Game On!

Little League season has begun!  Last night was Dylan's first game of the season, and he is so excited to be playing in the Majors.  He's especially excited to be playing for the Diamondbacks, with our bishop as his coach (that's Bishop Gardner at far right).

Can you tell which boy is Dylan?  Hint: my 12-year-old son is a head taller than the rest of his teammates!  (We also did not get the word that he was supposed to wear red socks...)

Dylan started out at third base.  He is an excellent baseman, especially at first plate.

During the third inning he was put in as pitcher.  I stood near his coaches to take this picture and overheard them discussing how powerful his pitches are.  He just needs a little more work on his technique.  (Can you tell by the bubbles that it was windy and there was just a bit of dust in the air?)

Dylan is also a power-hitter.  He often knocks it to the fence.  At their first practice, his team dubbed him "the Secret Weapon."

The boys fought a hard battle, but in the end they lost to the Yankees by a score of 16 to 11.  We're proud of them and the good sportsmanship they all displayed in the face of a loss.  Dylan proclaimed, "Even if we lost, it was still fun!"  Now, that is the lesson I want my son to learn on the field!

Despite the late hour (the game ended at 10pm) and the nippy weather, Dylan is supported by his family!  Here we have Jacob and Sarah in the stands.  That's the coach's wife and daughter laughing and making faces behind Jacob. 

 And, of course, Dylan always has a proud mom cheering him on!  Go, D-backs!!

The Senior

Eugene and Wyndie offer express service!  They had Jacob's senior pictures downloaded and edited within a few hours after the photo shoot.  Don't you agree they did a great job?

Last night and this evening I spent hours sorting through nearly 200 photos, narrowing it down to the 41 best shots.  Once he gets through tomorrow's Prom night, Jacob will need to sit down with those 41 and select the ones he wants printed to send in his graduation announcements.

As for me, I already chose an 8x10 and 5x7 to frame and hang next to my bed with Sarah's senior pictures: the shot above and the one below.

Here are a few more of my favorites: 

Doesn't he look like a poster in a teen magazine?  My son the rock star!

Jacob on April 15, 2010: age 18

The shark-tooth necklace was a gift to Jacob from his Aunt Tamera when we visited Missouri last summer.  Tamera's brother-in-law in Florida caught the shark that provided the tooth, and her sister made the necklace herself, so it's a special souvenir.

I just had to slip this last one in.  Jacob will never choose this shot because he hates to show his teeth in pictures.  However, this is the face I will miss most after he goes away to serve a mission for two years.  This is the mischievous, laughing child I will cherish in my memory forever. 

I'm so proud of you, my baby boy!

Senior Pictures, Sarah Style

Tonight Jacob had his senior pictures done.  Wyndie's husband Eugene took them for us and I can't wait to see how they turn out!

Eugene did Sarah's senior pictures, too.  However, I wasn't blogging when she graduated 2 years ago and so her pictures have never been featured.  I'm going to remedy that right now!

Sarah's outdoor shots were taken along the Mogollon Rim Trail near our home.  She was 18 years old at this time.

She had her naturally-curly hair straightened prior to the photo-shoot.

For her indoor shots, taken inside Eugene and Wyndie's garage, Sarah insisted on two props that represented her high school years to her.  The first was her violin...

...and the second was her bunnies.  She used to show her rabbits in competitions while in 4-H Club.  She chose her best behaved bunny, Cocoa Puff, for these shots.

This final shot was supposed to be a throw-away, one of many practice shots while Eugene adjusted the lighting.  However, it became one of our favorites.  It perfectly captures Sarah's sassy attitude!

Romantic Profiling

If you think racial profiling is cruel and unfair, just wait until you experience romantic profiling!

It's a lot like designing a page in a Hickory Farms catalog.  You try to make your little turkey look more appealing than everyone else's prize hams and filet mignons.

I joined LDS Singles Online back in mid-February.  (I know, I know, what was I thinking?)  For 6 weeks I was mostly ignored.  I revamped my profile with a new message and new pictures three times, but nothing seemed to help.  Then I decided to approach things from a completely different direction.

This is what I came up with:

March 2010 - This is me!

Let's be upfront: I'm not gorgeous, thin, popular, athletic, or rich. I don't have a fancy house, a sporty convertible, a high-powered career, or an empty nest. If you have the courage to read on, here's what I do have to offer:

I believe...

True beauty shines from within and looks out through eyes warm with love.

The person we used to be is not nearly as important as who we are now, and who we are now is a mere glimmer of who we may become.

The more we love, the greater our capacity for love becomes.

Any house becomes a home when it's filled with family and the Spirit is a welcome guest.

This life, with all its joys and all its bumps, is meant to be shared.

The strongest relationships are built on mutual trust, open communication, willingness to work together, and reliance on the Lord.

Eternity is a long, long time and ought to be spent with one's best friend.

Motherhood has been the greatest privilege and blessing of my life.

The glory of God is intelligence, and the most important knowledge isn't found in a classroom.

A sense of humor makes even the hardest trials bearable.

Laughter is healthy medicine, but even better: Christ is the cure.

Serving Heavenly Father's children is an honor, and no calling is ever insignificant.

Nature is a gift, meant to increase our good health and our enjoyment of this world.

Sometimes we have to slow down to rediscover ourselves and hear the Spirit speaking to us.

The temple is the most heavenly place on earth.

The Lord sometimes gives us what we want, but He ALWAYS gives us what we need.

***

Now it's YOUR turn! If any of these thoughts speak to your heart and mind, I'd enjoy exchanging ideas and getting to know you. My door--I mean, message box--is always open!

March 2010 - You crack me up!

So, there you have it!  Within 3 days I received more messages than I had in the entire previous six weeks!  I'm happy to report I have now "met" some pretty nice guys.

I've learned that when it comes to romance, normally level-headed men and typically romantic women change places.  The women become the practical ones, wanting to know if a man is a good provider, a good father, a good member of the church.  On the other hand, it seems the men want a woman they can romanticize.  Not that the practical things don't matter to them, but being practical is their job.  They figure if a woman has a loving heart and lofty ideals, all the rest will follow.

I hope they're right.

New Art Curriculum

Thanks to the threat of even deeper budget cuts for the coming school year, teachers of enrichment classes like art and music are nervously awaiting word on whether their programs and jobs will be cut for next year. 

A proposal to add a temporary 1-cent sales tax to see us through this budgetary crisis will go before the voters on May 13th.  If it passes and everything else goes better than hoped, our best case scenario still involves cutting well more than a million dollars from the budget of our small school district.

Meanwhile, we've been asked to suggest ways we can trim the budget and preserve as many programs and jobs as possible.  Jackie Johnson, the art teacher at the junior high, passed along the following proposal to save on art supplies while still fostering creativity in our youth.

Fly Art:

1. Kill a few flies.
2. Put them in the sun to dry for one hour.

3. Once they are dry, pick up a pencil and paper... Let your imagination flow.

Here are a few examples ...

Sunbathers

Horse, Fly

At the Public Pool

Mutt and Jeff

Finish Line

Higher, Daddy, higher!

The Amazing Flyzinskys!

I warned them not to eat that green meat!

Desperate times call for desperate measures...

The Bronze, Times Two

Jacob returned home from the FEA competition at ASU less than an hour ago, and he brought home two happy surprises!  He won two bronze medals (third place)!

Third place is pretty sweet, considering they were competing against 32 other schools.  He won for both his tote bag design and his multi-media presentation.  Obviously he was misinformed when he thought he hadn't made it as a finalist. 

Our team was also presented with cool new shirts, which Jacob is wearing above, with the students' names and the school's name and mascot embroidered on them.  The shirts are in recognition of the team having won FEA Chapter of the Year in 2009.

Way to go, Jacob!  You do us all proud, my son!  (And that ain't no April Fools Joke!)