Champions!

What a fun weekend for Casen. He played in a tournament, hit his first home run of the season and his team won the championship. Each player had a shining moment throughout the weekend and it was a true team effort. They have come a long way since the beginning of the season.

I am not sure what Shane will do next year when he is no
longer pitching for Casen's team. He coaches Casen on
and off the field. It just might be a nice break for them both. :)

Casen with Coach Rick (the head coach). I love how they
are both standing the same.

This picture cracks me up. Casen plays third base and
throughout the game, he constantly stares down third
base, just like in this picture. I always wonder what
he is thinking . . .

Casen receiving his championship ring.

And not to leave out Camden, he played soccer this weekend in between baseball games and his team won as well. A great sports filled weekend!

Allergies Be Gone

If you may recall, back in 2015 Camden had allergy testing due to his bad allergies. It seemed he was pretty much allergic to everything, but we really didn't want him to start allergy shots at that time. So the doctor recommended then that along with the Zyrtec he took, we add Nasonex nasal spray, which we did. The combination of those two things have, for the most part, worked for him. So when Casen started having horrible allergies, we of course tried the same regimen. Unfortunately for Casen, it just didn't work for him like it did Camden.

Casen really seemed to have a flare up of his allergies in July of this year when we were at the beach and they just have not calmed down. Being an allergy sufferer myself, I know how miserable it can be and the energy it takes out of you. So, we decided to take Casen to the allergist about a month ago, and of course, he recommended allergy testing, which we did today. He had to stop his Zyrtec 5 days ago (which we forgot, so he didn't have it for 4 days) and bless his heart, he was a horrible snotty mess with the dark allergy circles under his eyes.

It was very interesting to see that he really is only allergic to grass and dust, unlike Camden who seemed to be allergic to a little of everything. My hope was that we could do sublingual immunotherapy drops for Casen, however the FDA has not approved them kids under the age of 18 for one of the allergens he is allergic to. So, shots it is.

Luckily, they are able to mix the allergens he is allergic to in one vial, so he will only have to receive one shot each time. Starting in a couple of weeks, we will go twice a week for 3 1/2 months until we get to maintenance dose, and then once a month. Unfortunately we won't see results for about 5 months. Casen is excited to get started so he can start feeling better. I pray this works for him!!!

Busy Birthday Weekend

We had a busy, but good week and we then had a jam packed weekend of sporting events. My parents came this weekend to watch the boys play the sports they love and boy did they get to watch some sports.

Earlier this week, Camden received his recorder and I have heard nothing but sweet melodies morning and afternoon since he received it. LOL. While I am getting ready in the morning, I am serenaded by a song he is learning, with honks and squeaks intertwined. He has been looking forward to receiving his recorder ever since the first week of school when he found out in music class that they would be playing them.

Casen came home from practice with an awesome surprise. If you recall, they won second in a tournament a few weeks ago and received a medal, while the first place team received rings. Unbeknownst to us, our boys were to receive rings as well. As you can tell, he was very proud.

On Friday night we headed out to the Farm League to watch Casen play some flag football. This is the championship weekend, but unfortunately due to Casen also having a baseball tournament, he was only able to play two games on Friday night. They won one and lost one, but as usual, it was so fun to watch him play. His team ultimately ended up losing on Saturday as they were short several players and were unable to pull out a 'W'.

Melissa also came and watched our little
football player.

On Saturday morning, my parents, Camden and I headed out to the south side of Houston to watch Camden play his soccer game. It was a fun game to watch and Camden scored a goal off of a penalty kick, which was really awesome!

We left there and headed to the baseball fields to catch Casen play his first two games of the Fall Classic tournament. They ended up losing the first one 18-17 in a really tight game, and then won the second one 13-8.

After we left there, we headed to our favorite Mexican restaurant and had some yummy food, then came home, opened presents and had birthday cake to celebrate Shane's 45th birthday.

This morning, we got to get up and do it all over again. This time however, Camden's game was closer to home and Casen's baseball games were further away from home at Baseball USA. Casen ended up playing 3 games since they lost their first game, won their second game and then lost their last game. Honestly, can I tell you I was glad then ended up losing their last game because it was over around 7:00pm and had they won, they would have played at least one if not two more games. That would have been a really late night for seven year olds (not to mention their parents). 

So, in case you lost count, we had 2 flag football games, 2 soccer games, 5 baseball games and a birthday celebration. It was a great, busy, birthday weekend but we enjoyed all the family time we had. Now, to go to work tomorrow and to try and get some rest!

Busy Busy Busy

Having two boys who play different sports has us going in two different directions. How people with more than two kids do it I will never know!!!!

We started out Friday night with Casen having a rained out flag football game. BUMMER!!! I love watching him play flag football! He was also scheduled to have games today, but due to him having a baseball tournament, this was the only game he would have been able to play in.

Camden had a soccer game scheduled for both Saturday and today. Saturday was his select game and his team played against the Tigres, who were undefeated . . . until we played them and beat them!! Woo Hoo!!! It was an exciting game and needless to say, their parents were NOT happy. Apparently they are not used to losing and we handed them their first loss. I must say, it was rather gratifying. I know that is horrible to say, but when you see a team have such poor sportsmanship, you can't help but feel the joy when your team wins!!! And the boys were sooooo happy! Poor Camden's tummy had been upset all morning due to nerves (which is his norm) but I think he would tell you it was all worth it due to the outcome!

Right after Camden's soccer game, we headed to the ball fields for the first of Casen's baseball games. This would be the first tournament with his new Premier team. On Saturday, he had two games back to back for pool play, winning the first one and losing the second.

Today his first game in bracket play was a close one playing the same team they beat yesterday, with Casen's team pulling out another win. His next game was the championship game which I thought I was going to miss due to Camden having a soccer game scheduled, however when we got there and it started pouring as they were warming up, they cancelled it so we were able to make it to the championship game right as it started. Unfortunately they came out losing 8-7 to the same team they lost to yesterday.

There are a lot of highs and a lot of lows at this age, but regardless they are becoming better players each day. I will tell you the stress of that championship game was almost more than I could handle. I may have been yelling at my son from the stands instead of being an encourager. Perhaps it wasn't my best moment as a mom . . .  but I honestly have no clue how I will handle the stress of this game for the next 11 years. . .

A Happy Realization

I promise not to blog after every game filled weekend we have, but since we had soccer this weekend as well as flag football, I had to share a few photos.

We had football under the Friday Night Lights and once again I loved every minute of it. I caught a picture of Casen that caught me off guard. Let me explain. Never once have I thought that Casen looks like a Key. Now, he definitely has my dad's body shape and eats like a Key, however I have not every known him to actually look like a Key, until tonight. As I was looking at pictures during halftime that I had taken during the first half, I ran across one picture that looked just like my dad at Casen's age. My dad played football and was very athletic, as is Casen. I immediately sent it to my mom, and she agreed. I must say, seeing that picture made me happy. Can you see the resemblance?

Today was Camden's first game playing U11 Select Soccer. Bless his heart, he had a nervous tummy this morning and visited the bathroom multiple times before heading out the door. Every two years the organization changes up their uniforms and this was the year so he was excited to be wearing his new blue uniform. Prior to taking the field, their team manager made them tuck in their shirts and I got sooooo tickled at Camden - I must do a better job of teaching him how to tuck in a shirt without looking like a nerd. LOL.

He enjoyed being back on the field and is ready for a fun season with a lot of the same boys he played with last year. It should be a great yea

Open House

I love Open House. I know, it even seems crazy when I say it, but I do. And would you like to know why I love it so much? No, it is not for the expectations the teachers set forth for the year, or getting a feel for the room where my children will spend the majority of their day, or even getting a glimpse into how I feel the teacher is going to be. It is the funny little things I read when I dig through my children's notebooks in their desks. There is good stuff to be found in there every single year!!! And I LOVE it!!!! These are the treasures I found this year!

Take note of Casen's 'Something
Special About Me'. If that doesn't
just melt a momma's heart, I don't
know what will!!!

This gem from Camden had me cracking up!

Good thing he ended up liking
roller coasters.

This was hanging in the hallway outside
of Camden's classroom. Do you think
we tell him he is smart too often? :)