Marlie Lou Retton and Matt Conner

We are also doing gymnastics this summer.  Because Marlie is 3 and Matt is still 4 they are in the same preschool class.  I think Matt is ready for bigger and better but it's nice that I can watch both of them at the same time.  They stick together like glue.  Well it's mostly Marlie that follows Matt's every move.  Both kids are doing really well.  Since Matt takes a little gymnastics class at school he's a bit ahead of the group...well and he's probably the oldest.  Marlie is catching on and this time around is having much more fun than a year ago when we attempted this.  I love their excitement when they master a skill or do something they are afraid of. 

...still trying to figure out how to take pictures through the glass!

As you can see in the next 2 pics, Marlie would not leave Matt alone!!  She was in a funny mood. Poor Matt was getting harassed like crazy and tried to keep a smile on his face.  Luckily the teachers finally split them up when they went to start their gymnastics.

They did great this day.  Matt has been a bit hesitant since his injury but is starting to come around.  They walked on the beam backwards, did back bends on the roly poly and practiced handstands which they do great because Momma practices this with them at home too!

Their favorite is the trampoline.  I like this one of Marlie.  The mirror makes it look like there are 2 Marlies!  I don't think I could handle 2 Marlies.  I could handle twice the kisses, twice the random "I love you Momma" that I hear during the day, but not twice the tears or drama! 

I'm really glad they got to do this together this summer.  Not sure if we'll continue in the Fall.  Mom will definitely have to go back to work to pay for all these activities!  Man...but I LOVE watching them grow!

Getting our Ducks in a Row

We have spent the summer getting our ducks in a row.  Seems every day we have an activity or doctors appt or errand to run.  But we have been sure to also take time to do fun lazy things.  All these years I have been throwing the butt ends of bread away and now I find myself stashing it so I can take the kids to feed the ducks! 

They love it and Matt tries so hard to make sure each one gets some food.  The first day we realized that there are lots of turtles in the pond too so we feed those too.  Marlie mostly follows her brothers lead. 

Lucky ducks!  The kids I mean.  To be having such a fun summer!!!  :)

The Greatest Show on Earth

We have been wanting to take the kids to the circus and decided we would wait until this year so Marlie could appreciate it all.  I'm not sure why we paid lots of money to go to the circus when we have our own circus here at home, but the kids did have fun. 

Matt was in awe most of the time and after the first act, Marlie just danced in the aisle like she was drunk off the $15 lemonde she was drinking!!  Meantime...my hair continued to turn more gray as I watched the crazy stunts. 

I now appreciate the beauty of Ringling Brothers tagging their show as "The Greatest Show on Earth".  Matt kept saying it was "the greatest show on earth" but after seeing Wicked the other week, I'm not sure it really was.  But I have to give their marketing team an A+ especially because that slogan was created so long ago.  Another thing the kids keep saying is "don't try this at home".  Luckily no one has tried any of the stunts in the living room so maybe that worked too. 

Here are some pics from the pre-show festivities.  Thanks Dad for taking us to the circus!

Baseball Camp

As most of you know my brother works here in Houston at Baseball USA.  So we were talking the other day and he said that I could bring Matt to the hitting camp on Tues.  Matt is too young to participate in the camp but Coach/Uncle Jay was leading the camp so we thought we'd give it a shot.  When I told Matt about it he was so excited.  I can't tell you how much this child loves to play baseball.  He ran to pick out his baseball clothes and pack his bag with just the right baseball gear. 

On the drive over I explained that he would be the youngest and had to listen carefully, say yes sir to his coaches and pay attention at all times.  The camp started Monday so he was already a day behind, plus about 2 years younger than the youngest kid out there.  I told him if he did good we could come back on Wed.  Well...Matt was a baseball camp soldier.  He was so focused and tried SO hard.  He was a completely different kid than I have had in my presence 24/7 for the past 2 months.  I couldn't believe this was the same kid that has been driving me crazy at home because bless his heart, he can't still for a second.  Baseball camp Matt stood still, ran to be first in line, ran into and out of the batting cages when it was his turn as if his life depended on him getting into the batters box in a matter of seconds.  When the coaches shouted "ball pick up" he ran into the cage, tore his helmet off and started collecting as many balls as possible and put them in his helmet (something he learned from intently watching the others).  I could not have been more proud. 

I love sports and am so excited for these moments that I can share with Matt.  What I am not ready for is the disappointment that sports can bring too.  Matt did pretty well compared to the other kids considering the age difference.  But on the first day one of the coaches was pitching to him and it was a little faster than he's used to.  He missed every single ball.  The look of disappointment on his face as he walked out of the cage was heart breaking.  I was so proud that he did not 1) cry, 2) get frustrated or 3) want to quit.  He sat right back down and watched even more intently.  The next time he got in the cage he tried even harder and managed to hit about 50% of the pitches.  I was so proud of him. 

Matt was so serious the entire day that I stopped to ask him if he was having fun.  He looked so nervous.  He said yes and quietly asked, "Mom can we please come tomorrow?"...so I said of course!  That night he came home and practiced.  When Dad came home he told him about camp and said, "Dad if I ask Mom to take me to camp on Saturday can you come watch me since you don't have to work?".  So cute!  So Dad made time to come watch on Wed. 

When we said our thank you prayers that night and Matt said, "thank you God for letting me go to baseball camp even though I'm not 6" and "thank you God for helping me to listen to my coaches".  I had the best day with him that day.  It was the same feeling I had taking Marlie to ballet for the first time.  It was awesome! 

It's the morning of Day 2 and I told Matt that he had 2 strikes...one more strike and no baseball camp (of course I'm praying at this point that we don't do something bad enough to force me to call strike 3 because I know how bad he wants to go back to camp).  All of a sudden Marlie starts crying, "I want to go to baseball camp!"  Miss Marlie was so good each day and worked on her batting stance too!

Thank you to Uncle Jay for letting us come to camp.  You have no idea how much that meant to Matt.  He is already asking when he can go back.  And thank you to Coach Flowers and Coach Gerald for being so kind and patient. 

My SoccerTot

Marlie has also been busy this summer learning to play soccer!  Dad wants her to play next year and since she cries when someone else kicks the ball and then picks it up and runs away... I thought we should ease into this sport!! 

So yesterday was our last day at SoccerTots.  We had class with Ashdin and Addison and had lots of fun.  There was a huge improvement from day 1 where Marlie cried pretty much the entire time to the last day where she was a rock star.  It's not really all about soccer, but about agility and balance and following instructions.  Here are Marlie and Ashdin having a great time...

This was a great idea to get the kids interested in soccer.  Hopefully we can play next Spring!

Happy 4th of July!

We had such a great, but busy 4th of July weekend and I had so much fun that I was cameraless most of the weekend. 

Friday we went to Payton and Gracie's house just to hang out.  The kids had so much fun and Matt and Pay had a blast running around the house playing hide-and-go-seek.  Saturday we started swim lessons at our neighbor's house with Coach George.  He was great so I'm excited about working with him over the next few weeks.  Matt did great and is swimming pretty well.  Marlie did so-so, but we made huge progress later in the weekend.  Matt and Payton did a lesson together and Marlie and Gracie did their lesson together.  It was fun...well for the parents anyway. 

Saturday was Doug's birthday so after a nice lunch at his favorite spot - Chuy's - my parents took the kids and we headed downtown.  We stayed at the Hotel Icon (loved it - don't miss the berry citrus caipirinhia) and met some friends for dinner.  Then we were off to see Wicked which was just fabulous!   I have to thank our friends, the Krenzkes, for planning this big outing.  We ended with a great breakfast on Sunday morning at our favorite breakfast spot - Empire Cafe.  It was too much fun!!! 

Sunday night we headed to the Conner's house for 4th of July festivities.  We had fun chatting and doing some kid-friendly fireworks.  Marlie thought they were way too loud and headed straight into the house after just a few sparklers! 

The highlight of the weekend for Marlie was that her Dad got to come to her ballet class.  She showed off well and he was so proud of her! 

And then on Monday night we spent the evening at the pool.  It was a big day for the Maziur's...Marlie started swimming by herself...well she wears a life jacket but before that day she would not let me go.  Then she also went on the big blue slide.  She didn't really want to the first 2 times but after that she kept asking to go "1 more time".  I bet she went down about 8 times.  Matt was doing great showing Daddy that he could swim about half a lap which is much more than I can even do.  I'm so proud of them!!

Sidelined

Oh my sweet Matt...remember a few posts ago I mentioned that he tries so hard, but bless his heart is not the most coordinated kid I've met?  Well we were outside and he said, "Mom wanna see me do a flip on the bar?" and of course I said yes.  You know how you hang upside down by your knees with hands on the bar outside of your legs?  Well he got up there with one hand between his legs and I said "NO" too late and watched him try to "flip" off the bar.  Of course with his incorrect position he did not make it.  He hurt his foot (luckily not his face which I thought hit the ground fairly hard).  After limping for a couple of days I thought I should take him in.  No broken bones on the xray but doc wants to keep him in this splint for a few weeks.  So our fun summer activities have slowed down a bit.  Trying to keep this little man still is like asking a flea to sit still!  Not gonna happen.....