When we weren't up in Ashburn spending time with Jason, we managed to stay busy in Charlottesville.
Lance is playing baseball again and doing well. They increased the pitching speed this season and it's been an adjustment for him, but he's getting better with each game.
One day Jude comes running in to tell me he found a toad. In a hole. In a tree. I didn't believe him until he took me to the big tree in our front yard and pointed to the hole in the trunk. Sure enough there was a toad just hanging out in the tree! Jude has been checking on the toad daily since then. and by checking I really mean sticking his finger in the hole to feel the toad. "Mom, I can feel his bloat pouch!" Bloat pouch?
If you look really close, you can see a tiny, harassed and violated toad peeking out of the hole.
Cole is our artist. Jude had a couple friends over one day and we brought out the extra train banks left over from Cole's Birthday party and painted them, The other boys took their time and painted their trains, but about 10 minutes later they were done and had moved on to other things. Not Cole. He sat there for 30 minutes, meticulously covering the entire surface of the train in blue paint.
It was a masterpiece. When he was finished we put it on the piano to dry. Unfortunately, I forgot that Lily is a crazy climber these days and realized too late that the trains were not out of her reach. One big crash later, Cole's train was in pieces on the floor. He took it pretty well, helped by the fact that we had one extra train that I promised he could paint later. I think Cole was just thrilled he got to paint TWO trains.
One day I walked into the kitchen to find this on our counter:
Does anyone else see a heart in that ketchup blotch? I thought it was the craziest thing.
May 9th. Baseball!
Jude and these girls always play together during the games.
Lily trying to escape.
Baseball. It's serious business.
George actually got to come to this game! I love it when he gets to come.
It was the last inning, bases loaded, two outs. He hit the ball and made it to a base. I actually cried. Lance has been getting down on himself this season for not being as good as he would like and I knew how upset he would be if his strike out ended the game.
I never knew how stressful sports could be until I was a mother.
And he found the mud again.
This is how Lily folds her arms when we say prayers:
I think it's hysterical.
May 19th was a big day for Lance and Jude. It was their first piano recital!
They have both started lessons this past January and have made amazing progress. It was fun to see them show off their talents.
Jude went first and was very nervous. He couldn't stop talking while he got into position.
He played his two pieces and the ran back to his chair, saying really loud, "That was scary!"
Lance did a great job! He was nervous too, but his practicing paid off and he played perfectly.
I'm excited for them to start up again in the fall.
Swim Lessons! We were planning a Florida trip for June and with George having to stay home to work, I was nervous about having three non-swimmers in the ocean and pool. I signed Jude and Cole up for a week of private lessons that they split. It was nice since it was at the ACAC waterpark, we got in for "free" and Lily got a chance to play, too.
Lily loves the water and had a great time waddling around in the shallows.
Daddy got to come to one of the lessons and play with the kids. Yay!
By the end of the week, Jude was swimming mostly by himself!
I'm not sure if Cole's abilities improved, but his comfort with the water definitely increased. I'd still call that progress.
Florida, here we come!
