Basketball

Better late than never right?

Every Thursday Matthew brings home a packet of papers from school. I don't know what the technical name of this packet of papers is, I just know that I look forward to my "Thursday packet" every week. I love going through all of the papers and seeing what new events are coming up at school. When Matthew was in Kindergarten he brought home one of these packets and inside was a paper about joining the basketball team. I looked at it briefly and noticed that you had to be in 2nd grade to sign up. In what feels like the blink of an eye, Matthew completed Kindergarten, then completed 1st grade, and before I knew it I was going through a Thursday packet when I came across a paper about basketball sign ups. Now he is in the 2nd grade and old enough to play. How did the time from Kindergarten to 2nd grade fly by so quickly?

Matthew was so excited to sign up! Before practices could get under way they wanted all of the new players to come and have a mini basketball clinic so the coaches could see what they already knew. Finally, it was time for practices to begin. I loved watching the practices. For this being Matthew's first year I thought he did so well! He just had fun and that's the most important thing. It was almost time for the season to start when the team got their uniforms. I was very impressed with Matthew's coach. He had a great attitude and gave a lot of positive reinforcement! Throughout the season I saw Matthew learn new things, have fun, and grow as a player. The thing that made me most proud of him was his attitude. He was happy for his teammates, kind, and even if they lost a game he would run over to us at the end with a smile on his face. He has the best attitude when it comes to sports and it makes me so proud. I love that he is happy for other people's accomplishments and also his own, but the main thing is that he just has fun and that is great to see.

At the end of the season there was a skills competition. All the teams came and competed in different events. At the end there was a ceremony to congratulate everyone on a great season in which each kid received a medal. Then, they gave awards for kids who placed 1st and 2nd in the skills competition. Matthew won a 2nd place trophy!!! I was so happy for him! He was happy too!

I'm so happy that Matthew found something that he really enjoys doing. I can't wait for next season! Go Little Bridgers!!!

Matthew is 8 years old! (January 1st)

I was too sick to write this entry when I wanted to write it. This was actually the first year since Matthew was born that I was unable to stay up and watch the ball drop on his birthday (New Year's). I was just too sick.

8 years ago on New Year's Eve I went into labor with my first son. After a long and hard labor Matthew James Jr was finally born at 4:57pm on New Year's Day. I couldn't have asked for a better way to start a new year.

Our little family has come a long way in these last 8 years. It is truly amazing how fast time passes by when you have kids. It feels like yesterday that I was holding him for the first time in the hospital.

Matthew is growing into such a funny, caring, and smart kid. I always tell Matt (Sr) that both of our sons are the best of each us. I can definitely see that in Matthew. He has his dad's caring heart, my sense of humor, and he is just so smart.

I feel very lucky to have 2 wonderful sons that make me happy every single day. I am proud of them for everything they do. Being their mom is what I was put on this earth for and I feel so lucky for my family.

Happy Birthday Matthew!

Riley is 5!

I can't believe it's been 2 months since I've written here. I didn't get flooded with any emails about my absence so I'm sure no one really minded ;-).

On September 12th (which it will be in just about 1 hour from this moment) my youngest son Riley will be 5 years old.

My due date with Riley was September 12th but I really didn't think he would actually come that day. I mean really, how often are babies born on their actual due date? I had been feeling really sick the night of September 11th and made Matt sleep on the couch that night, something I really hated to do! I just couldn't get comfortable and needed the entire bed to spread out and ease my pain. I woke up the morning of September 12th just a few minutes before 6 am. I'm sure for most people the first thing on your mind when you wake up is a trip to the restroom. If you've ever been pregnant you know this urge gets multiplied by 100. So, that morning as with every other morning for the last 9 months I got out of bed fully intending to head to the rest room. I put my feet on the floor, stood up, and my water broke. I ran (waddled) out to the living room where Matt was peacefully unaware of what had just occured. The day was finally here. Labor was easier the second time around because I knew what to expect and I kept telling myself that no matter how much pain I was in I could get through it and at the end I would have my beautiful son. Riley was born at 1:17pm on September 12th (a far cry from the 23 hour labor with Matthew!). He was beautiful. My kid's birthdays are the 2 happiest days of my life.

Now Riley is 5 years old. I love his silly faces, his goofy dance moves, and his funny phrases. I love how he writes his name with every letter being a different size. I love how he likes to help me make crafts and thinks I'm an amazing cook (I'm not!!!). I love how he loves his big brother and absolutely adores his daddy. I love you Riley, Happy Birthday.

Nicknames

As a huge fan of the show Seinfeld and an even bigger fan of George Costanza, I fondly remember the episode in which George wants a nickname. Not just any nickname but the nickname "T Bone" infact. It's interesting how people get tagged with certain nicknames. It's one of those things you don't really get to choose for yourself, though some of us may try to influence it a bit (like George!).

I guess my main nickname would be Wiffy because Matt is just too cool to use "Wifey" like most people-I much prefer Wiffy any day! Matt, however, has a million nicknames. Some I'm sure he would be too embarassed for me to type out here, and I'm sure are quite embarassing when I yell them when we are in the middle of Walmart.

The boys have quite a few nicknames as well.

Matthew AKA:
Buddy (a nickname both the boys share)
Daffew
Daff
Dafferoni
Daffinator
Stink

Riley AKA:
Buddy
Smiley Riley
Rye Rye
Ryes
Rye
Riley butt

Those are the main nicknames we have, but I'm sure there are more that I am forgetting as I'm typing this. All of these names came about for different reasons but most of them came from the songs I make up about the boys. Now, the cats are getting in on it and if I sing to get the boys out of bed their cats will come in the room and try to wake them up!

I wonder if on Matthew's graduation day I'll still be calling him Dafferoni...I hope so :-).

Sports Mom

Well, now that both my boys are on sports teams I guess you could officially call me a "sports mom." It's crazy to think that both of my kids are old enough to be playing sports. Weren't they just wearing diapers and sleeping in cribs yesterday?



Matthew has played t-ball for 2 years and this year he moved up to baseball. So far, two weeks into practicing, things are going great. Riley has only had one week of practice so far but he is definitely enjoying his first year of t-ball! A lot goes into having your kids active in organized sports. You have to make sure they have the equipment they need, practice with them, teach them about good sportsmanship, clear your schedule to make room for their schedule, get homework done before practice (or you will regret it later that evening), get them where they need to be when they need to be there, and the most important thing-be their biggest cheerleader.



I am very excited for them to get their uniforms, they both got the team colors they wanted! Matthew's team is black and Riley's is green. I can't wait until the first day that they both get to wear their uniforms and have their first game. Even at their young ages I've seen parents who are really hard on their kids when they don't do things exactly right. I'd like to tell those parents to sit back and enjoy watching their kids have fun and to stop stressing them out by yelling at them! It is definitely an awesome feeling to see your child excel at sports, you feel so proud! On the other side of that it does make you feel like you want to fix it for them when they aren't quite getting it-but I would never yell at my 4 year old son that he "just can't do anything right!" like I heard one parent say to their son. As long as they are having fun and giving it their all it won't matter if they hit a million home runs or strike out every time at bat-I'll still be their number one fan!

School boys

In that time when the boys were babies up until they were school age, I felt like that time would last forever. We spent all day, every day together. We woke up, ate together, played together, went to the store together, everything together. The only people my kids knew were family members. During that time that was our world, they were mine and I was theirs. All of a sudden in the blink of an eye I was putting Matthew on a school bus. Then before I could get used to that the time came to send Riley off on a school bus too. Now their world has expanded to include teachers and friends, it's not just us anymore. That's a scary thought! So many things change when they start going to school. You learn just how important all the little moments and lessons you taught them really are. I think the boys have definitely adapted better to being school boys than I have!



Matthew has many friends at school and does really well with his school work. I have his school work hanging up in the kitchen. Every time he brings home a great school paper I can't help but to think back to when he was learning to write his name or when he would draw stars all over the wall instead of on paper! He is such a smart kid, and though he rushes through a lot of things, he has a really great work ethic-he understands that practicing makes you better and he has a drive to be in his words "the best, the fastest..." etc. at everything he does.

Riley loves school too, but I won't pretend it doesn't feel good when he some times says that he wants to stay home because he will miss me or when he jumps off the bus and yells "mommy!!!" or tells the teacher that rides with them "my mom is here, there she is!!!" He is always really proud and excited when he brings home his paintings or projects. He surprised us all when he came home writing and spelling his name! Though some times he is shy about it, perhaps the best thing is when he will sing us a song that he learned at school.





Matthew looks so highly annoyed that I'm taking this picture! There they are, my two school boys. Life is certainly different since the days we spent all day together, and though they are growing up so fast and are getting more and more independent, they will both always be my babies, even when they are my age...and something tells me that Matthew will still be making that face from this picture when I tell him so!

My two sons

If someone would have told self proclaimed "indoor girl," me that I would end up having two sons, well I guess that wouldn't have shocked me all that much. However, if someone told self proclaimed "indoor girl," me that I would end up having two sons and enjoying the dirt, mess, outdoors, bugs, and general grossness that comes along with having little boys...now that might have shocked me. Now here I am with 7 and 4 year old sons and loving everything about it. I truly believe that I was meant to have boys so not only could I give them the best parts of me, but they could bring out things I never would have otherwise known about myself. Some of the biggest things have been that I never would have known just how much gross unidentified liquids or bugs placed in my hand, or grass stained clothes I could handle if it weren't for my boys :-).

Still, I'm not deprived of doing so called "girly" things that I enjoy. Infact Riley loves to make crafts and jewelry with me and he loves to watch me put on my make up. Matthew is great to take along to the craft store when you need to pick out what color to use or which project to make and he enjoys listening to mommy's music. Of course they both always have an opinion of what I should do with my hair...cut it or leave it long, keep the red or maybe go for a change?

I have opened myself up to many new things because of the boys. Through that we've been able to find things we all enjoy doing as a family like fishing, something I never would have thought to do or even thought I could do.

So, I may still be a pretty girly "indoor girl" that loves sparkles, purple, and jewelry, but thanks to the boys I can also get dirty and be gross with the best of them.

one of the many songs for the boys and Matt but I think it fits us perfectly:

The introduction post

I guess every good blog starts with an introduction post. This is not my first venture into "blogging." I have had a different blog since 2001 that was more of an online diary than anything else. However, it has remained pretty inactive for the last 4 years. I'm hoping starting this new blog will be an exciting new way to keep up with my friends and family and I'm hoping that same of you will not only read this blog but make blogs of your own! I'm not yet sure how I plan to use this blog, as I've said I've already done the online diary and maybe I will use this for that purpose somewhat, but I'm really not quite sure yet.

I guess the best way to start is to introduce myself and my family.

My name is Katie and I am 26 years old. I am a wife to Matt, who I met when I was 15 years old, and a mother to my wonderful sons Matthew and Riley.

I have what some might call an "old soul." I love photography, crafts, and just doing anything creative. I love my family and feel incredibly fortunate to have such wonderful sons. I love cats, the color purple is more than just my favorite color it's somewhat of an obsession, and I absolutely love music.

My husband is Matt and he is 29. He works really hard at his job. He loves the outdoors and tries to get me to be less of what I call "an inside girl." He did mange to get me in to fishing last summer and now I love it! He is a wonderful dad to the boys and a great husband to me :-).

Matthew is my oldest son, he is 7 years old. Matthew is a mini-Matt in so many ways but definitely has some of me thrown in there too (like being a picky eater!). Matthew loves being outside and playing any sport but he especially loves fishing. He is currently in 1st grade and does really well in school. It amazes me how smart he is.

Riley is my youngest son, he is 4 years old. Riley is my cuddle bug and likes to do everything that mommy is doing. Riley is currently in preschool and says his favorite thing about school is "the food". Riley loves to help me when I am crafting and he likes to be everyone's little helper.

So, that's a little introduction to the family. Hope to start making updates very soon!