What's my problem???

For anyone that knows me understands that I can tip the scales on the competitive side...just a bit. Mainly I just feel that I give a lot to life and expect the same in return. I don't expect nice things to happen to me without effort put forth in advance. I love seeing my kids succeed but for the most part expect them to. Caleb has decided he doesn't care about soccer but wants to focus on baseball and basketball. While the basketball idea is fine for now realistically a child from a 5'7" dad and 5'1" mom has a few limitations in a tall person sport. Caleb plays peewee baseball but wants to play competitively. Sounds great to me. He makes several outs every game and hit 2 home runs last game. I'm happy for him but as previously stated I kinda expect him to do well. He practices out back every day. He works hard and certainly reaps the rewards from it. Easton is great at soccer but basically has no drive to practice anything so I just go to his games and enjoy the success he has and for the most part keep my thoughts about what he's capable of to myself. Bailey however, I'm just a freak about. I love that kid more than I could ever imagine and she is AMAZING to me! I was never into cheering, I was a sporty gal, so this whole world that Bailey's in is quite new to me. I do understand that with effort you get results. Bailey has cheered 2 years competitively and she did a year of recreational. She has been in dance since she was 3 and is awesome at cheer. She is a flyer which earns her a lot of spotlight and an awesome tumbler which has the same effect. This week was tryouts for her team and we have been waiting for it for oh so long! We figured she would be a shoe in for the level 3 team (which is the highest available in So. Utah) and she made it. Apparently she actually had butterflies for once before tryouts. This is the issue though, I'm not thrilled with how the team is laid out and really don't even want her to compete anymore. My biff is so many girls who haven't put forth near the effort Bailey has have made the same team and I just can't see spending more money and more hours on something that won't win her 1st places. I don't quite understand why she's had to work her way up and girls with less skills that haven't even cheered before can make the level she's at. I couldn't even muster up much excitement to tell her she'd made the team she wanted! What kind of a mother am I? She was excited and I was not that encouraging. Sheesh! There is another cheer team in town that I know would snag her up in a heartbeat for their level 3 team but she has been with hers for so long I feel like a traitor. If she cheered for that team she would be competing on a team of 18 as opposed to 32. I just don't know what to do!!! I know I just need to get over it and let it go, let her cheer where's she's the happiest. Cheer is not cheap however, plus the hours are many. Is it worth all of it to place last every time?

If you have to take last...

This past weekend was Bailey's national competition in Anaheim. Her team was looking great. They practice 3 days a week and work hard for 2 hours each practice. Nationals is the last competition of the season. After a year worth of hard work they performed a flawless routine both days we were down there. Normally this would mean a national championship however, every stinkin' team in her division had flawless routines!
Out of 7 teams, Raglan took 7th. :( Bailey was disappointed when she heard and Mat and I immediately began reassuring her what a great job she did and how awesome her team looked. We didn't stay for the awards ceremony so everything we heard was through our texting on the way home.

What we didn't find out until we arrived home was that the senior level 2 large division was the tightest out of all the divisions at the competition. All 7 teams were within 1 POINT of each other! In fact the 1st place team in senior level 2 large division was the grand champion over all 800+ teams! So while Raglan didn't get the chance to place at least they can say they were within a point of having the highest score of the competition. Usually the 1st, 2nd, 3rd place and so on, teams place within points not a single point. Not within tenths of a point.

Bailey started dancing when she was 3. She took to it like a fish to water. Although we miss watching her in ballet, she LOVES cheer and has come such a far way in a short time with it. Next week is her year end review and I've been told there may be some back flips added to some stunting they will be showcasing for us which just freaks me out but gets me so excited at the same time! The following week will be the tryouts for next year's teams. She is hoping to make Raglan's top team this year and in my humble, mommy opinion, she's a shoe in! Great job Bailey! We love you!!!

He's 7!!!

Easton's birthday fell on a Tuesday this year which normally would mean he would have the night available to have a party for him. However, lately it seems as though every night is crazy busy. We opted to have his party on Easter weekend. We let him invite whomever he liked and figured with it being a holiday weekend that we would be lucky if half of the invite list attended. Yeah, we were wrong! We had 24 kids! That included a few that weren't able to make it. At that point I was super happy we opted for the Aquatic Center instead of an elaborate party at home. I love the swimming pool thing. You show up, they provide food, a drink, and a gift bag with balloons. Seriously the easiest and cheapest route at $5.00 a kid for everything.
I love that no matter how wide of a circle the kids have at the beginning of opening presents by the end you can't even breathe. Easton was spoiled by all of his friends and the great gifts they all brought. He even ventured out of his comfort zone and invited a few girls to the party. He just smiled any time we mentioned the girls on the invite list. He was very particular about which ones he'd actually invite.

I'm not a cake decorator and Easton for some darn reason prefers homemade cakes. I convinced him too have cupcakes and we could make a shape of a fish. It's more of an abstract one but he was happy at least.

I can't believe he's 7! He's been my baby for so long it's really sad to see him grow up. He is such a fun part of our house. Always laughing and truly helpful. Although Easton has a very tough exterior he is one of the sweetest, most thoughtful kids around. Love you bud!

Eggs, Hunts, and GORGEOUS Weather

We are having such a wonderful weekend. Southern Utah is just plain gorgeous in the spring. Friday had us worried with it being a bit windy but the weather held through the Eve. Friday started off with Easton's birthday party. We let him invite who he wanted and figured with the kids being out of school and it being Easter weekend we would get about half of the kids invited. We were wrong. We had 24 kids total! (Yes, there were a handful that couldn't make it. ) I was tickled that Easton had that many kids that wanted to celebrate his birthday with him.
We had our ward Easter party that night. Peyton took to finding eggs like a fish to water. She kept saying "mine, mine". It was a great turnout and rather fun to attend this one rather than be in charge.

Saturday morning we headed down to Vernon Worthen for the Kiwanis Club Easter hunt. The kids were disappointed that they didn't find a number in their eggs but we still had a blast playing around for almost an hour after the hunt was over.

The Orchard clan met us at the park and it took Peyton a bit to warm up to Riley where she doesn't see her that often. Riley patted Peyton's back and told her "it's okay Peyton, it's okay."

After we left the park we walked to Fargo's for some lunch. Bailey rode her Imod with her cousin Jake and they got pulled over on the way there and on the way home from 2 different police officers! Haha!

The weather was incredible all day and we had a blast hanging out in the backyard having baseball throwing contests and enjoying springtime. We took in a movie with the kiddos and barbecued for dinner. Then Mat and I dominated in bowling over the Orchards while the kids dyed eggs at Grandma's. Does it get any better?

I'm sure the weekend will not do much for my ambitions to get skinny after all of the candy and tasty food. I suppose I'll have to kick it in gear on Monday.

Peyton helped decorate eggs and totally makes picking her nose look good. :)

The kids had fun making a mess with the egg dyeing at our house and loved their baskets the Easter Bunny brought them this morning. Mat hasn't worked since before the party on Friday and we have had too much fun with our lazy weekend. Now we get to sit back and enjoy the reason we celebrate Easter and soak up the conference addresses.

Happy Easter from the Holt's!

Caleb's Big Day

Caleb turned 8 in January. Of course the following month would typically be when an 8 year old growing up in the gospel would be baptized. Unless your older sister had a cheer competition that month in Salt Lake. Naturally, the following month would suffice. Unless of course, your family had planned a trip to Hawaii then. Lucky for us we got to have the baptisms early this month due to general conference, so Caleb finally took the plunge! Truly Caleb is such a sweetheart. Not only is he a handsome fella he has a brightness about him that makes you smile.

I remember my baptism day and the only picture I have from it is a Polaroid of my dad and I wearing white. I remember insisting my dad wear his mint green suit to match my mint green dress that I had chosen to wear. Oh how that ages me!!! The day I was baptised my brother (obviously) was also. Along with my cousin who's father had passed away so my dad had the honor of 3 in one swoop. Baptisms today seem to be a lot more work than I remember mine being. Of course the whole family came back then but the baptism was it. No dinner, no gifts, just a Polaroid attached to your baptism certificate. I really don't mind any effort we made to make Caleb's day special. He was beaming all day and I just tried to keep the tears in check.
Along with Caleb's baptism this week I had sharing time and got to sub for the primary president in ward council. Wouldn't you know it was her turn for the thought and prayer. I tend to stress badly with sharing time alone. Why 100 little children intimidate me I have no idea. Giving a thought in ward council is pure torture in comparison however. Although, having the bishop call you up after your sons baptism and ask you to bear your testimony in front of a small group of family nearly did me in! Thank you for that Bishop!
When all was said and done I was unbelievably grateful for being blessed with such an amazing kid. I'm so pleased with the boy Caleb is and the man he is growing up to be.

Now if we could just get a bit of Caleb's mild nature to rub off on his little brother...

Caleb and Easton both ended their basketball seasons the week we left for Hawaii so I am now getting around to posting about their awesome season. Although Easton could have played on Caleb's team we ended up putting the boys in separate leagues. We wanted Easton only play against boy his age. It was also nice to compare the two separate leagues. Easton played in Hartman Sports Club while Caleb played for Ivins city. We were very impressed with the Ivins league overall. It was half as much and the facility was nicer.

Easton was so fun to watch. He was intense. He is certainly not the type that will let other kids push him around. The rule was 50 cents for each basket scored. Each game they played I was at least a dollar poorer. I loved it. Easton actually started to get the hang of it by the end of the season. I can't say that I see a future for my little shorties in the tall man sport but they sure love it.

Mat coached both teams and after Caleb's first game when only one kid scored (from a foul shot) we were all a bit worried. He took those kids though from being the worst team there to being the ones to beat. Ivins league doesn't keep score at this age but we are certain they never lost another game. Caleb played great. He loves basketball and we love watching him.

Peyton was just happy if there was bleachers to play on and a ball to roll around. Now onto spring soccer and baseball!

Hello!!! Mother of the Year!

Having 5 years between Easton and Peyton I find that I forget a lot about raising toddlers. One thing however, that I remember well, is if you hear silence there's trouble to be found. Peyton seems extra advanced with this skill. Today while I was working away making a video for Caleb's upcoming baptism, I could hear Peyton off in the other room playing the keyboard. I had to edit the video which I admit, got me a little caught up in memories of my little guy. After the video had ran through and I had the bugs worked out...sure enough silence was heard. I almost feel like the music from the movie psycho should be playing whenever I go to investigate the silence. You know, the music builds up, and then right as you turn the corner, SHRIEKS! Today's silence was brought to me by the makers of Magic Shell chocolate and the older kids leaving it on the lower shelf. Peyton had worked her way up on the counter and was trying to wash her feet clean while watching Phineas and Ferb. These are the results.

How am I supposed to be mad at that? After all, I'm the slacker mom who wasn't watching her.

Somehow, I don't think she would have gotten her feet clean.

I will say this. She knew she had made a mess. There were dirty paper towels nearby clearly a sign that she planned on cleaning it up. I truly don't mind moments like this. Ones that are easy to clean and easy to fix. Magic marker on the leather couches, and holes burned into the new trampoline mat from cousins, are moments I could do without.