Anna Catherine's first t-ball game

April 28, 2008---Anna Catherine's first t-ball game was Monday night. She plays on a co-ed four-year-old park and rec team. She had to sit out last year because her birthday was three weeks past the deadline. There are 11 players on her team and there are six four-year-old teams in the park and rec league. They will play each team twice. There are no winners or losers and only two innings in which they do not keep score or record outs, errors, etc. Everyone has five chances to hit the ball off the tee. If the child is not successful after five attempts, the child automatically goes to first base. They are only allowed to take one base at a time (unless it is last batter, then everyone runs home) and stealing is not allowed. The purpose is to teach these first year players the concept of hitting the ball and running the bases in order.


Watching kids this age play ball is so entertaining. Tonight two different boys ran off the field in the middle of the game to give their parents hugs. Another little boy who wasn't on either team ran onto the field during the game. You usually get two types of fielders---the one who stands there and never gets a ball unless it lands directly in their glove and then there's the one who goes after every ball hit, even if it is on the opposite side of the field. It's so funny to watch these kids running around like little chickens with their heads cut off. Anna Catherine did very well. It took five swings for her to hit the ball the first time. She was watching us instead of watching the ball. I also think she had a little stage fright her first time up to bat. However, she hit it on the first try in the second inning. She was a great fielder. She played second base in the first inning and let one ball get past her. In the second inning she played third base and stopped two balls. Anna Catherine had a lot of fun and that's all that matters.

Double Decker and Dancing

April 26, 2008---Saturday was the Double Decker Arts Festival in Oxford. Rick and I took Anna Catherine while Nicole stayed at our house to keep Jackson and Chloe. We left home at 6 a.m. to get to the Healthplex in time for Rick to check-in, pick up his race packet, and warm up before the 7:30 a.m. start time. Rick, J.R., and T.J. participated in the 10K race. Once the race started, we thought we had about an hour before the guys would finish so Carla, Katie Beth, Anna Catherine, and I walked to Uptown Coffee to get some breakfast. We thought we had timed it just perfect but T.J. passed us on South Lamar as we were walking back. He finished 4th out of 20 in his age group (21st overall out of 302 runners!) in just over 43 minutes. We got to the finish line just in time to hear Rick's name being called as finishing. Rick finished in just over 53 minutes, and J.R. was right behind him with just over 55 minutes.









Around 10:30 a.m., after the guys had showered and the door prizes and awards had been given away, we headed to the Square for the festival. It was actually quite nice because, due to the early morning rain, there wasn't a big crowd. Anna Catherine always likes sitting with the William Faulkner statue. We did some shopping and then went to the kiddie area. Anna Catherine enjoyed the bounce houses and playgrounds. She also climbed the rock wall. She didn't make it to the top but I was impressed with her attempt. She got a lot farther than I could have! We saw Kevin, Stephanie, and Eliza. Rick and Anna Catherine also saw Joel, Texie, Cooper, and Vivian.







The Bergerons and Martinezes came out for the afternoon. We enjoyed a nice lunch at Abners (there was an hour and a half wait at Proud Larry's, our first choice). We then had to leave because we had to be in New Albany by 3:30 p.m. for Anna Catherine's dance recital. My camera never takes good action shots so the ones of her onstage are very blurry. The first dance was "The Butterfly Dance" (the picture of girls standing--she is on the end on the right). The second was "Dolls in a Toy Shop" in which she had to wear red lipstick and have red circles on her cheeks (she is sitting in this picture). My mom and Nicole brought Jackson, Chloe, and A.J. (my ten month old niece) to the recital. Anna Catherine received flowers, a trophy for three years of dance, and a banner for Miss Dance alternate.









Afterwards we all had dinner together. Rick and Nicole took all of the kids back to our house. My brother and his wife had food poisoning so they were also taking care of A.J. I went back to Oxford to have a "girls' night" with Julie and Katy. I felt bad leaving Rick (and Nicole) with four babies to care for overnight but time our with the girls is few and far between so I had to take advantage of spending time with my friends. We had fun and I'm not going to go into details but the evening was quite entertaining due to the guys who were hitting on us. We were literally laughing until we were crying. It was a good night out with my wickedy-wack friends!!!! I LOVE
you Jules and KT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

April Catch-Up

Things have been a little crazy so I am playing catch-up on my blog. Chloe had her first haircut on April 11. There wasn't a lot of hair to cut off. Chloe's hair is very fine and thin and was beginning to look very straggly (is that even a word?). Leah cut her hair into a bob that falls just to the earlobe and trimmed her bangs. Chloe never cried and was confused as to what Mrs. Leah was doing but all in all it went very well. She was excited to get a sucker from Mrs. Leah for being a good girl. I almost positive it was her first sucker.


























On April 12, Rick and I, along with many members of the Dixie Clique crew, attended the Red and Blue spring game at Ole Miss. We left the kids home with the best babysitter ever, Nicole. We tailgated in the Grove, grilled out burgers and dogs, and enjoyed socializing with adults. The Bergerons came by for a while. We all watched the Walk Through, which was led by Eli Manning, Patrick Willis, and Houston Nutt. It was very crowded but I managed to get not-so-great pictures of Eli and Nutt. We went to the scrimmage game and then went back to the Grove to hang out for a while. We had every intention of going to the Ole Miss-LSU baseball game but it was much too crowded so we opted to go shopping at Rebel Rags instead. The wind was chilly but the sun was shining so it was another beautiful spring day in Oxford.












I had my bottom two wisdom teeth removed on April 17th. I must say that it wasn't as bad as I had expected but I hope the top two can stay in place. My mouth is still sore and it's still hard to chew. I was hoping to lose some weight from all of this but have somehow added two pounds to my already astronomical weight. Rick says it's because I ate strawberry cheesecake, chocolate pudding, and chocolate cobbler for five days. They are soft foods that slid down my throat with ease. Can you blame me? I got tired of eating soup and yogurt.




We signed Anna Catherine up to play park and rec t-ball on February 19 and she has literally asked daily to go to t-ball practice. Well, her wish finally came true and she had her first t-ball practice on April 19th. She was very excited. We went out and bought white baseball pants, a pink bat, a pink and black glove, and practice balls. She has to play on a four-year-old team because the birthday cut-off for girls and boys are different. Girls must be four by December 31 (which she missed by 22 days and caused her to sit out for a year). Boys do not have to be four until March or April. There are eleven kids on her team which is co-ed. There are six four-year-old t-ball teams in the park and rec league. She will have ten games. Each game has two innings, everyone gets to bat and get on base, there are no outs, and no one keeps score. So, essentially it's just a bunch of kids running frantically on a field. It's actually quite funny. Her first game is next week.

I'm a Big Boy!

Jackson is potty trained--yea!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I have patiently waited for what seems like forever for him to use the toilet like a big boy. You notice I said that "I have patiently waited". Rick, on the other hand, has forced Jackson to sit on the potty maybe a dozen times over the past six months, which has only brought cries, tears, and trauma to both parties involved. However, on March 30th Rick asked Jackson if he would use the potty. Jackson said okay, successfully went to the restroom, and has been going ever since. He immediately started wearing underwear 24/7. He has only had maybe four accidents and gets very upset when they happen. Jackson will proudly tell you, "I'm a big boy!" I kept saying he would go when he was ready and he did. So, now I'm down to one child in diapers--wooo hooo!!!!! I've been buying and changing dirty diapers for over five years straight-- 64 months in a row to be exact. I am so sick and tired of poopy pants. I swear I'm going to throw a huge party when the Crawfords get off the diaper aisle!!!!!

Rebel Man Sprint Triathlon

March 29, 2008---Rick and J.R. competed in the Rebel Man Triathlon held today on the campus of Ole Miss. The events included a 0.25 mile swim (400 m), a 13 mile bicycle ride (21 k), and a 2.6 mile run (originally scheduled as a 3.2 mile--5 k-- run but the course had to be altered for safety reasons). Rick finished 9th out of 20 in his age group with a time of 1 hour 19 minutes 03 seconds--pretty good for his first race of the year. This was J.R.'s first triathlon and he finished with a time of 1 hour 31 minutes, 46 seconds--24th out of 27 in his age group. Not too shabby for a first-timer! Rick says triathlons are similar to childbirth---you are cussing and in pain the entire time but when all is said and done, you still want to do it again. I'd really like him to experience childbirth and then we'll see how it compares to a triathlon. I'm not saying I haven't (or wouldn't) be in pain after an athletic competition but can it really compare?

The kids and I hung out with Carla while the guys were racing. We wished they had some sort of ETA board (like at the airport) so we could track the competitors during the race. We were poolside for the swim and that was fun (except making sure Jackson didn't fall in) but stood on the side of the street between the Turner Center and the transition area for the rest of the race. The competitors are wearing chips on their ankles so it wouldn't be hard to monitor them. I'm not asking for a GPS unit or anything, just a "S" for swim, "B" for bike, and "R" for run. The transition area was located behind Turner Center and we never knew when they would be coming in so we have very few pictures. Racers were steadily coming past us and it was impossible to have my camera out and ready, confirm that it was Rick or J.R., and take a shot before they had sped past us. So, I don't have a picture of Rick on the bike. The Bergerons came out just as the race was over and we all hung out for the door prizes but left just before the awards were passed out. Rick won a door prize of Hammer Gel (which is supposed to taste awful) but neither Rick or J.R. placed.





Rick:
























J.R.:




















We all went to Ajax for lunch. We were extremely lucky to take over the entire front area by the bar and the television. This gave the kids room to play rather than being confined to a table or booth in the dining room. Everyone who came in immediately turned their heads to see if the tables was empty. I'm sure they were hoping to find an open table so they could watch the NCAA basketball tournament while having lunch and/or drinks. Instead, they found that all three of the tables had been pushed together to accommodate six adults and four children (ages 5 and under) watching cartoons. In our defense, the television was on CBS but the game had not started yet. Several groups of people just stood, watching us like hawks, waiting to take our table. The Bergerons and Rick took the kids out while J.R., Carla, and I stayed back to pay. A group of "holier that though" females took the opportunity to cut in front of the others who had been patiently waiting and actually sat down at the table. We were still waiting to pay. The waitress let them know how rude they were but they didn't budge. The people who were still waiting in line were extremely mad to say the least. Can you blame them?





Then it was off the Treehouse Toys where the kids (and adults) played for about half an hour or more. Then we tortured the people at University Sporting Goods as Jackson screamed because he didn't want to try on a belt and he wanted to go back to the toy store. He eventually calmed down after Rick took him into the alley and had a talk with him. The kids enjoyed playing on the steps of City Hall and climbing on Mr. Faulkner's statue. Next we went to Square Books Jr. where we killed at least another half hour letting the kids read books and play with the toys. By then it was nap time so we loaded the kids into the van and called it a day. They were exhausted and crashed almost immediately. I have no pictures of these events because my camera was in the car. Even without the photographic memories, we had a blast hanging out with J.R., Carla, Joe, Julie, and Molly. The DragonFly Triathlon is June 14 and we plan to make a day out of it at Sardis. We can't wait!!

Jacksonology #1 (previously known as "Addition and Subtraction")

For the past few days Anna Catherine has wanted to work on addition and subtraction while we are driving. She doesn't like you to simply ask, "What's 10-6?". You have to make up a scenario and create word problems. We have been having conversations about "eating cookies", "buying mules", and "losing baby dolls" for two days. Her favorite scenario is "eating cookies" so we have done many of these. Here's a conversation we had in the car yesterday:

Anna Catherine: "I want to do 'eating cookies'."
Tracy: "Okay. I give you ten cookies. You eat six of the cookies. How many cookies do you have left?"
Anna Catherine: "How many cookies did you give me?"
Tracy: "I gave you ten and you ate six."
Jackson: "I want a cookie."
Tracy: "Jackson, there aren't any cookies."
Anna Catherine: "There's three cookies."
Tracy: " Try again. I give you ten cookies. You eat six of the cookies. How many cookies do you have left? Use your fingers."
Anna Catherine: "How many cookies did you give me?"
Tracy: "Ten."
Jackson: "I want a cookie."
Anna Catherine: "How many did I eat?"
Tracy: "You ate six."
Jackson: "I just want one cookie. Can I have one cookie?"
Tracy: "Jackson, we don't have cookies. We're doing subtraction. There aren't any cookies for us to give you."
Anna Catherine: "Four."
Tracy: "That's right. There's four cookies left."
Jackson: "Please, can I have one cookie? Just one cookie."



Poor fella was so confused. All we can assume is he was thinking 'When did she get cookies? How did I not know she ate six cookies? Why won't they share cookies?' He cracks us up constantly.