Harvesting and Richland County Champs

 We've been busy in the yard these past few weeks. It's been so lovely outside and I can't help but get my hands into some dirt. Paige and I harvested the carrots so I could make room for my bush beans. I told her she was in charge and she had to come up with a game plan to process the carrots. She sure relished her leadership role and giving me jobs. I'm trying to find opportunities for her to feel like she has control, capability and success. Now we have tons of carrots! She also helped me pick out these geraniums a few weeks ago and they have been a lovely addition to our front steps. 

Anna had the Richland County Champion Track Meet last night. This is a combination of schools from Richland 1 and 2. It's hosted at Lower Richland High School near our old house. Funny, I used to watch Patrick coach another girls team when he was in college at this very stadium almost 20 years ago. And now, I got to watch him coach Anna at the same place. Who would have thought?! 

Paige and I dropped off Anna to do all her warm up stuff and since we had some time before the meet started, we got a milkshake and headed to the park we used to take Anna to as a baby. I've got pictures of baby Anna with her head poking through this same green tunnel! 

Teddy was having a wonderful playdate with his pal Lettie. Apparently they caught a bird and there was much commotion over who should have the bird. I think a timeout was involved and the poor bird was dispatched before anymore hullabaloo could ensue. They spent the rest of their time chasing each other and now I have a dog in recovery from all his efforts. I don't think he's moved all morning. 

Back to Anna...she was going for the school record in the 1600, but didn't quite make it, although she did set a PR of 5:47 and won the race. She also won the 3200 easily. The entire girls team won the meet, winning almost every event. It was pretty exciting to watch! Next up Region Qualifier, our last Wednesday meet which will be nice, because they sure to wipe us out the next day. Poor Anna didn't get to sleep last night until 11:30pm and has a science test today. Crazy!

Bike, race and letter

No, I did not receive a letter to go on a bike race. That's just the randomness of this post. 

While at my parents house, I manage to confiscate my brother's ex-girlfriend's bike. He had promised I could have it, but I never had the opportunity to bring it home as I always had people and stuff in my car. So my solo trip was the perfect time to bring it back. My next project is to find a hitch so we can put it on our car and then grab a bike rack from the Curry's who have an extra. Thanks Currys! Then I can put our girl bikes on the back of the car and we can go places for fun rides. Whoop! 

I sent this picture as a joke to a friend who does serious gravel riding and told her I was ready to go!

Funny story, remember for my birthday I received a bike helmet? No bike. Just a helmet. So now I finally have the bike to go with it thanks to my own ingenuity. I should have just worn the helmet around the house!

Anna had another dual meet this Wednesday, against Ridge View. They are in our district (I formally worked there eons ago) so this was to determine the district champion. Our girl's team had won every meet up to that point. Fortunately, their distance team is not that fast so Anna easily won the 1600m and scored some points for the team. By the time they got to the 3200, the other team didn't even put in any of their runners, so she won that one too and just cruised around the track. I was glad it was an easy night because it sure was cold and windy! Paige and I hung out in the booth with Patrick who does the announcing and I even managed to wear Anna's letter jacket to stay warm. 

I think this boy did not want to be passed by a girl at the end.

Up next we have some tougher meets...the Richland County Championships where I hope Anna will go for the school record in the 1600, the district championships where she will have to qualify for the state qualifier meet and then the state qualifier meet. She has an outside shot of qualifying for the state meet in the 3200m race, but it's a long shot so we'll see what happens. They are only taking the top 8 runners from upper and lower state, which makes it pretty fierce competition. She's not fast enough to compete in the 1600 so I think Patrick will encourage her coach just to pull her from that race so she has fresh legs for the longer run. Either way, she's had a great season and we're proud of what she's accomplished all while trying to go through a growth spurt!

Meanwhile, Paige has been keeping up with her letter writing to her 3rd grade teacher, Mr. O. He's definitely a lifelong friend and I love their letters back and forth when I can sneak a peak. This week she received a response from him where he had written in cursive backward so Paige would have to use a mirror to read it. Oh my goodness, this made her day and I was actually blown away. We sure do have a soft spot for this magical guy. 

The Birthday Boy (Teddy turns 1)

Teddy seems worn out from all his birthday celebrating yesterday. He got all the pets, rubs, treats and walks a dog could ask for. The girls decorated around his dog bowl with streamers and Anna and I took him for an afternoon walk, where he could maul his best buddy, CC. He was so tired he spent the rest of the afternoon napping. Talk about a dog's life. 

Once everybody was home for the evening, we celebrated Teddy with his own bone cake topped with peanut butter and Cheerios, his faves. He got to open up presents: new toys and a new leash. Then we finished with a family walk around the neighborhood. Sounds like a great doggo birthday to me!

People cookies

While on our walk, I snagged a couple of pics of these cuties. They're getting so grown up!

All the things

Goodness last week went by fast. We were B.U.S.Y! Here's the run down:

Anna was recognized as the Ubuntu Teammate of the Week for all of spring sports at the high school on Tuesday. It was such a sweet surprise for her. A teammate nominated her for her quiet leadership (to which her friend's on the team all laughed because when she wants to be heard she is heard) and said that she chooses her moments to speak up and pushes her teammates to be better. She made a sweet video that said you don't have to worry about your size or age in order to impact your team. Go Anna!

She had a track meet on Wednesday night against Spring Valley and won both the 1600 and the 3200. Then she was in the Friday night meet that was a little fun and different. She ran in the distance medley relay and the 1500. The girls team won the meet and their relay scored some points. She did the 1600 leg, started out 4 seconds behind a girl from Ridge View and then finished 35 seconds in front of her. So that was exciting. She also broke two school records that night. My parents came down to cheer for her at the Friday night meet so that was fun. 

The girls she passes here is actually a girl she laps at the end of the race. 

I find on these busy nights making a big pot of soup to sit on the stove or in the crock pot works well. I made mini meatball minestrone and the dutch oven bread for my parents. It was a hit! With all the veggies it requires, I got the idea to make homemade vegetable broth from Jessi. It wasn't hard and I think it turned out pretty good. It's now in containers in my freezer, ready to be used for the next soup. 

Paige had a soccer game on Saturday morning, so we all went out to watch her. She played great at all of her positions and they walked away 0-0 with several close shots on both sides. A tie is a win in her book!

When your dog farts while sitting on your mom's lap! HAHA!

The plan was to go back to my parent's house after the soccer game for the weekend, but my crew was pretty tired. So I decided to leave them at home for the weekend and I went to the lake by myself. It was so nice to ride in the car solo so I could listen to an audio book for my book club. I helped my dad lay the rest of the mulch in the yard (he had 225 bags total and we did the last 75 together). I also picked some weeds and enjoyed his yummy carnitas for dinner. Mom and I went for a 5 mile hike near by on a pretty cool trail in the Clemson Forest. It was beside Lake Isaqueena and had pretty views and a winding trail along the outskirts of the lake. We didn't see many people hiking or biking and the weather was gorgeous. It was a short trip, but fun to get away to a pretty area.

I'm standing on top of a retaining wall at the top off this pile of mulch which is probably 8 feet tall. 

Meanwhile, my crew back home was busy prepping for Teddy's birthday which is today. I'm glad they took that on because I am not sure I had any more special celebrations up my sleeves. They made some cookies for us to eat, ordered some gifts for him and made him some cards. I'll post more on all that tomorrow. 

So now we're all caught up. I'm glad I have a some what slower week now that all of my interview grading is done. Just another week and a half and my classes will be all wrapped up for the school year. Yes! I'll leave you with this pic of Anna playing games with her friends at youth. Makes me smile!

Turtle wrangler

We've had a fun few days, although school has started back up and there are some unhappy people in this house. My main job has been to be positive and encouraging for this final quarter. I say all this because a lot of what I post on the blog is happy memories. But it's important to know (and remind myself later) that in the midst of the joy, there are also extremely difficult times. The past week has been a struggle for us on more than one front. It has nothing to do with going back to school. We are walking through some hard and personal things that are testing and bringing us closer to the Lord. I am grateful for the opportunity He is giving us to know Him more, but that doesn't negate the trial. More and more, I am recognizing the AND. It's truth AND love. It's trial AND opportunity. It's joy AND sorrow. Good thing we have a God who knows both and walks with us in the AND. 

So the happy....

We had a wonderful time celebrating Jonathan for his birthday although it was a little late. It was funny remembering what I needed to do to have guests over. I forgot that I needed paper plates and napkins and such! 

This picture with these faces represents everybody so accurately!

My garden is coming to life. Oh how I love spring! Rebirth, regeneration and renewal. It reminds me that His mercies are new and after the darkness, comes the dawn. Paige is my fellow spring lover. She reports on the new flowers blooming and even spotted some plums in our plum tree for the first year ever. Cool! We even got a chance to sketch our iris plants on a glorious and sun-filled evening. I think I could have sat there sketching forever. 

How I love this face!

She and I walked Teddy down to the dock in our neighborhood one evening. Teddy was restless, but Paige was patient and still. She waited for the turtles in the pond to approach her and wondered if they would bite her toe in the water. One did! Before I knew what was happening, she quick as lightening reached down and plucked a brave turtle out of the water! To say she was proud of herself would be an understatement. Absolutely beaming! Teddy was unimpressed and even further, none to happy when the turtle bit struck at his nose. Good ole Patch was returned safely to his home and Paige returned to hers with a tale to tell. 

Some how after a rowdy game of kickball where I proved my kickball prowess, we got into a family hula hoop session. Anna was clearly skilled in this area. The rest of us....well it was laughter inducing. I sure do love late, warm evenings on the back porch with my family. 

Yes, I know this is not how you hula hoop. Per Anna's instructions, I was doing hula hoop yoga to prepare for actual hula hooping. Some how nobody got a picture of the real deal. Goobers.