We LOVE Summer!

Although Connor has reminded me several times this week that summer doesn't "officially" start until June 21st, we have been out of school for over a week now, and so in my book, it's SUMMER!  And we've had a great first week of summer.  The highlights:

Baseball!  Connor and Mylie both had two games this week.  We are at the ballpark A LOT. But everybody is pretty happy there, so it's good.

Picnics!  Somehow eating lunch on the porch is SOOO much better than eating at the table. And now that summer is here, we can eat on the porch a whole lot!

Daily Jobs!  OK, so maybe this isn't a highlight for my kids, but I love watching somebody besides myself dusting, cleaning bathrooms, feeding cats, vacuuming, etc. :)

Bike Riding!  Both Connor and Mylie earned new bikes this spring by meeting their school reading goals every month Jan.-May and practicing the piano daily for those five months as well.  So on Monday, we zipped over to Evanston and they picked out new bikes.  And they've been riding, and riding, and riding some more.  They especially love riding on a paved, wide open surface, neither of which exist at our house, so one night we headed up to the church parking lot for some major riding.  Mariah loves her bike as well, and Brady thinks bikes are the best. Just sitting on one or touching one gets him so excited!

Playground Fun!  With baseball, we spend a lot of time at the park as well.  

Quick trip to Bear Lake!  We did an impromptu mini-vacation the middle of the week.  One of Tony's sisters has a time share and got us a guest pass, so we got an awesome 2-bedroom condo for a great deal.  The kids loved hanging out at the condo, going swimming in the pool, and then a quick trip down to the lake to check out the marina and find some shells.  Tony and I enjoyed the BBQ, a nice run through Garden City in the morning, and just a little rest from the crazy week of work. We just wish we could have stayed longer.

Work!  Since a lot of it was outside work, I rather enjoyed it!  I got all the garden and my flowers planted, so it was a great week!  If you want to learn a little about faith and hope, plant a garden.  I love mine.

Springtime Sunday Morning

This morning, we were actually ready for church early, and everybody looked so sharp, so I decided we should head outside (since that's the only place my cheap little camera will take a decent photo) and try to take some pictures.

Both Brady and the wind didn't cooperate, so we didn't get anything fabulous, but I still love looking at these cute kiddos.

Best Sisters

Mylie and Mariah are "best sisters", which is a good thing since they only have each other.  They love doing just about everything together.  They play house, school, orphanage, track meet, barbies, crafts, fashion show, beauty shop, and so much more!  I love watching them use their imaginations to entertain themselves for hours on end.

This spring was fun for them because Mariah was finally old enough for tumbling.  Although they didn't go to class together since Mariah was in level 1 and Mylie in level 4, they loved having this in common and practiced their tumbling together at home a lot.

A couple weeks ago, Mylie's school earned a reward and got to have crazy mismatch day at school.  Mylie came up with her own crazy outfit, and so, of course, Mariah had to dress up crazy that day as well.

I know how special it is to have sisters, and I'm so grateful that these two have each other.

Brady-Boy

Brady is already almost 10 months old, and I feel like I haven't done a very good job at recording all the ways he is growing and changing.  So here's the latest scoop on Brady:

1--Finally decided that drinking from a bottle isn't all that bad.  In fact, he seems to quite enjoy the bottle, which makes me pretty happy.

2--My little chubster is getting to be not-so-chubby anymore.  At his 9-month check-up, he weighed 19 lb. 15 oz., which is just the 50th percentile. He was also 50th percentile for height.  The constant motion of the last couple months is burning up the calories apparently!

(Horrible, blurry picture, I know. But I love when he makes this face!)

3--He is really starting to show us what he loves.  He has started snuggling a little big, which I love! He definitely loves his mama best, but loves to play rough and wrestle with his dad.  He has discovered his voice, and uses it often, babbling or even yelling at us.  He also loves the swings at the park, which is a good thing since we'll be spending a lot of time there for baseball games in the next month.

4--How can I not mention the HAIR?!?  The first thing anybody comments on when they see him is the hair. It has grown a lot lately, and it stands straight up.  Some people have asked me when we're going to cut it, but I'm in no hurry.  I kinda like it.

5--He's a mini-Connor.  Looking at pictures of Connor at the same age, I can hardly see any differences, aside from the fact that Connor's hair laid down and he was a little fatter.  Brady even seems to have that same beautiful skin that tans very easily without burning.  He's been out in the sun a little the past couple weeks and is browning right up.  Look at these two handsome devils.

 6--The poor guy looks like somebody has been beating him.  He is constantly pulling up onto things, then falling and banging his head and face.  I suppose we'll be in the bruised head phase for at least the next year, so I might as well get used to it although I hate seeing my little guy with "owies" all over him. :(

7--One thing that hasn't changed over the past 10 months is the number of people in this house that are absolutely crazy about him!  We can't get enough of this adorable little guy.

DIY

Earlier this month, I did a little DIY project, with the help of my sister, Violet.  I'm redecorating my living room, and hopefully in the next couple months I'll get it all finished up, but for now, this little project has made a HUGE difference.

My piano bench BEFORE:

This thing had definitely taken a beating over the years.  This is a really old bench, and it wasn't in great shape when we bought it over 7 years ago.  And then my kids have only added to the damage.

But, a little cushioning, fabric, and staples later, viola!  The finished product.  I love how this turned out!

This Spring

All winter, during Tony's basketball season, I just knew that once basketball was over, life would slow down a little.  Boy was I wrong!  This spring has been busy, full, and wonderful.  Here's a quick run-down of what the Micheli clan has been up to lately:

Brady--learning to crawl, cutting some new teeth, pulling up on things, discovering fun stuff like tupperware cupboards and toilet paper rolls, eating more foods, and nursing less often

Mariah--Tumbling, two different preschools, playing with cousins, helping mom with house cleaning and yard work, dressing herself in FABULOUS outfits for preschool, and being a great big sister

Mylie--Tumbling, piano, lots of reading, playing with Mariah after school every day, helping with Brady, and just starting baseball (first year in pitching-machine league)

Connor--Basketball league, baseball (first year in majors), pole vault practice with Dad, field trips for school, meat judging (he took 8th at state competition for his age group), raising his steer, scouts, and piano

Taffy--Reading (rejoined book club), running (preparing to run a PR in the half marathon), teaching preschool to Mariah and friends, coaching volleyball with middle school spring league and open gyms, redecorating our living room (oh, so many decisions :/ ), driving, driving, driving some more (see kids' activities above), digital scrapbooking, eating healthier, and doing some early yard work, and not blogging

Tony--Coaching pole vault, getting things ready for business at our cabin (already almost 40 nights booked for the summer!), planning his off-season basketball camps, being a fabulous husband and father, and of course, teaching and ranching

Life is good.

Connor's Basketball

This spring Connor was finally old enough for our local basketball league.  They run it a little bit differently now, and I really love the set up.  He was with all the MV 3rd graders.  They had skills practices for the first 3 weeks or so, then divided up the kids and did 4 nights of controlled scrimmaging against each other.  The kids all learned a lot and improved a ton!  It was so fun to watch.

I feel I need to put a disclaimer on this video.  First of all, I was holding a very squirmy baby so the filming is not the greatest.  Secondly, this is not a real game, just a scrimmage. So there are some semi-dead balls where nobody is quite sure if we're still playing or not.  Anyway, if you still care to watch (we're probably down to family members at this point), it's kinda fun.  Connor loves basketball and did a great job this season.

And for those who can't tell, Connor is on the black team, gray and yellow shorts.