tball with my buddy

Earlier this summer, I was able to be the assistant coach for Luke's Tball team.  Our town does neighborhood teams, so Luke was on a team with all of his friends.  The beginning of this summer was absolutely insanely busy, so I was nervous about taking on something else, but it turned out to be so much fun doing something with Luke.

Luke was timid at first, but as soon as he broke out of his shell, he was a great tball player!  He could really slam the ball off of the Tee,

and he is extremely fast!!   I loved how he would get all ready to run when he was on a base.

ready position...haha!

Sam came to almost every game, and was a huge helper.  He is also a monkey, and set a "great example" of climbing up the dugout almost every game.

We had a really fun season, with a really cute little team. Go Jets!!!

Left to right:  Luke, Ian Johnson, Ty Hadlock, Christian, Ky Russell, Luke Phillips, Pippa Suhkan, Elle Kohler Evalyn Dyer

a spring saturday

Spring and fall are NUTS, but also really fun.  This Saturday was kind of our kick off to our busy spring season. 

I got to the gym for a workout at 7:00.

I rushed home, and we all went to support Molly and Luke for their first soccer games of the season.  It was Molly's first game ever.

Molly's team was so cute!  They had no idea what boundaries were, so they would kick the ball out of bounds, and then just keep on going.  It was hilarious!!

That is Molly kicking the ball about 20 feet outside of the field.  (the white line and the orange cone) ha!

Molly's coach was great with the little kiddos, and he did his best to explain to them how to do things.  At the end of one of his explanations, Molly rose her hand an announced that it was her Birthday.  Her Birthday is in September....it is April.  :) She is hilarious.  Oh Molly.

She did a great job running around and trying to kick the ball.  The more she learns the game, the better she will get.  It is so cute and fun to watch this age though.

This is Molly's coach teaching her how to throw the ball in.

And this would be Molly setting the ball down and kicking it instead.  hahaha!

Luke's game was going on at the exact same time as Molly's.  Ben and I and the other kids just took turns watching each game.  Their fields were right next to each other, so that helped.

Luke did amazing!!  Two of the kids on his team didn't feel like playing, so it was 2 on 3.  Luke's team was the one with just two players. 

Luke ran and ran and ran....and he is FAST!  Luke is very fast.

Luke is very athletic, and he ended up being a great defender.  He could kind of read where the ball was heading and think ahead.  He is still young in the sport and has tons to learn, but he is already a smart player, and his speed is amazing! 

Huge kick in.  Go Luke!

Luke smiled through the whole game, even though he was really tired by the end.  He had a great time.  He got two shots on the goal, but they both just missed.  He wants to get a goal so badly, I hope it happens for him this season.  He is such a cute little guy out there, but he has some serious skill!

After Luke and Molly's games, we all rushed home, and tried to deep the clean the house for about an hour...then it was off to Mary's cheer competition in Salt Lake at the Salt Palace.

Mary is the middle flyer

Mary is second one over from the left.

Mary, Alina, Hadley

Mary and I spent the rest of the day at her competition.  Her team did well, but they just aren't quite as competitive as the other teams in their group.  They did a great routine, with just one mistake, but it cost them unfortunately.  It was Mary's last competition with this gym and with this team.  She had a fun time doing this with her friends, and learning a lot about the sport.  She is really excited to try out at another gym in a couple weeks though.  Her best friend will be trying out with her, so she will know someone. 
This gym is phenomenal and has incredible athletes!  Their teams are highly competitive and very, very good. They already know Mary is coming and they said that they are excited have her.
I can't wait to watch Mary grow and progress in the sport, which I know will happen at this new gym.

While Mary and I were at her competition, Ben took the other kids over to Sam's soccer game.  Luckily, his game was here in Heber this weekend.  Ben said that Sam did great, but his poor team just got slaughtered.  Dang.  As long as Sam is progressing and happy, that is all that matters though.

After we all got home, I finished cleaning the house, and we all just kind of crashed.  Big day!!!

Molly drew this picture last night.  I had to document it, because of her amazing detail for being only 3 years old.  She loves to draw, and she is actually really good at it!


The person on the left is Ben...complete with eyebrows and a clef in his chin.  The one on the right is Molly, complete with a ponytail.  They are fishing.  They are also mad, because Ben isn't sharing the fishing pole.  haha!

So, there you have it.  Welcome Spring...and all of craziness that comes with it!

vegas baby!

 In the middle of February, Mary had a cheer competition in Vegas.  It was a National Competition, so the team was really excited.
   Mary has three best friends on her cheer team, and I am great friends with their moms, so we all decided to go together.
   It was so much fun!!!
Alina's mom, Kelly, had  a timeshare that we stayed at.  It was really, really nice.  We had two fully furnished kitchens, 4 bedrooms, two living rooms, and a really nice pool and hot tub as well.  It was awesome!
   It was a two day competition.  The first day the girls did amazing!  They loved being on the huge stage with all of the lights and the big sound system.

 It got them so excited and pumped. They held every stunt, and they were all in sync for the dance and their jumps.  The girls were so excited!  It put them in a great place going in to day 2.

Mary and Laynee warming up

"stretching"

Team Black Ridge on the warm up mat

Mary and Laynee

Mary and Alina

Nailed their stunt!!!  Mary is the top left flyer.

Coaches: Tausha, Christina and Amber

  Unfortunately, day 2 wasn't so great.  They had to make some changes the night before, and they treated Mary and a few other girls very unfairly with the changes.  It ended up hurting the team, and was a big source of frustration for Mary and I and a few others. This was something that had been happening already, and was getting really old.
  A stunt fell the second competition day, and the girl that fell, pulled down the girl next to her.  It was the stunt Mary should have been in, and has always held solid in. She was not it that stunt on this day, and it proved to hurt the team.  It was a tough pill to swallow, and a big lesson learned for the coaches, unfortunately, it was learned at the expense of the team and to Mary.
  The girls were pretty upset, and Mary was bummed, but it actually didn't really ruin the trip. Mary is a great kid, and she held her chin up and didn't complain when things were unfair, and when it greatly hurt her and her team.  She is a team player and she was willing to put herself and her hurt feeling aside in order to pump up her team, smile, and not cause drama.  I was so proud of her for her grace and her good character that she showed.  I, on the other hand, was ready to rip someone's head off.  Mary held me back...but my word...argh!!!!
   We were having so much fun with our little group, that it was easy for the girls to get over their disappointment and just have a good time.
   We walked all up and down the strip, shopped our hearts out, ate a ton of yummy food, explored lots of the hotels/casinos, and ate the best cupcakes and cake pops we have ever had.
   Mary, Alina, Laynee and Hadley got along really well, and had an absolute blast.  Kelly, Mandy, Krista and I had just as much fun.

Team bowling party

the Coke store

the M&M store

   It was such a great trip for us girls.  I loved having that time with Mary where we could just have fun.  She is an amazing athlete, and it was fun to watch her compete and do something that she loves.

 

new beginnings

Three kids started a new sport this month.  It has been exciting to see William, Luke and Molly try new things and join in the crazy fall sports schedule.  Fall is always extremely busy, but it is my favorite season, and I wouldn't change a thing. 

William decided that instead of soccer this fall, he wanted to try out flag football.  I missed his first game, because I was at another sports event (divide and conquer is our motto over here), but I made it to his second game. 

I love how in between each play, the teams huddle together, and the coaches actually teach them plays and strategy.

William's coach is awesome, and for each play, he lets the kids try a new position.  What a great way to let the kids try a little of everything, and see what is a good fit for them.

About half of William's team has already played before, and the other half, including William are experiencing their first season.

William is still trying to get the hang of it all, because it is a lot to learn and to grasp, but he is doing great!  His very first game, he ran the ball all the way down the field for a touchdown, but he stepped out of bounds, so it didn't count.  Rats!!  His game this week, he blocked the other player from getting the ball, and almost got an interception.

I can tell that once he gets the hang of the plays and the strategy, and can just play the game, he is going to do really well.

The most important thing though, is that he is having fun, which he is.  He is really enjoying it so far.  His only issue is that he just "really wants to be able to smash people."  ha!  Soon enough William, soon enough.

Miss Molly started gymnastics two weeks ago.  I think she thought the day would NEVER come.  The day I told her that I signed her up for "jump jump, " Mary gave Molly her leotard from when she was 3, and Molly put it on.  She was sooo excited all day! 

We walked into the rec center for her first class, and Molly got nervous.  Thank goodness Mary was with us!  She helped Molly get used to the idea of following the coach.  It was really neat to see Mary helping Molly.  It was 10 years ago, almost to the month, that Mary was her age, in her first gymnastics class.  Now, here she was helping her sister follow the same path.

Once Molly got over her nerves, it was all uphill from there.

Molly LOVED every second of the class.  She was so excited that she skipped to and from the different stations, and she was jumping in line while waiting for her turn.

When it was finally time for them to go to the trampoline, Molly looked at me and fist pumped the air!  I about died laughing.  It was great!

Molly had a blast, and is very naturally talented.  She definitely has a love for the sport, and some natural ability to go with it.

Luke had his very first soccer game this week.

I wasn't quite sure what to expect with him.  He is very athletic, and incredibly fast, but he can also hold back and be shy and not want to participate.  It could go either way.

He is the one that asked to try soccer though, so I was hoping that he would just go for it.

Within the first quarter of the game, Luke had stolen the ball three times, and had made several shots on the goal.  At his age, there is no goalie, but some kid on the other team was literally sitting in the middle of the little goal net, so there was absolutely no way to make a goal. It didn't seem to bother Luke though, so no worries there.

I didn't care about Luke making goals, or stealing the ball though.  I was just so thrilled that he was playing AND smiling and laughing!!  He was having a great time!

I love to see my kids being active, but even more so, I love to see them having fun doing something they like to do.

Luke ran as fast as he could through the whole game.  He is very speedy and could catch up to whoever had the ball pretty quickly, if he wanted to. He definitely has some learning to do, as far as how to play the game, but dang, he is good little soccer player.

I hope he has a really fun season, and learns to have a great time doing sports.

Luke is on the yellow team.  Easy to spot with his white hair!

His coach is awesome...and he was William's coach last year.

So, basically, this fall, our week is something like this....after the hour of 3pm

Monday:  Sam soccer practice, Mary tumbling, mom teaches 4 piano lessons, homework, FHE
Tuesday: Luke soccer game, William flag football game, Mary cheerleading, yard work, homework
Wednesday: mom teaches 2 piano lessons, deep house cleaning day, mutual, scouts, homework
Thursday: Mary cheerleading, Molly gymnastics, Sam soccer practice, homework
Friday:  FREE DAY!!!!
Saturday:  Sam soccer game, Luke soccer game, William flag football game, mom had her long runs, dad does a biking session
Sunday:  try to rest, regroup, and fulfill church responsibilities.

It is pretty crazy, for sure, but I really do love it. 

(for real, as I was tying this post, Ben just asked where Sam is.  I started calling for him, and then realized that he is at soccer practice!  Yikes!  I totally forgot.  I just got back from picking Mary and from cheer, taking Molly to gymnastics, and trying to feed everyone dinner. Ben is rushing over there right now to pick him up...good grief!)

Welcome fall!!!