An Exercise in Revisiting the Past

Last week Cade attended the Wildcat Basketball Camp at Hayden High School. He was looking forward to it and he had a blast. Now, for those of you who aren't aware, the head boy's basketball coach is Ted Schuler. Ted and I attended Washburn at the same time. He was on the men's basketball team and I cheered for him. And you know when you're young, in college, think the world is your oyster and you...umm...maybe...do silly things while in college around your friends and/or others that 15 years later you kinda sorta are embarrassed about and maybe wish you and everyone else would forget? You know, like when you see some of those people later in life, well adjusted, married, with kids, an upstanding member of the community? Well. I'm not saying I did any of those things (not saying I didn't, either, just sayin'), but you kind of have a reality check when you go to leave your firstborn with one of those persons you maybe witnessed doing something of that sort or who maybe witnessed you doing something of that sort. Believe me, it's a bit surreal to say the least. And you pray with all your might that the other person is (or at least pretends to be for all intents and purposes) as grown up and responsible as you are now. On the drive to wherever Lydia and I went after dropping Cade off that first day, I found myself chanting to myself, "I just left my child with Ted Schuler. I just left my child with TED SCHULER! I JUST LEFT MY CHILD WITH TED SCHULER!!!!!"
Needless to say, everything was fine. I'm more than happy to share with you that he was absolutely wonderful with the kiddos. Really. I was happy to leave Cade the next few days. Turns out we all maybe do grow up after all. Just a little bit, anyway.

I Had No Idea

that FIFA had half-time entertainment courtesy of a dance/spirit squad! This whole World Cup thing just got a whoooooooollllle lot more interesting!

We Finally Did it!

We've waited 2 1/2 years to do it, but we actually got Lydia's hair trimmed. And why was it so hard to do? Honestly, the only reason we haven't done it so far was because I couldn't bring myself to do it. I guess because it's just one of the many signs that my baby is growing up.
*tear*
Anyhoo, last week or maybe it was two weeks ago, we talked Lydia up about going to see Miss Rhonda to get her hair cut. And she was all for it.

Getting excited to sit in Miss Rhonda's special chair and wear the special cape.

One final parting shot of the pure, uncut baby hair.
*tear* *tear* *tear*

Looking a bit introspective, don't you think? Almost like she's not sure if this is such a good idea.

Getting a pep-talk from daddy.

OK, so I can understand why Rhonda thought it would be a bit sentimental for Rusty to catch the first piece of cut hair. But really? It just kind of creeped me out. It was kinda like cutting the umbilical cord when she was born. Which reminded me of her being a little baby. And that's what led to me crying. Yes, that's right. I cried.
WHAT OF IT???!!

I knew she would still for the haircut and wouldn't give Rhonda any problems, but I had no idea she'd turn into a statue and not move a muscle.

Getting all layered up.

And now we have a real hair style!
Pretty cute if you ask me!

Still long, I know. Now it has more shape.

She didn't realize there was a HUGE treat for her in the end.

Enjoying her very first lolly.

Is this kid CUTE OR WHAT???

A couple weeks ago, my lil bro and his wife and INCREDIBLY CUTE, ADORABLE AND EXTREMELY PHOTOGENIC lil man, Baby M, came to town to watch Cade's baseball game and visit for a while.

As I happen to be an expert on this, I can tell you without a shadow of a doubt (but maybe just a teensy, weensy bit of bias) that he is the cutest little baby boy in the universe.
(Obviously he gets his looks from me. And his momma. Obviously.)

Oh and little Miss Mommy LOVED feeding baby M. Such big girl stuff feeding the baby, you know.

Baseball

Oops. Cade has only one more game left and I've failed to post any photos. In my defense, he only had 6. In the previous leagues he's been in he's had somewhere like 100 or so, so it wasn't like I needed to hurry to get pics posted back then. This year, we signed him up for a much less competitive league. See, at the end of the season last year, he was pretty down on baseball and said he didn't want to play this year. Well....fast forward about 3 months and we find out he needed glasses. That's why he was having such a rough go during baseball: HE COULDN'T FRIGGIN' SEE!! Fast forward another 6 months and he's tearing up the field. Really. Just when Rusty and I thought we were over the guilt of not figuring out on our own that he needed glasses, he goes and says after his first game, 'Mom, that was better than I did the entire season last year.' I swear everyone in a 10 ft. radius of me heard the loud crash of my heart shattering into a million pieces after he said that. So this season has been incredible for him. His self-confidence in baseball now is more than making up for the guilt we've harbored for months now. Next year he'll be up for Ken Berry again. But for now, he's back to being a boy who loves playing baseball. Doesn't get better than that, does it?

These pictures are from his second game (I believe). Great-Grandpa Chuck and Great-Grandma Rose came up to see his game.

Check out the rec specs. For those of you not in the know (read: hip) that's short for Recreational Spectacles.

Just waiting to make an outstanding play at first.

Grandma, Grandpa and Blanca.

Getting one of his many hits this year.

Leaving a dust trail.

Making a GREAT play at first.

Girl talk with Grandma.
(Pay no attention to those AWFUL chairs they are sitting in.)
*snigger*

Hey, that reminds of a joke: How do you spot an idiot?
Just shout 'Boomer!'

Lydia the Ladybug.

Keeping out of the sun.

Happy Birthday, Babe!

Still crazy after all these years.
Here's to you, hon. Hope this is your best year yet!

Who Knew?

I, for one, had no idea. While 'shopping' on Amazon, if you're a regular like me, they will make suggestions like 'new for you' or 'inspired by your browsing history'. So I popped over to Amazon today and nearly did a spit take because, apparently, this was inspired by my browsing history:

Beg your pardon?
What could I have POSSIBLY been browsing for that would have inspired this? I can only assume that since Rusty and I both use the same computer at home to surf, he must have been looking for something that triggered Amazon to 'suggest' this to me. And since I clicked on it to copy the picture, God only knows what other 'suggestions' I'll find the next time I visit Amazon. Can't wait. But before I could go any further in my surfing, my mind started filling with questions like:
How do they know this?
Who, for an entire year, took the time to weigh their or (gag me) someone else's...umm...specimens?
Or did they abbreviate the study's timeline and just sort of average it?
Who funded this study?
Who would fund this study?
How reliable are these results?
Who really cares?
And why in the world would they need ILLUSTRATIONS?????

Last Day of School!

Goodbye 3rd grade, helloooo summer!
The last day of school was two Thursdays ago, but we can still reminisce, can't we?

Yes, that is Cade's teacher, Mrs. Myers, in a wheelchair. Funny story. Not ha-ha funny. More like roll your eyes funny. She threw her back out while on the computer. Yes. You read that right. Apparently while speeding through inputting grades for her students, she pulled a muscle in her back. Now all of a sudden this blogging is looking a lot more like a strenuous activity. Better remember to stretch before I post another entry.

All the kids in Cade's class.

All of the 3rd-5th graders who placed in the honors Math (or was it science? Cade was in both groups, but I can't remember which one this was) in the standardized tests they took earlier in the year.

Peace out from the 3rd grade.

The obligatory end of the year photo. I think Mrs. Myers would cringe, but it was the best one of Cade.

'Mommy, she's so cute!'

The last day of school ritual with the Champney's. In years past, we usually went to the BK just down the street from school. But then we got a Freddy's.
Need I say more?

ONLY some of the coolest kids at MD!

This is how the Knollwood/Briarwood/College Hill kids roll.

Umm...well, except for this one.

...aaaaand this one.

OK. Now here go.

They're so crazy.

Now they're cool like dat.

CONTRARY To Popular Belief...

....(Aunt Nat) my kids do get dirty. And here's the proof.
So there.

{sticking my tongue out}

This one even sat in it.

So I'm giving this video upload another shot. I recorded Lydia singing her favorite Weezer song yesterday while she was eating lunch. Didn't realize I was singing along with her loud enough to be heard as well. Just ignore me. Hers is the voice you need to pay attention to. And check out the imaginary mic in her hand. Hilarious.

Field Day

These are pictures from Cade's Field Day. And I gotta tell ya, I'm just too pooped from golf, baseball, and this whole kitchen update to fill this post with my rapier wit commentary. So this is what you get:
It was a beautiful day. The games were creative and fun. The kids had a blast. Who could ask for anything more?

Little Miss if-Mommy's-wearing-her-sunglasses-so-must-I.

Defending his energy cell during a game called Star Wars Blast (I think).

Whose Field Day is this?

Only Lydia's all time favorite activity in the world.

This game was funny to watch.
It's doesn't look like much, but it was surprising to see just how much coordination was required in order to run over these rows of cups, pick one up, add it to the pyramid and run back. It apparently is harder than it looks. At least that's what Cade's class would have me believe.

Cade's team won!

This picture cracks me up. The girl who is jumping into Lydia's personal space and backing her into a corner is the female version of Calvin. No joke.

I'm not sure, but I think I may have croaked really loud like a frog and made her jump.

This game was OK, I guess. The whole time I kept thinking, 'Man, I wonder where they got those beach towels. They're pretty cute. Wouldn't mind having one of those.'

Rubber chickens. Psychedelically colored rubber chickens. That is all.