Matthew at 9 1/2

Today, my little boy is 91/2!  Just 6 more months in the single digits!

Just a few years ago, I said that I could write a book of all the funny things that Matthew said and did.  Since then, he has moved from being a precocious little boy to such a grown up "pre-tween", as Matthew likes to call himself!

Matthew has never been so busy in his life!  He takes his school work very seriously, and still loves learning.  He is definitely more English/Literature/Science minded, although he likes Math as well.  He is rarely seen without a book near him.  Since the school year started, he has played two seasons of soccer, basketball, and now baseball, not to mention playing the piano and participating in LTC.  He has handled all of this beautifully, and I am proud of his hard work in every aspect of his life!

He still manages to find time for himself, and can either be found reading, riding his rip stick or bike, shooting hoops, playing catch with his Dad, or practicing pitching on our fence....our poor, poor fence!

Other than God and his family, sports reign supreme in Matthew's world.  He loves all kinds of sports...loves to play them, watch them, read about them, collect sports memorabilia, and talk about them all the time.  Almost all of his clothes these days come from Academy!  Matthew is never seen without some sort of Under Armour garment on.  He even wears them under his church clothes!

Matthew is getting so big.  For the past year or two, he has been unable to put my ring on his ring finger!  That's right, his fingers have been bigger than mine since he was 8!  He also wears my unisex T-shirts and flip flops, and they fit perfectly.  In fact, the shirt he is wearing in the pictures once belonged to my sister in law!  He went to the doctor recently and found out that Matthew is 90 pounds!  He isn't remotely fat, but has lots of muscle mass.  I can't believe that my baby is now the size of many Hollywood actresses! ;)

Matthew is very healthy.  Other than getting the chicken pox (of all things) the first few weeks of kindergarten, he hasn't missed a single day of school for being sick until this March!  Even then, Matthew claimed his tummy hurt until it was too late to go to school, then he miraculously was healed.  I guess we all need a mental health day every now and then!

Matthew is a huge Daddy's boy!  Bryon has such a calming affect on Matthew, and he is always happiest in his Daddy's company.  This doesn't hurt my feelings, as I know he loves me dearly!

Matthew is responsible, trust worthy, independent, self confident, witty, gregarious, and playful.  What a blessing he has been to us these past 9 1/2 years!

Saturday and our piano recital

Saturday was a gift from heaven!

The boys had 3 overlapping games, and we were so disappointed that we would have to split up watching the kids (Bryon and I both can't stand missing a single game!).  Anyway, we woke up to a stormy morning, which is my favorite way to wake up, and heard that all three games were cancelled!  What an unexpected gift of time!  We ended up cleaning out closets, practicing for our recital yesterday, playing Wii, hanging out talking, and I made a big dinner...roast, carrots, potatoes, roasted asparagus, and homemade garlic cheese biscuits.  It was such a simple day, but so very appreciated!

Sunday was our piano recital.  I played Clair de Lune.  I played well, considering that my fingers were shaking violently.  I guess I will never get over my stage fright, but I handled my fear better than I did in December, so we'll see!  I knew that my grandmother would have been proud of me.  I wore her pearls and played from her music.  I was happy that my parents could come.  Dad got choked up hearing the music, because my grandmother always played this song when she would visit her parents in Memphis.  Mom got choked up because they played this song in their wedding as it was important to my grandmother.

I was also so proud of the boys!  Thomas played his two pieces perfectly, and so did Matthew.  Matthew even improvised and played extra chords in his piece that I had never heard him play before, but sounded great!  This is something I have never been able to do, and I am happy that Matthew got his Uncle Michael's talent of playing without written music.

We have a fun filled week starting with lots of end of the year activities!  Only 11 days left!

Lydia Kay is here!

Our sweet, Lydia Kay is here!

About 5 weeks ago, an ultrasound revealed that Lydia was already 7lb.12oz.  Jilinda was sent to a specialist two weeks ago, and the baby was already 10 pounds!  The specialist and Jilinda's doctor agreed that a c section was in order!  

This morning, Lauren, Jack, Mary Beth, and I jumped in the car to meet our niece/cousin who was scheduled to be born at noon.  By 12:30, Michael emailed one thing....

11 pounds!

Wow!  What a blessing that c section was!  Jilinda did great, and Lydia is just beautiful.  She looks like the perfect Sowers/Robinson mix, and we were thrilled to add her to our family today.  What a blessing and miracle a newborn is!  Michael and Jilinda have been such a vital part of the lives of their 5 nephews and niece.  We are so excited to get to love their child like they have loved ours!

Mother's Day Brunch

I had such a fun time at Mary Beth's preschool Mother's Day brunch.  Everyone dressed in their Sunday best, and each mom was given a beautiful corsage made by their child.  The kids sang sweet songs about moms, and presented each mom with an "All About Mom" page.  Who knew that onions were my favorite food? ;)  It was such a sweet time, and I am so blessed to be Mary Beth's (and Matthew and Thomas's) mom!

Round Up and Rarin' to go!

It is hard to believe that we attended our last kindergarten round up tonight!  Mary Beth is chomping at the bit to be in school with her brothers.  She asks me to talk to her about it all the time.  Last night, I told her that I was really going to miss her next year.  She looked at me, very matter of factly, and said, "Mom, you do know that I will be home after school every day, right?"

Since before she could walk, Mary Beth has been a fixture at our elementary school.  The office staff gives her visitor passes that color coordinate with whatever outfit she is wearing!  I guess starting next year, she will not need another "visitor pass"!  I am so excited for my little girl, and can't wait to see what is in store for her next year!

Emotional roller coaster.

"Thomas made me MAD!!"

"Mary Beth, you look much prettier when you smile."  3 milliseconds later....
But it is more fun to be silly!

Just a swanging (one of my most favorite childhood country songs!)

These pictures just make me happy!  Mary Beth has figured out how to swing all by herself, and she spends quite a bit of free time swinging.  I love watching her from the window.  Pure childhood happiness!

Unwanted visitor

I spend a lot of time in my garden, catering to the flowers, birds, and butterflies.  I have found that when it comes to gardening, you take the good.......

Downy woodpecker...

Painted Bunting (my favorite bird feeder visitor)...

Indigo Bunting.....

Roses galore...
Ruby-throated hummingbird...

WITH THE BAD!!!!!!

I looked out my bathroom window into my Japanese Maple that always has lots of birds in it, only to find this little peeping tom looking at me!   Fortunately, it is a harmless garden variety snake that looked like it was digesting possibly a mouse?  If so, I will peacefully coexist with the mouse killer, and be VERY careful where I step!

Zoo trip!

Friday was Thomas's last zoo field trip. I enjoyed hanging out with my Sweet T for a few hours! He has grown so much this year, and acts so much older.  He is still my precious little boy, and I adore every ounce of him, except for the ounce that was touching that snake!

Beautiful music

Adding piano lessons to my life this year has had a surprisingly impact on my life.  I adore my (the kids') teacher, and the challenge of new music and stress relief from playing has become a vital part of my week!

I just finished learning Clair de Lune, and I am planning on playing it in the recital in a few weeks.  I started learning it in January and used my Grandmother's music (circa 1930s).  One of the last things I ever told my Grandma was that I had learned Clair de Lune, and she was thrilled!

My teacher has encouraged me to try a sonata next.  The longest song I have ever played was 6 pages long, and sonatas are 12-16 pages long! I don't know if I have that long an attention span!  After lots of debate, I have settled on Beethoven's Tempest Sonata movement 3.  I love researching songs on YouTube, and have found this rendition of The Tempest so haunting.  This man is in his 70s, and hardly even looks at the piano.  If you love music, you might want to watch this clip:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LfjD-DQ5REk

Hooray for May!

Never in my life have I been more excited to turn the page in our calendar!

Back in February, Bryon and I were discussing the sports schedule for the Spring.  The way soccer works, is you play on a team in the fall, and you have to play in the spring in order to stay on the same team the next fall.  Last year, Matthew played soccer and baseball in the spring, and Thomas played just soccer in the spring, and baseball in the summer.

After much discussion, we decided that is wasn't fair that only Matthew played Little League in the spring.  Bryon agreed to work a little less during the spring to help with ferrying kids around to their activities.  We were going to give this schedule a one year shot, and see what happened.  

We knew that March, and especially April would have a brutal schedule.  With two soccer and baseball schedules, LTC practice, and piano for the boys, we had 2,3, or 4 things going on every night.  Not to mention mounds of homework getting ready for the TAKS test, Thomas's 1st grade musical, Easter, and our church's Ladies Retreat.  And then, there was the whole saga of Grandma getting sick and dying.  I will try to write that post today or tomorrow...

It has been difficult, but also lots of fun!  Soccer was great like always.  Thomas and Matthew are both goalies for their teams.  Matthew also plays defender, and Thomas is a forward at times.  I make no bones about the fact that soccer is my favorite sport for the boys.  My wish is that they stick with it, but we shall see what happens.  They will ultimately have to make that decision.

Baseball has been great as well, although I think that there is way too much of a time commitment.  Both boys practice or play 3-4 times each week, and many of Matthew's games start at 8p.m.  

Thomas has loved his first year in baseball!  He has surprised us with his ability to smack the ball into the outfield most times at bat.  One funny thing to mention is that with Thomas's laid back approach to everything, he isn't the fastest runner, so he has often hit the ball where it stops at the fence, and he gets a single out of it! ;)  

Thomas, Bryon, and I have made the executive decision that we are going to put Thomas in golf instead of baseball next year.  His ability to smack the ball, and his laid back approach to life just scream GOLF to me!  He is so excited to get started!  I also feel strongly that Thomas needs his own "thing" that Matthew doesn't do.  Although he has never said one word about it, I imagine that it isn't always easy being in big brother's shadow.  Golf would be something that he could share with Bryon that is separate and apart from Matthew's interests.

Matthew continues to improve in baseball.  He has been playing right field and third base.  Matthew almost had an unassisted double play at third on Saturday (he caught a line drive and tagged the runner on third, but the tie went to the runner).  Matthew really loves soccer and baseball, so we are probably going to give it another go next year.

Thomas's baseball will wrap up this week, and soccer is winding down as well.  We are going to miss the fun games, but are so excited about having our nights at home again.  We  have had a few nights at home this past month, and we savored every minute of it!  This experience has made us not take those seemingly simple nights at home for granted.

Now we only have to get through that simple, peaceful end of the school year stuff, right?