Caleb's Junior High Tennis Experience

Caleb missed out on 7th grade tennis due to Covid, so he was very much looking forward to 8th grade. Tennis and soccer seasons overlap, but I encouraged him to tryout for both just to see. Caleb is a better-than-average soccer player, but he took a season off of playing in order to concentrate on tennis. He feels he would have done better during the tryout had he played spring soccer, and thus he didn't make the team. He was placed as line 1 on the boys' tennis team though, and that helped to boost his spirit. We were underwhelmed with the overall tennis season unfortunately. Most schools he played against didn't have as many players as our school, so the coach worked it out equally that you played one match one week, then two matches the next week. The "match" was a game to 4, which was about 20 minutes on the court. Lame. He was hoping to play more and also have some tougher competition. Most games were won easily, but he did have one match where he lost against a 7th grader who was quite advanced. It is good to experience some humility.

One of Caleb's good friends who is tall for his age compared to Caleb's short for his age.

The Junior High team

 

Homeschool Bake Sale

For our end-of-year final project for homeschool, we hosted a bake sale to go along with the book, The Lemonade War by Jacqueline Davies. There was a lot of math, selling tips (they sold lemonade in the book), and a sibling rivalry turned friendship that were stand-outs in the book--all things that were great teaching points. As parents we guided the discussions leading up to the sale, but the decisions were made by the kids. One discussion we had was possibly having a cause to raise money for and if that would generate more customers. Based on a personal experience with a kindergartner in our homeschool group, we decided to raise money for the American Cleft Palate Craniofacial Association. It gave greater meaning to the project. Each family team was responsible for one poster and 2-3 baked items to make. In hind sight, I wish I would have avoided chocolate! Peanut butter Rice Krispies and Mint Oreo Truffles were two of our family items, and I didn't think through that it would be warm and thus melt the chocolate. :( The kids were responsible for doing the math to see how much change was owed back. The sale got a little lengthy for the kids, but we had a steady stream of people. I was humbled by all the people that stopped by, including my parents. The kids raised over $300!

A close friend did the sweetest thing ever that I want to record. Not only did she purchase a pan of cinnamon rolls, but she wrote a note to the kids involved. The note essentially said that she was proud of the kids for raising money for a good cause. Doing service can be a hard thing but results in blessings. As an example of that, she enclosed a $5 bill for each homeschool student. The thoughtfulness of that made me cry...especially because she's a penny-pincher like I am!

 

Mud Run

This year is about new goals and experiences instead of my typical half marathon races. I signed up for a 5K Mud Run with several friends from church. Everyone voted on matching tank tops, and ironically it ended up being 58 degrees last weekend, so it was a very cold start. Once we got running though, it wasn't so bad.

Before the race

Some of the obstacles:

This one was a blast!

 

I highly recommend! It was so fun to do with friends!! One of the ladies in our group had a hurt knee prior to the race so there was more walking than I would have liked, but I just went home and ran another 4 miles. :)

Spring Baseball

Baseball season is upon us. It is so busy to keep up with the schedules, but it is also so fun to watch our boys play. This season Carter and Bryson are playing baseball. (Caleb made the tennis team for his junior high and Austin is playing soccer with a neighborhood league my friend put together.)

Matt is coaching Carter's team again. He loves to coach!

Carter is working on his pitching (being more consistent). He plays shortstop mostly.

Bryson is playing through a different league than Carter because this league offers coach pitch instead of machine pitch, which we feel is better for him. He has improved so much this season! He typically plays outfield and 2nd base.

Austin gets dragged around to a lot of practices and games. Here's one way he entertains himself.

Family picture after one of Carter's game.

The boys get a lot of support from grandparents cheering them on in the stands!

Caleb's Book 5 Recital

Caleb and his piano teacher

On April 11, Caleb had his book 5 Suzuki Recital. I will always be amazed at his ability to memorize and polish an entire book of songs. This year, he was less polished than previous book recitals; he was just tired of practicing the songs over and over and probably chose to have the party sooner than he should have. He did many things well though, and we celebrated with root beer floats for refreshments afterwards. The book 5 songs included: 

 

Carter's 11th Birthday

This boy was super hard to shop for this year as the only present he asked for was fruit, specifically freeze-dried strawberries. We went out to lunch at Crust pizza for our birthday lunch and both ordered a margherita pizza and caesar salad.

 

He requested a fruit pizza instead of a cake.

Homeschooling this year has been good for our relationship. Carter and I have butted heads in the past, but this year we both made adjustments and learned to work together well. Carter is an amazing helper--he's not afraid of any of the "dirty" jobs. He still has a natural connection with little kids, and has many 2 and 3-year-old best friends who get excited when Carter is around. He has enjoyed learning the marimba this past year and continues to thrive as a baseball player. He has a special relationship with his dad and pretty much worships the ground he walks on. I love that he is very responsible and dependable. He also has a knack of remembering details from the scriptures. We are so grateful he is a part of our family!

February 2021

Here is some of what our February looked like:

Downtown Aquarium field trip

Rock climbing with cousins for Dallin's birthday

I guess this is what boredom looks like on a Saturday before baseball season starts. This is the most random thing I've seen my older boys do! They sat out there for at least 30 minutes being entertained by the reactions they got from drivers as people drove by our house.

On February 15th, the "snowpocalypse" happened. Snow is super exciting here, especially as my 5-year-old has never seen it. The city shuts down if there is ice or snow, so Matt got a reprieve from work and the boys from school. They enjoyed sledding and playing in the snow with their dad. (I was cuddled up inside by the fire reading a book.) 

It was all fun and games until our power went out on Monday. As the temperature in the house continued to drop and word of power not being restored for a few days, things turned serious real fast. The boys all slept by the fire bundled up in sleeping bags and blankets. Matt and I opted for our bed with lots of blankets. It was pretty miserable--my nose was constantly frozen over the course of those days. I voluntarily wore my mask (which I hate) in order to keep my nose warm. We had a generator to power a heat lamp for the chickens. We discovered our neighbors had 3 space heaters but no way to power them, so we traded one space heater for use of our generator. It was a good trade. The space heater helped a ton. 

I was grateful I had done my weekly shopping on Saturday, so we were well-stocked for food. I know that was a big problem with some of my other friends and neighbors. Grocery stores were either closed or crazy busy with huge lines out front.

We spent a lot of family time together playing games as that was our only option! We taught the boys Canasta, which they loved. Fortunately the power came on sooner than predicted--the power companies did rolling blackouts so we would have power for a few hours to warm up the house some, then be without power for a few hours. It was a memorable week for sure!