Annoying People

Our busy summer is off and running.  Today started with dropping Kendall off at swim practice at 7:30.  Then Kolten and I went to my friend’s house and headed out for an hour and a half walk around town (while Kolten led the way on his scooter).  At 9:00, I dropped Kolten off at swim practice and took Kendall and two friends to a pick up game at the park.   I picked Kolten up from the pool at 10:00 and we went to the park and then headed back over to watch Kendall play ball.

Every Wednesday our park district offers a pick-up game from 9:30-11:30 at Community Park for 9-12 year old boys.  The park district provides one staff member to oversee the game.  Kendall loves to play baseball and really enjoys going to this each week.  I sat on the bleachers and read the newspaper, but couldn’t help but to be distracted by one of the boy’s constant negative comments.  He was telling one child that his home run in last week’s khoury league game was only because the other team had no defense.  This boy made snide remarks about another child who had a hard time hitting the ball.  He then made fun of Kendall’s shop towel (that we use instead of the more expensive Frog Tog).  Next he complained that his own team should hurry up and make three outs because he was bored and wanted to go home.  The constant use of the word “fricken” didn’t appeal to me either.  It just saddens me that something that should be fun (and is optional) is turned into a place to bully other kids.  If he doesn’t want to come, why does he?   I debated stepping in and saying something as I don’t think the person on staff could hear what was going on in the dugout right next to me.  I hope my kids never act in such a way….and if they do, please tell me right away!

We came home with two of Kendall’s friends for the afternoon.   We walked in the house and one commented that he really liked my kitchen cabinets.  Is that something that a 10 year old boy notices?  Both boys were super polite (even when I served under-cooked corn dogs) and thanked me over and over.  I guess I’m just happy that Kendall’s friends are good kidsJ

We had a text mid-morning that Kendall’s traveling team was going to have practice at 4:15 today.  I was afraid I wasn’t going to be able to get him there at that time.  Yesterday I posted lots of Darren’s clothes for sale on the Effingham Garage Sale site and a lady said she was coming to purchase an item at 4:00.  I had given her my cell phone number, but I didn’t have hers.  I told Darren that as soon as she showed up I would take Kendall to practice (hoping she would be early).  However, by 4:15 when Darren got home from work, she still hadn’t showed up.  At 4:20 she sent me a message on Facebook saying that she had just talked to her son and the size wouldn’t fit him.  I was so angry.  She had my cell #.  Why didn’t she sent me a quick text or call to let me know rather than make me wait at home for her?  I could care less that she bowed out on the sale; it’s that my son was late to practice because she didn’t have the common courtesy to let me know (prior to the arranged time) that she wasn’t coming.

Ok, I got that off my chest and I feel better now!

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Sports Mama

My ten year old had to write an essay to be published in our local paper for Mother’s Day.  He had mentioned it a time or two, mostly about how much he hates writing.  I kept asking him for hints about what he was writing, but he wouldn’t give up any information.  When I read it in tonight’s paper, I just had to laugh.  It is so HIM.  The entire thing is about sports.  It’s not a letter that tells how loving or caring I am, or how I help him…it all goes back to what’s important to him…sports!  Here’s the letter:

My mom, Jackie Tabbert, is one of the best moms in the world!  She deserves the Mother of the Year award because she is very friendly.  Everyone should agree that my mom is the Mother of the Year.

The first reason that she should be Mother of the Year is because she lets me play sports.  She lets me play flag football for the Cowboys, swim team for the Red Tide, baseball for Effingham Clay Service and The Future, and basketball for Teutopolis Blue Streaks and Teutopolis Park District.  She also spends a lot of money on gas for all the games we have to go to that are out of town.  We also have to spend a lot of time out of our neighborhood because of all the sports my brother and I play.  My mom is very active with our family.

The next reason she should be Mother of the Year is because she lets me go to baseball games.  She lets me go to Cardinal games, Teutopolis and Effingham Jr. High and High school games, and Minor League games.  One time I caught one of the home run balls.  We are also in the Cardinals Kids Club so we get a lot of free tickets for home games.  We went to one of the THS games that Derek Thompson threw a perfect game and hit a walk off homer.  It is really fun to go to baseball games with my mom.

Who will you vote for?  Chose my mom for Mother of the Year!

By: Kendall Tabbert

I guess all of our talks about how expensive gas is and that its a privilege to play on travel teams has sunk in!  As I’ve said before, Kendall is not my sentimental kid.  This is probably as close to “I love you” as I’ll ever hear:(  Every night when I tell him that I love him he responds with, “Me too”.  I say, “Well, its good that you love yourself, but what about me?”  He just laughs.  Other than that, I guess this letter proves that I have no choice but to be a “Sports Mama”.

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Kendall’s 10th Birthday

It’s been a while since I’ve posted anything.  It’s time-consuming to keep up with all this memory-keeping stuff: scrapbooks, photo albums, videos, school papers, and blog.  I’m much more interested in making memories, but then the sentimental side of me comes knocking and makes me feel guilty.  So, here goes:

Kendall, my oldest, turned 10 on January 8th.  Kendall is such a good kid.  He is very responsible whether it’s with doing homework on his own as soon as he gets home from school, packing everything he needs for a game the night before games, following through on directions we have given him, and making sure his brother is being safe, etc.  We are quite proud of his academic and athletic achievements.  He earns pretty much straight A’s in the high level classes in 4th grade.  He’s always had positive comments from teachers as well.  Kendall loves baseball, basketball, swimming, and football (in that order).  He enjoys practicing and getting to know kids from neighboring towns on his baseball and basketball traveling teams.  Kendall jumps to quickly complete any chore I ask of him.  He seems mature in so many ways, yet it scares me to think that in 6 years he could be out in the work force and in 8 years ready to graduate and head off to college.  The two things that drive me crazy are Kendall’s shyness and his clothing.  Let me explain, Kendall will not even say, “Hi” to a close friend when he sees them in a different environment.  It drives me nuts as I’m sure people are thinking he’s rude.  And, it really makes me wonder why so many people like him (he’s been invited to 23 different kids homes/birthday parties in the past year).  The other thing has to do with his attire.  Kendall is soooo picky about his clothes.  This year his style seems to be Under Armour shirts or sweatshirts with Nike pants.  He hates wearing jeans (though its better than his 2nd grade year when his clothes of choice were khaki pants and a Cardinal t-shirt) or church clothes (as he calls polos or button-down shirts).   He refuses to wear a winter coat to school because it’s too puffy to play basketball.  He likes to wear a hooded pull-over sweatshirt as a coat, but rarely takes it off at school.  I’m sure everyone wonders why this kid wheres the same sweatshirt every day!  Oh, and the kid loves shoes.  He has more tennis shoes than I do (and I never outgrow mine)!  He knows that if we find them in the clearance aisle, I’m likely to buy them if he promises to do an extra job or two when we get home.

Kendall’s actual birthday fell on a Sunday and was a busy one.  Kolten had a performance at church following Sunday school and then a reception with snacks and drinks.  We then rushed to eat at Subway (Kendall’s birthday meal of choice) and get ready for his basketball game in Sullivan.  Grandma Judy, Grandpa Dave and Brady came to cheer him on and celebrate with us at McDonalds after the game.

We’ve never been much for friend birthday parties.  I was only allowed to have one friend party growing up and I kind of agree that it’s like asking for a present (and a lot of work on the parents).  We had a little party in our basement with 6 friends when he turned 8, but decided to let him have one big party for his 10th birthday.  We thought  The Prairie Training Centre would be perfect since Kendall and his friends are so into sports.  We let him invite 20 kids and were surprised that 19 were able to make it!  The party was easy on us, as we just had to show up with food and drinks on January 18th (Martin Luther King day).  The people at the PTC took care of entertaining all the kids with basketball, dodgeball, and whiffle ball.  We took a break for food, drinks, and gifts.  I made cupcakes that looked like basketballs and baseballs and we had a football cookie cake.  The kids quickly drank the bottled water and moved on to soda while watching Kendall open gifts.  They got a bit antsy to return to the gym, so I told Kendall not to bother reading the cards (and speed things along).   The party went well and he received many nice gifts.

We love you Kendall and hope you keep making us proud (and quit being so shy)!

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Halloween 2011

Halloween is not one of my favorite holidays.  However, my sister Becky absolutely loves it.  She probably has one of the biggest costume collections in town.  Last year she came up with the idea of the kids (first cousins) being the characters from The Wizard of Oz.  Brady was an awfully cute scarecrow and Lexie was a precious little Dorothy.  My kids played the parts of the tin man and the lion.  I even made a “yellow brick road”.

The Wizard of Oz crew

This year, I was extremely busy at work.  October is always a difficult month as I’m trying to prepare for conferences while keeping up with the usual.  I had so many extra meetings and things to prepare for, that Halloween really just went on the back-burner.   About a week before Halloween, we were walking through Menards and Kolten found a cute firefighter costume, but it was over $40, so I said, “No way”.  I then asked the boys if they had any ideas…and they both wanted to be St. Louis Cardinal players.  It wouldn’t have been my first choice, but hey, they already had EVERYTHING they would need, so it would be pretty simple.  Sometimes simple is good!

Kolten had a Halloween parade at school on Friday.  My friend Anna offered to take him to school so that he could go “in costume” which was very important to him.  I was able to run over for about 10 minute and watch them march around the gym.  Kolten’s jersey is actually a hand-me-down from Kendall and has “Edmonds 15” on the back.  Unfortuneately, we can no longer trick Kolten that the 15 is Jon Jay (like it was last year) or Furcal (like this year) as he’s learning too much about sounds in kindergarten!  So, I had to make a “Furcal” sign with my cricut to put over the “Edmonds” name.   Kolten got the batting helmet for his birthday earlier this month and the rest is just baseball stuff we have around the house.

Halloween Parade at TGS

Ready to sing....sure wish I could have stayed for this!

We live in a crazy area.  We are in the Effingham city limits and T-town school district.  Halloween is one time that this is an advantage for us.  We can trick-or-treat to our family in T-town on Friday night (they always celebrate the Friday before Halloween) and in our subdivision on October 31st.   The boys were going to be Cardinal players and we were going to have my nephew, Brady, trick or treat with us too.  He had an adorable skunk costume, but my kids were worried people would think that “Cardinals Stink” if a skunk was with them.  My sister was so thoughtful that she had Brady dressed as a “worker man” when we picked him up.

My nephew, Brady, as a Worker Man (with facial and chest hair)

We trick-or-treated a few places and then went to G-ma and G-pa Bloemer’s house to watch the world series championship game.  And what a wonderful outcome!  I guess the boys picked a good year to be Cardinal players!

 Saturday night we were invited to a friend’s Halloween party complete with hayride and weiner roast.  Darren dressed up, but I just dressed as a Cardinal fan to go along with the boys’ costumes.  The only regret is that I didn’t dress in more layers.  The hayride was COLD!

Darren dressed for the party

Kolten and Lane goofing around on the cold hayride

On Sunday, the boys and I walked in the Effingham Halloween Parade with the Effingham Classroom Teachers Association.  They wanted to wear their Cardinal gear again.  I have never washed the same outfit so many days in a row!  We bought a bunch of candy and they had a ball passing it out.

My boys after the parade

On Monday (October 31st), we trick-or-treated at Grandma and Grandpa Tabbert’s and then around our neighborhood.

Kendall

Kolten

At 7:00 we went to our neighbor’s halloween party.  We really love living in such a close-knit neighborhood where there are often gatherings of this sort.  We sat around the fire, the kids played, and we ate LOTS of yummy food that Tom and Nancy made.

Halloween weekend was a busy one, but lots of fun with friends and family!

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Cell Phones

I don’t know about you, but is it hard to remember life before cell phones? It makes me nervous now, just thinking back to college when I drove around St. Louis at all hours of the night without one. I mean, what if my car would have broke down? I don’t have a fancy phone with internet or anything, but my phone is a sense of safety for me. It bothers me just running to Wal-mart without it. And, I have to admit its convenient to be able to call and ask about groceries that we need or even send a photo of something I’m thinking about buying and get approval.

Kendall, my nine year old, is involved in several sports that involve lots of practices. I don’t miss a game/meet, but I’m not one to stay and watch practices. I have too much to do, so I usually find myself running errands during these practices. There have been several times that practices ended before the designated time, and I found Kendall sitting alone or with a few other kids as I pull up at the time practice was scheduled to end. After one of these occurances this summer, I was a little worked up. It bothered me that he was unsupervised in a public place when I don’t even let him home alone yet. The stories I hear from my husband about things that go on in our town, probably don’t help the matter. So, I brought up the topic of getting Kendall a cell phone. Darren’s phone is provided through his work, so its not an option to send that with Kendall. If I were to give Kendall my cell, he wouldn’t be able to contact me as I’m usually in town running errands. After lots of discussions with my sister and Darren, we finally decided to purchase a $20 phone in which we add minutes when necessary. We were sure to inform Kendall that this was not HIS phone. It was our phone that we would allow him use when WE felt it was necessary. We gave him lots of rules and added the numbers of family and neighbors that he may need to call.

I should say that we purchased this phone the first week of August and we have used a whole 5 minutes! But, each of those five calls have been warranted. The thing that has surprised me is that Kendall is actually embarrassed to take the phone places. He is afraid someone will see him! When he has spent the night at friends’ houses, I’ve asked him to take it just in case he needed to call me (Kendall would probably be too shy to ask the parents). He will not take the phone unless Darren or I have informed the parents that he has it. He has NEVER ever asked to use it. We actually have to force him to take it to practices and put it in a hiding place. He told us he went to the bathroom to call us once, just so no one would know. I guess my fears were not warranted. I was afraid that if we bought this cheapo phone, he would be asking for an iphone before long. Again, I am impressed that he isn’t the kind of kid to go around bragging about what he has (or I guess what WE have, since the phone is technically ours).
So, do your kids have phones and at what ages did they get them?

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School Pictures

We had our school pictures taken in September. I hate that you have to pay for them before you even see them. If they are good, I’m willing to purchase more and vice versa. Here are the results:

Kendall, 4th grade

Kolten, kindergarten

Mrs. Tabbert, 14th year of teaching

I guess they aren’t too bad, but far from wanting to display them in my house. Pictures are just something that I find myself spending money on, especially when it comes to sports. This year alone, I have purchased pictures for Kendall’s basketball team, swim team, two baseball teams, and his flag-football team. I have purchased pictures for Kolten’s basketball, swim team, and baseball team.

Some of Kendall's sports pictures are on display in his room.

Oh well, I am big on memories, and these go great in the scrapbooks!

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Serious or Casual Ballplayer?

This was my first year having a child play Khoury League for both Teutopolis and Effingham Park Districts.  We live in Effingham Park District, but Kendall has wanted to play in Teutopolis in the past, as that’s where his friends from school play (even though it’s more expensive for us).  Last year (as an 8 year old), Kendall was old enough to play Khoury league at T-town, but would have still been in Small Fry at Effingham.  It was really beneficial to Kendall to start pitching at age 8.  We noticed that lots of kids from Effingham played Khoury League at T-town for this reason.  Last spring, my husband decided that Kendall could play in both leagues this year, though I was a bit hesitant.  Working two jobs throughout high school still leaves me with worries/stress about needing to be in two places at once and having someone mad at me.  I told Darren it would be his job taking care of conflicts with schedules.  Luckily, Kendall only had two conflicts with games and his coaches were really good about it.

Kendall enjoyed playing on both teams but really liked the Effingham League better.  Kendall is a SERIOUS ball player.  He liked that his Effingham team had at least two practices each week all season long.  If games were rained out, they were made up.  At Effingham, the players were announced when they were up to bat.  Music played between innings.  The umpires were usually pretty good and at least high school age.  The scoreboard always worked and showed balls and strikes.  (This is pretty important when your child is pitching.)  Kendall could be found looking at the Effingham Park District’s website almost daily checking out which players hit homeruns and how many.  He also enjoyed that the results of each game were in the newspaper.  It’s pretty exciting for a nine year old to see their name in the paper.  At Effingham there is also an end-of-season tournament for each team.  Some players are also selected for an All-Star tournament which is held in August complete with fireworks and halftime entertainment. 

Kendall’s Teutopolis team had three practices before the season started.  If Teutopolis games were rained out, they were not made up.  Umpires were sometimes only two years older than the players.  The scoreboard worked at one game and even then didn’t show balls and strikes.  Sometimes when the game was over, I didn’t even know which team had won.  There is no website and I have never found anything in the newspaper (though we don’t subscribe to the T-town paper).  There are no tournaments and if a team doesn’t have enough players, its fine to borrow from another team.

I want to be clear that my comparisons have nothing to do with coaches.  Kendall had great coaches for both teams.  I’m comparing the differences in the park districts’ khoury league programs.

My conclusion is that if your child is a SERIOUS ballplayer, they would probably enjoy the Effingham Park District Khoury League.  If your child is a CASUAL ballplayer there just to have fun and socialize, the Teutopolis Park District Khoury League may be better.  This may also be the case if you don’t want to do all the running associated with numerous practices.  I’ll admit, that as a child, I played at T-town and it was perfect for my needs. 

Kendall has been practicing with a traveling baseball team for the last month or two.  We told Kendall that there is no way he can be on swim team, play in T-town and Effingham leagues and possibly on a traveling team next summer.  It didn’t take him more than a second to respond that he wouldn’t play at T-town (which is the team that had a better record).   It’s kind of surprising since Kendall is my shy kid.  I have to say that what I have enjoyed most about Kendall participating in Effingham Sports (baseball, swimming, and flag football) is that he is meeting so many kids and making lots of new friends.  I have been surprised at the number of times he’s been invited to playdates, parties, sleepovers, etc with kids that he has gotten to know through sports.  So, I guess my serious player is also having fun and that’s what really matters!

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Back to School

Well, the boys started back to school last Tuesday.  Neither one was very excited about it.  It’s partly my fault.  I probably spoiled them trying to do something fun every day of the summer.  My sister, Becky, and I find lots of pools, parks, and other places to check out when our schedules allow.  I know that if they had been going to daycare or a babysitter all summer, they would’ve been looking forward to the first day more than they were.  Kolten even started asking me if I could retire and how I could get fired!  I explained that even if I didn’t work, he’d still have to go to kindergarten!  Kendall was really upset that I insisted he wear a “collar shirt” on his first day.  He knew that “child 1” would be the only other boy in the whole 4th grade wearing one. 

They don’t look very excited, do they?

 

New shoes and backpacks for school

Things worked out well this year since my kids started a day before me.  It was nice being able to take them and pick them up on the first day.  We walked in to the kindergarten classroom and Kolten saw his friend from t-ball and rushed to sit by him.  Kendall quickly walked to his room so that I wouldn’t embarrass him by walking him to his room!  They grow up way too fast.

When I picked them up, Kolten was super excited.  He told me every little detail of his day and that he loved school, loved his teacher, loved his new friends, etc.  Kendall said that  “child 1” didn’t even wear a collar shirt.  He was the only 4th grader wearing one.   He did admit that 3 of his friends from swim team (in 3rd and 5th grades) were wearing them.  I almost wanted to call their mother and thank her for being a mean mom like me! 

Our week was pretty hectic….here’s a run-down of our schedule:

Monday, August 15

The boys went with me to work in my classroom.   I promised that if they actually helped me, I’d take them to use their free bowling coupons from the summer reading program at the library.  Unfortuneately, when we got there, we found a sign that says the bowling alley is closed on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays during the summer!  My sister and Brady came over and the boys had a ball playing with him.  I went to Kolten’s back-to-school night and Darren took the boys to the ball diamond to practice hitting.  The balls always seem to end up in the lake when they play at our house…guess it means they are getting better!

Tuesday, August 16

I took the kids to school, worked in my classroom, and then picked them up at 11:30.  I took the boys to lunch at Homewood Grill and then they road their scooters on a trail in town.  We found out that Darren’s uncle passed away after a long bout with cancer.  We went home for a while and then I dropped the boys off with Darren at work so that I could go to my school for “back to school night” and meet all my new students and their parents.  When I got home, Darren had steakburgers ready for us to eat.

 Wednesday, August 17

I had meetings at the high school this morning and had to leave before the kids got on the bus.  I hated having to miss Kolten getting on as he’s really been looking forward to riding the bus. 

Kolten (and the neighbors) heading to the bus for the first time!

My friend Anna picked the kids up from school at 11:30 and watched them for the afternoon.  I got home at 4:00, made dinner, had Kendall do homework before his baseball practice from 5:15-7:30.  When Darren and Kendall got home, I headed to the nursing home to visit Grandpa Chuck.

Thursday, August 18

The boys have their first full day of school and ride the bus to school and back home.  My students come for their first 1/2 day and it goes very well.  I have bus duty and then meetings all afternoon.  Kolten continues to think that his teacher is the best thing on earth.  Kendall still won’t say much about school.  He does finally say that his math teacher is pretty nice since she’s only going to make them to the odd problems 11-29 most of the time.  We try to figure out plans for the kids while we go to the visitation and funeral of Darren’s Uncle Howard.

Friday, August 19

My students have school for a 1/2 day again.  Then I quickly head to the high school to set up for our Guided Reading presentation.  At 3:30 Darren picks me up and we head to the visitation in Louisville.  My sister meets my kids at the bus stop at 4:20 and takes Kendall to baseball practice.  She then takes Kolten home with her.  My mom is crazy busy helping get Grandpa Chuck settled in at home since his doctor released him from the nursing home (as long as he has 24 hour care).  At 6:00 my sister takes her son and Kolten to my mom’s and heads to our “Back to School Teacher Party”.  After the visitation, Darren and I also attend the party at which I win a $25 gift card to Olive Garden!  Kendall spends the night at a friends’ and Kolten spends the night at my mom’s. 

Saturday, August 20

Darren and I head to the funeral.  Kendall’s flag football coach picks him up from a friend’s and takes him to practice.  My sister picks Kendall up from practice and then picks up Kolten from my Mom’s.  She takes both boys to her house for the day.  After the funeral, cemetary visit, and meal, we visit Grandpa Chuck.  He’s happy to be back home, but really worn out so we don’t stay long.  We pick the boys up mid-afternoon, head to church, and have Darren’s family over for a cookout.

Sunday, August 21

I work in my classroom, Kendall has flag football and baseball practice.  We made it through our first week! 

And, I have to admit, it’s good having a schedule again.  I feel like I’m a better mom when I’m working, as crazy as that sounds.  I make them breakfast, do teeth brushing inspections, enforce nightly showers, and cook decent meals.  I hate to admit how many times we let swimming count as a shower and the kids went to bed without brushing their teeth over the summer.   Routine is good!

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One Proud Mama

What a week my 9 year old has had!

Let me start at the beginning.  Kendall played khoury league with the Effingham Park District this summer.  His team wasn’t so great, but the games were always exciting.  He did some pitching, catching, and played nearly every position.  At the end of the season, one rookie (first year player) is chosen to be on a rookie all star team.  Kendall was chosen for his team.  They also choose three second year players that make up three other all star teams.  Being chosen made us very proud, but we realized that him coming from one of the poorer teams made his selection a little easier.

Kendall being introduced for the "Rookies" all-star team

The games were held August 1, 2, and 3rd.  He played well the first two nights and really enjoyed having teammates who made few errors.  I had to get to each game early to get my front row seat.  I can’t believe how much I love watching my kids play sports!  Anyway on August 3rd at about 3:30 pm, Kendall took a terrible fall, or should I say dive, into our ceremic tile flooring.  He had tripped over my two year old nephew and trying to avoid hurting him–hurt himself.  He laid on the ground screaming about his knee.  I knew he was hurt bad as he never screams in pain like he was.  I wasn’t sure whether to move him or what, but my sister finally picked him up and carried him to the couch where we iced it down.  He thought he might be feeling better, but still couldn’t walk.  I carried him upstairs (not an easy task) and put him in the bathtub to soak it.  He got out and was very upset.  He wanted to play in the final game so bad, but he was realizing that was probably not going to happen.  He asked me to call his coach and tell him what was going on.  His coach was very supportive and said that Kendall should do what he felt like whether that was staying home and resting it, coming to watch the game, or seeing if he felt like playing.  About 1/2 hour before the pre-game practice was to begin, Kendall asked for help getting his socks on so that he wouldn’t have to bend his knee.  I figured he would sit on the bench, but wanted his uniform on to look like a part of the team. 

As we were driving to the game he kept saying he just wanted to play.  I couldn’t imagine this as he had hopped the entire way to get in the car!  Plus, I feared if there was a serious injury, he would be hurting it even more.  We brought him to practice and watched him gradually loosen up and he even sort of ran to first base.  We watched as he gradually used the knee more and more.  When game time came, he sat out the first inning.  We figured he wouldn’t be playing, though the coaches had talked about letting him bat.  However, he went in and played the rest of the game and hardly limped at all.  At his first at-bat, the bases were loaded.  We couldn’t believe it when he hit the ball over the fence.  This was his first home run of the season (in the Effingham league) and brought his team to the lead.  All of his teammates met him at the plate to congratulate him.  I kept wondering if he hit this just so he wouldn’t have to run so hard and cause his knee to hurt more.  My eyes were filled with tears of joy.  I was so happy that he made this great hit, but even happier that his knee seemed to be holding up okay.  Kendall’s entire team played very well, but lost the game at Kendall’s final at bat.  Kendall hit a really hard ball to center field, but the other team was just too quick and got the runner out at second base.   I was worried that Kendall (who takes everything really seriously) would blame himself for losing the game. 

After the game, each coach got to choose an MVP for their team.  I thought I had heard his coach whisper “Kendall Tabbert” to the announcers (I was in the front row), so I had my camera ready, but I figured I had to be mistaken.  All of the kids on his team made some exceptional plays and had great hits.  However, Kendall was announced as the MVP for the rookie team.  He won a trophy and was given his grand-slam ball.  I had tears in my eyes for the second time this night!  We walked to the dugout and listened to his coach talk to the team.  This is what I really wish I had on video.  Coach Matt Braunecker talked to the team about how Kendall showed us what baseball was all about.  He had the determination to play even though he was in pain.  He played hard and cheered on his teammates.  I can’t remember the rest, I was in tears again!  I’m not sure who had a harder time getting to sleep that night, Darren, Kendall, or myself!

Kendall with his trophy and homerun ball (and his proud family).

The next morning, I woke Kendall up for his 8:00 swim practice.  Most swimmers no longer had practice, but he had BARELY qualified to swim at Millstadt for the all-star meet that would be held on August 6th.  We had kind of tried to convince him not to participate as we figured being a 9 year old (who barely qualified) swimming against all these all star 10 year olds, would leave him getting close to last in all events.  Kendall taught me that it didn’t matter, he wanted to go and do his best.  He loves swimming, the competition, the fun he has with his swim team friends.  He said all that mattered is that he beat his own best times.  I couldn’t have said it better myself, so of course we agreed to drive him the two hours to the Millstadt all star meet.

However, at practice on Thursday, August 4th, he said his knee hurt really bad.  The only stroke he was able to swim was freestyle and had to use his good knee to do most of the kicking.  I was thinking, “Great, we already signed up to go, have you in all these races, and you can barely swim one stroke.”  I gave him more ibuprofin to help with swelling and we soaked it in the tub and iced it down several times that day.  The next morning, I took him to practice for just a bit to see if he was going to be able to do the other strokes or if we should talk to his swim coaches about taking him out of the meet.  He said his knee didn’t hurt near as bad as the day before and he still wanted to participate in the meet the following day.

So, we drove to Millstadt and Kendall swam every event we had signed up for.  He beat every one of his best times.  He went from 1:50.75 in the Individual Medley to 1:46.29 and finished 9th out of 15 boys.  He went from 25.46 in the butterfly to 24.11 and finished 13th out of 18 boys.  He went from 25.34 in breaststroke to 23.02 and finished 11th out of 18 boys.  He went from 18.38 in freestyle to 17.01 and finished 15th out of 20 boys.  His relay team also came in 2nd place.  Kendall was happy he went and reminded us that it didn’t matter what places he got, it mattered that he beat his own records.  We were so happy and relieved when he said he knee barely hurt him at all while swimming that day.

So last night was the swim team awards party.  We knew Kendall’s relay team had beat a record and his name would probably be announed for that, so of course I had my camera ready.  The coaches had ordered an awesome new records board that had his name on it.  How exciting!

K. Tabbert made the new Record Board!

  However, much to our surprise Kendall was also announced as the male Coaches Award winner.  Coach Elizabeth Braunecker talked about how Kendall is a joy to coach.  He does what he’s told, works hard at every practice, never talks back etc.  Coach Jason Wrone told Kendall that his job is to get the other boys his age to be as respectful.  Wow, this mama couldn’t have been more proud.  This award means more to me than any first place trophy.  All we’ve tried to teach him his entire life is paying off.  He realizes he may not be the best at everything, but being a part of a team, giving it your all, and being respectful will make him a winner in the end.  And he’s always been a winner in his mom and dad’s eyes anyway!

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Time Flies

The end of May is here again.  Time really does go faster as you age, doesn’t it? 

I always have these mixed emotions at this time of year.  I hate giving up my students (most of them, anyway).  I have brought them soooo far.  I mean, they can go to the computer and take an A.R. test on their own.  They know how to put their tests in the test sorter in alphabetical order.  They can operate the Smart Board correctly.  They can file papers in the mailboxes.  They can return books to their appropriate basket with the card inside.  And that’s not to mention the academics!   It’s just really hard to say goodbye to these kids that have been mine for seven hours each day.  This year especially, as quite a few will be moving to Central for 2nd grade. 

I also look at my own kids.  Kendall is finishing third grade.  Wow–I just can’t believe it.  He had science and social studies grades for the first time this year and Saxon Math with only a textbook (reminds me of junior high).  I am so proud of him.  He’s an excellent student who always puts forth his best effort.   

Kolten is finishing his last few days at Treehouse Too.  I wrote the last check today and it made me sad.  It’s surprising to me.  I remember wishing for the day when I’d have an extra $100 a week and not have to make that stop each day before and after work.  But, now that the time is here, I’m almost in tears.  I love the daily contact with his teachers and seeing his interactions with friends.  I will really miss that.  Plus, Treehouse has been a part of my daily life for 7 years.  That’s a long time.  My car will probably just go that way out of habit!

The thing is, when Kendall was heading to Kindergarten, I was full of excitement.  I couldn’t wait for him to start “real school”.  Why is it so different with my youngest? 

The good thing is….we have summer ahead of us.  Kolten likes to call it “Our 90 days off”.  However, this summer is going to seem shorter with all those snow days we had to make up and I’m always back in my classroom by August 1st.

Our summer calendar is already looking quite full.  Kolten is doing the park district playgroup on Tues. and Thurs. mornings.  He will also play t-ball two nights a week.  Kendall is playing on koury league teams in Effingham and Teutopolis.   He is also doing Swim Team with meets on Saturday and practices Monday,  Wednesday, and Friday mornings.  We’ll also have day trips, extra time with extended family, trips to the pool, and lazy afternoons at home.  

What do I have to be sad about?

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