Sure enough, once Hayden got there, the two were off playing together, chasing each other, bouncing on the dog’s bed, playing peek-a-boo. After cake and ice cream, we took the boys to the playground across the street from Bubbe and Zayde’s house (wasn’t it smart of them to move to a house with a playground rightacrossthestreet???) where they climbed and ran and slid down the slides–all with some fabulous help from Jacob, Caleb, Bubbe, and Zayde, of course! (Yes, we were hoping they’d run off a little of the sugar high).

Oh, and they stopped to check out the flowers, too! (Thanks, Rachee, for snapping this one!)

Two blonde boys checking out the flowers

Watching Bubba's first basketball game of this season.

The lovely people at the Texas Health Resources Momblog have been kind enough to post another of my semi-organized ramblings today. (Thanks, btw!)

And like I said, before you throw things at me or state (the obvious) that I’m being a whiny-baby and that lots of other parents/families have a harder schedule than us, let me say that I DO realize these things. And I DO realize that the sports and the activities are good for the kids. And I DO ENJOY the games (95% of the time – hey, I never claimed to be perfect). And I DO feel a tremendous amount of guilt when I have the admittedly selfish when-do-I-get-my-weekends-back moments.

I also am 99.9% certain that other moms and dads have felt this way, too. So, what’s the solution? Is there one? Do you just suck it up and deal? Do you limit the extra-curricular activities to one at a time? (Though, if you have more than one kid, even one activity at a time can be busy.) Do you rotate activities? What about when there are conflicts in schedule? Do your obligations or “want-tos” (like the yoga course I’d been looking at) fall away every time so the kiddos can make their activities? Do you team up with another family to help each other out (you take the kids, they pick up; you drive one week, they drive the next, etc)?

It won’t be long, I know, until we’re juggling 3 sets of extra curriculars, so I’d love suggestions to be filing away for that time!

Clearly not my famous shot, but a great shot of Jacob in action.

Yep, you guessed it. My turn came. Believe it or not, I got up to take the shot. (How could I not? All the other moms had done it, and since everyone was missing the shots anyway, I was just going to join the club.) So, I dribbled out to the free throw line (I have no idea why I felt the need to dribble), bounced the ball a couple times, took my aim, and took my shot. AND. IT. WENT. IN!!!!

No joke – I made the shot. I couldn’t make it again in a million years if I tried (in case you haven’t noticed, I’m not athletically inclined). Caleb looked shocked, Sam was calling for the “bass-eh-ball” and the parents were cheering. And Bryan missed it. He was busy coaching, or something. Jacob saw it, though. So my three most important witnesses know it happened.

Is it sad or totally acceptable that making that shot might be my most proud athletic-type moment to date?

My very favorite Giant!

Today started the big boys’ basketball seasons. Caleb kicked us off with the first game of the day at 9 am. His team, the Giants, played his “old” team, the Bulldogs. It was a tough loss, but the Bulldogs are known for blowing out their opponents and the Giants hung tight with them until the 4th quarter, when it sort of turned into a bloodbath. But, that’s not what this post is about.

On the Bulldogs, there is a child who. is. a. tree. I’m serious, he’s got to be part Redwood tree or something. He is head and shoulders above the Bulldogs’ next tallest player, who is head and shoulders above, well, everyone else on the court. I’ll be honest, all the parents sitting around me were wondering how old this child really is.

After the game, as we were leaving the school, Bryan and the boys were doing their usual game re-cap (translation: I am uncharacteristically quiet as they discuss the technicalities of the game that I don’t understand – yes, even for 2nd grade basketball). Here’s part of the conversation:

B: Caleb, do you know if that really tall kid on the Bulldogs is in 2nd grade? Or how old he is?

C: Yes. He’s in 2nd grade. He’s 8.

B: Wow. He’s really tall. But, if he’s really in 2nd grade and 8 years old, like you, then it’s really important not to say anything, even in joking fun, about how big he is.

C: Why?

B: Well, because he might not think it’s a good thing to be so tall. Sometimes when people are very different from others – visibly different, like really, really tall, or really, really short, or really fat or really skinny, or anything else that makes them visibly different from other people, they aren’t comfortable with it.

C (in his classic matter-of-fact tone): But Everybody’s Different.

Have I mentioned before how smart this kid is? And how much I love him? He is today’s proof that my kids are here to teach me far, far more than I can ever hope to teach them.  I don’t think I could have been more proud of him if he’d just single-handedly won the 2nd grade basketball national championships for the whole wide world (because surely there is such a thing). Happy, happy Momma tonight.

I hope 2012 has very little of this:

Lots of time for things like this:

And this:

And this:

I hope 2012 has lots of moments that make me feel like this:

And lots and lots of time for simple joys like this:

And, of course, I hope 2012 holds the same or better for YOU!

I was a little worried, since last year the Daneman family Hanukkah celebration (at Uncle Mike and Aunt Susan’s house) was when Sam decided it would be fun to come down with his first tummy bug (which he so kindly then shared with Mommy and Daddy). I did NOT want a repeat of that. Thankfully, that didn’t happen. And, as you can see from my little collage below, we had a fabulous time with family, friends, and, of course, presents galore!

Do you see a common subject here? Sam was all-too-willing to be in the spotlight. Can you say H-A-M?

But, more importantly, do you see why a camera of his own is pretty high on Caleb’s wish list? All my photographer friends, be honest…these aren’t so bad for an 8-year-old photographer, are they?

LOVE. MY. BOYS.

What a weekend we had! Caleb had a baseball game Friday night, so Daddy, Jacob, Sam, and I went to the game to see Caleb tear it up on the diamond (and he did, too!). When it got close to time for Grandma and Grandpa to get in, Sam and I left the game early to meet them at the house. To say that Sam was excited to see them would be an understatement. In minutes, Sam had Grandma and Grandpa dancing around the living room, singing, “wiggle-wiggle-wiggle-wiggle-wiggle-wiggle-wiggle-wiggle-wiggle-wiggle-wiggle-wiggle-wiggle-yeah!” (thank you, Jack’s Big Music Show, for teaching my son an even greater love of music. Seriously, we keep at least three episodes DVR’ed because it will wipe out any bad mood!) Unfortunately, I didn’t get any of the wiggle dancing on video (and if you’ve ever seen my Dad dance, you know it’s video-worthy). I was too busy holding my sides from laughing so hard.

Saturday we all slept in a little, had totally yummy kolaches and cinnamon rolls from the fabulous Duffey’s Kolache Bakery. The boys played some, and Bryan and Grandpa watched some football. Grandma and I got out to do a little shopping (granted, it was all for boys, not us, but that’s A-OK with us!) and visiting. Grandpa took Jacob and Caleb to Academy and outfitted them with a new tackle box and tackle. . . and Nerf swords. Because you can’t go to Academy and not get Nerf swords. Then we all cleaned up and got in the cars (yes, it took two) and headed to Kobe Steakhouse for Caleb’s birthday dinner.

Sunday, we lounged the morning away.

All three monkeys watching "Space Jam." Hey, at least they know who Michael Jordan and the Looney Tunes are......

Then, we took the boys to a neighborhood pond that’s stocked so they could test out their new tackle and tackle box. Sam enjoyed getting to ride around the pond (Grandma and I walked the path around the pond two or three times) and playing at the nearby playground. Below are fun pics of the boys’ catches and some local wildlife at the pond.

And, because everyone needs a little joy this morning, I give you Sam enjoying Jack’s Big Music Show.

Well, tonight I was videoing Sam dancing to Jack’s Big Music show (I promise, videos to follow soon) and of course my memory card filled up. In looking for things to delete off the card, I came across this video from late August. I don’t recall the specifics of how the pushups started, but the video is just too cute not to share. (And, for the record, even though you don’t really see it in the video, Caleb can crank out some mean pushups!)