If you've got the "jock gene," it's only right to use it...

The day after tomorrow will be the big boys' last basketball game and the end of a very exciting season. We were fortunate that D & K were able to play on the same team this year. Not only did that enable me to see all of their games, I also got to watch Koen's skills grow by leaps and bounds as he learned to keep up with the older kids. (The poor guy's going to have to do a lot of that this year, as he is also "playing up" on Dill's baseball team. More on that later, though...) 

The Bears' first two games of the season were pretty rough: we got trounced. By game three, however, the boys figured it out, and they started racking up the points. They have won every game since! Dillon is a basket-making machine these days, and although the league doesn't put them up on the scoreboard at this age level, he loves to wow the crowd with 3-pointers. He most enjoys breaking those out at the buzzer.  Showoff. Koen actually scored a couple of weeks ago, too, and he has been a reliable source of scoring assists all season. Unfortunately, I don't have any good action shots from their games, as I'm armed with only a small digital camera (and of course, hampered by a squirmy baby), but their official photos are a hoot! 

Yes, I grumble about the costs, and the weeknight practices, and the chaos of getting everyone out the door to games, but I admit I love to watch these guys play. Every season I fervently hope that they will choose to give up one of their sports, but the truth is, I don't want them to have to give up anything. I want them to use the talents they've been given, I want them to get every ounce of enjoyment possible. Now if just one of these guys could start showing a consistent interest in singing or dancing, I'd be perfectly content....

Three of a Kind

There were so many possible titles for this post: "Lawson's Lost Locks," and "My Little Lamb is Shorn," were among the least cheesy that sprang to my mind. (Yeah, if those were the LEAST trite choices, imagine the rest...) It's been a couple of weeks now since Lawson's first haircut and, honestly, I'm still more than a little heartbroken about it.

His long brown hair was just so adorable--the first thing that anyone commented on when they saw him--and I confess I loved that it made him look like me. It was becoming a problem to keep it out of his eyes, though, and Kirk seemed hesitant to let me trim it myself. (Perhaps his worry stemmed from his memories of the trim I gave 7-month old Koen. More than one person commented that poor Ko looked like Moe of Three Stooges fame.) Anyway, this is what my boys looked like pre-haircut:

Gorgeous, aren't they? Admittedly, they were a bit shaggy, so we headed down to a local barber shop that Kirk has frequented since the last time we lived in Brentwood.  The shop's owner, Brandon, had also done Koen's first (good) haircut, so it was fun to have him do the honors for Lawson too. Lawson did an amazing job of holding still, as you will see in the shots below.  He sat quietly through a scissor cut and a clipping with the razor; I was the one squirming and crying!

When Brandon was finished, I scarcely recognized Lawson. I didn't have a brown-haired baby anymore, but a blonde little boy. Most striking, though, is how much Lawson looks like his brothers now. He's always resembled them, but now the similarity is just ridiculous. I guess it was inevitable: my sweet baby is growing to be one of the guys.