Taylor, Matthew & Brayden: End of April Updates

Well, another month has come and gone, and I have been horrible about blogging. Here's a quick recap of our winter/spring.

1/7/2022 - 2/11/2022: Brayden participated in a soccer training academy on Friday evenings. I was so proud of him... dropping him off at 5:00 on Fridays when it was pitch dark and raining looked pretty miserable. But he enjoyed it!

1/17/2022: Matty's Liberty Select Basketball team won another local tournament.

1/28/2022: The kids had the day off from school, so I took Taylor, Brayden, and Taylor's friend Ella skiing. Brayden met up with some friends from school and had so much fun feeling independent!

1/28/2022: Annie Joy turned 4!

1/29/2022: Matty and Tommy had their first Liberty Select Baseball Tournament of the season in Centralia, WA. I did not go down with them because Taylor's joint birthday party with Livy McClure was on 1/30. She also had an indoor soccer game that weekend. Matty and Tommy raced home from the baseball tourney to make it to the final game of a basketball tourney on Sunday night. Not surprisingly, Matty missed school on Monday due to a migraine.

2/12/2022 - 4/2/2022: Taylor played indoor soccer every Saturday with a group of friends. Elise Crumpacker coached. The girls were not that good, but they had a lot of fun and it was great exercise! They are signed up to play another session of indoor soccer which started last weekend.

2/20/2022: We flew to Helena, MT with the Crumpacker family for our annua ski trip. This year we checked out Big Sky, MT. We had a great time, as always, despite a crazy drive from the Helena airport to Big Sky in total white out conditions and sub-zero ski temps. On Tuesday, 2/22/22, the HIGH was -5. Our kids were absolute troopers and rarely complained. They are all out-skiing me now. Probably Tommy too!

3/1/2022: After a very long fall and winter, Taylor's brand new middle school opened. The kids at Cougar Mountain Middle School were ready for a fresh start! While I miss the proximity of the temporary campus to our house, Taylor needed to get in the beautiful new building.

3/12/2022: Poetically, exactly two years after our kids were told that schools were closing due to Covid, Washington state removed the mask mandate.

3/14/2022: For the first time in two years, my kids were allowed to go to school, in person, indoors, without requiring a mask. Matty took his off on Day 1. Taylor wore her mask for another six weeks but finally went to school without one on 4/25. Brayden still wears a mask to school daily but keeps it down around his chin.

3/18/2022: Tommy's parents celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary.

3/19/2022: Matty and his Liberty Select Basketball team competed in the WA State Basketball Tournament in Spokane. His team finished in 5th place. They were all disappointed that they did not place higher, but they really had a great season and were fun to watch.

3/31/2022: Little League season began. Tommy is coaching Matty's team again. This year, they are the Cubs. Lucas and Blaine are on the team too but Kyler is on a different team. It is crazy to think that this is Matty's second to last year of Little League.

4/1/2022: Taylor was selected to be the stage manager for her school play in May. When I first heard about the play (The Wizard of Oz), I asked Taylor if she would be interested in auditioning. She looked at me like I was crazy. As a result, I found it very entertaining when she came home a week later and told me she wanted to be on the tech crew. Never would tech crew/lighting/sound/costumes/stage manager been on my radar! She filled out an application, interviewed after school one day, and was delighted to learn she was selected over several other applicants to be the stage manager. I am thrilled that she is doing something new. She has rehearsal Monday through Thursday after school for 1.5 hours, so she is staying very busy.

4/6/2022: My daddy was diagnosed with Alzheimer's. While this does not come as a surprise, it still stings.

4/8/2022: We flew to Phoenix, AZ for spring break. We spent five days with my parents and brother (who was also in town for work) and three days with Tommy's best college friend and his family. Annie flew to AZ with us and was a champ. It was fun having her with us but I would not do it again unless it was to see family.

4/19/2022: Brayden graduated from speech therapy (through the school district). He was so darn proud of himself! He attended the meeting/presentation at school with this teacher, speech therapist, dean of students, and Tommy and me. Watching him stifle his smile is just the cutest.

4/20/2022: We entered Brayden into the lottery for the SciTech program (for 4th and 5th grade) through the school district. His name was not pulled and he is 16th on waiting list. I am super bummed because this program would have been so perfect for him. The good news is that he is not as upset as me, as it would have required him to attend a different school next year.

This weekend, Matty and Tommy are in Portland for a baseball tournament. As much as I hate missing it, I stayed back with Taylor and Brayden. Taylor has two indoor soccer games tomorrow and she is auditioning for her dance studio's compete team for the 2022-23 season. On Sunday, she is babysitting for a neighbor. She is SO GROWN up now. Ack! Right now, Taylor and a friend are upstairs watching a movie. Brayden and two neighbor friends are jumping on the trampoline. I ordered pizzas for all the kids and they are having a blast. I am very happy that I no longer have to micro-manage my kids and their play dates. :) Yay me!

Obviously, there is so much more to say about Taylor's recovery, Matty's migraines, Brayden's continuing fascination with things that no one else cares about (weather, planes, etc). I'll have to go into more detail later.

Spring is in the air! The days are getting longer, the kids (especially Brayden) are playing outside more, and we are still loving our remodeled house.

We are blessed.

Liberty Select 5th Grade Basketball Team

Wildcat Classic Champions

A rare moment of sibling love.

The 5th Grade team got to play a scrimmage game during halftime of the Liberty basketball game.

Brayden (on the right) skiing with Graham Lubbers and Drew McNamara

Taylor and Livy's birthday party was at a small theater in North Bend. We showed "16 Going on 30."

Our first night in Big Sky - indoor hot tub!

Day 1 - ready to hit the slopes.

Needless to say, it was cold that week!

Crumpacker and Bligh kiddos

Bligh fam with Lone Peak in the background

Taylor B. was such a trooper. She and I skied with all boys during the week. The Burris family, who was also in Big Sky, has three boys. Their mom, Katie, could not ski because she tore her ACL. Elise was with Charlotte on green runs most of the time, and Taylor C. did not ski much due to a foot injury at soccer.

Après Ski, my favorite time of the day.

Kids and electronics

Last day on the mountain - all Blighs, Crumpackers, and three Burris boys

Taylor and friends went to the movies to see "Sing 2." I am having a hard time accepting that she is old enough to go to the movies without parents now.