Happy Easter!

With much patience and extra time in the dye, we ended up with some really colorful and beautiful eggs for the Easter Bunny to hide for us!

Josh kept asking about the "dead eggs": "When is the Easter Bunny coming to hide the dead eggs?" "Does he hide the dead eggs while we're sleeping, or while we're napping in the day?" etc. I couldn't figure out why; did he know eggs come from animals and sometimes hold their babies? Was this about the boiling process? Then I figured it out: they were "dead" eggs because we "died" (dyed) them.

I explained the difference.

Monica finishes a 10K

I ran the "Run for the Riders" 10K today. It's a race to benefit an equestrian organization that works with special needs children and adults, giving them therapeutic riding time with horses. It starts and ends in the Fort Worth Stockyards, home of the longhorn herd and its daily cattle drive. The race start time actually had to be pushed back half an hour so they could move the longhorns. You don't hear that every day.




I had not run this far (6.2 miles) since at least when Lucas was born, if not even before Josh was born. So it felt like a big accomplishment to me. Also, since returning to running after my foot injury, I have been running slower than before. I trained at a 14-minute mile, when I used to run a 12-minute mile (which is already pretty slow for a race setting). I fully expected to finish last, and was just glad to know they wouldn't close the course before I finished (which is a real concern for runners at my pace; sometimes they close the course to allow roads to reopen and if you're not fast enough, you're just out). But I actually ran the race at a 12-minute pace, so for me that was very good. I finished 6+ miles in 73 minutes. Yay for me!

And of course my run across the finish line was made even more special by having my three guys, Josh, Lucas, and John, there cheering for me. Here I am crossing the finish, and that's Josh leaning in to cheer (and give me a high five) in the bottom of the frame:

Every 3-year-old ...

LOVES superheroes!



And Lucas is no exception! He loves Spiderman and is now discovering the DC Super Friends too. So cute!

Sammy!

After a rough winter that saw his undercoat grow thick and unmanageable, we took Sammy in for a special grooming with a tool that thins out the undercoat. He was so shiny and light when he returned, he seemed like a different dog. I think I even noticed a new spring in his step.

Beautiful Sammy:





Yeah, he's getting a little (more) gray. But still beautiful.

Josh's first baseball game

Josh is playing his first season of little league this year. He is in a coach-pitch league, playing for the Mudhens. Also known as, the Bad News Bears.

The league has a four-run rule per inning; after four runs, a team's at-bat ends no matter how many outs there are.

Josh's team made only two outs the whole game. Josh made both of them.

Josh started the game at first base:



After two innings, he switched with the coach's son and played catcher for the next two innings:







He had never played catcher and never even put on the gear before, but he was fearless and did a great job.

Josh's team scored two runs (the other team scored many more). Josh batted in one of the runs:











and then scored the other run himself.



That's right, he made their only two outs, and he was responsible for both of their runs. Most importantly, he didn't care that they lost (or more accurately, got routed). He just cared that he had a really great time playing in his first ever baseball game. We are very proud of him, both for his skill and for his sportsmanship.

Lucas playing soccer

Lucas is in his second season playing soccer with the Jets, and he is loving it this season. The same kids are playing together again, and that has made it much easier. He loves seeing all his old friends, and Coach Kyle, and we haven't had to battle any of the shyness or unwillingness to play that we saw at the beginning of last season.

Another development is that Lucas has gotten FAST. He can breakaway from the pack and zoom around with the ball. When he does, he has amazing foot skills and is great at keeping the ball right on his feet, and he is also great at heading to the goal (a lot of the kids still just run down the field and out of bounds, without moving to the goal).

So, he has turned into a scoring machine. Some games, when he plays with the bigger kids (several of whom are a full head taller than him), he gets crowded out. But other times, he will just score and score and score. One game, we had to take him out for a bit because he scored on every play and no one else could get the ball.

Here's the photographic proof. Lucas breaks away:



And scores!



Close-up of same image:



And celebrates on the way back:



High fives with the (temporary) coach, Sydney's mom (because Coach Kyle coaches three or four teams and had a conflict this day):



Water break with best pal Sydney:

Gooooooooooooooooal!

Click on the arrow to play video:

7!

Josh and I ran the Fort Worth Zoo Run this past Saturday. It was his first 5K race. His after-school program received a grant to train the children to run a race, and this was the race they selected. About 6,000 people ran. There were three races: a 10K, a 1-mile fun run, and the 5K, which was by far the most popular. It was packed!

I had one rule for Josh: he couldn't get so far ahead of me that we couldn't see each other. But we did. The course was pretty curvy, so I could only see a certain distance ahead, and eventually I couldn't see him anymore. I knew he must be fine, since I didn't pass him on the side of the road (and therefore he was obviously still moving forward), but I still felt anxious about not being able to see him. When I confronted him about why he got so far ahead and didn't stop and wait, he explained that he DID stop and try to wait, but "people kept yelling at me to keep going." I guess it was understandable.

Anyway, we saw the official race results on Monday, and Josh finished SEVENTH out of all the boys age 8 and younger!! Awesome job Josh!

Fort Worth ISD Elementary Art Show

Josh's artwork was selected to appear in the Fort Worth ISD Elementary Art Show. This was an honor, as not everyone was selected. He was very excited to be chosen, and even decided he would rather attend the "opening" of the art exhibit instead of his baseball game tonight. Here is my renaissance man as we entered (and I apologize for the quality of these photos; Josh was sweaty from playing at the YMCA and I only had my phone for a camera):



And here is Josh's piece (which is a two-part folder, with a self-portrait and an illustrated poem about himself):



A closer view:

Child

talented, good

swimming, diving, jumping

I love to swim

Josh

He certainly is both talented and good. And he was very proud of himself (as were we):

Here he is receiving his award ribbon from his art teacher, Ms. Finley:

And proudly displaying it for a photo:

Keep it up Josh! You are a multi-talented wonder to us, and we love you.