Picture of the Week - 8/26/2021

 What a great week!  

We have had so much good and wholesome and heart-filling this week!!  Yay fam!!

First, we finally heard from Spencer.  He's doing fine.  When people ask about him, they always first ask "is he having fun?" which I find kinda funny because this is not a fun-first kinda experience...  LOL  BUT he is good!  He has a good roommate with similar interests (Mechanical Eng major and doing Air Force ROTC) and has settled into life in the barracks.  Since he got his phone back we've talked nearly every day for a few minutes.  It's just enough to give me huge peace of mind that Spencer is still Spencer and is adjusting to life at a military college every bit as well as I had hoped he would.  We are really proud of him!  

This isn't to say there aren't challenges...  there are.  He's shared some of them and I'm sure there are others that he's keeping to himself.  I don't need to (or probably want to) know all the details.  What I do know is that he's got a really firm foundation and a really great support system (already) and is maneuvering around the hurdles in a very healthy way.  

PS - He's also started working out with the wrestling team and having a lot of fun with that.  Pretty special...

Second, football.  We are a couple of weeks into the season now and I think this year is going to be VERY fun!  The Bob/Beckett team has lots of friends on it we have made over the last 5 years.  It's really just so cool to watch these dudes grow up.  Zane is new to the coaching staff on his team, BUT he's played with many of the guys before and about a 3rd of them go to his middle school.  He is having an absolute blast.  He's playing on the line, which he has done for the last 7 years...  and it shows.  He is confident and competent - and occasionally pretty dominating.  His coaches tease him regularly about having "sexy tackles" and he is eating up the whole experience.  He also just got his first phone and went to his first middle school football game without parents in attendance.  Safe to say he's living his best 6th grade life!

And finally, sweet Quinn.  I am really enjoying senior year with Quinn so far!  I like his schedule and love the fact that he's having fun - while also focusing on SAT, school, and prep for wrestling season.  It's going to be a whirlwind of a year and I am ready for all of it!  (Except maybe the yearbook Senior Ad...  need to get on that...)  This year Quinn decided he was going to volunteer with me at church in Waumba Land (our baby-preschool rooms).  We are assigned to a group of 3 year olds and I LOVE everything about my Sunday mornings!!!  It is pretty fun to get to know a group of 3 year olds and help them have some fun while their parents are at service.  It's also amazing to watch Quinn with them.  I wish I could find the words to explain what watching him with those little bitties does to my heart.  Quinn has always been a care-taker, but seeing with my own eyes how he ENJOYS it and how they LOVE him just...  well I don't have words.  It's a gift and it's amazing and I can't wait to see what he does with it.  

This week...  Zane is off to 6th grade camp this weekend with his small group.  I am also off this weekend for a retreat with my small group.  I expect my version will involve less mud.  Bob/Beck have a game Saturday against a team coached by the dad of a kid Spencer played with in 6th grade.  It is weird because there are VERY few people we know from parent groups of BOTH our big boys and our younger set.  Should be fun to reconnect and I'm more than a little sad I will miss it.  

Here are a couple of pictures from the week.  The one of Spencer is a screen-grab from a Snapchat he sent me from when he was hanging out in one of his classrooms one day.  Classrooms are off-limits for the 4th class system, so he likes to find a quiet spot to hang out.  The boy is not dumb...  Zane picture with my parents is from his last game, where he earned Defensive player of the game after 3 sacks and a number of tackles-for-loss.  He was a beast in that game!  And the picture of Quinn and me is from last Sunday after our service.  I am so grateful that we get to spend that time together this year!  (ignore the fact that his poor face looked like he was in a fight...  it was from a wrestling practice.)

Have a great last week of August/start of September!

Picture of the Week - 8/19/2021

 I think we are finally settling into a little bit of routine around here.  There are still some rough spots in our weekly "stuff" that need a little smoothing out, but I don't think we have any "big" events happening now until Fall break.  Then our late Sept through Oct is a little cray-cray, but we will deal with that when it comes.

Beckett and Zane seem to be doing well with school so far and since we are hearing no complaints from kids or teachers, I'm going with a "no news is good news" philosophy!  They both launch their football seasons with scrimmages last Saturday and get their first real games in this weekend.  Bob is coaching Beck again, so I obviously love his team and coaches.  :)  And I am so so so happy Zane got onto the team he's on this year.  The kids are all meshing well, the coaches are awesome and I think it's going to be a really great year!

Quinn is also doing well - although he came down with a sinus infection earlier this week which had us all just waiting to see if this was a "get a covid test" kind of sickness or if it was the normal kind we have dealt with forever.  I think there's a lot of "normal sick" that causes far more stress than it really should because of the cloud of "covid concern" right now.  I'm pleased to report that after a few doses of mucinex and some ibuprophen, coupled with a day off school, he's back to healthy.  No doctor visit or covid test required...  just plain old Mom judgement and some TLC.  

Spencer - well we really don't know how he's doing.  We are a little more than halfway through Challenge week and will get to talk to him on Sunday evening.  In the meantime, I scour all the pictures people are posting to the various Facebook pages every morning like my life depends on it.  LOL  I'm not alone, there are entire groups of knob-moms out there supporting each other through this.  It's actually amazing!  It's comforting to know that there are others going through the exact same thing (or nearly) as we are - and that we will know these people for a really long time.  One of the more uplifting things that has been shared is from alumni and/or people with older kids who have graduated from The Citadel.  They have all said that there is something incredibly bonding about what these kids are going through.  It's not the normal "off to college" experience and results in lifelong bonds between classmates.  I LOVE that!  

We did get a little glimpse of him through a pretty round-about way yesterday.  All the knob (freshmen) athletes got to have lunch with their coaches yesterday.  This had to have been a pretty big deal because (for one thing) it was a break from the oversight of the cadre (the guys responsible for the training...  and discipline).  One of the coaches is friends with Charlie Morris, the guy who runs the wrestling training center our boys have gone to for years.  He sent a message (with the attached picture) to Charlie to let him know that Spencer is doing well.  Charlie, of course, because he's awesome, shared the picture with Bob.  The fact that he is smiling, coupled with the kind words about how Spence is starting to fit in with the team, meant the world to me!  And the guy doesn't even know I saw any of it...  LOL  

If I haven't said it recently, I will reiterate here that Spencer is in exactly the place he was meant to be and I think he's going to love every minute (well maybe not the running parts) of his time at The Citadel.

I thought I'd also share the family pictures we had taken just before Spencer left.  I haven't shared them yet because it took us a while to decide which ones to get printed and gift to others.  I didn't want to ruin any surprises.  I love them...  

Have a great week everyone! 

Picture of the Week - 8/12/2021

 Quick email as Spencer is waiting on me to get packed up and head out.  Oy...

We are leaving (as soon as I'm done here) to head down to Charleston.  We have a wrestling meeting tomorrow and then will get to have a nice dinner on Friday before tackling matriculation EARLY on Saturday.  It's here...  he's ready!

I never shared Zane's big adventure last week because back to school overshadowed everything last week.  As part of his Christmas present last year, he got an "experience gift" to go to the Sloth Experience up at the North Georgia Zoo.  We finally got that scheduled and he had a blast.  He got to feed and pet the sloths there - and also go to hang out with the rest of the animals including some brand new baby pigs.  I love that he enjoys stuff like that!!  

Quinn, Zane and Beck all seem to be settling into the new school year pretty well.  The schedules are still kind of all over the place and don't feel "normal" yet, but we are getting there!  The first day of school it took Zane 2 full hours on the bus to get home.  Yesterday it only took him about 75 minutes.  Still crazy, but we are dealing with a bus driver shortage and they really are doing the best they can.

The football season starts in earnest this weekend for ZnB too!  They have the annual jamboree happening - basically referee training scrimmages - and then the following weekend we start real games.  Both boys are really enjoying their teams this year and I think it's going to be a great season!

More next week - and I'll share if we get any pictures of drop off this weekend.  I've heard it's much faster and more formal than the drop off we had back in June, so I will be sure to get my goodbyes taken care of before we get in the car to head to campus Saturday morning.  I can't believe the time is here...

Picture of the Week - 8/5/2021

 Today is Back to School Day!!  

It's a big one for us!  Beck is starting 4th grade and is solo for the first time ever at Whitlow.  I hope this is an amazing year for him!  His teach has a pet bearded dragon in the classroom, so they have already bonded over reptiles.  LOL  Fun fact - this is our 14th straight year with at least one kid at Whitlow...

Zane is starting middle school at Vickery Creek this year.  It was pretty weird to be back in that building for open house.  I haven't been in there in a long time.  He seems appropriately anxious, but I know he's going to love some extra freedom and meeting a bunch of new friends.  And he has the locker-thing down pat already, so #winning.

Quinn is a senior at West this year and mostly self-managing already.  He's such an easy kid!!!  I can't wait to celebrate all the senior things with him.  It is going to be so much fun!

Spencer doesn't officially matriculate until next Saturday - and his classes don't start until August 23rd, but I made him get in the picture too.  I actually bent the "rules" a little and took this picture last night so I didn't have to get the big guys out of bed early this morning.  Isn't motherhood mostly just a series of "figure out how to make it happen" moments anyway?

Spence got home Tuesday evening and has spent most of his time with his buddies.  I don't blame him.  They are more fun than we are. :)  Tomorrow Bob and Quinn head to Pigeon Forge for a wrestling tournament and we have football practices and such to do through the weekend.  I'm also starting in my "official" 3 year old room as a volunteer at church on Sunday.  Quinn and I started volunteering together at the start of the summer and have been serving as floaters, but now we are officially assigned to a room.  I'm excited to start getting to know a group of wee kiddos.  3-year-olds are super fun when you know you give them back in 90 minutes.  :)

Crazy week - as always - around here, but I am feeling so blessed and happy that the boys are all off doing their thing and we are here to watch them!