Competition Between Twins

My girls both ran Track for the first time. They've spent many years watching their older brother, Zach run in both Jr. High & High School, and they always said when they got to Jr. High, they were gonna do track as well! Earlier in the year Lexi ran in Cross Country & Erica tried out for Softball. She didn't make the team, but the coach told her she had a really good arm! She went & cheered her sister on in all the Cross Country Meets.

Twins sister & Team mates!!

In Track, they did some of the same events & did some separately. Both girls threw discus & ran Hurdles. Lexi also did Long Jump & Erica did Shot Put. They made a lot of new friends, had a great time & really loved being part of a team.

Lexi on the Long Jump!

Erica doing Discus!

At the end of the season, the coaches chose a group of kids who could possible go to Conference, the rest of the team didn't have to come to practice or work out any longer after the regular season was finished. Both of the girls were in that chosen group. At the end of the week they posted a list of the kids & alternates that would be going to Conference. Only one of the girls names was on that list. This is what Lexi Tweeted that day: "not going to conference for #trackandfield but @Erica7starr is! you go sis!!"

It's always hard when one child gets something the other doesn't. But, I've always tried to encourage my kids to be happy for others, even when things don't work out the way you wanted them to. Erica went to Conference for Discus & got her longest distance that day! And Lexi was cheering her Twin sister on! We are so proud of both our girls!

The school made T-shirts for Conference with all the kids who represented their school names on the back. Both my girls wanted a shirt! And even though Lexi's name wasn't on it like her sisters was, she wore her shirt proudly! And likewise, when Lexi played her Flute solo for her Band concert, all the kids were talking about it the next few days at school & telling her how great she did. Erica was right there saying "yeah, she did really good, didn't she?!"

I'm always happy when one of my children exceed in things, and like all Moms, I'm proud to show off my great kids! (hence the Blog!) :) But, when you are a Mom of Twins, people always ask you questions like: who's the bossy one, is their a "good twin" & an "evil twin?" Do they get along? Is one a leader & one a follower? Are they best friends? Etc. And here are some of my answers: One is more bossy the majority of the time! Neither one is Evil, and if you say that again, you will see how evil I can be! :) They get along great most of the time! They also fight like I suspect any siblings do. They seam to take turns leading & following, though each has her own personality type. They are best friends (but can be worst enemy's from time to time as well)

Showing their team spirit:
Lexi (above)
Erica (below)

And this year, for really the first time in their lives, I got to see how they would handle competition between each other. And I must say I'm proud of they way they have handled it! Which is a good thing, cause I'm sure we have many more years of competing in sports, music, for friends, grades, attention, etc. (hopefully one thing they will not compete for is boys!) I might not survive that one! :)

Going Solo!

I've talked before about how important Music is schools is. To our family & MANY others. My Husband started by playing drums in the 4th grade. And continued on into College. We moved during my boys elementary school years & different states don't all offer the same, so Kyle taught himself how to drum & Zach took some piano lessons privately as a child & it wasn't until he was in Jr. High that he took his first Guitar class. And has been playing ever since. My girls started band in 5th grade. Lexi on the Flute & Erica on the French Horn. When the girls started Jr. High this year, Lexi knew she wanted to stay with band, Erica wanted to switch over to Choir. (She's our little song bird!)

Lexi had a scare toward the beginning of the school year when she lost her beloved Flute. We were heart broken thinking she might have to give up playing the instrument she loved. But she was rescued & given a new Flute! Read about it here. She went on to become first chair Flautist in her 7th grade band! We are so proud of all our kids & are thrilled they all love music! Yes, I am the ONLY family member who isn't musical! But, as I've said before EVERYONE need a Fan! :)

The girls just had their end of the school year Choir & Band concerts. And I thought I'd thought I'd share some videos! Erica's Jr. High Choir is singing Seasons of Love from the musical Rent. Erica is in the top row, about the 4th one from the left. (she had her hair up, which makes her harder to spot!) :)



And Lexi performed her very first ever Flute solo! She is playing Firework by Katy Perry, accompanied by none other than her Daddy! She brought the house down! She was nervous, but did so good! Everyone loved it! Enjoy:



And thanks for letting me brag about my girls! I'm one proud Mom!

Leaving Home

This is John with our little boy, Zach.

They were sporting the same haircut back in the day!

Well, that little boy is grown up now.
And just left home for the first time.

And this is where he has gone: Mt. Rainier National Park
to work for the summer.

These are the boxes we packed & shipped ahead of time
with his bedding, snow clothes, etc.
And thankfully they arrived there before he did! :)

Zach at the airport, guitar in hand,
ready to board a plane.

Though we have traveled around the country as a family, and Zach has gone on trips with his Choir & Youth Group, etc. this is the first time he has ever flown alone. He had it all planned out; he would fly to Seattle, take a shuttle from the airport to his hotel, (this would also be the first time he'd ever stay in a hotel room alone) walk to a restaurant to have dinner, (he'd found out ahead of time what was right around his hotel!) he had scheduled a Taxi to pick him up in the early morning to take him to his meeting spot with the Mt. Rainier people. I was a little nervous, he'd be thousands of miles away from home in a city he'd never been in before, I think he was a little nervous too!

He got there, got his luggage, it took him awhile, but he found his shuttle to his hotel. Got to the hotel, (the desk clerk was an east Indian man, who when he found out Zach was from Arizona, kept him there asking him all kinds of questions about Arizona's controversial new Immigration law.) :) He called to confirm with the Taxi company his pick-up time for the morning. Set up a wake up call. Walked over to Taco Bell to eat. And actually slept okay in his hotel room. The next morning, about 20 minuets before he was to be picked up, the Taxi company called to tell him they couldn't come. He didn't panic & just called another Taxi company to take him! (that's my boy!)

When he left home in Arizona it was sunny & in the 90's! Seattle is in the 50's & raining! Ouch! He said he was under the Space Needle & it was so cloudy & rainy that he couldn't even see the top! (Well Toto, I don't think we're in Kansas anymore!) He meet up with some other employees heading to Mt. Rainier for the summer, most of them had worked there previous years as well. They told him housekeeping is the hardest job on the mountain! :) Before he left I told him his motto for this summer is: "Work Hard! Play Harder!"

Now before he left we knew he wouldn't have internet access while there. We are a Social Media loving family, so, being as brilliant as we are, we set up a Twitter account for him, because then he can just text in to Twitter from his phone & that will update his Facebook page as well. So he can keep us all updated during his summer. Or so we thought! Today he gets there to find out, not only is there no Internet access, but there is also NO CELL PHONE COVERAGE! Really? How do these people live?! :) So that means no Tweets, no updates, no calls! :( There is only a payphone. So tomorrow we are sending him a phone card! Since we only have cell phones, I don't think you can call a cell phone collect from a payphone. And it would take way too much change! :)

We had looked up on line the boxes we shipped ahead of time & saw they had been delivered. I was so relieved, but when he gets to the mountain tonight he finds out his boxes aren't at the lodge, they are in town at the post office, so he won't get them tomorrow. It's freezing cold, he can't believe the amount of snow still on the ground, they have had a record amount of snow fall this year & it's still piled up to the second story windows of the lodge! Wow! But no boxes, means no bedding! And no winter coat! My poor baby! I sure hope they take care of him.

Seriously, how am I going to survive this? My baby boy out there on his own, and I can't just reach him whenever I want! So this week I will also be putting in my vacation time at work so I can go & visit him! :) Getting him ready this past week, reminded me of the first time I traveled alone, I was almost exactly his same age. I traveled farther than he is but not for as long . . .

Yes, I went to France!
On a Missions Trip.

That's me in the Yellow top sitting on the far left!
I was the only one on our team from Arizona,
I flew alone to Miami to meet up with the rest of the group
who were from all over the U.S.
We spent 3 days there, getting to know each other,
learning songs & skits, and preparing for our trip.

We did Drama in the streets.
Held services at local Churches around France.

Met some boys from Sweden! :)

The year was 1985!
(Notice the clothes & hair!)

Then we got to spend a couple of days sight seeing (& shopping) in Paris!
I loved every minuet of it!
Before Zach left I gave him a Journal.
I still have the one I kept on my trip to France!

I wonder if my Mom felt then like I'm feeling now?!

Happy Me Day!

Hope everyone had a wonderful Mother's Day! I sure did. I was actually supposed to work, because we had a floor set. But, my manager is taking all this week off for vacation, so told me she would work the floor set so she didn't have to use another vacation day, which gave me the day off!

"Let's go Outback tonight!"
(me & the kids)

And I had a whole day of being spoiled! :) I love my family. When I woke up in the morning my girls were making me Breakfast, which consisted of Eggs, Bacon, Toast & Pineapple. Delish! They also gave me cards they had made for me. Then we went to Church, and after, out to lunch at Outback Steak House. Yum!



Zach got me a book I've been wanting to read. Yes, I have not yet read The Help! It wasn't until I saw the Movie preview for it, that I really wanted to read it. I don't think I ever really knew what it was about before then. Better late than never right?! (Since everyone & their brother has read it already!)

Kyle got me my first pair of Toms Shoes! And they are sparkly! (Just like me!) :) If you don't know about this company, you need to. For every pair you purchase, they GIVE a pair of shoes to a child in need somewhere in the world. In third world countries so many kids can't attend school because they have no shoes to wear & therefore can't meet the dress code! Kyle has several pairs & he now has bought his Dad, his Grandma, both his sisters & now me, Toms! Check out their website here.

And of course I have to get Bath & Body Works! This new fragrance, Into The Wild, just launched. I LOVE it. And this messenger bag is so cool. Yes, it's Cheetahlicious just like me! :) Hope I'm not too old to carry a messenger bag. Oh well, I'm gonna anyway! :)

Kyle & My Mom showing off their Toms!

We celebrated Mothers Day with my mom on Easter, because she is on Vacation back in Ohio & Michigan right now. And I Hope she's having a ball! But we were able to see John's mom on Mothers Day evening! He cooked us all dinner.

John & His Mom!

Our Mothers help to shape us & make us who we are!
Hope your Mothers Day was filled with Love & Laughter too.

Tonka Truck!

My son, Kyle has been driving a little car we bought cheep & now it won't pass emissions testing. It needs a new transmission, which will cost more than the car is worth. I HATE car trouble! So, while we've been deciding what to do with it, he got a ticket for driving with expired tags. UGH! It's an expensive ticket too. So John & Kyle went to court & got an extension. Then with Kyle working full time now (while still being a full time College student) And his income tax return, he was able to buy (and pay cash for) his first car! (And the judge lowered the fine for the ticket with proof that he no longer is driving that car!) He got a cute little black truck. Chevy S10.

Cute!

Proud of his first vehicle!

"Riding in cars with Boys"

Even our little Tinkerbell had to check it out! :)

Congratulations Kyle! Now no more tickets! :)

Seems like just yesterday he was playing with
Tonka Trucks!
Now he's driving one! :)