Griffin 6y

Griffin was excited to be 6 years old and pretend he is only one year behind his brother for the next two and a half months, when we settle back into the two years apart mode.  We have a hard time believing that our baby is six.  We are all getting older.

This is a cool birthday present--rock 'em, sock 'em.

I'm glad nobody got this for my birthday!

What does hail taste like?

For my birthday, we went to the green and yellow park...where we like to be chased!

Fresh after a new haircut, I was able to sneak up on Luke who was hanging out in the cat cot.

Bryce 7y9mo

Bryce still has his quirky side and he can still seem to lack focus, but he sure rose to the occasion and locked down his focus to achieve Memory Master.  His ability to go through all the geography in any order and his excitement in realizing that he achieved something not many others did really gave him a reality check that he is a smart guy.  Good thing he can learn Memory Master stuff while building legos and throwing balls.  Think he might have some kinesthetic learning skills?

I saved up some money the last 6 months and used my Memory Master prize for this!

I helped Dad put together the new train table for Griffin.

A touching moment with Mom.

Looking for Nerd Power, where is Eric Sogard when you need him?

Garrett 9y 11mo

Garrett had his last month of being under 10 years old.  He loves to lead his brothers, when they will allow him to.  He still loves to spend any of his free time "blowing things up," as Joy says.  Brett says he has a vivid imagination and is acting out scenes from Star Wars or he making up his own episodes.

Two hail particles that fell one afternoon recently...I think this would've hurt if it had landed on me.

Spring Suzuki Piano Recital

The boys participated in the Spring Recital for piano.  They all enjoyed playing their pieces for the applause of the audience and the after reward of cookies and juice (which they load up on).  Griffin smiled through Chant Arabe, Bryce pounded out Little Playmates, and Garrett played A Short Story.  They all received a new 100 day award for consecutive days of practice also.  Check out some of the videos below of each of our boys.

April Baseball

Our boys were on two teams this year.  Bryce and Griffin stayed at the Rookie (coach pitch) level and were joined by their friend Jack.  There were a few other holdovers from last year including Tim and Colton.   Our friend, Lara, volunteered to coach the younger boys team and she has done a great job.

Garrett moved up to the Pee Wee level (kid pitch).  The team is composed of only two returners from last year's Pee Wee team, so the team is pretty young and we have no returning pitchers.  Garrett has pitched, played shortstop and first base, and batted in a number of different slots at the top of the order.  He has recorded a number of strikeouts on the mound, including one against one of his friends from soccer.  He also has been one of the most consistent hitters on the team, leading the team in RBIs and batting average so far.  Garrett moved up with Will, Jeremiah, Gabriel, Ezekiel, and Sam from last year's team and he was rejoined by a few players he has played with in years past:  Ariel, Aurora, Alize, Isabel, Caden, and Immanuel, Brett has tried to help out with the pitchers this year and assist the team's head coach, Joe, who has done a great job keeping the team together and building a foundation for next year.

Griffin and Bryce welcomed Jack (right) on the Rookie team this year.

Griffin up to bat.

Griffin playing third base with Tim to his left at shortstop.

Bryce running at third base, ready to score a run.

Bryce playing first base.

Garrett's pitching sportflic.

Garrett delivers a pitch in his first year pitching.

Will and Sam on both sides of Garrett on the Pee Wee squad, all pitchers on this years team.

Garrett playing shortstop.

Garrett playing first base.

Griffin's 6th Birthday

For his sixth birthday, Griffin had a day of donuts, Chuck E Cheese games, presents, ping pong and other outdoor games, gymnastics, and an ice cream sundae.  It was a day that he planned a lot of the activities and enjoyed every minute of it.

This whole thing is mine...no sharing?

Dad and I played Street Hoops and made it into the playoffs.

Enjoy this magic motion sportflic.

I have some loot to show off from my birthday.

Did you know they combined Hot Wheels and Star Wars?

I was the center of attention at home while I opened my presents after donuts.

My gymnastics class gave me a special treat on my birthday!

Memory Master Brothers

Memory Master, this year, became a family thing in an interesting way.  Garrett, all along, planned on doing it for the third consecutive year, so he prepared from the beginning of the school year.  Bryce was tantalized by the fact that he was able to be Mini-Memory Master at the halfway point of the school year.  When someone laughed at the idea that Bryce would be able to do the full year Memory Master, he was convinced that he could do it.  Griffin learned by osmosis from his brothers and knew things pretty well from all the work he had put in each week, but never really imagined he could do it too.  After Bryce went through the proofing process and succeeded he became the youngest to achieve Memory Master in the last 6 years.  We were ready to be done with the process for this year.  Then, Griffin decided he wanted to surprise everyone and do it too.  There was a few things we knew he needed to fine tune and so we did.  Griffin, at age 5 (he hadn't turned 6 yet), was the youngest Memory Master in over six years.  We are very proud of their memorizing the over 400 facts from geography, Latin, grammar, history, math, and science as well the whole 14 minute timeline song.

Garrett did his tutor proof with Gretchen (Joy couldn't formally proof her own son).

Bryce did his tutor proof the same day with Gretchen at a local park.

Griffin waited 2 weeks later to proof with Theresa.

Then Griffin proofed with the director, Becky.  He was so excited to be able to answer all of her questions, saying, "I know that."