Graduation

After making it official with a bit of pomp and circumstance (pun intended), Jacob is high school bound! 

{First day of Kindergarten.}

{Last day of 8th grade. Oh, my heart!}

{Waiting for the ceremony to begin on the high school football field.}

{Here come—some of—the graduates! Jacob is in there somewhere, I just can’t remember where…}

{300 8th graders coming right up!}

{A before picture with some buddies that I snagged off another mother’s social media because my child shares nothing with me…}

{It takes a long time to get to the end of the alphabet!}

{Buddies since the beginning!}

{Taking pictures with Jacob that, ideally, would have been taken before the ceremony. Except that we were in a hurry. And then it was cold and windy after the ceremony so we all hauled ass to the car before warming up at the restaurant, at which point we realized that we didn’t take any family pictures. Sounds more like a third kid fail than a first kid mistake!}

I can’t wait to see the great things Jacob does with his next four years. His kindness, smarts and big hair are sure to take him far!

Travel Baseball

It’s always fun when your travel baseball team actually travels for a weekend tournament, and Peoria is a great place to play so we were excited to spend some time at the Louisville Slugger Complex! 

Mason’s team had some amazing defensive plays with Mason making some critical outs behind the plate including a1-3-2 double play. Look it up. That’s impressive! 

He also had some pretty great at bats including a two-RBI triple to tie up the game. He was called out at third on the hit, but I have it on video, and he was safe so it’s a triple in my book! 

{In under the tag. We need an instant-replay challenge on the field!}

We lost in the semi-finals, but that kept us from having to play a trashy team for the second time, so that’s a win if you ask me. 

So many highlights, but these new jerseys may have —literally— been the biggest highlight…

{This is a fantastic venue for baseball. Turf fields. Step-down dugouts. And a full-on Slugger bat display.}

{I feel like these jerseys deserve an 80s walk-up song for each boy…}

Fine Arts Night

While Caleb was cheering on the boys’ volleyball team to tournament victory, I was indulging my senses at Camryn’s fine arts night where I listened to the entire 4th grade—roughly 100 kids—serenade the crowd with their recorders to such hits as Hot Cross Buns and other lesser known, or merely unrecognizable, tunes. And while the sound of a single recorder is hardly music to anyone’s ears, 100 recorders was actually not as unpleasant as I imagined it would be. 

After the concert portion of the evening, guests were encouraged to wander the school hallways, which had been transformed into an art gallery. We had fun spotting all of our favorite artist’s work!

{My favorite!}

{Cam said she didn’t like this picture. But Mimi knew it was the Northern Lights without any prompting, so I think it’s way better than Camryn gave herself credit for!}

{Just as goofy as her portrait!}

{Not pictured: This super cool picture that looks like a self-portrait when you look at it one way, and a flamingo when you look at it the other way. Impossible to capture on camera.}

Volleyball

Mason thought he would try out for the middle school volleyball team because it seemed fun, but we would have never guessed that he would make the team… and be good for having never played outside of gym class! 

The seventh graders were a fun team to watch, and went on to win the PAW PAC end-of-season tournament. Way to go, Eagles!

On his inaugural season, Mason played libero, had some impressive strings of aces, and even played the front line where he slammed one over the net. Not a bad season for a kid that may not have known much about the sport before April! 

Track

Jacob went out for track again this year and built on his foundation from last year. This sport has a short season, and this year was no exception—over almost as soon as it started. I am so proud of the improvements he made within the few weeks that he ran, and can’t wait to see what he does with high school track!

{He gave up long jump this year and instead worked on triple jump. His PR was 29’9”.}

{His 4x200 relay team for the final meet. Not the usual crew and not a first place finish like they hoped, but these boys ran well!}

Jacob’s best 4x200 leg was 29 seconds and 4x400 leg was 66 seconds. We are so proud of his hard work! 

Baseball

Mason’s Farewell Tour. #40 said he’s hanging up his gear after this season, so I am soaking up our last round of baseball!

His team started early this year—a tournament in Iowa the first week of April to kick things off—and they have been going ever since!

{This picture makes me laugh: squeezing in some games ahead of the weather on a t-ball field, which means mini-sized benches for the team!}

April Bits

 The pieces of our April puzzle.

Weather. So much changes in April.

{80 degrees and under a freeze watch. Fantastic.}

{A late season dusting of snow. And a cardinal to go with it.}

{Sunsets are my favorite. Watching them from the deck on a warm evening is perfection.}

{This is the most vibrant rainbow I have ever seen. A double rainbow at that. Jacob snapped this photo of it while we were driving. If you look close enough, you might see the pot of gold…}

{One of the many reasons why spring is my favorite season. Welcome back, flowers!}

{Caleb and I came across this creep on our walk. Just eww.}

{It’s official. We are moments away from having a middle school grad. I wish time would stop for a minute—when no one is fighting, of course.}

{S’mores season has returned!}

{A hole in the sink is never a good thing. Cam knocked a half-empty plastic bottle of soap off the counter and it went straight through. Currently working on a warranty replacement (wish me luck). I have been a pretty regular user of sinks over the past 42 years, and I can honestly say that has never happened to me. Solid marble top? Right.}