Nice laid back weekend at Annie and Pops with the Johnson's and their girls. Swimming, Fishing, and Baseball. It was basically a beer commercial.
Noah and the Yo Yo
Noah always becomes obsessed when presented with new hobbies. He gets that from Jenna :) After vacation he's been all about the yo-yo. Have to admit he's pretty good.
Noah's 11th Birthday and Downtown Obstacle Race
As always, Noah's birthday party was delayed due to the end of the school year crush. This year though we had a definite end goals. The Jones Center was having a kid's obstacle race the first weekend in June and Noah circled the date. He invited some buddies over for a sleepover and the next morning they would race. Friday night, we took them swimming. We celebrated low key on his actual birthday. He wanted cheesecake for both and we happily obliged.
Campbell also wanted to race so she invited a friend to spend the night (with the dual purpose of keeping her occupied from her brother) and they raced also. The morning of the race came and they went off in waves by age. Campbell's race was a half mile. She came through the first few obstacles in the middle of the pack. At the midway point though there was one boy in front of her. At the end, though she was in the lead. The final obstacle was a slip and slide down the hill. She sat down and started scooting and I had a flash she was going to lose first place by not just sliding. Luckily the other 7 year olds didn't know what they were doing either. So first place for the baby girl. The best part of the video is the finish line volunteers cheering on that a girl was going to win! You'll have to excuse the end where Oliver finds a bone in the video :)
Noah is such a competitor. He walked the course 3 times when we first got there. He kept asking me if they were doing the route twice since it was twice as long as the 9 and under route. After the 75th time of me saying I didn't know, he asked somebody 5 minutes before his race. Of course they told him the second half of his race was on the other side of the Jones Center. He went pale because he hadn't scouted those obstacles. He was panicked but it didn't show. He won his age group and he wasn't messing around with his slip and slide finish. I kept it running to see the gap to second place.
Can't make me...
For a kid that used to love the mirror, getting him for a pic takes an act of Congress. That's the 2017 Congress not the 1917 Congress.
Spring Break 2017
Months ago Jenna had the idea to stay in a yurt at Petite Jean. We booked it so far in advance we really weren't counting down the days until it got here. There's something about camping that brings you together. I don't know if its the outdoors, being unplugged from our plugged in lives, or that you are just trapped together. I doubt it will be the same when they are teenagers but I pray it will be. Gallery below.
Spring has sprung in Februray
80 degrees. 80...Degrees!
Christmas 2016
I almost titled it "An Embarrassment of Riches." Christmas was a mixed bag this year. We got a good solid 19 day break from school, including a week before Christmas. So we got plenty of time to just hang out as a core group. Then we traveled for the south Arkansas tour. It felt rushed like it always does but it was still almost a week from home. We had nice visits with everyone. Jared and his girls were only in town for one day so we didn't get much time with them. Holly and the AZ crew weren't able to make it at all this year so that was a bummer too. It was also our first Christmas without toys, which Jenna celebrated but kind of struck me with melancholy. Happy holidays to everyone. I sincerely hope it was filled with love and joy.
Downtown Runaround 2016
I see a lot of early Saturday mornings in my future.
Chili Pepper 2016
A few weeks ago Noah and Campbell participated in a walk-a-thon at their school. They both took it seriously but Noah and his buddies took it super seriously. Instead of walking they ran to get the most laps possible. Noah was able to knock out 16 laps, 4 miles, in the allotted 35 minutes. Campbell did 11 laps or almost 3 miles!
Of course, he was stoked because so many parents were asking him if he ran much. The truth is Noah doesn't run much but between swimming and simply playing I can't imagine many kids being in better shape cardiovascular wise. One parent, in particular, asked him if he was going to run cross country...and of course he had no idea what cross country was.
So after a Google search, he both knew what cross country was and that a huge cross country race was coming to town in 2 weeks. He has been dead set that he wants to do a triathlon and dad dropped the ball and missed signing him up for the Bentonville MS Trifest last month. Dad was not going to fail again.
So I signed him up and since it would be his first race and needed someone to do it with him, I went ahead and signed up for it as well. Wait! Did I say I signed up for it? I totally meant, I signed Jenna up for it as well. Phew!
He was really nervous. Mamaw and Papaw were here and Papaw gave him a lot of advice about running his race and ignoring the pace of others. The plan was Jenna was going to pace him at 9-minute miles for the first 2 miles and then let him just run as hard as he could the last mile.
Well, the gun went off and he left her. He didn't full sprint out but he wasn't jogging with his momma either. At the first viewing area he came through looking strong and he was easily 2 minutes ahead of Jenna. At the second viewing he was so far ahead of her I didn't think we'd see her before he got to the finish so I booked it over there to see him finish in 23.56!!! The boy ran 7 1/2 minute miles on average! I'm not sure who was more proud, us or him. Truth be told it may have been his sister. She can't wait to run next year.
Buffalo River September 2014
I'm enjoying the new Memories section of Photos in iOS 10. This popped up as 2 years ago today and it made a video. I tweaked it for 2 minutes and BAM.
I thought I'd share it here since it was so easy but if you are interested here is the link to the original trip.
Summer 2016 Montage
The next iOS has a collections tab that pre-populates with pictures in a certain range. This one popped up today as the "The Past 3 Months." I took a look and other than the random opening picture of kayaks I think it did a pretty solid job of capturing our summer so I decided to throw it on here. No telling how good it could be with a little effort but then it goes back to that whole time thing :)
Noah the whale shark
Saturday after Noah’s swim meet at UA, he and I went to eat. Jenna and Cam went to Rachel Platten's concert so it was just the two of us. I offered every place in Fayetteville I hadn’t been to in awhile.
He wanted seafood so BAM-off to Powerhouse we go. First thing he saw was the calamari. He was so excited to try squid. We have always been proud of how he will try anything so as a parent, you have to reinforce that right? So we order the squid for an appetizer. He asked if he could order a non-kid’s meal and after the day he had we were both a little excited so I acquiesced.
He had his eye immediately on the Orleans Feast. It' funny because it has been a long tradition of mine when in a restaurant, the best things on any menu have “feast”, “admiral”, or “chef” in the title. I've yet to pass this knowledge down to my offspring so it was nice to see the DNA figured it out on its own. The Orleans Feast is a blackened piece of the fish of the day, covered in sautéed crab meat, sautéed shrimp, and blackened oysters on top. I gave him a long look. Finally I said ok, but I was going to order something smaller so I could finish his "feast." Then he ordered fried mushrooms as his side (an upcharge of course) and I’m now regretting letting him look at the stupid menu.
The squid comes and I show him the different pieces from the end cap (head), to the body and why its hollow, and finally to the little crusty tentacles. His first bite had some trepidation, but after his eyes lit up he scooted the plate closer to him. He ate 3/4 of it and if I hadn’t grabbed a few handfuls it would’ve been more than that. He polished the squid off with he 2 pieces of cornbread with enough butter on them to choke most mammals. He would've gone for 3 pieces but his feast arrived, I look at my small order of pepper shrimp and I couldn’t wait for him to pass over his left overs. The kids stomach has to be close to popping… right?
Wrong. After declaring to the waitress the oysters were like a mushy steak but just as awesome, he tore into the meal like someone was going to take it away at any moment. At one point he went to the bathroom and when he came back he accused me of eating a couple of his mushrooms. Yes son I ate them, I”M STARVING OVER HERE!
In the end he had a piece left he couldn’t finish. About half the size of my iPhone. I can understand why they talk about swimmers eating so much. Michael Phelps' calorie intake is legendary. I just didn’t think it would filter down to my 10 year old after a day of 4 events. I mean he only swam 400 meters all day!
He told me thanks a thousand times but I told him no more boys nights for us. Date nights with his mom are a lot cheaper and I don't leave hungry.
2016 Vacation Bible School
With Jenna's new contract back in Springdale being a week shorter she was able to be a lead teacher at VBS again. She also got the bonus of having Campbell in her group. All week we soaked in the praises from people about our kids. There is nothing like unsolicited praise about your child. Campbell makes friends so easily she's going to run for office one day. Noah's leader said he volunteered to pray every single day for his group. It is so hard to stand up and spontaneously speak to 100 mostly strangers but its another to spontaneously pray in front of them. I'm so proud of both of them. Here is the video of Sunday's celebration. Cam is middle row to the right and Noah speaks at the 26:20 mark.
Random Summer Fun-2016
Jenna has to keep reminding me we are only 2 weeks into June. It already feels like summer is flying by us!
Noah the 10 year old! Wait---what?
Sigh-I guess it was inevitable. Our sweet, baby boy turned a decade. By an unfortunate quirk of the calendar, Noah's birthday fell on Mother's Day this year. While difficult for his mother to share the day with him, it was fitting since his birth made her a mother. We were scared it wouldn't feel special to him so we decided to make the day before, Noah's celebration day.
He had a small swim meet that morning so he got some time with his buddies. Then the day became all about him. Jenna got 10 things that were either his favorite of something (i.e. candy) or an expression of a favorite. Then we put hints on strips of paper and put them in 10 balloons. He randomly got to pick a balloon, pop it, read the paper, and then collect the gift. They were all fun. He got Jolly Ranchers (favorite candy), a Camaro road sign (favorite car), a Sonic card (favorite drink), new athletic clothes that were neon green (favorite color), a caricature of him swimming (favorite sport), and on and on. It finished with favorite hobbies, climbing and gaming. For climbing we told him we were going down to Casa Pollo in Fayetteville to hit the walls and for gaming he got his own laptop. The day ending with tacos for his favorite food. It was a such a fun, creative day. Jenna was really on her game for this one.
The weekend was also full of messages, texts, and Facetimes of Happy Birthday's. He's a lucky boy to be loved by so many. Not as lucky as we are to have him though. I couldn't be more proud of the man he's becoming.
I can't wait to see where the next 10 years take him.......WAIT! I didn't mean that-please slow time down! I know it won't. He'll be our baby boy forever no matter what the calendar says.
Easter 2016
Excellent message this morning by our pastor. I've never really thought about the symbols of Christianity the way he presented. Although the cross is recognized as THE symbol of Christianity, it is truly the image of an empty tomb that defines us.
2016 Multi-Cultural Dance
Each year the kids' school has a combined Music/PE curriculum where they learn dances from different cultures. This was Campbell's first year and she got to do the macarena. Oh the memories of seedy bars in Leesville, LA and that song...but I digress. This may have been her favorite thing she's learned all year. Noah was pretty mum until the day they got to show off what they learned for parents and then even he was excited.
Hello Spring-2016
Still not officially here but try telling that to my allergies. Everything is blooming like crazy. I think our roses will have flowers before April at this rate. This coming weekend the kids and I are planning our garden. Mom wants tomatoes. Cam and I want cucumbers. We all want squash. Noah wants...carrots. Not sure about that one. This past weekend was a dream. Sunshine but enough rain earlier in the week knocked most of the allergens out of the air to make outside bearable. On Sunday we went for a family bike ride to downtown Springdale and let the kids play at the park and then we ate tacos at Black Apple Crossing cidery. It was a great afternoon.
Flowers, Bell bottoms, and Hippies-Oh My!!!
Not sure if I'm ashamed or proud my kids had their own hand made tie-dyed shirts for Hippie Day.
Holidays 2015
The way Christmas fell this year was odd. With it on a Friday the kids had 6 days off school before the big day. On paper that sounds like a great relaxing time. The reality was our procrastination struck and the week was full of errand running and last minute buying. <sigh>
We left for our south Arkansas tour on Christmas afternoon. A big mistake. "Here kids enjoy all the wonderful things you just got for Christmas........now pack them up and lets go on a 5 hour car ride." We should've foreseen that. We could've prepared before Christmas, but again our procrastination runs deep.
Campbell's Christmas was Monster High overload. She loves her iPad too but I think her little Vtech smartwatch was the biggest hit over the holidays. I think her favorite part of the holiday was having so many girls to play with. Our neighborhood is boy heavy and with her cousins in Texarkana and in ElDorado being predominately female, the tables were turned. She spent the night in the same house as us once the entire trip.
Everything Noah got paled next to his PS4. It took him all of 3 days to become better at FPS games than me and I'm no Halo slouch. I don't really mind him being better than me but he's become pretty adept at trash talking. His teachers are going to be in for a shock when he shows up to school with a controller in his mouth. There aren't many boys down south but he really liked being the big kid and teaching JI everything he knew from Skylanders to Minecraft. He also likes being the agitator for the girls. In fact I'll say he relishes the role much to his mother's dismay. Boys-what are you gonna do?
As always it was nice to see everyone let the kids be with all their extended family at once. We were only gone a week but it's an exhausting week. Totally worth it.
