Blue Dolphins....an attempt at softball.

Here are the Bad News Bears.....season has taught us that Natalie is more a softball girl then a soccer girl.  She is quite the hitter a slow runner and she loves to draw in the dirt...The coach's daughter makes Natalie look like an angel and being team mom is more work then I thought it would be!  

We have 4 games left and I can't wait to be FREE Friday evenings and Saturday mornings again....of course then we'll have swimming...we are in the midst of team sports!

Busy Bee Natalie

Softball was a hit...literally.  From the very start of her first practice hitting the ball has been Natalie's favorite part of softball and it continues to be her strongest asset. Her first season was played on the Dolphins and with 5 other girls they often brought more laughs then wins but without keeping score and without any outs these girls were all winners!  Lexi's dad, Issac was the coach and I served as Team Mom!  We decided as a family this is our sport!  Natalie enjoys it and so do mom and dad... 

 Another sport we tried this year was competitive swimming.  TMEC starts at 5 years old and you must try out at the Chaparral High School pool.  See the swim lane just above Natalie's head, she swam there and back without stopping.  That was the requirement for 5 year olds!   Both Natalie and her friend Jillian made the team but after a few months of sunny warm days of practice, once the weather got chilly and the time changed both girls decided they weren't as hard core as they thought....

Daddy the Pilot

Ally's preschool had a bring your daddy to school day...other daddies were chefs, firemen and policemen...but this day was a pilot and Ally was so excited!

Just an ordinary Saturday.....

Here they are....just filling time playing dress up or house or whatever....

 These are the days I'm sure I'll forget but the pictures I most like including because it catches them in their true moments! Their just being silly days, their we don't have any thing to do days....

First Grader! No Way!

(Note to self, baby started preschool and I haven't written THAT post yet so I am admitting to being too focused on big girl at the moment...I'll explain - I will also post baby's first day and all her amazing cuteness)

Look at this BIG KID, where is my baby, my toddler, my preschooler, my adorable kinder, she is now a FIRST grader....

Top Ten List of being a 1st grader
 by big girl...

1.   I get to eat lunch from the cafeteria.
2.   I get to play recess on the field.
3.   I already know how to read - what comes next?
4.   I'm so much bigger then the kindergartners.
5.   My mommy is a teacher at my school.
6.   I get to check out books from the school library.
7.   I get to make new friends AND I have old friends too.
8.   The blacktop is MUCH bigger then the kinder playground.
9.   I wasn't sick for the first day!
10. Did I say I get to buy lunch???

She was nervous,,, we had some spunky punky behavior.  After "Meet the teacher" Ben and I thought, let's go out to dinner and make a special night.  She was all wound up and feisty - finally at bedtime biting her nails she says, "What happens if I get tired?".  It is a long day...twice as long.  We chatted - hopefully easing some fears...by morning she was all smiles and hairspray as we happily hopped in the car and made it to the end of the line of cars also wanting the perfect first day.

I sent her off with Mrs. H and she never looked back...all the way to 3:20pm and there I was waiting and she was ready to go!

Her thoughts after the day...
My teacher really likes dogs, books and dogs.
My teacher has a lot of books!
My teacher lets us use magnify glasses to read!
I sit next to Anthony.
The day flew by because I was having fun!
Yeah, I think I'll go back tomorrow.

And so our school year begins...

Oh vacation....I am happy to see you go and routine return...

What a week!  It was a lot of work to pack up and travel and then ...On Your Mark!  Get ready....Relax.  It was a dose of much need family "time out".  But who loses their camera on vacation??  Who then gets hacked by cybercriminals while in a dim WiFi area.  Who is ready for grocery lists and early bedtimes and a once a week dessert instead of an afternoon dessert AND a dinner dessert?  Can you see my hand waving?  ME!  I'm ready!  I LOVED this summer!  I hope it is one I remember forever.  I finally "get" why mom's love summer and then why we also have a smile on the first day of school.  We did it all this year - without really doing much.  No trips to Hawaii, no cruises, no Mexican all inclusive retreats...not even a visit to Indiana for grandma and grandpa.  We were serious about family time, just the 4 of us.  We enjoyed the lake both in Arizona and Idaho and that is all!  We seasoned our time at home with Natalie's reading incentive rewards and it was ALL great!

But I have to say....This morning was like an old sweater...I put the kids to bed, they woke up happy and on time, we had breakfast, got to school, came home had dinner and we're doing it all again, over and over and I missed this.  It feels good!

Wednesday sounds about right...

Wednesday is a specific day at the lake, in the mountains, where there really isn’t anything that needs doing or calls you away.  It is the middle, when you are finally ON vacation.   Your body has relaxed, you stop fighting the urge to plan and count the days.  In fact the last 96 hours isn’t really divided between nights and days but smaller increments of time.  Such as reading time, drink time, play time, nap time, hungry time, and wow! It’s already dinner time…then it kinda repeats itself as you loose the ability of separating between Monday and Tuesday. 

I only know it is Wednesday because I checked.  Today was the day Natalie went fishing for the time.  Today is the day when I felt the towels needed washing and today was the day that Allison, not Natalie, was recognized as a Karaoke star!

Ben had a chance to fish today and he thought Natalie was ready to go.  I have to say I agreed with him, she is so fun to spend one on one time with.  She is finally able to have a conversation, and notice the quiet things.  She was willing and excited to go so she was sunscreened up and sent on her way with a hat, a camera, and a sand pail (in case she had to “go”).  They came back 4 hours later with 4 fish to eat!  She had no complaints!  She was proud and happy.  Not hurt, not sunburned, not crying and not complaining!  She did use the pail and thanked me for packing the baby wipes.  She is now inspecting dinner, which is in the sink and Ben drove off to “catch” some rice at the local store.

Ally and I had an adventure all our own.  After both girls sang their heart out at Karaoke last night; Twinkle, Twinkle, Love Story, God Bless America, and B-I-N-G-O.  They would like to think they’re somewhat famous, even if it is around the 32 families here at Elkin’s this week.  But something happened while washing the towels….Here we were, Ally and I wasting time at the washer and dryer and in walks a girl about 6.  She too had her turn at the mic last night.  She sang something cute, something from an earlier era…well she immediately saw Ally and said, “Good job singing Twinkle, Twinkle last night!”  Well that just struck Ally silly.  She could not believe she had a fan.  She thought it was “crazy mommy” that the girl at the washers knew her song!  Natalie heard the news and of course asked if she remembered her Taylor Swift hit?  Nope sorry Nat, every once and a while your baby sister will outshine you…we all get the spotlight for a little while.

And so I spend another awesome afternoon with my feet propped up, clicking on my laptop knowing the blogging is getting done and the memories are being made and Temecula can wait, first grade and bills, and phone calls and responsibility will all be there when we get back.  Until then we have several more nap times, playtimes, eating times, and “wow! It is way past your bedtime” times to pass us by.