Sports!

 We were not able to get our kids in sports much in Chicago, other than a few little classes through the Y. We were determined to change that this year! Zakkai, as you know, is now in Tae Kwon Do and he goes 2x's a week and is doing really well! He is currently a gold belt and will be testing at the beginning of October to become a green belt! I will be sure to post pictures:)

Eliana just got to start her very own, much-desired "sport" (as she calls it) last week! She is finally taking ballet! She is in a 4/5 year old ballet/tap combo class. She has her second class tomorrow and she is SOOOO excited! It's pretty much all she talks about.

Pretty in pink! Love that soft little belly:) Mr Z had one at this age, too and now he's a skinny as a beanpole!

She walked right in a sat down. I got to watch through a window the whole time and could not stop smiling:)

Practicing at the barre with her tap shoes!

She learned curtsying, walking on tip-toes, balancing, stretching and some tapping. It was just plain old the cutest thing I've ever seen! I can assure you that I will be posting more on this!

Samuel just started fall ball (baseball) a couple weeks ago and last Thursday was their first game. His new team are the "Green Dragons." Samuel wasn't thrilled about the new team name (change is hard for him!) but after the game, he was feeling much better about it!

His batting has improved a lot since he first started in April!

He even got to pitch for one of the innings! He says he wants to pitch or play first base so he and Ben have been working hard. His current coach (Ben is an assistant again) is letting all the kids try different positions for a few weeks and then will place them where they fit best. It seems like it will be much better than his last team, where favorites were definitely played and the same three kids got the best positions all season.

Samuel pitched SO well! He threw more strikes than any of the other pitchers and was named 'Most Effective Pitcher' of the night! He was very proud and so were we:)

They did lose the game but you wouldn't have known it from these kids' faces! They got some great hits and catches in and were proud of their hard work. Go Green Dragons!

Spring Break Part II!

 This week has been the boys' spring break! We did not take an exotic vacation, unfortunately (money and all that jazz;) so we've been hangin' around here. Samuel really really wanted to go to Chicago this week but we want to wait until Ben can go. I've been trying to come up with little things to occupy everyone!

First, a few pics!

Eliana and her little cousin being silly at JoAnn's:)

I got together with a friend of mine last week so our girls could play and we could make some snacks! We made fruit roll-ups and granola bars. Yum!

We filled out a little bracket for a friendly family competition and Eliana, who was very proud of her bracket, chose Virginia because that's where her cousin lives! We haven't broken the news yet that they lost....

Fun news! Zakkai is now taking Tae Kwon Do!! We have been wanting to get the boys involved in something but it's really expensive and time-consuming! We found a great class through our church and it meets three times a week (he only has to go at least twice.) We have thought for the longest time that martial arts would be so good for him; to build self-confidence, learn self-discipline, respect, etc.

Z has hemmed and hawed when it comes to choosing a sport but after trying this class, he LOVES it!! I had a chance to go watch him last night and it was just adorable! Pics coming soon:)

And Samuel will be starting baseball next week, I think! He is excited about it. We are waiting to hear what team he gets on and if Ben will be a volunteer coach. Boy, if our schedule wasn't busy enough already.....
````````````````````
This week has seemed long and different. I have been teaching preschool this week (as E's spring break was last week) so the boys hung out with their Grandma both days. They had a lot of fun!! On the off days, aside from running errands here and there (grocery store, library, etc), we have done a couple fun things using some Christmas gift cards the kids got like going to see a movie ("Big Hero 6" SO cute!) and getting ice cream at Graeter's (an Ohio specialty!) The weather is "eh" this week so unfortunately, we haven't gotten to do outside play or parks. Watch next week be gorgeous:)

I'm still trying to decide what to do with them on their last day tomorrow. We have to plan something or we feel crazy being cooped up! Spring fever, anyone??