The Aunts

Aunt Sherry and Aunt Marie

These are two special ladies. I hope they know how much we love them!

Goodbye

Goodbye Michael Jackson. Farewell.

When I heard today that he died I was shocked. Although he turned out to be well, lets just say "odd" I still was sad. He was a part of my childhood. I LOVED him. Yes, I had a big crush on him. I could not stop listening to his music and watching Thriller. I also remember watching him in the "We are the World" video. I had this pink crop shirt that said "Pretty Young Thing" on it. When he died today it was like a part of my childhood died. Hey, no joke. Stop laughing.

One other thing that sticks out in my mind that I was forever looking at the album cover with him in all white. I noticed his one wrist. It had a wierd bone looking thing on it and I was fixated on trying to figure out what was wrong with that one wrist. Anyone else ever notice that?

Anyway, I guess I still have my memories of the original Michael Jackson. Pre-surgery and Pre-NeverNeverLand. Or whatever it was called.

Goodbye Mike (ya, we were on a first name basis back then). I'll miss ya Mike.


***Oh ya, in another note.....I guess Farrah Fawcett died today too. Her and I weren't as close.

Her future's so bright...

She's gotta wear shades! Check it. These are her prescription sunglasses. She loves being shaded by the sun.

Fathers Day

Dad. That's what the kids call him. It used to be Daddy. And, long ago it was Dada. Tim is a really good dad. There are so many things that make him a good dad.

*Coaching every sport imaginable

*Going to concerts

*Getting WWE tickets

*Royals Games

*Chiefs Games

*Dressing up for Halloween

*Playing catch in the front yard

*Making music cd's

*Late night ice cream

*Fishing

These are the things that I know the kids see but there other things that make him a good dad that they don't see.

*Going to work every day

*Being a responsible person

*Paying the bills

*Making sure they get to school

*Looking out for their best interest

*Doing what's best for them

These are just a few of the things. There are more that just aren't listed. Anyway, thanks Tim for being a good father to the kids. They are so lucky to have you as DAD!

My catcher

Baseball is going good. Landon is now catching which is a new experience. Last year he was catcher once and got hit in the shoulder with the ball. That scared him away from catching until now. Now, he thinks the catchers gear is cool and he wants to do it. And actually, now that he's done it a couple games we can see that he's pretty good at it. He's the the speed and he's limber and that helps. I will be taking many more pictures!

Softball tournament

This was a long weekend but fun! The Aftershock tournament team went to Hutchinson to play Saturday and Sunday. The sun was hot but I didn't hear complaints. The girls went through so many bottles of water it was crazy! We got smart the next day and brought a cooler and cups. Duh...why didn't we think of that earlier?!

Sliding. She slid a lot this weekend. There were a few that made me hold my breathe and I totally feared that some bone would break.

My First Base girl.

We were really proud of her playing!
I really love watching her play. My heart races like crazy. I took so many pictures it's ridiculous. But, you have to take a ton of bad ones to get one good one ya know.

Fans

This kids have fans. Grandma loves to come to their games. She is a fan. She even has shirts to support their teams. I didn't get a picture of the shirt she made for Landon's games but it's equally as cool.

Aunt Sherry is another fan club member. She enjoys the games too. She can get a tad bit goofy as you can tell by this picture but we love it!

If anyone else wants to join said fan club just let me know and I will get you a ball schedule! Baseball and Softball are in full swing. It's such a perfect summer activity. The kids are loving it!

School's Out

Remember I talked about the Gold Rush day at school? Well, this was Landon getting ready to leave for school. He was supposed to dress like he was going to be gold rushing. That explains the hat (although it's a WWE hat) and the hanky hanging on his belt loop.

This was a picture that I "forced" Shelbie to take with a few friends. The chorus class sang for the 6th grade orientation night for the new kids next year. They sounded great singing songs from the Lion King movie.

So, school is out. It's been out for a while. I'm still adjusting. Can you tell? I haven't blogged in so long. I'm still trying to adjust to the new schedule for summer. This school year was a good one. It was a new experience to have a middle schooler. The year went by so fast and I can not even believe it's gone.

Some things about 6th grade that I want to reflect on:

1) I remember the 1st day. I think I was more nervous than Shelbie was. I think she was a little nervous about finding her classes and her locker combination but most of all she was excited. She could not wait to see all her friends again.

2) Something new this year was all the school dances. She DID NOT want to miss any. We had to plan our schedule around the dances. Highly important ya know.

3) It was really nice to have one of Shelbie's friend's grandma give the kids a ride home everyday. This eased my mind because originally I thought they were going to have to ride their bikes.

4) I had not forgotten but I was reminded this year that 6th grade kids have drama. Boys cause turmoil and heartache and girls sure do get dramatic about it all. Boyfriends/girlfriends change weekly and I could barely keep up with it all! Shelbie had a "long term relationship" though and had the same boyfriend for a few months. It was sad when it ended. My heart broke when hers broke but they are still friends and all is good now.

5) Grades. Shelbie had awesome grades this year! Gosh I was proud of her. Her report card was saturated in A's. She had more responsibilites with schoolwork and she managed it very well.

6) I've heard about a lot of pressures that kids have now days. Things I never worried about when I was a this age. A bomb threat during a school dance? Kids claiming to be bi-sexual at this age? It's really heartbreaking to hear of these things. It saddens me that it is this way. These are not things that kids should worry about.

This 4th grade year for Landon was pretty much the same as last.

1) He always enjoys the kids he's around. Although sometimes he did say that the girls should not be allowed to play recess soccer because they ruin the fun for the boys.

2) He did not like the mexican food at school. I heard about this several times.

3) His grades had room for improvement. Academically it was fine but the behavior grades were lacking. His teacher said the he likes to talk a lot. Standing in lines he would talk. Sitting by his neighbors he would talk. He didn't always listen well either. Of course when you're talking so much who can listen?

4) He wanted to give his teacher a hockey puck from a Thunder game and he was so proud to do so.

5) His teacher also said that he was fun to have in class because he always had comical comments. She said he always was making her laugh.

6) Next year is 5th grade for him. Wow. His last year of grade school. Hard to believe yet at other times it seems like he should be going into middle school too.

Gosh, this was a lengthy blog. I was just rambling. Sometimes I do that.