Another year of swim in the books

Still playing blog catch-up, but I wanted to make sure I got swim season on the blog. Ellie and Jack both really enjoyed swim and they never complained about going to practice. Ellie even qualified for an Invitational meet in freestyle this year.  I'm really hoping to have Sam a strong enough swimmer by next summer so he can join them on the team. Plus, can you imagine how cute the picture would be with all three of them in it?

Ellie graduates...5th grade

Ellie's school did an awards ceremony and "clap-out" for the 5th graders at the end of the school year.  Clap-out is where all the parents and younger grades line the hallways and clap as the 5th graders walk the hallways one last time.  They play that song you hear at graduation so the whole thing is a real tear-jerker...if you are someone who is inclined to tears, which I am not.
Ellie got an award for honor roll.  No perfect attendance this year because she missed a day to go to my grandpa's 90th birthday celebration.  And I kept her home on her birthday.  Still...2 days all year isn't bad.

Ellie with her teacher, Mrs. Koleci.  I am not sure they will miss each other.

Ellie and her best friend, Iliana

I also stopped by Jack's room where his teacher was doing her own little awards ceremony.  Jack was awarded the Faithfulness Award for "being unwavering about the truth."

Jack loved his teacher, Mrs. Tom

Proof I was there

Jack and some of his buddies

Happily Ever After aka 15 Years

The view from our window

We had this whole floor to ourselves. Tom killed me in pool.

15 years and counting

So, I am playing a little catch up here on the ol' blog, but on May 18 Tom and I celebrated our 15th anniversary.  I insisted we take Thursday and Friday off from work and arranged for my mom to celebrate so we could properly celebrate the occasion.  I planned everything and kept it a surprise from Tom.  I booked a room at the hotel we stayed at on our wedding night, the Hotel Galvez in Galveston.  When we checked in, they upgraded us to the Hollywood Suite in honor of our anniversary. It was so awesome.  We had to use our keycard just to get to our floor.  There were only 3 suites on our floor and the other two weren't booked so we had the floor to ourselves, including the game room area.  We felt pretty fancy.  The hotel was right across the street from the seawall so we walked along the ocean before dinner.  We ate dinner at the hotel's restaurant and then just played in the game room area on our floor.  The next day we slept in and then walked along the seawall and went to Pleasure Pier to explore.  It really was a great way to celebrate our anniversary.

Weekend recap - Mother's Day style

I had the most delightful Mother's Day on Sunday.  It was so chill and peaceful...something I really needed after Saturday.  Saturday morning, we were all out the door early.  Tom had to go work physicals and I had to take the kids to their swim meet.  The meet was fun because the family all chipped in as a sponsor so we have a tent poolside.  It was fun visiting under the tent in between cheering for the kids.  There are 9 cousins on the swim team this year...we are taking over.
Tom showed up to work the 2nd shift of the swim meet, but Jack and I had to leave a little early so he could go to his end-of-season baseball party (even though his season STILL isn't over because they actually won a tournament game).  Jack and I couldn't stay long at his party because we had to meet up with Tom and the kids for Tom's brother's graduation dinner.  We were literally on the go from 6:30 am to 10 pm.

Ellie and Kinleigh painting Krew's nails

Sam "helping" Tom verify times

Naomi teaching the cousins how to meditate

3 of the 9 cousins poolside

Ellie and Jack on the ready-bench

Celebrating Mia's birthday at the swim meet. #cousinsrule

Sunday morning started off with Sam coming into the room at 6 am demanding breakfast. Tom took over like a champ.  He turned the sound machine up so I wouldn't be disturbed and took Sam to the donut shop to get the kids breakfast.  Then he picked up the downstairs and set the Roomba loose.  He realized our fridge was basically bare and he didn't have what he needed to make my breakfast (bacon and eggs - still rocking the no carb thing).  So he left a detailed note for Ellie and Jack, who were still sleeping, and took Sam to the store. All of this before I even woke up!

The only thing I had to do all day on Sunday was take the kids to church.  The rest of the time, I was pretty much just waited on hand and foot.  I really, really love Mother's Day.

Eat, Sleep, Take Kids to Practice.

We have been so, so busy lately.  Every day after school, it is homework, swim practice, then baseball/softball.  It has been exhausting.  Last Friday, we had a free hour before having to go to swim pictures and then Jack's baseball game.  I walked in on Ellie and Jack reading quietly together on the couch.  They were even sharing a blanket.  It was so sweet.

Jack had baseball games last week on Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday.  He also had a swim meet on Saturday.  He went straight from his swim meet to his baseball game.  He has one more game tomorrow and then he has his first tournament game on Wednesday.  The end is in sight.

Ellie finished her softball tournament on Saturday. She played 4 games in a row over the course of 6 hours.  It was pretty exciting, though. Ellie's team went into the tournament in 2nd place (out of 7 teams).  The 1st place team was undefeated. We had played them twice during season and lost by 1 point each time.  We played them first thing Saturday morning and again lost by one point.  Then we played the 3rd place team and won by 7 points.  Then we had to beat the 1st place team twice to win the tournament.  We won both games...by a considerable margin.  It was so fun.  Sam, however, did not find it fun.  Poor kid.  He had several meltdowns.  It was a long day for him, even though I had a bag full of snacks, drinks and toys.  I have really enjoyed watching the softball games this season, but I am very glad Ellie is done and we can focus on swim.