It's Exhausting

Baseball, birthdays, popsicles, golf, bikes, carnivals, the kids have been passing out at night. Our first full week of summer was fun!

This picture popped up in my FB memories, it's been a full year since I taught. I miss the people - the staff, the kids and the families. But I don't miss lesson planning on my off-days, report cards, going in every single weekend - basically I don't miss the actual work ;) I was invited to the final staff meeting to celebrate the retirement of my favorite EA - Mrs. B! I was fortunate to have worked closely w/ Julie the last 5ish years or so. She was the glue of our homeroom, especially w/ two teachers sharing a space. I loved having Mrs. B around when a student would say one of those "Kids Say the Darnedest Things" that you have to hear to believe, we could make eye contact, shake our heads, and share our own adult laugh in silence. Later that night, I went to Happy Hour w/ most of these crazy teachers as they kicked off their own summer vacay.

Finley's report card showed up, woo hoo! Happy boy - he got the 2nd Grade teacher he was hoping for! Happy mom - he did AWESOME in 1st grade! Finley either was meeting or exceeding all end-of-year benchmarks except one. He got a "progressing" mark for Performs a steady beat which I'm totally OK w/ because in Kindergarten I received a "needs improvement" for marching. Safe to say moving to a beat doesn't run in our blood, but if that's all he needs to work on, we're doing alright.

Popsicles = summer.

There are no wobbles, she's fully a rider.

Rice Krispie Treats.

Finley started golf lessons. He loves his new clubs, they were an early birthday present from Grandpa & Grandma.

At the end of the first lesson, they had a putting contest. Finley was excited to tie for first place.

The kids started the Summer Reading Program at our public library, Hadley has (sort of) read two chapter books already. No clue how she can walk around w/ a book pretending to read, but she has been...a lot. The interest in learning to read is there! Finley has nearly read the entire Boxcar Children book, he's so proud of himself!

In April, we learned Grandpa had an early-detected case of prostate cancer. There were treatment options, but thankfully he quickly chose the best one - GET.IT.OUT. On Thursday, he did. The pathology report confirmed that his lymph nodes and margins were clear of cancer, so along w/ his prostate gland the cancer is gone-gone. He'll need some recovery time this summer, but given his good health going into surgery, we're hopeful it'll be an easy recovery over the next few months.

Brother got a cool new haircut.

Allie invited Hadley to a local carnival, the girls had fun on the rides and playing games.

Hadley came home w/ a lot of prizes including a goldfish. "Goldie" was with us for two days and sadly (or not) was found floating Sunday morning. Thankfully buying a tank was on Sunday's to-do list, it saved me some money ;)

Finley had his last game as a Bee. They started the season off strong, but kind of fell apart mid-season and never got their momentum back.

Baseball isn't over for long, he started practicing w/ a summer team before the spring team even finished up. Finley tried out for an All-Stars team that will play in a few tournaments and have regular games the next couple months.

This was Finley's first try out and I already hate this about children's sports. He was pretty pumped going into the try out and fortunately there were enough players that two teams were formed and no one was cut. Had there only been one team, Finley would've squeaked onto the A team, but w/ two smaller teams and Patrick's offer to coach, they bumped him down to B. At first, Finley was ok w/ the B team (he isn't aware that he would've made A if there were only one team). Then a friend (who made the A team) told him that B = Bad and that Finley will hate the black jerseys because they'll be really hot this summer (A wears gray and B wears black).

W/ that conversation, Finley's excitement surrounding summer ball plummeted. I'm so frustrated for him. I'm not naive enough to believe that Finley has never hurt someone's feelings, but I felt "mama bear" when this friend shredded his confidence about his baseball skills. Soon the games will begin and I'm hopeful that Finley's pride will build again, he is excited that a few friends from school are also on his team. You got it Finley.

From the ballpark to the football field - we celebrated Finley's upcoming EIGHTH birthday!

Finley's birthday party included a crew of school-friends, neighbors, cousins, and baseball buddies at a CV Predators football game.

The party started off w/ a behind the scenes tour of the stadium...

...the press box...

...the field and player's bench...

...and the locker room w/ a pep talk from the head coach!

Each birthday kid (there were five kids celebrating at the game) was called up front to receive an autographed football. In a total coincidence, we happen to know the little boy wearing blue. I'd shared the party idea w/ his mom, but we didn't know we would be celebrating at the same game.

The team and coach sang Happy Birthday! with energy, clapping, and a little dancing.

The face - he's loving it.

Birthday cake for the birthday boy!

I was so impressed w/ the Predators organization. The players and staff were so welcoming and nice to the kids. Everyone signed autographs - it didn't matter if they were walking into the park, in the locker room, or standing on the sidelines while the game was being played - they'd stop for any kid that walked up. All of the players were full of high-fives, knuckles, and offered thanks for coming to watch. I'd never been to a Predators game, but we'll be back it's the kind of organization you want in your community.

The team manager gave each kid a milk jug w/ a few pennies inside, they were noise makers to distract the opponents - so loud.

Touchdown cheering!

Hot Hadley.

At half-time, the kids were invited onto the field to run and play. The kids were getting a little restless in the stands, so it was a perfect break. And it might've been the highlight of the game for some of the kids.

We finished up the party in the parking lot ;) While we waited for parents to return, Finley opened his presents. Thank you to all of his friends for making Finley's day special!

Summer is off to a fun and busy start...it's exhausting.