A Different Kind Of Spring Break.

Royals Spring Training 2009

Yesterday was the official start of our spring break, and like so many other things this too will be different for us this year.

Waiting for the game to start 2009

The calendars did not align for us, the breaks from school landed a week apart. Kellan was out of school last week, but it's baseball season and commitments to the team kept him on campus. They continued to practice and play games throughout the week. We went up to watch a home game, but the time we were able to spend with him was limited. He was able to come home this past Saturday for the night. He got here late, so we waited dinner on him. Having all four of us around the table is one of my favorite things in life. Something that once was commonplace and ordinary,has now taken on more meaning. As a friend of mine said this week, "I will never take for granted being able to put all our place mats on the table at the same time". Me either. He stayed the night, we went to church as a family, (another one of my favs), had lunch and then he headed out. He was back in class this morning. That will be the extent of the time all four of us will spend together this spring break.

Owen's first In -N- Out Burger, AZ 2012.

 In past years we may be headed to Royals Spring Training, or to Oklahoma to play baseball with the high school team. But not this year. We do have plans, including a trip to the Nelson Atkins and the DMV for Owen's learners permit. We hope to spend time with family and friends and whatever else we decide we want to do.  We've already crossed one thing off our list. Last Friday night we took Owen to see "Catch Me If You Can" at the Barn Players Community Theater. It was awesome! We love that we get to do new things with him and we enjoy watching him as he explores different interests. We look forward to the time we will have with Owen this week and we know even if it is very different than what we are used to - it will still be great!

Kellan pitching in OK, 2014.

Although we aren't leaving town it is still nice to have a break from our regular schedule. We will use this time to recharge and get ready for a busy spring full of baseball games, choir performances, enrollment for next year, summer baseball planning and the end of "our" Freshman year.

This week also marks one year since I started writing this blog. The timing could not have been better. With all the changes our family has journeyed through this year, blogging has allowed me a place to process my thoughts out loud.  This has been vital for me.  At first I didn't know if I would ever even publish it and I wasn't sure anyone would want to read it if I did. But as of today it has been viewed 2,830 times and I hope my words have had an impact on some of the people who have read them.  I have so enjoyed writing and sharing my thoughts and my life here. I appreciate all the encouragement and positive feedback I have received. It inspires me to keep writing and sharing what I write with others. Thank you!

This week will be different than any other spring break before. It may not go exactly how I would have wanted, but I will make the most it. I will appreciate the little bits of time I do get, when everything is how I would like it to be, and never take those moments for granted.

A change of uniform...

Last week our house was focused, for the most part, on just one thing...high school baseball tryouts. We are familiar with the process, having been through it the past four years with our older son, Kellan. Those prior experiences however did not eliminate the anxiety associated with it.

The week was exhausting both mentally and physically. Practices were long and intense. A snow storm pushed them indoors which meant practice times changed on a daily basis. Keeping up on the schedule was a challenge in itself. Being a Freshman catcher, Owen was required to participate in additional tryouts for pitchers and catchers which took place at 5:45 AM on both Tuesday and Thursday. We were all tired by the time the final roster was posted on Thursday evening.

Going into the week I knew Owen was prepared baseball wise.  He's had great coaching and studies technique on his own. He has been around baseball most of his life and has a pure love for playing the game. He can hit, field, take charge behind the plate and shows good decision making and mechanics. All of which are easily seen by coaches. But there is so much more to him both as a player and an individual. He is a leader, a compassionate friend and a young man of integrity and character. I prayed the coaches would see that too.

From One Great Team...

Adding to the emotions of the week was the concrete realization that the boys Owen had played with, shared life and loved for the past five years would probably never take the field as a team again. They will play for their high schools this spring and then move on to other teams this summer. A few of the Naturals will be together, but the group as a hole is part of our history and part of what makes Owen the player and person he is today. 

On the positive side of this, former teammates will be reunited again, old foes will become new teammates. There will be chances for Owen to look across the field and see players in the opposing dugout that used to be sitting on the bench next to him. Roles will shift on the field, but outside the fences, relationships will stay the same. A change in uniform doesn't change everything!

To Another!

I am so excited for the season to begin. I look forward to watching not only Owen and his teammates, but all the other boys that we know around the area. This is baseball at it's best. It builds bonds that last a lifetime.

See you at the field...
Go Hawks!, Go Broncos!, Go Eagles!
Go Hawklets! and Go Wildcats!
(hope that covers everyone!)

A life in pictures

I have always loved pictures. To me there is something special about capturing a single moment in time.  My husband shares this affection and has taken up photography has a hobby.  Over the past 25 years we (mostly he) have collected literally thousands of snapshots ranging from every day silliness, to life experiences both big and small, wild life in our back yard and the people that we love. While we've stored them in boxes and files on computers and clouds for safe keeping, we still find ways to incorporate them into our daily lives.

This one of Kellan is framed in our house.

 Each month Tim pulls several pictures from that same month in 2004 or 2005 and puts them on our computer as our screen saver. We all look forward to seeing what the next set of pictures will be.

We do not print a lot of our pictures unless we plan to frame them. Our house is full of candid shots in frames. I appreciate great professional photography as well.  We recently had family pictures taken that turned out wonderful, but some of my favorite pictures are candid shots we have taken. Those times when no one knew the camera was on them, the silly exchange between brothers that only they understand, or the genuine joyful smile caught by accident. To me those are the best, and when I look at them I am reminded of what is truly important.

One of my favorite pictures of Owen, and it happened accidentally!

I do not scrapbook, what I do instead is put pictures to music. I make a video each year using Windows Movie Maker. I include the highlights of our year and set it to a song that has meaning to us. I have also done these for sports teams. Our youngest son especially, will sometimes sit and watch these over and over.

We also share our photos with fellow team mates through a Flickr.com site. We take pictures of not only our son's but the other players and make them available to those who may not have another means of getting action shots of their son. Cameras can be expensive and complicated, but the good news is cell phones are using better technology for pictures than ever before. You can even set up a direct up load to Flickr so that the photos won't take up space on your phone.

Our amazing photographer caught this authentic shot of our family.

If you are not a family that takes pictures I would like to encourage you to start. Take lots of them. That is the secret to getting a few really good ones.

If you are a family who takes pictures and you are the one behind the camera, I encourage you to let someone else take a turn. Get in front of the camera every now a then. Take a "selfie" with your kids. They will thank you later.


Lastly, if you have teenagers and they are not very willing to let you take pictures of them, do it anyway. Again, they will thank you later.

Pictures can do a lot of things. They create a history, a time line of sorts for our lives. They allow you to relive events in your life, sometimes with the same kind of emotion. When we look back, we can also see our present and even a glimpse of our future.  When I look back and realize just how quickly the time has gone it makes me sad at times.  But, in the same sense it makes me appreciate the present and look forward to the future. We can't stop time or turn back the clock, but we can document moments of our lives, both big and small in pictures.