Another Fun and Busy Weekend

This weekend, as most of ours are, is a busy, but fun-filled one.

Last night started off with Christian's end of the season basketball party with his homeschool team. The kids all met at a local church and brought drinks and snacks to share. Dads were invited to come and join in a father/son basketball game, and some older brothers also joined in the fun. Corey had a job that he had to do, so he was disappointed about not being able to attend. He would have had so much fun! The kids had a great time playing basketball and hanging out together. At one point, the coaches gave out awards to each of the players. Christian was given the "Phillip" award, which his coach explained was "for bringing the team together in unity...also known as talking!" Funny! Christian really enjoyed the season, and making some new friends. I think that we are all a little sad that it is ending. He is looking forward to playing again next year.

Caylie attended a play last night that one of her friends from church was in. She said that it was really good. I can't remember what the play was called, but she said that the audience was actually seated on the stage, and the play happened right in the midst of them. I can't quite imagine it, but she said that it was really interesting.

Today we woke up bright and early and headed downtown for a volleyball tournament. During a break between games, we took Carson to play at a nearby playground. It was soooo cold! I couldn't believe that only 2 days ago, the kids were breaking out their shorts and flip flops, and today, I had on my coat and gloves...and was still freezing!

After the tournament ended for the day, we all came home and relaxed for a while. I took a nice long nap while Carson was taking his nap! :)

This evening, Caylie got together with some of her good friends, and has plans to spend the night with her friend Gracie. We will all meet up again at church in the morning.

Corey grilled hamburgers (in the cold!), and made some cheese dip for dinner. We ate in the den and watched "Extreme Home Makeover" together! We all love that show!

Now I am washing Caylie's volleyball uniform so that it will be ready to wear again tomorrow. As soon as church is over, we will head back downtown for day two of the tournament. Hopefully it will wind up in time for us all to attend our Sunday night church groups that we really look forward to.

Staying busy, but having fun!

Writing the Waves,
Christi

Caylie's First Half Marathon

Yesterday was Caylie's first half marathon! She was both excited and nervous about it.

Her weekend had already been busy. She had gone on a church retreat on Friday evening, which really lasted until Sunday, but since she and Charles (the boy in the picture below) were both planning to run the half, they rode home with our church's music leader after the Saturday night events ended at the retreat. They didn't arrive back in Little Rock until 2:30 am, which didn't make for a good night's sleep before a big race, but she's a trooper, and says that it was well worth it!

Here she is before the race with Charles, and Kaitlyn (who ran the full marathon!), as well as Kaitlyn's sisters, Betsy and Hannah. Charles, Kaitlyn, and Hannah are some of Caylie's homeschool friends, and Betsy attends the school that Caylie attended before homeschooling.

Below, Caylie is with one of her best friends, Elizabeth, and Elizabeth's sister Rachel. Rachel and Caylie were running buddies for the race.

Here they are in the starting line up. It took almost 10 minutes for all of the runners to cross the official starting line, but since they all wore timing tags on their shoes, they were able to get accurate finish times.

We were around the 6 mile mark to cheer them on! It took them about an hour and a half to get to us, and they were still all smiles! Look at all of those cups scattered on the ground!

Elizabeth had made signs to hold up for both Caylie and Rachel at this point. Here is Elizabeth with her mom, and Carson. Carson L.O.V.E.S. Elizabeth (and we do too!). She has spent a lot of time with our family, and he just considers her to be one of us! :)

Caylie approaching the finish line...

Their finish time was 2:36:30. They completed the second half in less time than the first, which was surprising. Caylie said that once they got to the 6th or 7th mile, that they realized that they were going to be okay, so they picked up the pace a little bit at that point.

Here she is with Elizabeth after finishing. She said that as she was approaching the finish line, that she actually felt like she could keep going, but that when she stopped, her legs immediately started cramping up. She sat and rested for quite a while before hobbling to the car! :)

My mom had skipped church in order to arrive at the race site in time to see Caylie cross the finish line! Here they are as we started heading back to the cars...

We told Caylie that she could choose where she wanted to eat for lunch, and she chose Luby's! That seemed so funny to me, but she IS a healthy eater, and it WAS her choice, so we all headed out to Luby's!

After lunch, mom headed home, and Caylie took some ibuprofen, a hot jacuzzi bath, and then a LONG 4 hour nap...she had some sleep to catch up on even without having just run a half marathon!

In other news, Caylie told us that while on the retreat, she decided that she wants to homeschool again next year. We had told her that it would be her choice, and she has not taken the decision lightly!

Oh my...time to start planning! :)

Writing the Waves,
Christi

What's Been Going On Around Here

Caylie asked me the other day to just be straight with her.

"Mom, just tell me, are you ever going to blog again?"

I assured her that I would.

But here's the thing...

With 3 or 4 months of homeschooling under our belts now, I can say that we are really enjoying it! I love it so much, and have frequently said that I wish we had started earlier! I am so happy that we made the decision to give homeschooling a try, but I've just not quite found the balance between getting all of my responsibilities taken care of, and still having time to do things like...blogging!

It's getting easier as I get the hang of things. I tweak things that need tweaking, and find ways for things to run more smoothly. Hopefully I will find more and more moments to sit down and blog. I really DO want to have a place where our family memories are recorded, and since I have decided to let blogging replace scrapbooking, I DO need to make it a priority...at least more so than I have been! :)

So here's the latest...

Corey has been out of town this week at broker classes, and so I have had my hands pretty full trying to juggle all that goes on around here. Corey is great to help me with shuttling kids around when he is able to, and without him here, I have been in and out of the house a LOT...which makes it even more challenging to get everything done!

Caylie has been preparing for a play with our local homeschool drama group. She is playing the role of Mrs. Bradley in "The Best Christmas Pageant Ever". The performance will be on Saurday morning, so this last week or so has been pretty focused on getting everything for the play taken care of. All of the actors are responsible for getting their own clothing together for the show, so that was on our "to do" list, and I am on the committee that organizes food and decorations for the reception, and that has needed some of my attention as well. Today she has dress rehearsal all afternoon. I am really looking forward to the play, and will try to post some pictures soon!

Christian recently started his basketball season with the homeschool team here. He has made new friends, and is enjoying it. He's been having some problems with his heel though. Whenever he plays basketball, he says his heel hurts, but then the pain goes away after some rest. We have an appointment this afternoon for him to get it checked out with an orthopedic doctor. Hopefully, whatever is causing the pain, can be quickly treated, so that he can play basketball without having pain!

Yesterday, Christian and Carson both had appointments for check-ups. The doctor said that both boys were just fine. Christian did have to get 2 immunizations, but he didn't mind too much. Carson, we were told, is in the 92% in both height and weight! We were kind of surprised to hear that. Caylie and Christian were always high on the charts as well, but we had always thought of Carson as smaller than they were at that age. Caylie is 5'7 now, and Christian is VERY close behind.

Well, that's the scoop on what is going on at our house!

Hopefully, I will check back in soon!

Writing the Waves,
Christi

Homeschool Volleyball Nationals!

We recently returned from the National Homeschool Volleyball Tournament in Omaha, Nebraska. It was so much fun!

Two of Caylie's friends team mates were traveling with our family, and when we stopped in Kansas City to spend the night, they did their own little photo session in their pajamas! They did silly hair and make up, and had so much fun.

Cute girly stuff!

Our first stop after we arrived in Omaha was Spaghetti Works downtown. We met up with the rest of our group for a big lunch together. The food and the company were both great!

Here is a picture of the girls outside, before we went into the restaurant.

And inside, a few of the girls hanging out together...Caylie played around with this one and made it black and white.

Caylie had a great group of girls on her team. Here they are getting started at the tournament...

Let's play some volleyball!

Corey's parents met us in Omaha for the tournament. They watched and cheered Caylie's team on for some of the matches, and helped us out by babysitting Carson for other matches! We really appreciated that, because it is hard to pay close attention to a game while also entertaining a fidgety 3 year old! :)

Here is a picture of Caylie and Nana before one of the matches.

Nana took the good action shots of Caylie for me to put on the blog. My little camera is way to slow to get any action shots!

At night, the girls would have dinner in the hotel, and then visit in the lobby. Here they are hanging out in front of the nice fireplace. Sorry you can't see the fire!

One morning, Nana and Papaw were hanging out with Carson and Christian (while we were at games), and Nana had a little photo session with the boys. She got some good pictures!

I can't believe how big Christian is getting! He has grown up so much in the last year.

And my other sweet guy...little Carson!

There is a huge sporting goods store in Omaha, called Scheels. There is even a Ferris Wheel in the middle of the store! Everyone rode it, but I can't find the memory card that contains those pictures! Aargh!

Caylie had been needing new volleyball shoes, so while we were at Scheels, we let her pick out a new pair.

Here she is posing with Nana as she picks out her new shoes.

Here is the group shot of Caylie's team that was taken at Nationals.

The competition was really tough, and the girls were a little disappointed with their postion at the end of the tournament, but mostly, everyone was sad that the season was over. The girls had a little party after the last game for the seniors on the team, and as the coach went around and complimented each girl on what they had contributed to the team, there were even a few teary eyes.

We all hated to see it end.

Writing the Waves,
Christi

Hannah's Hope 5K

This morning, Caylie ran in the first annual Hannah's Hope 5K in Bentonville. It was a children's cancer benefit, and it was a great race!

The weather was perfect for a 5K...nice and mild, and the location was beautiful! We were thrilled to find a playground located right beside the running path, so Carson was a happy camper while we waited for Caylie!

Caylie's goal was to beat her previous time of 29:45, and beat it...she did! She finshed in 27:27!

Below is the video that I took of her crossing the finish line!



The happy runner!

Caylie was thrilled to win a ribbon for placing 1st in her age division! Here she is receiving her award...


I think that Carson was kind of jealous...Caylie was nice enough to let him wear it for a little while!

Our little running girl...

Some of the participants in the race posed for a group picture after the awards had been given.

We really enjoyed our morning, and are looking forward to having a fun day. We'll do some shopping, then have lunch together, do some Razorback tailgating, and then Carson and I will come back to the hotel room while Corey, Christian and Caylie go watch the Hogs beat Georgia (hopefully)!

Writing the Waves,

Christi

Road Trip...First Stop...Razorback V-Ball!

Tonight we arrived in Fayetteville for the weekend, just in time to catch a Razorback v-ball game.

As we entered the building, the Razorback mascot greeted Carson, but Carson was not sure what he thought about that Razorback! He didn't want to let go of Christian's hand!

He finally, cautiously, agreed to give the Razorback a high five.

After we settled in, and Carson had gotten more comfortable, Corey took him back to the Razorback to see if he would interact a little bit. Carson didn't want Corey to get out of reach at all!

Corey had a little bit of fun by walking in a circle around the Razorback, and watching Carson chase after him...he was NOT going to be left alone with that Razorback!

The big kids and I were watching and recording it from our seats and laughing at how funny he was! :)



It was a fun night, and we all had a good time.

After the game, we settled into our hotel for the night.

We had an early morning coming!

Writing the Waves,
Christi

Travelers Game

Last night, Corey decided to take the boys to a Travelers baseball game. Although Christian has been several times before, and we took Carson one time, as an infant (which doesn't really count), this was their first "guys" night at the ball field!

After Corey got Carson all fixed up with a Travs t-shirt and cap, they enjoyed some pregame snacks...

Right now, Carson enjoys nothing more than hanging out with Christian. He LOVES doing what his big brother is doing...and thankfully Christian is a GREAT big brother.

There were some inflatable things set up for the kids to play on, so of course, Carson had to check it all out!
The boys made their way up this ladder for the big slide...even Christian said that the ladder was hard to climb, but where there's a will, there's a way!

They didn't stay for the entire game, since baseball games run sooo long, but I think they all had a fun time, and Carson sure liked having a night out with his daddy and big brother...the first of many, I'm sure!

Writing the Waves,
Christi

Dino Dash 5K

This morning we were up and around early for Dino Dash. It was Christian's 1st 5K, and Caylie's 2nd. She has been working with him for the past month or so, to prepare for the race.

The Dino Dash is a fundraiser for the Museum of Discovery, a children's museum in Little Rock.

They had a dinosaur jumping area for the kids. Carson enjoyed getting in on the fun!

This was a much bigger race than the first race that Caylie was in. They were prepared to give away 750 shirts, but they ran out before we registered.

The race was held in downtown Little Rock. It was hotter than it was at the last 5K, and the race route had some slightly hilly areas, as well as more turns. We anticipated that it would be a little harder.

Here is the group taking off at the starting line.

Caylie and Christian started out together, and said that it took them probably 5 minutes to get to where they could run at a normal pace, because there were so many people.

Caylie's time was about 33:21, as you can see behind her. It was not as fast as the last race, but we knew that it was going to be harder.

Good job Sis!

Christian was just a few minutes behind Caylie. I had gone up in front of the timer to get a picture of him, and I forgot to pay attention to his exact finish time. I will look online tonight to see if they have it posted.

We were all so proud of him for completing his first race!

Yea Christian! :)

Here he is right after getting through the finish line!

Caylie can't stand the thought of eating after she runs, but Christian quickly dug into the food that was provided for the racers.

Every time is a good time for a snack! :)

The race site was beside the Saturday morning farmer's market, so we strolled through the market and picked up some fresh fruit and vegetables.

Caylie and Christian sampled some of the watermelon that they were handing out.

A few minutes later, Caylie said that she knew she shouldn't have eaten anything, because she quickly started feeling kind of sick!

There were also people selling handmade crafts, etc., at the market. Carson liked relaxing on the Adirondack chair while Corey picked out vegetables.

After shopping for a little bit, we headed home.

Later in the day, we took Carson to see his first real movie...Up. It was a really cute movie, and he was pretty good until the very end, when he got a little bit antsy, and Corey decided to take him out to the lobby to play.

Now Carson is down for his nap, Caylie and I are relaxing at the house, and Corey and Christian just headed out to play some golf.

So far it is a busy, but fun summer weekend.

Writing the Waves,

Christi

Back From Convention!

The homeschool convention that I attended this weekend was a learning experience.

I got to visit with some of the curriculum vendors that I am thinking about using, which was helpful.

I volunteered at the used curriculum sale, and then got early shopping privileges...snagging some GREAT deals on a few books that I will use next year!

I attended several helpful classes.

And last, but certainly not least, I got to connect with many homeschool moms, and bounce ideas around with them.

I'm glad that I went.

I'm also glad to be home...

When I returned today (after stopping by mom's house to pick up the yummy strawberry pie that she made for us), this is the welcome that I received from my awesome kids!

It is hard to read in the picture, but they had written, "Thanks Mom for Making Homeschool Happen! You're Awesome! We Love You Lots!" They had also written out many of the subjects that they will be studying...science, math, history, etc.

How sweet is that?!?

It was a big encouragement for me to come home from a weekend full of homeschool stuff, and have my kids (and Corey too!) show me how much they appreciate the efforts that I have made to prepare for our new adventure!

I love them so much!

And in other news...

As I have mentioned before, Caylie has been working with Christian to help him prepare for his first 5K on May 30. They are planning to run it together. (She ran her first 5K a few weeks ago...you can read about it here.)

She has been doing her running first, and then riding the bike beside him while he works to build up his time. His first goal has been to reach 30 minutes, and today he reached his goal!

Yea Christian! :)

We were all so excited for him!

Corey, Carson and I got in the truck, and came up behind them at the end of the run so we could cheer and encourage him!

Caylie and Christian have been such a good team.

I have teased Caylie by calling her Jillian from The Biggest Loser! Totally joking though...she is not mean at all! :)

She has been a great "trainer", and he has been a determined runner!

Here are all 3 kids after Christian finished his first 30 minute run!

Carson wasn't as concerned about getting a cute picture as I was! (He is preoccupied with the balloon on a stick that they had taped to the poster that they made me.)

Oh well...at least the big kids were working with me!

It's good to be back home!

Writing the Waves,
Christi

Caylie's First 5K

Today Caylie ran in her first 5K. She has been jogging almost daily for a while now, and so we all felt like she was ready, but since it was a first, we weren't sure what to expect. We got to the race site early enough for her to register, get her shirt and number, and then have some time to warm up.

When it was time for everyone to line up, Christian headed over to get a shot of Caylie...and a

self portrait too!

As Caylie ran by us, about half way through the race, Christian and Carson were there to cheer her on...Go Caylie!

Her finishing time was 29:55...meeting the goal she had set for herself of being under 30 minutes for her first race. We were so proud of her! She said that she even enjoyed it more than she had expected to! :)

Carson was getting pretty irritable by the time the race was over. It had gotten colder, and started sprinkling, and he had gotten his feet pretty wet in all of the puddles that were everywhere. We had to work pretty hard to get him to not fuss every time we turned the camera toward him!

This was the best that we were able to pull off.

Caylie had wanted to stay long enough to see the awards being given out, but with Carson quickly slipping off of the deep end, and Caylie needing to get to a church group meeting, we decided that we needed to head on out, so we don't know what the top results were for the different categories. Oh well, maybe next time...

While we were there, we ran into an old friend, who is in charge of another race that is coming up at the end of next month. I think that Caylie AND Christian may both be interested in doing that race as well!

That would be fun!

We'll see what happens...

Writing the Waves,

Christi