Spring Training Baseball

Who's ready for Spring Training?!?!

This is Salt River Fields

where the Dbacks play

and what it loooked like

on Wednesday afternoon!

I guess Mother Nature's not quite ready for sunny afternoon baseball games!

I hope the players brought their snow shovels

along with their shiny new wooden bats!

Say WHAT?!

I never ever thought the day

would come when I drove home from 

work in a SNOW STORM in PHOENIX!

A couple hours later the sun came out

and brightly shone on the SNOWY mountain range right behind Anthem!

And since I wasn't home during the storm to see what my house looked like,

Tracy (who lives 5 miles away) sent me pics of her place instead!

In all the years I've lived here,

I've seen a few snow flutters but NOTHING like this!

So exciting!

Outdoor Weekend

It was such a gorgeous President's Day weekend.
75+ degrees the entire time!
And we sure made use of it.

We literally spent the entire weekend outside!
We even have that first spring sun kissed skin to prove it!

We rode bikes,
rode scooters,
skateboarded,
played baseball,
played soccer,
played hockey,
played basketball,
rode more scooters.

The Russos even played with us on Monday!

Let's just say this Momma was WORN OUT
and ready to sit all day at her desk & recover on Tuesday! lol

Basketball Game #3

The Rockets are still undefeated!

14-4

This game had A LOT of defense.

As in 9 kids standing directly in front of you

with their arms straight in the air.

Those on defense were quiet.

Those on offense begging for the ball to be passed to them.

Needless to say scoring was at a minimum!

Anden had 4 points!

Time Out Huddle

Taylee always eating something

Post Game Shake

Afterwards I let Anden pick what was for lunch.

Dorito Tacos it is.

Followed by a picnic on the front patio!

Valentine's Lunch Date

I was lucky enough to get to take Taylee out for 

a sweet little Valentine's Lunch!

She picked "Rice Tacos"

Let me explain.

She loves Chipotle Kid Tacos.

But oddly she doesn't like the meat.

So instead she fills them full of rice, cheese, lettuce

and thus devours her Rice Tacos.

My friends think I keep my kids on a prison diet.

But hey this is what they pick! lol

Then we fed the rest to the nearby birdies!

After lunch we decided to snap a few fun pics!

(And yes I did just happen to have a heart plate in my car! lol)

We had such a great little lunch date!

She's just bursting with energy and personality ALL the time!

....

Now let me digress for a bit

and recant the events that led up to our fun little lunch.

It was definitely a low to a high.

We were both so excited  about our lunch date

that I decided to show up to school a little early to pick her up

and peek in on her Valentine festivities.

I snuck in the back door and as I was making my way over to surprise her,

her sweet teacher motioned for me to come over

and she had a serious face

which she never does.

She's as much as a sarcastic goofball as me.

I walked up to her and jokingly said, 

"Oh no, what did she do today?!"

She just looked at me and shook her head.

The she lovingly tells me,

"Katie I wanted to tell you this before Taylee did,

but she didn't have any Valentines to give out today. I know you

and know you probably did something adorable. But somehow

they didn't make it here. She said her Daddy forgot them."

I wanted to die.

All I could muster out was "WHAT?!"

I had made sure she had everything she needed just a few hours ago

 before I went to work.

Then the Momma Bear emotions started.

My innocent precious little girl was the ONLY kid in school

that didn't have Valentines to pass out.

I just started crying right there.

Which meant Mrs Dyer started crying too.

Taylee was SO excited about those dang Valentines.

We spent over a week preparing them.

Then Mrs. Dyer continued to explain the rest of the story to me.

Through both of our tears.

I am truly blessed with such amazing people in my kids' lives.

After they searched through her backpack repeatedly for the 

Valentines while Taylee was so upset they weren't there,

the loving awesome teacher she has

immediately spun the situation into a positive one

and convinced Taylee that she got to be super special

and pass out her Valentine's next week 

(she only has school tues, wed, thurs)

all by herself.

So luckily Taylee decided this was actually cool.

Then her other teacher kept her occupied drawing pictures

while the other kids all got to pass out their valentines

so that she wouldn't notice she was different.

My heart crumbled right there.

For multiple reasons.

I glanced over at Taylee all dolled up in her Valentine outfit

playing away with her friends

knowing she was the odd man out today by no fault of her own.

Then I gave her teacher a hug and thanked her from the bottom of my heart

for loving Taylee so much and always looking out for her.

She knows how much my kids have been through the last couple of years

and she always keeps an extra eye and extra love on them.

And now because of her quick thinking,

this humiliating and hurtful situation

was redirected into a positive one.

Right then Taylee ran over and gave me a big hug.

Erin and I both hurried and smiled and hid our tears.

I excitedly asked if she had an awesome day.

She exclaimed, "YEP!"

So we gathered up her stuff and bounced on out to our Valentine Lunch!

I had quickly decided not to mention the Valentine debacle

as to not upset her.

But as we were walking out and she's holding my hand

she looks up at me very sincere and serious.

"Mommy it's ok. I forgot the Valentines not Daddy. It's not his fault."

I could barely smile let alone speak a word

because I started pouring tears.

This absolutely sweet little 4 yr old would take a bullet and blame for anyone.

I scooped her up and carried her the rest of the way to the car.

I told her how much I loved her and that's it ok to just be a kid.

I learn so much from her each day.

If only we all could be so innocent and sweet.

I'll do whatever it takes to shelter her from the world as long as possible.

Thank you Taylee for an emotional, loving and laughter filled lunch!

Happy Valentine's Day!

I

absolutely

adore

my 

two 

little 

Valentines!

I 

{mustache}

them to 

BE MINE!

And then the little man in my life

...

that hates having his picture taken.

I had to drag him off his bike.

I made the mistake of saying,

"C'mon buddy I just need to get one picture"

He took that literally.

What I actually meant

"C'mon buddy I'm gonna snap away 20 times until I get ONE suitable picture!"

To show his dismay for me misleading him

he continued to smile

but proceeded to shove the mustache further up his nose.

Fine! You win! I'm done!

He flashed his best grin and ran back to his bike.

Taylee immediately views the opening 

and steps back into the spotlight.

"Anden it's not hard. See!"

While flashing another pose.

I truly thank these little Valentine munchkins

for teaching me what unconditional unending love is.