Thursday, August 29, 2013

Summer Bits and Pieces

This post is super random, but I wanted the chance to share some of the fun things we've been up to at the end of summer. 
Supper Club this month was at Rick & Mandy's house! We snapped some fun pictures of all the kids together. Not too long ago, Nolan was the only kid of our group...now there are 7! 

We pray that they will grow up to be best friends, just like their parents are! 

Nolan looked too cute holding sweet Libby! After a few minutes, he whispered, "She's getting kinda heavy." His polite way of saying, "Mommy, can I be done now?". 

We did a fun wine tasting activity. Everyone brought 2 bottles of Cabernet Sauvignon. When we arrived, Mandy wrapped one bottle in tin foil so that we couldn't tell who's bottle was who's. The other bottle would be a prize for the couple who brought the most liked wine. Then she numbered all the bottles and spread them throughout the house. Throughout the evening everyone had to taste test each bottle and then vote for their favorite. The wine that got the most votes for favorite, was the winner! Then that couple would wine the 5 extra bottles of wine! 
It was so fun! I walked around and took notes on each bottle so that I could remember and compare them. 

Mark tallied up the votes and then unwrapped each bottle to see what kind they were. Bottle number 5 was not one of my favorites...but it was the winner! I'm not really a red wine drinker, so I chose a favorite that was sweeter and not as dry. Mark went to a liquor store and consulted one of the workers there to pick out our bottle. It was from Argentina, it sounded like it would be good. 

Each bottle had to be $15 dollars or less...and guess what the winner was...2 Buck Chuck! Or otherwise known as Charles Shwab! Ha! These bottles are out of order, but they all went to the winner...our hosts: Rick & Mandy! It was such a fun night even if our bottle only got one vote- which was from Mark- because he knew it was ours! What a dork! He didn't want our bottle to have no votes! 

The rest of the evening was spent chatting and chowing down on a delicious Italian feast! We wrangled our kids and passed them around and had a wonderful time. We are so thankful for this group of friends to do life with. 

Here's an iphone pic I forgot to put in Nolan's Kindergarten post. We love walking to school! Here we were on our way into Mammoth Heights on Nolan's assessment day. 

This picture was on a walk home from school one day. Heath hopped in the double jogger and Brooks rubbed his back the whole way home. It was a change from his normal brotherly smacking! 

On one walk to school, we took a shortcut on a little path behind the pool. Heath was running, of course, and he slipped and fell in the mud. I thought it was going to end in a huge tantrum with crying and screaming and whining because Heath does NOT like to be dirty. But he actually handled it so well! He didn't cry one bit. He stood up and walked the rest of the way and waited nicely while we dropped Nolan off and walked nicely all the way back home as well. As soon as we got home we got him cleaned up and washed his clothes and shoes. My little guy is growing up! 

Wrestling boys! It's crazy wild around our house. 

Heath's Fro Yo creation after his last t-ball game. What a sweet tooth he has! 

Pool time! Our favorite summer activity. We are getting really sad because we only have one more week to spend there before it closes. 

A few videos from the pool...



I love that I can take the boys to the pool by myself and just sit back and watch now! I know it will only get easier each year as they become more and more confident in the water. It's so nice. 

I love this pic of my middle jumping into the pool! Pure joy! 

Nolan and Heath like to take Brooks for rides around the pool! Such good brothers! I'm glad that all three of them are starting to play together now. 

A little Sonic run one night after the pool! We love going to the pool on a nice warm night, there's usually only a couple of families there. 

This little one still loves all sports. He loves shooting hoops! He pretends to dribble before each shot.

He also loves baseball and walks around with a glove on or a bat in his hand all the time! 

Only a few more months with these beloved pacis, boy! I think he's trying to make the most of them while he still has them! Ha! He can be such a ham and already understands how to try to get a laugh. 

And he tries to climb everything. I found him like this one day. 

Mark spoiled me with flowers during my first week of school. One dozen for starting school, one dozen to get out of the dog house! Ha! Just keepin' it real! He's such a good hubby! And he knows the way to my heart for sure. After working in a flower shop for so many years, I still love the sentiment of a man picking out something beautiful for the one he loves! 

We are into our school routines full gear now. 3 schools, 3 schedules! It's crazy but we are managing. The boys are loving school this year, and I'm on the fence. Ha! It's been a challenging start, but my 22 little 5 year olds are starting to get the hang of things. But I can't tell you how excited I am for the 3 day weekend coming up! Yay!!! 

Sunday, August 25, 2013

Little Mets

Heath was so excited to try a new sport this summer. He wanted to play t-ball so we signed him up to play through i9 Sports since Parker Rec doesn't start baseball programs until age 4. We asked Cohen to play on the team and Jace from Heath's soccer teamed joined as well. These two cousins were so cute in their baseball uniforms! 
When we showed up on the first day, there happened to be no coach, so guess who ended up coaching the team...Mark! He is more than qualified, but we didn't know how Heath would do with Daddy as coach, and Mark wasn't so sure he wanted the responsibility, but it ended up being such a fun season! Jace's Dad, Jason, was Heath's soccer coach, so he volunteered to help Mark coach their team, "The Little Mets" this season as well. 

Mark did a great job planning drills and skills for each weeks practice. Each team practiced for about 45 minutes and then they played a game.

This is a video that Brad took of Heath's first at bat. It's pretty hilarious. After this first game, Mark realized that he needed to spend time each practice just practicing how to run the bases!
I'm bummed because I didn't take any other videos of Heath playing. Mental note for next season of sports: take more video! The boys love watching videos of themselves and so do I. 

 i9 also has a Sportsmanship focus for each practice. Mark would gather the players at the beginning of each practice and go over what they would be working on that week, such as: hustle, team work, or cooperation. Then at the end of the practice he would announce the names of 2 kids who best embodied those skills that week. Those 2 kids would earn a special medal and a coupon for a free pizza from Dominos. 
Watching 3, 4, and 5 year olds play t-ball is a very funny thing! Some kids are super aggressive, others are playing in the dirt, some kids run hard, others are sitting in the grass. One minute your kid is hitting well, throwing far, and hustling for the ball, and the next they are tired and hot and distracted. Heath had fun and loved hitting, but he didn't exactly love the field yet. 

And he still had a moment or two that looked like this! HA! That's our Heathy- fire and ice! 

After that last weeks pouty practice, the next week he worked so hard and won the medal for "Cooperation". He was so proud! And so were we! 

One of Heathy's favorite parts of t-ball...hitting practice! 

For the first few games of the season, Nolan and I would have to leave Heath's practice to head over to Nolan's soccer games. It was nice when he finished his soccer season and we could just enjoy our mornings at the ball field. Nolan always picked flowers to give to Oma on the days she came to cheer on her grand boys! 

Heath really learned a lot more about the game of baseball. And our goal each week was to keep his hat and glove on in the field! Ha! By week 6 he actually achieved this goal for the ENTIRE game! Woo hoo! 

The boys cheering their brother on! Nolan always gave Heath such nice compliments each practice. 
Heath always had a nice cheering section: Nolan, Brooks, Auntie Jayne, Uncle Brad, Grandma, Opa, Oma, and myself all had the chance to root for "The Little Mets"! 
It's funny because when Mark played baseball for Calvin, I was always embarrassed to cheer loudly for him. But when my kids play sports, it just sort of comes out! I have no shame in yelling "Be a hitter number 10!" I just want them to feel SO encouraged! Ha! 

I just love how cute #10 looks with his baseball pants up...just like his Daddy wore them! 

Mark was so good with the kids! 2 other families from different teams actually approached Mark on two different dates to ask him if he would be coaching again in the fall. They both gave him such nice compliments about his coaching and said that they would love for their sons to be on his team! He gave them his name and said to look for him on the schedule in the future. We are going to take the fall off from sports and just focus on school, but maybe he'll coach again in the Spring. I'm really proud of him and his versatility- he has coached High School baseball and 3 year old t-ball, and he has done both so well! 

Look at these two watching the ball and waiting to practice their fielding. So cute! 



Practicing their throwing formation. 

Before the last game, i9 did such a fun little celebration for all of the teams. They were announced and got to run through a break away banner and smoke to some rockin' music. They got all pumped up before their game and it was so cute! Look for #10! 

On deck...
Each kid got to bat twice during the game. These little "dug out" chairs were cool! 

Up to bat...

On Second and ready to run. 

This picture is so funny! Heath is running home and if you look to the right you'll see one of his teammates doing some sort of karate dance move! Ha! This is a true depiction of what was happening at any given moment! 

Look how small Heathy looks next to his team mate. He definitely has his father's build- short and broad. 

Most hits didn't make it past the infield, so all of the players were positioned on bases or in the dirt, not in the grass in the outfield. 


High Fiving after the game. Mark had to teach the kids how to do this, and even after 6 weeks, they still struggled with the routine. There were many missed 5's! Ha! 

We took our own team pictures after the last game. 
I think the silly one suited the team best! 

But Heath smiled nicely and we'll always treasure this picture of his first baseball experience. 

After his last game I took Heath out to FroYo to celebrate a good season...it's kind of becoming my tradition with the boys. He's sporting the new medal that each team member earned to commemorate their season. I just love my one on one time with him. He is thoughtful and funny and so dear. 
Heath had a great time playing t-ball with his cousin and having Daddy for his Coach! He was excited to go every week, he had fun, learned more about the sport, practiced his listening and team work skills, and looked mighty sweet doing it! We are so proud of you Heath Tyler!