Little Hands, Big Accomplishments

Hand in hand, my 6 year old son and 3 year old daughter love to walk onto our driveway and get ready for their games. It's a sweet time together for all of us in the early morning. Big brothers are off to school. The young ones get to be the stars for a change.

I wish I had my pom poms today to cheer them on. My youngest son tends to be the equipment carrier, water boy and third string player sometimes, when my older sons are running a game. They invite him to play, but I think he feels a little intimidated watching them over the years.

Today, with a determined look, my young athlete wanted to try and conquer the BIG basketball hoop. He has mastered his small hoop, but I guess he felt ready to go for the big guy one. After a bunch of shots, he got the ball in the net! You should have seen his face! He was so excited. I think I saw my little guy enter the big boy world today. He was so proud, and so was I.

At another part of the driveway, my princess was inventing her own little hula hoop tricks. My daughter is petite and very dainty. I think she should have a parasol when she walks around. She runs around so carefully. She is probably pretending to be a butterfly. Her absolute favorite "animal" in her mind. When the boys are barreling around her, she scoots through all the playtime chaos. Sometimes she's so quiet that you could forget she is right in the middle of the action.

Today, I saw my princess start to become a little daring. Big step for her little self! She loved showing off all her new maneuvers with the hula hoop. Being so small, she can't do it the "right" way, but she has found her own fun way to play with the hoop. Jumps, throws, spins... I heard so many "watch me's" from her this morning. She was so proud of her hula hoop prowess. I saw such a sparkle in her eyes as she went from one move to the next. She truly loved being in the driveway spotlight for a change.

I think my big boys may have some competition from the little ones when it comes to driveway play time. It's great to see the younger ones find and define their own place as "kids in their own right".

I better go watch the American Idol finale. Now I'm leaning towards Chris. They are both talented guys. I just glanced at the TV. Did you see Adam's weird outfit? Do you think Cher had a garage sale? And wait a minute! KISS just came on stage. That's a blast from my past.