The Secret Society and The Dance Down

So it was brought to my attention the other day by some overheard conversations between Dylan and my nephew Milan, that apparently there is some elaborate secret society that has been established in the tree that they frequent. Just outside of  Grandma and Grandpas' house there is this perfect climbing tree. It is dense with leaves and branches out  in all directions, making it a dream come true for my monkey boys to climb.

So from what an outsider could gather from this conversation, Dylan is the master of the tree because he is the best climber. (Not surprising..he has all the attributes...foolishly fearless, super flexible, and excellent balance.) So this has earned him the top spot in the hierarchy with his older brother and cousin accepting their position as "workers". Being that Dylan is the boss, he also got to choose the highest and most prime branch to live on. Jake and Milan also own a branch, but theirs was as signed I believe. All have marked their "homes" by carving their names into their respective branches. (Hopefully that is the only way they have "marked" them, I've learned painfully that all things are possible among tween boys. It merely takes a the hint of dare to get them to do about anything.)

Now they don't just sit around and do nothing in this tree. It's a little community after all, and there is work to be done. The tree seems a little communist, because Dylan not only assigns the work to be done, but also determines how many monkeys Jake and Milan are allowed to have on their branch. I'm still a little perplexed as to why the older boys put up with this dictatorship, but for some reason Dylan's domain is respected so long as they are in the tree. It is worth noting, however that he takes his place at the bottom of the pecking order once out of the tree and back in real life....which probably explains why he prefers to spend so much time in the tree.

I don't know much more about this secret society and I'm afraid if I try too hard to learn more that it won't be cool anymore and they will stop. I like fact that they are in nature and are having to be creative and make their own fun. It's old school summer vacation. I have also learned that DB may have a future in leadership, tyrannical leadership, but leadership nonetheless. I love little boys. They are truly fascinating little creatures. 

I also love little girls, particularly my little girl. I sent Sophie off to Ms. Melanie's three day dance camp this week, and attended the culminating camp recital tonight. After their cute little mini dance routines, the recital ended with a "dance down". If you are like me and are not familiar with a dance down, basically the teacher shouts out a series of dance moves. It starts out easy, then gets increasingly more complex and fast paced. Similar to Simon Says, the last one standing wins. If you miss a move they tap you on the head and you are out....unless you are Sophie. She was hanging with the crowd pretty good but missed a move early on, and the teacher's helper gently patted her on the head indicating that she was out. Well she was determined to win the dance off and proceeded to sit for a moment, but then slowly and stealthily began to make her way back into the field of competing dancers who were still standing. First she moved a little closer in, then made her way to her knees an started doing the commands, and finally stood back up and didn't miss a beat the rest of the competition.  Not only was she not out, she was going to come back and win this thing! So it came down to Sophie and her current BFF who also happens to be Ms. Melanie's daughter. Everyone knows you can't give the trophy to your own kid, so by default Sophie was given the trophy. I was half embarrassed, but also half impressed by her persistence. The trophy said, "Outstanding Job!", but probably should have said "Cheat to Win!"

I quizzed Sophie afterwards and was sufficiently convinced that she whole- heartedly believes she earned the trophy fair and square, so I spared her the lecture. Besides it was priceless entertainment. I may have to go get a trophy for the real winner and drop it by her place this week so I don't feel so bad. Trophies are a BIG deal to four-year olds after all.

Baby! Baby!

Cory and Ashley's twin girls have arrived! We are so happy for them and my kids are beyond excited to have some new cousins. I hate to steal Ashley's thunder and post pictures on my blog before she does on hers. But let's face it, she's going to be a little busy with the whole feeding, bathing, burping, changing routine that engulfs new moms. I have a feeling the blog will take a back seat for a bit longer.

Every time I have a new baby I've thought about how overwhelming it would be to have more than one little helpless human to care for. I honestly don't know how moms of multiples do it. Ashley is a great mom, and those Whittaker boys were taught how to roll up their sleeves and help out, so I have great trust in their abilities to handle the task at hand. The good news is that both Pepper and Isabelle "Izzy", although small and a bit premature, are home, and from what I understand doing very well. They kept Izzy for a couple extra days to make sure she was putting some weight on her tiny four pound, one ounce frame. It turns out Pepper was taking more than her share of  nutrients from her sister. Sibling rivalry starts young apparently. They both seem to be very mellow babies. As a mom of colicky babies, I'm so happy for that for them. (I love Jake more than life itself, and would do it all over again, but nobody deserves what newborn Jake put us through.) And did I mention how stinking cute these girls are? And also, Ashley is my new hero. Thirty, yes thirty hours of labor to get these girls here, including a breach delivery for the "Baby B" . There should be a special medal for that kind of feat.

So without further ado..here they are in all their cuteness..

Congrats!
(It turns out I left the camera with the pics I took in the van, which Wes has at scout camp all week, so until he returns I have to pilfer mini facebook photos from Cory's page. Apologies. -(Who am I kidding-like they are going to have time to read my stupid blog:)

Cubs Update

(I'm sure my posts about my kids' sports escapades get tiresome, but it is my blog and now that I've successfully pruned most of my readership, I figure I may as well go for it.)

We were very excited and proud of Jake and his Cub's little league team for winning their minor league division championship over five other minor league teams. This qualified them for the Divisional Tournament of Champions which encompassed a good part of the Southeast Valley. All of the Little League teams sent their best team to compete for the title of "Champion of Champions." So out of a pool of about 60-70 teams, about 8 were sent to represent their respective areas.
 
The Cubs had to face a very good undefeated team to start the tournament. Their starting pitcher looked to be in his late teens and had a wicked fast ball that almost none of the kids could come close to even making contact with. They made quick work of the Cubs handing them their worst loss of the season. This was a double elimination tournament, so they were down, but not out. They, one game at a time, fought their way back through the "losers bracket" to earn the right to play the still undefeated D-Backs team that had beaten them so handily in the first game. The problem with being in the losers bracket is that you have to play a lot of games in a row. They played 5 games in 8 days. That creates a huge problem with pitchers. Most teams have one ace, and another one or two good pitchers, and that is usually all you need during the regular season. It tends to get dicey after that at this age, and our team was no exception. Little League Baseball has this elaborate formula for how many pitches a kid is allowed to throw in a game based on his age and then specifies how many days rest they are required to have before they can take to the mound again. Long story short, we burned through all our regular pitchers in order to win games. Using a Survivor analogy, we didn't want to go home with an idol in our pocket, holding out for the next game.

Jake has never pitched in a real game at any level. He has thrown hundreds of pitches to me, Wes, and DB but he quickly realized how different the real thing is. He had pitched fairly well in practice, so his coach turned to him in the middle of a game when our Number 4 pitcher ran out of his allotted pitches. We had a good lead, but the bases were loaded which makes it so much more difficult, due to the constant threat of base runners stealing home on an errant pitch. It seems like everyone decided to show up at the game for family night (for which we were grateful). Both sets of grandparents were there, as well as aunts and cousins and us of course. It could not have been a more pressure packed situation for the poor kid, being a do or die championship playoff game. Jake is a confident kid who usually thrives under pressure, but I could tell he was tense and somewhat intimidated. As a mom, it was difficult to watch him struggle, but I could not have been more proud to see his willingness to try. He lasted nine pitches throwing only one strike, walking two batters before the coach (justifiably) pulled the plug on his pitching debut. They pulled out the victory and went on to finish second only to the undefeated D-Backs.

What a great experience to have at nine years old. Some argue that sports are a waste of time, but I say that there are invaluable life lessons to be learned if these kids are handled with coaches and parents who are in it for the right reasons and are willing to teach them skills like winning and losing gracefully, encouraging teammates when they are excelling and when they are struggling, and most importantly teaching integrity and character. Jake's amazing coaches did all of these things.

Jake looked so small to me out there as he took the mound for the first time. As Grandma Ruth put it, "He reminded me of a little rosebud that hasn't quite started to bloom."

I'm not sure he'll appreciate the analogy yet, but I think it's safe to assume, his time to fully blossom is forthcoming.

 Coach Kase with some parting words of encouragement after the last game.

 The Champs final photo together.

 The proud Dad and exhausted Jake.

 Playing past bed time night after night proved to be too much for this tired boy.

Church Talk, Check...

Wes and I managed to fly under the radar long enough in our new ward to avoid a speaking assignment for nearly ten months. When the rumors that our ward may be split were confirmed with an announcement of a "reorganization meeting" on Father's Day, I silently rejoiced that it likely be a lot longer now as all the dust settled with a new ward. Then just when we thought we were out of the woods we got the assignment on Thursday night to prepare a "just in case" brief talk/testimony. I was thrilled when I saw that there would be two baby blessings, a ton of ward and stake business, three speakers, and a rest hymn before my and Wes' chance to speak came up. I was certain I would only have to be up there for a minute, and half of that I could just mutter on about how the time was well spent and how I couldn't possibly add any more to this already beautiful meeting and so on. Well one of my favorite things (except for today) about an unpaid ministry is that you never know what you're going to get on any given Sunday. Today everyone was strangely efficient in the delivery of their messages, leaving Wes and I a good 15 - 20 minutes of time. It all worked out and I got to experience that euphoria of sitting down after a talk, knowing it is behind you.

I talked about how change inevitably comes and as one door closes, another always opens and even though we can't always control the changes in our life, that we alone have the power to choose how we respond. It's easy to say all those things, but the truth is that it is human nature to resist change. It is a strange thing how much a ward influences your friends, your kids, and your social life. Our area is growing so rapidly, that this is old hat for most of these people, but like it or not, life is so busy that once families are cut from your ward, your just not going to have the same relationship with them. I've been in nursery and primary which really isolates you socially in a ward, so for me honestly it's not that big of a deal. But for my boys, it's going to be tough to lose the handful of good friends they've bonded with in the past year. They also have had incredible primary teachers, who have been so instrumental in building their testimonies, and making them look forward to church every week. I owe them a huge debt of gratitude. My boys are resilient and I'm confident that they will make good friends in the new ward as well. I likely will not be Sophie and Lani's primary teacher anymore, but even that is a good thing with Sophie getting ready to go to Kindergarten. She could use some direction from an authority figure besides me. I am curious to see if my parents and the Haws' end up in our same ward. It's crazy that you can live so close and still have no guarantees on that. So for now the rumor mill will continue to swirl and we will try to take the "come what may and love it" advice I once heard.

 It's finally starting to feel like summer and the kids are making almost daily visits to Grandpa and Grandma's pool. I really do not know what I would do without that option everyday at 2 pm when they are literally bouncing off the walls.

Sometimes I do have to resort to this, however. I think they like it. Don't judge me. I have to get the floors done somehow. (It's joke..they put themselves in there. I don't want to end up seeing this on a big screen in a court of law in my future.)

I'm so lucky to have a husband who knows how to do stuff. I give him a hard time about "getting ready to get ready" too much on projects, but in the end I am always thankful that he takes the time to do the job right. The sprinklers and curbing are in and we will have grass soon.

We are in need of a baseball/football/slip n' slide field, so I can't wait.