Vida. Risa. Amor.

It's good to get away from time to time, but after another family road trip has come and gone, it's been another chance for me to realize how much I love home, (my pillows), and my sporty family's world.

I'm even getting psyched for this weekend's games my kids are playing in.  5 games.  5 practices.  (And this is a quieter week).  People still don't understand why this could be fun for me to have all 4 of my kids actively involved in sports, but I can't imagine the weekends any other way.  I love having my kids play something they enjoy, and I love being there for an assist, a goal, a tricky pass, a touchdown, a flag grab, a basket, a steal, a hit, an RBI, a double, (yep, I'm learning softball lingo), and that crazy awesome noise of when the softball smacks the mitt perfectly and the dirt dust smokes off the top, and the guy in blue yells "Out!"  So yeah...it's not so much that I love sports,  I super love watching my kids play. 

As Josie's highschool soccer season just wrapped up, her Barca soccer club team had a college showcase tournament this past weekend in Vegas. The highlight of this trip for me was watching my girl play her heart out, with a goal scored and all, I am so proud of her!  We've been busy before this weekend typing up her "soccer resume" and sending out letters to potential colleges...I never knew there was such a thing to have to do until now.  And I'm really not so sure I'll be able to let her go in just 2 years.  Time is flying.

Lanie's Jr.High Desert Ridge softball team were undefeated all season and won their championship! Great job Lady Rattlers! She also plays outfield with her East Valley Pride club team and recently hit a home run...can't wait to see her do more great things!  Love my LanieLou.

Aydan is finishing up his basketball season and though it was his first year trying out the sport, he really did well!  He's already getting conditioned for a new football season as well and this time his team will be the Panthers.  He's hoping he'll compete against his cousin Micah, as they are now in the same age bracket and league.

Rylan is begging me to sign him up for boxing, wrestling, Karate, or a ninja warrior skills building class.  We've even recently chained up a punching bag in the backyard for him to pound on and sadly he has found out it hurts his little hands to punch on.  (Batman punching gloves come in handy though).  And I so very much want to get him signed up soon for something, but I have discovered that even I have limits...(4 in sports = chaos.)  Summer will be his turn for camps and trying out different activities. 

So that's all for now. 

Spring is in the air...and I smell lots of fields of grass....and cleats, shinguards, softballs, soccerballs, footballs...

It's just been so busy.  I say it all the time, but gosh, there's just so much going on in our family.  My gas tank went from full to empty in 5 days between work, school, softball, basketball, football, and soccer.  (Ok, and Kohls).  It seems every minute of every day we are scheduled. 

In the middle of this action packed week, Rylan came home from school the other day telling me that a mean first grader punched him in the stomach.  It really doesn't take much for this mother tiger to get her claws out when anyone messes with her babies....especially her youngest one.  Sigh.  He was so sad, and it made my heart break. The teacher was made aware of it as was his big brother and football buddies, so I'm pretty sure it's safe to say there won't be any more punching going on. 

And so today I was a Kindergarden Mom.  He's my last Kindergardener, and I need to keep reminding myself of that because I'll admit that there's a huge part of me that has a "been there and done that" attitude...(3 times actually).  I have been slacking in the "volunteering department", and about a month ago I offered to help out at his school for his jogathon.  It's easier to check yes, and a lot harder to actually follow through and show up...especially when your refrigerador is bare.  I'll admit I even e-mailed the teacher to check if they had enough volunteers, but my 5 year old would not let me off the hook as easily...not even if we didn't have any ice-cream left in the freezer.  I haven't exactly been available to help out in his class since I started working part time, and of all my kids, he has been the one to notice my absence.  He really has had a rough week, and so I showed up, slapped my Bulldog visitor sticker and smile on and all my thoughts of groceries were erased once I saw, that he saw, that I was there.

He had a very successful 4 lap jogathon and when it was time for me to go he hugged me goodbye.  After I walked away about 50 feet, he chased me down for one more hug.  He has strong little arms that squeeze tight like his Daddy's and his head even rested on my shoulder for a few extra seconds.  I love his grubby, five year old boy smell.  Best hugs ever.

Every morning I drop him off for school, he walks backwards, shouts "I love you!",  and waves goodbye to me until he can't see me anymore. 

...Before the school year ends I'm going to make myself stop the car and chase him down for just one more hug too.

I'll probably do it more than twice a week for the rest of his life. :)