Another attempt...

Life gets so busy around here that I usually find myself declaring after a month or two of not posting anything that it might be time to let this little blog of ours go.  Then I need to remember something and I find myself back here looking through the pictures and memories. Every time I do this I find myself falling in love with this little space all over again.  So I make a promise to myself that I'm going to do better, because these days and years are full of things I want to remember and probably wouldn't if it weren't for this space. So here I go again...

A little random rambling as to how I found my way back here again today...  It's actually quite sad, but I can't for the life of me remember what exactly Christmas looked like here last year.  Honestly I'm convinced that I have the worst memory of any 34 year old around.  My husband and kids think it's funny, but it's actually starting to scare me a bit.  So this morning as I laid in bed trying so hard to remember having Molly home with us last year on Christmas, I just couldn't do it.  So I decided to look here.  Looking back through pictures and posts of last Christmas might seem like a strange way to see what kiddos sat around our tree last year, so that I'll know for certain which one's will be around our tree this year.  It's just that it's so much more pleasant then skimming the filing cabinet looking for an ugly, dusty divorce settlement.  And for the record I could have just as easily and quickly text or called Molly's mom for the answer (which I do a lot) but I hate to bug her and really, really hate how scatter brained it makes me feel.  Even though the truth is that I am a bit of a scatter brain.  Which is just another reason that having this space is so important.

So where to begin.  Hmm....

I think I left off with a couple of cute picture of JK and Lillie at the start of the football season.  And oh what a season it was!  The jr braves ended in 3rd place with an awesome winning record 8-2.  It was a great year to end our time with the youth football program.  JK's team is stocked full of really good, sweet boys that Im excited to watch him grow with.  Through this team we have created amazing friendships we know will last a life time.  While we were a little sad to see it come to an end, we know most of these boys will be moving on into high school together and as strange as it is to say it, I can't wait!  I am so ready to cheer our Braves on through the next chapter of their lives.

And who knows we very well might be with this program again next year if Lillie decides she wants to cheer again.  While there were a few rough patches in the beginning she ended the year so strong.  All of the girls had a little dance routine they learned over just a few weeks to perform during a halftime performance and Lillie rocked it!  She really did do such a good job this year and was beyond cute cheering her little heart out.  I was reminded quite often that she was a fan favorite for sure!  

Molly ended up playing soccer closer to her other home this year which meant that we had to make a long drive up north to watch her play.  While we made it to a handful of games, it was hard to schedule it so we could get to all of them and we ended up missing more games then we would have like.  What we did notice this year was that she was definitely the star player of her team and showed improvement every time she played.  As I've said in the past I think she could really go a long way in this sport and wouldn't be at all surprised to see her playing in college one day if she decides to stick with it.

Like the Jr Bethel team JK's middle school team also had a winning season, though they did struggle a little to find their balance.  They were anticipated to be undefeated at the end of last year but with a new coaching staff their team had a little more trouble then they probably should have.  JK was named team captain at the beginning of the year and did a great job leading this group of boys under a coach who a lot of them were reluctant to play for.  In the end the boys did well and are all looking forward to starting their high school careers next year.

   
Moving onto Halloween...

For the first time in I think forever we did not get to the pumpkin patch as a family this year.  We did some switching of weekends in the month of October so that Molly could be with her other family for some fun things they had planned and it just never worked out for all of us to get there.  It made Clint and I both a little sad and it's been decided that it will not happen again next year.  It's one of our favorite things to do as a family and we both realized this year how much we missed all of us not getting to go as a family.  Lillie and I were able to make a quick trip there with some friends while Clint was at work one day, but JK didn't want to go.  I should have made him and regret that I didn't.  I've decided that I'm really starting to loathe the month of October.  Every year it seems to get busier and busier, pulling our family in what seems like a hundred different directions.  I used to think December was our busiest month, but it's a different kind of busy.  An all together busy and I'd take that over having to split up most weekends any day!

All complaints aside, we did end up finding a little bit of time to host a dinner and pumpkin carving party at our house with friends the weekend before Halloween.  On Halloween Lillie had lots of fun tick-or-treating, filling her snack bag full and then eating more candy then she probably should have.  Frankly, after her class party and night of trick-or-treating, I'm dreading her next dentist appointment.  She chose to be a princess (again) and fell in love with a little southern bell dress while we were walking through Fred Meyer one day.  It's the first year that she has not changed her mind on costumes, ever!  This little girl of ours truly has a princess heart!

With October and Fall sports now behind us we've got a little bit of a lull in our schedule (which is quickly filling up with lots of miscellaneous events and other projects) but the best part of all this year is that we FINALLY have Molly coming back again.  We went an entire moth without seeing her and decided that was just much to long.  We were all missing her tons and then when she finally came back last weekend it took a little bit of time falling into our normal, comfortable routine again.  We did get to have a fun girls night out and enjoyed dinner and Disney on ice.  I know Molly is probably getting to old for this little tradition, but I'm hoping she'll want to continue to go for at least a few more years.  As much as I love watching our kids grow into amazing young people, the speed at which they're doing it is hurting my heart a little. 

So I think that about covers most of what we've been up to the last couple of months, and now my fingers are crossed that I'll actually be better at keeping this little place a little less dusty. 

My football player and his cheerleader

My heart beats just a little faster as we're getting these two ready for a Saturday game.  It's kind of like my little dream come true...

With the age difference between the two, I never imagined that we would actually find something that they could participate in together.  This year we did.  And with JK moving onto high school next year sniff sniff this will be the only year they'll be able to participate in a sport on the same field at the same time and I'm loving every single bit of it!  The only thing that could make this any better, would have been if  Molly could have cheered along side Lillie.  Of course even if her primary house wasn't more then an hour away, I don't think we ever could have gotten that girl to trade her cleats and shin guards in for pom poms, anyways.

JK is officially playing for two teams again which makes the weekdays a little exhausting with four hours worth of practice after school.  This kid of ours never complains though and really has found his true passion.  So far he has lead his team through two games coming away with pretty big wins for both of them.  His athletic ability astounds me.  People are always asking me where he gets it from, and I honestly don't know.  I wasn't bad in sports, but I certainly wasn't the superstar that he has proved to be so far.  Next week his middle school games will start and it will be fun to get to watch him play two games a week.  Although it can be a bit nerve racking at times, I really do love watching him participate in something that makes him so happy. 

Then there's our new little cheerleader.  Lillie is love love loving cheering for her big brothers team.  While she is a little young still and I think sometimes gets a little overwhelmed with some of the cheers, she really is doing an amazing job. And don't even get me started on how stinking cute she is in her little uniform!  In true Lillie form she has made a ton of friends and the girls she cheers with adore her (especially the older one's whom JK has told to watch out for her).  I don't know why I worry, (being as shes proven me wrong time and time again) but I was a little nervous over how she'd do getting up in front of such a large crowd. As usual she seems completely unphased by the people watching her and just has a blast.  This girl of ours loves to perform and has so much spirit in her!  One of the moms told me the other day, you just can't help but be drawn to her.  I don't know if she'll follow in my mom and my footsteps and turn out to be a high school cheerleader or not, but for now she is seriously having a blast!

This last Saturday my past and present came to heads for the first time when we took on Orting.  My cousin and  stepbrothers sons both played on the Orting side in the game right before ours. It was fun to sit with family and friends and cheer on the younger Jr. Cardinals to a victory.  It just felt so natural.  For JK and Lillie's game we loaded up our chairs and headed to the Bethel side.  It was a little strange to be sitting across from people I've known my entire life, cheering against their kids, some of whom our kids are pretty good friends with.  And although I was super proud of and excited for our boys, my heart did hurt a little for my old hometowns team as JK and his teammates walked all over them ending the game with a score of 28-0.  It was fun nonetheless and everybody, including JK's old Orting coaches were good spirited and proud of him and the job he did.      

Christmas Recital

Last night Lillie had her Christmas recital for both ballet and hip hop.  As usual she was adorable and did great!  It amazes me how this little girl of ours can pick up and remember several dance routines, but struggles a bit with letter and number recognition.  I just can't seem to wrap my head around the fact that she can remember exactly what somebody wore yesterday or who played a certain role in a Christmas program last year, but she can't tell me what the letter M is.  I know at some point she'll decide she wants to learn how to read and write and get it all figured out.  So in the meantime I'm trying to not get to stressed out about the progress in which she is learning and am just enjoying the way she chooses to flutter through life so full of animation, excitement and wonder.

This recital was bittersweet for me as Lillie has decided to hangup her ballet shoes for a while and is so badly wanting to try out gymnastics.  I've always believed in letting the kids participate in as many sports as they want, but can't find the time in our schedule to let her take two dance classes and gymnastics all at the same time.  We found a tumbling class near our house that starts with the basic skills that we think will be great for her.  Next year we'll give her the choice to go back to doing dance or getting her into a real gym.  I'm secretly hoping she'll choose dance.  While I wasn't a fan in the beginning, I've come to love watching my sweet girl twirl her little heart out.

Catching up...

Wow!!  September, October and November have been busy around here!

Now that BOTH of JK's football teams and Molly's soccer team have played their last games for the season, we've finally got a little time to breath.  Lillie is still participating in both hip-hop and ballet, but both practices are on Mondays so we can handle that without feeling like we're running around like chickens with our heads cut off.

Both JK's middle school and rec team had great seasons.  His middle school team took 2nd place, loosing only once.  And his rec team took 4th.  Out of 17 teams, we were all pretty happy with that.  He continues to grow stronger and learn more every season and still really truly loves the game.  While he got a little bit of a chance to try out a few positions other then quarter back this season, it's definitely been determined by his coaches that, that will be his position.  So it's off to a few camps during the off season to grow and learn just a little bit more.

(I wasn't very good about getting pictures of the kids in action this year.  I think this sad collage is proof of that.)

Molly's team also had a great season.  They played in a new league with a little more competition, but they still did great.  I am always so impressed with the way our sweet little, quiet (well quiet around people that aren't family) girl can come alive out on a soccer field.  She's quick, aggressive and smart.  She's got great ball control and seems to have a good sense as to where the ball is going to be.  She really has some star potential!

Lillie is love, love, loving kindergarten!  While we're still not completely certain that our decision to enroll her this year was the right one, she seems to be.  She's making lots of new friends and learning tons.  She adores her teacher and begs for me to let her ride the kindergarten bus home from school, which I ocassionally do.  She is sweet and sassy and growing up much faster then I'd like.  Oh and if this isn't the cutest kindergarten picture ever taken...  

I am so not a fan of school pictures and never buy them, so I didn't put much thought into the fact she was wearing the same outfit as she did on the first day of school when I sent her off to picture day.  Then what do you know, they send a proof sheet home with this adorable little shot on it.  As soon as Clint saw it, he insisted we buy a sheet.  I mean seriously when did school pictures get so fancy?!

Let's see... what else have we been up to?

Well, we celebrated Halloween with our annual trip to Spooners pumpkin patch.  The girls dressed up and had lots of fun trick or treating while Clint, JK and I followed along possibly snacking on some of their goodies.

Clint and JK had fun playing in our little family and friend annual turkey bowl while the girls and I visited and cheered the players on before enjoying a delicious Thanksgiving feast with family.

Molly and Lillie mailed their lists to Santa and talked dad into buying them a ginger bread house kit, which they happily made and snacked on.

Oh and this sweet boy of ours made the decision to be baptized.  I am so extremely proud of the path he is choosing to walk out and I know God has great things in store for him.  

Just seeing these photos and knowing that he chose this.  He chose to be baptized and to make the statement that he chooses God for his life, in front of his friends and family makes my heart happy.  I couldn't think of a better way to welcome in his teen years.  I am so extremely proud of him!

 

Spring Sports in Review

Wow!  Has it really been nearly a month since Mothers day?!  Yikes!  Where did the time go?!

Since I made myself a little promise to be better about trying to journal about what our family's been up to, let me see if I can play a little catch up and cover the spring sports season.  Which by the way started and ended without one mention or picture. 

JK's baseball team finished off what seemed like the rainiest, coldest baseball season of all time last week.  They were supposed to have a rescheduled makeup game last night, but, it got rained out.  Go figure.  The coach decided to call the season over and count the unmade makeup game as a forfeit.  JK was super bummed with his decision and to be honest, so was I.  I was really counting on that last game to get some pictures proving that he actually played the game this year.  I was so busy trying to stay bundled up during his games, that I didn't bring my camera out once.  JK played catcher this entire season and I think he's feeling like he really found a position he loves.  He did such a great job and received more then one compliment from a few of the other teams coaches telling him that.  I know making the decision that he no longer wanted to pitch was a tough one for him to make, but in the end it was the right one.  Not feeling like wins and losses fell so heavily on his shoulders allowed him to have so much more fun and really enjoy the game so much more then he had the past few seasons.  

Molly's been busy playing spring soccer again, which meant Clint and I did a lot of dividing and conquering on Saturday mornings.  Her team moved into a new league with a little more competition this year which has made her games super fun to watch.  With the new competition they faced this year, Molly really got a chance to shine.  In fact, it amazes me how aggressive that quiet little conservative girl of ours can be.  She really is a soccer superstar, who I think could go very far with the sport if she continues to stick with it.  And like baseball, I failed to get any pictures of Molly during soccer this season.  I think it's about time I dust of my camera! 

With the big kids busy playing sports, Clint and I decided not to put Lillie in t-ball this year like we had originally planned.  After a somewhat frustrating first soccer season with her, and busy fall trying to make it to three different games consuming our every Saturday, I'm glad with the decision we made.  She didn't seem to mind either.  The fact is this girl of ours has a dancers heart.  While I'm hoping that one day she'll come around to loving team sports like the rest of us do, for now it looks like the future she dreams of will consist of buns, tutus and lots of twirling.   

While it's true that we're a family of sports lovers through and through, I must admit that I'm looking forward to the little break that summer offers.  And with Fall sports just around the corner, I will cherish each and every dinner that we're not having to rush through to get to practice on time and every Saturday morning that we get to sleep in on for the next two months, before it all starts all over again.