Basketball Camp

 Colin has spent the last 5 summers in basketball camp. This year we signed him up at Virginia Tech.  He was pretty excited. So was his mother!

 I know I am a little biased but I was incredibly impressed by how well this camp was run.  It was so well organized and friendly.  The kids went all over campus playing games at War, Cassell, and Hahn Hurst Center. He also ate at D2 and couldn't wait until lunch each day to pick out what he wanted to eat.  I told him wait until we take him to West End to eat!  He is fully ready I think to begin college.

 

 The last day they had some of the players sign autographs. These players were also the coaches so it'll be extra fun to go watch the games this year.

 

 Bede was Colin's coach and was just amazing with the kids. He is my new favorite player!

Colin wanted to stay and be signed up for another week but we had to get back for a swim meet. He had a great time and learned a lot.

9th Birthday

This sweet boy turned 9 a few weeks ago.  He has been so excited for his birthday but trying to figure out what he wanted to do was hard.  He finally he choose canoeing and Pungo Pizza and then a sleepover.   All were boys from our swim team.  Brent and I took them to the park and unfortunately we didn't realize that each canoe had to have 1 adult in it so we loaded up 1 canoe and 1 paddle boat with 3 kids each.  Brent and I each took a boat and we headed out for a few hours.  I told my canoe that I had one rule:  that they weren't allowed to tip me in this canoe or paddle boat (we switched boats halfway) And if they did tip me that I would tell their swim coach and would make sure they all swam a 500 fly that night at swim practice.  I also told them I knew they were all strong swimmers so everyone was on their own because I had seen snakes in that water and I would most likely be the first one out of the water and would be waiting for them on the bank of the river. They didn't try to tip the canoe.

After an afternoon of canoeing and paddle boating, then PuttPutt, Pungo Pizza and arcade and THEN swim practice from 8-10pm you would think they would all be worn out but nope! They didn't go to bed until 1:30am and then we had a swim meet the next day until 11pm.  We were all in bed early that next night!

But Joel had a blast and he just smiled the whole day.  And we were so glad.  Its been a rough year for him. He dealt with a lot of bullying this year. Third grade wasn't too kind to him.  We are praying for a much better fourth grade.  It was mainly at recess.  Joel doesn't enjoy playing pick up football so he would go to the playground and play. There they play a game called infection (which is mainly tag) and then whatever game someone makes up. He once made up a game called Waffle and everyone started playing it. After a few days he wanted to change some of the rules to make it more fair (Joel has always been about life being fair. He is the champion of unfairness) but some of the kids wouldn't let him and then wouldn't let him even play the game.  Joel was put out because he was the one who made up the game but Joel wouldn't bend on wanting to change the rules. That type of stuff happened all year. He was either in the group or kicked out of the group. His mood when he came home was dependent on what had happened at recess that day.

 He also got a lot of teasing about being bigger than other kids his age with kids calling him fat.  One kid called him retarded all year on the bus.  Another kid kept calling him sushi roll which he didn't like.  I told him I would talk to his bus driver but he refused and said "see this is why I don't tell you stuff" and then told me he would take care of it.  Well he took care of it. He told the guy he didn't like sushi roll but he would take being called soy sauce.  And that was the end of that. The kid called him soy sauce a few times then stopped calling him anything after that.  Joel took care of it.

Its hard because we saw Joel's confidence start to slowly crumble all year.  He has always struggled with anxiety but it started to get so bad that he didn't want to go anywhere.  Now he's always been a homebody, perfectly fine staying home and playing. But this year it was a struggle to get him to go anywhere.  And got worse and worse as the year went on.

So there have been many nights of praying for wisdom and guidance on how to parent and lead this boy.  There were many times Joel would ask me "why did God think this family was the best place for me" and I would think to myself - I'm asking God too because I feel so inadequate right now.

Joel, I want you to know how special we think you are and how very glad we are that God DID put you in our family.  We are humbled that God thought we would be the best parents for you. To be honest sometimes I question why as well but I also think how boring our life would be without you. You bring so much joy to our lives.  No one can make Colin laugh so hard or make Norah so mad! There is such a sweet sensitive side to you that struggles with your harsh honeybadger attitude so we are learning together what that looks like day to day.  But I cant wait to see where God uses that in your future.   I am constantly in awe of how your brain works and your view on the world. And I just love your snuggles and your hugs. You give the best hugs. You also have no filter (which can be both good or bad) but it is nice to know exactly where you stand on everything. We always said when you were little that no one would make you do anything you didn't want to do and that still rings true today. No amount of convincing or bribing can make you change your mind on anything.

Before you were born Ant Ant had people write letters to you that she put in a scrapbook.  I got it out the other day to read and Aunt Angela's letter stood out to me answering the question why did God put you in this family:

"Dearest Little Joel,
God made dirt for you to play in, worms for you to grab.
He made slides and swings and monkey bars and balls for you to throw.
God gave you a mommy and daddy to chase you around every day!
He made a big brother to teach you and help you to grow.
Especially to teach you those things mommy didn't want you to know.
God gave you aunts and uncles to take you to football games and read you books.
He gave you a grandma and grandpa, to love you and fill your belly with chocolaty treats.
But most of all God gave you life in Him through His Son.
And He wants you to know that He loves you very very very much.
God gave you us to support you, and to help you come closer to Him.
He gave you us to LOVE you!
We love you little Joel!
And we welcome you into His creation!"


And oh how much we love you Joel! What a gift it is to be your parents.

4th of July

We spent the 4th of July with Ant Ant and Uncle Jeff in Yorktown.

 We got up early and drove over to watch the parade

 Joel left his flag for Ooo-Eee

 This spot is where we always sat and watched the 4th of July parade with Grandma and Grandpa. They were friends with the people who owned that house.  It was just turned into a Bed and Breakfast which would be fun to come stay at sometime.

 We spent the rest of the day swimming at the pool and playing with Addie.  Then we set off some fireworks and came home. A great 4th of July

Patriotic Dancer

Norah has been taking a tap/ballet class this past spring.  Her class got to perform a dance on stage before the fireworks show for the 4th of July.  She loves the class and wanted to go on stage but she hated her costume.  haha it wasn't as fancy as she would've liked.  I would also add that keeping their costumes clean and white while we were at the park waiting to perform made the parents also not like these costumes! ha! But they all did so well and we are so proud of our patriotic dancer.

 Ant Ant came and watched Norah's performance and spent the 4th with us. It was a fun night.  But I have to say Norah's ballet career might be over. She saw the Jazz class perform and they wore sequin tank tops and wore cool sunglasses so ballet is now out and Jazz is in!

Julia comes to visit

We have had an extremely busy summer so far. Its all good things but we are enjoying a day at home with nothing to do. But I want to record all we've done so hopefully I'll get all caught up soon with pictures.

Early in June Julia wrote me and asked if she and the boys could come visit for a few days.  Its been two years since we've last seen them. We quickly said yes and enjoyed every minute they were here.  We wish they could've stayed longer.  They came the first week after school was out and it was the perfect way to start our summer. 

The kids played so well together.  It was supposed to rain the whole time they were here but we worked around it and had some great beach weather.  The kids played in the water and Julia and I sat and caught up. Its great to have friends where you can pick up right where you left off and not feel like a day had gone by between visits.

These two were so cute together

Lifelong friendships are such a gift! It went by way too fast.  Julia is such an encouragement and it was the best way to start our summer.  Texas is too far away!