Fall Ball

Baseball season officially ended a few weeks ago (now we're into post-season tournament play), so it's about time that I share some pictures from the season! We played in Hutto for the first time and had a really good experience. Rhys was playing 8U coach pitch on a team that Bill and Rick coached called the Bombers. Griffin was on a 6U t-ball team called the Thunder.

Rhys really came into his own this season. He made numerous diving catches, double plays, and perfect throws while playing shortstop. He also learned how to switch-hit and now feels even more comfortable batting left handed than right!

Batting leftie.

Rhys getting "antlers" from JT after beating out the throw to 2nd base.

Rhys looks for the ball as he heads for home.

Rhys slides into home.

Rhys and JT connect for an out.

 

In the dugout.

Griffin also had a great season. He mostly played 3rd base and did a great job (except for one game when he had some trouble paying attention and spent a good portion of one inning doing somersaults by the base). He really seems to enjoy baseball and can't wait to play again in the spring!

Griffin gets ready to bat.

Hitting off the tee.

On base.

Playing 3rd base.

The boys' Christmas lists

Not to be outdone by their sister, the boys just shared their (also delusional) lists.

Rhys:
1. blue Ian Kinsler jersey
2. Playstation 3
3. 2011 NCAA football game for the PS3
4. Easton Rival baseball bat
5. tennis balls for playing wall ball
6. Golden Retriever puppy
7. Ramona and her Father book
8. Wii Backyard Football game
9. Rangers 2011 tickets
10. Colorado Rockies hat
11. Wii NCAA basketball game 2K10

Griffin:
1. Rocket launcher
2. 2K11 baseball game for the computer
3. gun that shoots 4 rockets
4. marshmallow shooter gun
5. marshmallow shooter crossbow
6. Legos
7. Wii Backyard Football game

So Avery's list clearly shows her love of music, Rhys's clearly shows his love of sports, and Griffin's list? Shows his love of weaponry.

Avery's Christmas list

Avery just brought me her Christmas list. She's quite the comedian.

1. cello
2. books
3. sheet music
4. an orange kitten named Crookshanks
5. money
6. clarinet
7. oboe
8. grand piano
9. my two front teeth
10. the piano tuned
11. a backup violin

Tournament champs!

This weekend, Rhys played with some other kids from Hutto in a tournament in south Austin. He played center field and made several great catches for outs. The kids played amazingly well, especially since it was a group that had never played together before! They managed to finish the tournament 6-0, and only gave up 7 total runs in all the games.

Diary of a Wimpy Kid Party

Last Tuesday was the release date for the new Diary of a Wimpy Kid book. This has been a much anticipated date in our household for many months, so we were very excited to hear that Bookpeople would be holding a parking lot party and book signing!

There were several activities set up, including a giant version of The Cheese Touch game:



And (colored) mashed potato throwing:




The kids took advantage of any down time to get in a little book reading, and they both had it finished in record time.




Soon we noticed a crowd gathering around a news crew. We were very surprised to discover that the kids from the Wimpy Kids movie were there to be interviewed!



Later, we were able to get pictures taken with the stars, who were both very nice.




After taking a break from the festivities for a quick dinner, we returned to get in line to have Jeff Kinney sign the kids' books.

Renaissance Festival

The Pet Whisperer

Rhys is known in our family as the favorite of our pets. The animals just seem to gravitate towards him and never miss a chance to snuggle him.



Even when he's asleep.





I just can't figure out why the animals don't favor me....

Halloween weekend

Avery woke us up at about 5 this morning...sick. Rhys had been sick the day before, but he'd made a miraculous comeback and was ready to play in his tournament today. He had a great day today and went 6 for 6 with several triples, batting left-handed. Thankfully Avery was well on Saturday (while Rhys was sick), and she spent the day at her first debate tournament and had a great time. But today was a different story.

We were planning to host our annual Halloween party, but of course we had to cancel. We had a very quiet Halloween. Avery started feeling worse towards the end of the day, and barely had the will to get dressed in her costume. She was a trooper though and got all dressed up for pictures and even walked with her brothers to a few houses. It didn't take too long before she was worn out, so she and I headed back home to pass out candy while the guys went on.

Avery dressed as the Red Queen from Alice with in Wonderland, Rhys was Colt McCoy, and Griffin was a vampire. This won't go down in history as our favorite Halloween, but the kids looked great and are happy with their loot!

Pflugerville Lake

We are finally beginning to enjoy the beautiful fall weather. Temperatures are dropping into the 70s, and with help from the doctor, I've recovered enough from my seasonal allergies to step out of the house now.

Not wanting to waste these gorgeous days, a friend and I took a herd of little boys to Pflugerville Lake while the older kids practiced for an upcoming debate tournament.

Avery's costume recital

Avery, aka the Red Queen from Alice in Wonderland, performing Handel at the fall recital.

Pumpkin patch

The Lost Hero

Rick Riordan (of Percy Jackson fame) released a new book this month, which means, of course...a World Release Party at Bookpeople! The kids live for these events (see past release party pics here and here), but unfortunately, this year's book party came on a day that the boys had baseball games. A friend was kind enough to take Avery, so at least she didn't miss out. (Many thanks to Courtney of The Woodland School for the kid toting and the fabulous photography!)

The party had fun activities set up: javelin throwing, an armory show, and an amazing face painter. The author also read from the book and had a long Q&A, for which the kids managed to squeeze up on the edge of the stage! After the party (they decided to forgo the long line to get their books signed) they wandered over to Whole Foods for dinner on the rooftop patio.

Back to School

Well, we've been back to homeschooling in earnest for the past 7 weeks, which explains the lack of new blog posts. It didn't take us long to get back into the groove and things have been going very well.

Avery has a new "system" this year; instead of giving her a daily list, I've essentially given her a syllabus and deadlines for the amount of work I'd like her to complete each week. Then she is responsible for managing her own time. So far, it has gone very well. We've had a few wrinkles, but she's learning how to juggle it all, which is the whole point! Her course load includes: early modern history, pre-algebra, earth science, Latin, literature, grammar, geography, and art. She's also doing debate this year (not that she needs the encouragement!), book club, writing group, and she spends most of her free time studying music. In addition to playing the violin, she has also been teaching herself piano and has become surprisingly proficient!

Rhys's work load hasn't changed too much this year, but I am trying to have him do more writing. He has come a long way in OT and really has pretty nice handwriting! He tries very hard, and we're so proud of the strides he's made. I've also been really impressed with how well he's reading. He hasn't turned into the bookworm that his sister is, but he can read pretty much anything now. He has a goal of reading a novel a week and has been plugging away at it. His work load consists of: early modern history, math, earth science, reading, grammar, spelling, geography, and art. I also do read-alouds with both boys, and we always have fun with that.

Griffin is kindergarten-aged this year, but we're taking things very slowly. Besides working a little on the three R's, we're using Five in a Row. It's a unit study approach, using a different picture book as a spine each week and incorporating activities associated with the books. For instance, when we read Make Way for Ducklings, Griffin made a duck life cycle wheel, we watched duck videos on Youtube, he illustrated a duck poem by Ogden Nash, and we went to feed the ducks at the park. We have all been having a great time with it!

Here are a few pictures from our first seven weeks:

Griffin and Avery working on a project together:

Griffin making crepes to wrap up our study of Madeline and France.

Griffin's "Metro City" plan after reading Katy and the Big Snow.


Rhys's weather vane.


The Great Fire of London.


Griffin making an apple pie with Bill after reading How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World.