A Picture is Worth 1000 Words

Photo credit: Corey Bienert (coreybienert.com)

Angel in the Outfield

Brayden started Little League this spring. He's loved the sport of baseball since he could walk, and finally reached the age where he could be eligible to play. My dad signed on to be Brayden's coach, and he is truly having a great time learning to play. They even pitch to the kids instead of having them hit off of a tee, which is a cool way to introduce them to the way the game is really played.

Probably one of my favorite things was to watch the kids try to field the ball. They are so young that they have difficulty remembering where to throw the ball to make an out. One kid even threw the ball to an unsuspecting member of his team, hitting him in the back. The kid didn't even turn around. He was too busy watching the other team run around the bases! Too cute.

Enjoy these pictures courtesy of my brother Corey (coreybienert.blogspot.com), since me and Ronnie were too busy video taping and wrangling the two other wanna-be Little Leaguers (Landon and Gavin) to take photos ourselves. :)

Change

So, we are in for a few changes in the Follett home. First of all, I mentioned that Ronnie got a new job. Thank you Awesome God for opening that for us! Our next step was finding someone to rent our home... well, thanks again to a God who always figures out details, and a renter practically fell into our laps. Now, they want to be in our home by May 15th... yes, as in, 3 weeks from now. Yikes!! So.... now we are starting a new job, embarking on being landlords for the first time, trying to figure out a time to homeschool Brayden, packing up the house, still trying to get Landon fully potty trained, taking Brayden back and forth to Little League games and practices (which I still need to blog about), and oh yeah, did I mention that I'm directing CYT's summer musical this summer???? Whew! What a plate full. Ronnie and I went to bed last night with our heads spinning. Ronnie asked, "When do you think life might slow down?" I answered, "June?" I think I want to change my answer to "20 years from now". Hahahaha. But, regardless of the busyness, I cannot think of anything more exciting than to see God working in our lives firsthand.

So, all that to say, here are some pictures from Easter. Just about a month later. :)

I'm Waaay Behind!

So it seems like these last few weeks have just flown by... and I've gotten completely behind in blogging! One of the major reasons for this is:

RONNIE GOT A NEW JOB!!!

He is going to be the new Resident Director (RD) of one of the guys' dorms at Judson University! Woohoo! After months of prayer and relying of God, it really was ONLY through God's provision that he (and our family) were given this opportunity. Soooo, now we are moving on campus, and I've become a psycho re-arranger/ organizer/ planner/ nester. Hence, not spending much time blogging.

But, I have an abundance of photos ready to be posted, so I'll start with one of the classic Easter activities: dying eggs. We got together with the cousins and spent some time dying eggs. Not much to say about it, other than it's crazy how fast all of the cousins are growing! And for the first time, I felt like the mom of three BOYS, not 2 boys and a baby. Gavin is getting so big and mature, and even said his third word yesterday: uh-oh! This word follows dada and mama to round out Gavy's extensive vocabulary. :)

Day at the Museum

We spent the day at the Rockford Discovery Museum.

We played hide and seek.

Played with blocks.

Drove a taxi.

And walked on a larger-than-life piano.

As always, Gavin found places to climb.

He's very proud of himself!

Gavin's curiously discovered a 'floating ball'.

And smiled oh-so-sweetly for this photo from above.

Landon and Gavin longingly stared at the cash register.

While Brayden participated in one of his favorite activites: dress up!

We smiled...

and squeezed.

We lept...

and leaned.

(while in front of a green screen that projected your image on a real life video game...

Brayden was in heaven!)

We had a great day.

Can't you tell by that million dollar grin??

Gavin's Personality

Right after getting caught pulling berries out of the basket behind him. He thought if he gave this big huge smile, he would get Mama to smile. It worked. :)

One of my favorite things about raising little ones is watching their personalities emerge. Gavin's personality has been so mysterious to me. It seems that once I start to think I understand how he's "wired", he abruptly changes dramatically. I guess he IS a little bit young to try and figure him out! That being said, there are some parts of Gavin's personality that have remained constant. He LOVES his mama, he LOVES to cuddle and be held, and he LOVES to climb and explore. However, a new and quite amusing part of Gavin's personality is his obsession with cleaning. He loves cleaning supplies, brooms, mops, and vacuum cleaners. And he actually uses them in the proper way! He loves to pretend to mop, sweep, and vacuum the floors. I even filled a spray bottle with water, and he will pretend to spray surfaces and then wipe them with a towel. Hilarious! He HATES dirty hands and will hold his hands out for me to wash if any sticky or wet substance comes upon them. I think he might get this slight 'obsession' from dear old dad. :) Here is some photo evidence of Gavin's emerging personality traits.

Spring Fever

It's been a wonderful start to the spring. It's only early March, and we've already enjoyed several days outside! Thank you God for this awesome gift of spring! On a particularly beautiful day last week, I grabbed the camera and the two youngest (Brayden was still napping) for some fun outside.

Landon stood still long enough for me to snap three photos of him, and then he sprinted away to play. :)

Gavin's regular smile...

Gavin's "I'm SUPER EXCITED!!!" smile...

Landon enjoyed hitting the baseball off of the tee...

While I enjoyed taking several photos of this hooded cutie gleefully exploring our yard for the very first time.