The very next night found us hopeful for another great game. Sadly, Danny hurt his arm during warm ups so didn’t play any defense. He still hit pretty well but the other team had some great outfielders. It was a good game in that the back and forth was very intense. It ended with the other team’s pitcher getting our last three hitters out with nine curve balls in a row for us to loose 6-7. Not the ending you want as you walk to your car at almost 10pm at night on a school night. It was nice to sit and talk with one of my co-workers, W’s mom, for most of the game. She is amazing!
Natalie’s teacher sent us a great email letting us know about N’s latest language arts iReady scores. At the beginning of the year she tested at the kindergarten level. In the middle of the year she tested at the first grade level. Now, at the end of the year, Natalie tested at the second grade level. We are so excited and proud of Natalie’s hard work and grateful for those who have helped her achieve so much progress. And although Natalie wasn’t feeling well the day before and stayed home from school (with Hubby staying home with her in the morning and me getting off work at lunch to be with her), she rallied to attend Mini Society to sell the bookmarks she had made. I’m not sure why she opted for the signage she made at school instead of the way better stuff my mom and I helped her make (and she didn’t decorate with the stuff I collected either) but she had a good time. Actually, I assume she didn’t want to be different. That’s totally okay. And I was glad she had a few extras for us to keep and use at our house.
It was so much fun for me to watch Kate play on her rec team on Saturday morning. Winning is more fun so they are having a ton of fun on this team. Above is a photo of cheering after one of Kate’s many aces. Honestly I feel sorry for the other teams they play! I also got to watch a tiny bit of some members of our ward (L, C & K) playing volleyball too. That was a nice bonus. After their game Kate stayed with A & P to use the rec center gym (apparently she didn’t know we had a membership?) and had a sleepover at A’s house. That afternoon while Kate was gone and Natalie was next door play in the new in box sprinkler she bought at a neighbor’s garage sale for $1 and Michelle was watching Quest on Disney+, I pulled weeds ALL afternoon. I finished the audio book I was listening to (No Bad Parts) and called my high school friend Melissa while I enjoyed the beautiful weather. When Hubby came home he mowed the lawn for me without being asked. Awwww. I will give you one guess as to where my guys were. Baseball! This weekend there was a tournament in the Denver area. Our team won their first game 6-1 & their second game 11-6. Danny scored all five times he hit (but once he got hit by the pitch so he was walked). His arm is still bothering him so even though he tried to field the first game he ended up having to sit out from fielding during the second game. I adore this picture Hubby sent me from eating after their two games. Looks like a blast!
The next day it was my turn to travel down to watch two baseball games and eat at In & Out afterwards. These boys had to win their first game in order to make it to the championship game of the tournament. At one point I wrote Hubby a text that said, “if there was crying in baseball I would be crying right now.” We had a heartbreaking what we thought was a triple from our best player that ended up being an out at third while we were down but then Danny got an out of the park home run that tied the game 2-2. You can imagine the happiness of those boys. I was thrilled and texted Hubby that I felt much better. Lol. The team went on to score 8 more runs while keeping the other team from scoring to win the game 10-2. A sent her youngest son, C, to go retrieve the ball for him to keep. Later Coach A texted me a picture of Danny next to a sign on the dugout that read not to send balls over the fence with Danny holding his home run ball. We thought that was pretty funny.
The championship game was a nail biter. Those two teams were so well matched. For two hours they played their hearts out and then it all came down to the last inning. Our last time up to bat we didn’t get anywhere (the pitcher had quite the curve ball) and then we gave up two runs at the last minute to lose the game 7-8. There was a whole lot of emotion real fast coming from both teams. Screams of delight from our opponents and I know I saw at least one of Danny’s teammates cry. It was a great reminder that sports are an opportunity to learn so many life lessons and skills. Us parents were so proud of them and as one mentioned, you want your championship games to be close!
That night as we drove home (after In-N-Out with W & his mom and a potty/dessert break at Menchie’s) Danny and I watched the full lunar eclipse begin. When we got home I told everyone to come in the backyard and see. Natalie made a quick dash out and back in to listen to her latest Rick Riordan book but the middle schoolers and I stayed out there for quite some time talking. It occurred to me that the four of us being at the middle school all day is only going to last a couple more weeks (before Kate heads to high school next year) and that made the time even more precious to me. I felt so so lucky to be there with them in gorgeous weather in our backyard, sitting, watching the moon, and talking about the random things of life. I am incredibly grateful for this year of being at their school. It has been difficult and I’ve dropped the ball more than once but it has been a tremendous experience for which I am grateful.
(Lunar eclipse photo credit: NPR)
Our second to last week of school started off with Michelle getting to walk to the two closest elementary schools with her Language Arts class to share stories they had written with 3rd & 4th graders. Our next door neighbor was happy that one of the classes Michelle’s class visited was her class. Although Natalie got visited by a different group of middle schoolers, after school Natalie got a bonus trip to the orthodontist for a broken bracket so also got a bonus smoothie after the appointment. Tuesday brought us a physical therapist appointment for Danny. Sounds like he sprained or strained his lower bicep so now has special stretches and exercises to do (and can’t throw hard for another week). After PT we grabbed some Cafe Rio and took him to practice to explain to his baseball coach what the plan was. Then I headed up to Natalie’s softball game that A’s mom took her to because Hubby was feeling sick. I got to see her play catcher and hit a great single. Then she & I picked up Danny from practice, grabbed her some Chick-Fil-A and the three of us headed home together. (As Natalie & I began heading back to our home town we saw four of these guys casually crossing the street. She was happy to have me take that picture but not one of her.) Wednesday was pretty fun with Natalie having a stuffy day at school, the garage appreciated that we had a VVA donation pick up to make some room in there, Hubby felt well enough to go to Danny’s baseball game and got to see him hit a home run!!! (Natalie and I were listening on the GameChanger app while we ate dinner and she screamed and I almost cried that I wasn’t there to see it), Michelle got to be in charge of a game at Young Women’s for their YM/YW combined activity, and Natalie and I got to go on a leisurely hike for Activity Days. So much fun!
On Thursday I had the privilege of being able to have one on one conversations will all of my middle schoolers in the car as I took Kate to the orthodontist, then Danny to & from baseball, and Michelle to and from dance class (in costume) while Hubby was helping coach Natalie’s softball game. After a wonderful group conversation on Sunday it was great to hear what they talked about as individuals. I must add that Natalie is willing to talk to me every day and still gives me lots of hugs, which I appreciate as well. I don’t know about the elementary school but Friday was a chaotic day at the middle school. High school seniors came parading around to see former teachers and staff, the field day was moved to inside due to the cold drizzle that turned to snow, and the schedule that allowed for the indoor field day meant Danny’s grade was eating lunch at 10:40 in the morning. Even the dog noticed my lunch was noticeably earlier and instead of her usual waiting for me, she was lounging in a living room chair and must have been asleep because she just stayed there and wagged her tail at me. Indoor field day was absolute mayhem. Let’s just say that when I went to go to the bathroom there were two kids coughing like crazy in the hallway because their smoke induced asthma had been triggered by a student lighting their own hair on fire. And we all know how bad singed hair smells. Then, after school, the kids had the option for stay for the spring social complete with tickets to get in, concessions, and a DJ. Michelle had a ton a fun dancing with her friends and Danny had a ton of fun goofing off with his friends and a girl he likes (again). He and J then got me to drive them to our house, where they hung out and ate pizza and then had me take then to Get Air to hang out with middle schoolers until almost 10pm. I was glad J’s mom offered to pick the boys up because I felt exhausted. But, not too tired because Natalie and I spent Friday night watching the old Home Edit videos on YouTube we’ve never seen and organizing our school supplies (since her teacher began to send home their spare items). It was so satisfying to see the results of our work but once again, I neglected to take before and after pictures until days later. In my defense, it was an unplanned activity. Oh, and somewhere in there, I got made a s’more at school. The OT had extra ingredients and supplies and this cute lesson plan to help our sped kids make s’mores. When a certain student of ours was asked if he wanted to make one he said he would make it for me. He went through the lesson with the OT and was convinced to take a bite of what he had made. He reported that it turned out well but that it was for me. So now the wheat and dairy s’more with a bite taken out of it was given to me with great love. I took a picture and put it in my locker for safe keeping. And then after school I threw it away in the teacher’s lounge so he wouldn’t see. I love this kid so much and appreciated the gesture but just couldn’t eat it.
Only one week of school to go!
Comments