A fight and a visit

Lars and I went the rounds this spring. At one point (about 6 weeks) both Trey and Toby were signed up for indoor soccer, baseball and outdoor soccer. Neither boy was on the same team for any of those. I am also a den leader for Trey's cub scouts. This made for some awesome scheduling and taxi driving and to be honest some even more awesome "discussions" between Lars and I. Baseball is serious in Alabama and soccer is serious in the Longnecker home so.... life was 'awesome' this spring - can you hear the sarcasm? All in all we got through it and what made it work was a visit from my sister Natalie. She and Kenedi came for a month and we loved every minute and wished they could have stayed longer. We even squeezed in a trip to the beach with them and Ben who came out for a week too! Lars has already started to talk about a soccer academy and baseball in the fall so I am starting to think that I am a glut-an for punishment.

Mardi Gras 2013

Mardi Gras is just pure clean fun - that sounds wrong - but it's true. We really enjoy heading to Mobile each year with family and friends and we always have a blast!

Trey Turned 9

Trey - you are a joy to be a mother to. People should take life lessons from you. You, my boy, do not sweat the small stuff. You came into this world knowing so much more than the rest of us. Life is simple and sweet to you and you live it to it's fullest. You love all sports and everything that goes with them - you live for the morning stats and can remember the score from a game you played last year. You have become a great soccer goalie and an awesome pitcher. You had a blast playing basketball and we laughed as you would pass the ball to your teammates without looking at them throwing everyone off. You somehow became the main quarterback at school and if we were nicer parents we would probably let you play football on top of all the other sports you play - but sad for you we are not that nice :) You are eager to please and feel great remorse when you have done wrong. You are working at being aware of others feelings and learning that you can make a difference to others. You love your brother and sister fiercely and you and Toby together seem to be able to take on the world as long as you are together. You love to sit in the front seat of the car and are starting to feel grown up. A great story about you is that the other day at a friends house all the kids went to play a video game and you walked by a national geographic on your way - it's cover talked about a baby living to be 120 with modern medicine and science - you asked your friends mom about the article and then sat down to read it ignoring the rest of the group. That is you in a nutshell. If something interests you - you are all in. Eager to learn something new in the most casual way. We love you Trey!

Christmas 2012 in photos

I do want to add that this is the year I got pnemonia and mono and ended up having to stay in the hospital - Aunt Kim came to the rescue and we will forever be thankful for her and our neighbors the Hadley's. Kim stayed and took care of the kids - even slept with Toby while he raged a fever and threw up from the flu - all so Lars could be with me while they tried to figure out why my WBC count was so high. What an Aunt - what a Christmas season - please 2013 be a helathier one!

JK turns 4

Jk, you are 4 now, you are sweet and loving and timid at times and loud at others. You are very smart and have started putting all your letters together to ask if it makes words. You are very timid to go to new places without me with you - in fact, you are my shadow most of the day. You adore my little ponies, coloring (you are by far our best color(er) so far) and helping me cook. Your best friend is our neighbor Logan or his older sister Ivy. You have started to tease Toby by stealing his baseball hat any chance you get and have even picked up some awesome little sayings like "or I will punch you in the face"... it's hard not to laugh when a girl that looks as sweet as you comes up with a saying like that! You used to have to say ALL our family prayers, but have recently decided not to say any. You have a funny little habit of clipping your own nails and toe nails (the above picture captures you perfectly - always picking your nails, especially when you are nervous or asked a question by an adult). You are stubborn and beautiful and you complete us like no one else could!

Halloween 2012

Not pictured: Fun neighborhood carnival we put on in our cul de sac with a haunted house, mummy role, balloon popping station, donut walk, cake decorating, craft station, face painting, pumpkin toss, costume contest and BOMB food from Jim n Nicks! Grandma, PaPa, Pa and Kelsey came for some of the festivities and then we all went and saw Uncle Mike play against Georgia Tech. We love the Fall in the South!

Toby turned 7

Toby, you are our spark! You are our laugh! You love all things with a ball and have proven to be incredibly competitive. You are a soccer star. A story that I always want you to remember is that in your first indoor tournament this year you were asked to play goalie during the 4th quarter. You blocked a huge penalty kick keeping the score tied. Then another boy was asked to play goalie so you could play forward during overtime. That boy refused so you agreed to play gaolie for the overtime period. You did great keeping the game tied and so it went into penalty kicks meaning that 3 kids would get a chance to run and kick while you were in the goal. Your dad (he was the assistant coach) pulled you aside and taught you when to rush the ball - you blocked all 3. The other team did not and you guys won the championship. The best part of that night came later when you were in the car driving to get ice cream to celebrate and you got choked up and said. "thank you daddy for teaching me how to do that, I wouldn't know how without you". Both daddy and I choked up then - what a night for all of us! We love you Toby!

1st and 3rd Grade

One of our best school years yet! Could not have asked for better teachers! Trey came into his own this year. He has always been a confident kid - but this year he had FUN! His teacher commented that she felt like she watched him grow into himself and his personality this year. It was awesome to watch. I think a lot of it had to do with an awesome room mom who made the kids in the class become best friends with all the extras she did with them. This was a great year for sports as well where we were able to form a school indoor soccer team - bringing those boys even closer. So far school work remains easy for him and for that I am grateful! Toby had the funnest teachers this year! I wanted to be in their class! At the first sign of Toby's struggles in math his teacher had him meet with a tutor and from that 1 meeting things clicked! He is our most driven child - there is nothing about Toby that is not INTENSE. Keeping it real on here, we have realized that Toby seems to struggle in the Fall and Spring. It took me a while to put this all together but we think a lot of it has to do with allergies - once we figured this out things got better. I am still hoping that he can break through his quiet ways at school - what I wouldn't give to hear that Toby got in trouble for being silly or talking at school.... I know, real problems over here right? But I want him to feel safe at school to share his personality there and so far that hasn't happened completely. With time, I know he will grow into his own just as Trey has - If I look back I believe it took me a while to do that as well! We love our school, the teachers, parents, and friends we have there make us feel blessed everyday!

Summer 2012

Memories from the summer 2012: Spent time at temple square in SLC for my birthday (and some shopping at city creek) Not pictured: Trip to Kirkham hot springs where Lars took jumping in the freezing rapids up a notch and then dared us all to do the same - Roaring Springs day was a blast, we want to always remember how Trey was on an adrenaline rush for 2 days after and couldn't stop talking about the slides - bike rides with the whole family - the Saturday morning farmers market - BSU camps for the kids, 3 weeks on the campus each morning was perfect for everyone, Tammy even had me running a 5k by the summers end! We love our summer time out west. BYU, PoJo's, drive in movies, trips to the fountain, family reunions, cousins, grandparents, aunts and uncles life is great!