Today I am 117-months old

Happy September! That means I am back to school. I started 4th grade at Marion elementary on August 24. My sister started 1st grade. I was so excited to get Ms. Rommel for my teacher. Even though we switch classes and teachers, she is my homeroom teacher and I spend a lot of my day in her class. Ms. Rommel’s inlaws live across the street from my Grandma and Grandpap and she has known me since I was a baby! I think it is going to be a great year. Cara’s teacher is Ms. Leslie. She lives in our neighborhood. Cara seems to really like her and has several friends in her class.

We had a few weeks left of summer break that we made the most of. Probably the most notable thing we did was have our floors redone in our house. That meant we got to live in a hotel for 6 days! We had fun in the hotel, which was only a couple miles from home. We sure were glad to get back to our home though. Mom loves the new floors and baseboards! We spent a few nights with Grandma, which is always fun.

We made it to the Perot Museum with friends and stopped by Mom’s work at Shag Carpet/Game On! We do love going to Mom’s work and playing the games and having fun. Cara loves getting candy from the vending machines! Our summer book club continued to meet and we had a swim party to celebrate the end of the summer. It was a great time and we read some good books.

We have had a couple more swim parties at Grandma’s house. Those are my favorite! I love spending time with my family. Grandma and Grandpap went on a trip to New York for a wedding then on to a week in Pittsburgh. They had a great time and got to visit with many family and friends. Grandma’s tradition for back to school is to give us each a book.

In addition to school starting, we have started religious education. Mom is teaching in Cara’s class again this year. Cara has continued with cheerleading and her first game is this weekend. We have had a few baseball games and our team is shaping up quite nicely this season. I pitched a couple games ago and struck out three batters in one inning! We went to an Allen Eagle football last week, which was a lot of fun! September means NFL and the start of fantasy football! I have expanded the SFL to 8 teams this year!

The night before school starts, we always have Make Your Own Pizza night. This year was no exception!

Every year, my mom takes this photo of me and we answer questions about some of our favorite things. Here is this year’s photos!

 

Enjoy!

xoxo, Sean

Today I am 116-months old!

Well hello!

So another month in the books. It is H-O-T here in Texas.

The last month was awesome as we went on vacation. Yes, family road trip time. We headed north to Kansas City to see our friends Brad and Britton. We had a great time visiting, swimming in their community pool, and seeing the sights around KC. We went to the Crown Center, Moon Marble and ate a lot of ice cream. Brad taught me and Cara how to dive and we went off the high dive!

Our next stop was St. Louis where we saw our friends the Frickes. Coach Fricke was my baseball coach when I played on the Hounds. It was great hanging out with Mason (my former teammate) and his brother, Cutler (Cara’s age). Cara loved their dog, Rookie! St. Louis has so many fun, family-friendly activities. We visited the City Museum, the Arch and Grant’s Farm. We ate Custard, which was amazing, and topped the trip off with a Cardinals game where we saw our NY Mets play! While the drive was long, it was certainly worth it.

Cara and I went to a couple more camps. I learned an animation program called Sketch. I created video games. Cara enjoyed camps with her friends and did tye dye, made silly putty and all sorts of other girly things.

Speaking of Cara, she had a bit of a rough 10 days. She came down with pneumonia! Of course it was the week that Dad AND Grandma were gone. Thankfully, she is all better. During the time Cara was sick, we got to watch Aunt Beth’s hamster, Pepper. Pepper certainly was a good distraction since we couldn’t leave the house much. We made the best of the situation by watching past episodes of America’s Got Talent, playing games, reading books and we did a cool art project where we made flower cards using endive.

Cara is doing cheerleading again this fall. Her team went to cheer camp yesterday. Mom is coaching the team again. Fortunately this year they are no longer Longhorns! Their team is the Panthers and colors are black, red and white.

As for me, I started baseball practice this weekend. It sure was hot out there. Dad is helping coach the team and mom runs the team logistics. We are looking forward to a great season.

Summer is winding down. We have enjoyed swimming with friends, popsicles and ice cream, and sleeping in. Only a couple more weeks and we will be back in school. I am going into 4th grade and Cara into 1st. Mom will be serving her second year as PTA president.

Until next month!

Love, Sean

Today I am 115-months old!

OK … so, I have been a bit lax in my posting.
On my 113-month birthday, I was at the after hours doctor with strep throat. Sadly, that caused me to miss the first day of school this whole school year! I hadn’t missed a day since 1st grade. Oh well, no perfect attendance this year. I’m not sure what happened in June, but it is now my 115-month birthday and I will try to do better!

Since it has been three months, lots has happened. Third grade came to an end. It was a good year and I enjoyed being in class with so many of my friends. Cara finished Kindergarten. Baseball also has wrapped up. It was a very long and rainy baseball season. We ended up having to cut our season short by four games because they could not possibly make up all the games that were rained out, and then rained out again. This season I played mostly 1st base and also pitched. Our team played in a couple of tournaments, which were a lot of fun.

Cara’s class did their Rise and Shine performance as well as their Kindergarten performance. Good thing she likes to perform. Cara also was named “Marvelous Maverick” - we all were so proud of her! April evenings, when it wasn’t raining were very pleasant to be outside. One of our favorite things to do was go around the ponds on our scooters. Cara and I could lap our parents walking a couple of times! We got to be really fast (or they just walked really slow).

In May we enjoyed a visit from Great Aunt Doll and Great Aunt Gail. They made it to a baseball game (one that did not get rained out!). We also took a quick day trip to Waco. Cara (and Mom) are really into an HGTV show called “Fixer Upper”, which is set in Waco. We drove down and went to their store and got to see one of the houses they renovated. We visited the Texas Sports Hall of Fame and drove home in a torrential downpour (have I mentioned the rain?!). Our cousin Emily turned 8 and we all enjoyed time at Grandma and Grandpap’s house.

June kicked off with our school’s annual field day, the last day of school and the start of summer camps. That Mom, she sure likes to keep us busy. Cara started with horse camp and I went to a baseball camp out at the RoughRiders. I attended Camp Invention, which is one of my favorites. That same week, Cara attended an acting camp through Allen Community Theatre. Cara’s camp produced a play in one week and we go to go watch. Cara was a dog named “Cutie.” Please note, in her acting debut, Cara chose the role as a “an evil snow cat.” Thank goodness she opted for a dog this time. We really didn’t want her to start being type cast.

 

Cara also started up with her cheerleading team that Mom is coaching for the third year. Thankfully, they are no longer the Longhorns, but the Panthers! Yea - no more burnt orange!
We have definitely been making the most of our summer vacation. We went to see our hometown hockey team, the Allen Americans, win their 3rd championship. We were at Game 7 where they won it!

We took a family day trip to Nokona, Texas where the only 100% American made baseball gloves are made. We took a tour of the facility and walked around the town. We also visited Muenster, Texas, which has a strong German influence. It was interesting to visit small Texas towns!

Mom got an ice cream maker for Christmas and she finally broke it out! I like that she is experimenting making ICE CREAM! So far, we have made vanilla, cookies and cream (my favorite) and strawberry. Definitely tastes wonderful on a hot summer day.

Cara got to attend her first wedding. Our summer babysitter from a few years ago got married. We have stayed in touch with her and were excited to be invited to her wedding. The evening was a lot of fun complete with singing, dancing and cake!

For Christmas, we got these banks that help us separate our money into Spend, Save and Share. We had been working on what we wanted to do with the “Share” part of the bank. Both Cara and I decided we wanted to give money to our church to help pay for the second floor build out. We also wanted to help buy food for our local food pantry. So, off to Kroger we went with our money to buy food. We then delivered it to the food pantry.

This summer, we have continued our Boys Summer Book Club. So far we have read two books, The BFG and The Vanishing Coin. This week, I am at UTD Basketball camp. This is the third summer for basketball camp AND book club! It is one of my favorite camps of the summer.
 

4th of July weekend can be summed up with one word: Baseball. Like that should be any bit of a surprise to anyone! I was asked to guest play in a tournament with one of my oldest friends, Chase. It was fun to play on his team! We also went to the Frisco RoughRiders for a baseball game and fireworks. The highlight of the evening was catching a foul ball.

A few other summer highlights include bowling with friends, bowling with family, a trip to Hawaiian Falls with our church and sleepovers at Grandma’s house (where I am going tonight!).

Have a great summer and I hope you eat lots of ice cream.

Love, Sean

Today I am 112-months old

Spring is here and you know what that means?! BASEBALL! Both watching and playing. We went to see the Mets play the Rangers last week in an exhibition game. It was pretty awesome. I even got Dillon Gee’s autograph!

My baseball team has finally played a couple of games. We have been practicing since January, so it felt good to get out there and play. We have a new head coach this season and our team name is the Royals. Mom runs all the logistics/communications and Dad is an assistant coach. I have been playing 1st, 3rd, left field and pitcher. It should be a fun season and I enjoy playing with my friends.

Earlier this week March Madness wrapped up with the Duke BlueDevils winning the national championship! I was pretty happy. I watched many games this season and know all the players.

School is going well. We are preparing for state testing in a couple of weeks. So right now it is lots of review. We did get to go on a field trip last week to the Dallas Arboretum. It was a perfect day. We had Open House a few weeks ago. Cara had to take us all around Marion to show us “my favorite places at school.” She loves art and music.

  
Cara started to take tumbling classes in addition to her weekly gymnastics class. She moved up to Level 2 and was named the Athlete of the Month by her gym.

We had a nice Spring Break. We went to Houston and got to see an Aggie baseball game. We visited NASA, which was awesome, and the Houston Children’s Museum. Also during Spring Break we watched The Sound of Music and now Cara is obsessed with the music! We also went to see our cousin Abbie compete in a gymnastics meet. We had never been before, so it was pretty awesome to watch. We also got to spend some time with Grandma, which is always a good time!

Last weekend was Easter. I always look forward to our family traditions. After Mass, we go to brunch with Grandma, Grandpap, Aunt Beth, Auntie Rachel, Uncle Rich, Abbie and Emily. After brunch it’s to Grandma’s house for an Easter egg hunt. We just hunt for one egg and when we find it we get our basket. This year my basket had the 2014 Strat-o-Matic baseball card set! Very cool! Cara got a horse for her American Girl doll, which she absolutely loves. She has been obsessed with horses lately. She has been reading a book series called My Secret Unicorn and has learned a lot about horses. Speaking of reading, I have been reading a Little League chapter book series the last month that I really enjoy.
All is well and good here in Texas.

Until next month!
Sean

Today I am 111-months old!

Welcome to March!
You would think spring was nearby, but we have had some strange weather here in Texas. We have missed three days of school over the last two weeks. We had one big ice storm that had us closed for two days and then a week later another big storm along with 5 inches of snow!

We did have a good time playing in the snow! We are ready for Spring though!

Over Valentines’ weekend we headed to Austin to watch my Uncle Mike run the Austin Marathon. Aunt Melinda ran the half marathon. It was a great trip and we loved being there to cheer Uncle Mike on. It was extra special fun because Grandma, Grandpap and Aunt Beth were there too!

 
We wrapped up our basketball season with second place in our division and third place in the tournament. It was a good season and I really like playing with my friends.

Baseball season was supposed to start last week, but we had our first game “iced” out. We are still practicing and hope to play in a tournament later in March.

School is going well and we are working on preparing for our STARR test. The STARR is a state-mandated test that is given starting in 3rd grade. We are learning fractions in math and a lot of inferencing in reading.

I have become quite the fan of Duke basketball since my visit last November. I like wearing my Duke t-shirt whenever they play and I always beg to stay up late to watch their games. I am hoping that they go far in the tournament!

We are headed to Houston for Spring Break. Dad has an event there and is giving a keynote. We are going to get to see him speak! We also plan to visit Johnson Space Center, see an Aggie baseball game (they are playing in a tournament at Minute Maid park) and maybe see the Children’s museum. We are pretty excited about the trip.

Cara is starting to read really well! My mom found a series of books for her called “My Secret Unicorn,” which she has loved. She also loves horses, dolphins and owls. Who knew?! She is pretty funny. She told my mom the other day that she was going to, “Call the government and have Sean’s name changed to ‘Plurp.’” I have no idea where she gets these ideas. She also tested into our school’s AIM program for gifted and talented. We think she will enjoy the extra enrichment that the program offers.

Cara’s kindergarten celebrated Dr. Seuss Day with a  big green eggs and ham event that mom organized. Basically, she was responsible for making green eggs and ham for 110 kindergarteners. Grandma came to help! Cara liked green eggs and ham (I remember from Kindergarten that I did NOT like green eggs and ham). OH – they were able to dress up like their favorite Dr. Seuss character. Cara picked “Thing 2.” Thankfully, Grandma had the fun blue wig from her days as a “Thing!”

Well, that is what is happening here. I hope you are thawing out and  enjoy spring.

Much love, Sean

Today I am 110-months old!

Welcome to February! We’ve had a lot of really cold days and a few really nice getting warmer days.

Basketball season is getting close to wrapping up. We have finished our regular season games and are just waiting to play in the post-season tournament. I pretty much play the post, which helps get the rebounds and then get the ball to the kids who shoot. We’ve already started practicing baseball! The season will start the beginning of March. Our team is the Royals and we have several returning players. Dad is helping as an assistant coach again this season.

Cara is doing well. I forgot to mention something important last month - Cara won the annual cookie decorating contest in the kids’ division! She was so proud! Grandpap is the judge and gets to hand out the awards. Cara is still doing gymnastics and has started tumbling classes. She has lost a couple more teeth - three total! She celebrated the 100th day of Kindergarten last week. They did lots of “100” activities, which she loved doing.

At school I participated in the BlueBonnet project. You had to read five books that are nominated for the BlueBonnet award and then you get to vote for which book you would like to have be the winner. There was a nice reception (including donuts) in the library one morning before school. We are also doing a “wax museum.” I am Neil Armstrong. We’ve been working on a papermache helmet for me to wear.

We celebrated Grandma and Grandpap’s 46th wedding anniversary on February 1. We went out to breakfast. Aren’t they lucky to have had their anniversary on the same day as the Super Bowl!? I think so. I was rooting for the Seahawks, so I was a little disappointed that they did not win. We had some friends over to watch the game, so it was a fun evening, even though they lost.

My parents are well. As I mentioned, Dad is helping coach my baseball team. He is traveling a bit more and is still doing his weekly radio show. Mom is still doing a lot with the PTA. She still loves her job at Shag Carpet Props.

Have a Happy Valentine’s Day!

xoxox, Sean