Happy Spring!!!

Well, now that Spring Break is almost over, I've finally decided to update our family's blog with all the happenings around the Sowards home since February.

In February, AES had its annual talent show and Conner was asked to serve as one of the emcees for the occasion. He and his friend, Steadman Glenn did a wonderful job of introducing all of the performers.

The audience was entertained with everything from singing and dancing to cheering, tumbling, and piano and guitar playing

Also in February, the boys and I met Sunny and her girls at Oak Mountain State Park in Birmingham to celebrate Katy and Lydia's birthdays.

We spent part of our day at the petting zoo, where we saw the sign below that at first caused us a little concern......

....and then we saw the pig in question....

.....and needless to say, we were no longer concerned!

Oak Mountain is a beautiful place to visit and will hopefully be a meeting spot for the Sowards and Chandlers again soon!

NOW.......on to March and baseball.

Conner and Brady are both playing baseball again this year. Conner is playing for the Diamondbacks and Brady for the Brewers. Here are a few pictures from the first few weeks of the season.

Brady's first at bat!

Shaking hands after our first win!

Brady and Austin Hall reflecting on the game

Brewers team meeting after the game

Conner pitching in his first game of the season

After the game...

D'backs team meeting.

In April, we finally had a chance to go to Auburn to see my cousin Jon Luke pitch for the Tigers. Notice that Brady and Conner have decided that family is more important than what team you usually pull for. They are still Bama fans, but when it comes to college baseball, they are AU all the way! The Tigers didn't get the win, but we were proud of Jon Luke, nonetheless. He did a terriffic job!

Jon Luke getting ready to start the game!

April 8 was annual Field Day at AES and was a great day!

Brady, Conner and Emory ready for the games to begin!

Mrs. Chavers' class is ready to roll!

Brady and his classmates at the "Plunger Relay"

Go Brady!

Run, Brady, run!

Emory's class ready for the "Plunger Relay"

Conner's class

Mrs. Tucker's girls are ready to take on the boys in "Tug-of War!"

Pull harder, boys!

Demonte, Conner and William at the "Bubble Gum Relay"

Spring Break 2011

Katy, Allie, Amy, Aubry, Conner, Brady, Ty, Lydia and Bayli...

after a day at the beach!

Brady also celebrated his 9th birthday during Spring Break. We celebrated at the Dream Park with family and friends.

Brady's UFO birthday cake

Happy Birthday, Brady! Hope your birthday was "out of this world!"

We had a hard time getting the candles lit because it was soooooo windy at the park on the day of the party!

Ty

Sweet, sweet Brynne

Cole, Colby and Brady enjoying the party

We actually decided to take a second trip to the beach during Spring Break with the Kelleys.....

BEACH BOUND!

Mason, Conner, Landon and Brady showing off their muscles!

On Friday night, we had a spa treatment at the Sowards Spa! Girls only, of course....the boys were confined to playing X-box in the living room! (We missed our Emory....she was the only Garner-girl cousin not there!)

......until next time! :)

Well, we started out the 2011 year on a not so high note. Brady and Conner both had the flu and missed almost the whole first week back to school. After several days at home, we were all a little stir crazy. In the picture below, they had started to feel better on this particular day and had created a marble tower with a kit they got for Christmas.

Both boys did get to go back to school on Friday of that week, just in time to receive their awards.
Brady received awards for All A's and for the most AR points for his class.


Conner received awards for All A's and for perfect attendance for the 2nd nine weeks.

Of course, 2011 got better very quickly as the Auburn Tigers brought home the 2010 National Championship. When I went to purchase my championship shirt, both my boys (both U of A fans, by the way) decided they wanted shirts, too. Brady even wore his shirt to school with me and we got our picture made together. Conner still hasn't worn his yet, but he assures me that he will....just not to school where his friends would give him a hard time!

Brady got to go on an awesome field trip with his TAG class at AES. We left Andalusia on a Thursday morning heading to the McWane Center in B'ham. But we were fortunate enough to first visit the Art Museum in Montgomery.

Cameron, Jack and Brady working on their landscapes...
The entire TAG class in front of the museum




After visiting the museum and stopping for a quick lunch, we headed on to our destination....

Brady tries out the pulleys....

....and the bed of nails....

....and the funny mirrors.....

Seth, Alexa, Raygen, Hannah and Brady showing off the giant Lite Brite creation they did with Mrs. Powell

The students got to pet lots of critters.....

....and learn about combustion....

.....and pet sharks and sting rays.....

Brady sitting inside the giant bass....He thought Hubble would like this picture!

The light up dodge ball game was one of the favorite activities.

The next weekend after our McWane adventure, we headed south to Mobile for Jackson's 10th birthday party on board the battleship!

Conner, Brady and Dylan posing in front of the model of the battleship

Brady, David, Conner, Jackson and Dylan

And most recently, we attended the Winter Jam concert in B'ham. The tickets were a part of our Christmas present to each other

Conner and Brady waiting at the VIP entrance to the BJCC

Before the concert even started, we got to meet former American Idol contestant Jason Castro.

Here we are in front of the Newsboys setup.

We got to meet another American Idol performer, Chris Sligh. He also performed in the Winter Jam concert.

Here we are with Chris August.....

......and here is Chris performing "Starry Night"

The Sidewalk Prophets......

.....their lead singer.....

Red....not my style of music, but exciting, nonetheless....

.....Red's lead singer.....

The BJCC lit up during "Newsong"

Newsong's lead singer.....

.....more Newsong....

Rapper.....KJ52

Francessca Badistelli....

.....more Francessca

Guest speaker....Tony Nolan

David Crowder.....one of our favorites!

Hubble, Conner and Brady singing along with David Crowder

Kutless....one of my favorites!

.....more Kutless

...and more Kutless

And the main event........the NEWSBOYS!

This guy was a GREAT performer!

A Great Show!!!!!!

After the show....getting CD's autographed by the Newsboys

Brady meeting the lead singer!