May Days

The last weekend in April we went to the Gardendale Magnolia Festival.  This year they added a 5k/1 mile Color Run.  Patrick and Barrett did the one mine fun run! Then we headed over to the carnival for food and fun!

Grampy dropped out to hang with me and AveryAnn.

We didn't get to go back on Saturday because we had a ballgame.  

Then Sunday we went to John & Hope's house to celebrate Brooks' first birthday!  We had the best time hanging out with them!  I see a lot of Summer days spent in their backyard!

I helped by making the balloon garland

May is always busy, I know this, yet I'm still shocked every year.  We hit the ground running.  May 1st was Play Day for Barrett's class,  It was fun and the kids has a blast!

 The Saturday after Play Day we had Park Day at the ballpark.  Our team was supposed to work the Dunkin' Booth but it rained that morning and they decided to can it so I worked in the concession stand until it was time to get ready for our game.  It was a big game.  We were playing for the league championship.  There were only 4 teams in our league but we were so excited to be finishing in the top two.  We started as the worst team.  We've got a lot of young players and it showed the first few games.  But they have improved so much and we were so proud of them.  But I'd by lying if I said we didn't want them to win it all!  We were leading through the whole game and they went ahead in the last inning.  We got the last bat and we were at the top of our lineup.  We needed to score two runs.  There was one out, We had two runners on base and the batter was up.  He had struck out twice in the game already.  I was so nervous he was going to strike out and then Barrett would be up with two guys on base and two outs.  Thank goodness the boy hit a bomb and we scored the two runs to win the game!  It was so exciting!  The boys were so cute and us moms were so excited and proud!  

Also from May 1st-5th my parents were keeping Madelyn and Brooks while their parents were out of town.  We got to spend a lot of time with them and it was so much fun!  They came to park day and had the best time!  

Madelyn brought this box of plastic wrap to me and said she wanted to try some of it.  She is so funny!

Mom and Dad were taking them home Sunday afternoon so after lunch I took my two and Madelyn to the park so my parents could gather all their things and get ready to take them home.

They had so much fun.  I loved this one of them swinging together.

Madelyn is a lot more brave than AveryAnn.  She was following Barrett and doing all the big kid things.  

This is what AveryAnn looked like at the ballpark one afternoon.  I'd pretty much given up at this point.

One day I had to get on the bus and put Barrett in his seat.  He just kept saying he was so tired so he went to bed before the sun went down that day.

We were dog sitting for my old boss and this girl was so proud to help me walk them.  She is so cute.

I have laughed and laughed at Barrett's sheet he filled out for Mother's Day.  I guess maybe I monogram too much when he says that's what I teach him.

Madelyn had her first dance recital the Saturday before Mother's day.  We never took dance, so this was my first recital.  I gave Barrett the option to stay home but he said he wanted to come.  I figured he would regret his decision.  He says he didn't and he would go again.  

She did so good!  We loved getting to watch her.

John nailed his role as "Dance Dad"

This boy loves his Granddaddy.

She wouldn't look at me for a picture.

They wanted to get in the fountain.

I had to do the man filter on snapchat and I look just like my brothers.  So weird.

Sunday morning, (Mother's Day), my cousin was having their newest baby baptized.  It was early and raining so my mom and I decided to go and leave my dad and Patrick and the kids behind.  It was a nice morning.  I laughed and told her we could go to brunch afterwards and we did. At the church because that is what they had for the family.  

Mother's Day horsey ride.

Had to snap a picture of me and my babies on Mother's day.  

So that's the first half of May.  Next up, Kindergarten graduation!

Tooth Fairy's First Visit

The Tooth Fairy made her first visit to the Horton House this month!  May 1st Barrett lost his first tooth!  When he went to his last dental cleaning the dentist told him he had a loose tooth.  He had not noticed that it was loose yet, and even after she told me I wasn't convinced it was really loose yet.  So I knew it would be a while before it came out.  We kind of forgot about it.  It got looser and  looser and it was time, it needed to come out.  We tried tying a string to a nerf dart and shooting it out.  That was a big fail and ended with 3 of the 4 of us in tears.  We were at Play Day for Barrett's school and he was eating sour straws.  He made a weird face and I was afraid it came out.  He said it didn't, but it was barely hanging in there.  It was so loose he wouldn't open his mouth, talk or eat anything.  I was already planning to check him out after the fun so we left and went to my parents house to get AveryAnn.  When we got there he was all upset and still wouldn't talk to anyone.  My parents basically held him down and forced him to open his mouth so they could see and when my dad stuck his finger in Barrett's mouth the tooth was already out and laying in his mouth.  So that's how Barrett lost his first tooth.  Once it was out he was so excited!  He couldn't wait to put it under his pillow for the tooth fairy.  I was really mad at myself that I hadn't made him a tooth fairy bag or pillow or something to put the tooth in but the tooth fairy found it and all was good.  He woke up to $5 and you would have thought it was a bar or gold.  He was so excited.  Patrick is usually gone before they wake up and he was so bummed he wasn't going to get to see how excited Barrett was.  About that time Barrett came running down the hall so excited about his $5 from the Tooth Fairy!  It was so sweet and I was so glad that Patrick got to see him.

This sweet boy is growing up right before my very eyes.  I'm not sure I'm ready but I know he is.  

Easter

We had a wonderful Easter weekend!  We kicked it off Thursday with a party at AveryAnn's school and egg hunt at Barrett.  I was unable to make either of them.  My dad went to AveryAnn's party since it was his normal day to pick her up anyway.  She was so excited for him to be there.

He took this picture of her by the fountain and I laughed saying it looks like she's perfected her "influencer" pose.  She and my dad met my mom for lunch that day too.  She was so excited!

Barrett's class had an egg hunt, it wasn't for parents but Jessica went to "hide" the eggs and snapped a couple pictures for me.  

We had Good Friday off of school.  I had work on signs for the Magnolia Festival and it was a cold, rainy day.  

Saturday morning we got up and headed to the egg hunt at church.  My kids put on a pitiful showing.  AveryAnn found zero eggs and Barrett found a whopping 3.  But they had fun and I guess that's all that counts.

My Grandmother was supposed to have a little heart procedure on Good Friday but they ended up not doing it. We weren't sure if we'd get to go to her house for Easter or not.  My dad decided to invite us all over without telling her.  We brought all the food and surprised her.  I think she was excited.  It was so sad seeing her not feeling her best.  She is someone that does whatever she wants, she never asks for help.  So to see her not able to do much was not normal.  Thankfully, she's feeling better now and slowly getting back to herself.

She has a few acres of property so the boys always take guns.  Patrick bought Barrett this rifle maybe before he was born.  He decided that Barrett was finally old enough to shoot it.  They were both so excited.

Grandmother got all the kids sunglasses and the girls were loving their Minnie Mouse ones.  They were so vute together.

We hid the eggs a couple of times for them to find and then it was time to head home and get ready for the Easter Bunny!

The bunny came and the kids were so excited.  Even if I didn't get a picture of them with their baskets.

We went to Mass and then to my mom and dad's for lunch.  My boys are getting their money out of these suits.

I was taking a picture of Barrett and AveryAnn and Madelyn wanted in.  I thought this one was too cute.

These two girls are so much fun. 

When I first got AveryAnn's dress in I wasn't very excited about it.  But once I put it on her, I fell in love.  I thought it was so sweet and classic.  She wasn't really in to hunting eggs but she didn't want to be left out.

Mom and Dad were hiding eggs, drinking beer and smoking.  I thought these two have been champion Easter bunnies for nearly 40 years.  They are so funny!

I'm a little obsessed with this picture of the kids.  They are just so sweet together.

For dinner we went to the Horton's.  All the kids played outside with nerf guns and it was a really sweet night.

I went to the bank Monday for work and one of the sweet tellers had Easter baskets for my kids.  Yall, I was blown away by her thoughtfulness.  She barely knows me, just from the few minutes we interact each morning but she thought about us enough to make my kids baskets.  It was just the sweetest thing.

It was such a wonderful holiday!  Now we're counting down the days until summer break!