Jeff's Birthday

In mid-April, we managed to squeeze in a little birthday celebration for Jeff who turned 59. Yes, 59!! Seems a bit unreal, and he sure pulls it off well! We enjoyed a dinner together followed by homemade chocolate cake and ice cream, Yum! It often feels too rushed but we love soaking in the family time for special occasions such as this.

As has become his birthday tradition, Jeff made sure to accomplish his annual goal to complete as many push-ups as his age. Unlike my dad's birthday goal each year to shoot his age in golf, Jeff's push-up goal actually gets MUCH harder with each new year, ha! 59 push-ups... could he do it?! He sure did, but not without a lot of noise and grimacing!

Jeff received an unexpected surprise for his birthday this year. He was contacted by his former company in Dubai, Shelf Drilling, about taking on some contract work similar to his previous role there. It was out of the blue but definitely a great opportunity for a short-term "side hustle". Looks like this birthday boy would soon be retiring his role as Retiree!

National Honor Society

Not to be outdone by his little sister, Connor's academic achievements were recognized this year with his induction into the National Honor Society. With the high standard of academics in Katy along with Connor's intense and difficult course schedule, we were incredibly proud of his hard work to earn this prestigious honor. Of course, he didn't seem to think it was a big deal and balked at the idea to "dress up" for the ceremony, but we compromised on a collared shirt with jeans - no easy feat if you happen to know this dressed-down kid of ours who thinks collared shirts are an evil inflicted on society.

The auditorium for National Honor Society was much less crowded than the one for Kaitlynn's junior high crowd. It is not easy at all to achieve the 87.5 grade point average at the high school level, and all the parents in attendance were so proud of these kiddos. One by one, they walked the stage to shake the hand of the Principal, Dr. Hull. It was great to see many of Connor's friends walk the stage as well. After the short ceremony, the parents forced the kids into many photo opportunities. Connor and his girlfriend, Marie, were happy to be celebrated together, and I never miss the chance for a photo of them. Connor also posed with his Katy baseball teammates and Principal. It was a beautiful evening to celebrate these students and honor their hard work!

Kaitlynn's Busy Spring

Springtime for Kaitlynn meant a flurry of activities, practices, and events that kept us swamped as usual. With as much fun as she had during her school season of basketball, Kaitlynn wanted to keep working on her skills and decided to join an AAU team to keep playing through the summer. Kaitlynn joined a local league called Principals First and was excited to begin practices to get to know her coaches and teammates.

Side note: AAU stands for Amateur Athletic Union and it's the term given for club and travel basketball teams. It seems so odd to me to refer to Recreational basketball as AAU but that's what everyone calls it around here, ha!

Kaitlynn was also still fulfilling her duties as a 7th grade cheerleader by performing at various school functions for the teachers and school administration. A friend snapped this pictures for me as the squad cheered at one of the springtime teacher celebrations. Never a dull moment for this busy girl!

As if that weren't enough, Kaitlynn and I were barely holding on to our National Charity League (NCL) membership because we always have conflicts with the scheduled meetings and league events. Thankfully some of these were held on Sunday evenings when we were actually free. The "ticktockers" attend these meetings to learn about various aspects of community service.

And finally, Jeff and I were thrilled to celebrate Kaitlynn's academic achievements in 7th grade when she was inducted into the National Junior Honor Society for her outstanding grades throughout the school year. As much as we recognize her strengths in academics, she absolutely blew us away this year with her work ethic and amazing progress in the classroom. She is sometimes a little too hard on herself, but we are beyond proud of her accomplishments to be recognized in NJHS!

Katy Tigers JV Baseball

While Kaitlynn was swamped with her cheer activities, Connor was staying quite busy himself. With his spring season of baseball underway, Connor was attending daily baseball practices as a new member of the Katy Tigers Junior Varsity baseball team. He was hopeful for a better season ahead, and we were so excited to see our #16 on the field.

As the preseason kicked off, Connor was getting some great opportunities as pitcher and in the starting lineup. He felt a little better about the camaraderie on the team as the season progressed. Probably his best game of the season was a regular season outing against Ridge Point. The starting pitcher fell sick last minute, so Coach called on Connor unexpectedly to start the game in his place. Connor pitched 4 solid innings and had a great showing, even being singled out as "outstanding" by Coach in the closing team huddle. He had another few good games of relief pitching, but toward the end of the season, he really struggled and gave up some huge hits (including a homerun) to opposing teams. It was a tough way to end his season, but he was ready to move on.

In early March, we had a cold front come through that left temperatures in the 30s with heavy wind during one of the Friday night games. Jeff and I donned our winter ski gear but still froze to death in the bleachers. Coldest baseball game ever!

Towards the end of the season, Connor's girlfriend Marie was able to attend a game with her family. They sat with Jeff and enjoyed the baseball experience, even though Connor wasn't able to play much in that game.

As Connor's sophomore season of JV baseball came to a close, he would probably say it was a marginal improvement from his freshman year because he still struggled to build the camaraderie in the dugout that he loves so much from his other teams. Regardless, we were all thankful for the opportunity that he had to represent his school and continue playing the sport he loves. Only time would tell if he would be here again next year, so we soaked in the experience all season long!

WCJH Cheer Tryouts

If it seems like the blog has been taken over lately by all-things-cheer for Kaitlynn, then you can probably imagine how hectic and CHEERful (haha) our spring was going. Between the intense practices, travel, and competitions for her Phantom all-star team, Kaitlynn was also staying busy preparing for the upcoming cheer tryouts for her 8th grade school year at WoodCreek Junior High. Tryouts were held much earlier this year in March, and when the time came, the girls participated in a full week's worth of afternoon practices to prepare them for the Saturday tryout. Kaitlynn was invited to join one evening with a group hosted by a local cheer coach, who had cleared her home's furniture to accommodate the intense practices with several teams of girls. I was intimidated by the setup but Kaitlynn fit in just fine and really enjoyed the extra practice with her friends.

Last year when Kaitlynn tried out for cheerleader, she really had no expectations and was just going through the experience as an opportunity to try something new, make friends, and have some fun in junior high. At the time, I was traveling heavily and didn't have much time or energy invested to get her prepared for tryouts. Coach Dad stepped in and did a great job taking her to some extra practices and helping to coach her on jumps and cheers at home. I recall going to her tryout and feeling a bit nervous for her, because the competition was strong and there were a lot of girls trying out. 

This year's tryout felt quite different, because she was fully invested in making the squad and we knew the strengths and skillsets that the other girls brought to the table. I was quite a bit more nervous for Kaitlynn compared to last year, but she was ready and confident. She even wore the EXACT same outfit - white t-shirt and black shorts - from last year's tryout as a token of luck for the full day ahead. With her A4 tryout number stamped on her leg, it was showtime!

At a local high school, the teams were called in one by one to perform their cheer, dance routine, and jumps with "spirit" in front of the judges. When Kaitlynn finally came out, she reported that she messed up on one part of the dance but otherwise felt good about her performance. Phew, all done! Several of the girls and moms went out to grab some lunch while we waited on the results. It was a nerve-wracking couple of hours for the girls and moms alike! As we sat at the restaurant waiting for our food, the results were finally posted....

And congrats to our #A4, one of the newest 8th grade cheerleaders for WCJH. Woohoo! We breathed a sigh of relief, celebrated with friends, and then we all drove straight back up to the high school for the uniform and spirit gear fittings. It was a super busy and fun day for these girls, and Kaitlynn was so excited and hopeful for a fun year ahead with her new team. We capped off the day with Kaitlynn's favorite ice cream treat, Freddy's! Way to go, Kaitlynn!