Baseball Night

Karsten is loving baseball, each day he asks if he gets to go play that night.  Tonight at his game, each team got to run through the banners to start the game.  The kids thought it was pretty cool!



Karsten was at the front of the pack but one of the boys made it to the banner right before him - so close!


He's so observant during the game - watching what all of the other players are dong, watching what the coaches are doing and watching the runners.  He got to play first base for a while and did a great job trying to catch all the balls that were thrown to him.


Each week, the organization who runs the baseball league has a focus on different values, and this week was Respect.  The coaches choose one player who showed the value of the week, and Karsten was the winner this week.  It's funny because Karsten was talking to us during the game when he got a drink and he said that he was going to get a medal. After seeing that he won, we wondered if he heard the coaches talking using his eagle ears.

I loved seeing the pride on his face when the coach recognized him and all of his teammates told him good job!


Proudly displaying his medal - we're so proud of him!

Big Hero Karsten is Turning 6

Karsten has been obsessed with Big Hero 6 since we saw it the first time. On our recent road trips, he always wants to watch Big Hero 6 and when we have a movie night, his request is always for Big Hero 6.

Check out the awesome Baymax shirts that my mom made for the boys.  Hard to believe she had never seen the movie!!


The obligatory family birthday shot with the Baymax cupcakes and balloon.  Sitting on the island is not an everday occurance, so the boys wanted to sit on the island to eat their cupcakes.


This birthday boy was so excited for his party.  Having a summer birthday is tough, especially when most of his friends from pre-k are going to different schools.  We decided to have a small party for family and close friends and were a bit worried he would be disappointed that some of his best buds weren't there, but he wasn't disappointed at all.  He had a fantastic time and loved being the star of the day!


His favorite part - presents!  He is all about Legos right now, and most of his wish list were Legos.  When he shook boxes and heard bricks rattling, he was thrilled.


After dinner, cupcakes and presents, we all headed outside to watch Big Hero 6.  The kids thought it was so cool that they got to watch a movie OUTSIDE!  We started the movie around 7:45pm before it was dark, but the back of our house was shadowed so it worked.  We didn't want to wait until it was completely dark or we would have a late night for these little ones.


Halfway through the movie we broke out Scott's new popcorn popper for some popcorn.


Who doesn't love popcorn?!


Jenn caught some fireflies and got a jar started for the kids.  However, once there were more than 4 or 5 fireflies in the jar, they wouldn't light up anymore.  Any ideas why?


The birthday gang - they all look a bit sleepy.  Big Hero 6 wore them out!


Thanks to everyone for coming to Karsten's party! I didn't get a picture of Kelli, David, Trent and Taylor, but both Karsten and Liam were so excited that they came.  When Liam woke up from his nape before the party, his first question was if Trent and Taylor were here yet!

Slip and Slide

We thought about going to the pool this afternoon, but the boys were haing fun playing with Karsten's new Legos. It was too nice to spend all afternoon inside, so after a while, we prodded them to go outside and play.  We got out the slip and slide and they watched in confusion as we set it up.  "How's it work?",  "Where's all the water"

As soon as we hooked the hose up and the water started flowing, Karsten quickly caught on.


It didn't work quite as well as I remember slip and slides working when I was a kid, but Karsten had a great time.


Liam wasn't so sure about the slip and slide.  He was afraid to run at the beginning because he didn't want to run and plop down on his bottom or tummy.  So, he tried a few times, then he just had fun playing in the water.


He also liked to change the spray of the nozzle to make it spray at Karsten.  Check out this face, it doesn't look a bit michevious, does it?

Karsten's Six Year Photos

A few weeks ago, we had Karsten's photo shoot with Courtney from Dec'd Out Photography.  I was thrilled last to get a note from her that the photos were complete!  I am thrilled with the result - the boys were cooperative, she recommended a great location and she captured amazing photos.

I had a hard time narrowing them down, so here is a ton of photos for you. I'll offer a few comments throughout, but for the most part, the photos speak for themselves.  I think it's great how you can see their true personalities shine.












I love this - when I saw it, I was thrilled to know that we got one good 'brother' shot from this session.  Little did I know it got better!






I think this is my favorite of Karsten by himself.  Such a great smile from him!


And here's my favorite picture from the session - I love this!








The roly polys were a big distraction for the boys - now we'll always remember them!
















As we were walking out of the house, I grabbed their Flash masks on a whim.  I'm so glad I did - I love these!


























This was our last location and Karsten was tired of smiling.  I wish he could have rallied for a few more because we got some great smiles from Liam here!




Liam was cracking us up - he would make some crazy faces like this, then have a moment with a wonderful smile.