Game ball

Last Saturday, Stokes hit several coaches pitches (instead of having to use the tee) during his tee ball game. I was so proud of him! Then at the end of the game, he was awarded the coveted GAME BALL! He was so excited! He kept telling everyone that he got his first game ball (assuming he will be awarded more in the future). It was awesome.

With Assistant Coach Brent

Then we had our next game this past Monday evening. Wouldn't you know it - William was able to hit a pitch for the first time! And guess what he got - the GAME BALL! It was great that they got the game balls in back to back games.

I told him to "hold up his game ball"
He took it very literally. 

Goooooo.....

Cubs!!!!!

Special thanks to Assistant Coach Brent for awarding the game balls to the Peery boys. ;) 

Wednesday Mayhem with Grandpa

We spent the day last Wednesday with Shanghai and Grandpa. It ended up being a really crazy day. It was Shanghai's school spring break last week. My dad called me the week before that to see if they could come up to visit while school was out. We don't get to see them very much at all and I rarely, if ever, turn down an opportunity to visit with family. We were planning to put our house on the market and had lined up for a real estate photographer to come take pictures but I didn't know exactly which day it would going to officially go on the market, so I gave my dad some warning that our house would probably be listed when he came. I told him that if we had a showing, he would have to be prepared to pack up their stuff and put it back in the car while people were looking at the house. He was on board with the plan and our spring break visit was set. I gave it some thought and was planning to maybe take the kids to the zoo, maybe go downtown to wander around, go to the park - so many fun options...or so I thought.

Grandpa Stokes and Shanghai arrived late Tuesday afternoon and I picked up the boys early from school and we went to their tee-ball game and met up with MaSha. Although it was pretty windy, I think Grandpa and Shanghai enjoyed watching the boys in action! They're really so cute playing tee-ball! Then we went and grabbed some dinner at Tropical Grille. Everything was going great.

Due to some lag time in paperwork and scheduling and deciding on pricing for our house, we ended up getting it on MLS and officially listed until around 10 PM on Tuesday night. I did not know what I was in for.

On Wednesday I took PTO from work and kept the boys home from school so that we could maximize our time with my dad and Shanghai. I knew that our house was "live" online on MLS and figured we may get a request for a showing but that it would probably heat up on Friday/Saturday timeframe. We were still in pjs and eating a leisurely breakfast of waffles and sausage on Wednesday morning when things got crazy. My phone started blowing up with requests for showings. The first one gave us a 30 minute notice. No one had showered yet and the kitchen was a mess from breakfast. I went into immediate crazy mode and just started cleaning/picking up stuff, putting toys away, making beds, wiping counters, turning on lamps, etc and grabbed the dogs and jackets and got into the van. We were literally pulling out of the driveway when the realtor was pulling in. Seriously. We took the kids and the dogs down to the neighborhood common area with a playground. They got out for about 15 minutes and were playing, but it was seriously really cold. We got back in the car with the thought of driving around until the showing was done, but we saw the realtor's car leaving the neighborhood as we were about to leave the neighborhood, so we knew the showing was done in about 30 minutes. I took this as a bad sign because I always feel like if they leave too quickly it was because they weren't interested. Anyway, we had a quick break before the next showing so we went back to home to shower and get out of pjs and prepare to be away for the rest of the day. All of my "plans" went out the window along with the warm weather, because the high was only around mid-50s that day. All of my outdoor activities were no longer going to happen. We ended up eating lunch at home, and had a few opportunities to come back to do stuff, but were away from the house for the majority of the day. Plus, each time the kids came in, I had to pick up after them. It was easier just to leave when it was clean and keep everyone away for the day. All in all, we had 6 showings on the first day. I was blown away. I was totally unprepared for how fast and furious the appointment requests would come in. A sweet neighbor allowed us to put our dogs in her back yard. Lifesaver. To kill some time, we took the kids to Gravitopia, an INDOOR trampoline place. It was so fun! The boys have been to a birthday party there and sometimes MaSha will take one at a time (she got them several sessions each for their Christmas present), but this was the first time I could go. It was so fun! Shanghai would bounce all over the place and Stokes and William were like her little ducklings, just following her around and doing whatever she did. So funny!

Ryan hung out on the couch
with Grandpa Stokes

After an HOUR AND A HALF of bouncing (that is a long time to be on a trampoline)...the boys seemed a little run down and tired. We couldn't go home for a nap, but I thought they could use a little quiet time to rest. I wasn't sure where to go next, but my dad suggested just going to a park and keeping everyone in the car and letting them nap. I agreed (and also wished that I had thought to grab a DVD before leaving so that they could watch a movie in the van). On the way to the park, we passed by Rail Line Brewing and I turned in there. I think Grandpa Stokes was very happy about that rogue turn as well. It was cool and had ping pong and toys and games to keep the kids busy. We ordered some apps and some beers and spent a few hours hanging out there until it was time to meet Thomas for dinner. It wasn't quite nap time, but the environment was pretty chill so the boys could wind down a little.

Shanghai and William

Sleepy Ryan - fell asleep on the table

Stokes eating chicken wings

apps with Grandpa Stokes and Shanghai

Rail Line was a nice break and a good way to kill a few hours. We met Thomas for dinner to waste some more time before we could go home, and successfully allowed for 6 showings while we had 2 dogs, 3 kids, a half sister and a dad in tow. I know it wasn't ideal for anyone, and I honestly had no idea it would be that crazy, and that the weather would be so cold and would prevent us from wasting time outdoors (especially since we'd had some beautiful spring days leading up to this), but my dad and Shanghai were total troopers and didn't complain once. The boys were just so excited to hang out with Shanghai, they didn't care where they were! 

All the craziness was worth it because we got an offer from our very first showing and were under contract on Thursday morning. 

I am relieved to not have to do more showings like that day, but also would have the boys in school for future showings! Despite the total mayhem, it was really good to see my dad and Shanghai and they were so helpful with the boys throughout the day when I had to be on the phone with Carole (aka Mimi, aka our realtor) to talk through house stuff. Next time they come, we will plan a much more relaxing, but still enjoyable day! Haha!

Stay tuned for more house updates. :)

Knuckle dimples

Ryan still has dimples on his knuckles. I'm obsessed with them. They remind me that the boys are still my little boys. Lately, they seem so big to me and Stokes and William are getting more and more independent. When I see Ryan's hands and these sweet, scrumptious little dimples, it makes me melt. I wish he could keep them forever.

St. Patrick's Day 2018

I did the ol' 3 leaf clover picture in the grass again. I can't even help it. And I don't want to stop. Ha!

We had a busy St. Patrick's Day! Ryan and I had March Mission Madness that morning with our church while Thomas, Stokes and William went to the tee-ball game. Then we had lunch with MaSha and Matt Owings and went home just long enough to change and get ready for Aunt Wendy's Easter Egg Hunt! This is an annual tradition that we really, really look forward to each year. Wendy outdid herself (like usual) and everything was absolutely perfect.

Pictures from Aunt Wendy's Annual Easter Egg Hunt:

How cute are these?!?! My boys loved them.

the delicious spread

Sweet Caroline - love the bonnet!

Dada helping Ryan

Hunting eggs

I was tickled that Wendy and I were perfected coordinated
(unplanned)

Sweet brothers

Our most faves!

Family pic! Happy St. Patty's Day!

By the time we got home from the Egg Hunt, we were all so tired! We had a quick dinner of corned beef sliders and sauteed cabbage and called it a day! Cheers!

St. Patrick's Day post from last year if you want to compare year by year pictures.

Outtakes:

An afternoon downtown

In an ongoing attempt to create the longest day from Saturday a week ago (haha), after tee-ball and after the character breakfast, we stayed downtown to meet up with Abby and Diana. They were in town to go to a concert with Thomas and me (more details on that at the bottom). We met them at their hotel and then just walked around downtown, stopped by Pour to grab a beer while the boys put on a "show" on the stage, and showed Abby and Diana a little around downtown. We really haven't taken the boys downtown much so they're not all that familiar...and it's been a while, since we hibernated for winter. It was a fun day of exploring for all!

Thomas and Abby with the boys

Fun with fountains! Downtown Greenville
has quite a few and the boys wanted to stop
and play at each one! *eye roll*

Checking out the river under the bridge

"Cheers!" with their waters

Handsome boy

Putting on a show on the stage...until an employee asked
me to get them off. Oops. My bad.

Putting on another show! They were
dancing to this street percussionist.

Ryan loved the drums

Dancing - Abby and Stokes

Abby and Diana were in town because we all went to the Blake Shelton concert on Friday night. It was a great show, but really long! We got to see Carly Pearce, Brett Eldredge (my fave!), Trace Atkins and Blake. So fun! We didn't get home after the concert until around midnight and having such a full day on Saturday, especially with having to be at the tee-ball field by 8 AM, wore us all out!

Pictures from the concert:

Oh, just Brett and me...hanging out. ;)

Date night!

Character Breakfast

Immediately after the tee ball game, we went over to the Poinsett Club where the SC Children's Theater was hosting a character breakfast. We got tickets from Ryan's school, which was awesome! I called ahead to find out what they were serving and what contained eggs (for Stokes's egg allergy) and got permission to bring a few things from home for him to eat. We changed the boys out of their tee-ball uniform in the car in the Poinsett Club parking lot (redneck alert!) and then headed in to the breakfast, which was more like a brunch since it started at 11. It was so crowded! Luckily we had a reserved table for guests of Ryan's school and got to sit with Rhett and his parents. Rhett is one of Ryan's good buddies at school. They apparently laugh and giggle together a lot! It took several times of going through the buffet to get food for everyone, but once we got settled and started eating, the character parade began. Each character was introduced and walked through the ballroom waving to the kids. We were under strict orders to keep kids seated and at the table so that the characters wouldn't be mobbed! After the parade, the characters were stationed throughout the club and lines formed for kids to visit with the characters and get a picture and an autograph if they wanted to. We let the boys choose which characters they wanted to go visit, but put a cap on it so we wouldn't be there waiting in lines for hours!

Before we went in:

Brother picture!
Boys, hold on to Ryan and don't let
him fall!*
*Thomas was right there just in case...

Breakfast and parade time!

Beautiful ballroom and good food

Ryan and Dada

Ryan sitting with Ms Lindsay (Rhett's mom) to get a front
row view of the parade. His buddy Rhett is in the seat next to him.

Ryan loves Ms. Lindsay & she also works at their school!

Winnie the Pooh characters

Ryan and Rhett having fun

Loving it

So exciting!

Waving to the characters

Pete the Cat

Happy boy!

Time to see the characters!

William with Peter Pan.
He asked her, "Where's Captain Hook? Is
he a bad guy?" LOL

Elsa, Anna and Christoff!

Meeting Cat in the Hat

A hug for Pete

No one is looking (except Pete)!!! Urg

After meeting just a handful of characters and having stood in line for a long time, we were done. The boys were getting rowdy and not wanting to stand still in line (imagine that!), so that was the end of the character breakfast for us. It was a wonderful way to spend a little time on a Saturday afternoon and the boys thought it was great! We were very thankful to Ryan's school for providing the tickets for us.