Wednesday's Winning Words

I have been on this unintended, yet self-imposed hiatus from most social media and it's killing me...but not as much as the time vacuums that are keeping me from it--you know, work, life, meetings, etc.  Regardless, know that I am working on re-entry, but it is a slow process.  If only I could quit everything else and surf the web and write all day....but then I wouldn't have much to write about, I guess.  Anyway, I couldn't pass up a quick opportunity to share Justus' latest obsession with you all.

A few weeks ago, we were discussing his spring sporting activities.  We have a rule--one sport per season per kid.  This obviously doesn't affect Delaney yet, but it matters to me that we set the ground rules on this issue early.  I refuse to have kids spread all over the place all the time, any more than it will already happen.  So, here's how it went down:

Me:  Justus, do you want to do spring soccer, basketball, t-ball....?
J:  Mom, I'm going to be a ninja.  I NEED ninja training!

So, I present to you, the world's newest ninja-in-training.

 

And little sister, "Ninjina" (according to brother Ninja)

 

Now, I don't want to get too far ahead of myself, but after 2.5 weeks at 2 lessons a week, he still loves it and is convinced it is his life's work preparation (although you wouldn't be able to tell based on the way he acts in class), SOOOO, if you are in need of a ninja in, say, about 13 years, you now know who to call.

While the parents are away....

...the monkees will play.....

Kidd and I took a long weekend trip to New York City (every time I say that in my head, I think of the Pace commercial from the 90's...talk about good marketing!), and left the kids in the very capable hands of Ms. Shanon.  While pictures from our weekend are still to come, Shanon was nice enough to text me pics over the course of the weekend so we could see what the kiddos were up to while we were away.

Justus had his last t-ball game of the season.  No, I'm not the kind of parent that would normally leave town on the day of her kid's last game.  It was a make-up game from a rain out.  **Thanks to Tish for a few of these pics too.**

 

 



TROPHIES!!!                                                                    Justus with pal, Charlie

...played dress up...with Brother's shoes... (this girl and shoes...oh my!)

Had some pool time fun in the sun (note the earplugs!)....

and had a play date with some of our besties, the King kiddos--

Radley, Emmy, and Landry

 

All in all, I'm pretty sure they had as much fun as, if not more than, we did!  Looks like everyone is starting the summer off right.  Thanks Shanon (and Caitlyn) for loving our kiddos and keeping them while we were gone.  And, mostly for sending us pics so we could keep up with all the fun!

The little moments...

So, I've been helping out with Justus' t-ball team.  I wouldn't jump straight to calling it "coaching" exactly, because that's what we have Sal and Ty for.  I really just make sure the little guys on 2nd base are paying enough attention to run to third when the ball is hit and then stay on 3rd and remind them to run home again when the ball is hit, but it's a lot of fun and I enjoy doing it and getting to know these adorable kiddos.  At our Tuesday game last week, Charlie's mom, Ashley, took this pic of Justus (#9) and me.

My initial reaction was "oh my gosh, what an awful picture of me (being from the rear and all)...[insert other negative self-analysis thoughts here]..."  By Thursday of last week, I was traveling for work
to the slightly less than tropical destination of Kingsville, Texas--I know, my work is glamorous, don't be jealous. As an unfortunate consequence, I missed one of Justus' T-Ball games.  In some moment Thursday night, I realized just how much I missed being at his game.  In the rush of day to day life, I sometimes feel like it is just another burden of getting here or there for something he only seems to get really excited about when getting on his uniform or having the snacks after the game.  But, in the absence of that and the solitude of a hotel room, looking for something else on my phone for work, I stumbled back upon this picture and realized how special that moment was. 

One blog I am hooked on is Momastery, and I don't get to read it as often as I would like, but she wrote one some time back that just resounds with me regularly.  It's called "2011 Lesson #2: Don't Carpe Diem".  In fact, I'm pretty sure it's the one I read that got me turned on to her blog.  I would love to just sit and read all her blog posts, but I just don't have the time to read all the ones I want, which is another post entirely.  Anyway, in this particular post, she talks about how the reward is often found in the reflection of the moment rather than in the moment itself.  She makes me feel better for not LOVING every. single. second of momming.  She has much more wit and eloquence to her words than I do, but that's the basic jist.  Read it.  You will go back for more.

Getting to the point---as I sat looking at that picture, in which I initially only focused on my poor appearance, I realized all of the blessings it reveals:  I have time to spend on a weekday evening, out at the t-ball fields with my family, rather than having to work.  I have a wonderfully healthy 5-year-old boy who loves to be active and really loves that when he gets to 3rd base, his mom is standing there to greet him, encourage him, and help him get home.  I live in a community that supports activities for young kids and has the facilities to make it happen.  I also have new friends, who are amazing people, that I have met because our son's play together, and I look forward to seeing them and their families at games as much as I look forward to going and watching our kids play. 

So, thank you, Ashley, for this reminder of so many of the wonderful things that are wrapped up in the regular everyday little moments of life.

Wednesday's Winning Words

Get excited people--Justus is playing T-Ball this spring!!  You know what that means, right?!?!  Little humans in sports uniforms (and a tiny human in blingy-sporty-sibling outfits!). 

Can. Not. Wait. for the cute parade!

We don't get started for a couple of weeks still, but we got our roster and team name (Texas Rangers!) and will be going out to get new equipment this weekend.  Two of Justus' friends are on his team, which is super exciting for him.  Charlie's dad coached his soccer team, and Carlos' dad is coaching this team.  So, I think the idea that dads are supposed to coach hit home pretty quickly for him. 

Next thing I know:  "Mommy, when is my daddy going to coach my team?"  and before I can even  start with "I don't know that your dad..." I get:  "Maybe he can do it when I play basketball!" 

Have you ever seen Kidd Royal play basketball?  I'm not saying if he's good or bad, I just want to know if any one has actually ever seen him play the sport.  I never cared one way or the other if Justus ever played basketball, but for that, it may be worth it!