I didn’t get around to my Three Things Thursday post so I’m posting one more thing and one day later. (It could reasonably be called Four Things Friday but I was trying to start something new last week. This could be similar to the new holiday traditions that get started & then fizzle out after one year for whatever reason.)

THING # 1: The boys really, really love to play basketball this year. They spend many hours every day shooting baskets & playing games (P-I-G & more). Our neighbor is NOT fond of them playing basketball (or parking in front of his house!) & makes frequent comments. Yesterday, he said, “Basketball season is over! You should be playing baseball!!” Jared quipped back, “Yea, but I like basketball!” He can’t growl at Jared in quite the same fashion as he does Ryan.

THING #2: We are trying to make progress in scouting over the summer. Chris has everything done for his Eagle project except putting the packet together & two partial merit badges. We went to the downtown library (with genealogy room) yesterday & looked up our ancestor who actually lived in Greenville county, South Carolina! While walking the stacks & perusing books, we found a book called Pocahontas’ Descendants. Jared is pondering why his name is not include in the book even though he IS related to Pocahontas.

THING #3: We have been spending some time at the pool each week. I have good friends who spend lots of time every day at the pool. I admire their tenacity but I just get hot & grouchy & sunburned when I spend too much time there. We went last week with our neighbor (Michael) & three kids from baseball (Kennedi, ALec, & Austin). We had a good time. I was trying to get the kids to do the Synchronized Running Leap pose but Ryan has decided that he’s too cool to be photographed & he quickly jumped in.

THING #4: In a series of exciting events, we have had several things go wrong in the last few months. You may remember the incident of the flying trampoline times two, the transmission that can never be properly repaired, the debit card that was skimmed, and the forever-at-Lake-Jocassee lost camera. Now, we have an air conditioner that spilled water onto the hardwood in the basement. Because we don’t live in the basement, it took 24-hours before we found it & it was quite a mess! Luckily we have an extra box of hardwood & nothing totally disastrous happened. However, it’s just ONE MORE THING!

Lego Machines

Jared will disappear to his bedroom for hours & build elaborate Lego creations. The spaceship is his latest creation.

He really loves all things electronic so I am delighted when he chooses to do something else!

Maggie’s Run 2010 & 2011

Last year:

I was just starting to train with DJ (blue shirt & hat) and Wayne (white shirt & hat).

I was 10-15 pounds heavier.

I had not run many races.

I was almost 10 minutes slower @ 36:53

I started at the back of the pack with the strollers & a goal to complete the race.

I left my headphones home & had to run in silence.

I had nothing left to give for the last 0.5 mile.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This year:

I am lighter.

I am faster.

I started towards the front of the group with a goal to break 30 minutes.

I made a playlist with a bunch of favorite music (which did not seem to play but at least I put some effort into it).

I felt faster for the last half mile & even raced a lady I’ve seen at the gym.

I yelled for joy when I crossed the finish line.

I am still filled with some self-doubt but I have learned that I am stronger & faster & capable of many things that I never imagined. Mostly I am just weary of getting injured again.

I blew away my 30” time goal & raced at 28:45 & earned a tote bag for 5th place in my age group. (Yippee for small races!)

 

I will post another picture (no light post growing out of the top of my head?) when I find them online. A photographer was there taking pictures & I know she caught me grimacing & scowling as I plodded up the first insane hill.

Compromise

Last Saturday we had a jam-packed day. Chris had his final driver’s training class. Ryan had a baseball tournament & was supposed to be at scout camp until Saturday morning. Scott had a baseball tournament, YSA lake day activity & dance, & a court of honor. Jared just stayed with us as the family mascot. And I was the ride & schedule coordinator.

The toughest part of the whole day was deciding how much time to spend at each event. Baseball is not the most important thing on the planet. However, Scott made a commitment to his friend Tripp to help coach Ryan’s travel ball team. Scott had not been to one tournament (of four) this spring/summer season. Scott was able to sit in the dugout with the kids, keep the books, & teach some of the mental parts of the game. As a bonus, Ryan’s friend Michael was playing in the tournament as a guest player. The boys won both games on Saturday (choirs singing!) & eventually won the entire tournament. The kids were truly able to work together as a team & were not plagued by negativity throughout the day.

Ryan had a great tournament. They played four games & won three – two on Saturday, two on Sunday. [Note: Ryan is fortunate enough to play for a coach that honors our family’s desire to not play on Sunday. One of my friends mentioned to me yesterday that we had never made an exception – I think that this has helped our cause. Many people in the south go to church on Sunday, but afterwards many people go out to eat dinner at a restaurant. Part of my explanation of our belief in keeping the Sabbath day holy has included explaining that we don’t even go out to eat dinner. I am grateful that BYU has always stood their ground – explaining that we attended BYU helps too.]

Chris went to his driver’s training class via good friends driving him to & from the hotel where the class is held. The movie was about the consequences of unsafe driving (alcohol-related) & mentioned nothing of texting & driving (a little outdated). Chris saw lots of blood & gore & reported that he passed out for about 30 seconds & the instructor just laughed it off. (The teachers are all retired police officers.) Now we just need to pick a date & go down & get his license (hooray – Mom is ready!).

After Ryan’s game, we hopped in Scott’s car & rushed down to the lake day activity at Lake Keowee. We always try to be at every YSA activity & dance. We got lost & missed more than half the activity & all of the dance. I feel a little less guilty because there are leaders from every ward that should be there (they know, right?) & there were a lot of great people from the other stake that were there. This activity was the first that I can remember feeling so conflicted about. (… there was conference last year when I drove back & forth between Boiling Springs & home… and the time that we went to Six Flags without our kids… and…) After the lake, we hurried home & attended Justin’s eagle scout court of honor.

How do you balance supporting your kids in sports, honoring commitments to friends, & magnifying your church callings? How do you choose between lots of worthy goals & activities?

All that I do know is that I was really, really, incredibly tired by the time everything was finished.

Three Things Thursday

Sunday was Father’s Day & the kids had a blast goofing off with Scott after dinner. His day was pretty uneventful – we went to church, he went hometeaching, & we had home evening with the YSA’s. Scott is a great dad to our boys – I didn’t even know that I should be worried about that when I got married.

The YSA’s had a lake day activity at Lake Keowee on Saturday. We weren’t able to be there for the whole day because of a baseball tournament & a court of honor, but it was fun for the short time it lasted. Our friend MR invited Scott to take out his fun toy. (What are they called? jet skis?) I was able to ride behind Scott & had a blast!

This is what the sky looked like (without the crazy vertical lines where I merged the pictures from my iPhone) when I dropped the kids off at Mutual at church on Wednesday night about 7 p.m. The contrast between the stormy areas & the non-stormy areas was dramatic – the lighting on the far left image is more true-to-life. The clouds were moving faster than I could drive home. The wind was moving MY VAN across lanes of the freeway!! This has been the weirdest year for weather. I was very freaked out for the whole drive home. Scott & Ryan’s team were on the baseball field when the front moved in & they were soaking wet before they could gather up their gear & hop in the cars. (Ryan was at young men’s.)

Oh hail! Another storm…

We have had A LOT of freakish storms this year. The first one that stands out is the Mother’s Day storm. We were sitting beneath the windows with the YSA’s having home evening & watching the cool lightning storm. Suddenly we saw a flying trampoline hit the side of the house & then fall back down through the deck & land upside down on the lawn. If we would not have seen it, it would have been hard to believe. (And seeing a flying trampoline isn’t exactly common.) Miraculously, the trampoline hit between the windows on the back & only dented the eave of the roof. (Is that what the white edge –thingy is that is under the rafters?) If you look at the number of windows on the back of the house, you might be impressed at how miraculous it was that the trampoline did not hit a window. A few days later we had hail that fell like stones from the sky. (Jared’s pained face tells you that the hail was cold!) The insurance company visited us & agreed to buy new siding for the back façade & a new trampoline. They looked at the roof & decided that it was good enough to not buy a new one.

On the way down to Florida for Memorial Day, the skies were very impressive. We did not suffer any effects from it, but I took pictures because they were very amazing clouds.


Almost every day starts sunny & hot. Each afternoon the clouds roll in & the magic starts to happen. The winds blow & swirl & the rain comes. Lightning crashes. We get nervous. Last week the backyard was SUNNY & raining while the front yard was dark & raining. When the storm went away, we were happy to see the trampoline still firmly planted on the ground. The kids & I went downstairs into the basement to continue watching TV & playing on the computer, but we stayed far away from the windows until everything stopped.
Last night I drove up to scout camp to see Ryan & take him some snacks. I mentioned to Nikko’s dad that the sky was looking darker & a storm was coming. He told me that he was pretty sure the storm was already passed & that we would have no problem. I stayed a bit longer. We heard noise from the other side of the field we were sitting behind. IT WAS HAIL!!! We hurriedly ran to the nearby shelter & watched an amazing storm. For a 0:10 second video of the hailstorm, click here. (Turn your speakers down!)

When it was finished, it looked like the ground was awash with Dipp'in’ Dots. (in my dreams!!!) We tried waiting out the storm but the lightning & the rain were pretty constant. We finally borrowed the scoutmaster’s umbrella & trotted to the car. (How fast can you run holding an umbrella, a cooler, & be followed by an 8-year-old with holey shoes?) This morning as we looked out in the backyard? Our trampoline had taken flight again – this time into the grove of trees in the backyard. The big basketball hoop had tipped over onto Scott’s parking space and a lot of trees lost their branches.
Chris is finally down to his final orthodontic adjustment. The power was out in the office this morning because a tree was on the power lines. The hygienist (?) said that she had softball sized hail last night.
I never ever want to see a tornado. These storms are very localized & it seems that they are all localized over our backyard. Crazy! We have had more crazy weather this year than ever before. I have always scoffed at the tornado warnings… now we have a plan & know where to go & plan to hang out. My friend’s little boy was thinking about all of our storms. “He said,  I hope [the] Smith's house is okay after that storm last night!” Sweet – we hope it stays that way too!