Wild Fun Gymnastics Meet

Saluting after receiving his medal.

Father and son.

Pommel horse. "Like my arm muscles, mom?"

Flipping on the rings...a favorite!

Saluting after the vault.

Landon participated in a "fun meet" Saturday afternoon at the gym where he takes gymnastics. This is an opportunity for all the non-competitive kiddos to show off their skills to their parents and friends. The boys rotated between the equipment completing their routines, while the parents looked on. Landon is truly enjoying gymnastics, and tends to excel when height is required to complete a skill. These being the rings, high bar and the pommel horse. He was all smiles when performing and enjoyed "saluting" before and after his tricks. Each kiddo received a medal afterwards for participating. This also created a big smile! So proud of my little man, who isn't afraid to try new, and sometimes scary, things. And is ready to smile with pride at his Mom and Dad when he's completed it! Made my heart swell to see him having so much fun while doing something he loves!

Let's Play Ball!

The team lining up to congratulate the other team at the end of the game.

Running for home.

Watching the game.

Set and ready!

Landon's first tee ball game of the season was this Saturday. Amidst drizzle and dark clouds, 20 4-year-olds descended on the field to play some ball. Landon plays for the Detroit Tigers, along with his best little buddy, David. The kiddos are so cute to watch! When it's their turn to hit, they don't always run to first base; sometimes they run after their ball, or just randomly around the field. When the team is fielding, either every kid runs to the ball and a fight ensues, or everybody just watches the ball roll away without moving! Geoff is helping the coach out, which is a good thing, because those kiddos need HELP! But overall, they did a great job for their first match up, and started to get the swing of it after their second game. Landon hit the ball on the first swing every time he is was up to bat, and ran the right direction! He also stopped a ball while in the field, and with a little coaching, threw it to first base. He said he liked it, but was tired afterwards. Every Saturday morning until the middle of June, you'll find our family at the ball field!

Trike-A-Thon

On Thursday, Landon's preschool held a Trike-a-thon. It's a fund raiser for St. Jude Research Hospital. The kiddos brought their decorated bikes to school, and then rode them for a specified amount of time after they got sponsors who donated money to the cause. Landon and I decorated the bike that morning, with much excitement! The kiddos rode in a circle in the parking lot for 15 minutes or so. They were having fun riding together, laughing together, and sometimes crashing together! They were fed ice cream afterwards, which was a treat for all! Landon enjoyed himself...good times for a good cause!

Some days...

Some days I just don't have the motivation to be productive. And I don't mean just cleaning or running errands...I mean in the mom, wife and person departments also. I was having one of those days today. Just wasn't feeling myself, and regretfully, my children started to notice. I guess usually I'm readily available to play Legos, or watch the newest dance moves, or blow bubbles for the dog (this is Maddie's new favorite pastime). And although my kiddos are very good at playing by themselves, or finding things to do with each other when Mommy is busy, they are not adept to doing this when Mommy's just watching TV. Finally, after Claire was done with her silent reading log, and Landon had bored himself silly with Tranformers, both kiddos climbed up next to me on the couch. (Mind you, this was merely 15 minutes of time.) I had one in my lap, the other's head on my shoulder and both sweet baby hand's in mine. I got teary-eyed; although they didn't notice. What a precious moment to spend, even in my rotten state of mind, with the two most important beings in the world. Silently we sat, me holding back tears, and them watching TV. Finally, the stillness was broken by Landon, who gave me an inquisitive look from under those dark, long eyelashes. He stated, "Mom, I thought you hated Spongebob!" Yes, that's what I had been watching, although I really wasn't watching it. I flipped the TV off as fast as I could, shook off the blahs, and played hard the rest of the afternoon with my children, whom I love with every inch of my heart and to the very depths of my soul. This flatlined day became extraordinary just that quickly!!! I am thankful for those two little blessings!

Gator Gallery and Easter

Easter morning at church.

Claire and her friend holding their class's art piece during auctioning. The kids wore red, white and blue for their singing talent.

The PTO at Claire's school does an art auction and talent show each year called Gator Gallery. Each class makes an original piece of art that is then auctioned off to the highest bidder. Student talent is showcased between the auctioning. This year Claire's class sang and signed several patriotic songs to start off the show. Then Claire also danced her Bug dance from competition. Six other girls in that dance attend the same school, so it worked out well! Both performances were darling and Claire seemed to enjoy showing off for her friends! She was also chosen to hold her class's art piece during the auction. A fun night, with lots of money raised for our children!

I'm not sure why I didn't take a lot of pictures on Easter. Everyone slept in that morning, and with going to church early I guess I just didn't think about it! The Easter Bunny came over night, so the kiddos hunted down their baskets and eggs. Then we left for church where we had breakfast, played games and participated in another egg hunt. We had dinner that night at the Symons' (Yummy!!!!). It was a fun, although low-key day, but it was beautiful and a great way to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus!

April Fools and Landon-isms

So this morning after the kids were up and eating breakfast, I started freaking out about a huge skunk in our backyard that was chasing Maddie-dog. They jumped up and ran to the windows trying to get a closer look. "April Fools!", I said. Claire laughed and went back to eating. Landon, on the other hand, decided it was his turn. "Mommy, your couch is gone. April Fools! Mommy, your table is gone. April Fools! Mommy, my arms are gone (appropriately put in his shirt). April Fools!" This has gone on all morning. His preschool teacher will make her money today if he keeps this up!

Other funnies:

-Landon and I were having a tickle fight the other day and I got his neck just below his hairline. He got very serious and said "Mommy, that spot is not eligible".

-Landon's preschool class is talking about Easter. Yesterday on the way home, he was asking Mommy lots of hard questions: "What does Heaven look like?", "How come they nailed Jesus to the cross?", "How did Jesus get to Heaven?". Trying to explain this type of thing to a 4-year-old, albeit a bright one, is distressing to a Mommy. My concerns were in vain, because after a lengthy discussion about all this he stated "My Heaven will be our house with your iphone in it, Mommy. Wait, I'll have my own iphone there (Heaven)".