Through the eyes of a child

When I was little, my sister and I used to play "house".  Being younger, and not having the final say, I always ended up being the dad.  I would pack my lunch and head off to work, which was usually a cash register and money or cooking and serving food, while she stayed home and took care of the babies.  Feeding them, changing diapers and rocking them to sleep.  Now my kids are playing the same thing, only they call it "mom and dad".  Right now it all seems to work out very well, Stetson plays the dad, Lucy plays the mom, and Lydia is the baby.  I'm sure there will come a day when Lydia doesn't want to be the baby anymore, she would rather try out being a mom - we'll cross that bridge when we get there.  Anyway, watching them play, it got me thinking about life.  The world is so exciting for a kid, they could spend hours pretending to do what adults do every day . . . but they enjoy it!  It almost seems as if they are "practicing" for the "big game" - maybe that is why I am not a very good mom, I always practiced the "dad" role . . . Anyway, what makes "practice" so much more exciting than the "big game"?  Seeing it through the eyes of a child.  Something happens to us as we leave childhood and enter adulthood - it's called "real life", and it somehow blinds us from the wonder and magic that is all around us every day.  Maybe we all need to step back once in a while and try to see things through the eyes of a child.

MY KIDS ARE SOME OF MY GREATEST HEROS!!!

Random Summer fun . . .

PAINTING STETSON'S ROOM

Yup, he helped too!!!

Don't worry, we didn't leave it like this, but he thought it was pretty cool!

LUCY ENJOYING THE OUTDOORS

I went outside and found my daughter like this . . . in her swimsuit, wrapped up in a blanket, laying next to our dog spot - who was also wrapped up in a blanket.  What a funny girl!!!

Lazy summer days

LYDIA CAN SIT UP BY HERSELF!!!

Three happy kids

LUCY LOVES ANIMALS!

This is our stud, Frosty.  Please note that it is breeding season, and he is in with a pen full of mares . . . still, he is so calm and gentle that he let Lucy reach through the fence and pet his nose - AMAZING!!!

Lucy and her horse "snowman"

MORE SUMMER FUN

Who needs a slide when you can use the windshield of daddy's truck?

SISTERS ARE THE BEST!

My two beautiful daughters, Lydia and Lucy

Track Camp

Stetson had a blast at track camp this year!!!  

The high school track team puts on a track camp each year, it lasts about a week, and ends with a fun (but long) track meet.  When I first asked him if he wanted to do it, he said "yes".  I said, "do you know what track is?" and he said , "no, but Jens does it."  Awesome, as long as it is something uncle Jens does, it is something Stetson wants to do!  But Jens is not his only role model . . . uncle Jade is an amazing runner!  So, when Stetson was getting ready for the track meet, he had to dress like uncle Jade, so he could be amazing too!!!  Gotta' love the bandanna and sunglasses . . .

Stetson on the track, ready to run

Jade, Stetson's look alike and role model

Ready for the track meet

First we got to watch the kids warm up and play around on the football field.  Of course Stetson didn't get  too far from his (now curly-headed) uncle Jens (center).

Track camp 2013

 The first event was the long jump . . . who knew Stetson could jump that far?

Just waitin' for his turn to do the long jump

Stetson, atop the podium

So proud of that first place medal!!!

The next event was the 50 meter dash.  They even let the kids use the starting blocks!

By this time Stetson had taken the bandanna and sunglasses off - it was a long night!!! 

Ready for the 50 meter dash

On your mark, get set . . .

And Stetson wins again!!!

 The next event was the 100 meter dash.  I took some pictures, but it was dark and my camera was on the wrong setting . . . they turned out black.  Anyway, Stetson was the fastest runner in this race too, and he earned his third first place medal!  Way to go Stetson!!!

Jens and Stetson, celebrating his three first place wins!

 The fourth event was the relay.  I was impressed with the coordination of the High School track team to put on this event with a bunch of kids starting at age 5.  The teams were randomly picked, and included both boys and girls from a range of ages.  Stetson and his team took 4th place.

Stetson with his relay team:
unknown - Stetson - Trace Bennett - Melody Cordova

When Stetson handed me the note about the track meet he said, "it starts at 5, I can stay up that late!"  I thought, of course you can, you don't go to bed until 9.  Well, what I didn't know is that this track meet would last 5 1/2 hours!!!  But Stetson was able to stay awake until the track meet finally ended at 10:30 pm.  It was a long night, but Stetson did awesome and had a great time.  This made it all worth it . . .

Stetson with his medals from the 2013 track meet

Stetson playing T-ball

When I first asked Stetson if he wanted to play T-ball, he said, "no, I already played last year."  But as we talked more about it, he decided that he really did want to play.  His coach is Bailey Herring, with the help of her husband Trent, and they are the Yellow team!  We were the last ones to arrive at the first game, and they had run out of shirts, so Bailey was kind enough to let Stetson wear hers - doesn't he look great!

The "big" t-shirt from the front . . .

. . .and a view from the back, ha ha!

You better watch out!  This boy can hit!

Playing catcher

 Stetson finally got a shirt his size, thank goodness!!  He must have learned something last year because he had it all figured out this year.  He paid more attention to the ball and less to the other kids (though he still took advantage of the opportunity to visit with his friends when they were standing on his base!)  He is also hitting and catching better than he did last year - good job Stetson!

"Everyone point to the ball!"

Strike one!

Throwing the ball to first base

Last year they had professional pictures taken, but this year we haven't heard anything about that.  I was discussing this with Kenny, saying that I wish they would have t-ball pictures again this year, Stetson overheard the conversation and came to set things straight.  "They do have 'pitchers' at T-ball, mom, they stand right in the middle of the bases.  My coach told me to stand there once, because I was the 'pitcher'."  I had to laugh, he was exactly right!!!

Princess Lucy turns three years old!

One of Lucy's favorite things to do is dress up in "costumes" at Grandma Grover's house.  She loves her cousin Aspen and they have tons of fun together, dressing up, playing mom and dad, and being princesses.

Lucy and Aspen in their costumes at Grandma Grover's house

 Another thing Lucy loves is animals.  She could spend hours just playing with the cat or dog.  Sometimes she is a little rough, but for the most part they just love the attention!

Look what I found!  Can I keep it?

Checking out the baby lamb at farm days with her girls

What is softer than a baby chick?

Too bad this mama dog was behind the fence, it would have gotten lots of hugs and kisses from this chick!

One lucky kitty!  This one wasn't behind a fence, and it got lots of hugs and kisses!

 Lucy wanted a Pinata for her birthday, so we had a Mexican party with the Grover crew at Grandma's house.  She picked out this horse pinata, and liked it so much that she didn't really want to hit it with the bat. Lucy was more concerned that her pinata had broken than with the candy that was falling out.  It broke her little heart, and she carried the horse's head around for several days.  Sorry sweetie!

You go girl!

Brownie doughnuts with purple icing, Lucy's favorite!

So excited to blow out those candles!!!

All Lucy wanted for her birthday was a pretty dress, glass slippers and gloves.  She was thrilled when she opened this Cinderella dress, and wants to wear it ALL the time!!!  She says, pointing to herself "I am the princess", then pointing to Stetson, "this is my prince", then pointing to dad, "you are the king", and then to mom, "and you are the queen, let's go to our castle!"  Oh, to be three years old again!!!

The "glass" slippers

My little Cinderella in front of her castle

Lucy's princess castle cake

Lucy LOVED this cake!

A gift from the Palmers - in princess wrapping paper!

A crown and a wand . . . that completes the princess outfit!
And all ready for the 4th of July with this fancy skirt and flip flops!

 Lucy had a little accident on her birthday that dimmed her spirits just a little.  When asked what happened to her face, she answered honestly, "Stetson was driving the car and I fell off!"  No, I don't let my 5 year old drive a real car!!!  Stetson was driving our little Flinstone-style car and Lucy climbed on top.  Stetson didn't want her up there, so he made a quick stop and Lucy kept going, face first onto the sidewalk!  She was really sad for awhile, but three band-aids did the trick, and she was back to her happy, energetic self in no time!

The wound

Sporting the band-aids and waiting to open presents

Love, love, love this Pinky Pie doll and stroller!

What girl doesn't like new clothes?

Lucy's sense of style
If I let her dress herself every day, this is how she would look
-fabulous-

Lucy's new "big girl" bed

 Lucy prefers to wear a dress or skirt, but she will put on pants to go help dad.  On these days she says, "I not a girl, I a cowgirl!"  She loves to go with her daddy!  Hopefully this continues and she enjoys helping him out and spending time with him as she gets older.

Our little cowgirl

 On this day, while the big boys were wrestling the calves, Lucy was taking good care of Pinky Pie, keeping her nice and warm out there in the sun:)

Too cute!!!