First Little League Game

Alex was sooo excited for baseball season to start. He enjoyed tee ball last year, but has moved on to bigger and better things... coach pitch. Even better when that coach is your dad! Considering that Steve has been coaching for all these years, you'd think coaching these little kids would be a piece of cake, but he says he has a hard time because he's used to the teenagers who listen and do what you tell them to do. With these little cuties, that's not always the case!

Last weekend was our first game, and things actually went quite smooth for the first game. Forgive the overload of pictures, but they were all so cute I couldn't narrow it down to just a few!

Alex got out on first base, but I think he was so excited that he hit it, he didn't mind at all!

I love the look of intensity on his face. Truth be told, he was probably playing in the dirt just moments before. I'm looking forward to the rest of the season and seeing how much Alex improves.

First Grade Field Trip

I was able to go on Alex's field trip with him to the zoo and the Planetarium. I only had Alex and two other boys in my group, but one of those boys took as much energy as looking after 5 boys. I guess I should be flattered that the teacher picked me to have this particular pupil in my group....?

This bear came right up to the glass and was nose to nose with the kids. It was the coolest thing!

I love Alex's kissy face, what a clown. Life is never dull with a gaggle of 1st grade boys in tow!

Most Improved

At the end of his Jr. Jazz season, Alex was awarded the "Most Improved" award. We were really proud of him and think he worked really hard.

And this is when you know you are getting old... This guy with Steve was the coach of the team that Alex played. Don was on Steve's basketball team for Joel P. Jensen Middle School back in 1995. It was Steve's first ever coaching gig. Don now is married with 4 kids. Yes, we are getting old.

This is Alex's latest craze. He likes to watch Michael Jackson videos on YouTube and mimic them. He did a performance to Beat It at our family get together yesterday and was not the least bit shy. He's been practicing this pose a lot where Michael goes up on his toes. Notice the black church shoes... an essential part of Alex's M.J. costume.

We had a family dinner yesterday since it had been quite a while since we'd all been together. It worked out quite nicely that it just happened to be my birthday and my sister, knowing it's my absolute favorite, made me the most scrumptious cheesecake. The cousins have a great time whenever they are together, Alex was in seventh heaven.

Junior Jazz

When you have young children, it's kind of fun to have them try out new things and see where their talents and interests lie. This is Alex's first time playing basketball, and it's been quite the learning experience for him, but he's having a good time.

Alex is very polite when everyone is practicing their shooting. When there are nine balls all flying through the air at one time, he patiently stands aside and waits for that brief nano-second when there is a break just long enough for him to try and shoot. Unfortunately, that doesn't happen very often so he doesn't get much shooting practice. We're trying to teach him that he doesn't have to wait, he can just go ahead and shoot.

The thing I love about Alex is that he is just out to have a good time, he definitely doesn't have that killer instinct that some of these kids have at a surprisingly young age. As many of the kids are practically running each other over to try to get their hands on the ball, Alex runs up and down the court with a little hop, skip and a jump in his stride, content to observe all the action from the outer perimeters. If he is following in his sissy's footsteps, I anticipate that this is how he'll play for the next few years, until he gets a little older and more aggressive and before you know it he'll be making fouls and doing a little trash talking. Now that I think about it, Steph has gotten a little too feisty as she's gotten older. Maybe I'd rather that Alex stay his sweet, passive self for a while!

Christmas 2013

For the Christmas music program at school the 1st graders did a number about how Santa used a zebra to pull his sleigh when he went to deliver toys in Africa (or something to that effect). Each 1st grader was supposed to sign up to come up with a costume for the number. Alex had his heart set on being a lion, and this is what I came up with, with Steph's help. I thought he looked pretty cute.

Even though he is now 6 1/2 years old, I still love finding cute outfits for Alex for the holidays. I thought he looked quite dapper in his plaid bow tie.

On Christmas Eve, we all got together at my brother's house for a Mexican fiesta of epic proportions. Sooo delicious!

We finally got a good picture of our family! Unfortunately, when said picture is taken on Christmas Eve, it's a little too late to use it for Christmas cards :(

I'm sure all the older nieces and nephews were simply thrilled that my sister and I insisted on our traditional re-enactment of the nativity. We don't want our youngest to miss out, so we make the older ones play along. Apparently, the wise man in the crimson is a little camera shy. I wonder if he was paranoid that his aunt just might post these pictures on facebook?!

A 44 year old Joseph and a 17 year old Mary may in other circumstances seem a tad creepy, but in our family whomever is willing to take the starring roles... we just go with it.

The whole cast.

This little stinker hopped out of bed and ran into the family room before we had a chance to get in there and get the camera and video camera poised and ready to capture that magic moment. Oh well. Alex got a cool light saber that lights up and has sound effects. Also, a new scooter that is blending in with the Christmas tree in this picture.

He still loves koalas, and asked Santa for one (meaning a live one), but Australia was fresh out of live koalas, so this one will have to do.

Grandma made Alex this adorable pillow case. He also got a really nice koala book. It was a great Christmas!

Alpha Phi Formal

Steph went to her sorority's formal this fall with an old friend, Tim. He's a great guy and it sounds like they had a good time. As usual, Steph was rushing out the door and didn't give me any mommy time to take pictures of the two of them. So, I had to steal this one off facebook. It's not the best quality but it's a cute picture.

I think of myself as a farely humble person, but one aspect of my life that I'm not too modest about is the fact that I make some dang beautiful babies... who grow up to be a beautiful young lady

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanksgiving 2013

Following our usual Thanksgiving tradition, we went to my sister Lorna's house for dinner, preceded by the usual "hurry up and try to take some family photos for Christmas cards before dinner is ready". Unfortunately, the two oldest decided it would be fun to do an "ugly sweater" look that day, while Steve, Alex and I all looked very nicely coordinated. Hence, no Christmas cards from the Lillys for the first time in years. Oh well...

 

Dinner was delicious, and we loved being able to meet my cousin's granddaughter, Norah who came down from Idaho to join us.

Before the Thanksgiving break, I got to go help serve a "Thanksgiving feast" to the first graders. This is my little Native American, apparently deep in meditation.

Our family has the greatest cousins. They made a plan over the Thanksgiving break to carry on the tradition of their childhood and have a "cousins sleepover". We had cousins ranging in age from 6 all the way up to 22. I was so happy, not only to see that as teens and young adults that they still want to hang out together, but that my little Alex, being so much younger, was able to experience a cousin's sleepover as well. It sounds like they had a great time. I sent my camera with Steph, hoping to get some great group pictures, but the camera came back mostly with silly selfies and such.

Over the next few years as these cousins start to get married, maybe they can talk their future spouses into a big joint cousins sleepover. Or maybe that's a bit much to hope for...