I know, I know…she’s growing like a weed.  She has certainly outgrown her mom!  This is #42, member of the 8th Grade Prairie Trail Middle School Basketball Team!!  Great job MoMo!  So proud of you for taking the initiative to try out for the basketball team and working really hard all week despite a healing right wrist and piles of homework.  Here we go-practice every day after school and games every Tuesday and Thursday!  Not sure how the logistics will work out on this but somehow we did it last year so I’m sure we’ll figure it out again!  We are so excited to watch you play this season. Go PRT Huskies!!

 

Meet “Tootsie Roll” Drew’s Invent Your Own Insect assignment for 3rd grade Science class!  Great job right!?  Let’s be real, Drew does not love arts and crafts so I had to get him excited about doing it by bribing him with candy.  So his insect is adorned with flavored tootsie rolls and many more in Drew’s belly.  Amazing what you can do with tin foil, straws, pipe cleaners, hot glue, and tootsie rolls!  Drewy, Mrs. Berg is going to love your insect!

Here’s a flashback photo of Morgan’s insect she made in 3rd grade.  I remember that she was a lot more enthusiastic about the project.  I think she started right in on it as soon as she could!  She loves arts and crafts and is very creative.  This is Jelly Bean (from October 2011).  And bonus…two adorable brothers!These are my kind of bugs!!

I realized that I left out one of my favorite pictures from the Royals game!  So I decided it deserved it’s own post.  This little girl loves the Royals or maybe its really just the snacks and activities at the K or wearing royals shirts!?  I’m not sure she actually tunes into the games.  We’ll give her some time on that.  For this game, she sat down to make her own poster.  It was so cute watching her make it!  She wanted to put the praying mantis on there but ran out of time (or is that it on the bottom?).  Isn’t she cute!?  In my opinion she deserves a foul ball or at least a moment to shine on the jumbo screen.  Great Job Reecie!

Our family has had the opportunity to have lots of Royals tickets over the years and Brian and the kids hit one last game before the end of the season.  We were sincerely hoping for some post-season action but it just wasn’t meant to be I guess!  I decided to be a good mom and stay home to make some progress on Jake’s birthday video which takes countless hours of uninterrupted time to complete.  I was sad to miss out on the fun but Brian managed to capture the night with some cute pics.  Good job Brian!  They did some tailgating and of course some good times in the little K kids area.  I can tell they weren’t missing me 😉

And are you surprised that Reece is carrying in plush animals into the game!?  This girl knows how to make an entrance into a sporting event.  You go girl!!

Next time I’m dropping my to-do list and going with you guys!

On the weekend of September 23-25 both Jake and Drew competed in the CSI soccer tournament at Overland Park.  The weekend weather started out beautiful and by Sunday the boys looked like drowned rats playing in some serious rain and wind.  It truly amazes me that athletes are completely calm in inclement weather, like it’s not even happening.   Meanwhile I was hunkered down under an umbrella and fearing for my life.

They didn’t come home with any hardware but there were some successes and it’s always fun to watch their level of play!  With new teams being formed due to the new age rules in the league, there are some growing pains.  Each game will get better and we are always there to support!  Great effort boys!

 

Each September Manchester Park Elementary has one big fundraiser.  The kids are asked to try to collect $50 in pledges and then they participate in a Fun Run, which is more of a fun obstacle course.  This year, we exceeded our goal which is fantastic!  The principal and the counselor are spending the night in a tent on the roof of the school tonight to celebrate the success!  There is also a family movie night occurring on the playground.  What a great event!  I was asked to volunteer for the 5th grade session on the fun run.  I’m not always dying to add things to my schedule but since my 5th grader is going off to middle school, I said yes!  When I arrived to volunteer, they put me in the most dangerous station – the flamingo run where you have to hop on one leg down and back with another student holding your leg!  Who’s brilliant idea was this anyway!?  Just picture a bunch of silly 5th graders falling all over the ground and each other and you will see how well this went!  Maybe they should scratch that event off for next year.  I think I only had one person that had to go to the nurse thank goodness!  I was never so happy to pull out of that school parking lot…I did not want to be responsible for any fractured wrists…I already have enough problems with that in my own home!

 

Jake was super fun to watch and I was very impressed how his group followed the directions and had fun!  Great job Jake…see there is hope for some 5th grade boys after all!  He did take it very seriously which is typical of his personality.  There wasn’t even a prize for the winner…just personal victory!

Way to go Manchester Park Timberwolves!!

Drew’s Strike Zone Bulldogs team participated in their 1st Kid-Pitch baseball tourney (Oct 1-2, 2016).  It’s been a bit of a rough Fall season for them due to weather.  Their team decided not to sign up for Fall league baseball and do weekly scrimmages with another Strike Zone team instead.  Well this sounded like a great idea at the time, however, the weather prevented us from playing many of the scrimmages.  It was always a torrential downpour on the days we were scheduled to scrimmage.  Therefore, we didn’t get a lot of game experience and had to pull out of the other tournament we were supposed to play in this Fall.  However, we did manage to compete in The Bitter End tourney at 3and2 and they did great!  They took home a 2nd place trophy and some great experience with hitting against a live pitcher and learning the techniques of pitching.  They tried their very best and had a pretty amazing comeback effort in their championship game but ended up short a few runs 17-13.  Part of that comeback effort included Drew blowing around the bases against the coaches direction and making it safe at home (barely).  This kid wanted to keep playing and he was going to do that one way or the other.  The coach was almost in tears he was laughing so hard.  I would do anything to have that on video!   Love your drive to win Drew.  Never give up buddy.

and look….you have teeth this season!!  🙂

Reece is in 1st grade now and what a difference a year makes.  This little lady is maturing and learning so much.  My favorite thing is hearing her talk about her day and what she learned.  It’s always something very interesting and she is clearly paying attention!  We’ve been talking about the solar system, all about the statue of Liberty, and many other fabulous things.  I also love it when she imitates her teacher.  It’s hysterical!  Her facial expressions and the tone of her voice.  She’s given all of her stuffed animals quite a lesson on who’s boss.  I love her enthusiasm.  In the last couple weeks she has passed all of her sight words, her 1st grade phrases, and we are on to math facts.  Great job Reecie!

She has also mastered the art of putting together a variety of outfits for school…one day preppy…the next day a little edgy…if anyone can pull this off, Reece can!

Recently they had a party at school and they could wear PJ’s and bring a stuffed animal – remember these cute days when they get so excited to do that!!  I love it!  The biggest decision she had to make was which one to bring…Princess (the cute little puppy Morgan gave her), Clemy (the seal from Chicago), or Snowflake (our Christmas Elf’s pet).  This is a tough call but Snowflake won out in the end!  How those three even made the first cut, I’m not sure!?  You all know how many stuffed animals this girl owns!!

Meet Stella Robinson (Reece’s 1st grade friend & classmate) at our house for playdate.  1st grade rocks!!

Look how cute they are hula hooping at recess!  They are REALLY good!  Clearly they have stronger core muscles than some of us!  Check out the video…

This cutie is also quite the gymnast and trains two days a week after school.  Every Monday/Wednesday she gets picked up from school, shimmies into a leotard in the back of the van, crams down a snack, and becomes a gymnast for 2 hours.  We have a little carpool going with a school-mate and they gave her the cutest personalized bag recently to keep her clothing and snacks in…

She is doing really well and her gymnastics project report is quite impressive!  Keep up the hard work!!  We are super proud of you!

Here is a photo of Morgan in her one and only gymnastics meet she participated in (the Pink Ribbon Invitational hosted by KGDC).  After this meet in March 2011, she decided gymnastics was not for her.  Morgan, you’re so cute and we loved watching you!

 

And this was you Reece…supporting your sister at her gymnastics meet!

One of these days, we’ll be watching you do this!  Can’t wait to see what you do and keep rocking 1st grade, Reecie Cups, you are developing some great skills.

I’m sending my boys off to St. Louis this weekend to compete in the Scott Gallagher Fall Festival.  We had grand plans of heading to St. Louis as a family to take a little break from our life here in Lenexa, hang out with friends, maybe hit the City Museum again, and watch some great soccer.  However, we didn’t realize until recently that Morgan is competing in a soccer tournament here in OP – the Midwest All-Girls tournament and Reece has a couple of soccer games too.  UGH…could someone please invent a way for mom’s to  be in two places at once please!?  I would love to spend the weekend with my boys but the truth is, I have A LOT to do to get this family packed and ready to go on vacation next Friday morning. And let’s be honest…I have a bunch of birthday party stuff that is piled up in my basement that needs to be attended to!  I really need to be here so I can get a few things done in between games.  So, I’m staying home with my girls which is going to be great!!  I will also be checking my phone every five seconds like a crazed teenager waiting for updates from Brian!  If I’m lucky, I’ll get some sweet boys to call me and update me on everything I’m missing 😉

I’m in the process of getting uniforms clean (3 different jerseys, 3 different shorts, 3 different socks, x 2) and I’ve got snack bags assembled with beef jerky, nuts, protein bars, and fun snacks (who doesn’t love gummy worms!? and it’s a good trick for a burst of energy if needed too!).  And I’m sad to admit that Drew loves those weird Little Debbie vanilla snack cakes and Jake loves those cosmic brownies…yuck! Can you imagine the gluten and crappy ingredients in those things!? These boys are so excited and I want them to have an awesome trip and tournament!  Part of the fun is packing up for the road trip, staying in a hotel with friends, eating fun snacks, and competing.  Paradise found!  I’m sorry for anyone staying in their hotels that is not there for the tournament.  You know there will be loud wet kids running up and down the hallways, slamming doors, and monopolizing the free breakfast area.  Accept an apology now from the Fusion organization!

 

 

Morgan, I can’t wait to see you play this weekend…I’m seriously your biggest fan.  Even though your game times seem to be in the middle of the night or definitely past my bedtime!  I’ll have my hot tea ready and a blanket in tow.  You can picture me right now can’t you!?   And Reecie, watching you learn the sport of soccer has been super fun.  You’ve come a long way and we are proud of you too!!

Go FUSION & Pink Thunder!!

Good luck #16’s!!