Thanksgiving

If this is any indication of a wonderful Thanksgiving, then ours was great. Within twenty minutes of eating his dinner and two pieces of pie, I found Evan like this.

This year we were blessed to have family travel to our house. Wes pulled duty on Thanksgiving day so that his guys could enjoy the day with their own families. Thankfully the phone did not ring and Wes was able to enjoy the day with us as well.

Today we said our good-byes to the extended family.

We had a wonderful traditional meal of fried turkey and all of the sides, the kids made turkey cookies, and we watched the Cowboys lose. We took the loss all in stride, though, with the consumption of a lot of alcohol. Well, everyone but Evan. Unfortunately, he couldn't bury his sorrows with any beer.

A Cowboy win or loss is really insignificant. Our family has so much more in which to be thankful.

Family, History, and the Great Outdoors

Family, history, and the great outdoors. Three of my favorite things all wrapped up into one! Today we spent the afternoon at a historical site walking through an old battlefield, watching boats on the Cumberland River, and searching the skies for eagles. It was a beautiful day to be outside!

Keagan gets extra credit for touring the Civil War battle site, so we made the hour long drive to the next county over and called it Family Fun Time. I don't know how much of the battle was actually learned. Keagan wanted to slide down the earthen trenches and run through the leaves more than he wanted anything to do with history.

Evan was not too happy about giving up his free day to spend it at a historical site, but I fed him Five Guys for lunch and he brightened up a bit. I told him he should be thankful; he didn't have to make two, count it! TWO, trips to Wal-Mart on the day before a major holiday. My sister and I did.

Keagan honed his photography skills; this one was by far the best.

Day five with the extended family of ten living in one house and everyone is still smiling. It is our holiday miracle!

Christmas Spirit

After church today, the weekend of family fun continued in the city where we saw "The Grinch." I thought for sure the weekend before Thanksgiving would be an easy weekend (free of traffic and crazy crowds) to try to drive to the Grand Ole Opry. I mean who is looking for Christmas spirit when everyone is still trying to find  a turkey for Thanksgiving? But it seems a lot of people are looking to experience Christmas spirit in November. We weren't the only ones trying to avoid the crowds.

Evan wasn't thrilled about spending a Sunday afternoon at the theater when the Cowboys were playing, but I spend every weekend driving him to soccer, football, or basketball games. I told him to deal with it. And he did. Then we came home and watched the Cowboys game on the DVR.

He's going to be super excited to learn we have family pictures scheduled for next weekend. That's my surprise I will break on Friday night.

Cold, That's All I Remember

I've never been so cold in my life. Four years in Germany and feet of snow on any given winter day, but that cold couldn't compare to this weekend's night football game. 

 

 

 

Six months ago it was 75 degrees and watching an Aggies football game at the Vandy stadium with the extended family sounded like a great idea! I was definitely rethinking that decision when all ten toes were so cold, they felt broken. 

Oh, the things we do in the name of fun! Not even the hot chocolate was hot, so we packed up at half time and watched quarter four in the comfort of home and heat.   

Land of the Free and the Brave

The annual Veterans Day program at the elementary school was held tonight. Keagan had a speaking part and narrated an introduction to the song "Blessed Peace." He nailed his lines.

When the invitation came home two weeks ago, Keagan tried his best to hide it. He didn't want to have anything to do with the program. Then a week prior to the performance the music teacher told him he had a nice singing voice, and she had a few lines for him to speak. At that point, I think he might have been happy to participate, but the teacher had a song that required them to perform a handkerchief routine. He was not happy about that.

He was one relieved boy at the end of the program - no more lines to worry with and no more jokes from his big brother about performing routines with colored streamers.

As for me, I saw it as another last. The last elementary school program.

Bringing Home the Trophy

Last night was the middle school football championships. The Hawks made it to the finals and played the team we had already lost to on two different occasions. None of us expected to win, but because the other team fully expected to win, they didn't and we did. The Hawks brought home first place! It was an exciting game and would have been even more exciting if Evan had played. However, he was benched after missing practices to attend his state league soccer game and his first middle school basketball game. Oh, the hardships of a true athlete!

Court Side

Tonight was the home opener for the middle school basketball season. I have to admit that last week's Jamboree was a teaser and had me more than ready to get back into the gym and basketball season (it might have had something to do with Evan's finger roll shot and our last minute come back), but about ten minutes into tonight's game, I was burning up, annoyed by the loud fans, and wishing I had my stadium seat. Let's just say I was quickly over basketball in the middle of game one of the season. Did I mention we lost? Yeah, we lost 28 to a lot.

However, my number 41 scored 12 points, blocked a shot, and had a few rebounds.  

He looked good, and I made sure everyone knew he was mine!

 

The more I think of spin moves, driving through the paint, and making Dirk shots,  the closer I get to welcoming the winter sport season and saying good-bye to the pitch. 

Ending on a High Note

My parents have watched my boys play soccer in more states than I can count. Saturday they watched Keagan play in Kentucky, and on Sunday they drove an hour out of their way to watch Evan play.

While waiting for Keagan's championship game on Sunday afternoon we had a couple of hours to kill, so we hiked the nature trails around Freeman Lake

and skipped rocks on the water. 

We ended our day with a championship. It was the perfect ending to our fall season. 

Old Kentucky Home

See? We do more than just play sports on the weekend! The teacher in me couldn't pass up a chance to tour a historical site; the brown highway sign was calling my name. 

So when we had free time between soccer games in this weekend's tournament, we took a short detour from the hotel and toured Abe Lincoln's birthplace. 

Keagan wanted to know how anyone, especially a president, could live in such a small place. Then, having enough of his history lesson and unable to resist running through the fall leaves on the wooded trails, he left the monument in a sprint, stopping only to roll down hills and kick up leaves. 

All of that after playing two soccer games. Now he's in the hotel pool. 

And I'm the one looking to take a nap. 

The Teen Years are Upon Us

I'm officially old today because I'm now the mother of a teenager. This is how I remember defining old about thirteen years ago, anyway, but I will take old any day for a chance to be a mother to this guy. He might be six feet tall and I might have to stand on tip-toe to kiss his cheek, but in my mind, he's still my baby boy, my amazingly talented baby boy. I have no idea how he's able to juggle playing three sports at one time, often working out four hours a day, all while taking advanced classes and maintaining straight As. But he does. He's more comfortable away from crowds, he loves to win an argument, he can throw out one-liners that leave us in stitches, and he loves the outdoors. He's a boy of few words, unless you want to debate anything related to sports. He can eat his weight in ice cream, swim like a fish, and shoot like a sharp-shooter.  Most importantly, I am incredibly lucky to call him mine!

Happy birthday, Evan! May you continue to grow into the godly young man He has chosen you to be.

Spooktacular Soccer

We spent the better part of the weekend on the pitch playing soccer. It was cold and rainy and miserable, but I suffered through it all in the name of fun. Keagan's team wore batman shirts, glow in the dark batman shirts no less, in honor of the holiday. 

Our Halloween turned real scary, though, when Keagan was put in goal. He can play a mean game as a wing or stryker, but a keeper he is not. 

He said he couldn't get the song lyrics "Got a real good feeling something bad about to happen" out of his head. He had no more stepped on the field when I heard him yell to the defenders "no shots, Guys, no shots." The defenders must have been just as worried because they didn't leave the back of the field the entire half. 

Luckily, the one shot on goal was soft and easily stopped. We left for home more relieved that he didn't have to dive, jump, or sacrifice his body to stop a shot than we were happy with the big win.