A Taste for a Taste

I wish that I had a lot more pictures to go along with this post, but it is such a big part of our family, that I feel like we really need a post about it. 

One of my favorite things that the kids do is called, "a taste for a taste." Any time that they have some treat or something where there are different flavors, it is very common that they just turn to one of the siblings and say, "a taste for a taste." Which means that they each take a bit or a like of each others food. In this case we were having some slushie pops, and Caleb really wanted to try the red flavor too, So he and Lucy traded a taste. I love it so much for so many reasons. One, they are such good sharers and almost always will say yes to trading a taste and it is so cute the way they say it. It is something that I feel like really connects them as siblings. They do this with popcicles, candy, cake, or really anything that you can eat. 

Softball Baseball (Shantel)

Another Softball and Baseball Season is in the books! Lydia, Austin, and Caleb all played on a Lehi Rec League team and I think it was a great experience for all of them. 

Lydia played in the Filly League (5th/6th grade) for the Diamonds. Because she's a 5th grader, she had to try out again - but her tryouts went well and she had a good season. She's growing in confidence and with continued practice, her skills will continue to grow. Lydia really enjoys playing softball and I'm grateful it was a good season for her. 

This was Austin's first season playing on the dirt softball fields and it was a big step up for him. He did a great job and had a good experience. 

Caleb played Tball for the first time this year and was in a group with other boys from our neighborhood. That was fun for him and it was a good introduction to baseball. 

Doing youth sports takes an incredible amount of time and dedication and I'm grateful to have the option to do this through the Lehi Rec Leagues. It's only 6-8 weeks and they get a good experience with sports and playing on a team. By the time those 6-8 weeks are over, I am SO ready to have our weeknights back - but I am grateful for the experiences my kids have had. 

I recognize that I need to do more to practice their skills with them outside of their team and although I have the best intentions, we haven't made that happen very well. But with time, I hope that more practice to lead to improved skills, which will lend to having a better experience with the sports. 

Father's Day

One of our favorite things to do is to celebrate David, so whenever Father's Day rolls around, we are excited to make the extra effort to show him how much we love him. 

Our Father's Day budget isn't very big, but I put together a little book package to make him smile. This year I am reading Lord of the Rings and he is reading Pride and Prejudice (books picked by each other), so I gave him a bag of peach rings "Lord of the (peach) Rings" and a little tin of Mints that were branded with a pride and prejudice logo plus a couple of bookmarks sporting quotes from each of those books. It wasn't much but it made him smile. 

I also did some extra babysitting on the side and earned enough to buy him a new travel bag that has a section that unzips so you can put a suitcoat inside without it getting wrinkly. 

David is such a good dad. Just the best father I could ask for for these children. Some of the favorite things that he does with them/for them right now: 

-He is diligent about downloading the next books in the series that Caleb and Austin are working through and reading to them at night. Right now they are working through the Dragon Masters series, but they also jump back to the Jack and Annie books (Magic Treehouse). Whenever they finish one, David downloads the next. I love watching him climb up on the top bunk to lay by Caleb and read him a book at night. 

-He tells the best stories. The kids have a favorite story that he tells about Gerald the Giraffe (who is small but his herd learns to love and appreciate him anyway) and another favorite about a Panda that goes sailing down a river on a raft made of bamboo (but then gets hungry and starts eating the raft). 

-He plays "Chase the Monster" which used to be just chasing the kids around the kitchen counter and has now evolved into a complex game involving two different-sized toy balls and detailed rules about being frozen, throwing and catching the ball to win (or lose) and a line of scrimmage that can't be crossed to start. It's the kid's very favorite game, but in truth they just love playing with David. 

-He is so good about consistently reading Harry Potter to Lydia or Austin each night. I get tired and I'm like "let's just skip tonight" but he always assures us that we can "read just a little". We are finishing Book 2 with Austin right now and getting ready to start Book 6 with Lydia. This has been a neat connection to have with our kids and I'm so glad that David is invested in it and in them. 

David supports me in our homeschool endeavors. He is an equal partner when it comes to doing the dishes, sweeping the floor, caring for the laundry, putting the kids to bed, etc... When he sees something that needs doing, he just does it. He's also patient when our house is messy because we've been doing homeschool (or fun) things all day, when the magnatiles stay out on the stair landing for weeks because the kids are into playing with them, when I'm so tired at night that I fall asleep in the middle of a conversation. 

He is the best of fathers, and we love him even more because he is ours.