State Tournament at Vallivue.

Jason's baseball team made it to the state tournament.  This is quite a feat considering how young the team is this year and how they started off.  They really did improve as the season went on.  The tournament was hosted at Vallivue High School.  

Kevin always supported these tournaments and even did a low fly by in a C-130 during a tournament hosted at Rodeo Park.  He lived for these moments.  He would have been thrilled to be part of the host school.  He also would have been very proud of how Vallivue hosted.  They went the extra mile, holding a banquet for all of the coaches and players.  They had all of the team logos painted on the field.  They really were a class act in how they honored the kids.  Kevin was a huge believer in making the tournaments special, as a lot of these kids will not play team sports after high school.

I am a bit of a sap anyways, when it comes to the national anthem and the pledge of allegiance.  This year was not exception.  Remembering Kevin and what a patriot he was brought tears to my eyes.  

Here is Jason's team during the final game Saturday.  The tournament was nearly rained out, but thankfully a break in the showers and diligent maintenance of the field allowed the games to go on!

Dylan served as a coach for the tournament and Hallie is the team manager.

Here is my sweet niece doing her thing.

The girls and Hallie really do share a special bond.  They love spending time with each other. 

The girls and I tried to brave the Friday game under umbrellas.  Kendall stuck it out, while Sid and I headed for the car after awhile.

My sister flew down Friday night, just in case the boys made it to the championship game.  She did not want to miss that.  She rode the bus back home with the team.  though we had less than 24 hours together, it was amazing. 

The girls tried to kidnap Hallie so she could not leave.  Hallie was not having any of that!

Mother's Day...Where are the mothers?

Oh my goodness.  As I started putting this last round of blog posts together, I realized how bad I have been about taking pictures.  Here it is a mother's day post, and I do not even have a picture of the mother's!  I will definitely try to be more mindful of this.  One of the things I love about blogging is that it has helped me be more aware of capturing and living in the moment.  

About this shirt...Kendall and Sidney were shopping with me the week before mother's day.  They both started giggling and Sidney secretly put this T-shirt in the cart to buy with her own money.  When I picked it up and read it, I just KNEW that I had to buy it for her.  I mean, seriously!!!  I love that the girls feel this way about me.  It is the best mother's day gift yet.

When the girls asked me what I wanted for mother's day, I asked them to write me a special letter for mother's day.  They delivered, and it was amazing.  I supposed I should ask permission to share those on here.

My mom came down to spend mother's day weekend.  Sans no pictures, it was amazing to spend time with her.  The girls and I took her and Terrell to A Way with Clay for the evening.  I HIGHLY recommend this place, not just because my friend owns it, but because it is such a magical place to go.  

Sidney painted this amazing plate with a koala.  I did not know there was such a budding artist within her.

Terrell painted this beautiful plate for a gift.  There is a tiny black dot in the center that was driving her nuts.  Judy told her to bring the plate in, and they could scrape it off and re-fire it.  Yes!

My mom painted this beautiful ceramic bird.  I love the colors.

Kendall meticulously painted this lion.  She did such a great job.

I painted a ceramic box for my bathroom.  I free handed a daisy on it.  I am showing the before and after pictures, because it always astounds me how different the pottery looks after it is fired.

The Hornet Run 2019.

Sidney participated in Girls on the Run for her second season.  Her end of season 5K was the East Junior High Hornet Run.  Kendall and I ran the race with her.  

I look at this picture and wonder...did Sidney shrink or has Kendall just grown that much this year?

I was amazed at the progress Sidney had made since the Halloween 5K.  She did a much better job pacing herself and seemed much more relaxed and comfortable.

She and her friend Avery ran together for parts of the race.

Way to go Sidney!  What an accomplishment.  She now has two official and two practice 5K's under her belt.

Awana Awards.

The Awana year has ended.  The awards ceremony was exceptionally emotional for all of us this year, as Kevin had started out the year with us.  Ross paid a special tribute to Kevin that left no dry eyes.  I love my fellow teacher, Jan.  I have found people that are totally different than me to be quite refreshing.  She has been an amazing support!

Sidney had commented that her group of girls really pulled together and supported one another this year.  I can attest to that.  I am excited to spend a couple more years with these girls as they finish out TnT.

Sidney received a plaque for finishing her second book.

Kendall received the Timothy award for finishing four books.  She is graduating from TnT this year and is looking forward to volunteering as a leader in training next year.  She has her sights set on the Citation award, which will take her six more years to receive.

Here she is with Hannah, goofing off as usual.

Springtime and Middle School Track.

Spring has definitely sprung, and we have had a wide range of weather to show for it.  Spring is such a beautiful time, as planting begins, and we start spending late evenings outside.  The girls have been ogling over these egg chairs for quite some time.  I found two that were cute and reasonable price online.  They have been spending many days and nights reading in them.  I must admit, they are incredible comfortable.  The only problem is that every time I sit in one, my productivity goes WAY down!

Terrell made us these cute little bird feeders for Valentines Day.  They did not last long.  The birds absolutely devoured them.

I planted a couple of periwinkle plants this year, in honor of Kevin.  Periwinkle is the esophageal cancer color.  I saw the first bloom the other day.  It is beautiful!

Kendall participated in middle school track this year.  She did the 100 m sprint, 100 m hurdles and 200 m hurdles.  I am always so proud of her willingness to try new things and never give up.  The one thing about track is that it is super hard to get good pictures!

I settled for this selfie at the end of her last meet.