Josh's Dream Team Experience

Josh has some really great Little League Coaches this year. Coach Bob and Miss Paula just really love coaching Little League Baseball. They've been doing it for years! (Their grandson is on the team this year.)

They set up a really fun night for the boys with Lafayette's local Collegiate Prospect League team, the Lafayette Aviators. (They play at Loeb Stadium, which is in Columbian Park.) They were the "Dream Team" for the opening game of the season!

They got there early in the afternoon and got to shag balls with the players and practice a bit. (I don't have any pictures from that because I was busy running other kids around town to piano lessons and other baseball games. I am turning into a taxi service!)

Since we had to pay for tickets, and since I like baseball a whole lot more than Lance, I got to be the parent who went to the game. And it turned out to be way more fun than I thought it would be, so I'm glad it was me!

Here's the team before the game started. (They're missing a few players.) Coach Bob is in the middle and Miss Paula is on the right. They're son (whose name I can never remember) is on the left.)

Including online fees, I paid about $20 for two tickets. This turned out to be a heck of a deal, though, because through this program we got 2 free seat cushions and ALL YOU CAN EAT food before the game! I'm not kidding! So Josh and I each got a cheeseburger, some chips, and two big drinks. I think Josh would have gotten more but he ran out of hands to carry stuff! (And I don't think he really understood that he really could have had anything!) We probably had over $30 worth of baseball concessions.

The team got to high five the players as they ran out on the field. Josh thought that was pretty cool.

They also stood on the field during the National Anthem. The Lafayette Children's Choir sang... it was... good for the most part, but some parts were a little cringey. I only mention this because it made me realize just how talented some of the singers in our ward are - including the kids. Going to church with so many musically talented people can really help you learn about and appreciate great music!

They got to buddy around with the team mascot.

The game itself was long for a bunch of 10 year old boys, but they did great for the most part. It started off slowly, but the Aviators eventually beat the Springfield Sliders, 11-5. There were a lot more errors than I expected, but that made the game way more interesting. The kids loved it!

After the game the kids got to run the bases. Josh really is a fast runner - I keep telling him he needs to do track in the future, but he's resistant. So I'll keep quiet for now and hope he changes his mind.

Then - and this was really cute - the boys got the players' autographs. Josh had them sign his glove. He is so proud of that glove now! (Maybe he won't lose it this winter, like the last one. Growl.)

It was a late night, but a fun one. And I'm really glad I got to spend some one-on-one time with Josh!

He can give me fits and really knows how to press my buttons (because he's so much like me in some ways), but really, he's a really great kid and fun to hang out with.

New Dishwasher!

Yay!! Our new dishwasher arrived yesterday! Our old one had been getting, well, old. It wasn't working as well as it used to and all the white parts were turning yellow. Gross.

So we took advantage of the Memorial Day sales and got this KitchenAid one for a good deal, plus free installation. (Which was good, because even the pros had a tricky time of installing it. Apparently our last homeowners put in some weird plumbing. Thanks, Tony.)

We're running it for the first time right now and it is SO QUIET. Honestly, we weren't even sure it had started! It cost a little more for a quieter version, but I think it was and will be worth it.

We have now replaced every major appliance that has come with the house. (Next on my list: the big freezer we inherited from Dad and Susie. It's ancient and always needing to be thawed.) We now also have 4 different brands of appliances in our kitchen, but they're all stainless steel and look good, so who cares? There was no predominantly good brand for all 4 types of appliances, and I'd rather have ones that will last a long time and work well rather than ones that match.

Conner Prairie

This summer I decided to get a membership to Conner Prairie. They have lots of great activities and things for the kids to do, and in going twice the membership would pay for itself. I like to get a membership for things like this - sometimes the zoo, other times the Children's Museum. We go several times that year and then the kids get tired of it and we can take a year or two off. Plus, memberships often come with things like free admission to other museums. (With Conner Prairie we can get into the Aquarium up in Chicago for free. SCORE.)

Anyways, we went down last Friday. The day did not start well, as I think the kids were "pioneer housed-out" from Nauvoo and This Is the Place Village last summer. Oh well, I forced them to go through some of the houses!

Now, when we go on excursions like this there is always - ALWAYS - one child who has to act like a punk. It's part of the natural order. There is no rhyme or reason to who this is each time. And sometimes it changes mid-trip. For example, in the morning it was Josh. (Hence his absence from this photo.) But it changed - in a big way - later on.

We had a picnic lunch because I learned my lesson the hard way over Spring Break about buying museum food. Yikes. Plus, it was a gorgeous day, and with all the baseball games we've been having during dinner I am a pro at picnicking. During lunch I found a Cheeto that looked like a bunny. Cheetos is having a contest for finding Cheetos that look like things, so of course I took a picture and sent it in. It wasn't until later that I learned you had to save the Cheeto - not eat it. Oops.

The Civil War experience is always a good time.

Look at these Union Soldiers of mine!

Tess decided (after the above picture) to get in on the action. Her hair is getting so long and unruly! She won't let me do anything with it. So if she looks like a little homeless urchin, that's on her.

They have a new section called the Treetop Outpost. It's like a GIANT 3-storey playhouse, with all sorts of stuff to do around it. Spencer dug all the percussion instruments.

Here's Cole up in the play house. It was kinda like a giant tree house, only not built on a tree, but up in the trees. It was sturdy and well built, but kids running around like banshees made it shake and creak quite a bit!

While we were up top, Cole and I spied on Josh and Tess way down below.

After the Treetop we decided it was time to go home. We decided not to take the tram back to the entrance because that would actually make us have to walk farther. Tess fell to piece and Cole was MAD. But then we realized we had left Tess's water bottle in the Civil War section, so we had to go back and find that, and then we were by the tram. So all was right with the world.

Well, not with Cole. He took over punk duties from Josh and filled them splendidly.

Oy.

We got the membership that lets you bring 2 extra people, so hopefully next time we can bring some friends!

Last Day of School 2017

It's hard to believe today is the last day of school. Mainly because it's only 63 degrees and raining outside. It sure doesn't feel like summer!

But also because this school year just flew by. Seriously, wasn't it just Christmas?

For a hot minute I thought about spending this day completely deep cleaning the house and getting it "ready" for summer. Then I realized that "ready" for summer meant "ready" for my kids to destroy it. So instead I put together the annual treasure hunt, took an extra long walk outside, bought a new dishwasher at Best Buy (here on the 30th!), ran a few little errands, and then picked up a Panera salad to eat at home. Then I dozed for 30 minutes on the couch.

It was the perfect last day of school for me.

While I will definitely miss the freedom that comes from having all kids in the school, it'll be really nice to not have to get up at a specific time or do the whole getting ready for school in the morning thing. And while our summer is pretty jam packed with activities, I think there's still enough free time for us to do fun things like random day trips to Chicago or forced death marches hikes at some state parks. It's gonna be a good summer. (If it ever stops raining.)

It's fun to see how much the kids have changed during the 9 months of school. Spencer definitely looks older - I think he's about as tall as I am now!

I think he's excited to be in the oldest grade at middle school next year. He has rocked it academically, has gotten a leeetle more organized, and is probably about as social as his sister. (And that's saying something!)

I know Josh is excited to be in the oldest grade at the elementary school next year. Good heavens - one more year of "little kid" school!! He has also trashed the competition academically this year. (Is it a competition? In his mind, yes. And that's why he's working so hard!) He got accepted into the accelerated 4/5 class for next year after getting the highest NWEA scores in math out of the entire 4th grade! (And earning far above average scores for the other subjects of the test as well.)

This kid is going places. He's not as social as Spencer, but the few friends he has he is fiercely loyal to. And I think that's awesome.

And then there's Cole. (I tend to say that a lot.) First, excuse the outfit - it was field day and his team color was brown. And arguing about his choice in pants just did not make sense to me this morning. Mainly because I've given up on arguing about stuff like that with Cole, because he just doesn't care. (Winning the war and not the battle and all of that.) Second, this kid had an AMAZING first grade year. I still have zero regrets starting him a year late. His teacher, Mrs. Meyers (who won teacher of the year this year for the school district) helped him so much. First grade is a big step up from Kindergarten, but I feel second grade is even more so. He's ready.

I had really wanted him to get into the accelerated 2/3 class next year, and when he didn't I was kinda sad for a day. But then I really thought about it, and realized this was probably the best for him. Yes, he'll get bored next year. Yes, he's super bright. (Not just mom bragging. He is.) But I don't know that he's mature enough yet for an accelerated program. He doesn't love school. He kinda tolerates it. And I think the extra work and projects would just make it even less fun for him. So for now, we're good with where he's at. Because where he's at is pretty great.

Oh miss Tess. How she has LOVED Kindergarten! She adored her teacher, Miss Lenhardt. She was not always as fond of her classmates; I had to explain several times that there will probably always be a few kids in a class who are naughty and sometimes cause problems for everyone. That you have to be kind to them, even if you don't want to. This was a hard lesson.

Tess is doing great academically - reading and writing like a champ. But even more so, she's excelling socially. It's all about friends at school! She's quite a bit smaller physically than the rest of her classmates, and for the second half of this school year I have really focused on getting her to stick up for herself and being brave. (She went through a brief "I'm afraid of everything" phase. It was annoying and sad. But mostly annoying.) She now confidently exclaims "I am fierce!" when confronted with things that used to scare her. I have to agree - she's my super-fierce first grader!

This has been a really good school year for us. I feel blessed to have such great kids and that they had such great teachers.

Have vs. Want

I've gotten so much done the last few days. I've spent a ton of time on the yard, mowing and edging. I've planted my garden and even installed an irrigation system. (I know. I'm so excited!!!) I planted a tree. Me - myself! I dug the hole and everything. It was a beautiful hole. I'm kicking myself for not taking a picture of it. And I planted 12 plants along the back of the house this morning, which might not sound like a lot, but I had to move 6" of decorative rocks for each hole. It took a while. Oh, and I had to deal with a flustered ant colony for one of those holes. That was fun.

My point is, I'm not afraid to work.

But this morning, right before the bus came, Josh came back into the house and exclaimed "My backpack is so heavy!"

Then he proceeded to dump the contents of his backpack right into the middle of the living room floor.

He then rushed out to meet the bus.

I was sitting on the couch for all of this. So shocked I just sat there and didn't say a word.

What. The. What?!

Who does that?

My child, that's who.

It wasn't that big of a pile. I could have picked it up and put it all away in about 60 seconds. It was not a lot of work. But I just couldn't bring myself to do it. 

I didn't want to. 

There's a big difference between working hard at something because you want to and working hard because you have to. And this little chore would have definitely been a have to.

So it sat there all day, mocking me, until Josh got home from school and he was promptly told that he needed to put that stuff away, whether he wanted to or not.

2017 Family Pictures

I FINALLY got new family pictures taken of us last month. Sheesh. It's hard, though, because I am now spoiled and want good pictures taken by good photographers, not the ones taken at Penney's or Target or something. And I really like the portraits outside, which is hard because the weather in Indiana is only conducive to that a few months of the year. (Too hot, too cold, too windy, too wet...)

We had these pictures taken up at Purdue again. (We learned the week before that the botanical gardens were closed for renovation, dang it! Plus, the weather was very iffy. So going somewhere that we could take pictures both inside and out seemed wise.)

That day was the Purdue Grand Prix, which is kinda like a little Indy 500 race. It's done early in the morning and lots of the students wear costumes and drink. A lot. So walking through parts of campus with my little brood, all dressed up for pictures, felt a little like walking through Sodom and Gomorrah. It was an eye opening experience for the kids! ("And THIS is why you want to go to BYU!")

Everyone behaved for the family pictures, for the most part.

Since getting a mouth full of orthodontia, Cole refuses to smile with his mouth open. He ends up looking goofy a lot.

Spencer looks a little... stiff.

 

These kiddos... how I love them! And they are perfectly sweet and angelic like this all the time. (HAH.)

This would've been a good one, except for me derping. Dang it!!

It was a bit windy and sunshiny outside.

The boys got their hair cut earlier that week, and Josh wanted his extra short. I miss his curls! He doesn't believe me when I tell him that the ladies like boys with curls.

He's still pretty darn handsome, though!

My little blue-eyed Coler Bear.

Sometimes I forget and call him Coler Bear at school. This year it's been okay. Suspect as he gets older it will not.

Doesn't Spencer look so big? And just like my brother Kevin?!

And then there's Tess. She got a bee in her bonnet and refused to smile for her individual pictures.

We tried everything, but that TenaciousT came out in her. I told her that if she didn't smile there'd be a picture of her scowling above the piano this year. I don't think she believed me. Guess she'll find out I meant business when the new pictures get put up next week!

What a stinker!

Pout pout pout. Scowl scowl scowl.

This boy had exactly one pair of pants with no holes in them at the time of this photo shoot. By the end of the photo shoot he had exactly no pairs of pants without holes in them.

Doesn't Tess look like she's giving the death glare?

I actually really like these pictures of Tess with Lance.

He's such a good dad!

It's fun being the center of attention. Especially when you're the center of attention because you're being naughty.

Fortunately, Lance and I know how to behave during pictures!

Tess sure loves me right now. I'm pretty sure she's more excited about Mother's Day than I am! This is a phase I enjoy.

Those 3 handsome boys of mine. They all looked so similar as babies, but they're so different now!

One last pout. You'd better believe these will resurface as she gets older as payback!