A Moment with Macey

Macey is my child that if I want something done, and want it done better than I would do it myself, I'll ask her to do it.

She's a natural little diplomat.

She LOVES reading. If I ever don't know what she's doing I can usually guess it's reading a book.

I tried to read Harry Potter with her and finally realized she does better reading on her own. So she read it alone and passed her scholastic reading test in class with flying colors. 

Macey finds true joy in loving other people.

She had a class play "Once Upon a Lily Pad" and was an egret. She did great with her part!

 Second to top row, third one in:

 Front row middle

 Macey and her best friend Gigi.

I snuck this little video of Macey. She dutifully claps for herself after each song when practicing.

Honestly, I love this. We should all do this for ourselves more often.

Macey makes me happy :) 

A Moment with Cody

Cody is always fun to watch movies with. He loves a good comedy and LOVES TO LAUGH.

(This part of the show always makes me cringe!!)

I can't believe we've never seen Home Alone with our kids before - never too late!

This is how Cody reacts to ALL funny movies. 

I always think it's more fun to watch Cody than the actual movie.

 Cody's class had a class singing performance.

Second row up last one on the right.

I have been able to volunteer in their library time this year and always love getting to the know the dynamics of the class. 

Baseball season is winding down.

Cody's team has had some bad luck. They only won one game in their regular season.

That hasn't stopped Cody from loving it!

The league wisely limits the amount of pitching each boy can do to 65 pitches every three days. Well, four games were stacked together and all their regular pitchers had reached their limit.

They put Cody in for the last three innings of the last of the string of games to pitch for the first time ever. He usually catches or plays second base or outfield.

He pitched one scoreless inning of three up three down, and then in the final inning struck the last batter out after a full count. It was a nail biter for me, but so fun for Cody!

This was the only game they won, and fun for Cody to be a part of it!

Here was one of his hits this game:

I mentioned how much I loved baseball now, and my dad wisely noted that it was because I had a child playing that loves it. 

Yes :) !!

Here's a 2 rbi good hit. I'll figure out all the lingo eventually!

Cody is such a good kid. He's intensely competitive, which should serve him well in life, and he also has an innate desire to be good.

He's equal parts responsible and carefree.

He expects us to be on time to things.

I love talking to him before bed each night.

He doesn't love spelling and grammar but loves learning and discovering things in and about the world.

He's growing up fast. 

He's lucky to have a dad that loves to play with him.

A Moment with Mackayla

Mackayla's dance class had a dance showcase.

They showed us what a typical dance day is like and what they have learned.

Start with stretching

  

BANANA! 

BANANA SPLIT! 

 Warm up songs

 A fun song for the kids!

They always end with curtsy song.

It is adorable.

I love the teacher's goals and routines and that she plays classical music for lots of their songs. Children need to hear more classical music.

They do other fun songs too!

The girls each got a medal. 

 Mrs. Tracy said that when Mackayla started she would hardly do anything if someone was looking at her, and now she is not scared to perform at all.

Mackayla proudly wears the medal EVERY. DAY.

Apparently the video won't upload...bummer!

Mackayla is growing up. She is quiet but quietly confident. I hope this quiet confidence serves her well, to know who she is and what she wants out of life. I don't anticipate that she will want or need accolades from others and I think this will be a strength to her. Especially in a social media obsessed world.

Mackayla is a fast runner.

She has a very distinct unique laugh and Ben and I love it. 

I heard a cute little girl copying her laugh one day. Kind of hilarious.

Whenever we go to the park she inconspicuously takes Macey's shoes and chucks them somewhere to hide them from her. Not to be mean, just to tease her. Then never says a word to Macey. Just waits until she is totally confused about where her shoes are, and watches:) 

She had a cold for a few weeks, then just as she might have gotten better she got another cold. The cough - ugh, the cough - lasted forever. (There was a month there between everyone coughing that I felt like I had a newborn with as much as I was waking up. ) The cough is better now but she can't hear. We took her in for tests. After an hour of waiting they took us back for a test to tell us she indeed can't hear. Yup. Then they just said wait it out, the fluid will eventually go away. 

Even though she denies up and down that she is ever sick, she was crying and saying her ear hurt today. She just got a fever too, so we will see what happens.

Talking about my kids is sometimes braggy. Isn't that what parents are supposed to do? I love my kiddos and want them to know that I'm proud of them. And this is where I do that:)

Ward Auction

Our ward has an auction each year to help raise money for the youth program.

I was impressed with how many youth volunteered their talents, we have a great group of kids, and a lot of talent here. The entertainment was above and beyond, with a legit U2 cover band. There was a silent auction and as they were counting down the final seconds I panicked and ended up outbidding myself on the wrong thing. I struggle!! But, it's all for a good cause. Cody ran and played with his friends the second we got there and Macey and Mackayla had fun decking themselves out! 

 

 And finally, a moment with Macey Seuss. 

Super Saturdays

I love a good busy family Saturday.

It's rare that it plays out perfectly

but last Saturday worked out great.

Cody had a baseball game early morning

He's really becoming a good little catcher 

Then Macey had a soccer game in San Clemente.

I love that the park overlooks the ocean.

 We headed to the beach right after.

 I went on a spontaneous run while we were there. San Clemente runs right into Camp Pendleton and once you get there the beaches are pretty open and empty. I love running down there.

Because I wasn't planning on going, I ran barefoot.

And learned why that's a really bad idea.

(The sand wasn't too hot, it's just a lot of friction.)

 The sand is still kinda gone. I hope it comes back!

Ben cracks me up because he refuses to walk slow for our little people (or me and my gimp feet) and typically just plows on to his destination without us. But he carries everything! 

 We ran to the pool to wash the sand off:)

and then ran home to change and get ready to go to Tavi's Fairy Festival.

I helped with the little shop while the kids all ran wild, ate candy, and searched for hidden fairy houses. 

And in random news, last week was my very last week EVER of teaching coop preschool.

I have mixed feelings.

I don't know if I'm ecstatic or really, really sad.  I have loved this year.

But MAYBE this means we can graduate to grown up furniture now:)

I secretly snapped this picture WHILE I was reading a book to the kids. Pretty tricky!

Beach Reserved

Mackayla and I have frequented the beach a few times the last couple weeks while Cody and Macey are in school. They are never too happy about it, but it's just so tempting and easy to run down quick with just one.

 We went with her cute friend and her mom, my cute friend, and then by ourselves, and that day we had the entire beach to ourselves!