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Caleb had an amazing baseball season that ended last week.  These 8U Rangers coached by Shannon Montgomery and Lindsey Gressett and Jason Horton were such a fun team.  They started practicing in mid-February and practiced twice a week all the way up until the middle of June for the end of season tournament.  And it paid off – they ended up second in their division (after being tied for 1st before the last game).  Lots of wins, one loss and a couple of ties.  Caleb had a great start to the season and then hit a slump towards the middle of the season with his batting.  The first game of the tournament was a nail biter and in the third inning Caleb hit a big double, and then later was batted in for the only run of the game!  He was so proud and he should be – he had worked so hard on his swing and timing.  He leapt into the coach's arms after touch home base – it was a really great moment – he was the hero of the game!  The next night we lost in a heartbreaker – in the final inning (0-1).  This was a great bunch of boys and parents.  We hope Caleb will play with this team for many years.

 

Welcome Summer!  We're pleased to have a break around here.  But I had forgotten how long summer days can be.  :)  Here are some highlights from our first week…

Derek left on Monday morning (with my Suburban) with the older Boy Scouts (youth from church) for High Adventure.  He is there all week.  They are working hard at Camp for All – a camp for disabled children.  One fun note is that the camp is in the same town as our family farm (Burton, TX)!!  We miss him, but it's great for the Bishop to spend time with these boys.

 
(One of the boys, Joseph Brown, designed and made all of those t-shirts – the design says "Camp for All")

We are HUGE Mavs fans and are spending lots of time cheering for them in the very intense NBA Finals against the Miami Heat.  The fourth quarters of these games have left me with some serious ulcers!  I'm typing this in the 3rd quarter of Game 5 – the series is tied 2-2.  Come on Mavs!

 

I have a modest garden this year but it is thriving – cherry tomatoes and yellow crooked-neck squash.  I love my little harvest!

 

Me and the boys have been spending the mornings doing chores.  I have gotten a workout in at the gym twice so far.  I made spaghetti with a wedge salad one night and thai food (chicken, veggies and a peanut sauce) on another.  The Italian was appreciated, the Thai was so yummy but under-appreciated by the 12 and under crowd (which leaves me to enjoy it!).

On Monday night we enjoyed a swim and pizza with Mark & Anne.  I loved seeing Baby Graham's adorable nursery.  Can't wait to welcome him in a few short weeks.  The boys climbed the magnolia tree.  The mosquitoes were out in full force, but time with M&A made up for it.

Jacob enjoyed his second Arena football game last night – despite a 42-0 loss…ouch!  Jacob is hitting well and not holding back – proud of his progress and heart. 

Caleb is STILL in baseball season (we started at the end of Feb) – we have one more regular season game and then the playoffs next week.  I love this team that he's playing on – what a blessing – great coaches and wonderful families.  We're currently a top seed for the playoffs – go Rangers!

Samuel's mosquito bites swelled to the size of golf balls!  Poor guy is so sensitive.  Having his big brothers home this week has been a bit of an adjustment.  In some ways he loves it (playmates!) – in other ways he's missing the one-on-one attention (I know this because of his grumpy screaming!).

 

I got a sitter today (Autumn) - I had two doctor's appointments and enjoyed some time at the temple. 

We've spent some time in the pool every day this week – oh boy do I love having a pool!

I think the first week of summer is always a little hard – working out the kinks, re-establishing a routine, settling in, etc.  But so far so good.  We're looking forward to having Derek back home tomorrow night.  He leaves again for more camping on Monday – 4 am to be exact.  This time Jacob will be going along for his first Scout Camp. 

We love this kind, professional, one-of-a-kind woman!  She is the principal at our elementary school, she has been there since it opened in 2005 – the year that Jacob started Kindergarten there.  She has helped us through hard things, celebrated with us through fun and wonderful things, and genuinely been a gentle and loving supporter of our family.  We love Kathy Kazanski!  On the last day of school we weren't able to find her for pictures, so we stopped by later in the day when the school was quiet to say "goodbye" for the summer.  Here she is with each of the boys…

Former Principal

 

Current Principal

 

Future Principal

 

We enjoyed an almost weekly visit every Tuesday with Grandma Kake this semester.  Samuel and I would drop by at 9 am – right after speech therapy, when he was still going.  And a little after 9 am when he stopped going.  She always has a plate of homemade cookies waiting for us, plus books and coloring pages for Samuel.  We always have plenty to visit about – current events, family news, stories from her childhood, medical topics, etc.  I love this sweet woman who has become like family to me.  And we always looked forward to our Tuesday visits with Grandma Kake (Kay).

 
 

Caleb's end of year party was HOT!  And as a room mom I was out setting up and running the cake walk…so I didn't have much time to take pictures.  But it sure was fun to be in Caleb's class this year and get to know the cute 2nd graders and Mrs. Cooksey better.  Caleb continues to make friends easily (although this year introduced drama which wasn't present before).  He especially enjoyed friendships with Austin and Jax (pictured).  Caleb continues to be a big helper in the classroom because of his maturity and compassion for others.  He also received a Science award!

 

The School District doesn't really let you call it a "graduation" – but it's a ceremony to celebrate the successful departure from elementary school.  Jacob has attended Ashley Elementary for 6 years – this will be the school he brings his kids back to, to say "that's where I went to school!".  There have beens ups and downs, great years, not-so-great years, lots of lessons learned and plenty of growth.  It was a bittersweet day for me as he stepped up to say goodbye.  For as much as I dread the middle school years, I also now welcome them…mostly because I see that it is time for a change.  Time for new growth and new learning and new experiences.  I'm hopeful that he will excel in a new environment.  It's been such a ride with this little boy – and I'm grateful to get to be on that ride with him.

 

This kid is so handsome and smart and fun!!

  
Kindergarten                                                            1st Grade

  
2nd Grade                                                             3rd Grade

  
4th Grade                                                           5th Grade

 

Despite the fact that we have one more day, today feels like summer has begun! It’s hot enough for it too. We sure are enjoying cooling off in the backyard…especially after supervising an outdoor cake walk for the second graders today. I could get used to this!

I like independence in children.  It's one of the things I value in myself and believe that my Mom was good at creating in us.  I think it gives kids confidence.  For two years now the boys have ridden their bikes to and from school by themselves.  It's only two blocks from our house, but involves 5+turns and several streets to cross.  And they've done quite well at it, despite a few "I couldn't find him" and "he went off with his friends" episodes.  They've learned to stick together though and I think it's been good for them.  I realized during the last week of school that these two wouldn't be going to the same school again for another 6 years.  *Sniff*  The next time they walk in to a school together we'll be the year that Jacob is a Senior in High School and Caleb is a Freshman.  Wow.  That made my heart skip a beat.  So here they are…riding together one last time. 

 
 

Look who got his Wolf badge for Cub Scouts?!  And he had to KTM (Kiss the Mom).  Way to go, Caleb!

 

I love field day!  Although it doesn't have the same appeal that it used to.  When I was a kid…(you had to know that was coming)…field day was competitive.  And those who know me, know that just through that one fact alone I was bound to LOVE it!  There were running races and jumping contests and kickball and all sorts of things.  And there were ribbons!  My favorite was the blue one (1st place).  🙂

Now Field Day is much more innocuous.  Plain.  Fun-for-all.  I guess that's not bad. :)  Water games and obstacle courses and the like.  My kids love it – and they should, because it's fun (but not as fun as the early 1980s)!