During the 1st grade school year, our elementary school hosts a fun event called "Reading Around the Campfire" for parents to attend and experience all the great progress their 1st graders have been making in reading and writing development. Kaitlynn was so excited to host me for this event and I couldn't wait to see what the kids had prepared.
As I entered the classroom, Kaitlynn grabbed my hand and gave me a seat at her desk. She showed me papers and projects that she had worked on all year, and it was so neat to see how proud she was of her work. Is there anything cuter than reading the stories and writings of new little readers? Oh what fun!!
Selfie with my precious 1st grader.
After the kids presented some of their projects at their desks, we were invited to walk around the classroom to find other handiwork posted on the walls and around the room. Kaitlynn quickly got distracted and turned the event into social hour with her closest friends, ha!
Cracked me up to see Kaitlynn and her bestie Dominique taking a selfie!
These girls and their smiles just make my day.
We joined Kaitlynn's other bestie, Sophia, while we waited for Sophia's mom to arrive.
The kids all did such a great job on their projects!
The girls tried to get back on task with some reading...
But quickly digressed into more social hour fun!
After school that day, Dominique came home with Kaitlynn to continue the fun. They had been planning for weeks to spend the afternoon together, attend one of the tumbling clinics at Kaitlynn's tumbling gym, followed by a sleepover to cap off a super fun weekend.
Ready for tumbling!
These girls have NO shortage of personality!
Donuts for breakfast.
Such a fun weekend; not sure how we're going to top that!
It's hard to believe that a year ago, we had to work hard to convince Connor to give baseball a try when we signed him up for his first season to play. Since then, he's come a LONG way. He couldn't wait for the new season to start this spring. And this year was even better, because he was able to join a team with his best buddy, Jayden. Jayden's dad was the coach of their 2016 team, the Washington Nationals, and Jeff signed up as Assistant Coach. Everyone couldn't wait for the season to begin.
Before the first game, I made sure to take a few pictures of Connor in his uniform and pristine white pants. I knew they would never be that white again, ha! (Why do they make white baseball pants anyway?? Ha!)
Ready for his first game.
My little National.
Assistant coach Dad with his boy.
Connor had another great season of baseball with his new team, and he really enjoyed being on the same team as Jayden and Coach Sean. Connor quickly earned the starting catcher spot and learned so much about the position. He loved all the action as catcher, and he really improved throughout the season, making some awesome plays along the way.
Connor in his catcher gear.
Coach tells Connor great job after getting the base runner out at 2nd.
Connor taking a swing as Jeff looks on from 1st base.
Another swing.
Connor pitching. Love his expression!
Another shot of Connor pitching.
Connor at catcher. Love how you can see the ball headed toward his glove in this pic.
Connor as catcher going for the out at 2nd base.
Connor and his best buddy and teammate, Jayden.
Jeff's best bud Bob visited for one of the games.
Connor waits for his chance to steal while Jeff coaches from 1st base.
The Nationals ended up having a good season, but we lost some close games that kept the team from placing very high. We entered the playoffs as the 10th place team of 15 teams, so our playoff hopes weren't great.
For the first playoff game, Connor and Jayden were excited to be able to play a team with one of their classmates from school. Connor's teacher, Ms. Vivier, had been hearing about the rivalry at school so she made the effort to attend the game to see her students play, and she showed up wearing a custom t-shirt to root for the boys.
Ms. Vivier with her baseball students.
Connor felt so special that his teacher made the effort to attend several of his games. And with the custom t-shirt, too!
Connor gets some instruction before his at-bat in the final game.
I think Ms. Vivier was the team's good luck charm, because the Nationals ended up winning several games unexpectedly to continue moving up in the playoff bracket all the way to the semi-final championship game. It was so exciting to see the boys improve in their skills and come together as a team to beat teams that they weren't expected to beat. As the catcher, Connor was credited with many awesome plays to get opposing players out at home and even several outs at 2nd base (which is tough for kids at this age). When the team lost a close game in the semi-final championship game, it was a tough loss for them but we couldn't have been more proud.
Coach Sean wraps up the final game, congratulating the boys on a great season.
Nasty Nats on 3!
Spring Baseball 2016
The Katy Nationals. What an awesome season!
To wrap up the season, the families attended a team party for one last group celebration. Coach Sean's wife, Louella, made each player a handmade scrapbook and a DVD of photos from the season. Such an awesome gift that the boys will cherish forever! As Coach Sean presented the boys with their books, he said some words about each player and their contribution to the team. Jeff and I were so proud to hear Coach talk about Connor's efforts at catcher and how he was one of the best in the league based on his number of outs made at home plate and 2nd base.
Coach Sean presented Connor with his team scrapbook and had such kind words to say about Connor's awesome season.
It was such a fun season and Connor grew so much as a baseball player. I compiled some pictures and video clips into a video to commemorate Connor's 2016 season with the Katy Nationals. And in case you're wondering about the song in the video, it's Connor's absolute favorite song right now so I just had to use it!
It was such a joy watching Kaitlynn blossom during her 1st grade year in elementary school. Her personality has been really coming to life as she felt more settled and comfortable in her school life and with her classroom friendships. This headstrong girl that challenged me often in her younger years has developed into such a model student and well-liked classmate. Don't get me wrong, she still knows how to push my buttons (ha!) but I am so proud of the young lady she is becoming. As I'm getting caught up with our 2016 updates, I wanted to share some 1st grade Kaitlynn stories and photos.
Typical of girls this age, every week Kaitlynn would come home talking about this "best friend" and that "best friend." I'm thankful that she has so many friends, but I'll admit that her constant request for play dates with friends keeps us super busy!
A recent play date with her all time favorite friend, Anais, at her all time favorite spot, American Girl.
Anais stayed over for a sleepover, also a favorite activity for Kaitlyn.
Sweet friends.
One particular play date request caught us a little off guard, ha!
Later in the year, Kaitlynn ran into her sweet friend Evan at the waterpark. I just had to share his picture after that sweet request for a play date!
I am one of those Moms that sometimes has to "sneak" the kids' paperwork and projects into the trash can. Let's be honest, we simply can't keep every assignment that the teachers send home. So I weed through them and only keep the ones that make an impression. Kaitlynn had a couple recently that I couldn't resist sharing.
One of Kaitlynn's 1st grade projects. She wants to be rich and have kids!
Kaitlynn brought home this assignment to use her name as an acrostic. Somewhere after the "A" line, she was scolded by her teacher for something and her work went downhill from there. Poor girl! This made Jeff and I laugh so hard!
One day I found this note from Kaitlynn lying on the ottoman in the living room. She didn't even give it to me but just left it lying around for me to find. Oh my goodness, I love this sweet girl!
Every now and then, Kaitlynn and I decide that we need some girl time together. One day this past spring we just set out for some impromptu shopping. We both picked our favorite stores and ended up staying out for an entire day. We logged some serious steps that day and had such a great girls day!
First up, my favorite store, TJ Maxx!
Next stop was Kaitlynn's pick, Target. She loves to browse the My Generation section of dolls and accessories.
Her favorite stop by far was American Girl, and of course she had to bring her dolls, Anna and Maralynn.
A while back, I gave Kaitlynn one of our old Apple devices to use while she's at home using our WiFi. She has really gotten into texting and you just never know when she'll surprise you with a text, usually filled with an overload of emojis and cuteness!
While I was out of town for work, Kaitlynn was texting me about a package delivery that she was anxiously waiting for. I love getting these surprise texts from my girl.
This was by far my favorite. I will never turn down a request to "cuttle" with my girl. My heart!!
Kaitlynn's favorite show these days is KC Undercover on Disney. The actress Zendaya plays the undercover spy KC, and Kaitlynn just loves her. She decided to write her a fan letter recently and I just had to take a picture to save it.
Kaitlynn has reached the age where a trip to Chuck E. Cheese means (1) that she brings along her doll, and (2) that she uses most of her tokens to create print-outs and cards with her picture. She is all girl!
A picture of my girl with her girl at Chuck E. Cheese.
Connor and Kaitlynn's elementary spring parties were held earlier this year in March. It turned out to be the perfect day -- beautiful spring weather with cool temperatures and abundant sunshine. The setup was like a carnival with bounce houses, obstacle course, dance stations, and fun snacks like popcorn and sno-cones. Parents were able to attend to hang out with their kiddos, so I dropped by and took a few pictures of the fun.
First up was Connor's grade. It took me a full 10 minutes to actually find Connor because he was so busy running around soaking up the run with his friends.
Field Day selfie with my boy!
Connor and his buddy, Jayden.
Connor and Jayden competed in the obstacle course. Jayden smoked him, ha!
Those socks didn't stand a chance.
I discovered a hidden talent of Connor. He is actually really good at hula hooping, ha!
Connor outlasted all his buddies - hula hooping while eating his sno-cone!
Later in the day, I went back up to the school for Kaitlynn's 1st grade party. I found her right away and was greeted by her sweet, toothless smile!
Selfie with my sweet girl.
All she wanted to do was swing while I watched. She didn't leave my side the entire time. Love this girl!
