It was someone’s brilliant idea to have a school spirit day this week.  Don’t they know it’s teacher appreciation week, final spring games, graduations, recitals, mother’s day,  banquets, and birthdays (and I’m sure I’m forgetting something else!?)  Don’t they know that every mom is walking around a total zombie right now?  I’ve had the same outfit on for 2 days AND walked into the school twice wearing it!  I’m sure it has chocolate stains on it somewhere.  So embarrassing!

Thankfully, I have the most resourceful and creative kids!  Reece is an elected student council representative for the 3rd grade at Manchester Park Elementary, so you better believe she is going to be participating in a spirit day!  After her final STUCO meeting on Monday, she went right to work on her idea for her “future career” outfit.  She stole all my tape, took computer paper out of the printer, and did some late night crafting in her room.  This happens often.  Someone please get this girl her own bucket of tape so she will stop taking mine!!

Waking up to this creation on Reece’s bedroom floor puts the biggest smile on my face.  She has a creative mind and apparently she also has aspirations to be a server at SPIN! Pizza!?  I love it.  Maybe she’ll own the chain someday?  Aim high, Reecie Cups!

I did try to help her out a bit and called SPIN! Pizza yesterday to see if they sold shirts.  They don’t, but they kindly offered me some stickers and a pizza box.  The manager even said he would order me a shirt but there’s no time for that, so the next best thing is always the dollar section at Target.  I picked up a notepad that was shaped like a slice of pizza and by the time I got home from a soccer game and 3 baseball games last night, she had created this masterpiece!!

We had to reinforce this baby with A LOT of packing tape – it’s a little ‘crunchy’ when she bends to sit down, but how cute is she!?  I think they should hire her to be their marketing manager.  She would rock it!

And then the choice was easy for Drew and A LOT less work – a basketball player, of course!
Happy last spirit day for the 2018-2019 school year!!

 

I HATE that I haven’t written in over a month.  Literally every single day I have ideas or stories that I want to tell and every single day the time gets away from me.  This must be the phase of life I’m in right now.  Today my goal is to catch up here and to remind myself that mom’s are resilient, resourceful, and BUSY.

As we move into May, the busiest month of the year.  It’s not December, peeps, it’s May, trust me.  My adorable and precious Grammy turned 95 yesterday and she reminds me often of being resilient and resourceful.  Even when she doesn’t feel well, her sweet laugh and love for family always shines through.

It’s evident she taught my mom a few things along the way, and we all know how awesome she is too!  Every once in awhile when I question the chaos that surrounds our household most days, I usually put it in perspective and realize my own kids are learning so much.

Morgan is always gracefully taking on her busy life.  Here she is leaving for school with everything she needs…

She’s successfully completed life guard training, she’s already years into her neighborhood mowing career, volunteering in the 1st grade Sunday school class often, securing a nanny position for the summer, and jumping in to help anyone in need – such as our friend Stacey as she was struggling opening a bottle of wine.  Oops…how did that one slip in here!

Don’t worry, my dad has already taught her how to be a wine opener/server at all Michie family functions.  She could be a successful waitress tomorrow if she needed another job.  But for now, she’s already over-committed this summer.  I’m never going to see her!

Drew is also learning a few important things.  Like getting his uniforms laid out for a baseball tournament.  I love this organization.  When I said be prepared for the cold, he took my directions very seriously.  Look at all these layers!He’s also learned that baseball can turn on you in an instant.  Like when you’re winning the game without feeling in your hands because it’s FREEZING, and somehow after 2 hours, you’ve lost.  However, he’s also learning to sprinkle in some fun along the way and everything is better with cheeseburgers, ice cream and friends!

Daily, he reports back to me what he’s doing in school, checks his grades in the app, and a full run down of school drama – who’s being bad, which girls are annoying, who’s dating who — WHAT!? in 5th grade!?  Back it up here, bud, there’s no dating in elementary school.  Thank goodness he agrees.  Hard to believe he went to PRT last week for his first look at a day in middle school!He will forever be the one that steals everyone’s hearts.  Look at how attentive he is to our new cousin baby Maggie…

And he lets me make his allergy pills out of essential oils.  Now that’s love 😉

Reece is well on her way to topping off her very own bank account with $500 as she started her first mowing job!  I love a girl that is determined to create her own wealth at the age of 8 years old.  Go girl!

She’s working so hard spending 7+ hours a week at the gym training, eating her greens, crafting and creating every chance she gets.  This resourceful girl can play for hours by herself!  Her brain comes up with countless creative concepts.  She turns a piece of paper and some tape into a wonderland of make-believe.

Jake is turning into the teenager we always knew he would.  Gorgeous, funny, smart, and forever a lover of sports.He now has Instagram and Snap Chat.  We’re working on common sense and appropriate amounts of screen time.   Yikes!  I’m hoping I’m not the only teenage boy mom working on this, because it seems to be an uphill battle.

He has a big heart, a big fro (he needs a haircut!), and a big stomach — he eats constantly.  His knees and feet are always hurting because he’s growing so fast and I’m trying to fix him with shoe inserts and essential oils.  Moms do whatever it takes to make their kids learn, grow and also not hurt!  I even sit at soccer games in St. Louis with sleet pelting me in the face.Jake is determined.  He does his job on the field every. single. time. even when he’s soaked and cold and despite him being a teenager, I do learn from him often.  Resilience at it’s finest.

Congrats KC Bulldogs on a very hard fought Finalist position in the Rawlings Grand Slam Tourney.

So as I close here, I do want to share a few more things that have happened within the Conley Crew recently!!

 

I had no idea that field trips still existed in high school…at least the ones that require parent volunteers!  I happily signed up when Morgan’s AP Euro teacher was asking for help.  Listen, I’m no dummy, I realize that my time left with Morgan being a student living at home is going to come to an end sooner than I want.  I’m game for anything at this point.

I do have to say as the day approached, I started to get a little nervous that being in charge of high school students could be more than I bargained for.  What if they tried to smoke in the bathroom or say bad words in front of the docent!?  Surely they wouldn’t!?  I should have known they would be great.  They likely wouldn’t be enrolled in an advance placement history class if they were trouble makers!

Our first stop was the WWI museum which I had heard was amazing.  It didn’t disappoint.  I loved it!  I would go back and spend more time for sure.

Our leader was great but he did expect a lot of interaction with the students.  Guess who was the very first person to be picked on….Morgan, of course!  He was using her as an example of being the size of a soldier back in that time.  Apparently she’s 5’7″ and 135 lbs.  Not really, but he did get his point across and she is the cutest, who wouldn’t pick her out of crowd!

I could REALLY tell I am not up to speed on my WWI history, but this guy did a fabulous job engaging the kids and I’m always up for a history lesson.

Just being here reminds me of that super crazy Royals World Series parade/pep rally.  We were jammed on the lawn of this memorial and it was an unforgettable experience.  So many people jammed in one space and here we are on opening day for the Royals today.  Very ironic.  Here’s a flashback to 2015!

 

I found myself thinking about my grandpa’s (Papa’s) even though my timing was a little off.  They actually served in WWII.  I should try a little harder to do the math.  The war ended in 1918 and My Papa Delmez was born in 1919!  Duh! But I had visions of him in a military uniform anyway – just in a different time period!

And I love this part where there are 9,000 silk poppies below your feet.  I don’t really love walking on clear glass but this is pretty cool!  Not to go all artsy on you here, but I do love how I very unintentionally captured the reflection of the memorial tower in the glass when I really was just trying to get the poppies and our feet!

We ventured off to the Nelson Museum of Art and luckily got placed with a wonderful docent who showed us so much!  I saw so much more of the gallery with her than I did with the 3rd graders where I swear we only saw 2 rooms the entire field trip.

This was one of Morgan’s favorites…Monet’s Water Lilies.  Very impressive!On the way out we got to see the Italian Gates of Paradise in gilded bronze.  Pretty amazing!  I loved every minute of this rainy field trip day with this AMAZING sophomore.  So lucky I got to go!  Love you to pieces MoMo!!

As I sit here in my freshly cleaned office, I finally got through two giant stacks of papers, updated the baby books with current heights and weights (yes….I still do that…sounds crazy I know), and came to the realization that I haven’t even journaled about the holiday season.  I might just have to give up on that.  I probably don’t remember half of it anyway!

So for now, I’m sticking with what I’m still super excited about – the State Gymnastics Meet!  We’ve come to realize that if you are a competitive gymnast around here, you forgo a spring break trip to practice all week and compete.  It’s required.  And if you love it as much as Reece does, you are A-OK with it.

We did sneak in a short, last minute trip to Florida to pump up our Vitamin D and frankly, our overall well-being.  If we had to be in the cold one more day, we were all going to lose it!  We made it back just in time for Reece to get to the gym to practice.

Don’t worry, she was getting a ton of gymnastics practice in on the beach!This meet season has been a successful one for Reece!  She’s achieved some personal bests, her confidence has been great, and she’s been smiling and having fun (for Reece).  She’s very intense, folks, so getting a genuine smile or even an acknowledgement from her is tough.  She works so hard.  She is early to every practice, goes to extra open gyms as much as possible, does everything precisely as she is told, and notices when everybody else isn’t!  Her goal is always to be 1st place and up until now she’s gotten close many times.

There is no one more deserving than this little lady to receive a 1st place all-around medal.  She finally achieved what she’s been working so hard for and at the pinnacle of the season!  Go Reecie Go!

My stomach can barely handle watching the events and my nerves always get the best of me.  I leave it to Brian and Morgan to let me know if she did good or not.  These athletes are so courageous and awesome!

Although not her favorite event, she achieved a personal best score on the beam!She loves the bars!

All of us were waiting on pins and needles to find out if she had finally achieved what she was hoping for.  Morgan and Brian were doing all kinds of calculations while Drew was doing his best work at saving seats.  This fan club was so PROUD!

Even though she won’t speak to us before or after a meet, we still love her all the same!  That intensity she has for the sport is something remarkable.  And this right here is a very genuine smile!and a very happy St. Pat’s Day as well!!  Complete with our family tradition – green waffles and bacon!

We are so happy for you Reecie Cups!  Keep doing your thing!

 

Sometimes you have to ditch your carpool duties, throw on some fake leather pants, a KISS shirt, and rock out!  My sister comes through with concert tickets often and she knows exactly who to ask to go with her.  I’m her trusty sidekick and I’ve been going to concerts with Shauna and friends for years – since junior high I guess.  I would spend all my money on concert tickets, t-shirts, cassette tapes and magazines.  Doesn’t sound like me, does it!?  It was sort of an odd phase for miss conservative, but it was a sign of the times I lived in.  80’s rock was uber popular and now I’m embracing the memories and trying to give my kids a glimpse here.  Somewhere along the line, I decided to purge all of my old shirts and I totally regret it!

Last night we pawned off our carpools on anyone that was available, enjoyed a fun dinner downtown, and hit the Hallmark suite to watch KISS.  None of us could remember if we had seen them in concert before.  Listen guys, they sort of all run together after awhile.  But I really don’t think I have, because it’s sort of an unforgettable theatrical spectacle.  It’s a pyrotechnic bonanza, outrageous outfits and makeup, and goofy songs.  Gene Simmons, spouts fake blood out of his mouth and dangles his unusually long tongue in the process.   The Sprint Center was packed, from young to old, many fans part of the “Kiss Army,” worshiping the band that was never allowed to be photographed without their makeup.

The truth is, I barely knew the songs!  KISS formed in 1973 and was headlining shows in 1975.  That’s the year I was born, people, and they really cooled down in the early to middle 80’s, so it’s no wonder I don’t know very many!  Check out these videos – you will surely recognize these songs.

I’ve been to a lot of concerts, but never seen so many fireworks and pyro in all my life.  It’s really a wonder the place didn’t go up in flames!  Check out this video…

And this went on the ENTIRE time!  Absolutely crazy.

Today, my KISS shirt and pleather leggings are in the wash and I’m delivering items to school for the Daddy Daughter Dance with a headache as big as the universe.  I have no regrets, I have a love of music and entertainment and fun friends to share it with!  Kids, you have just learned a little bit about the music scene in my day and age!

And to this day, these are my ALL TIME FAVORITE photos that my neighbor took of my AWESOME rocker kids!!

Long live Rock-n-Roll 😉

 

 

January 29th could not get here quick enough!  Reece was so excited for her 3rd grade musical that she pretty much recited lines, sang songs, and told me about every classmates part, every waking moment (between tumbling passes in our family room, of course!).  Reece was so committed to this performance!  And apparently I was committed too when she came home with a bag of material I was supposed to make into fish costumes!  Somewhere along the line I signed up to volunteer for that.  But, the problem is, I don’t know how to sew.  That’s when my mom steps in to save the day!  Moms are great at doing that.  Thank you, Nanny/Mom, for saving the Manchester Park 3rd Grade Musical!

It was an adorable performance and Morgan (my stand-in photographer) got some great shots.  Reece had quite a few speaking parts and you better believe she knew those lines like the back of her hand!  And if her classmates weren’t doing what they were supposed to do, you know she was correcting them.  Yikes!

As always, there was a lot of family support and it was nearly standing room only.  There was NO WAY I was letting her siblings get out of attending this performance we have all been hearing about for weeks!These little 3rd graders worked really hard rehearsing and memorizing lines and they did an awesome job!

I don’t know, but this girl might have a future in show biz!

It’s always better in person, but here are the YouTube clips if you missed this legendary performance!!

After a plan for our family to go to Dallas for the weekend for Jake’s soccer tournament, we had to scrap the idea.  Why in the world would we think we would be free to be together all 6 of us at once!?  All of the sudden, we had mandatory gymnastics pictures, a couple of BB games, and most importantly, Reece was scheduled to get her Bible at church that Sunday.  As a family, we are learning to be flexible!  As Jake and Brian caught a flight to Dallas, I was holding down the fort here in KC.  But, by the looks of it, I really got the short end of the stick!  Look at these hot rods….eating massive amounts of cheeseburgers, touring stadiums, joy riding in a sports car, taking in Jake’s first NBA game, playing Fortnite, and enjoying time with friends (even an old teammate that now lives in TX came by to catch up), playing soccer in the nice weather is the best!

Even after a knee injury in his basketball game the night before they were scheduled to fly out, there was no chance Jake was going to miss this tournament with his teammates.  The results didn’t come out the way they wanted but from what I hear, Jake played his heart out and made some great memories along the way.  They were missed!

Back here in KC, we got our little gal all dressed up cute to get her first, and very own Bible!This is a very exciting time and I hope she finds a way to keep it forever!  Although, she is a bit of a mess – it’s a wonder she keeps track of anything really.  We all have our strengths and weaknesses!  look at all of this stuff she keeps in her twin size bed!!

We are so happy for you Reece!

Wow.  Sometimes I just really fall off the wagon on my journal writing.  I really don’t mean to.  I have a list of things I want to write about that haunts me every single day.  But somehow we are ALWAYS busy.  For one thing, it’s basketball season, peeps.  That means my butt is sitting on a bleacher for hours, multiple times a week.  And I LOVE IT (minus the sore butt part).  And let’s see, for some reason we are living on a glacier right now.  If it’s not a blizzard, it’s an ice storm, or the temps are so low we apparently can’t be outside.  They cancel school if someone even mentions the word precipitation or just breathes wrong.  My kids have been home a lot, which I LOVE.  It’s the best excuse to goof off.  But it also means I don’t get to write or accomplish much of anything really.

Ok, enough jacking around.  Back to hoops.  All 4 of my babes are playing of course and we are having a blast.  I’ll start with my MVP, Drewy.  This kiddo LOVES basketball and all the sudden he just made a conscious decision to ROCK IT.  Too bad we are now at the end of the season when he’s really hit his stride.  Over the weekend he had 3 games and scored a total of close to 60 points (31 in one game!!), a bunch of assists, steals, rebounds, and 3-pointers.  I’m not a stat-keeper type of person, but my jaw was on the floor when I saw this little guy acting like he was playing pro basketball.  I don’t even have one action shot to share or even one video.  Boo for me on that!  Luckily, my sweet nephew Collin got to witness it, Jake, Reece, Gma & Gpa.  He was getting high fives from every coach, parent, and even people from the opposing side.  He said multiple times afterwards, “mom, I feel like I’m in a dream right now!”  Hey, I say bask in the glory, buddy!

I do have a few pics from the season, so I am actually not a total failure!Back in October, on one of our many car rides together, we were discussing jobs and working parents, etc.  Drew said “I’m never going to get to see my kids.”  I said, “why not?”  He said, “well I’m going to be playing in the NBA and I don’t think they get to see their kids very much. But they will come to all my games because I’ll give them free tickets.”  He asked me, “don’t you think they probably give free tickets to the players families?”  I said, “yep I bet they do!”  Gotta love these little conversations with kids. It’s the cutest!  Drewy, even if you don’t get free tickets, you can do anything you set your mind to, I’m certain of that!

Moving on to Jakers.  His primary team has been the Panthers and I’ve included them in my posts from time to time.  They are a very talented team.  Small but mighty in a lot of cases.

The time has come for these boys to try out for their respective middle school teams and take a break from Panthers BB.  This is always stressful…you know…only a handful of spots for a whole lot of boys that want to represent their school.  Jake worked really hard preparing for tryouts and every day I would sit outside the school with a stomach in knots waiting for him to come out with a “yes I made it to the next round of tryouts” or a look of devastation.  Sounds dramatic, I know.  But in the mind of a 13 year old, 7th grade boy, it really is quite a big deal.  Happy to report he made the squad and is really enjoying the experience.

The first game was an away game at Oregon Trail and Jake was SO excited and undoubtedly full of nerves too.  They lost in the final moments by 3 points in a gym completely full of excited fans ready to kick off the season.

 

Home games require them to dress up and there is nothing more handsome!  Dressed head to toe in men-sized clothing now, my guy is looking sharp!and also becoming a master at tying ties!

Jake, if anyone can rock some watermelon socks during a basketball game, it’s YOU bud!  So proud of all you’ve accomplished this season – even with a couple of injuries.

Let’s move on to the girls!  Don’t let this skinny, blonde-haired, blue-eyed, little 8 year old girl fool you!  She’s a beast on the court.And even though the scores sometimes end up 6-2, it’s a blast to watch!  You can’t help but root for Pink Thunder-they’re just plain adorable!

Morgan decided to pull out another year on the Olathe Northwest basketball team and is having so much fun (most of the time).  Being in the gym at 5:50 am sometimes can throw you into a tizzy but Morgan handles everything like a champ. She actually prefers morning practice to free up her evenings for homework.  That’s my girl!  And there is no question that she has a fan club!  My dad, aka “Papa” is a regular  visitor to every high school gym in the area.  Superfan!

Morgan has been playing with my cousins daughter, Andie, who moved into the area so her dad can be the head football coach at Olathe Northwest.  Strange coincidence, but I absolutely love it!  You can commonly find me huddled up in the stands with Katy, my cousin, discussing everything under the sun and laughing about who knows what!?  She’s one of my favorite peeps!  And everyone loves Aaron, he even hooks me up with ONW spirit wear.  We pretend like I’m a coaches wife so I can get swag.  Thank you Aaron!  Happy they moved to KC.

These two cutie pies killed it their first game – both of them putting up double digits.  Go Girls!  It’s rarely serious basketball and we get a kick out of the atrocious uniforms that make even a supermodel look horrible and the occasional fall on the court with no ball or opponent in sight.  Morgan entertains us with a steady job of keeping all the shooting shirts in a nice, tidy, folded up pile on the bench.  I love a kid that likes to keep things in order!  She laughs a lot, cheers on her teammates, you commonly see her gesturing what she thinks the ref calls should be, she’s an absolute joy, and the Ravens are lucky to have her!  Raven Pride.When I found out that the C-team never gets their lockers decorated for games, I quickly jumped at the chance to coordinate some decorations.  These girls deserve it too!  And, let’s face it, I love arts and crafts!

Recently Morgan had another double digit game!  Thatta girl!!

Before long I’ll be bombarding this journal with soccer and baseball pics, but for now I’m going to enjoy the last few weeks of BB season.  Banquets are right around the corner, and let’s hope I can keep it together and not cry this time.  Remember last year when I kept tearing up at Morgan’s banquet over girls and coaches I never even knew or spoke a word to all season!?  I’m stuffing my purse with kleenex just in case 😉

 

 

 

 

 

Ok not officially 11 until 8:26 pm, at which time he will be chomping down on his 2nd cheeseburger for the day.  He loves cheeseburgers!  And we let him eat as many as he wants, because well, look at him, he’s small.  He may be on the smaller side, but his heart is huge.  He’s kind, generous, a loyal sibling, son, & friend, and the best snuggle-er around!  He’s “dope” “dawg.”  Ok, that’s an inside joke from Morgan’s friends who always meet Drew and love him right away.  He’s irresistable!

Having a birthday in January is not always easy.  If it’s not and ice storm, it’s a blizzard, and we have learned to roll with it!  Actually, this snow storm has been breathtakingly beautiful!  Here’s he is, rolling out on his bus this morning, with birthday treats in hand.  Made with love by his oldest sister (and probably his favorite at the moment).  Sorry Reece, your time is coming, and the two of you will eventually be besties.

Can you even get over how perfect our snowman is!?  AMAZING!

Yesterday we took time out from the snow and the Chiefs playoffs euphoria to celebrate with Drew and my sweet nephew, Collin.  Topgolf was our destination, and we had an absolute blast celebrating with friends and family.  Who can’t have fun at that amazing place with these two cutie pies!? And BONUS – they have heated seat cushions on their couches!  Whoever came up with that idea is an absolute genius and I want that set up in my back yard, pronto!

and lots of golf skills here…

It may be snowy and cold but this crew knows how to have a great time!

Drewy, you are so loved! We can’t wait to see all of the amazing things you will do this coming year!

Aunt Jenn is still rollin’ around on a scooter due to a broken ankle so the famous bday donut delivery will have to come another time.  However, Morgan will not let up on taunting Shauna with the injectable donut holes at Topgolf.  She absolutely HATES anything sticky!Drew got so many thoughtful gifts for his birthday and also some cash!  We’re hoping he’ll stash some of that away for the future!

But my favorite memory from this birthday is Drew telling me last night that he doesn’t really want to grow up because he wants to stay home with me.  I mean what mom would not want to hear that!?  He said when he goes off to college he is going to come home as often as he can to see us.  I’m regretting not getting that on video!  Undoubtedly, I’m going to need proof of that at a later time!  because the teenage years will be here before we know it and he may never have a recollection of saying that!

Happy double double birthday Drew Boo!  11 ROCKS!  You’re already hitting that new hybrid golf club like a champ!

Somehow I did manage to get a birthday video done!  Hopefully, you can view it here…

https://www.dropbox.com/s/foyf542p9le597f/Drew%2011%20Bday%20Video%201.14.19.mp4?dl=0

 

 

 

 

This is one of my very favorite days of the year!  Even though it is the craziest time of year with all of the responsibilities the holidays bring, we take a short break to enjoy some ‘girl time.’  My girls and I started this tradition years ago to honor the extraordinary women in our family…the grandmothers!Reece always puts on a fancy dress and grabs one of her American Girl dolls to join the party and we rotate each year on the hosting duties.  This year my sister got the honors because, well,  Aunt Jenn is slightly injured!  Look at these two…Shauna’s house is very ‘scooter friendly,’ but come on girls, we need to pull it together!

Admittedly, Shauna is not a fan of cooking, but she really treated us well…I always create a little photo memory from the past years’ tea party…hoping they make it out for display or at least in a memory box.We have so much fun just chatting & drinking tea – Morgan keeps trying to like tea but it’s still not working!  So, it’s lemonade for them.  Then we always do a craft together.  This years was awesome…we made these adorable candle holders!Morgan helped Shauna pull the craft together – let’s be honest here, she runs the show for everybody, including my sister!

I LOVE these ladies to pieces and I hope my girls always have a strong woman to look up to, to learn from, and to have fun with.  Girl Power!