Lost Boys

So you may be wondering, amid all these posts of the girls, ........ what happened to the BOYS here? Did they fall off the face of the earth? Are they lost?

Silly people! Of course not. Neither are they at the Haven, either.

So, for the sake of review, let's start with Cameron. Elder Cameron Lee Huffaker is serving his mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in the California San Fernando Mission. He has been out for 7 months and is in his third area: North Hollywood. He would love to get some mail from friends and family -- it's one thing a missionary looks forward to. Feel free to check out his mission blog for his adventures, including the story behind this snake:

Brandon is still away at college, at BYU-Idaho.  If you missed the news in this post, he is engaged to Miss Cecilia, and is close to completing his first semester of school. Brandon and Cecilia have started their own blog, which tells their story better than I ever could.

We're looking forward to seeing Brandon and Cecilia in a couple of weeks, when they come home for a visit, and begin (continue?) the wedding plans in earnest.

So they're not lost. They're not forgotten. We keep them in our hearts!

Hair a Little, There a Little

When your mother wants you to grow your hair out, you end up going a long time between haircuts. Sometimes, it's a REALLY long time between haircuts.

The girls finally cornered me and said,

"Mom.

We want haircuts.

Today."

ok.

 So here are just a couple shots of each of the girls, after the haircuts! I think they turned out pretty cute. I think we need to go back and have the girl touch-up the job on Alyssa's hair, which seems like it needs to be more even. For the photos, I interrupted Alyssa in the middle of making some of what my mother would call, "Poor Man's Cookies" -- which is actually graham cracker sandwiches filled with leftover frosting.

Darcie wanted to play a bit more with her hair before photos happened, but her obnoxious mother wouldn't leave her alone. So, my quality isn't the greatest. I should learn to be patient and wait for better shots. But I see my girls as beautiful all the time.

Darcie's big change was getting bangs:

I told her she could have bangs as long as she had a plan for what to do with them during softball. Constantly pulling a catcher's helmet over them can smash them right into her eyes. I think she's got barrettes in mind. Meanwhile, she's lookin' cute:

And actually, Emma and I also got haircuts that same day. I just don't have any photos. And it was Emma's virgin haircut: she's never had even so much as a trim, because it's taken forever for it to grow. She's still pretty wispy and thin. One day we will be out of the baby hair phase. I think.

 

Concert Season

Not only is it softball season, it's Concert Season. Last week was Darcie's Band and Jazz Band concert. This week, Alyssa has two concerts. Yep, it's that time of year.

Ever get the feeling that either A) your kids are not giving you all the information that you need, OR, B) that maybe you missed hearing something that they actually told you? Yeah, that was me last Wednesday... as I sat in the auditorium and discovered that Darcie had a sax solo in one of the Jazz Band numbers. Wha-at? How did I not know this?? Sure enough, here she is playing her solo:

She did well too. ... and then the band taking their bows:

Well, sort of. Incidently, I have to give some kudos to her band director. This year was the first time I can recall seeing a music department faculty member show up at an athletic event. But he came to one of the girls' softball games and cheered them on! That was WAY nice!

Here's just a peek at Darcie with some of her best friends... who are all very musically talented as well. I can't wait to see what these girls do with their lives through high school and beyond.

Darcie pulls some strange looks for the camera. And this is one of them:

What child IS this?

Play Ball!

It's softball season!

After months of off-season work, the high school season has started and we have games going.

I have to say that I am so pleased with both my girls, and how hard they worked through the high school tryouts period. Although Alyssa, a junior, had no worries about whether or not she would make the Varsity team again, she still worked very hard at her pitching. The down side to that is that she's been a regular at the chiropractor's office because of her sore back. We are fairly certain that her back problems will go away as we get her core muscles strengthened. She has a pitcher's tendency to be more developed on one side of her body than the other, which wreaks havoc on her back. As long as we can be back to 100% by Districts (or before), we should be golden.

As a freshman, Darcie had a lot more riding on whether she could make the Varsity team. She took a look at the talent level among the high school girls, and decided that she really did not want to stay down on the JV team. Varsity was her goal. It helped that the coach was looking for a girl to fill the catcher position vacated by a graduated senior. There were only 3 girls trying for the catcher position: a senior who had moved into our area, a junior who was a returning Varsity player, and our Darcie.

I have to give Darcie credit: she busted her butt at tryouts. She came home one day with grass stains on a knee: "I was going for a ball in the outfield." Another day, she came home covered in dust: "I dove into 3rd base." And the great thing about it was, that her hard work paid off: not only did she make Varsity, she's the only freshman on the team, and.... she is currently the starting catcher. 

She does feel a bit intimidated by being the youngest amongst all the older girls on the team, and she's perhaps not as loud or commanding on the field as she might be. But she'll learn, and as she gains more experience, she'll gain more confidence also. (She did throw a girl out at 2nd base during the first game -- woot!!)

That previous photo is Darcie calling 2-outs. Alyssa has had a slower start to the season, as we're trying to get her past that sore back. So she's pitched less, and did not bat at first, either. She's still got great form, and that huge 8' stride:

So although this isn't my favorite camera angle, this next photo is great because it shows both our girls in the shot, as Alyssa pitches to Darcie. Note the ball on its way to the plate:

I know this next picture looks the same, but for one little difference. Alyssa is throwing a different pitch: the knuckleball. She learned this one last summer from her travel team coach, and it is proving to be an effective option for her. See her knuckles bent over on top of the ball?

I tease Darcie about this next photo. She has a bit of an airhead look, like she's playing with her hair during the coach conversation in the circle! She tells me her hair was caught, and she was just getting it free again. Surrrre, sweetie!

Darcie showing bunt....

And Alyssa at 3rd base. Still her favorite secondary position. I'm not sure if I would want to bunt against her, because she comes crashing in pretty hard to go for the throwout at first base.

So, let the games begin. My daughters may not be the absolute best players out there, but I have utmost confidence and belief in them when they are trying to the best of their abilities. Besides, as their mom, it's my job to believe in and encourage my kids. Who else will believe in them as much as their own parents? What's really cool is to see them achieve their goals that they set for themselves.

And don't let the photos deceive you. The sun may have been out for a bit, but overall, these first games have been a continuous round of rain, wind, and freezing temps. I will watch any game, but it's a lot more fun to watch softball when it involves sunshine, shorts, flip flops, and sunblock.

I'm sure it's more fun to play when it's warmer, too!

Beep Beep Jeep

If there's one thing that saves our sanity, it's that the girls can get where they're going without us always having to drive them there. We're kind of excited about the recent new addition to the family:

Todd's observation was that it looks a lot like the Suburban had a baby! The girls enjoy it quite a bit, and it's especially nice [when you're 6' tall, or close to it] to not have to bend over so far to get in and out of it. It's a nice little run-around vehicle, with room for softball gear bags & it works well for the once-a-week newspaper route.

Still wishing it got a little better gas mileage......
(as the corner station jumped another 5 cents overnight. )

Distinguished Young Women

If there were ever a girl that were so busy, she would meet herself coming and going... it would be our Alyssa. If she ever happens to get a moment of "free" time, she absolutely uses it to sleep, because that is what she's always short of. I look at what she does and am amazed by her, because NONE of her friends ever are as busy as she is. (And the one that comes closest is actually Darcie!)

None of her friends have the daily grind of Early-Morning Seminary, and AP courses, and Band, and Gold Voices, and school- & travel-softball (or even a different sport, if it were a friend). And then the weekly schedule inserts of a job, and Young Women's and church, and ward choir, and home chores. And then the occasional inserts like dance committee, and church or school dances. None of her friends do all that. She has friends in each of those activities, but no ONE friend in all of them.

And it's not enough that she participates, it's also that she goes the extra mile. She has a 4.0 GPA. I'm not trying to brag here, just stating a fact, and you have to work hard to maintain that. She has completed her reading of the Old Testament for Seminary (3 months early). She brings homemade food for extra credit in French class. She works out 2-3 times per week in the softball off-season, and 5-6 times per week during Season. She was in the small Band group that traveled with the basketball team to State. She was in the small Gold Voices group that organized all the Singing Valentines.

She makes me tired, just thinking about it all.

And then, came Distinguished Young Women. A.K.A. Junior Miss!

My poor photos are taken the night of Dress Rehearsal. Can I just say how thankful I am that the softball double-header that day was rained out? Because I'm not sure how she would have survived pitching a game before the long dress rehearsal evening.

Distinguished Young Women has a time committment that is roughly equivilent to a season of a sport. Practices to learn the routines, a fitness level equal to many sports, plus studying for the interview portion, and then performing the poise, talent, and self-expression portions on stage with grace, beauty and style. Oh, yes -- these last 2 months have been pretty hectic for her!

There were 12 girls that participated this year. That number is down from last year's 22 girls. I'm sure you can pick out our Alyssa in this photo -- she's the one with sleeves on her dress.

Alyssa asked her Aunt Kerry to be her backstage mom, and what an amazing backstage mom she was! On dress rehearsal night, the hair and makeup was done by a local beauty school. Alys and Kerry decided they could do better on their own, so for the actual performance, Kerry did her hair and makeup. Alyssa tells me that all the other girls commented on what a good job Kerry did. So these "night before" photos are not Kerry's makeup job...

But this performance night photo IS Kerry's work:  (We sent Alys some flowers and she got a few other gifts from friends and church leaders, too)

The long blue dress was for her talent performance. She sang, Lauren Alaina's "Like My Mother Does". And can I just say that as the mom, .... that's a really hard thing to sit through without tearing up? You can see the Lauren Alaina version here on YouTube. The pink t-shirt and capris was for the fitness routine, which came first on the program. Kerry snapped this photo on her phone before the performance began.

Alyssa didn't come away with any of the scholarship awards, but she did have a great experience, and made some new friends as well.  And lest you think that she is some perfect angel, I'll clue you in that she does have her faults.... I just don't want to say anything embarrassing here. Except that part about how she leaves dirty clothes on the floor and is really grumpy when she's sleep-deprived, and ....

Oh, whoops. Did I say that?

Love you, Sis!!

We're proud of her and the choices that she makes in her life. We're so blessed to have her (and each one of our kids) in our family.

Belle of the Ball .... er,..... Lantern

As much as all the older kids tell us that Emma Jo is spoiled, (and she is) I have to say that this kid knows how to improvise when it comes to toys.

Being jaded experienced parents, we tend to second guess toy purchases when we feel that something will be broken or outgrown before we get our money's worth out of it. So when Emma makes up her own playtime scenarios, I can't entirely blame her for utilizing home decor as toys. Because we didn't go out & invest in extra accessory toys. I get that.

It's just that I was a bit surprised to see Belle enclosed in one of my lanterns:

There's got to be some comment here about people who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones....