Category: May

Sweet Baby James

Ryan is a big James Taylor fan. He has been since high school.  When we were dating I was ‘tested’ to see if I was cool enough to appreciate a little JT music. I knew a few of his songs and liked them but wouldn’t call myself an avid fan or anything. Later on when our kids were born Ryan and I both sang them several different lullaby’s. I stuck with mostly a variety of primary songs. Ryan’s favorites to sing them were the Spanish ‘Aye, Aye, Aye, Aye’ song (which is actually a Spanish drinking song but the way he sings it sounds like a sweet lullaby and none of us understand what he is saying) and ‘Sweet Baby James’ by James Taylor. He is still one of our family favorites to sing to on our spontaneous road trip karaoke break outs.

A couple years ago, James Taylor did a one night concert at the Star Light Theater… we totally missed it, and didn’t even know about it until about a week after it happened. Ryan was more than a little disappointed. Chances of another opportunity seem pretty slim. Well, a few weeks ago when the girls and I went to the Sprint Center for Disney on Ice, I was looking at their upcoming events and noticed there was a one night concert for James Taylor in May! Yeah!! We got tickets and are going next week. Ryan is pretty excited. James Taylor probably won’t be doing concerts to much longer so he is glad we got another chance to see him. He is even missing Matthew’s baseball game to go, which is a very rare occurrence (Matthew isn’t missing it 🙂 ).

Sticking with the James Taylor theme I am going to post a video I have had on my phone for years. A little blast from the past. It is pretty stinking cute. We had to drop one of our cars off to get something fixed so the kids and I took Ryan to work. We were about halfway home and ‘Sweet Baby James’ came on and Matthew and Alli were singing it pretty good, so I pulled over in a parking lot and started it over to get a video of them.  Matthew is about 7, Allison is 3, and Emilee who unfortunately is never shown in this video (I was focused on my singers and she wasn’t singing) is sitting next to Matthew is 1.u

After the concert…

We saw James Taylor last night. We had a great time, it was a good concert. I recorded him when he talked and then sang ‘Sweet Baby James’

Allison’s Talent Show Performance

Allison decided that she wanted to be in the 2nd grade talent show this year. Allison and her bestie Carlee and their friend Hailey put it all together by themselves at recess and signed up. I had seen Allison practice her part a little but I had not seen all of them do it until they performed it today. They did a great job. They wanted it to have gymnastics and cheerleading stuff in it, and have a good beat. They had a lot of fun doing it. I am proud of her for taking the initiative and planning and preparing something. She woke up at 6:30 this morning to do her hair and had me help her do her nails too.

Later that month she had her award ceremony for 2nd grade. I had to work but Ryan went and watched her get her ‘Amazing Author’ award. I think that is very fitting award for her. She is a creative thinker for sure. Ryan took a picture, I almost just think I should skip it but since I have it I will include it. I reviewed his picture taking responsibilities after he sent this and I found out it was the only one he took. :-/ Alli is just to the right or center with a white shirt and orange sleeves getting her award…kind of hard to see.

Moments of the week.

This has been a good week. I have tried to focus on ‘the little things’ more and enjoy the moments. There have been lots of good moments.

Allison has day camp coming up for Girl Scouts. They are supposed to make little trinkets called ‘swaps’ to pin to their hats and trade with each other all week. They suggested that each girl bring 15-20 of them to have ready to trade. Alli and I did some research together and found some cute ones she wanted to make and then we went to Hobby Lobby and got all the supplies for them. We have worked on them a little bit for the past few nights. She has at least 35 now. She is pretty excited. She is counting down the days until camp. The one on the left is a cotton candy swap, the middle one is a ‘squishum’, and the right side is a slime stress ball of course. It wouldn’t be right if slime weren’t involved somehow.

Emilee and I went to the Zoo together. She has wanted to go for a while but the weather or our schedule hasn’t cooperated. Usually we go with a group but it was just the two of us so she got to sit on any statue she saw, choose where we sat on the train, tram, and skyfari, and pick all the animals she wanted to see. Today we made cookies together too. I let her measure everything herself even though I had almost the same amount of flour on the floor as the cookies did when we were done.

With Matthew I have cornered him a few times and made him talk with his mom. He tries to act like it is an inconvenience but he loves it. Once he starts talking he just keeps going and going. He is good at including all the details he can recall. He had a double header tonight. He has been working hard on hitting lately and he has decided he wants to start working on pitching too. He had some great hits tonight but his play of the game was when he was playing 2nd and the hitter hit a line drive a little to Matthew’s left. Matthew ran at it then leaped and caught it in mid air and closed the inning. It was pretty awesome. He got a standing cheering ovation from me and the rest of the parents of course but he even had parents from the other team coming over and telling him what an amazing catch it was. He was pretty happy.

 

Sixteen years!!

Ryan and I celebrated our 16th anniversary on May 4th this year. I can’t believe it has been 16 years!! We went to a movie and dinner and talked a lot about what we have done and how are lives have been since we got married. We reminiced about our first one bedroom apartment, finishing school, then our first home, our kids, jobs, life events. Some of them seem like just yesterday, some of them I didn’t even remember. Some things I wish we could do again, others I am glad they have come and gone.

I am glad that I have been through all of them with Ryan though. He is a perfect match for me. I am glad we are happy and have built a good life together. I am glad we get to have each other forever.

5th Grade Concerts and Awards

Matthew is finishing up his last year in elementary school. Our school district has a building just for the 6th graders right now, and they are building a new middle school right next to the elementary school that will be finished for him to go to 7th and 8th grade at. He will be riding the bus and going to into Springhill for school next year. He is pretty excited. He is looking forward to switching classes and having more classes. He is pretty pumped to have PE everyday too. I think elementary school is a little to slow of a pace for him sometimes. I think he has made some good buddies and it should be a good experience for him. He has decided to stop with violin and piano. He did his required (by me) year and isn’t that big of a fan of either of them. I wish he would pick one of them to stick with, he did decide to do choir though, so he will still have some music in his life. He had his choice of four electives, two each semester. He ended up choosing STEM, a full year of choir, and Art.

This past week the band and orchestra did their end of the year concerts and the whole 5th grade did their musical performance. It was a fun time. The kids were all excited to be ‘graduating’ and moving up to 6th grade. After the performances they did the end of the year awards for everyone. All the kids got a candy award from their teacher. Matthew’s was the Baby Ruth Award, because he knows all things baseball. Most kids got a Continental Math Award, he got it for participating in a specific Math competition. They had Silver, Gold and Platinum Reading awards. Matthew recieved the Platinum Reading Award, he had to read a minimum of 3600 pages this year to get it. He actually read almost 10,000 pages thanks to his love of Harry Potter and reading the entire series twice this year among all the other books he read. Each teacher also picks a Student of the Month. Matthew has already gotten his classroom, PE, and music student of the month earlier this year. For the awards night he also recieved the Orchestra Student of the Month award. To earn that one you go above and beyond to work hard and do well in class and are a good friend and kind and considerate to everyone. The last award he got only about 10 kids out of the 97 kids in the 5th grade earned. It was the Presidential Award for straight A’s. Matthew thought it was pretty cool that the Presidents signature was actually on it, and the pin he got with it is from The President as well.

I was a proud momma. He is a good kid and works hard at doing a good job when he does things. The amazing part is that I really don’t have to nag him to do it either. For the most part he is responsible and takes care of his homework, school assignments, and projects and other responsibilities without me having to tell him. I have had to fight him on practicing his instruments, but he can always play his music he is supposed to, he just doesn’t go above and beyond for those. I am proud of him and his hard work. He is turning into a great young man.

This happened later in the month but I’m sticking it here with all of his other 5th grade stuff. Matthew decided to play some of his songs he learned for the talent show.

Alli our artist

These are a few of Alli’s most recent art projects she has brought home from school. Allison is our little artist. She is very creative and when she does a craft for the first time it is usually at a level it took me several tries to get to. She is good at drawing, painting, chalks, making things from clay, or anything else. The other day she raided my craft drawer and is working on making a bird house out of popsicle sticks. She has a sweet little heart and can be very thoughtful. She often makes cards for everyone in her class at school and puts them in everyone’s cubbies at school.

I was talking with my mom today and was telling her that Alli started out good but took a quick turn and had a rough morning. Allison is so passionate, there is no middle ground for her feelings, whatever they are. She has always been like that. She has a very strong personality. She is very much like my sister Sherri. In fact it is almost eerie how similar they are. It is amazing how genetics can come through from different family members. My mom made the comment that she hopes Alli will realize how special she is. I couldn’t agree more. I worry for her that she is so harsh and defensive sometimes because she is unsure of herself.  I pray everyday that I can help her develop a strong sense of self worth. She is very smart, she has a very quick wit and funny sense of humor. She can be the sweetest, most helpful little girl. She loves it when there is a little baby or toddler around so she can follow them around and help take care of them. She doesn’t have a shy bone in her, and is a natural leader. She loves trying new things. She likes knowing whats going on and being in on whatever people are talking about or doing. She tells me all the latest news from school for 2nd grade and 5th. She likes to walk home with a bunch of the girls in 5th grade with Matthew. I signed her up for a singing/acting/stunt show camp this summer. I think she will totally love it. Drama, drama, drama is what she loves. She likes to know everyone and their stories but she tends to have a few closer friends instead of a big group of friends. And when Allison decides you are her friend and she feels like she trusts you, you have her loyalty forever. She has a great memory. She is a strong determined beautiful little girl. I hope and pray she realizes and knows that. I am excited to see her grow into her potential.

KC T-Bones Sizzler Tournament Champions

The weather has not been very cooperative so far this season. We have had several games and a tournament canceled because of rain, snow, and cold. This past week we had our first enjoyable regular season game on Thursday and then the weekend was our first baseball tournament. The weather was almost perfect, the boys were in it to win it. It was an awesome weekend. I really enjoy watching Matthew play. We stuck gold with this team we are on now. It is exactly what we were looking for. The head coach is awesome with the boys, he is knowledgable, consistent, level headed, good natured, good all around person. The other coaches are great too. The boys are a great fit for Matthew. They are helping him come out of his shell a little more. They all LOVE baseball, they are all talented and work hard to get better at it, they are good natured and have fun but listen when it is time to get serious and want to be competitive. The icing on the cake is the parents and families are pretty much all on the same page supporting the team, being positive, and fun to hang around with. For the most part we are all similar in our goals for wanting the boys to have fun playing baseball while learning some important life lessons like; hard work, applying yourself, dealing with success and failure, friendship, teamwork, dedication, self discipline, having confidence in yourself, etc. All these things make spending 12+ hours at a basball field enjoyable and fun. The girls have each made friends with some of the other siblings and have their snacks, toys, other items they want with them down to a science. They watch a little but then go play at the park, or explore around the fields with their friends. I had the pleasure of Ryan’s company for Fall Ball, but he has now become one of the assistant coaches so he can be in the thick of everything more. He loves doing baseball with Matthew. I think we are making some great memories.

The pictures above were taken by one of the moms who is a photographer. She takes some great pictures of the boys during their games and then shares them with us so we can have them. It is pretty awesome.

So the tournament was a great time, everyone watching was full of peanuts, popcorn and icees, a little sunburned, very dusty, emotionally drained, and raspy voices from cheering so much. Matthew and Ryan could easily recount every play and at bat for the entire weekend but I will summerize by saying by the end all the coaches and players were full of sunflower seeds, bubble gum, water, a little sunburned, covered in dirt, sore from bumps and bruises, physically, emotionally, and mentally exhausted and over the moon excited that they won. Matthew played 2nd base for all the games except for a few innings they switched things around and he did short stop, center field, and pitcher. He had some great pop fly and line drive catches. With the exception of one game all the boys were pretty much on point and doing great in their positions. Matthew had several double hits, of course singles, several walks, and luckily only one hit from the pitcher to advance to first. I believe his batting average was 500 at the end of the tournament. He is still dying to get a home run, he did hit one to the fence but hasn’t made it over yet. He is excellent at stealing bases, and just running in general. He loves that one of his nicknames is Cheetah. He proves he is the fastest one on the team regularly in practice. Allison added another nickname to the list by calling him Cheetoh instead of Cheetah. When other people started using it too sometimes she was very proud of herself. I have to agree it is a funny thing for a sister to do.