Closing out 1st Grade

Cody and Jaden's 1st grade year ended with a variety of special events in the spring:

Muffins with Mom

One Friday morning, all the 1st grade moms were invited into the classroom for a brief breakfast of muffins and juice. Both boys traveled with me as we visited each of their classrooms.

In addition to the food, they had each created a large muffin picture and written a kind note of appreciation for me. It was so sweet to have this time with my boys!

Donuts with Dad

Shortly afterwards, Jason got to visit the boys' classroom and enjoy a donut treat. Jaden and Cody had also written kind messages to their daddy.

Star Reader

This spring, Cody officially completed the ENTIRE Magic Tree House series AND the slightly longer Merlin Mission series. These two series combined add up to 57 books! Amazing! Both Cody and his brother were so motivated to read these books and take the accompanying Adventure Club online quizzes when done.

Pool Party

One weekend, Jaden and Cody attended a birthday party for another set of twins in their 1st grade class. The party was packed with kids! The boys had a great time.

1st grade mommas

Running Award

At the last chapel service of the year, Jaden was recognized for running the most miles in his 1st grade class. During the year, all of the grades have a "running class" in addition to their regular PE classes. Students are supposed to keep moving, either running or walking, during the entire class period. The teachers count the number of laps students complete each week and keep a total for the year. Jaden has said that he runs nearly the entire time with several of his buddies. His hard work paid off!

Jaden was the class champion with a total of 61 miles-- wow!

1st Grade Friends

During the last week of school, both 1st grade classes had a water party. I was one of the four moms who worked to organize the details. The kids had a pizza lunch and then took part in various water game stations. This class photo of Jaden's class was taken right before the kids changed into their swimming gear.

This photo was from the last day of school as Jaden and Cody said good-bye to a few of their friends who are planning to attend a different school in the fall.

All in all, the boys had a great 1st grade experience. They loved their caring teachers and grew so much as readers and writers. Most of all, though, they were thrilled that summer had finally arrived!

Skeeters Game

At the end of Cody and Jaden's baseball season, their coach organized a unique opportunity for the team. He planned for us to attend a Skeeters baseball game in Sugarland, TX. This team is part of the ALPB (the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball Players), so many of the players were older, former major league baseball players. Our team came dressed in their Little League jerseys, and each of the boys got in free.

At the start of the game, our Braves team and a few other Little League teams from the area were recognized on the field.

All of these boys got to stand on the field during the National Anthem. 

I'm pretty sure the best part for all these boys was sprinting across this large baseball field!

Adley's highlight was meeting the Skeeter's mascot, Swatson.

The stadium isn't all that big, so we could see the field quite well from our seats. 

The boys were very attentive (during the first few innings at least!) and asked some great questions about the game.

We invited Papa and Grammy to join our family for this special game as well.

The end of the game got a little cool, so Grammy helped to warm up Jaden!

After several innings, the boys joined their teammates in exploring some other amenities of the stadium, including a large playground area and a basketball court. They even have a splashpad, but the cooler breeze discouraged us from trying that out. We were impressed with the fun, family-friendly stadium! Unfortunately, the Skeeters didn't win their game that night, but our kids seemed to think the evening was a hit!

Braves Highlights

Our family was kept busy this spring with Jaden and Cody's full baseball schedule. It was such an enjoyable season to watch them play. Both boys demonstrated a much deeper understanding of the game this year and improved remarkably in their abilities. They always tried their hardest but didn't get too down on themselves when they made mistakes. We were so proud of their good sportsmanship and their talent this season as our little Braves!

The Braves team was made up of some cute but crazy and energetic little boys. Many of them, however, were beginning baseball players, so as a team, we weren't the strongest in the league. In fact, many of their initial games were lost by huge margins (like 15-2). The Braves ended with only 2 wins and 1 tie for the season. Still, they seemed to maintain good spirits and definitely progressed quite a bit as the season went on.

Assistant Dads and Coach Josh
Fletcher, Lukas, Jack, Cody, Jesse, Jaden
Caffrey, Korbyn, Beau, Davis, Liam, Jonathan

Cody typically played outfield or shortstop throughout the season. He didn't get a lot of opportunities to field the ball but made some good stops when the ball did come his way. Cody was a batter the team could usually depend on to get a hit. He had a great, strong batting form. He was a SUPER fast runner around the bases and wasn't shy about sliding.

About halfway through the season, Cody expressed interest in trying out catcher. He got accustomed to the position and all the gear during practice. I loved these pics of him catching with Jaden batting!

Cody even tried catching for a few games. The ball from the pitching machine came SO quickly, so the boys playing catcher all had to be so tough. It was quite common for the catchers to be hit by a ball or two during a game. Cody especially did a nice job of throwing the ball cleanly back to the pitcher's mound. We were impressed that he was willing to try out this position!

Here are some videos of Cody in action:

(two singles, a double, then a triple!)

Jaden was the team pitcher for the majority of the games. Since it's a machine pitch league, his primary job was receiving the ball from the catcher and passing it off to the coach running the pitching machine. Also, at this position, Jaden had quite a few hits come his way. He had to learn to field the ball quickly and make a strong throw to 1st. Jaden made some good outs this season with our team's 1st baseman, Jonathan. It was fun watching those two work together.

Jaden was a very consistent hitter for the Braves. He made contact with the ball on most at-bats throughout the season and occasionally even hit the ball past the infield. He definitely had a good eye as a batter!

Many times when Jaden was at bat, he would hit the ball off the very first pitch. Often, Mommy was still struggling to get her camera set onto video mode and missed capturing the action! So unfortunately, I don't have nearly as many videos of Jaden on the field. Both of these videos are of Jaden hitting singles, but the first one includes an RBI (guess who Jaden batted in?!).

After every game, the coach presented a player or two with a game ball to recognize them for a significant game-moment. Both Jaden and Cody were just THRILLED when they received a game ball on the same day for their good hitting. The game ball came after a winning game, so it was especially exciting.

We loved having LOTS of family fans come out to cheer on Jaden and Cody during their season. Grammy and Papa attended nearly every Saturday game, and even cousin Macy and Grandpa and Grandma from out of town were able to be Braves fans in the stands for a game! MKIRN attended a game early on in the season too, but we forgot to take a picture of them that day. Bummer! What a gift it was to have all of this family support.  

And of course, sweet Adley attended nearly every game, even some of the late night ones that lasted until 9:30! Adley especially enjoyed exploring the baseball grounds, climbing around under the bleachers, eating a snack in the stands, and playing on the playground. She definitely learned to yell out, "Go Braves!" at the top of her lungs and was very faithful in cheering on her brothers when they were up to bat. I'm pretty sure this girl earned the Most Valuable Fan award of the season!

At the end of the season, we were so honored when both Cody and Jaden were selected to be two of the league All Stars for their division. So even though our season as the Braves came to an end, our baseball adventures would still continue...