Opening Day

March 31 has been marked on Benjamin's calendar for a while. It's opening day. He woke up this morning pretty much talking in his sleep about the Rangers game. We had to set the DVR; he reminded Tim while he ate his cereal - again half asleep. When I picked him up from his class today after school his teacher assured me that he had let her know all about the upcoming game. He is most definitely into it. Once again.

I wonder if someday a baseball season will begin without Benjamin's enthusiastic greeting. How long will he love it? After all, he's only five years old. Surely his interests will change. It's hard to imagine now, but it could happen. (I have no idea what I loved when I was five.)

But I'm so glad it hasn't happened yet. What a great feeling to see him get his glove out a few weeks back and use it everyday since then. He knows a lot more about the game than he used to, but his excitement hasn't wavered. I'm so grateful to watch him learn and grow and be inspired in this way. I'm also grateful to see him in the backyard running invisible bases and giving imaginary high fives after hitting a pretend home run (or maybe grand slam!). This is a special time. I, for one, hope that it lasts forever. Play ball, Banjo boy! We love you.

 

 

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Home Sweet Home

It has been a very relaxing weekend at home for us. And the Pattillo family always appreciates such weekends! We made it to basketball Saturday and church today; otherwise there was fireside Olympic-watching and napping, and we had the perfect weather for it. It gave me time to think about what a great weekend we had in New Orleans. I love it there and I'm already thinking about a return trip.

Here are some photos from the rest of our trip.

 

We definitely had to make a stop here!

 

 

Waiting....patiently...

 

 

And finally the treats arrive!

 

 

When we left Cafe du Monde, we walked right by this band. So cool - I felt like I was in a movie.

 

 

Benjamin at lunch on Magazine Street

 

 

We really liked walking around the neighborhood our house was in. I loved all the pretty old houses and all the people who were out and about.

 

 

Benjamin had to read all the sidewalk chalk messages.

 

 

Finally on Sunday it was marathon time - the real reason we came.

 

 

Tim was pleased with his time. Yea!

 

 

This was after our lunch on Monday. It was a great meal to end our trip.

 

 

When we got home on Monday night, we worked on Benjamin's family project for school. We had fun "collaborating." Benjamin was so proud of the final results.

 

As if our trip wasn't enough excitement, we got snow on Thursday! Finally! Tiny flakes drifted through the sky for most of the day. It was really pretty. The only downside was no snow day on Friday despite all our wishing and hoping.

 

 

Benjamin did not appreciate the wet gloves.

 

 

I was feeling pretty happy!

 

 

So it was a pretty exciting week. Maybe that's why we required so much rest this weekend?? Whether we actually needed all that down time or not, it felt pretty good just to be home.

 

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And We're Off

I'm writing tonight from New Orleans. We're here with John and Andrea to watch Tim run his 37th marathon on Sunday (and enjoy a mini-vacation). It's nice to end the first month of 2014 in a new locale, taking in the sights and thinking about what life is like here. I love visiting different cities and seeing things that I don't see everyday. It can be breath of fresh air to just get out of town for a while and remember that there's so much more going out here. (Great books help me remember that too.) Then I'm always glad to return home and sleep in my own bed. Home can also be a breath of fresh air. Here are some things we saw and did today.

 

Back home, January has been a pretty fine month. We've started things off right this year by watching lots of good basketball. Benjamin is having fun playing on his YMCA team and Valerie is doing an excellent job leading her team to the state playoffs. It's been really exciting to watch both. Of course, these are two different brands of excitement. For example, we were thrilled when Banjo attempted three shots in one of his games -none went in and one was at the wrong goal- but still, it was pretty cool. Val's games have kept us on the edge of our seats, and we're so happy that she will be coaching in the playoffs next month! Here are some of the pictures I've taken at games in January.

 

January has flown by. We hope this is the beginning of a great 2014.

Here we go.

 

 

 

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