2nd Game

Today was Thomas' 2nd basketball game. He did great! He was able to shoot a couple of times and the ball went up and towards the basket instead of back the other way. He definitely loves to run!!

We had our good friends, Brad and Drew, with us and the kids were thrilled to see them. Thanks guys for coming!! Stella even took a picture of Drew.

Well, she is getting slightly better at taking a picture:-)Next Saturday should be exciting....Thomas will play and then Stella will take the stage to cheer (finally!).
Have a great rest of this beautiful weekend!
XXOX,
Amy

No Practice!

Stella's cheerleading practice was cancelled tonight and Daddy was lucky enough to have been invited to The Transformers movie. So Mommy was home with the babies and boy, did we have fun! We played 'princess', colored, made lines of cars and then named all five of the stuffed ladybugs. Thomas and Stella named them "Pinky", "Banana", "Grape", "Blueberry" and "Junior".

Here are the cutie pies in the bath:



They have been playing with each other all night long. They really get such a kick out of each other:

Enjoy your night!
XXOX,
Amy

Third Time is a Charm!

Let me introduce you to my son, the basketball star!


Tonight was Thomas' third basketball practice and he had a ball(sorry, I had to!!)






We want to wish Aunt Megan a very Happy 16th Birthday!! We love you Aunt Megan!!




XXOX,
The Barrett's

Beach Time!

We had a beautiful time at the beach today. Thomas was content playing in the sand.



Stella posed for a quick picture,



and then she was off! Update: If you look closely at this picture, neither one of Stella's feet are touching the ground. She is flying!!



What a perfect beach day!!!!

XXOX,
Amy

It's Hard to Run in a Skirt!

Thomas played his first basketball game today and he loved it! It went smoother than I expected. Thomas was adorable!! Papa drove over for the game. Thomas had Mommy, Daddy, Stella and Papa on the sidelines cheering for him. He would pass the ball and then look over to us with this smile! So cute!!!

His jersey was huge and like Papa said, "It must be hard to run in a skirt!"



The kids started by warming up:



Thomas was one of the starting players!!


Here is some of the game. Keep your eye on #10!!


Then Thomas sat on the bench with his teammates:




We all went to brunch after to celebrate. Thanks for making the trip over Papa! Next week Stella will be cheering at the game after Thomas'. It should be interesting!

Get Well Soon!

Feel better Gigi! Stay off your knee and get some rest this week.

Love,
Stella and Thomas

2nd Cheer Practice

Stella just finished up her 2nd cheerleading practice. It went ok. Just ok. I found out that the other girl who I thought was three is actually four so that makes Stella the youngest by far. Tonight was tough for her.



The other girls were standing in a straight line and doing the cheers and Stella was running around. I think she knew she wasn't following the directions. She actually came and sat on my lap for a bit.

I don't know what I should do? Should I just let her run around crazy; the coach doesn't seem to mind? Should I take her out? Three is a tough age for this reason. The kids are too young for the real big kid activities and too old for the baby activities. On a better note, Stella loved the warming up, stretching, and tumbling part. She may do the best somersault in the entire class!

And when they were just sitting, she loved saying all the cheers:

I guess we will keep going until she says she does not want to. If she thinks it is fun, what can it hurt?

XXOX,
Amy

Thomas' 2nd Practice

Thomas had his second basketball practice this week. Tony took him and they had some 'boy time'. Stella stayed at home with me and we put on make-up? Where do these male/female stereotypes get started???

Tony said Thomas really enjoyed it. He was listening to the coach and really trying his best.


From what Tony said, Thomas was good at passing and defense!




Stella is back for cheerleading on Thursday! Go team go!
Amy

Happy Father's Day!

We had a wonderful Father's Day yesterday. The kids let Daddy sleep in as long as they could. They couldn't wait any longer to give him his present and cards. We then traveled over to see Papa, Gigi and Grandma Audrey.

Tony wanted to try out his new fishing pole so he headed down to the pond at the end of the street and we took the kids to the pool.


Where do the kids get all their energy?? And where does Papa???




The kids are little fish!!!



We had a nice dinner and then headed home! We only wish that Cappy, Grandpa Kerry, Great Grandpa Barrett and Great Grandpa Mulcahy could have been there!

The kids were wiped out!


Happy Father's Day to the best husband a girl could ask for!!! I love you Tony!
XXOX,
Amy

Go Team Go!

Tonight was Stella's turn! She had her cheerleading practice at the YMCA. She is one of two 3-year olds who were there. She looked so little!! She was also the wildest. She did not stop jumping all practice long.

Her coach, Ms. Allison, began with some warm up's. Ummm, please note that Ms. Allison had a baby only three weeks ago!!!!




And then she had the girls work with a partner. Stella is paired with Analese, the only other 3 year old there:


They learned, "Go Team Go":


And "We Want A Basket":


Stella was not shy about speaking up:



They even practiced some kicks:


Stella had a blast!



Thomas enjoyed the snack at the end!!

B-Ballin'

Thomas had his first basketball practice tonight at the YMCA. He has practice once a week for an hour and a game every Saturday. I think Stella was really having a hard time because tonight was just for Thomas and she is not used to the attention being on her brother. She kept asking if she could play too. Thursday is her cheerleading practice, so I think it will be easier to understand then.

I shot some cute video. The coach began practice by having the kids warm up and shoot some baskets:


The coach Steve talked to them a bit:


Then they had the kids run some drills:


The kids practiced dribbling with a game of "red light, green light":


Then they played tag to work on dodging the other kids:




Then some practice passing (Thomas was really good at this):


And finally some DEFENSE:



It was really fun and Thomas can't wait to go back!

XXOX,
Amy

Seeing the Light

Two nights ago, we had a storm. There was lightening and thunder and the kids said they were scared. I don't think they really were; I think they just wanted to come into mommy and daddy's room with me. I said they could come and lay in our bed...I put away my paperwork and turned off the TV...we turned off all the lights and watched the lightening. Then, Tony came in and joined us. Our whole family snuggled under the covers in the dark watching the lightening! It was one of those moments that stand out as being perfect. I stayed completely in the moment and was surrounded by my favorite people on the planet. I didn't worry about all the paperwork I had to do or the kitchen that still needed to be cleaned. I need to remember to do that more!! I am so blessed!

XXOX,
Amy

A Room WIth A View!

Tony and Papa worked very hard on our new porch. Here are some pics and I'll post more when the rug is down and it is painted.

We have so much more privacy now and our view is amazing! All we can see are the tree tops. Now all we need is a big table/chair set so we can eat outside.

Yeah! We moved Thomas' train table outside and my coffee table is back. The living room is beginning to look like a living room again:-)


Just a cute shot of Blu trying to fit in the twins Dora playhouse!

Thanks again Papa! We loved having you stay with us for a couple days!!

XXOX,
Amy