Hello March, this brief look back over our days seem full of bubble baths and soccer fields. I love the pictures of me&Hermione snuggling on the couch. March usually brings the Gate River Run for me, but this year I had to give it up in order to see James run at his Elementary School Track meet. They only do one per year, so it was worth it. He ended up in second place! We also had a soccer tournament the same day with all 3 boys, so it was a very busy day.
One funny thing that I don't have any pictures of: Matt bought the boys 'fried chicken ice cream' that they saw on a dude perfect video. I think it was $100 for the 8 pieces we bought, and it delivered with dry ice. I couldn't believe he did it, but the boys absolutely still talk about it. We made a video of eating it, but I didn't take any pictures. All the boys rated it 'cool', so it got a 'super cool' from us too.
Sadly, since my 2021 time was my personal best of almost 9 minutes per mile, I qualified for the green wave at the start of the race. It was my first and only green bib, and I didn't get to wear it. :-(
Here is the number 1 fan, ready to take a video of his boy running the 100 meters. Way to go James!! We were so proud of you!!
I am classically terrible at taking soccer pictures. The best I offer is when Matt and I have to split up and go to different soccer fields at the same time, I will take video. In general, these are great. It is fun to look back and see how much the boys have grown. But as far as pictures go, most of the game I like to be watching rather than taking photos. Calvin is 24 in the navy jersey, and David is 50 in the red jersey.
Incredibly, the Lord has pushed me to speak at my church on a Sunday morning; this was my second one. Admittedly, it is an incredible honor, and I feel totally unqualified to do it. But the Lord has really stretched me and grown my understanding of women in the church. I am so grateful to be obedient to what the Lord asks me to do, and I am still shocked when my pastor Brian asks me to speak again. The Lord gives me what I need when He gives me something to do! He always makes it deeply impactful to my heart, and I treasure these special assignments.
Why the animal balancing act? I love the challenge of playing this game with the boys, but when I play it on my own I can usually get every single animal on there. Just a glimpse into my personality!
Happy birthday to my precious friend Jessica! I am a lucky girl to be her friend.
I don't think this was a special day, but James had his friend William over. Why I took this many pictures, I don't know. Maybe I was feeling sentimental and thinking of when they were in Kindergarten together. These boys being 6th graders seemed like insanity. I'm sure I took these to send to his mother. We are feeling the same way that they are in their final photo - I'm not ready to go yet!
Spring Break for us was a trip to Grammy and Papa's farm at the start and finishing the break at Hanna Park just north of Jacksonville. Papa took the boys and me around the farm on the side by side, and we had a great time just enjoying the beautiful day.
I didn't let David sit on the back seat, and he was crying a little bit about it. Papa asked him if he would like to drive, and that cheered him right up. He was the only one who got to drive that time.
I love these little fragments of time where all my boys are standing in a shop door together or around the fire pit. They are so close and yet so far apart at the same time. I'm just glad they can enjoy being together.
Thank you Grammy&Papa for a fun trip! It's always vacation at their house. I got Ann V's new book when we got home, and it was such an interestingly different story. It was much more of a story of how she trusted God to make a way where there didn't seem to be one, and he did. It was a very honest story of imperfection and mistakes, but it always pointed to how we can go to our own personal gps, the Bible to see where to go from where we are. And sometimes, the Lord still parts the red sea in front of our eyes, despite how terrified we may be in the moments that we feel most trapped. Incredible book.
Off we go to the campground and kick it off with a beach walk. There are no more beautiful pictures than beach walks. Except for maybe really beautiful trees and sunshine. I am a sucker for trees.
Beach walks, bike rides, and playtime at the playground. Campfires and hot chocolates and lots of fresh air. No screens. The boys' favorite thing to eat when we go camping are 'taco in a bag' which is like making a burrito in a bag of Doritos and eating it out of the bag with a fork. Classic.
This picture of the tent helped me realize that this trip was the one where poor Matt and James set the tent up in the rain. That night we slept terribly because of a sort of street light at the end of our row that was shining right through the back of our tent. We had plenty of fun, but stayed less than 24 hours total because another crazy storm was heading our way and with it being 80 degrees in March, we just weren't interested in staying through all that wet and heat. We packed up like champions and went home! haha, and slept like babies nice and dry in our air conditioned house.
These silly guys at the soccer field, our second home.
Hayden got a new bed! This is the cannonball bed from Nana's house. The one time I got to go to the farm in Hudson, I spent the night in the guest room with this bed in it. Matt's grandparents moved from the farm not long after my first visit, so there weren't repeat opportunities. I remember Matt's Nana asking me in her kitchen, "So, what are your intentions with my grandson?" and I really had only known him for a few months. I am not sure how I responded other than I was really impressed with him and hoped we may have some kind of hope for a future together. I may not have been than bold!
This was the first way we set up Hayden's room, and I loved the look of the gray duvet with those accent pillows. I already had everything except the duvet. Win! The introduction of the Cannonball bed (and my attempt to refinish it, which was basically just a deep clean and wax), left the boat bed up for grabs. David and Calvin both wanted it, to my surprise, since we had just set up our old queen size bed in Calvin's room and I loved the way it looked. I couldn't give it to David if Calvin wanted it, so we said yes to Cal. Let all the re-arranging begin!
Father and son sitting by the pond at our church.
We ended the month with an unexpected injury. David got something in his eye at soccer practice, but we never knew what it was. He went to bed and woke up the next morning unable to open his eye, so off we went to the doctor's office. They said he has scratched his eye, so our little buddy became a pirate for a few days while his eye healed. Poor thing!
Thank you Lord for these sweet memories. Thank you for reminding me of things I'd forgotten about like David's eye patch and the story of Nana's questioning in her farmhouse kitchen. How I had forgotten trying to refinish the Cannonball bed, and now I can picture it in the back driveway while I scrubbed it with a fine mesh and some kind of scrubing agent. Needless to say, I like how it turned out: a much cleaner version and newly moisturized looking. Sometimes I wonder how in the world I could forget so much, but then I realize that so many things happen, that it's no wonder. I'm sure that one of the reasons this practice if so meaningful to me, other than the fact that I'm so sentimental. Thank you Lord for giving my sweet sentimental heart these concrete pieces to hold on to and keep safe from the fading memories. You are so kind & you know what truly blesses my heart. Amen.
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