Blue Springs Cardinals

Take me out to the Ballgame!!!

Kendall had his first T-Ball game of the season last night and made Mom, Dad and Lizzy very proud. He started off playing at second base and only had one ball come to him but made the play and recorded the out. During the Third and Fourth inning, Coach Rick moved Kendall over to play First Base and he had the first ball come right to him as a line drive and he knocked it down with his glove but was unable to make the catch in the air as I think it startled him. After that, he caught a few throws from other fielders to make the three outs that were needed each inning. The next inning Kendall played Pitcher and did a wonderful job, fielded almost everything that came his way and made some great throws to first base. The last inning, Kendall played catcher so he didn't get much action but he sure looked cute in that catchers mask. He had four great hits and made it on base every time he batted.
After the game, coach huddled them up and told them all how proud he was and decided to give the Game Ball to Kendall as the MVP of game one. He wants to write the date on it and put it on his dresser with the rest of his trophies and medals.
Go Cardinals!!!

Happy Birthday!!!

They made it to the finale -we've decided
that we are not going to let them get any older.

Kendall hit the Big 6 and Lizzy turned 12 last week.
We had a small bowling party for Kendall last weekend
with some of his friends and Lizzy is going to have a
slumber party and roller skating party next weekend.

Lizzy's Cheeseburger Cake

Kendall's Lego Cake

Saturday, after Kendall's last Basketball game of
the season we had family over for cake and ice cream.
Grandma Marge and Papa Jim were able to bring
Aunt Lois. Grandma Betty brought Taylor, Jordan,
Kennedy and Chezney to the game and then Aunt
Cheryl and Susan joined us at the house for a while.

Finally....

After well over 200,000 miles and about every light in the dash coming on over the past few months - we finally traded the old silver Oldsmobile Intrigue in for a Oldsmobile Aurora with less than half the mileage and hopefully many less worries. It is a very clean 2001 vehicle that is a cross between sage green and gold with immaculate tan leather interior. We had been looking for about a month when we stumbled across this one on a small used car lot after hours one Friday night. We went back on Saturday afternoon to check it out and test drive it - it was nice, but the dealer said he didn't even have clearance to sell it yet. We looked at a few more cars over the weekend and then went back on Monday for Fonda to work her Crooks bargaining powers. Well, she did her magic and we came away spending two dollars more than we had planned on being our limit. There are a few minor maintenance things we want to get done with it, but nothing too pressing I hope.

Watch out Lebron James - We've got Kendall Williams!

Kendall has switched from Football to Basketball in December, and is having a good time. His team is very young and the majority of them are very short, but what they lack in size is made up in hustle. He's handling the ball much better this year and has made at least one basket in every game so far - with a game high of three (I think). They have three more games left in January and then we just signed him up for the next session as well, which I believe is another 7 weeks which should lead him right up to Baseball Season.

He makes a great point guard, and spends lots of time trying to get it inside to the bigger boys! If he can't find one of them open he's not scared to drive inside and shoot.
As you can see they play some very aggressive man to man defense...

Keep playing tough Kendall - you are a real Superstar and you make Mommy and Daddy very proud when we watch you play!

Flying High

Well another Competition Cheerleading Season is upon us and Lizzy picked up right where she left off last year... looking awesome! We can't help it but to be so proud of her when she is on that competition floor - that smile, those expressions and mostly her jumps! Her jumps are incredible and it makes it worth every penny that is spent to see her perform like she does. Her team has competed twice so far this season, they started the season off with a third place finish at Twister Jam in Topeka, Kansas on November 8th and then they had the CTC Nationals at Bartle Hall in Kansas City on December 6-7th where they won First Place and each team member received a beautiful National Champion Jacket. This weekend they head back to Topeka, Kansas for a two day Nations Best competition. Good Luck Lady Dragons!

Dog Gone.....

OK, how does an 11 year old with the
"Puppy Dog" eyes talk you into getting a Cat?

I can't say that - I was just as much in love with her as Lizzy was. We had all been absorbed by a cat the other night at Petsmart, (by the way - is it PetsMart or PetSmart?) but we decided to take a night to sleep on the idea instead of making that impulse decision. Well, when we decided that we would try to go back to adopt her - she had just been adopted by another family within the past couple of hours. We've been looking online for the past couple of days for another cat that would compare.... but nothing touched us via the internet.
The kids and I headed out to grab some lunch today and then drove to Lee's Summit to check out the animal shelter and it had just closed within the last fifteen minutes. We decided to check out PetCo while we were over there and they just happened to be having a Pet Adoption Day. As soon as we walked in the door they had kennels with about 25-30 dogs and then about 30-40 cats available for adoption. Well, to say the least we headed right over to see what cats they had and immediately fell in love with a few. We narrowed it down to three, and soon decided which one was the one we were looking for. She was playful but not aggressive, loving and beautiful. It didn't take too much convincing to make me decide that she was coming home with us.

Paige 2 is her real name but we just call her Paige,
she is a 4 year old Showshoe Balinese
and she already fits in around here very well......
she talks all the time.

Pumpkin Patch

To top off a very busy weekend, we spent a little time on Sunday at Carolyn's Cousins Pumpkin Patch in Liberty with Papa Bob and Grandma Cindy before they head back to New Mexico on Tuesday. We had a great time feeding the animals in the petting zoo area, riding trikes on a tricycle race track, climbing and riding several different slides, riding the train, taking a hayride trip to the Pumpkin Patch, and watching the pig races. They were also having a car show on the grounds so we looked at lots of beautiful old cars and completed the trip by purchasing a few pumpkins to take home.

Grandma and Lizzy feed the Goats in the Petting Zoo area.

Kendall and Kaiya Race Tricycles on the Race Track.

We decided to go ahead and sell the kids -
so we took a picture for the ad too.
We had a great time and a very nice family outing!

Wow - What a Cutie!

You talk about handsome - this little guy looked so cute in his tux for Uncle Greg's Wedding.
After starting the weekend by scoring his first touchdown, Kendall was the ring bearer Saturday for Greg and Aubrei's wedding at the UCM Alumni Chapel in Warrensburg. He was such a good boy and done an excellent job, did I mention how cute he looked? He was lucky enough to get to escort his beautiful cousin Jordan down the aisle and she looked like a princess of a flower girl.

Mom is so proud of her little man - he was such a great sport!Our precious little angels, is it legal to just

freeze them while they are so sweet and innocent?

Touchdown - BEARS!!!

Kendall and the rest of the Kindergarten Bears had their best game of the season Friday night - they are starting to grasp the concepts of what they need to be doing when on Offense and Defense. You can tell that they are not as timid on the field and becoming much more aggressive on both sides of the ball. On their second offensive possesion, Kendall took a direct snap from the Center and took the ball on a run to the left and got outside of the line and turned it upfield for his first touchdown of the season. It was so cute, and he was grinning from ear to ear all the way back to the huddle. I don't know who was the most proud of him, as happy as he was - I think his Daddy was the most excited.

This week Coach Brian made a change by lining Kendall up as a Defensive End instead of at Cornerback and he got in on much more of the action. They are really getting so much better and I can't wait to see how much they have improved over the course of the entire season.
Kendall chases down the Running Back for the Brigade during the first half of Friday's football game.
Congratulations Bears - We are so proud of you!

Da Bears!!!

Kendall has made his Football debut....

(Kendall, at back-left lined up as running back on offense)

The Parmerlee Tournament was held Saturday where all teams get three short scrimmages against other teams within their age division with a 15 minute time limit. The Bears looked pretty good for their first live action playing both Offense and Defense with flags.

(Kendall surrounded by Tigers carries the ball for a short gain)

With his speed -Kendall is lining up as running back on offense and getting quite a few carries. He really likes to get outside the line and run in the open field. He is so small he gets lost when he runs up the middle. He has learned a lot and been able to put the information from practices to actual game scenarios after getting to go against another team.

(Kendall and Luke block on a sweep to the right side,
the play resulted in a touchdown. Go Bears!)

Defensively, he started at Right Cornerback but seems to get isolated out there to easily so this week Coach has decided to move his speed in to the Defensive End position where he can watch the ball and get a good jump and get into the backfield as they are handing it off. It should be a good move as long as they don't put some big lineman accross the line to slow him down.

The regular season starts Friday night under the lights
at Hidden Valley Park.

GOOD LUCK BEARS!!!

Back to School

Ready or not - the kids started school today...

Kendall started his first day of Kindergarten at Lucy Franklin Elementary this morning and he was pretty excited about meeting new friends, eating at school, learning fun things, and most of all - recess!!! He has had his first day of school outfit picked out since the day he got it and he looked like he was ready to take on the world even though he will probably be one of the smallest students in the whole school.

Lizzy headed off to Brittany Hill Middle School to start Sixth Grade this morning. She met the bus an hour earlier than when she was going to the Elementary, but didn't seem to mind getting up a little earlier. She too has had her first day of school outfit picked out forever, she looked beautiful as she headed off to the bus stop this morning with a few of her friends from the neighborhood. I am sure that she will handle the challenges of the new school schedule and routine well - and I know that she is looking forward to having her own locker that she can decorate with her style.

Good Luck to both of you and make us proud!!!

Da Bears...

It's that time of year - No, not the start of school (that's next week) - the start of Football Season! That's Right! Kendall is playing Youth Football and has been drafted by the Bears.
Although he wanted to play tackle football, Mom got her way and he settled for Flag Football for at least this year. They started with three practices last week and now we are down to two practices per week and games will be on Friday nights starting in a couple of weeks. The Bears have a wide variety of athletic skill and if they can stay focused for a full hour at a time should be pretty good. In fact, if it were tackle football - I think they would be unstoppable because they can really pounce on the dummies during their water breaks.

Down...

Set...

One...

Coach has not made any definite playing position decisions yet, but he has a couple of the boys playing the same positions during practice night after night. On Offense I think we have a starting Center, Quarterback, and two Running Backs - the rest are going to rotate around on the line. So far Kendall has been starting at Tailback so he should get to carry the ball quite a bit - his main play is "I-Dive-Left." He also likes the "I-Sweep-Right" but he doesn't carry the ball on that one so he has to get out and block on that particular play so it's not quite as fun. After seeing Kendall throw the ball at practice last night, coach may try to sneak in a Halfback Pass at some point in the season - he says that if he can find someone that can catch it that we may have to use that trick play on occasion. Defensively we are quick, he has the three fastest boys lining up as Linebacker and the two corners to attack the ball carrier. Kendall has been starting as the Right Cornerback for now and made me so proud last night at practice by getting so many flags that I let him decide where we were going to eat out as a treat. He is having a blast and he just smiles from ear to ear when he makes a defensive play or gets past the defense when he is carrying the ball. It should be a fun year to watch them learn the game.

Go Bears!