Spring Productions

We love the Springtime. The weather is finally nice...baseball starts..school is coming to an end...which also means lots of things to do at the school ~ like "student-led" conferences (a sham), field trips, school carnivals, and the spring music productions.

Since our kids go to a very small school that is overcrowded with students they have to break the music productions into 3 different evenings. K-1 grade one night, 2-3 grades another night, and then 4-5 grades another nights - yes you calculated that correct, we get the privilege of going 3 TIMES!! yes....

The first night was Ethan's night. The boys had practice before the show so we picked them up early from practice and raced through downtown Albany to get back over the bridge to the North side when all of the sudden traffic comes to a STOP. This never happens. Here in the area we have what we like to call "Rush minute" but really it is a joke. Traffic doesn't stop here. We were a block away from the Willamette River and we couldn't move - no moving forward or backwards. Several emergency vehicles starting zooming past us as easily as they could, followed by a search & rescue boat. By this time we decided to go over to the Hasty Freeze for some burgers & fries (because we were stopped right in front of it) and we ended up not getting over the bridge in time for Ethan's show. We were pretty bummed. But, stuff like this never happens in Albany, so it made for an eventful evening anyways.

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The next week it was Spencer's turn. We went as a family and packed into the tiny gym with all the other parents and watched our child square dance and sing songs. It was really cute. He was bored out of his mind. He was funny to watch. I should have brought the video camera just so I could have accurately captured the absolute boredom on his sweet little face. At one point in the evening he started to argue with a girl that was behind him because she was holding a poster (that was handed to her, made to look like an award) and afterward I asked him why he was arguing with her and he said "Because she got to hold it in the rehearsal AND in the play and that just isn't fair. I told her she needed to share!"

I don't think he even changed stances.

I think he is thinking "I am ready to run - just get me outa here!"

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Finally the last night was Ryleigh's night. This night was a little more thought out and a little more in depth and more involved. It was great too. Ryleigh's friend Emma had a solo, which was pretty neat. Surprisingly Ryleigh was not her usual performer self. When I asked her about it she said it was because "Hillbilly music isn't really her kind" whatever that means...

Ryleigh's class had an actual square-dance. It was quite involved with lots of fancy footwork. She did a great job.

A haircut

Spencer has been growing his hair out ALL YEAR LONG. For whatever reason he really wanted to have long hair. Today, out of nowhere he asked for a haircut. Of course I agreed right away (do you know how expensive conditioner is for an 8 year old boy??) When I asked him why he wanted to cut it, he said it was because it was too hot now.

The Linn Boys

It has been so fun for Dan and I to have the boys on the same team. It does our hearts good when we hear people talk about how great they are - cause we think so too!

At their last game Ethan was catching while Spencer pitched in the 4th inning! It was so fun to watch! They did such a good job.

Ethan catching

Spencer Pitching

Team meeting!

Livy Lou and I watching the game, and enjoying each other. I love this girl!

Riverdogs

*Warning* There is a LOT of bragging in this postOur boys are playing for the Riverdogs this year. I was able to get them on the same team which is a HUGE blessing for us! They are at an age where they are not competitive with each other yet either so it works out really well. Besides it does my heart good to hear the coaches talk about "those Linn brothers" and he is NOT talking about their hyperactivity!

Here are little glimpses of the action tonight!
p.s it was sunny and 70*ish! AMAZING!!

Spencer:

Spence has an AMAZING swing! He looks so comfortable at the plate and his form is awesome. His only issue right now is that he wants to hit a home run every time so he has a tendency to drop his elbow, which causes a few strikeouts. Tonight he went 1 for 3 with a double and 2 RBI's!



















Spencer really likes to make sure he can see the plate. It gets a good chuckle out of the spectators.


















At this age they only play 4 innings and today they played machine pitch for the first 3 innings and then kid-pitch in the last inning. Spencer was a little bummed that he was not selected as the pitcher so he started pouting in the outfield. His absolutely AWESOME coach went out and squatted next to him and very calmly told him to get off his butt if he wanted to play! I LOVED IT!


Ethan:


































Ethan was totally stoked to play catcher in the first inning! And to be fair and unbiased - he is amazing! He was actually digging balls out of the dirt. The other kids that were catching just stood there (some didn't even squat) and let the balls ping off their helmets.



















Check out that dig!

















Ethan is so good at the bats too! He is the youngest kid on the team but you would never know it watching him with the other kids. He is so good at playing this sport. It must be in his blood. He went 3 for 3!!!! He was batting in the #4 position too!































Getting a little briefing from the coach on the importance of running through first base instead of sliding through!

Sweet beautiful Olivia was her usual charming self. She was actually really good today. Which is very unusual for her, she is not one for the confinement of the stroller when there is a world to explore.

Easter

I thought I would give a little overview of the last couple of days ~

Yesterday we went over to my mom's house to celebrate my brother-in-law Greg's birthday. We had El Pollo Loco-style BBQ chicken and rice and beans. It was major yum! The weather was typical Oregon - rainy and cloudy and I decided to take a picture of it because someday I might want to look back (probably when I am living in AZ complaining about the constant sunshine!) but look at that amazing photo! When I took the picture all I noticed was the gray sky ~ but now I see how beautiful it is here. Of course that has a lot to do with the rain ....

After the karaoke and food for Greg we dyed some Easter Eggs:

My little brother, Chad, was making slushies in his drink mixer - so Ryleigh had to take a break.

Olivia was her usual curious self. She was in love with the colorful eggs. She just wanted to play with the eggs.

Justin, my other brother, was able to side-track Livy by acting like a crazy person. She thought it was hilarious. I wish I could have captured the giggle!

Livy just loves my mom - especially when my mom is feeding her Oreos.

Easter Morning:
We have church at 9:00 am - so therefore Easter started at.....

I had to wake the kids up to get things going! Here they are trying to open up their eyes and enjoy the cool stuff they got. p.s notice the rain outside - our neighbors (across the street) were hunting eggs outside! hah!)

Thankfully the Easter bunny was aware that Livy should not over indulge in candy, so he brought her a chocolate bunny and that was it for junk. She also got bubbles, necklaces, bracelets, a book and clothes!

Finally the hunt was on! No time to waste - the bunny hid 54 eggs!

This was definitely Ryleigh's last year of the hunt, she dominated!

Liv didn't really care to hunt the eggs, she just wanted to play with them after the other kids found them.

After the hunt I made Creamed Eggs on Toast for breakfast. I can honestly say that I never EVER imagined that I would pass this tradition along to my family. I hated this breakfast as a kid, and I still find it unpalatable but my husband, Ryleigh and Ethan all love it - so I make it. It is easy and it helps use up some of those eggs!

Let's Play Ball!

Well - Finally Baseball is up and running here in the Northwest. I had to work last Saturday but Dan took the kids to their Opening Ceremonies - I guess it was a hit! This was the first Opening Ceremonies that the Albany Little League has done in a while so I think it was a little chaotic but I am sure it will be even better NEXT year (which, by the way, we will NOT be a part of! heh!) This is Ryleigh with her Softball team - they are the Thunder - right now Ryleigh is #2 (she is hoping to get a new jersey - perferable one that is not an XS like the one she currently has!). She is on the right - the second one in.

The boys are on the same team this year - this was a MUST! Since Albany LL does not have its own designated fields we have to use the local elementary school fields and so last year (when they were all on different teams) we had 3 games at 3 DIFFERENT locations - sometimes all on the same night too! It was out of control. So this year I was able to bump Ethan up into the next level and get the boys on the same team. So hopefully it will not be AS crazy this year! They are the Riverdogs - Spencer is #6 and Ethan is #2.

Olivia, of course, was a good sport - with her cute curly afro!

Every year I absolutely LOVE it when Ethan puts on his baseball cap! Those ears are so freaking funny!!! He is such a sweetheart! I love this kid! p.s. - how much does he look like Dan in this picture? crazy!

Spencer is so dang cute too - with his floppy hair. He has been growing it out (because he wants to taste it?!?!?) but last night he said that he thinks he wants to cut it because it is too hot! (it did get up to 74* yesterday!)

So yesterday the weather was absolutely AMAZING! I just wanted to be outside in the grass enjoying the sunshine. So we did! We went to Chad's baseball game. He is playing JV this year for the high school. They won yesterday and they have another game today that we are going to try to go to!

This picture totally captures everything Olivia! She is giving me the 'catch me if you can - or dare' look and she is shoving her face full of cookie! I love her.

Poor sweet Ryleigh, she is a migraine sufferer, and she was suffering yesterday during the game. I felt so bad for her, but she was able to make it through and went to bed early last night. She is such a great kid. Lately I have hardly any pictures of her because she is always gone with her friends - she is all social all the sudden. It is weird, and that is all I can say.

Dan, caught Livy. He is so good to follow her around and grab her. I get too engrossed in the game. I totally forget that I need to be watching her sometimes. What would I do without him?

My boys, so cute! I love that they can sit, at their ages, and watch a game. They are amazing!

Like I said, the weather was amazing! Sweet Noelle, was living it up! I think she is just as excited as us to move to Arizona.