Baseball Blessings!

This weekend's weather could not have been better!  Middle of May and under 75-degrees, absolutely wonderful!  On Saturday we went to a birthday party for a 4-yr-old and spent a good deal of time outside enjoying the weather and some friends from church!  

Bounce! Bounce!

We decided we should take advantage of Preston's Junior Ranger perks and go to the Ranger game on Sunday since it would be too hot in the coming months!  At least for me and Callen - no thank you!  After church we raced home, changed clothes and headed to the ballpark.  So thankful it's only minutes away from us!  We paid to park, walked up to the ticket booth and even though we were there an hour early, the game was pretty much sold out (only standing room tickets and no-two-seats-together-type tickets).  Um, I can't stand for that long with a 14-month old and a 5-yr-old, no way.  We were pretty bummed at the thought of having to just go home.  So... Michael started walking around the ballpark to see if there was anyone selling tickets... sure, it would cost a lot more, but we didn't want to waste the great day!  Anyway, turns out there was a guy trying to sell back a couple of tickets he didn't need, but he was being told he couldn't sell them at the ballpark.  Michael stepped up at just the right moment and the man gave us the two tickets!  And not just any old tickets... 17 rows behind Home Plate.  Not bad!  

Great seats!

Michael offered to pay for them, but he said "no" (we tried several times to give him money... and the Neftali Feliz jersey the kid's got, but he wouldn't take anything).  We had to buy a standing room ticket so that we could all enter the ballpark, but then we just figured we would hold the kids in our laps.  Turns out, the seat next to us never got filled... so Preston got a seat there with us too!  It was such an amazing blessing of a day!  God just totally provided a fun, family day out... and the Rangers won!

Callen got antsy a few times (and didn't even nap allll day, only fell asleep when we were walking back to the car!), as did Preston, so we walked around a lot.  It did end up getting pretty warm when the sun wasn't behind the clouds and we weren't getting much breeze where we were.  But, overall, I can't complain about any of it!  Preston and Michael got to run the bases after the game too.  He loved that!

Who's a VIP?

Touching Home Plate

Adorable Father & Son time!

Happy Halloween

We had pumpkins coming out of our ears last week... with three pumpkin patch visits and using pumpkin-y things for school lessons and what not.  And now Halloween has come and gone!  And yes, I quickly put away the Halloween decor and left out the Fall stuff!  Bring on Thanksgiving!!!

Ready to head to the TrunkOrTreats!

This year we had a doctor and a cow.  Though Preston kept saying Callen was a "cow nurse" so that his costume went along with the doctor stuff.  Whatever, they were both darn cute!

Hey there, Little Red Riding Hood

And scored lots of candy!  And Preston bobbed for apples!  That's something I don't think I've ever done (or wanted to do).  Haha!

He almost got one, but not quite. 

My favorite part was when I took Callen up to the people, they'd look through their buckets trying to find something he could have.  Umm, he's 7 months old... he can't have ANY candy, people!  But Mommy likes chocolate, so hand it over!

Michael got to go to the first two churches with us, then my mom and dad came over so we could go to Grace Fellowship for their TrunkOrTreat.  It was bigger and better than last year, way to go team!

This afternoon I took the boys out for Halloween clearance shopping, hitting up Target and Walmart.  Everything was picked through already, but I was able to get the two Great Pumpkin stand-up decorations for the yard (Charlie Brown and Snoopy), so I was pretty excited about that!  Woo hoo!  I guess this means next year we'll have to give out candy.  I did make a point of saying that if you decorate your yard for Halloween, you better be giving out candy... so... we'll see. And of course, the stores were quickly throwing up the Christmas stuff... yep, it's here!

On an unrelated note, Rangers blew it this evening.  They had a great season and made it to the World Freakin' Series, which is absolutely amazing so they have nothing to be ashamed of, that's for sure.  However, it looked like a totally rigged game out there tonite.  The guys were not playing their best, and so it was disappointing to say the least.  But you know what?  We've been there once, we can do it again!  Let's go Rangers!!

Headed to the World Series!

That's right, guys... World Series bound!

Wow.  Just wow.  I don't think anyone saw this coming a few months ago.  I mean, we root for the Rangers, we love those guys, we hope they can do well... but going to the World Series?  It's just not an option... until now!  It's time... that's for sure!

Drowning Josh Hamilton with Ginger Ale!

The Texas Rangers have been through so much this year... the controversies surrounding Ron Washington's drug and Josh Hamilton's alcohol problems.  Nearly being auctioned off because of bankruptcy.  It's been a mess of a season for them behind the scenes, but not out on the field!  These guys handled all of it with grace, forgiveness and respect.  The best thing about this team is that they act like a team.  No one is the 'star,' no one is more important than anyone else... they play together.  

Happy guys!

And you can tell they really care for each other, they have fun and enjoy what they're doing!  I mean, what other group of grown men would go around making silly antler signals and claw swipes in public like that?

Rawr!

This is what baseball should look like.  I am so excited for the Texas Rangers.  Can't wait to see what next week brings in THE WORLD SERIES!!!!

Yes sir, you guys did it!

Officially a Soccer Mom...

Preston started soccer last week.  It's indoor pre-k soccer, and it's hilarious.  Our practice days are Monday, but the first week the Monday was a holiday (Labor Day) so we were supposed to practice outside on Tuesday.  Then, it rained all day Tuesday, so we went for a 30-minute meeting/practice.  Basically, they spent 20 minutes "warming up" and 2 minutes kicking the ball.  No rules, no instructions, no 'object of the game' type lesson.  Then, Saturday was their first game.  Oh my!  Again... it was hilarious!  The kids were everywhere, going the wrong way, using their hands... it was madness.  But adorable, sweet madness.

Preston's uniform was way too big, and he was obsessively afraid that his shorts would fall off.  He spent pretty much the entire game holding onto his shorts.  He wasn't really able to keep up with where the ball was at any particular time, but mostly just ran (hopped, danced, wandered) around behind everyone else.  At one point, he ran off the court and said he was "tired of this game."  Oh dear.

This week's practice was better, so hopefully Preston does less dancing and holding of the shorts, but... oh well, at least the parents all get a good laugh out of all our kids running around like banshees!