl.

Uh-oh. He will make a weapon out of anything. Sure enough, he found a stick on the beach and then I hear "Hiiiiii Yaaaaaa!"

Aren't they crazy beautiful?

Mommies and our girls

Our boys found some hammocks on the beach. They look so cool, lol.

Gerry took us back to the port and we did a little wheeling n dealing. Brady and Joel got this neat Spiderman guitarra and a slingshot (of course, right?). Kelsey and Jessenia got a necklace and bracelet. Did I mention we LOVE Mexico? Yep.

As we were leaving the port, Brady and his new friend played us a song. That's my boy! He makes friends everywhere we go.

We came back to our clean room that night and our housekeeper made the kids a monkey. Brady loved pulling the tail. :)

We were SO sad to see our last daily planner. We received these every night for the kids. It was neat to look and see what will be offered the next day so we could pick out the most important things to do. This evening the kids had a pajamas and movie night so they were very excited!!!

Our girls age group for tomorrow night! Dance competition and a hula hoop contest. Yep, they loved it.

This is the adult daily planner! This is just for one day (tomorrow) and we got one everyday. As you can see, there is definitely not a shortage of things to do! OH MY GOODNESS! We see they are going to show a 3D movie of something that was just released in the movie theaters TODAY?!?! EEK!! The kids will FLIP! :) We will definitely plan our day around that special treat.

At the kid's club tonight, they made their own pillowcases. Isn't that a cute souvenir? I loved it!!!

They really did a lot of neat things with the kids. We've been back for over a month and we are STILL talking about the cruise. It was such a fun experience for EVERYONE!

Next up: our last day, Day at Sea.

Royal Caribbean Cruise: Day 5 {GeorgeTown, Grand Cayman}

This was a day I never dreamed would ever come true. If someone were to ask me, what is your dream vacation? I would quickly respond with the beaches of Greece and then I would also say the Cayman Islands. I could go on and on because we just love to travel. When I found this itinerary and saw the words: GeorgeTown, Grand Cayman. I nearly died. Really? I'm going to get to go to the Cayman Islands and I get to experience this amazingness with my babies??? EEK!!!

When we arrived to the port, we realized they docked in the middle of the ocean. We had to get on a small boat (not as small as you would think, 2 levels but much smaller than our ship) to take us to the port. Interesting.

On our way to the port, we saw this man flying in the sky with his water jet pack. I have no idea how much this would cost but our boys were immediately glued to him. I've never seen anything like it.

We didn't rent a car or take a cab because the island is very small. We really just wanted to explore it all. It was much calmer than Jamaica. The people weren't nearly as aggressive so we definitely felt comfortable exploring with our kids. Everyone talked about how expensive the Cayman Islands were and I can tell you that is a very true statement. I'm very glad we packed some waters and snacks with us. You couldn't get a beer or a water for less than $5. It didn't matter how far away you were from the port.

Of course, they have a turtle farm, beaches ($15 for an old lounge chair circa 1980) and lots of places to go scuba diving. We weren't interested in paying overpriced rates to do any of those activities so we just walked around and took everything in.

It was a hot day and the kids quickly grew tired of walking. We took a few breaks and went into some souvenir shops to rest with air conditioning.

All in all, we weren't impressed with the Cayman Islands at all. There wasn't much to do unless you came with lots of money. Some of these expensive places we walked by didn't have much to them. I would've felt ripped off had I booked some of those excursions.

We found out that this is the beauty of cruising. You can visit different countries and really find out if it's a place you would like to return to or vacation at longer. Scratch the Cayman Islands off my list. Not interested in returning unless it was a crazy cheap deal and it would have to be all-inclusive because I wouldn't want to waste my money on anything off the resort.

Before we left, Jay wanted to try one of their native beers, Caybrew. We were amazed that an American beer was the same price as a local beer and like I said, it didn't matter how far away you were from the port. Crazy!!! Here we are getting a couple of drinks before we go back on the ship.

Time for some fun in the pool, splash pads and Jacuzzis!

Tonight was a fancy dinner night. They had two of these during our cruise. The dress code is a little more strict where the guys have to wear nice pants and dress shirt. It was completely optional so we could've gone to the casual dining buffet but we enjoyed our waiters/food/service so much that we attended the formal dining room.

Our girls certainly enjoyed it, too! Ruth made those adorable headbands and necklaces for Kelsey and Jessenia. They felt SO fancy and loved receiving all of the compliments from everyone. We actually had another table that would stop us every evening on our way out just to see what our girls had on! They loved it. :)

We clean up nice, huh? :)

Dessert time is a favorite! Kelsey wanted chocolate ice cream every night. She loved that they put a chocolate chip cookie in it, too!

I think this was a white chocolate soufflé and I can't remember what the other dessert was except that is marshmallow on top! YUM YUM YUM!

The beautiful sunset after dinner as we left the Cayman Islands and headed to Cozumel, Mexico!

The daddies and their princesses!

Family picture time! We had to take advantage of that beautiful sunset in the background.

What in the world made Brady make this fish face? He's hilarious.

This was funny. I'm taking a picture of Ruth and Steve then Jessenia runs in to pose! It was hilarious.

My love, my best friend. Gosh, I need to frame this. The colors in the background were gorgeous!

Steve and Ruth!

We had housekeeping twice a day. She came late morning and every evening. We could come back after dinner and find a new towel animal. I believe they said this was a turkey. The kids always enjoyed coming back to the room to find the towel animal. Cute.

Next: Cozumel, Mexico!