Happiness

Happiness is standing on the sidelines and watching my boy play some soccer.

Happiness is watching my boy "break some ankles."

Happiness is seeing this beautiful smile after he blocks a shot.

Happiness is watching these guys celebrate a first place win.

Happiness is knowing we have found the perfect team. 

Happy Happy Day

Dear Keagan,

Happy Number Nine, Sweet Boy. May this year be as wonderful as the last.

May your passion for basketball be as strong tomorrow as it is today.

May your incredible sense of humor continue to bring us joy and endless hours of laughter.

May your amazing gift of athleticism bring you many more accolades and wins.

May your persistence and desire to do well in school continue to push you to excel academically.

May your infectious personality continue to bring cheer to those you see.

May your kind heart and love for others be a beacon to those in need.

May you always be you.

We are blessed beyond measure to know you and super proud to call you ours! We wish you the happiest of happy birthdays, Keagan!

Bring It On

Oh, how I have missed soccer! I love this game more than I ever thought possible. I would never admit it to the boys, but if they played soccer exclusively, I wouldn't mind one bit. The start of a new season is always exciting, but this fall we are with new clubs. Yep, that's right. Clubs. We couldn't find one club with a team for both so Keagan is playing for a team in Tennessee and Evan is playing for a club out of Kentucky.  Just call me crazy.

Keagan's first friendly with his new club was today. His favorite move is the pull back, but this weekend he had a scissor move and a couple of headers. He even scored a couple of times. I won't lie. It was very difficult to pull on the white/red jersey when our heart still bleeds blue.

Evan's first friendly for his team was today, too. I'll just go ahead and tell you he secured a starting position when he blocked a shot in the goal (while our goalie was on the ground) with his head! The crowd went wild, or maybe it was just me that did all of that cheering. No, it was the entire sidelines, including the other team who had just been robbed of a perfectly great goal. 

Our first tournaments are next weekend. I have already begun my stretching regime.

Month One Down...35 More to Go

Last week marked one full month in Tennessee. I can't believe it has only been a month; Georgia seems so long ago. I know that over time these first few weeks will become a blur and our new home will become just home, and the newness will be lost in the day-to-day routine of school, work, and soccer.

After our first week here, Evan commented that he hadn't seen a black person since we left Georgia. He wanted to know where they all were. The boys then for the next three days were completely taken that they had been to the various places in town and had not seen one African American. Later that same week we stopped at the grocery store and in the middle of the produce section, Evan came up to me all big eyed and said, "Finally, Mom! I see a black family!" This was interesting to me because neither boy made one comment the first time they saw an Amish family on the side of the road selling produce.

Speaking of Amish. We buy a loaf of their home made bread every time we hit the Farmer's Market. I also buy fresh churned butter. I'm thinking of converting for the bread and butter alone.

Keagan has several Asian girls in his class. He was convinced week one that they all spoke Japanese and had very little understanding of the English language. He told me last week he planned to greet them at school with "konichiwa" and teach them the hand signal for "deuces." Then he learned the Asian girl had a beginning of the year reading score as high as his own, and he decided learning Japanese might not be necessary after all.

I am completely taken by the corn fields that surround the area. There is something very beautiful about green fields as far as the eye can see. I wake up every morning to a window that overlooks a beautiful tobacco farm. Who knew tobacco could be so captivating?

Last, we have heard story after story about sink holes in the area. I never imagined I would live anywhere where access to the center of the earth was so readily available. However, streets, parks and even the interstate are closed from time to time to repair these huge holes in the ground. Forget violent storms and tornadoes. Evan's biggest fear is that the ground will swallow us one day while in the middle of the Family Feud's Fast Money Round.

One month down. I fully expect at least 35 more. Don't disappoint me, Uncle Sam.

Good Ole Country Boys and Clean Bathrooms

Today was the first day of school, a half day but a first day nonetheless. We toured the building and met the teachers last night. The boys' new school is 350 students over capacity, a dozen portables line the back of the five year old building, and Keagan doesn't have textbooks or a desk. BUT we are in the top rated school zone in the county. Apparently, so is everybody else.

Keagan reported he wasn't sure that he would be able to make many friends because when he introduced himself to the boy sitting next to him, he learned the boy is a big fan of the television show "Turtle Hunters." We have no idea what that is about, but the boy has promised to bring in episode 2 to share with the class. Keagan told me he had no idea kids in Tennessee could be more country than the kids in Georgia. He is also quite concerned that there are so many Asians in the school.

Evan was completely impressed with the bathrooms and couldn't believe that the urinals were separated by dividers. He went on to say that every janitor in the school needed a $50 pay raise because there was no pee on the floor. The kid was so taken by the level of cleanliness of the bathrooms that he couldn't remember much else about the first day.

Tomorrow is a holiday - I can't for the life of me figure out why - so the boys have one more day of summer vacation before "real" school begins.

A Tri and the Eye

On a whim the boys decided last month they wanted to do a triathlon - as in swimming, biking and running without stopping - just for the fun of it. It made me breath heavy just thinking about it, but they envisioned this as a fun way to spend a Saturday morning. 

After a few bike rides around the neighborhood this past week, the boys deemed themselves fully prepared for today's event. 

Nothing could have prepared us for the super dilemma of wearing swim caps, though. After first refusing to wear the cap, Keagan overheard a conversation that amounted to you'll have a faster time with a swim cap, and he decided he had to have one, too. After several attempts, we managed to pull these things in place without too many grumbles or bad words.

Then it was time to line up.

Don't let the calm, cool, and collected look trick you. Keagan was a nervous wreck waiting for his turn in the water. But then that song came on over the loud speakers, "The Eye of the Tiger", and he was ready to kick some tail.

At one point he told me he liked the old music, but ghetto music would really have him better prepared to win.

The swim smoked the boys, but once they got finished with the water portion of the race, the bike ride and the run were pieces of cake.

Evan later asked why the swim was so difficult for him, and I had to gently remind him that going to a splash park the week before a tri doesn't really amount to training.


Let me just take a moment to be "that" mom. IF the time had been kept, both boys would have placed first in their age divisions. Their performance amazed me considering their training consisted of nothing but extended periods of time in front of the TV watching the Game Show Network.

If it wasn't the rigorous training that put them over the edge, then I guess we can assume it was the music. "The Eye of the Tiger" is our new theme song and t-shirts with gold tiger transfers will be our next pre-sporting event uniform.

Prodigal Cat

Last Saturday Maybelle went for a walk. I thought for sure she would be back home by Sunday evening, and when we still hadn't seen her on Monday, Wes and I assumed the worst. On Tuesday Keagan was beside himself with worry and sat on the couch staring at a picture of his cat with tears streaming down his face. I was saddened with the loss of our first family pet, but I couldn't help but think that damn thing left after I had just spent a $100 on her at the vet's office.

And yet we woke up every morning looking for the cat, searching the backyard for any small movement and walking the cul-de-sac calling her name. Keagan continued his nightly prayers asking God to lead Maybelle from the woods to our back porch. He kept the faith - even when Evan so delicately stated, "The cat's dead, Keagan. Time to move on."

After one full week, a FULL WEEK, the long lost cat returned. It was indeed a miracle. There was much celebration and hugs and scratches under the neck. We didn't kill the fattened calf, but we did purchase a new cat brush to celebrate her return. Soon the boy and his cat were fast asleep, sleeping side by side like they have done countless nights.

She was dead but alive again; she was lost but now she's found.