May Wrap-Up

Farewell, May…helloooooooo, summer!

Working on his wind-up.

The boy can throw much harder this season than he could
last season…playing catch with him makes my hand hurt.

Will + cheeseburgers at Fuddruckers.

Hallie + cheeseburgers at Fuddruckers.

For a few short hours, the seven-year-old playing in the adult disc golf
tournament gets to rock sponsor sunglasses just like the over-21 crowd.

A little "Time to Shine" on the walk to school.

Learning to play Heart & Soul with Daddy.

Family Fun Night at Rock Prairie Elementary.

Showing Hallie how to play Rush Hour at Family Fun Night.

"I don't want Johnny to go to Cleveland!"

The 2014 NFL Draft was really stressful for Will.

Spending her sick day watching Annie.

My girl learned how to go down playground poles.

In a dress and cowboy boots.

Taking care of his sister.

Sound asleep midway through Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.

Quietly - and cooperatively! - playing in Will's closet.

Her Secret Garden

For whatever reason, when the city planned our neighborhood 25 years ago, the decision-makers chose to turn the lot across the street from our house into a landscaped green space rather than a build a home on it. The green space isn't exactly a park, but we use it often for playing baseball (the pitcher stands in the green space and throws the ball across the street to the batter, who stands in our front lawn), playing hide-and-seek, and taking photos. Hallie enjoys the space more than the rest of us, specifically because on one end the landscapers added a stone path and surrounded the path with rose bushes…Hallie's secret garden. 

I took these photos a couple of weeks ago (on a Saturday afternoon after her dance rehearsal, which is why her hair is up in a perfect bun) with my zoom lens - she had no idea I was snapping away, and I have no idea what she was doing.

Meditating, maybe? I could use a little peace and quiet in my life - perhaps I should spend a bit of time in her secret garden.

M-M-M-Motocross

I'm playing catch-up a little this week…Tuesday's post went back to Hallie's birthday in April, and this post goes back a week earlier.

At the beginning of April, Tom and his friend Aaron took their boys - Will, and his friend, Logan - to a huge Motocross event in Houston. All four had wanted to go on a Motocross outing together for ages, so they were thrilled when the stars suddenly aligned and on the day of the event not a one of them had anything else scheduled. (Well, Tom said he should have been working, but he willingly made an exception this one time.)

Even though they're both in first grade and rarely nap anymore, both boys fell asleep on the way to Houston. I'm sure the men appreciated the quiet car ride and that having two well-rested boys made the very late night a little more bearable for everyone.

Once they arrived at the venue, the men and boys spent the afternoon checking out the Motocross "experience", meeting some of the racers (Tom bought Will a hat with the name and number of the guy below - don't ask me his name, because I have absolutely no idea what it is - on it), gathering Motocross swag, and eating and drinking loads of high quality concession stand refreshments.

Before the race, Will and Logan took a picture with the prize that would eventually be given to the winner. And also with a really big trophy.

I honestly can't tell you anything else about their outing, except that it was "AWESOME" and they can't wait to go again next year. That's just fine with me…I can't wait for another day spent with Hallie, painting our toes, baking brownies, and watching girly movies.

Birthday Friendship Notes

My apologies to the approximately eight regular readers of this blog…I had posts ready to go up last week and for some reason they didn't post on their scheduled dates. 

On Hallie's 5th birthday her class created and "gifted" her with a friendship poster. In the center of the poster Hallie's teacher had written "Happy Birthday, Hallie!" and then the rest of the huge, pink poster board was covered with kind and sweet things Hallie's teachers and classmates wanted to say (and dictated to her teacher) about her.

When I read the notes below it became immediately clear to me how well Hallie's friends actually know her as an individual; there's very little generic and quite a bit of specific information shared!



Here are a few of my favorites:

"Hallie has pretty dresses."

"Happy birthday, Hallie. You have
been so fun to teach. You are full of life."

"I like when Hallie chases me on the playground."

"Hallie is smart, vivacious, and friendly, and loves life.
She is self-motivated and has a passion for learning."

"I love Hallie and she loves me. I love playing with
her because she is kind. I also love her curly hair!"

"I like how Hallie sings."

"Hallie is great at drawing and knows the words to songs."

Green Belt, Baby!

Will had to successfully complete two different graduations - first from Camo Recommended to Camo Decided eight weeks ago, and then from Camo Decided to Green Recommended last week - on route to earning his Tae Kwon Do green belt. 

This picture was taken before the first of the two graduations, which happened to be proceeded by a brief performance by the gym's demonstration team. As you can see from the expression on his face, Will found the performance mesmerizing…his jaw dropped and just hung there until the routine came to an end.

Will's instructors shared with us that he is a strong candidate for the demonstration team, but trying out and then participating would require us to spend a third night each week at Tae Kwon Do (and Will wouldn't be able to participate in a second sport, simply because there wouldn't be enough time during the week) and we're just not ready to do that yet.

As always, Will was well prepared for graduation and did a great job demonstrating his acquired skills.

The second of the two graduations took place at the end of May, and when the night was over my boy walked away with his green belt.

Unfortunately (or fortunately?) Hallie missed most of the graduation demonstrations and ceremony - after a very busy day playing with Grandpa, having lunch at school with Will, planting vegetables in the garden, and playing with Grandpa some more, she crashed just a few minutes in. At least sleeping kept her quiet…

As soon as we arrived home Will asked me to put his camo belt in his display case - it looks pretty good there, doesn't it?

Great job, buddy!