Happy Monday!

Hello blog friends!  Hope you're having a good Monday.  

We had a busy non-stop weekend.  I spent all morning trying to catch up on cleaning and laundry...something I didn't do much of last week.   I feel so much better when the house is put back together....it's a big sigh of relief for me.

Brady told me this morning that his class was going into the city to a symphony.  He seemed less than thrilled about it.  I asked him if he wanted to stay home and take it easy today....and he said NO right away.  He wants to get perfect attendance for this last grading period.  He has only missed 3 days of school all year which is record for him.  Usually he catches every flu bug that goes around and misses 3 or 4 days at a time...sometimes a week.  It was a goal of his this year to miss less days...and he did.  He's really proud of that.  By the way, he still has not had a drop of soda (pop) since December 15th.  Once he makes up his mind about doing something...he sure is determined to follow through with it.  I wish I could be more like that!

I made these cookies for my mother-in-law for Mother's Day.  They were really good.  The basket I gave her with these in it was only half full....because I ate the other half!  The recipe made a lot.  I found these on Pinterest (of course).  You can find the recipe HERE.

I made these cupcakes on Saturday for Eric's tennis banquet.

I forgot to take a picture of them at home...so I quick took one at the picnic, hoping no one would see me getting a picture of my own cupcakes.  They didn't turn out like I wanted them to or how I pictured them in my mind.  I thought if I colored the coconut yellow, they would look like fuzzy tennis balls.  Some of the coconut turned orange from the yellow food coloring...not sure why that happened.  If you look, you can see little orange specks.  Then, when I put the white trim on them, it didn't show up that well.  Oh well....that's the way it goes sometimes!

We had perfect weather for the picnic.  The parents of one of the boys on the tennis team offered to have to banquet in their backyard.  It was a beautiful evening...and so was their backyard!!

Everyone brought a covered dish...and everything was so good.  It made me anxious for summer and cookouts and eating outside!  The kids swam and played tennis.  They also had a basketball court in their barn...so they played a little of that too.  There was also a campfire and smores.  What more could a kid ask for?!

Of course, Brady wants to know why we can't have a tennis court in our backyard?!

I was so proud of my husband.  As he handed out the awards, he said such nice things about each player.  Not just about their tennis records and their wins, but about the character of each boy. I think the parents really appreciated those words.   

He talked about the team and how they represented the school and their sportsmanship.  I was teary throughout his entire talk.  (I would die if I had to get up and talk in front of a group of people!)  Eric thanked the guys for the way they have treated Brady and made him feel like part of the team.  He thanked Brady for being the best manager and for not missing one single practice all season.  He also thanked Brady for supporting his decision to be the high school coach...even though it meant less court time for Brady and putting his tournaments on hold for a couple of months.  Eric and his assistant coach then handed out "gag" gifts that Eric made for each of the guys on the team. They were so fun...I wish I would have taken pictures!  Lots of good laughs...a good way to finish up.

Afterwards, one of the seniors got up and said some really nice things about Eric and the assistant coach.  He said he was really worried going into his last year of tennis not knowing who the new coach would be.  And, that after meeting with Eric the first time, he knew he would be in good hands.  The parents were all so kind and said such nice things too.  So, congratulations hon on a successful first season coaching!  I'm so proud of the way you handle yourself, the way you know just the right thing to say to lift someone up, and the way you care about each guy on the team.  Brady's not the only one who thinks you're an awesome coach!