A basketball hoop of his own

Finally, Cal can shoot hoops at his own house!  There was a slight delay--it took us about a week to get it put together, because Dad got the posts put together wrong and couldn't get them apart--no matter how hard he tried!  We had to order a new post and wait for it to be delivered before Cal could play.  Ugghh!!!!  Thankfully he was really understanding and patient.  Good boy.

Our awesome neighbors, the Littledikes came over to help Calvin break it in.  They were so nice to make Cal feel special--they have a sweet sports court in their backyard.  

Passing to Cooper-notice the chalk lines Cal made for the court.

Balls everywhere!

Soo much fun.  Cal is usually out first thing in the morning shooting hoops.  He loves it and he's getting pretty good!

Grandpa Barrett came by another day to see the hoop in action.  He's still got skills!  Thanks Grandpa and Grandma!

Early Birthday Surprise

Here's Calvin with the surprise of his life so far.  Pretty awesome!  

His birthday isn't until August, but Grandpa Barrett wanted him to enjoy this all summer.

This is a sign...

To all frustrated mothers out there.....If your 9 year-old son wears out his shoes in 2 months flat, and they look like this--an investigation may be required!  Calvin played basketball this winter and just ate it up!  He loved the game and was really serious about doing everything just right.  He listened closely to his coaches and followed their instructions to the  T!  After wearing these shoes for only a little while, we noticed they weren't looking so hot.  He was complaining about his socks getting wet, etc.  Upon closer inspection, this is what we found!  Seriously???!!!  Off to the store to buy him a better pair of shoes--maybe if we spend more on his shoes they'll last longer?  When we brought them home, I did what any cash poor Mom might do--I told him to treat these shoes well and not to drag his toes etc, because that's what seemed to be the culprit from before.  He promptly replied, "But Mom, my coach says to slide your feet as you move sideways!"  Ah, hah!  We quickly discussed the difference between "slidding" and "dragging" or even "driving" your feet into the ground as you move around on the court.  That boy is intense about his sports!

Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day everyone!  Lindsay helped me deliver Valentine Balloons to the kids at school this year.

Flowers from my "Funny Valentine." (He's also handsome, sweet, thoughtful and awesome!)

This picture cracks me up, because it's the day after Valentines...balloons are a little deflated and all, but we still are basking in the love :0)

O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree!  This year it was the same as last year and the year before...Ho, Ho, Ho, hum.   I like it, but one of these years I'm going to have the energy and foresight to plan ahead and shake things up a little.  But then again, who am I kidding?  There's something to be said about tradition, right?  Being stuck in a rut actually makes it really great for set-up--by now the kids know exactly how it goes and many hands make light work! 

Christmas morning, waiting for Dad to turn on the lights and see if we had any visitors of the elf variety in the night.  Alli's face cracks me up.  Nice acting job!

Lauren got perfume and clothes--interesting use of the belt, don't you think.  That girl has an eye for fashion!

I'll bet you can't guess what Calvin got for Christmas.  He was so cute in it, he didn't take that off for the whole day--even when we went to visit Grandpa and Grandma Clarke for dinner.  He still gets up in the morning and puts his helmet on before he does anything else in the morning.

Lindsay got more Zhu Zhu Pets!  Soo fun!

Now Dad really is an Iron Man!  Cool! 

Think Lauren's happy with her new jeans?

Oh, Alli.  Happy Girl!

Sweet solor panel robot kit for Calvin! 

This is what was happening at our house all Christmas morning...Madden '11!

And a lot of Just Dance 2'ing!  That's fun even if you're just watching!

Merry Christmas 2010!

It's only been about a gazillion years since we had a Christmas Picture with the entire family in it.  I think the last picture we did with all of us was before Lindsay was around!  About time.  Merry Christmas everyone!

Little Tech-y

We went to the Carl Bloch Art Show at BYU a few nights ago.  It was really great.  I could have spent the entire night there...They offered iPads for extra info and to help with the presentation--Grandma got one for everybody.  You should have seen how long it took some of the adults to figure out those "new fangled contraptions."  It cracked me up when I found Lindsay with Grandma's iPad putting it through it's paces.

Lindsay's found the main menu and is searching Google Maps!  I think she's studied Daddy on his iPhone.  She knew how to zoom in and out using her index finger and thumb--you know, the "pinch" move?!  It cracked me up that she just sat there with her legs crossed being so grown-up.

Later on during the tour, I'm not sure if she ever really noticed the art work.

She's a funny little one!  Growing up right before my eyes!