A Day to play!

I must show a picture of my little cowpoke. Mary Beth is never a big fan of me leaving town, but she always perks up because Daddy takes her shopping every time I am away. He picked up this useless but adorable hat, along with fake fingernails, at Justice for her this weekend! Bryon and I balance each other well. I guess practical and impractical are both important in life!

There will be many posts this week, but here are a few pictures of the 4th grade trip to the Waterpark. The 4th graders have worked hard for 5 years and have made great friendships. It was a nice day to celebrate the end of an era.

Our trip to California

I got back Sunday night from a fun trip to California to attend my cousin's wedding. On my mom's side of the family, there were 9 cousins all born in an 11 year span. Although we did not get to see them often, as we lived 3,000 miles away, we always felt close to the Sullivan/Mahon cousins.

Over the past 15 years, we have all gotten married. I have had the privilege of being at 7 of the weddings. The weddings have been in New England, Seattle, San Jose, CA, Flint, MI, Oklahoma, and Waco, and all have been a blast!

This trip to San Jose was to attend the last cousin wedding. By the way, it is very possible to sing Dion Warwick's "Do You Know The Way To San Jose?" for four days straight! Kerry, my closest in age cousin, married a sweet girl from California. For different reasons, our spouses could not attend the wedding, and our parents were coming home from a trip to Ireland, so I enjoyed time with my sister, brother, and nephew. We enjoyed day trips to San Francisco, Carmel, Monterrey, a drive down the Pacific Coastal Highway, as well as looking around San Jose and Cupertino (the headquarters of Apple).

The wedding was at a beautiful winery on a hilltop near San Jose. We could not have asked for more beautiful weather or a more fun wedding. It was great to see family, relax, and get a break from our crazy May. Now, I feel rested and ready to tackle the last week of school!

At Fisherman's Warf in San Francisco.
James and I enjoying a treat at Ghiradelli Square.
The Lone Cypress near Pebble Beach Golf Course.
Bixby Bridge on the PCH.
Mountain Top Winery before the wedding.
Kerry and Shannon







My cousin, Colleen, sister of the groom.
Aunt Carolyn, my mom's oldest sister.
Aunt Barbara, mom's other sister and mother of the groom.

Our summer's so bright, we're gonna need shades!

There are few things we would change about our house, but when the sun is setting and our porch is set due west, we wish that a Wizard of Oz tornado could come and plop our house down sideways!

We had these shades installed yesterday. They keep the sun from bugging us from 4 pm-6pm, keep the house cooler, and keep white tailed doves from committing suicide on our kitchen windows. If I never have to scoop another one of those things up with a shovel and throw it over our fence again, it will be too soon!

Bring on summer!

Hank Jones

Hank Jones, my favorite jazz pianist, passed away earlier this week. He was a spectacular performer and will be dearly missed, but never forgotten!

Thomas's last soccer game.

Thomas is wearing his Baylor shirt as his goalie shirt.


Well, I am having major mommy guilt over this post. I was excited to get to watch Thomas's last soccer game this weekend. Bryon and I ended up having to split time between the kids' games this weekend. I took one, he took the other, we met for lunch, switched boys, and headed to the next round of games. We ended up playing 4 soccer games and 6 baseball games this weekend!

Anyway....

I got to go to Thomas's last game all by myself. I was all set to take pictures of my youngest goalie. I took some pictures of the warm up, then....nothing. My battery died right before the game. I feel TERRIBLE. This also happened right before Thomas's 2nd birthday party. Poor, poor second child.

Despite not having a single photo, I am glad I will always have the mental image of my Thomas's game. Thomas loves playing goalie. Just like his older brother. Thomas lacks the same "dive for the ball, aggressive, in your face, sacrifice your body for the play" mentality as his older brother. Folks, this isn't a bad thing. But, it makes for less dramatic plays at goal.

We don't know what has happened to our little man, but he has turned it ON this year playing goalie. Something has clicked, and he is loving every minute of it. I am proud to report that my little T-man only gave up one goal (per Bryon, it was uncatchable) in the entire 3 game tournament. I am so proud of him for his success this weekend.

After the second game, Thomas, in typical Thomas form, said, "If reading were a sport, it would be my second favorite sport...You know, soccer is my favorite." Well said, Thomas. ;)

Matthew's last soccer game

Well, we are starting to wrap up our Spring activities one day at a time. Tonight was Matthew's last soccer game. It usually comes as more of a relief in the Spring as we are itching for a break. Tonight, Matthew was telling me about activities he wanted to participate in in the summer. I told him I was preferring a more low key summer. He told me he prefers "high key"! That's my Matthew!

Speaking of high key, I always enjoy watching my boy play soccer! He plays with crazy ferocity. I think this was the first time I brought my camera to a game and wanted to get a few shots of my goalie. The first one is my favorite. Very Matrix-like! The ball was kicked in the air and he kicked it down. Here are a few more!

Looking forward to watching Thomas's 3 soccer games tomorrow weaved in between Matthew's 3 baseball games!

Playing forward.


Here, Matthew batted down a penalty kick!
Typical Mary Beth at games!

Field Trip to the Planetarium

Thomas and I enjoyed a fun day at his 2nd grade trip to the Planetarium today! The planetarium is around an hour away, so I enjoyed a nice drive down with my friend, Maria, and loved having time with my Sweet T.

Thomas and Noah (left) have been good buddies since birth. Joey and Thomas have gotten to be great friends this year.