I am SO proud.

Andrew's baseball coach emails us weekly - updates on what they're practicing and the following week's schedule. Because Coach John spent an extra 15 minutes after practice working with Andrew last week, I sent him a quick note thanking him for giving my boy that encouragement and time. I got a response from him tonight:

Kathy,
Andrew is a great young man. He is always willing to help out, he listens when you talk to him and he really tries to apply what we are teaching him.

He is a coaches dream.

Thanks, John.

Oh my gosh - I could BURST with pride for my little boy! He's SO precious...such an incredible gentleman, such a thoughtful and caring person. I'm so lucky to have the children that I do. I truly have the best boys in the world!

On a side note, I think my dog is the best dog in the world. Why? Because she sleeps with Andrew until she's sure he's asleep before she moves to her bed. And, she's VERY trainable - I'm having a blast with her in training classes. She picks it up so fast - we're both learning some great stuff!

78 days until I'm reunited with the greatest man in the world, too! I'm so, so excited to be returning to China to bring Mike back home. I'm really starting to understand that if you believe it's possible, it will be. He is truly a gift to me and the boys.

Baseball!

Baseball season is upon us! It's Andrew's first year playing, but since he's our little athlete, we put him straight into Rookie Ball instead of TBall. Hoping to find a team for Matthew next year - he's such a great brother, tagging along happily to all the practices...he entertains himself so peacefully, too!

Here's the little guy during a relay...always smiling!

Such a patient little one...

Super cute, too!

Andrew always....ALWAYS....stays to help clean up after practice. Nobody asks him to. He just does it.

More cuteness...

Andrew got SO lucky with this coach - Coach John - he's wonderful! Spends extra time with Andrew after practice...he's so good to him! Can you tell Andrew thinks he's pretty great, too? :)

Silly boy doing a 'presidential prank'...

Helping Uncle K on his very last job in town before heading back to MT...unloading barkdust at Grandma June's house...

On this gorgeous, warm, sunny weekend - we lived on the back deck! Barbeques, trampolining, badminton (or obstacleminton as Andrew & I called it), picnics, relaxation, sandbox and puppies!

This is Emma's "huh?" face...

Easter 2010

Andrew decided to make his own snack one day. He didn't get any direction from me at all regarding any part of this - not even the food choices/combonation or any prep. He gathered his own materials and made a masterpiece for himself (and of course, shared with his brother - he's SO precious!)


He called this a 'parfait' - strawberries and oranges with peach yogurt and whipped cream - they ate almost all of it, too!



Easter morning was fun - Pop, Margaret, Mel and Maisha were here for the egg hunt. Matthew is our little monkey...


While Andrew used his brains to get this one down (he's tossing his bunny up into the top window to try and knock the egg down - he got it!)...

They loved the egg hunt - it was so fun!

The boys and I did these eggs - mostly the boys!

Later that day, some downtime...together, whenever they have the chance. Both on their video games...

This is a total Matthew "I'm playing my game, what do you want from me" face...

And this is Andrew's, ".........." face (is he drooling? Almost!)...

Sweet boys, lost in their own worlds...together...

After quiet time, it was time to play in the mud!!!

And then Mom did laundry. The end.

Long Time, No Blog

I think I've titled a blog post this exact title before....you know, sometimes I'm just not up to blogging. I feel bad about it, but I'll post some pictures now and see if I can get back on a roll...

From our spring break trip to the San Juan Islands...

My gorgeous girl, Trixie - hanging out on South Beach...

Sweet little fingers, always gripping some little toy/trinket - here he has his cupcake eraser and one of his Beanie Baby kittens.

Just another of our sweet dog...(don't worry, I actually have more pictures of people than my dog in the full album! She's just fun to photoshop.)

Rainbow rocks - tiny rocks, at that. All found in a 12 inch diameter area...even the iridescent pink shell!

Sweet, tired boy found a baseball on Jones Island...

Matthew checking out the scenery as we were boating...

Pop taking the boys to Ositos (a super cute toy store in Friday Harbor) while waiting for the ferry - too bad they were closed!

The gang heading to the bookstore while waiting for the ferry - this is all the 'kids' that were on the trip. Pop and Margaret and our two dogs were there also.

My biggest detterent to blogging regularly is the amount of time it takes to post pictures! I also know that pictures are the main attraction. I like this blog format otherwise, and hesitate to switch - so I'm going to try and link you to my Facebook album and see how that works.

Click HERE to view the rest of the pictures from our weekend in the islands. Once there, you can click on the first thumbnail to view the picture larger, and click ON the picture itself (or use the 'next' button) to switch to the next picture. Most of my pictures in this album are labeled underneath. Enjoy!