Catchin' Up

When one boy plays a tourney out of town and the other boy remains behind, the late Sunday afternoons reunions are the best! They laugh, tell jokes, recap the weekend highlights, and then this. 

Sunday night they were up until 11:00 doing this! 

Best of friends. Family. Brothers.

Liberty Cup

Fall soccer is in full swing even though we are technically still in summer. We were assigned a new coach and have three new players on our team. All of this month Keagan has questioned his new coach's decisions. He's been frustrated and just not very happy with the team. Until this weekend. Winning seems to always change your perspective. 

Even with a rolled ankle, a swollen foot, and lots of discomfort, Keagan was able to contribute big plays this weekend. 

 He has the heart of a lion and epitomizes the meaning of team captain, the role his teammates chose for him. 

When soccer falls on a Sunday and we are not able to make it to church, we attend Soccer Church. One of the parents leads the devotion and the parents and kids pray together in between games. We have met in conference rooms, hotel lobbies, and empty soccer fields. This week's lesson covered our MVP - most valuable possession.

Love this team, these boys, the parents, and the coach is growing on us!

Eclipse of the Heart

We started our day with doughnuts to officially christen Keagan into teen hood. I'm still in a bit of shock that my baby is now a teenager.

Then it was time for the best part of any birthday: presents!

To top it off, Keagan got to celebrate his 13th birthday with the Great American Eclipse of 2017!

We spent our day hanging in the yard with my mom and my cousin's family awaiting totality.

We tried every trick we heard to view the various phases: colander, handtricks, pinhole projectors, and glasses. 

When the sun was three-quarters blocked, the cicadas started chirping and the frogs came out croaking - just like it was sunset!

The 360 degree sunrise/sunset was stunning!


The entire neighborhood cheered once we reached totality. It was spectacular! I totally understand the NPR reporter's use of the word giddy to explain the feeling of seeing a total eclipse. I first heard his report and thought he was ludicrous to suggest that the sun and moon could make me giddy, but I can concur that this is exactly how I felt.

The Great American Eclipse 2024? I'm there!

State League

The first state league game of the fall season kicked off today, and our boys won 4-0. This is going to be a great season. As Evan says, this team is for keeps! #NFC02Gold

Celebrating 13 Years

Today we are celebrating 13 years with the guy that can always make us laugh and put a smile on our faces. 13 years! Weren't we just celebrating Keagan's  third birthday with a "Pissin' Cup" theme? Ten years later and he is still the life of the party. He still likes fast cars. He still confuses the English language.

This year his birthday request of carrot cake was granted by Oma. (The cake arrived safely intact but was soon attacked and was not presentable for a birthday pic.) 

We celebrated with a couple of games of AirSoft with some of his best friends.

Oh, my heart! I love him so! 

Keagan in the Kitchen

Keagan made dessert tonight - complete with a secret message. 

Anybody want to take a guess? 

He made it all on his own, but he had one hiccup with the Cool Whip and needed some advice. When he found me on the back porch, the first thing I noticed was the chocolate on his mouth, his chest, and belly. He called them his "cooking scars."

He claims his Mudd Pie is the best ever made.

First Day of School

Look at these handsome guys! It's the first day of ninth and seventh grades. Middle school AND high school! Clearly I'm not old enough for this to be possible. 

I remember when the were ages 5 and 3, and I thought that this was surely the best time to be a mother. I really thought it just couldn't be a more fun time and age. But I'm loving the teenage years just as much. Keagan is still funny and Evan still surprises me! Every. Day.

Keagan has been waiting for the new school year to begin for weeks; he was ready to see his friends again. Now that he has caught up with them, he's ready for summer to resume. 

Evan was not thrilled about returning to school, and to make matters worse, day one included a pep-rally. He was ready to crawl right back into bed.

His hair was lit, though, y'all!

I pray they have a wonderful year filled with lasting memories!

Kickin' Off Soccer Season

Here's the newest Tennessee soccer ref! And he passed on his first attempt! He was stressed about questions pertaining to birds flying on the field, goalies playing the field, and broken crossbars for nothing.

He carried the newly earned patch onto the sidelines of Evan's game to show Wes (and anybody else that wanted to ask about it).

After dinner, we had lemon cake to celebrate - "my first real job."

Evan got recertified this morning and kicked off the fall season this afternoon with his first friendly. 

He had a great game and has already made marked improvement training under our new coach.

The boys won 7-0. This is what winning looks like.

I promise they are happy.

Tonight I received a text from Evan's coach telling me how proud he was of Evan and today's performance. I can't even begin to tell you how happy we are with this move and this coach! 

This team is on a quest to win state!