Santa Claus is Coming to Town

We have been listening to Christmas music today.  Santa Claus is Coming to Town came on and here's what Gavin said:
Gavin: "Mom, this song is lying."
Mom: "Why?"
Gavin: "It says you better not cry."
Mom: "I think it means that you shouldn't have tantrums. Santa is watching and he only brings presents to kids that don't have tantrums."
Gavin: "Well, when I was little I used to cry and have tantrums all the time and Santa still brought me lots of presents."

Oh, the wisdom of a five year old.

Play Ball!

We had another successful baseball season! All thee kids played and I really enjoyed spending so much time at the ball park.

Tyler's team struggled.  It was a bit frustrating for him to have a winless season.  However, he played really well.  He played second base and had some really good hits.

 Good eye, Tyler!

Gavin is just Gavin.  He has a killer arm and can really hit that ball.  But, he tends to get a little bit bored when playing in the outfield. 

 Here is is picking and throwing grass. 

 And here he is again with his best back somersault!  Daddy was so proud ;)

Emily wasn't going to play this year. She had decided to take a year off. However, her soccer coach, whom she dearly loves, talked her into playing on his team. She did FANTASTIC! Teams her age are still playing co-ed and she could definitely hold her own against all those boys. She loved playing catcher and was never intimidated.

 During her last game, she really got a hold of the ball and hit a homerun! I was super excited and wish I could have gotten it on video. 

Here she is, running into home. Awesome!!!!

 

Bad Week

I was having a particularly bad week.  I don't mean to paint a "poor me"  picture, but I was feeling like I was all alone on this journey and that there was nobody that really cared.  After I finished showering one morning, I glanced down at the sink before wiping it out.  Imagine my surprise when this is what I found.  * Note - this photo has NOT been altered *

Absolutely amazing!  It made me realize and remember that someone was looking out for me.

But that's not all.....

Travis and I were watching TV one Friday night.  Around 10:00 p.m., the doorbell rang.  When I went to answer the door, this is what was waiting for me......

I babysat one of my friend's daughters for a few months while she tried her hand at working outside the home.  I did not want to accept payment.  I believe that there are certain times that you do things to help others out and this was one of those times.  She hung up her career after 4 months and took up creating furniture.  I loved this particular bench and she thought this would be a good way to pay me back.  Thanks, Darcie, you're the best :)

One more.  Travis home teaches the sweetest little lady, Sister Genereaux.  She ties the most beautiful quilts I have ever seen.  She is the one that made Kate her favorite blanket that she just can't get enough of.  He came home from visiting her one Sunday and handed me a quilt she had made for me with the following note attatched:

Dear Sister Barnes,

     I admire you so much.  You are so patient and kind and you are such a great example to me.

     When I saw this material I knew exactly who I should make it for.  Please accept this with all the love and warmth that is in my heart for you.

Sister Genereaux.

Talk about an emotional couple of days.  I am so grateful for a loving Father in Heaven and those that choose to listen and serve others.  I hope that if I ever get feeling unloved and alone again, I will be able to look back on this post and realize that someone out there has my best interest at heart.

Mixed Up

I am going on a blogging marathon during the next couple of days.  Things are definitely out of order, due to some computer problems.  I love to take pictures.  I had so many pictures on my computer that I had NO memory left.  I was frantically trying to back up my pictures when the computer crashed :(  Luckily we were able to have the pictures restored and saved to an external hard drive.  Lesson learned.  So here it goes.......

How old ARE you?

So much to catch up on, but I had to blog this today before I forgot.

I was volunteering in Emily's class yesterday.  I took Kate with me and she was being a bit stubborn.  It had been a long week for her.  The kids had early week all week long and she hadn't had a chance to take a nap.  I'm sure she was exhausted.  Anyway, she ran to the corner by the door, about 30 yards away from me.  I was watching her like a hawk, making sure she didn't try to escape out the door.  A nice lady walked in and spotted Kate in the corner.  I heard her say, "let's go find your mom", sure she was just going to bring her back to me, not really sure why she cared if she was in the corner or sitting right next to me.  She tried to hold Kate's hand and Kate refused, so she picked her up.  She started walking towards me and said, "Oh, does she belong to you?"  I quickly claimed my daughter and this woman said, "You look way too young to have children.  In fact, I thought you were a student here."

For real? 

This reminded me of a couple other incidents.

When Travis and I were newly married, we went to one of his little brother's high school football game.  When paying admission, he noticed that they only charged him for one ticket.  He told them he needed to pay for two tickets and the gentleman replied, "Junior High students get in for free."

Hmmmm.

One more..... when we were living in Roy, I had a salesman knock on my door.  When I opened the door, he said, "Hi.  Is your mother here?"  I just stood there, speechless, sure that he was trying to be charming before he made his sales pitch.  After a moment of silence, I responded, "Nope.  My mom is not here." And shut the door.

More of Gavin......

Gavin was on a roll yesterday. Here are two of my favorite conversations with my favorite 5 year old.

Travis is travelling this week in California. I was explaining to Gavin that he wouldn't see his dad for a couple of days. Here's his reply:

Gavin: "Mom, do you think they have cows in California?"

Mom: "I'm sure they do. Why do you ask?"

Gavin: "I'm just wondering if that's why they call it Cowlifornia."

:)

When Travis is out of town, I let the kids sleep in my bed with me. I fell asleep in my clothes and woke up in the middle of the night, super uncomfortable. I stumbled to the closet and grabbed the first thing I could find. It happened to be one of Trav's t-shirts. I put it on and went back to sleep. When I woke up, I saw Gavin just staring at my shirt.

Gavin: "Wow! I wish I had a shirt like that one."

Mom: "You do? Why?"

Gavin: "It has a pocket on the front. I would love a shirt with a pocket."

Mom: "Hmmm. Why?"

Gavin: "I could put all kinds of stuff in that pocket."

Mom: "Oh really? What would you put in your pocket?"

Gavin: "Oh, like a whole bunch of dice and stuff like that."

:)