Spring Sports

Benjamin decided to play baseball and soccer this season.  He really enjoys them both and is so naturally athletic that I think he could excel at any sport he chose as long as he was willing to work at it.

So I decided to let him give baseball a try.  He came home all smiles from his first practice.  The first drill his coach did was to roll them the ball and then have them pick it up and throw it back to him.  Benjamin froze.  All those strangers watching him and a new coach was just too much pressure.  His throw was terrible. He kept both feet together and did a sort of crazy hop twist with both feet as he threw.  The coach was kind and gave him a couple pointers before rolling the ball to him again and giving him another chance.  The second throw was better but still shaky.  However by the end of the hour practice, he was throwing well and seemed to have warmed up.  He was grinning and sweaty as he got in the van.  I took it as a good sign. :)

Everyone's doing soccer this season.  All at the same time and at the same park which makes it simple, but I envy those parents who set up their folding chair and sit to watch their one kid on the one field.  I'm walking back and forth all morning as I watch the three fields.

Bella was upset with me in the morning before soccer because I wouldn't let her wear her jeans and cowgirl boots during the game.  I told her she had to dress appropriately for play and then she could change after the game.  She's in a fierce cowgirl phase right now.  She wears her boots, her hat, and her jeans and white shirt every day every where.  She finally gave up on the idea of the boots and went with the all purple theme (her current favorite color).  When the coordinator told her she'd be on the green team, we had another drama scene on our hands.  She wasn't going to wear green for anything.  I did finally get her on the field in gym shoes and the green shirt.  A miracle!  Bella spent a lot of time standing, sucking her shirt, and drinking from the free lemonade stand next to the field until she came to me 3/4 of the way through saying, "My tummy feels sick from the lemonade."  She did participate in the practice drills, though. And said she had a good time.  I was happy for her.  I know she'll get better.  And maybe she's just not a sports gal and that's okay too.  She has a thousand other talents.  I'm happy that she's out there and willing to at least give it a try.  It's just that kicking, screaming mob of 5 and 6 year olds that's always around the ball that makes her just stand in the corner.  I can't say I blame her.  It's not something you want to go throw yourself into, but maybe she'll warm up to it.

Christian actually plays this time, rather than just sitting on the ball on the sidelines.  He's three, so there's still those moments when the ball rolls by him and he watches it go by rather than run after it, but he tried hard and played the whole time.  I was really proud of my little guy.  Benjamin was also hard-core and played his best.

The hardest part of soccer is not coaching this season.  I've coached the last three seasons, but I wanted to take one off so I could actually watch my kids play, rather than coach one of them and ignore the others.  I've found it hard to stay quietly on the sidelines when I'm so used to being in charge. While I was watching Benjamin, the coordinator of the program came over and asked, "So how's being a former coach and now just watching?"  "Good and bad," I said.  "I love being able to watch them all play, but it's hard when I see the coach doing something I don't agree with and I think I have a better way."  "Oh, I know what you mean,"  she said, "I coached for a long time and when I stopped I became one of  "those moms."  I always had some idea the coach should try and always an idea for making things "better." Then one day he told me to shut up and I realized I had gone too far.  That's when I decided I just needed to take over the program!" she said, laughing. I really like her.  If I weren't primary president and plenty busy as it is, I might consider that.

I'm excited for our spring sports season.  It's fun being out and being active.  There's a huge playground next to the baseball diamond so even during Benjamin's practice, the other two are running around as well.  It's going to be a great season.

Happy Birthday Isabella!

Isabella turned 6 yesterday and it was, in her words, "the best birthday ever!"  It was a really fun day.  We started, as always, with cake and presents.

I think that face says it all.  Her presents were a hit.

I asked Bella weeks ago what she wanted to do on her birthday.  I really expected her to say she wanted a party, but instead she said, "I want to get my hair and nails done."  I found the cutest salon called "Sweet and Sassy" just a few miles from here.  It's a salon just for little girls.  Sadly they didn't survive the economic downturn in this area and they went out of business 2 weeks before her birthday.  I was so bummed.  But my gym has a salon in it and so I decided to go there and explain my situation and see what they could do.  Normally their prices are kind of high, but I hoped they'd cut me some slack as a former employee and long-time member.  They were awesome about  it.  They offered to give her a shampoo, cut, dry, and style plus a manicure, complete with milk soak, hand massage, and polish all for $30.  Cheapest birthday ever.  I was thrilled.  So was she.

She loved every minute of it.  The hairstylist talked with her about Frozen and The Little Mermaid while she shampooed and cut her hair and it looked fantastic. I couldn't believe how grown-up she looked with her hair done!  All blown out and curled at the ends with a little bobbypin holding her chopped bangs under so you couldn't see the tufts.  Gorgeous. I was so shocked at how beautiful my little girl looked that I forgot to take a good picture of it. (Yes, she cut her own bangs a month ago because "they were bugging me."  I didn't see until I walked into the bathroom and there were long clumps of hair on the floor.  She cut them to the hairline and now they're 1 inch tufts on her forehead.) I did get one of her getting her nails done, though.  Wish it showed her hair better.

She was in girly heaven.  The manicurist was wonderful and she was so good with Bella - even got the green marker and pen off her hands first.  "That was fun!" she declared when it was over.  I just stared at her as we walked out to the car - in her cute silver dress and leggings, her nails and hair professionally done.  She was so beautiful and so mature looking.  I couldn't believe this was my little nose-picking, thumb sucking Bella.  We got into the car and she looked in the rear-view mirror, pulled out the bobbypin, grabbed a purple Dora the Explorer headband from the backseat, and put it over her beautifully blown-out locks, cramming them all back so you couldn't tell they'd been done.  "That's better," she declared. :)  My little girl was under all that fancy treatment after all.

Thereafter I took her out to lunch at On The Border (her choice - "because I want quesadillas and chocolate milk").  I loved going out with just her.  I'd taken Christian to a friend's house for the day so Bella could have her special day without little brother complaining it was boring.  Being just us girls doing something other than home-school was wonderful.  She's really a fun girl to hang out with.  I was also shocked when after the waiter took our order she said, "He was really nice.  He's really cute too."  What??! There was that teenager in her again that I'd seen in the salon. I'd never heard her say that before!  She only ever commented on girls - how pretty their hair or clothes were.  This was the first time she'd ever called a boy "cute."  Much less a 20 year old guy!  I have to admit, though, she was right.  She's got good taste.  I said, "I agree, he is cute.  Are there any other guys you think are cute?"  "Oh yes," she said, grinning.  "Who?" I asked, dying of curiosity.  "Daddy."  Aaaahhh, my little girl was back again.  I think we are coming upon that tween stage of life where she's hovering between child and teenager and we'll see bits of both for the next 6 years.

After lunch she wanted to go shopping so we went out for a while and found some cute things as well as her favorite bread from our corner bakery.  Then we picked up Christian and spent an hour playing at the friend's house.  The rest of the day was spent watching Frozen for the gazillionth time and playing outside once Benjamin got home.  She, of course, got to pick our meals for the day.  She picked baked oatmeal for breakfast, On The Border for lunch (as I mentioned), and hotdogs, mashed potatoes, and tacos for dinner.  I tried to add some nutrition in there by making the potatoes my favorite potato/turnip/cauliflower mixture and I made a fruit smoothie to drink with dinner. She asked for double and triple helpings.  When the day was over, she was still all smiles.

She kept telling me all day long how much fun she was having and how wonderful this birthday was.  She also thanked me multiple times for all the things I provided or made possible.  She was such an angel.  I sure love her.  She's so smart, loving, creative, compassionate, and spunky.  Bella is a joy to have in our family.

Spring Break

The kids and I flew to Utah for Spring Break this year.  Such a fun trip.  The flight over went surprisingly well.  We were running late that morning, as always, so we didn't have time to eat lunch before we left.  After we'd gone through security, I took the kids to a food court area and got them all some ridiculously overpriced things to eat.  Then we took a quick bathroom break and got on the plane.  Not a minute to spare.  As were were walking on the plane, a woman spoke to me and said that she'd been watching me and my kids since we'd started eating and wanted to compliment them on what wonderful, well-behaved kids they were.  I thought that was really nice.  They were wonderful during the flight as well - reading, coloring, eating, and looking out the window without fighting or disrupting.  I was very relieved.  After the flight, as we were walking to baggage claim, a man stopped us and said, "I just have to tell you, you are the most wonderful family.  It was such a pleasure being on the plane with you and your kids."  Who says that?!  "It was a pleasure being on the plane with you"!?!  That made me feel like a rockstar mom, I have to say.   So that got our trip off to a good start and we had a great week.

Easter:

We had a wonderful Easter.  The music leader in primary in my mom's ward is fabulous and it was so nice to be in primary but not be in charge! :)  Then we came home and hunted for eggs.  Christian found the coveted Golden Egg which granted him special privileges, but being the incredibly sweet kid that he is, he gave it to Bella almost without hesitation.  My jaw dropped at that but I really shouldn't be surprised.  He's just that kind of a guy.

Time with cousins, aunts, and uncles:

Benjamin's favorite thing about his cousin's house (besides the people, of course) is the river in their back yard and their motorcycles.  He made sure to get plenty of riding time in.  The others were content to ride with their uncle.

Trip to the aquarium:

I took a lot of pictures at the aquarium, but my lack of photographic ability, mixed with the funky lighting of the aquarium combined to turn all my photos into junk except this one.  I wanted a happy smiling picture but they wanted to do a "freaked out that we might get eaten" picture.  You take what you can get.  I guess their version really makes more sense.  Who's happy and smiling when they're inside a shark's mouth?

Trip to Temple Square:

This was the best shot I got.  I wanted a cute picture with the kids in front and the temple in the background, but Bella was hiding and Benjamin had just pushed Christian so he was about to punch him and it all just spiraled down from there.  Again, take what you can get.  Where are those wonderful "it's been a pleasure being on the plane with you" kids??  Oh yes, they are now the jet-lagged, sleep deprived, thrown out of their normal routine kids.  Not such pleasures anymore.

My efforts at a cute temple square picture ended here. Bella had gotten her hand wet in the fountain and was wiping it on Christian, much to his dismay.  That's when we gave up and went to Deseret Book to buy Benjamin his first set of scriptures as a baptism present.  Only a few months until he turns 8!

The trip was over way to quickly.  I got to see my dearest friends as well.  We went to the Bombay House and Thai Siam to eat - my favorite restaurants in the area.  Never get tired of those places.  Never.   And those Indian guys at Bombay House are so funny!  They have such a tricky dry sense of humor that it always catches me off guard.  Nothing like a serious looked guy in a turban cracking jokes with a completely straight face.  So funny!  Never gets old.  I feel like no matter how much I manage to see my friends during my trips, it's never enough.  I want that TV show life where the best friends live next door to each other and walk into each others' kitchens all day long unannounced but always welcomed.  Like Lucy and Ethel - just living life together in each other's apartments.  I try to tell myself it would make me sick of my friends if we lived like that, but I have a hard time believing it.  I'd really like to give it a try.