Picture of the Week - 7/30/2015

Why yes, our schedule IS about to go all kinds of football-crazy.  And I seriously couldn't be more excited about it.

Spencer has been in football for months and months, but things are getting serious now!  3 hours a day, every day, kind of serious!  His first scrimmage is a week from Saturday down in Camden County GA.  They pretty much grow football players down there, so it should be a great experience for the team.  The competition will be great - not to mention getting to travel on a fancy bus, stay in a hotel, and enjoy all kinds of gross, stinky, boy-bonding activities - all without parents around.  The coaches don't even want the parents staying in the same hotel.  Coach said "For those couple of days, the boys are mine."  Well OK then...

Zane had his first football practice on Tuesday night.  You guys, he's SOOOOO cute.  I can't stand it.  The whole team - a bunch of little cuties!  I don't think Spencer was ever that little and cute.  I about died of the cute-overload!  Zane did great.  It's really a win if you can get a 5 year old through the whole practice without quitting or crying.  Zane hung right in there.  He got absolutely destroyed more than once.  (Remember there are kids on a K/1 team that have never played before, but also some who are returning after a whole year of experience.)  I'm talking, total-pancake, flat on his back, destroyed.  But he got right back up and went again.  He listened to the coaches and tried to do everything they asked.  He made me totally proud!

PS - Yes, Zane is going to be a Wolverine.  No, we do not yell "Go Blue".  No, we do not consider moving to avoid having a family of Wolverines.  It's just not that big a deal...

After practice Bob was telling him how awesome he looked and how much fun we had watching him.  He mentioned that we were really proud that he didn't quit.  He replied, "Dad, I'm a Bovenizer.  And Bovenizers don't quit."  Amen, little man!  (And remind me to thank Spencer for teaching him that gem!)


Speaking of Spencer, Zane's evening was not complete - as in he WOULD NOT GO TO BED - until Spence got home from practice.  Little brother really wanted to share his experience with his idol.  And Spence was so good about it.  He listened and was (I think) genuinely pleased and excited that Zane had fun - and didn't suck.  Watching the two of them share this common thing - which I hope will turn into a shared love - was another of those mom-moments that I hope I never forget.  It's another of those times I feel more than blessed to get the opportunity to raise 4 boys.  Another reminder of how lucky they are to have each other.  I love those crazy kids!

This weekend we have football practice for Zane and then a mostly quiet couple of days.  I am going to try hard to avoid the temptation to pick up a brush and start painting again.  We accomplished a TON over the last couple of weekends, but I think we all need a little downtime before school starts - a week from today.  Yes, Thursday we will put 3 of our 4 boys onto buses and wish them well as they start another year.  Wow!

Here are a couple of before and after pictures of our painting remodel.  We still need to do the little hallway off the kitchen leading to the toy room and the upstairs hall landing.  And all the trim in the foyer/dining room.  I'm pretty sure we are going to outsource the two-story foyer walls, stairwell, and ceilings.  I'm hoping we can get the whole thing done by Christmas.  Gonna be tough as our "free time" just evaporated.

Have a great week everyone!!

Picture of the Week - 7/23/2015

Super short email today.  I'm still away from home at an all week meeting and have had almost NO downtime this week.  It's been a long, exhausting week.  BUT it's been awesome - no seriously - as tired as I am, I am so thankful to have been able to go through this meeting with all of these people.  The timing has been great because I've gotten to meet a ton of people!  All good stuff.  But I am really missing my boys!!!

Speaking of boys, here are a couple of cute pictures of Zane.  He had his football physical (doesn't he look tall???) and evaluations this week.  We should find out who his coach will be this weekend - not that it really matters.  We don't know the K/1 coaches yet - so we're just looking forward to getting started.  And he is so excited!  Yay!!

Have a great week everyone - stay cool!  We will be looking forward to a more normal week next week.  Phew!

Picture of the Week - 7/16/2015

Another newsy kind of update this week.

1. Work - I am slowly getting settled in.  We are getting used to the routine a little more every day.  The commute is still bad, but getting better.  I am going to be shifting to an early schedule as I start to wrap up some transitioning activities.  I have found this week that if I can leave my house by 6:30, I can make it down here in great time.  That departure time probably needs to be earlier when the summer is over and school traffic picks back up, but I'll figure that out when August gets here.  It's a good thing we are morning people!  The evenings are a little more challenging.  I will eventually be moving to a schedule that allows me to leave the office around 3-3:30.  This should put me in front of the worst of the evening rush hour and get me home in time for our hectic evening activities.  For now, I'm still too new to just up and leave every day, but we will get there!  There is also going to be more travel in this job.  Nature of the company and the position...  My development team is in Edinburgh - so be on the lookout for updates from the Scottish Highlands.  I guess on the bright side, the boys are easier now than they were the last time I had a job that required lots of travel.  The downside of travel, well...  there are plenty.  But all things considered, I have been very happy with my introduction to this job.  I am more convinced that this is going to be a good fit than any of the other new positions I've taken over the last 10 years.  And that's a good feeling!

2. Spencer - Spence is enjoying his last "free" week before the official start of the football season.  I have to kind of laugh because we've had football activities going on now since January.  So it's more than a little misleading to say that his season is just starting.  Up until now, however, all the stuff has been optional.  Monday starts mandatory DAILY practice.  He's ready.  We are all pretty excited - even if it does mean that we probably won't have weeknight dinner together again until November.  Here's a picture of the Lift-a-Thon from last night.  Today he's off at a team building paint ball event.  Monday they buckle down and get ready for the season.  His first scrimmage is a short 3 weeks from Saturday!  Goodbye summer.  You will be missed.

3. Quinn - Q has been going through a lacrosse camp this week.  He's having a blast with it - largely because he's a bit older than most of the other kids participating and a whole lot faster than they are.  Speed is a great thing!  He's kind of a camp superstar.  It's always so nice to see him getting a confidence boost.  He's going to be playing lacrosse this fall.  LAX season is officially in the spring, so fall lacrosse is a much more laid back affair.  It's more developmental - more training.  Lots of fun.  The mighty is moving up to U13 this year - which is the next age group.  He's small for that group, but he's fast and nimble.  It will be pretty fun to watch.

4. Zane - Zane is gearing up for his own changes this fall - and they are big ones.  Zane goes to evaluations for his own football program on Saturday.  He'll be playing on a K/1 team just like Spencer did 7 years ago.  He's also getting ready for Kindergarten.  Craziness!  He has just 2 short weeks before we get to go meet his teacher and show him how to ride the bus and all that fun school stuff.  He's so excited.  Here's a picture of Zane and Beck playing lacrosse one night.  He's a great little instructor to Beckett (partly because he's a wee bit bossy and partly because he doesn't forget anything his coaches have ever said to him), but I think at some point the student is gonna surpass the teacher with those two.  Beck is a beast!

5.  Beckett - Speaking of Beck, he's still crazy.  He is still more ornery than any of this brothers.  We still get about a note a week from his daycare teachers about some kind of trouble he's gotten into.  Yesterday he put his sheet over his head while everyone was getting ready for nap time and proceeded to run around the room.  He, of course, smacked into something since he couldn't see anything and ended up with a bloody nose for his transgressions.  When we correct him for these things he simply looks at us and says, "I'll make good choices tomorrow."  Yeah...  right...  Despite the fact that he seems to be constantly in trouble at school, his teachers love him.  In fact, I think he's taken over the position of Favorite Bovy Boy with Ms. Karen - knocking Quinn right off that pedestal.  It's really hard not to love him because he is freaking adorable.  I fear that Beckett is going to have a bit of a rough fall.  he's already worried about how much he's going to miss Zane at Goddard.  My bigger fear is that he's going to want to be doing all the things his brothers are doing - and he's just not old enough.  He wants to play "carosse" and he wants football pads more than I can say.  Keeping him off the fields t his fall is going to be a huge challenge.  Here's a picture of Beck and Zane the evening that Zane's new practice football pants came in the mail.  They insisted on getting all suited up - cleats, pants, helmets - and spent half and hour slamming into our football practice dummy - and each other.  They finished the evening sweaty and tired and happy.  Just the way I like them!

 

 

Have a great week everyone!  I am at an offsite, all week, all-hands annual meeting next week.  I will try to get a POTW out on Thursday, but worst case, I should have some time on Friday.  Say a little prayer for Bob.  He's got the boys solo all week.

Picture of the Week - 7/9/2015

Wow - has it already been 7 days since the last POTW?  This week is flying!

I started my new job on Monday.  So far it's been really awesome - despite the fact that my commute effectively doubled.  It's been taking me about an hour to get home in the evenings.  Yuck!  It won't be so bad after things settle into a regular routine.  Right now I am in boot camp, which is on boarding.  It's easily the best new hire training program I've been through.  This company has impressed me several times already and I'm getting more and more comfortable that this was a good decision - even if it means giving up what's left of my precious summer downtime this year.  I'm hoping that by Labor Day I will be in a routine and will be able to avoid some of the worst of the Atlanta traffic.  (I know...  pipe dream...)

We got the big boys back from camp last Saturday.  They seemed to have a good time - although by all accounts Spencer pulled the short straw in terms of cabin assignment.  This week they are doing a strength and conditioning camp at the high school and Spencer still has his football obligations.  It's been a tiring week for him.  Quinn has resumed all his activities with his buddies.  He's put more miles on his bike this summer than Bob's put on the van!

The little boys are great and mostly pretty easy.  Lately they have spent their evenings bouncing between playing in the toyroom (current obsession is dinosaurs and knights - together) and hanging out with the big boys in the basement.  I think they have enjoyed having Quinn's friends over almost as much as Quinn has.

There's nothing overly exciting coming up this week.  I will have lots of chores and house stuff to catch up on this weekend.  It's been quite a while since I had a week as busy as this one at work and I'm behind on laundry and cleaning and groceries.  Thank goodness Bob doesn't mind picking up dinner duty for a little while!  At least the boys will eat!

Have a great week - and hopefully I will have something more interesting to share soon.  Here's a cute little picture I took over the weekend of the little guys with my parents.  Beck is SUPER attached to my mom right now.  It's pretty adorable.  If she's in his vicinity, he's touching her or sitting on her.  I don't think she minds too much.

Picture of the Week - 7/2/2015

Happy July!

I hope you are all looking forward to a nice holiday weekend!  I am definitely looking forward to the weekend - because we get the big boys back.

They have been at camp since Monday - so really only a couple of evenings, but it's SOOOO weird in the house without them here.  (It's also much easier...  even when left with the more needy 2, 2 is way easier than 4... without a doubt!)  But it's not right.  I miss them slamming around in the kitchen.  I miss them hanging out in the evenings.  I miss Quinn's hugs and even Spencer's attitudes.  I don't really miss the mess...  I have my limits!  Also, it's kind of nice for a half gallon of ice cream to last more than 3 days...

The little boys are especially missing their brothers.  Beck asks every day where Quinn is.  Zane wants to watch them play video games.  Our 6 person kitchen table is feeling too big, but it's pretty funny that the little guys have preserved their brothers' self-assigned seats.  LOL

It will be good to get our family back to whole again on Saturday.  In the meantime, Bob and I are going to take advantage of the missing kiddos with a date night tomorrow.  We're planning on heading down to the Atlanta Botanical Gardens to see the Bruce Munro light exhibit while Zane and Bucky get a little Berber and Pappy time.  A date night - with an actual destination - seems like a very fitting way to celebrate and relax before I start my new job next week.*

Here's a picture I made the boys recreate from several years ago when Beck was just a baby.  I suppose it's true that absence makes the heart grow fonder because I sure do love these crazy boys.  I can't wait to hear about all their adventures this week!

Have a very safe and happy 4th of July weekend!

*If anyone is interested, I'll be working for a company called Craneware.  They provide Revenue Cycle Management software to hospitals.  I will be a Solution Owner managing a suite of software products.  Roughly the same job as I've had for years - but with a more expansive set of products and lots more revenue.  I'm getting pretty excited about it!