Little Slugger

After nearly five years of putting off organized sports, citing literature that kids this age just aren’t ready for that kind of thing (if only to conceal my true intentions of holding on for dear life to my sacred Saturday mornings), I finally caved in and signed Gabe up for T-ball.  What I found was that Gabe is ready for anything, including team sports, if by ready we mean… willing to try anything, full of energy and enthusiasm, a true rule-stickler at heart, eager to make friends, wanting desperately to be as strong and as fast in real life as he is in his imagination, uber-focused, and a kid who just wants to have fun wherever he goes.  If that’s what it takes to be ready, then I have to admit that he was probably ready months, maybe years ago. 

Do the boys run at the right times, throw to the right places, or have anything other than a general clue what they are doing?  Nope.  Do they have a blast with their buddies in the fresh sixty-five degree weather, being active, learning about teamwork and sportsmanship, and entertaining the heck out of us all the while?  Yep.  So, I guess what I’m saying is that it turns out I actually love spending my Saturday mornings this way (at least for the time being)!

And their team name is the Little Sluggers. 

  

Gabe takes himself very seriously out there!

  

Snacks and juice boxes might just be the highest highlight of the whole event each week.

 

Anniversary Staycation

Every year on our anniversary, Jake and I try to do something that is reminiscent of our Aruba beach nuptials, which were perfect and amazing.  One would think that the desert in January would offer slim pickings for that kind of thing, but we have found that we don’t have to go far to be reminded of how we felt on that day.  This year, we decided to go out by ourselves (without kids is “by ourselves” in married speak) for the first part of the celebration, and then include them in the second half.  We had a brunch at Lon’s at the Hermosa and then checked in at our resort at the Sheraton Wild Horse Pass Resort & Spa.  After what seemed like only a few minutes to ourselves at the pool, we went and got the kids to join us for dinner and a family slumber party at the hotel, which they are still talking about three weeks later.

On the one hand, I can’t believe it’s been seven years, because seven years of anything just seems like a very long time to me.  On the other, I look at my life when it’s peaceful and think, ‘of course it’s been seven years, look how much love there is, how many memories we’ve made, how much we’ve grown… look how many people there are!’.  Seven is my lucky number (that and 11), and I fully expect to make it a lucky year for us.

 

We soaked in the 90 degree swimming pool, while it was not even sixty degrees outside!  

First Snow

This was our first ever snow experience with the kids.  We were unprepared for just how cold it was out there, but they still had a blast for a good hour regardless.  Things started out wonderful.  They were really all troopers, despite the freezing temperatures.  All of them loved sledding down the hill, which was so fun to watch.  I loved seeing them all bundled up and chubby looking with their rosy cheeks smooshed between the sides of their hoods.  My normally independent-spirited little Bella seemed so sweet and helpless as she struggled to trudge through without sinking to her thighs into the snow with every step.  Gabe loved every minute of climbing the hills, attempting to make snow balls with his huge mittens, and sledding down at neck-break speeds.  Since snow hills aren’t exactly handicapped accessible, Ari got a ride in the sled wherever we went.  She was all smiles the whole time.  The only time the girls began to feel a little less enthused was when they started to remove their clothing.  After Bella took off her mitten, she stuck her hand into the snow, pulled it out wet and then at next glance, it was as though she was wearing an icicle glove.  I stuck her hand in my mouth as I carried her the whole way back to the car, where we hung out until the other three met a similar end. 

Jake was desperate to get the kids on video with a special message to Grammy & Papa for their 40th wedding anniversary.  His timing was a little off, but it is the thought that counts.

Zoolights

Like in many years past, we attended Zoolights with our friends the Edwards.  The weather was really nice for December, and all the kids loved every minute of the night.  Ari’s favorite moment was the musical dancing trees, Gabe’s was sliding down the Polar Slide side-by-side Lana (Bella wasn’t quite tall enough, which was okay, because she was a little nervous about it anyway), and Bella’s favorite experience was getting to converse with the talking giraffe (Ariana didn’t like him all that well).  And none of this would’ve been complete without a tall bag of warm kettle corn to get everyone through the ride home.

     

Our Christmas

I really enjoyed this Christmas season.  It went fast, which is to be expected because every year is getting more and more that way.  But, still, it felt like a break and it retained the special feelings that you always hope will surround you during this time of the year.  Blog post coming almost a month after the fact should reflect my relaxed pace.  This break meant wonderful lazy mornings with the littles waking at 8 instead of 7, brunch almost every day instead of a regimented breakfast and lunch, just enough under-the-weatherness to keep us indoors, holiday break from school/work/dance/sports class/t-ball/swim/all three therapies so we could just hang around and enjoy the togetherness and, of course, the toys that Santa brought our household.

We took a break from baking cookies this year and delivering them to all our friends.  I wish I had a better excuse, but ‘Christmas fell on a weekend’ is my story and I’m sticking to it.  The house did get decorated as is customary, and we did keep to most of our other traditions this year.  My photos, unfortunately won’t reflect most of the magic, because it wasn’t the year for photos.  I forgot to bring my camera on our first sledding adventure or for my sister Leah’s goodbye dinner, for example, so we’ll just have to keep many of those memories tucked into the coziest folds of our minds for safe keeping. 

Christmas morning, the kids got up at around 8 (I know, we’re blessed) and, independent spirits that they are, took it upon themselves to begin unwrapping the presents under the tree in all their excitement.  Jake and I awoke the the unusual sound of ripping paper and hurried down to delay the glorious process for another five minutes while we fetched Ari out of bed and got our heads on straight.

 

Some of Gabe’s highlight gifts were a VTech Mobigo from Grammy & Papa, a glider bike from Nana & Papa, Star Wars Lego sets and a Lego table, star wars figurines, a Star Wars Lego character encyclopedia, a headlight from Aunt Leah, and Transformer walkie-talkies from Aunt Marci.

Ari’s gift highlights were an IPad, lots of board games, a Fijit Friend from Nana & Papa, Xia Xia hermit crabs and playset from Grammy & Papa, a Dora microphone from Aunt Marci, Tag Reader books, and a Laugh & Learn Picnic Basket from Aunt Leah.

Bella’s favorite gifts were a VTech Mobigo from Grammy & Papa, a glider bike from Nana & Papa, an art easel, Disney fairies and princesses play sets.

    

This Fijit Friend was returned by me when I mistakenly thought it was broken, but later realized it only needed a change of batteries!  Now, it’s sold out everywhere or is costing twice the price it was when I bought it ($40).  Ari loves the thing, so if you see it in a store or online, please let me know!

You may have noticed that my face or my pregnant tum didn’t make it into even one photo of any part of Christmas or the following two posts (including my anniversary!), and amending that has become a new years resolution of mine – Jake even got a camera tutorial from me tonight so that he can feel more confident behind the lens and then maybe there will be a record of my interactions with my kids as they grow. I may not miss seeing my Christmas morning dreary-eyed face sans make-up in photos, but my kids will, so I resolve to be less absent from the pics.

We went to Holbrook for our second round of Christmas celebrating.  There with us were Grammy and Papa (our gracious hosts), Ryan, Chantelle, Ali, Darren, Rob, his fiance Ligia, and cousins Brayden, Trevor, Kendrick, Vance, Madison, Margaret, and Katherine.  That made twenty (and often more) people in the house.  It didn’t feel crowded (busy, yes), but it was cozy and comforting to hear all those voices and know that everyone was there for one reason… to be together.  I wasn’t feeling well for most of the time we were there, which cramped my party-lovin’ style, but it still felt sweet watching my kids play with all their cousins and get loved all over everywhere they turned.

The kids did a Nativity pageant (at least I think that’s what it’s called).  Gabe wanted to be a king, Bella wanted to be the angel but preferred the headdress of a biblical man to the tinsel halo that went with her costume, and Ari wanted to wear the least costuming as possible (she was only the cow for a minute really).  It was cute, of course, and I will love showing them this picture when they’re teenagers :).

One of the very few moments I photographed over Christmas was the Christmas carols-turned-dance party we had on Christmas night.  It lasted probably over an hour.  We are a dancing family, if you didn’t know it by now.

     

It was merry.  I hope yours was too.