Play ball!

One of my favorite quotes has to do with baseball (shocking, I know). It says, "People ask me what I do in winter when there's no baseball. I'll tell you what I do. I stare out the window and wait for spring."

After months of waiting, baseball season is finally upon us. I love sitting in the bleachers watching games--Cooper's, Bennett's, the Rockies, random games on TV. Bring it on!

Cooper had his first tournament last weekend and they got their rear ends handed to them in all three games. I hate seeing them lose big, but the scores were not indicative of the kind of team they will be. They had one or two bad innings and the other teams capitalized. All of the teams we played were 8th grade teams and we really hung in there. Coop was exhausted after catching three games, but he did great. He was a bit rusty in game one, but pulled it together after that. In game 3, he had two collisions at the plate tagging runners out. So fun! He has been putting in extra time working on blocking and something has finally clicked with his hitting. He went 3-5 over the weekend with one walk. The video is of his 2 RBI double. He was pretty pumped!

Digging a pitch out of the dirt.

Had to also throw in this photo of Kaiya. We now have two kids in braces. As if these kids don't already cost enough! She is pretty sore at the moment, but is hoping it resolves before we head out for sunny Scottsdale on Friday! She got to watch a movie while they were putting on her braces, so it wasn't all bad. I think she looks so old with them on!

Not too thrilled

Finally talked a smile out of her

2 RBI double taken with crappy cell phone video

Tulsa Time, Take Two

When my little brother headed off to college, I promised him I would make it out at least once a year to see him play. I wish I could go all the time, but I have to settle for once a year.

This time, I took my girls and make a girls' weekend out of it with my mom. We had to be super creative to make this trip work because the flights were all oversold. Add to that the time changes and Daylight Savings, and it was a whirlwind of a weekend! So, this is how it went . . .

1) Fly standby on Friday to Oklahoma City since Frontier no longer flies direct to Tulsa (drat!)

2) Rent a car in OKC and drive to Tulsa airport (plus a scenic drive around Tulsa getting lost thanks go errant Google maps airport address), dropping of rental car #1.

3) Take a shuttle from the Tulsa airport to our hotel

4) Pick up a rental car #2 to drive one-way home on Sunday since all flights were oversold.

That took some careful planning!! The only thing we failed to plan for was bad weather. Just before Salina, KS, we hit a massive spring storm. My mom and I are both bad weather driving wimps, but we survived. It added over 2 hours to our drive time and there were times we couldn't even see the pavement or the lines on the highway, but somehow we made it, arriving home at 5 a.m. on Monday. Whew! The memories were totally worth it and we got some great quality time with Bennett and his girlfriend, Casady, and her family who also came to cheer on Bennett.

My girls did great with all the travel and loved the whole weekend. Neither one wanted to come home!

Getting our rice burner car--good thing this wasn't rental car #2 through the snow!

Finally got to see B after the game Friday night.

The batter is supposed to be a first round draft pick in June and Bennett outplayed him!

After game activites--Casady's younger sister is a cheerleader and Kinley was in heaven!

Walking around ORU campus

Inside the student center--everything has a biblical reference, like these mirrors.

What a good lookin' couple!

The Bennett Pickar fan club

Some snuggle time in our hotel

Perspective

It's funny how life teaches you little lessons when you least expect it. I have had a rough couple weeks and have been trying so hard to snap out of my funk. All it takes is one life-altering moment to put everything in perspective.

Last weekend, we were at Kaiya's gymnastics banquet enjoying a really nice night when my phone starting ringing off the hook. I kept ignoring the calls, but after about the 10th call from my co-workers, I stepped out and took one of the calls. It was then that I learned that one of my favorite co-workers from the cardiac floor had just tragically lost her husband in a freak accident just days before they were going to head to New Zealand. They had only been married for 18 months and now he's gone at age 27. She and I started at the same time and became buddies very quickly. When you spend 12 hr shifts with people, they become your work family and I just loved this girl! My heart is broken in two for her.

As I've processed the enormity of the event and then attended the memorial service with all of my work family yesterday, it caused me to do some serious reflecting on what is really important in life. Ironically, I had already had plans with some of my old high school friends to get together and we continued on with those plans. We had 12 guests for dinner tonight and had an amazing time--the kids all played and had a ball and it was great to reconnect--I just love every one of these girls and their spouses/significant others. They are just warm, good people in every way. It's the 2nd time we've gotten together since our big 20 year reunion and it's so fun to renew old friendships. I've done the same thing with my gymnastics friends about once a quarter as well and it's just really special to create new memories with people that I have known most of my life.

In honor of Kate, I am going to try really hard to keep this perspective to focus on what's important and let the rest go!

Kaiya's gym family at her banquet--what a neat group of girls!!

Jodi and her super cute girls

Those eyes!

We will not admit our age!!

Shonda and Max

Lupe and Robyn & Jenna

Such a fun night

Excitement and lack thereof

I was just looking back at my blog posts and realized that I didn't have a single word or photo about Cooper's basketball season. Well, there's a reason! It has been forgettable, to say the least. He has played well and it's been a great way to get him in shape for baseball, but that's about it. It has been a pretty miserable season for lots of reasons, but also a good life lesson that sometimes things aren't fair and even though you feel like quitting, you become a better person by sticking it out. I'm really proud that he has been able to laugh about it. They won ONE game the entire season. Ugh! He did fine--a few buckets here and there and he gives it his all every game.

Baseball season has begun and perhaps that's why his mood has improved. He will be playing in 6 tourneys this spring and then will play Legion ball in the summer. Let the bleacher butt begin!! Bennett's season started this weekend, so we're ready to cheer him on now, too!!

My excitement came on Thursday night at work. A little before 1:00 a.m., a van pulled into our front parking lot and a guy came running in saying that his wife was giving birth and they couldn't make it to the hospital in which she was supposed to deliver! What the??? We all went running out and sure enough, there was his wife with her feet up on the dashboard and the baby's head and shoulders were already out! We grabbed blankets and our one and only OB kit and called 911 (we don't take care of anyone over the age of 22!). We got the baby's feet out, got him suctioned, and clamped/cut the cord. About this time, the baby's father puked in the parking lot from nerves! We ran the baby inside and other than the fact that he was a little early (35.5 weeks) and a little cold, he was healthy and crying and 6 lbs 5oz! Once the baby was stabilized and thoroughly checked over, we sent both the mom and baby to another hospital with the paramedics. Wow!! What a night. It was a first for Children's North Campus--never had a birth before, let alone in the parking lot. Always fun to be a witness to the miracle of life. :)

Finally, I had to throw in these awesome photos that my dad just sent me from Scottsdale. He has been making a daily trip to the Rockies' new spring training site, which is all of 4.8 miles from our condo. Talk about getting up close and personal. He said when he watches practice, he can even hear the players' conversations. Can't wait to get down there next month!!!! What an amazing facility.

Love that you can see Camelback Mountain in the background!

So close to the players as they walk by!

Gorgeous!

Hi, Spilly!

Birthday marathon

I am always trying to come up with ways to sneak in more one-on-one time with each of my kids, but it's not easy! However, I think I've filled Kinley's bucket for a while after the last several days.

This was her "off" year for a birthday party, so she got to choose what activity to do as a family. It turned out that she was invited to go to a dance convention in Denver over her birthday weekend and the offer was that it would be just the two of us. The decision was made!

New dance shoes called "foot undies" for the big day

After a nice round of influenza made it through our house, I was worried Kinley wasn't going to make it, but Tamiflu saved the day! We had to be at the hotel in Denver at 7:30 a.m., so it was a very early Saturday for us. At 8:00, her first class started and she had 3 hrs of class, lunch, and then 3 more hours of class just on Saturday alone--jazz, hip-hop, lyrical, musical theater, and tap! The convention was put on by Hollywood Connection and they are a group of dancers, actors and actresses, most of whom have ties to the music/dance industry. They tour around the country and host these conventions and competitions. One of her favorite instructors named Brooke works on the set of Glee, has worked with Katy Perry, and was in the Hannah Montana movie and Vanilla Sky! So cool!

The hotel convention room we called home for 2 days

Let the classes begin!

With her fav instructor, Brooke

Barely out of the parking lot to head home

Her dance studio had many older kids competing in the evening, so we also got to watch that. It was very LONG, but so fun to watch all the talent that was there. Dancers from her studio did amazingly well!

When it was all over at 9:30 pm, they had a short pizza party for all the kids and then we crashed! I think Kinley was asleep 10 seconds after her head hit the pillow. She then had class again the next day from 8 am - 2pm and by the time the last class rolled around, she was beat! We got in the car to head home and she fell asleep before we hit the freeway!

Kinley was the very youngest one at the convention (you were supposed to be 7 to go, but she was close enough) and she did so good. I have no idea how she memorizes so many choreographed numbers at such a young age. They tried to teach the moms one of the dances and it was all I could do to keep up. She worked really hard and really held her own in a room of some very serious, competitive kids. I'm really not sure she will be in this for the long haul (I still have issues with all the make-up, some of the costumes, and the time/money commitment), but for now, she is enjoying it.

As soon as we got home, we had family over to celebrate her birthday and fortunately, she got a second wind. We had a very nice night.

Nice swimsuit, dad

Ready for spring training next month!

Her beloved iPod

The requested giant, heart-shaped chocolate chip cookie

The next day was a fun day at her school. I helped in her classroom all day, including both of my girls' Valentine's Day parties. I'm still recovering, but it was such a great day. The neatest part of the day is the way Kinley's teacher recognizes birthdays in her classroom. She has the birthday kid sit on a chair that is on top of a desk and has each student say something they like about him/her (we need to do this for each other as adults, by the way). I had tears in my eyes as I listened to what the kids said and then especially her teacher and her teacher's aide. Most all talked about how she is a friend to everyone, is always positive and funny. Sure love this girl!!

Getting sung to in the cafeteria

Listening to kind words from her classmates

Some of her best buds in 1st grade

Her Valentine's box

Love, love her teacher!!

Hard to see, but you can hear how intense this dance instructor was!

Yet another dance

Moments of fame

Both Cooper and Kaiya have had a little time in the spotlight in the last couple weeks. Kaiya had a piano recital in Boulder and Cooper got to spend a little quality time at Coors field, rubbing elbows with players, coaches and the media.

Last Saturday, Cooper got the chance to go to Coors Field for Fan Fest. It's an event for season ticket holders in which fans have the opportunity to meet players and coaches and tour the entire facility, including things like the locker room. I had worked the night before, so I had to sleep and Doug was working. So, we gave the tickets to a good friend and he took his two sons and Cooper to the event.

Cooper's moment of fame came when he landed an on camera interview with Alana Rizzo and Marc Stout from FSN. Those names don't mean much to many of you, but they are household names around here. They are two of the primary announcers for FSN, who broadcasts all of the Rockies games on TV. I've always said I wanted Alana's job, but I might have to let Coop have the job instead. It's small and kind of hard to see, but check this out!

Here is Kaiya's piano recital video. It was an after Christmas theme and she worked pretty hard on it, which isn't easy in light of her gym schedule. I'm also posting this link to show her latest feat in the gym--can now do a round off, back handspring, back tuck. She is pretty pumped to be learning all this new stuff! Check this out: http://qik.ly/FgjIZyrfxx3Cv6s54HSEaY

A teenager in the house!

More than any other of my kids' birthdays, I struggled with this one! I am not ready to have a teenager and I'm still catching myself doing a reality check. Cooper seemed to take it all in stride, but there is something very different about telling someone I have a 12-year-old vs a 13-year-old. It just sounds different and OLD. I always get very emotional around the time of his birthday thinking back to how scary his beginning was and this year was no different. I was actually at work and looked at the clock at 2:50 a.m., which is when he was born and had to pull myself together. Here I was, working as a nurse, thinking about all the great nurses who helped me after he was born. I would have never pursued a nursing career if not for Coop. It feels so good to be giving back and to be a small glimmer of hope in the lives of other families with sick kids. Whether your kid has croup or a major heart defect, when it's your kid, it's awful.

Cooper has taught me that I am stronger than I thought; that success is sometimes measured in just getting through the day; that being a parent is the hardest, yet most rewarding job I'll ever have; that pride is something you never really understood until you are a parent; that cursive is a waste of time; and that our trials make us stronger.

He is by no means a perfect kid (we do our share of battles), but he is a good person to his very core. He has a conscious stronger than most adults I know, admits his mistakes, can talk to any adult about any subject, and just has a huge heart.

I only let my kids have a big birthday party every other year and Coop was long overdue for one. He actually skipped a formal party for the last several years (his choice), so when he decided he wanted to have one for his 13th, I couldn't argue. We had very little time to plan after getting back from vacation, but it all worked out great.

We let him open gifts from us on his real birthday, but that was about the extent of the excitement that day since he had school and basketball practice. Saturday night was his friend party and I am still amazed how good it turned out. I was a bit paranoid about that many 12 and 13-year-olds in my house, but they all behaved and had a good time. Doug took them all to get wings at Buffalo Wild Wings while I took the girls to a DU gymnastics meet. Then, we all met back at our house for video games, cake, presents and a serious game of tag. I figured they would all be glued to the video games, but they acted more like little kids playing tag around our house. I had several kids come say 'thank you' on their own and most were very well behaved (including one that was not so nice earlier in the year). I was honestly impressed. Cooper had a blast and seeing him interact with his buddies was fun.

Sunday night was our family gathering and he enjoyed a third day in a row of gifts! He had a basketball game over the weekend as well and although it appears his team won't be setting any records for wins or high scoring, he played well. It took him until the very end of the season last year to score, but had a bucket in his first game. Not too shabby!

This group chowed down over 100 wings!

The whole gang!

He's hoping the bat swing trainer also comes with lessons from Brandon!

The kid loves his hats!

Time to go shopping!

Bat bag from Papa

Ready for baseball season already!