Wishing I could slow down time

I have been missing my babies a lot lately.  

My kids are getting old.  That is just a fact, but sometimes I wish it wasn't.  Don't get me wrong - there are plenty of good things about the ages they are now.  They are very self sufficient.  They sleep all night long.  They don't even require babysitters anymore. But sometimes I just want to poof back to the time when they were my constant companions.  I will never regret choosing to stay home with my babies - those days are still some of the best in my whole life.  

I miss them when I am grocery shopping - such a dreaded chore.  When you have a little one with you, shopping becomes more of an outing - a way to fill some time during the day before nap time.  Now it stresses me out.  They other day while I was grocery shopping alone I passed cart after cart of moms with their babies and toddlers strapped into the seats.   I listened  and felt even a little jealous as they got to answer questions and talk to their kiddos who really had no choice but to give their moms their undivided attention. 

I miss them on beautiful sunny warm spring days when we would drop everything and haul out the stroller and walk to the beach and play in the sand for hours.  They could be in the worst moods ever but something about the playing in the sand would set their little worlds straight again.  So on Monday when Hailey had an early release -even though she had tons of school work to do - we blew it off (for an hour or two) and walked down to the beach.  

Because she is still my baby - or at least I keep telling myself that - though I am sure she would not like the sound of that one bit. 

Monday moments: Sports edition

Spring sport season is in full swing around here.  I had to put the "taxi" sign back on my car after taking it down when the musical rehearsals finished.  

Last Monday Spencer had his first track meet.  I am glad he is participating in track, but track meets really are the worst to spectate.  The kids get a lot of social time hanging out with their friends, but the parents sit around for hours to watch their kid run for like thirty seconds.  Worst. 

He ran the 100 meter sprint.  He was in the second heat - which doesn't count for points.  He took first in the second heat - he ran 100 meters in 15 something seconds.  Crazy.

I told him he could probably shave a few seconds off his time if he pulled back that mop of hair.  He is insisting on letting it grow out.   I put it in a man pony one day and almost had him convinced to wear it but he pulled it out at the last minute.

I snapped this cutie picture as we were walking to the car after the meet.  Hailey and Spencer don't interact a lot because of their age difference, but he was being super sweet to her and she was loving every minute of it.  She is such a lucky girl to have two big brothers.

Tuesday at Girls on the Run.  It was a game day led by the girls.  These pictures didn't seem so far away when I took them.  Hailey is in the all gray with pink shoes.  

Thursday's track meet.  Spencer is just at the line running the 200 meter dash.

This time Hailey was with a friend at skate night so Evan got to come hang out with me to watch his big bro.

Evan's turn came on Saturday morning when we watched him in his first tennis matches.  He and his partner played three times and won all three!  Evan had some great serves and shots.  I was very proud of him.

Not to mention the head band just kills me every time.  LOVE this kid!

Two more track meets this week plus GOTR and tennis.  We are in sports mode around here!

Back to state finals!

Evan got the chance to compete in DI state finals for the second year in a row.  He loves this stuff and he is great at it.  For a shy not super social kid somehow he manages to be an amazing leader.  

All ready to head to the campus for his Instant Challenge.

Hailey decided to bring Evan's stuffie Laddie along thinking it would be a surprise to Evan and maybe good luck. 

He was excited to have Laddie and maybe the luck worked since they scored 95 out of 100 on their Instant Challenge.

An hour or so later we trekked across campus to watch them in their Central Challenge - this is the skit part they have to perform.

Hailey watching the team before them through the window and with a little help from Daddy.

Performing their skit.  It was about a science lab with genetically mutated owls and zombies.  Evan was a bounty hunting tracker.  He wrote most of the script by himself.  It was pretty creative.

 After the performance.

It was a gorgeous day - it felt like summer.  It was an amazing day to walk around campus.  We had to get the traditional picture in the quad.

We ate lunch and then went geocaching to a frisbee golf course where we found a "mustache cache".

The kids were mostly excited to get back to our hotel so they could swim in the pool.

We went for an early dinner before the awards assembly to celebrate a fun weekend and a job well done.

Evan relaxing after a long day. (With his mustache and Laddie and drink from the restaurant) They scored 9th out of twelve - he was not too disappointed.  He shouldn't be - he did an amazing job leading his team all the way to State!

Spring Break in pictures

We started our Spring Break with a half day off.  We took advantage of the semi nice weather and went for a hike in Ottawa Dunes.  The kids found a ton of fun climbing trees and had a blast climbing them.  I never knew what little monkeys I had. 

We purchased a new rug to give our living room a bit of a lift.

On Saturday our first official day of Spring Break we woke up to inches of snow.  The snowpants had to come back out of storage. UGH.

The kids had fun playing in it, but it just seemed so wrong.

On Tuesday when we got a bit of a weather reprieve we went hiking and geocaching in Grand Haven.

Duncan Woods had more fun trees to climb.

After a nice hike we treated the kids to ice cream at the Pump House.

Wednesday the weather was back to horrible so we made Hailey's dream come true and went bowling.

Thursday Hailey had some quiet creative time playing with Play Doh.  It is amazing the peace and quiet that 2.99 will buy you.

I did some decorating with style.  I brought up this lamp my Grampa made from the basement.  I am still trying to figure out the shade.  I think I might paint it black.

I finished framing some maps that have been on my to do list for years.  I love how it turned out.

Trent got a present from the store too.

 On Saturday we saw the sun again and we took advantage of it by going for a family fun mile run.  Evan had to time out a mile run for a scout badge and Hailey and I just need practice for GOTR.  I think Trent took the photo while I was talking.

Since the weather was horrible much of the week, we spent a lot of time inside watching movies and playing games.  The kids took up a new love of darts and Mario Kart.

It was a quiet, relaxing break.  Just a bit warmer would have been nice.