SLOOOOOOW DOOOOWWWN

Hm.  Somehow I woke up this morning and May is nearly over.  What happened to April?  I know we celebrated Easter in April, and it was a blast as always.  Nana and Bampaw had an egg hunt for the grandkids and the boys enjoyed helping Brookie find eggs, though she needed no help at all as she was genius in the way she shunned baskets and prefered the use of her hands and additional storage under her chin!

We also have spent a lot of time - A LOT OF TIME - on the ball field.  Joey is still doing Lil' Kickers every Thursday morning and to say he loves playing soccer would be an understatement.  He is definitely ready to move up to the next level and start playing actual games.  We are a little bit nervous, however, that our gentle giant will inadvertantly hurt someone.  He is a brute and only has one speed; FULL speed ahead.  Prayers to all those little people Joey encounters through sports in the future!

Ben is playing U8 soccer right now (The Crew coached by his dad) and has scored several goals but is really starting to show his skills as a defender.  I don't know much, but personally I think he shines at both (I don't know the techinical terms) defender in front of the goal and at midfield.  He loves being coached by his dad and has been playing soccer with several of his teamates for 3 years now and it is fun to watch them all grow up and get stronger, better at handling the ball, and able to actually play as a team.

Ben is also playing his first real year of organized baseball in a U8 league.  He is on the Reds coached by Jeff Flynn and continues to improve every game.  He has played a little bit of catcher, center field, left field, and most recently second base.  I think he likes catcher and second base best because he feels like he is really part of what is going on.  He gets bored in the outfield!  He has had some great plays (tagging kids out and making great stops and throws) in the infield and his hitting is really improving.  He is actually very strong for his age and last night even had a great hit in the air that made it to the outfield...but was caught.  boo.  It was a proud moment for Ben regardless and we were all impressed with the big hit.  It is so fun to watch him grow and learn.  For someone who never really played sports, I am sure loving enjoying them with my kids now!

I continue to be most proud of Ben's behavior on the field.  He is a true teamate.  He cheers for his team, encourages them, always tries his best, and shrugs off the times things don't work out so well.  It is really impressive to me that my little emotional man can keep it together and always has a smile on his face on the field.  I hope he keeps this trait forever.