Baseball

This baseball season is giving my a taste of my life to come and that is pure chaos during baseball season. The boys had games almost every day of the week and somedays at the same time.
Irregardless, Another successful regular season under our belts. The Angels took first.....again. And Cy had an outstanding year. Nolan had asked him to set some goals at the beginning of the season and he had set the goal to strike out no more than 2 times. He had zero strike outs for the season!!! Pretty awesome. He had 6 home runs and played a mean first base.

Fearsome Foursome - These four have been inseperable



Cy after the Awards Ceremony with his #1 Fan


First Place - Pinto Angels

Home Run Derby - tied for 2nd. So close.

Accelerated League

Cy also played on the Accelerated Team which was a good experience for him because it is kid pitch. He even got in to pitch twice, and you know what? He did pretty good for a kid who who just thrown into the fire.

Cole was on the "yellow" team this year. He did great. He is a hoot to watch. The first few games were kind of painful because the league decided to use a manual pitching machine instead of letting a coach pitch and there was a learning curve for both coaches and players with that. But they figured it out and according to Cole only lost once to the white team. Also, according to Cole, if they are #1 in the league and he is the best player on his team that makes him the very best player. Love that kid and his confidence. He practiced most of the time with Cy's team which has been great for him. He has learned so much.

The Yellow Team

Cole - Home Run Derby


Nolan made us all proud again this year. Showing a great deal of patience and doing a fabulous job teaching the kids.

Last Day of Kindergarten

Next year I will have 2 1/2 days to myself a week. Sounds nice, doesn't it? It sounds nice for about a week and then I will want my baby back. I will miss getting back into bed for snuggles after we take Cy to school and hanging out with my little buddy in the mornings. I cannot believe he will be in first grade. He is getting so big.

Cole had a wonderful year in kindergarten. He loved his classmates, a little girl named Hannah and his teacher. I volunteered every other Monday in his classroom but my mom and dad volunteered every Wednesday. They made such a wonderful difference in the classroom. Cole's teacher told us that the morning class had initially tested higher than the afternoon class but by the end of the year the afternoon class was testing higher. She truly believed that the extra help with both grandparents being there consistently every week was what made the difference. My parents were hesitant to volunteer at first but I dare say it became one of the most rewarding parts of their weeks. I am so grateful to them for doing it. My mom has adopted the "it takes a village" motto to raising kids and boy we have a great village.

Cole was sad about his last day of class. When he got home I asked him if anyone else was sad. He said, "Kevin was really sad. He told me that if boys could marry other boys, he would marry me." I LOVE the innocence of kindergarten. Wish I could bottle it up. This class was so funny. They always paired up with members of the opposite sex. They all had someone in the class they were going to "marry." One day I was working with them on E-D words. One of those words was WED, so they all had to tell me who in the class they would marry when they grew up. A cute little girl also told me "Did you know that all the girls in this class think your son is really cute?" I couldn't blame them. I think he is pretty cute too.

Disneyland 2011

This we we ventured to Disneyland with the Skiby's. Unfortunately, despite my hours and hours of research, I ended up booking us at a horribly busy time which added a little stress for me. The older I get the more I hate crowds and I really wanted everyone to have a good time. I think the crowds bothered me more than anyone else. That being said, we came up with a pretty good system and were successful at getting in plenty of rides during our trip.

I realized it was just as cheap to take a limo as it was to get two cabs. The boys thought this was the coolest thing ever. I think they were as excited about this part of the vacation as they were for Disneyland.

Cheers!!!

Cole's very favorite part.....candy. When I booked the trip, I told the driver that we had little kids and he said that he always carried candy with him. This is the moment Cole talked about for weeks prior.

Yeah! We are here.

So happy. Cole was so disappointed when his brother was picked to do the Jedi Training Academy in a previous trip, so we went all out, broke out the Padawon costume (why should the girls have all the fun?) and it worked. He was chosen to train.

Cole battling Darth Maul, or as Cole calls him Darth Smalls.

Cole and Papa

Mmmm....Turkey Legs. Seriously, this thing did not stand a chance against this hungry kid.


Sharing the stroller. I think this is the last year we can justify getting a stroller :(


Cole and Nolan getting ready for the Tower of Terror. He did it. He cried after it was over, but he did it. He would not do it a second time though. He and Papa Norm caused some trouble trying to break of the line through the emergency exit but escaped to the outdoors for ice cream instead. I think that they were both happier with that.


Staring Contest. It was a favorite activity for killing time in the lines.


The Skiby Family at Newport Beach


We went Whale Watching again, and again we did not see any whales but we did see several hundred dolphin. It was pretty awesome.

Night at the Museum

The boys' school held a fun family night to showcase the students creative sides. called Night at the Museum. There were arts, crafts, performances and readings. Cy did a reading with some of his classmates. It was fun to get to see them show off for us.

Cousin Visit

Emma and Grace came to visit with their Mom, my cousin, Heather. The boys are always so excited to have guests. We threw everyone in the same bedroom to avoid conflict and encourage giggles. Wish I would have taken more pictures.

Lost Tooth

I ignored it for weeks, but it came out anyway. March 28, 2011 - Another big boy milestone under his belt. He was so excited to have the tooth fairy come visit. She left him 5 gold dollars.

*heavy sigh*

GUILTY

I have been lucky. I have worked part-time since Cy was born. I work three days a week. I like my job, I like contributing to my family financially and working was just something I always knew would be part of my life. I have never felt guilty about working. Unfortunately, that all came to an end today. Both the boys had games tonight. Tonight was my "late" night at work so I knew I would miss their games but I MISSED MY SONS FIRST HOME RUN!! I was on the phone with my Mom when it happened, so I got a taste of the excitement, but I was too late. I felt terrible!!! I cried the rest of the way to the ballpark. I got there in time to see his last hit, a double. He was so excited to tell me about the home run and didn't seem disappointed that I wasn't there. My husband didn't see it either (the game was at 5:00, who has games at 5:00?) but Nolan didn't feel guilty about it. He wishes he had seen it but I wouldn't say he felt guilty. I am sure he didn't cry about it and he won't loose sleep about it tonight. I am actually confident he won't give it much more thought. And that is NOT because he doesn't care, he cares a great deal. That's because he isn't a Mom. He doesn't suffer from Mom guilt.

Mom guilt starts as soon as you get pregnant. Did I take my vitamins everyday, Did I hurt the baby with my non-stop Diet Pepsi addiction, is my baby going to be deaf because I went to Motley Crue while pregnant (ha, ha. That's for you Tara)? And it doesn't stop. People do not warn you about this. You will never take a guilt-free shower again. You will question most decisions you make. The things I tend to feel guilt about vary tremendously. I feel guilty that I am so far behind on my scrap booking, that Cole is a typical second child with too few videotapes of him, that we are not saving enough for college, that I am being too hard on them, that I am not being hard enough on them, that I said the wrong thing, that I haven't worked hard enough on times tables with them, that they don't eat enough fruits and vegetables, that I forgot to pack him a lunch and on and on and on.............

For me it was easier when my kids were littler to balance my time. When they were younger, we were on my schedule for the most part. Now I am on their schedule. School, ball, friends, etc all are scheduled at times that may or may not work for me. Being the control freak who really likes to get her way, this is a hard pill for me to swallow. I feel like I run around with like a chicken with my head cut off half of the time. I realize I only have 2 kids too. I cannot imagine having more. I have a friend with 4 boys and I cringe thinking of her schedule with sports and such. A little more than a year ago, I had to get a Blackberry because I was feeling bad about forgetting the littlest things all the time. A reminder goes off for me every 5 minutes about the most ridiculous of things. But it has helped to keep me on task which helps alleviate some of my guilt. I love my Blackberry. I NEED my Blackberry.

So today I breathed a heavy sigh of frustration because my guilt will do me no good, but it won't go away either. That heavy sigh reminded me of a story of some of my first Mom guilt. It is a story that makes me laugh now because it is so ridiculous, but there was a time I didn't think it was funny, not funny at all. I will try to give you the short version. Cy was a moniker that I was not 100% sold on but I let Nolan win that fight. The first night that we had Cy home from the hospital was a rough one. We were up all night. At 6 am, I called my Mom and Dad and had them relieve us so we could get some sleep. After me and Nolan got a nap in we were visiting with my parents and watching TV. A commercial came on that showed kids who were displeased with what was for dinner or something like that. They would cut to a kid rolling his eyes and the announcer would say "the eye roll, hands on the hips" whatever it might be but the last one I remember for sure. They showed a little boy and the announcer said "the heavy sigh." The heavy sigh?!? It stopped me dead in my tracks. I started to cry. When my husband and parents questioned why I had started to cry, I angrily told them "Heavy sigh!!" They looked at me like I was crazy. "If he is chubby" I told them, "the other kids will call him Heavy Cy." They all laughed hysterically and I cried even harder.

Looking back, it is probably something I didn't need to feel so guilty about. Hopefully I feel the same way about this night too......someday.

I also feel guilty about blogging too infrequently. More posts to follow tomorrow so I can check that off my guilt list.

Winter Blues

I have noticed a trend in my blogging habits. I rarely post anything early in the year. I catch up on December's events in January and then I do not even take a photo much less feel the need to blog until the weather gets nicer. This year is no different. I am so tired of winter I could scream. This has seemed like a much harsher winter than in the past. I'm a native Utahn and a pea coat, maybe some gloves, have always treated me right. This year was bitter and I found myself avoiding any task that took me outdoors. Not even the need for groceries could talk me into venturing out. Cy played Jr. Jazz and was awesome. I took my camera only one game. One game, that's fine, right? Well not when it is the last game and you forget the memory card. Way to go. MOTY award already lost and it was only January. His team did great. Only lost one game. Nolan coached them with help from our BF's, Jeremy Jewkes. Thanks to Tara, my BF and his wife, for lending him out on Saturday mornings. Cy plays basketball just like his dad. He is an abnormally aggressive player for such a nice guy. I love what a nice boy Cy is, but I do not want him being pushed around. So, I think it is okay for him to learn to stand up for himself and through basketball makes it a little easier (I guess). Cole loved Cy's basketball as much if not more than Cy because he got to play with his BF, Ryker, it is a budding bromance for sure. Cole is doing awesome in kindergarten and learning to read. My parents help out in the boys' classroom once a week and Cole and his girlfriend, that's right, girlfriend Hannah were sitting by each other. Cole completed the task correctly and Hannah proceeded to kiss him on the forehead for his good work. All witnessed by a reliable source, Papa. What the? What am I going to do with these boys? I can see the light at the end of the tunnel though. We went to the park on deceiving cool, but sunshiney day, we are gearing up for a trip to Disneyland the first of April and baseball starts this week despite the weather. Spring will get here, it always does. Just wish it would hurry up.

December

The Jewkes' Annual Christmas Party

Oh Boy, you'll shoot you're eye out! I hope Santa made a good choice here.

An Electric Scooter from Santa

It was a Christmas full of weapons; Airsoft gun, BB Gun and Nerf Gun. Such Boys. Bop It Challenge Successful gift giving

Cole still likes to help everyone open their gifts.

Leaving Reindeer food on the lawn.

The boys and their elf "Buddy"

Getting cookies and milk ready for Santa.

Jackpot!!

The Skiby's

I am finally getting around to photos from Christmas. We had a wonderful Christmas Eve and Day with family. We spent our traditional Christmas Eve at my parent's home. We ate a delicious dinner, opened Christmas Eve gifts and played Creationary. It is like Pictionary but with Lego's. So fun. I would recommend it to a friend. We got an early start on the evening festivities. That was awesome. Nolan had not had Christmas Eve off of work for a few years. Both of us took some time off before Christmas, again a welcomed first.

Everyone headed to our home on Christmas morning. After years of running out the door on Christmas morning, the last two years we have hosted at our house. It is nice that the boys get to play with their toys ALL day instead of spending time running around. While everyone is falling for it, it is my new favorite tradition. I made a egg "stuffing" in the crock pot and chili verde ahead of time for Breakfast burritos, mmm! We ate, hung out with the family, ate, played Bop It (another recommendation), ate, watched Christmas Story, ate, took a nap and then headed to Nolan's parents for more eating and more game playing. We stayed in our jammies all day and that was fabulous.

Early December was different from past Decembers. We didn't see the lights, or the gingerbread houses or go sledding. Nolan did not go to one Christmas Party!! We had all gotten the flu in mid-December and that messed up some of our plans. We (me and the boys) went to the Jewkes' Christmas party, which was a success as always. I had a work Christmas party, no spouses allowed and my Sub-for Santa party with my girlfirends. But I did not do my usual "over-holidaying" as Nolan calls it. Shh! Don't tell him but it was kind of nice.

Our heart broke with Nolan's sister, Melanie, who lost the love of her life on December 21. Ben had fought a hard fight against cancer,and won, then succumbed to Graft vs. Host disease after a bone marrow transplant. He was a trooper and Melanie was by his side through his entire journey. I am so proud of Melanie. She is a wonderful example of what a good partner, lover and friend is. She treated Ben so kind and lovingly. He had to know how much he was loved. We enjoyed hearing Melanie's stories about Ben and appreciated her sharing a little bit of him with us. Melanie worked hard to work out many details and provided strength and support to others. Isn't it odd how it works out that way? I am always surprised by how family and friends rally to lift you up during these hard times. The offers of help, love and support were abundant. Ben and Melanie have so many people who wanted to express their love for them. We love them too.