Gracie's First Ballgame!

It's Game Day! We signed Gracie up for Bobbysox Softball, which is an All Girl Softball league for ages 4 to 17. Its fast pitch, which I always thought would be cool to play but we didn't have it when I was a youngster. So, she's playing and she's so excited! The mini division (4-7years) plays coach pitch rules, everyone hits, everyone plays. Which is great. And they only play 3 innings or 1 hour, which ever comes first, which is even better because she doesn't have time to get bored. But she is so excited. Her Dad bought her cleats and a new glove and bat. And they have the cutest uniforms and even have to wear the helmets with the face guard which looks so funny on their tiny heads! But she seems to be enjoying it. I love to watch, but Brody is none too impressed that he can't play. Gracie keeps telling him that "Softball is for girls, not boys!" But he starts t-ball next month so hopefully that helps. Check out the video of her hitting:

Cooper's First Haircut!

We had to cut Cooper's hair last night. Its not long, but he has curly hair and he had these crazy little wings behind his ears and this crop of hair on the top that wouldn't stay put! Dustin wanted to cut it way back in December, but I told him he had to wait until the Grammas got to see the wings! So last night we cut it. He didn't like it, until Daddy gave him a cookie, but it looked much better after. Not soo fuzzy and crazy! And Grammas, don't worry, those curls are still there and he still has wings, but they are wings that Daddy can handle now! Such a handsome little boy!

Popcorn Popping...It's almost Spring!

I love Spring! Growing up in Southern Alberta, I did enjoy a good snow day in the winter. I love tobogganing and Christmas. I loved the huge drifts that would build up in the backyard that we would tunnel through and it does make me a little sad that my kids aren't enjoying that. But, even loving the snow fun, every time that Chinook ran through and the temperature warmed up and ever thing melted, it made you like "OOOH.....its almost Spring..."Even if Spring doesn't really hit until the middle of April, and the warmth the middle of May. But you still thought about it. Heck, I remember wearing shorts and a heavy sweater in March just because it hit 15 degrees outside. (I think it stormed that night!) But by Easter time every year, even with snow on the ground, you would still find traces of Spring popping up! I love Spring for that fact...it reminds you of a new start, that even though the Winter is long and cold, warmth is on the way!

I remember finding crocuses growing through the snow in the yard, or Mom's tulips starting to bloom by Easter, or finding the little fuzzy branches of the Pussy Willow tree. I remember feeling excited to see the robins, because they didn't show up until it got warm, so if they were there, Spring must be! So I love Spring, because it tells me that warmth and good times of Summer are almost here.

Now living in California, we don't really have Winter. Some native Californians would probably beg to differ, but I think of it more like a long Autumn. It does get cold, and yes it does snow in the mountains, but its not crazy 20 degrees below 0 cold, and the snow doesn't stay. 

And signs of Spring come extra early. In fact, alot of the trees that just finished losing their leaves are getting new buds again. Within a month it will be full blown green again! ( And I can wear shorts on a regular basis, no heavy sweater needed!) But there are still the signs of Spring that only come once a year that remind me...

Now I got a new camera as the old one went ca put. Its nothing fancy, but its fun, and I've been playing with it a bit, taking some weird shots of plants etc. because they don't move and they do as they are told! And Here are my takes on the Arrival of Spring. Including the Popcorn Tree! We have alot of tees that flower around us, and I love my neighbors Pink Tree, the blossoms are gorgeous and the leaves are purple after! I really liked the pics of the rose bush. It had just rained the night before and the drops just hung around the edges, it looked really neat. The picture of the leaf is yes, frost. We do get a little frost in the 'Winter'!

Wordful Wednesday...Learning to read...

This week's topic is on Memories of reading....when did we learn to read, teaching our children to read, favorite books as children...I am loving this topic. I love to read! I will pretty much read anything once...most of my books have been read 2 or more times through and will probably be read many more times over. 

I mostly learned to read at school, but the love of reading was instilled in me by my mother. Every night before we went to bed, we got a bedtime story. Even when we were babies. We always had lots of books in the house, and I think every birthday and Christmas we always received a book as a gift. My mom actually made us tapes of some of our books. She would read them into the tape recorder and have a chime when we needed to turn the page. We would lay on the floor listening to her"read" to us when she couldn't. We loved it! 

I have also tried to teach my children to love books, and I think I've done a fairly good job. I was not great at teaching them to read per-say, but they love to sit and have someone read to them. I, too, get them books regularly for gifts, and our little library grows. Now with Gracie in Kindergarten, they get to go to the library and choose a book to take home. When she does, she is so excited and its a great read for the week. And she is learning so much in school that now when I read the book, she can read whole pages with a little help and encouragement from myself. Just like my mother, we try and read to the kids every night before bed. Right now we are reading these little Fairy books that my sister gave Gracie for Christmas. They are actually mini chapter books, but they have small pictures throughout and the chapters are short enough to keep the kids attention. Gracie is REALLY enjoying them. I am so glad they enjoy reading. It is such a nice quiet activity to calm them at the end of the day. Some times if Cooper is really being fussy, I send them to their rooms to "read" and they will sit on the floor and go through the books, sometimes reading to each other. What a wonderful sight to walk in on!

I love all books, and have not started something I haven't finished. I love getting new books, especially books in a series. As a kid we were always allowed to get books from the book fairs and book orders. My mom and dad still have all the books, crowding up space in the basement. When I go to visit, I love to go down there with the kids and we pick a few children's books to have for the week. Then we change it up the next. And I still love going down and getting the young teen novels and re-reading them again. My list of favorites as a child and now would go on forever...but here's some of the top.

• Dr. Suess. Love all the books, especially the 'Foot Book'. I can still remember my parents reading it to me.
• I loved EB White: Charlotte's Web, Trumpet of the Swan, Stuart Little
• The Harry Potter series. I have read through the series four times. I always started again before each book came out.
• Chris Heimerdinger's Tennis Shoes series. Again, read it multiple times, always starting over when the next one came out. Still waiting anxiously for the last one!
• Just finished the Twilight series, twice. Thought they were awesome.
• I love Jack Weyland books. My mom has alot. I like to borrow them from her library when I go home.
• And I can't forget Roald Dahl. Love ALL of his books. I have even read some to my kids and they really enjoy the stories too. James and the Giant Peach is my favorite.

I love to read because it is such an escape. Sometimes too much of one! My husband knows when I've started a new book, the house usually looks like a bomb has gone off, and I am curled up on the chair, totally absorbed. He jokes and calls it my "Bad Mommy" time! But I like where the books take me. I especially like the books that are WAY out there, hence my love for fantasy books like Harry Potter, because they just can't happen, but we all need a little magic to get through the day.

Trip with the Godlontons...

Well, it was 10 days of fun! Busy, but fun. It is always so nice to see our family, and we are grateful to see them as much as we do. And so this year Dustin's Parents, Craig and Sherry, and his Sister and her husband, Kelsey and Scuba Steve and their 3 kids, Rylen, Ryder and Gage were planning on coming down for a Quadding trip in St. George. It usually falls on Reading Week (week off in Alberta from school), but this this year it fell on the last week of February and so they decided to go to Disneyland during the Reading Week. Might as well, have the week off right? So we drove down to meet them in Disneyland. We played at the beach and went to Disney and then we headed to Vegas for a couple of nights. We went to Fremont Street and watched the night show. Kids thought that was neat, but a little loud! And on Saturday, Dustin and I took our kids to the Shark Reef at the Mandalay Bay Hotel. It was really neat! Like a mini aquarium! It looked like a ruined temple with the jungle taking over, and as you made your way through there were tanks with different fish. I loved the large shark tank at the end. We spent a good 30 minutes just watching them swim. Sharks, Saw fish, Rays, Barracudas, and Sea Turtles. There was a tunnel and they would swim right over top! Cooper really thought the fish were neat. He'd just it and stare and point at them! So Cute! 

Then we headed for St. George. Our hotel had a little pool and it was heated. I think the kids spent 1/2 the time in the pool! They got in every morning at about 9:30 and stayed in till 11, and they usually ended up back in there at night! The guys took the kids up, (in different sets!) and us girls shopped and watched the other set of kids. We all went up one day (Gramma Sherry stayed with Cooper) and took an easy trail. We didn't have to climb, just ride out the bumps! It was really pretty, the red rock cliffs against the big blue sky. Mountains in the background. Really pretty. But I did not like the red dirt that we some how even carried back home! It was everywhere, and did not come out of the clothes easily. But the kids liked it and it was a really easy going week. Who doesn't like laying by the pool and shopping? 

I love spending time with family! And it is so nice to have the kids spend time with their Gramma and Grampa and their cousins. The kids really enjoyed playing together and they get along pretty good for only seeing each other every 6 months! Its like they just jump right back in where they left off! And its nice for my kids to be able to spend time with Dustin and myself without "LIFE" getting in the way. As a Mom, you do have a lot of time left over when you don't have to clean house and cook! Great memories were made. And I am so grateful for the opportunity to be able to build those memories with my kids! You always remember family trips and activities. They are always the best!