A New Season

As we have officially entered spring, we are ready to embrace the warmer weather and longer days. We wrapped up the Upward basketball season on Saturday, the 19th with a double-header and a party in between the two games. The first game was at 8:30AM and the second at 10:30AM, so there was time for a short end-of-season celebration, complete with cupcakes and medals. Coach Boomer even made special certificates for each player and said a few nice words as he presented each one. Emmy gave her best effort in the games and scored one more basket - yay! Thinking back to the beginning of the season, she has really shown tremendous growth. At the beginning, she clung to Boomer, and we wouldn't make it through a game without tears. By the end of the season, she was running up and down the court and even scoring. As we continue to try out more sports, I realized that the most important thing to me is not that she is a standout athlete, but a good teammate. I want her to learn the skills of working with others, taking constructive criticism, listening to a person of authority, being humble, persevering, and trying something new. It is still to be determined if Emmy will play again next year, but we are hopeful that she will give it another try. We are so proud of our #5!

Tripp, King, Maddox, Marcus, Ohanna, Emmy

With only a day in between, right after basketball finished, Emmy started dance! On Monday, the 21st, she had her first dance class with Kernersville Dance Company. Like last year, it is a six-week session for ages 3-5 with an introduction to ballet, tap, and tumble. While Emmy is in class, Eli and I either watch Sissy on the TV, or we hang out at the playground just outside of the building. We've now had two weeks of dance so far, and Emmy is loving it!

Emmy and Eli both make me laugh all the time. I love their playfulness and the way they see the world. Here are a few silly photos: Eli pushing his race cars in a baby stroller, and Emmy trying out new fashion styles with paper and her blanket. 

Today was Twin Day at the preschool. I pulled together two matching outfits before rushing out the door in the morning. Emmy was so sweet to ask what the other kids might do that do not have a younger brother or sister. Soon, I know she will not want to match her brother...but for now, I'm glad that she does! <3

(The pigtails didn't quite hold up through the day! This girl plays hard at preschool!) 

Lightning Strikes Twice

Last week was quite a busy week at work. Our Student Services Office had two big events back-to-back on Monday evening and then during the day on Tuesday. First, we had Falcon Showcase, which included an expo in the Gym of all of our programs and also info sessions for specific grade levels. Then the next day, we had the College & Career Fair, using the same table set-up from the previous evening and adding more tables to accommodate over 50 different colleges, universities, businesses, military branches, and other local employers. We provided the representatives with breakfast and lunch, with the fair lasting from 9:30AM to 1:30PM. At the end of the day on Tuesday, it felt so great to have both events completed. Since it is my first year at Forbush, I am already looking forward to next year when I'll be even more comfortable with pulling off these events. 

I received Emmy's cap and gown photos in printed copies after getting the digital file last week. I didn't love the collar in the photo (posted in my previous post), and one of my sweet students used some photoshopping skills to remove it. I'm hoping I can get another good photo of her at the graduation ceremony in June. 

Last Saturday, we were back at church for Upward basketball. Granny and PawPaw came to watch Emmy play, and she scored twice! The other players on the team, especially her cousin Maddox, were so sweet to pass her the ball when she was under the basket. After last week's game when she made her first basket, Boomer asked if I thought "lighting would strike twice" with her scoring again for his parents. We tried to keep our expectations low and were so excited that Granny and PawPaw were there to witness it. Aunt Megan even managed to capture it on video!

During Emmy's games, Eli stays busy with his "race cars" and making trips back and forth to the bathroom. He's doing well with potty training, but he cries wolf a few times, just for an excuse to go on a little field trip. We are working on Eli going unassisted, as in pulling up and down his pants and "under-dares." We will soon need to focus on going #2...he prefers to wait until bedtime or naptime when he has on a diaper to go. We can't seem to get him to go on the potty. We recently used the last of the diapers, and now Eli is wearing Pull-ups at bedtime. My hope is that he will be motivated to keep his Pull-up dry since it is more like underwear. I have to remember that he is still only 2 and that it will come with time. He seems to be ahead in a lot of ways. He can count to 10 and sing his ABCs. He knows a lot of the songs on K-Love and will hum or make up the lyrics to finish out the tune. He has one speed: running. He'll tilt his chin down and pump his arms as he barrels down the hall. He loves reading and singing with Daddy at night and then falling asleep on his baseball blanket. As much as he likes to be on the move, he also likes his rest. He is a lot like his Mommy in that way!

This past Saturday, after Emmy's 8:30AM basketball game, we fit in a trip to the Science Center. We happened to run in to our friends, the Masts. Emmy and Emerson are in the same class at school and have practically grown up together at church since they were born. Between our two and the three Masts, we parents had our hands full, running to catch up with them as they moved from exhibit to exhibit. We have one more week of basketball, and then our Saturdays will open up for more fun spring outings.