You Don't See That Every Day

Way back in the middle of summer, The Girl Who Swims, and Runs, mentioned she would not be running on the cross country team this year. Admittedly I was a little sad. I enjoy running, and I enjoy seeing my kids compete in sports. After a short talk together, basically "think about it some more, and "how are you going to stay in shape fro swim?" and "it is your last chance ever" she changed her mind and joined the team once again. This last week was the end of it. Her last high school cross country meet. And it was a fun one. She stayed in the top group most of the way and finished up in 9th place. Which meant she did not qualify for moving up to the State level. I wasn't sure how I would find her at the finish line. With some tears in our eyes, we hugged and she said "I don't have to run anymore!" So now on to her favorite sport: swimming. ((This girl has been a water baby since she was born. Never wanting to get out of the tub, always drawn ...

This month went by in a flash. The running season is over now, but wow, what a great one it was! My 7th grader finished her track season the first week of May, giving her more time to focus on her 4-H work, and school work.   The high schoolers kept going for another few weeks. The District Meet was quite exciting, ending the meet with lightning and thunder storm. The Boy ran the 4x400 pretty quickly carrying a metal baton in his hand as he ran the track, seeing lightning in the distance. The boys' team placed 2nd and were on to State. His 4x100 relay team also placed to go to the State Meet! The weather was extremely hot for our region that day, and the individual races for both The Boy, and his sister, did not go as well as we had hoped. The Boy ran the 800 but placed 4th (>). Our Girl Who Swims (and Runs) placed in the 1500 at 4th (?) and in the 800 at 6th (?) We have another runner in the family - the 10 year old signed up for the local annual 3k for children. All of th...

January is past us now. We are fully into the new year. And I have been able to keep up with most of my goals so far. 1. Read through the Bible - so far I am only a day behind in my log, but I should hopefully catch up soon. 2. Run a 5k. - I haven't signed up for one yet. I'm still having a hard time getting motivated when it is rainy and cold outside! And I don't do treadmills. 3. Acknowledge birthdays - My sister had her birthday last month and we had a little surprise for her. I invited some ladies over to watch the Cinderella (2015) since most of them had not seen it. And we managed to bring presents and cake along to celebrate my sister's birthday, which was the day before. I didn't personally get to see my mother-in-law on her birthday earlier in the month, but my husband was able to take her out for lunch.  4. Pray for my husband every morning. - ok, so maybe not every morning this month, but every day, definitely. 5. Blog weekly - oops. But hey, here I ...

Where have I been? Lately life has  picked up the pace and I have been working to keep up with it. There was one week where we had 9 basketball games within 6 days. This week held 5 games within 6 days, along with a drama performance (which meant extra practices each night). My girl Stripes, was one of the orphans in her school play "Annie". And what a great orphan she was! She had the opening lines, calling out "momma, momma" and the first night I heard it I nearly cried! Good thing I didn't rush the stage. All the kids in the play did a wonderful job! For a middle school production, there was great stage presence and line delivery. I was very impressed. It brought back memories of my days on the stage, as few as they were, in high school. And the foggy memory of a play in college too. (I need to go hunt down that memory book and look it up.) My middle girl, Dots, had her first game today with the church league. Upward Basketball is such a good program for ...

We are not a 'baseball' family. Never had the kids in Little league, or any other kind of baseball league. Except for the Backyard League. Today was one of the game days. Mainly because it was sunny out and there was no school, and Dad was home to play for a little bit. The kids and G. spent a couple of hours, with a neighbor joining us, to hit the softball, run the bases, work on their catching and pitching skills. We even had a concession stand. Except the (5 year old) proprietor left abruptly when a better gig came along. And the general manager was left to clean up the pretzels, yogurt-raisins, and cookies. Eventually the players found other interests and the game disbanded. But it was a good run while it lasted.

The end of March madness. It ended for us awhile ago. Our brackets - the ones we filled out at home to play as a family - were busted weeks ago when Duke and Ohio St. fell. Do you see all that red marker on there? That's how our son keeps track of the losers teams that we picked who did not continue. It was a surprising season for sure! There was a time I followed college basketball. I could recite the roster for the OSU team. I even won the bracket pool we had among friends at our high school one year. But like so many other things of my youth, the here-and-now family of mine takes precedence. If we didn't have a sports-nut son I probably wouldn't even know who was in the Final Four this year. (Oh, wait, I still don't know).

Game #2. And I remembered the camera this time! Our boy is #24, white jersey this week. Intense concentration down the court. The game was fast and frantic it seemed. The boys are still learning how to run the plays, how to play offense and defense. This league is very much a teaching/ learning experience kind of league S. at point. He had a great fake out move tonight. Our team did not win again this week, but our son had a super game. He has come a long way since he started playing. The fans around here enjoyed watching! G, his mom, and Baby K take in the game.

Football is a big deal in our house. If we wanted to have the means to do it, we would pay for cable just to watch football during the season. Thankfully our (financial) priorities are different than that, and we watch what we can on the basic TV. But today is different. Today there seems to be some big game between a team from our state and one from back east somewhere, or is it down south? Sad to say I don't know where Auburn is, and sadder to say, I might not look it up. So everywhere we go we see people wearing Oregon Ducks apparel. And all over facebook people I know from high school and church are cheering for the ducks. (Can Christians be Duck fans?) Notice I didn't mention anyone from my college cheering for the Ducks - yeah, because we went to the other school. The better school. And just because our football team didn't make it to these bowl games ... well we will always be Beaver believers. And I am sorry to say, I just can't root for that school. Ever. Sorr...

Upward Basketball season has begun! The first game(s) played tonight. The boy had a great game too. Although their team lost (30-18) the top scorer lives in our house! And the steals he got! Time after time he got an "interception" (yeah I am still in football mode). It all made for a very exciting time when he was on the court. And did I bring a camera to share photos? Oh, no. My purse had snacks and a comb and stuffed animals, and a clean diaper, to take of care of the girls' side of things. But no camera. I know, what kind of blogging mom am I? And in that vein, we took a field trip on Thursday along with another homeschooling family. We went to an Arctic museum. It was cold inside, but actually it was about the Arctic peoples. And did I bring the camera? Oh, no. Thankfully my friend did. I'm waiting for her to email the pictures and then I can share them with you all. Until then you can just imagine my boy with his head stuck inside a bear's mouth.

It's that time of year! Our son had his first flag football game of the season today. Thankfully the weather was gorgeous.He had a great game, and his coach recognized him afterward as a 'leader'. Some background on that - so in the Upward League, which is what we are doing for football this year (and basketball every year), the coach hands out 'stars' after the game to acknowledge the athlete's skills during the game that week. There are like 5 stars, and each color has a unique meaning. This week he received the gold star for leadership; Now, I haven't forgotten the girls; two of them were gone at a sleepover, and the younger two stayed and watched the game quite patiently. The girls will be starting ballet again this week, and then it will be the boy's turn to sit and wait patiently.

It's time once again for basketball in our household. Not that we play basketball in the house. Football, yes, but not basketball. No, the church league - Upwards Basketball - has begun again. This is the 6th year we have been involved; the Boy has played for 5 of those years, and assisted on his sisters' team last year. He gets to play again this year, and he is so into it. And he is so much better, more coordinated, more aware of what needs to be done on the court. ( The action shot is a little blurry!) I did not get to see his first game last Saturday. G took him down to the game while I stayed at home with the girls ( One had been throwing up all morning .. I didn't think it would be prudent to take her out ). The Boy had an amazing game, good dribbling skills, good offense, etc. At the end of the game, the coach on each team gives out stars to his players. This time our Boy earned the Yellow star for sportsmanship. Makes a parent proud. He's the one in the white j...