Spring Break Baseball Camp!

While everyone else is traveling the country, we are at home for Spring Break!  Doug and I are working but we are still managing to sneak in some fun here and there.

We were excited when Uncle Jay said we could go to Baseball USA for camp.  Caden came with us and even Evan met us there too!  The boys were all very excited.  

I however (no surprise really) was emotional.  This was the first camp where Matt's friends could join him AND the first camp where we would drop them off and leave for the day.  I know that sounds ridiculous but it's a big step for a parent.  I was in tears until we pulled into the parking lot and I saw Joel (Caden's daddy) and John (Evan's daddy).  I figured I better pull myself together or they'll think I'm crazy...which they might already but anyway...so there were all 3 boys.  Cute as could be and super excited. 

Even better that Uncle Jay was working the camp!  It made them feel special that he knew them and gave us parents some comfort that they would be okay! 

So I left, hoping to get hugs and a kiss from Matt.  But Evan looked at me like "lady, I am way too old and cool to be hugging you" and Matt gave me the quickest kiss he possibly could.  I figured at this point I wouldn't embarrass Caden too so he got a pat on the head. 

The boys met other kids and day 2 when I picked them up, they already had another friend that was planning on coming home with us.  Unfortunately I had no idea who he was or where he lived so that plan didn't happen. 

After 3 days they were completely exhausted.  I thought they might have been "baseballed out" but it just got them more excited about playing.  They wanted to come home and play and they are excited to go back to practice.  Thank you Coach Jay for your help!  It was a blast! 

The Good Life

We had a big treat on Saturday night.  We were given great seats from an even greater family to the Rockets game.  As we were there I couldn't stop singing this song by One Republic - The Good Life. 

I knew the seats were going to be good but didn't realize how good until we got there.  We had prepped the kids and they knew this was a special treat too.  They were excited and in check!!

We strolled down to our seats which were right behind the Rockets bench.  Again a reminder to the kiddos that they had to behave or they would kick us out and send us way to the top of the arena!!  We weren't in our seats 5 minutes when the team trainer/doc came over to the kids to bring them goodies.  He gave Marlie a Chuck Hayes bobble head doll and gave Matt NBA wrist bands and a headband.  Could they be more excited?  I don't think so. 

Surprisingly Marlie was good ALL night.  In my last post I mentioned we are struggling with Marlie.  We even half joked that we should take her to see Father Mike to get blessed!!  She was SO good.  She sat for the first half with the bobble head held tight and was in awe...

Matt was pumped.  I would try to talk to him during the game but he was too focused.  He watched the entire first half with eyes on the ball at all times.  He didn't even ask 20 questions.  Just focused.  If you happened to see us on TV, you can see him bobbing back and forth as the game moved from one end of the court to the other. 

And if you thought the kids were excited, you should have seen Doug and I!!!  I'm not sure if I was more excited about the game or watching the players and coaches on the sidelines.  Then the announcer said there was 2 minutes left.  I couldn't believe it.  It felt like we had just got there.  We didn't want it to end!! 

Thank you, thank you...we had such a fun night!!

2011 Watch Out - Marlie Maziur

If you don't have your volume on please turn it up!  We love this song by Taylor Swift but it's 100 times better when Marlie sings it.  And she can sing!!! Every night she makes us sit by the fireplace or on the couch and we have to listen to her.  Most of the time she makes up her own words and she dances too.  Sometimes it's adorable, sometimes it's hilarious and sometimes it's really sweet.  Maybe one day she will be a "Taylor Swift" and I will live vicariously through her since that is my dream job!!!

Marlie is in PreK-3 and is also at SMMCS with her big brother.  She is learning a lot and has really grown.  She used to be shy to start something new but not anymore! She marches right into places like she owns them.  We are going through a tough stage with Marlie right now.  She's feisty (maybe it's that red tint in her hair!) and can get really frustrated.  But she is also very loveable too. 

We are busy with ballet and gymnastics.  She can do a really good bridge all by herself.  Some days she takes it all very seriously and other days she is just a hoot.  I am always approached by all her coaches/teachers with funny stories.  We also spend a lot of time at brother's activities and she is so supportive of him.  She always tells him when he does a good job. 

The best part about a 3 year old is that they say the funniest things.  Here's a few:

• "Mom I know what anteaters eat.  They eat fire ants for our freedom."
• When she was sick last week she got up in the middle of the night and told me "Mom I forgot how to sleep."
• Shortly after that she said she was "wondering how ants kiss".  It was 4:00am so I didn't come up with a good response.
• At dinner that night I asked her if she figured it out and she said "well I don't know if they lick you a kiss or bite you a kiss."
• She came out of her gymnastics class Monday to tell me a secret.  She asked "Mom when I get big can I go to work with you?" Then darted back into class and jumped back on the beam. 
• When we were home sick we were sitting at the table eating lunch.  She put her hand on mine and said "Mom I love you even when I'm sick.  I love you everyday!"  Which I thought...you better because I was up all night!  :) 

We still have a long road ahead of us with Marlie.  And from what I see now, I am already praying for God to give us strength and guidance to make it through the teen years!!!  I see a lot of me in her which is fun, but also scary.  She seems so strong willed but we know how sensitive she is too.  I love how she cares about everything and everyone around her.  I love how she thinks her brother is the greatest person ever.  I love how she gets excited everytime we pull in the driveway and Dad's truck is there.  I love how she tries so hard at ballet and gymnastics.  I love how she gets mad at people for saying "can't" because that's a bad word.  I love, love how she sings and dances like no one is watching.  I love her hazel eyes, freckles and strawberry brown hair!  I love how she always follows me at home trying to be a helper but really isn't.  I love how proud she is every day when she gets happy faces at school.  I love when she gets in trouble and is crying big dinosaur tears but still says "yes ma'am" and "I'm sorry Momma".  I love how she always talks about wanting to go to work with me!!  And I really love when you say God is good, Marlie shouts ALL THE TIME! 

I had to post this pic of Marlie and Hayden on SuperBowl Sunday.  They had so much fun!!

2011 Here I Come - Matt Maziur

It's been awhile.  We've been busy and I keep forgetting my camera!!  I thought I'd start the year with an update on the kids. 

Matt is 5 and is in Kinder at St. Mary Magdalene.  God blessed us with another great teacher.  Ms. Marchesani is a recent Baylor grad (yes a Baylor grad in a Catholic school) and is WOW amazing.  She's fun, yet strict and she has taught Matt so much already. 

Starting in January he came home with books to read for homework.  The first time I planned on this homework activity taking awhile so I allotted plenty of time.  We had 2 books to read...about 15 pages each.  Doug and I couldn't believe he could read all by himself!  Sure he'd look at the picture to figure out some words, but read most of it on his own.  Now when we're driving he reads signs and as always, asks a million questions.  After Valentine's day he wanted to have a box of conversation hearts that one of his classmates gave him.  So I said yes but he had to read them to me.  He got about 90% correct but one that he got wrong said "Sweet Pea" and Matt said "Sweat Pee".  He had a funny look and said "like you're peeing?".  I couldn't help but laugh so hard!!! 

Matt recently had baseball tryouts and worked like crazy getting ready for them.  Dad took him out to the fields to practice and Matt is just relentless.  He could practice all day without complaining or getting tired.  It's sort of unreal.  He started to get nervous as tryouts approached.  He was having trouble throwing the ball.  He asked Doug what happens if no one picks him to be on their team? Doug told him he would get picked as long as he hustled, listened to what the coaches told him and said "yes sir" to whatever they asked.  It was okay if he couldn't throw.  So Matt kept working.  He also would pin Coach Joel down at school and ask him to please pick him even if he didn't do good!  I thought this was a great teaching moment so I taught him Joshua 1:9:

Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go. 

That seemed to help because he rocked it at tryouts!!  Coach Joel happened to be pitching when it was Matt's turn and Matt nailed a line drive right back at him and poor Coach Joel jumped and fell in a push-up position to the ground!  We were thankful that Coach Joel did get to pick Matt, and Doug will be helping coach too.  We've started practice and it's going really well.  I think ALL the boys are having fun!

When I think about Matt I can't believe he has grown up so much.  He's not perfect, but the years of discipline and great teachers have really turned him into a neat kid. I love how he takes his sister's hand and walks into school everyday.  I love when he is sad and looks at me with those big, beautiful blue eyes with long eyelashes.  I love that he's already embarrassed when I try to kiss him at school and he laughs when I give him the biggest kiss possible.  I love how he runs like an 80 year old grandma - shoulders up, arms bent with his fists to his shoulders, with the smallest steps you can imagine.  I love how he helps me and Doug and Marlie with pretty much anything - how he wants to get the trash can on trash day, how he helps me and Marlie clean around the house (because Marlie is not much help here) and how he loves to take care of our dog Hannah.  I love how he loves to go to Nene's house and help her in the garden. I love how he comes home and immediately turns the TV to channel 33 - ESPN, and watches it.  I love how he gets crazy excited when a team makes a big play when he's watching a game. I love how he says his prayers at night and tries to get all the prayers in before it's my turn. And mostly, I love how he looks at his Dad like he is the greatest man on earth.  No matter how hard Doug is on him. Thank you God for Matt!!

Here's a recent picture I took of my "sweat pees" on Go Texan day!  They looked adorable!

Happy New Year!

I can't believe it's 2011.  Seems just yesterday we were thinking about the year 2000 and all the technology chaos that would happen.  Time goes by fast.  I can't believe Matt is 5 already.  And although Marlie is only 3 you'd think she was 5 too.  As another year goes by I am so thankful for my family and my friends.  Doug and I have great jobs (in case you didn't know he starts a new job with KPMG tomorrow so keep him in your prayers!) and we are blessed to work with wonderful people.  God is great!! 

You may have seen these pictures before.  I was so proud of myself that I took them and they turned out great.  Of course I had to take million just to get these few, but hey...as with all of us, we just try to get better every day!  One step at a time! 

Baylor is in the Texas Bowl!

So after 16 years Baylor made it to a bowl game!  And lucky for us, they were invited to the Texas Bowl that was played here at Reliant Stadium.  So we had to go! 

The kids were excited!  Dad surprised us all with new Baylor shirts for Christmas.  He got us seats up close so Matt could see the game easily and Marlie could see the cheerleaders.  It was super cool!

I know we should not have had high expectations but we always do and then get disappointed.  It's stressful being a Baylor fan.  Although the bears lost we had a blast.  The highlights of the game were 1) that Marlie danced, like no one was watching, the entire time the Baylor Band was on the field.  Everyone around us was watching and laughing.  Some of her moves were really good and others...well she must have learned them from Dad!  2) Dad got to see Kascie and Brandon, good friends from Baylor that he ran track with.  As Doug was trying to introduce Matt to them, Matt was bothered and just wanted to watch the game.  He has an unhealthy obsession with football right now and so he loved being at the game.  Thanks Dad for taking us!!

Christmas is here!

Our highlight this Christmas was in my last blog post!  We had a nice Christmas Eve at our house.  Doug and Uncle Jay fried the fish the boys caught on their trip and it was SO good!  Not your typical Christmas Eve meal but Matt was excited to eat the fish that he caught! 

The kids put the "reindeer food" out on the lawn that Matt got from his teacher (she is awesome - looked like oats with a little bit of green glitter so the reindeer could find it). 

What was really neat this Christmas is that the kids were so excited to give each other the gifts they picked out for the other.  Marlie spotted this Ironman figure at the store and knew it was the perfect gift for Matt.  We wrapped it and she was excited to show Matt all the buttons on it.  Matt got Marlie a Ken Barbie and she thought it was funny to have a "boy" Barbie.   

This was the first year we were at home for Christmas so it was nice to see the kids come down the stairs Christmas morning and see that Santa had stopped by.  He ate most of the cookies we made and even left a note! 

Then it was off to SA to spend the holidays with the rest of the family.  Matt really wanted a football uniform for Christmas which he was lucky to get.  And he wanted to make sure cousin Tim got a Texans jersey too. 

Gram bought each of the families a karaoke machine and it was a huge hit!  All the kids had fun singing.  Marlie and Tim were reluctantly taking turns...she has been singing Taylor Swift on the mic every night!

We did something else different this Christmas too...we stayed downtown at the Hotel Contessa and took the kids to the riverwalk and of course on the boat ride.  Of the million times we've been back to SA we have never done this.  It was lots of fun! Here are all our cousins waiting to get on the boat!

I love this picture of Matt and Maggie.  They are close in age and used to fight like brother and sister, non-stop!  Now they have fun together and it's so fun to watch!  

It was getting dark and the Christmas lights came on.  I love the riverwalk at Christmas.  It brings back lots of good memories.  I was so glad the kids got to see it this year. 

We also got the special treat of an adults night out and we got to hang out with our friends that we've known since junior high - the Hatters!  The kids loved that Grandpa came to the hotel to hang out with them and Grandpa was more than happy and came with cookies and popcorn.  It was a win-win for all. 

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas.  Thank you to Jesus for letting us share this special day with him!