Happy 7th Birthday Peanut, Baseball Season & Swimming

My sweet little Peanut had his birthday this past week. I can't believe he's already 7! He chose a Lego themed party and was allowed to invite 2 friends from school, along with our neighbors who always come. I did up little baggies of the exact same Legos and had them each see what they could come up with and then gave them all awards. Grandma Susan came up and had the idea of Pin the Tail on the Donkey after awhile of them running around crazy. I didn't realize it wouldn't take them that long to build, so hadn't planned anything else other than cake and presents. I made two Lego bricks as cake. This was definitely the most frustrating one I've ever done. I couldn't figure out how to frost the bumps on top because if I held it by the top and bottom to do the sides, the icing on top would come off. In my opinion, the first one looked horrible. It's just impossible to get buttercream smooth. The 2nd one was a little better because I had figured it out, but still not my best work. Peanut overheard me telling the neighbor how ugly they were, and he got really offended. He thought they looked awesome. How I love my sweet boys. It may kill my back and be a huge pain, but at least they'll remember mom's efforts and cool cakes when they grow up. :)
So when I think of Peanut, I think of: his cute dimples, fun and contagious laugh, crazy eyebrows, pokey hair, big brown eyes, calm disposition (unless his brothers are being mean), smart, does NOT like to do chores, puzzle and Lego master, master organizer (he personally created and labeled each treat bag using the labeler), cinnamon toast, carnivore, cereal lover, snuggler, animal lover, sweet older brother, and overall fun kid! Oh how I love my little Peanut. He is growing like a weed and has uber long legs. He's been wearing a size 8 for quite awhile now.


Baseball season has officially begun at our house. Assessments for the two older boys was this last Sat. Peanut will be playing Rookie, which is coach pitch. He's pretty much gonna be the best on his team. ;) But I'm not biased or anything. It's just that he's been playing longer than the other kids because of his older brothers.
Bubba went first in the morning. I should give a brief explanation of how it works, or you'll all be confused. So the first year of kid pitch (which JP did last year), is called AA, then AAA (which Bubba did the last two years), then Majors, then Juniors (which is the 13 yr. olds). So Bubba is going out for Majors this year. They get 6 pitches off a machine and run to 3rd on the last pitch, have to catch 3 grounders and throw them to 1st, and then have to catch 3 pop flies and throw them to 2nd. He was the fastest kid running the bases. He hit 4 out of 6 pitches and got all his grounders and flies (and even threw the first one to 3rd base instead of 2nd). There were parents behind me saying, "Wow, that kid has an arm. What's his last name again?" There are a few coaches that really want him on their team. They do it by a draft, so basically, if you want him, you'll have to pick him on your first turn, or someone else is going to get him. All of his hard work in the garage during the winter really shows. He is definitely on his way to fulfilling his dream to play in the Major Leagues one day.
JP killed it too. He's going for AAA this year because then his games will be on opposite nights from Bubba and we'll be able to see all of their games. He hit 5 out 6 and ran much faster than last year, 2 out of 3 grounders, and all 3 pop flies. B saw one of the coaches sheets over his shoulder and JP had the 2nd top score.
We don't plan on letting Coco start until the Rookie level. One of our friends got his son into Rookie earlier than the usual age, so we're hoping we'll be able to in a couple of years so we can skip the horrible T-ball stage. If none of you have ever experienced T-ball, avoid it at all costs. It really is painful to watch-like watching paint dry as one of the mom's said to me the other day.
Peanut did swimming lessons in Feb. and has now moved up to the next level. His freestyle still needs a little work, but he can swim the length of the pool with the backstroke several times in a row. It's awesome to watch! This session, Coco is learning to swim too. He's a little fish.