T-Ball

Owen started playing t-ball with the YMCA this season.  He is on the 5 year old White Sox team.  Owen was a bit apprehensive at the first practice...we cried off and on for about two-thirds of the two hour practice.  In his defense, there were about 30 other kids, only 2 of whom he knew.  Most of the other kids were older(6-7) and bigger to top it off, there were 5 coaches, none of which were particularly catering to the 5 year old team.  We got through the first practice with my help on the field but Owen wasn't particularly thrilled about doing it again.  Another practice, more tears, just not as long.  The tears continued to dwindle all the way up until the first game, but he has really started to enjoy it, so we are pretty sure the tears are just 4 year old nerves.

The games go like this, the team bats around, everyone is safe at first (not that 4-5 year olds could really get anyone out), they all run the bases, and then the other team bats.  The do this two or 3 times, shake hands with the other team, run through a Mom-made tunnel like the pros, and yell GEAUX White Sox at the end!!!  (This is Owen's favorite part)

The whole thing is pretty funny to watch, but it is good to get Owen in a different environment where he is trying to break out of his shell.  He is still fairly timid compared to the other kids, especially the 5 year olds that played on the team last year, but he is doing it and we are so proud of him.

Honey, we're going out.

In a spur of the moment thing (since "spur of the moment" is generally how we roll)(#sarcasm), Jen called me and said that she wanted to go out to eat...with everyone.  This would be our first time out with all 4 boys and just the two of us.  Challenge Accepted!!!

La Caretta, The lovely Mexican restaurant around the corner from our house would be perfect for such an occasion due to the following reasons:

• it was really nice outside, and they have a great patio.
• Mexican = chips = happy kiddos
• Mexican = quick service = happy kiddos
• Mexican + outside  = noisy = we can't really bother anyone trying to enjoy their meal
• the back entrance to the patio is close to the parking lot so if it all ended up in a heaping pile, we could make a quick exit.

The boys were great, we were able to eat and enjoy ourselves, it was awesome.  The waitress even commended us for the attempt and we made her snap a pic to prove that we did it.  

Parker and his puzzles

Parker could play puzzles for HOURS.  Jen installed a few different apps on her iPhone for the boys, and Parker always hogs it..  He loves playing puzzles.  He will wake up in the morning asking for his puzzles as soon as he sees Jen (and her phone).  Poor Jack is happy just watching P play, he rarely asks to play himself, probably because he doesn't want to see his brother throw a fit when he has to give up the phone!

This is generally how it goes, Parker playing, Jack watching.

Jack and Scooter

I went in to cover Jack with a blanket and found this...he must have fallen asleep having a heart to heart with Scooter.

Dad, can we borrow the car?

When the weather is nice I sometimes find Jen and the boys playing out front when I get home from work.  This was the obsession for about a week, to get into my car, and pretend that they were all going for a ride.

This is a scary site considering this will probably be here before we know it.

Owen's first play date...

As in solo drop off for three hours and don't bother calling to check on me mom style.
He had so much fun and was so so so so excited to go. He's asked me for weeks and months to get together with best friend Nicholas. And finally the day arrived that his mom and I got it together. Not gonna lie, I teared up upon drop off. He kept saying, Mom, this is soooo special! It was adorable.

4year old Pre-k best pal. Nicholas Conti. His mom and I won't tell them yet that they won't be in school together next year. Why ruin a good thing?

And in addition to this day, we registered Owen for t-ball!
On that note, mommy is going to bed.

All this for Pre-K?

Today was quite the experience…Jen and I went to an open house for Owen’s Pre-K class at St. Jude. No he hasn’t been accepted yet. You read that right, you have to be accepted into Pre-K. I thought that was only for movie stars who live in NYC, but apparently it is also for IT guys who live in BR. This application and acceptance process is stressing us out, but we just keep in mind that whatever happens will work out and we have to acknowledge that these are some of the trials and tribulations of being a parent.


So we go to the open house and see some faces we recognize from Jefferson Baptist and around BR and that was comforting. We took a tour of the school, talked to some parents and teachers and really like the school, even though one administrator left a bad taste in our mouths, overall, we feel good about St. Jude.

Now the bad news.

We found out that out of 48 spots for Pre-K, there are about 12 for outsiders who don’t have an older brother or sister already at the school. Awesome. So we have to have a backup plan (or 2). The program that Owen is currently in requires a $160 NON-REFUNDABLE deposit to reserve his spot at Jefferson Baptist and this is obviously due prior to when we find out if he is accepted to St. Jude. Awesome #2. So, we are now considering a 3rd option and yet another non-refundable deposit (is this even legal for churches to do????). St. George which has a Kindergarten class designed for kids like O whose birthdays fall on the cutoff line and could probably make it in Kindergarten, but would benefit from another year, resulting in them being the older kids in class, essentially, holding them back a year. Great, sounds perfect. St. George is on my way to work, is only about 5 minutes further away from our house that St. Jude, and sounds like a good fit. They require a $100 non refundable application fee, and due to the fact that we are “out of the parish” and “not a recognized donor” to the church, we would have to get approval from our parish to go there if accepted and pay more tuition because who really has enough money to be recognized as a donor for every church in the city of baton rouge? I am fuming at the situation as I am sure many other parents are, but there simply isn’t any other choice as the EBR public school system is horrid at best. I am slowly beginning to accept this as our new normal, entering into the world of Catholic education. This is really the only year that I think we will have issues with the process as once Owen is enrolled somewhere, P, J, and B are all accepted by default.

So to sum it up, we have 3 options – St. Jude, Jefferson Baptist, and St. George, we have who knows how much money will be tied up in non-refundable deposits, and we are basically leaving it up to God (and various admissions personnel) to decide where Owen will end up for Pre-K.

Oh, and I somehow have to figure out how to pay for actual tuition. Awesome #3.

This is how we roll

This picture makes me laugh, but on any given day, this randomness could be happening in Connisonville...2 dudes, eating bananas, one of them dressed like Thomas the Train.