All About Carson

Carson made this little book at school today.

I had no idea he liked noodles. I'm curious what kind of noodles he is referencing b/c we never eat noodles unless it's spaghetti and that's been months b/c I don't really like it.

This one made me laugh out loud. It's so sad when you put it like this.

We may not have pets, but we have George and Carson says he's a member of the family. He's my kind of pet for sure.

Weekend Wrap Up

It was Miles' birthday weekend! He was 12 on Saturday.

We did a little decorating on Friday night after he went to sleep, so he woke up to a celebration.

He wanted chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast. Darrin always delivers on their birthday requests, as well as almost every day of the week. 

After breakfast, he opened his two gifts from us. 

He seemed excited about this one.

It was a basketball goal for the pool. We ordered it off Amazon, so it was hard to know what to expect. We were pleased with how big and sturdy it is.

His birthday fell on a Sunday so it was fun to have a party on his actual birthday. 

He had his baseball team over for a pool party. 

They played a very aggressive game of basketball. I was very happy that no one got hurt or mad. 

One of his teammates has a broken arm. He's had to endure the baseball team pool party and Miles' birthday pool party. I felt so bad for him. We sure hope he gets to ditch the cast soon. 

Sunday was church day. Carson loves to see his buddy, Max.

Miles and his friends endured an awkward sermon out of Song of Solomon :)

Miles had baseball practice on Sunday afternoon. His coach surprised the team by telling them that they earned the USSSA Team of the Year award in Tennessee for their age and class. 

He called Miles up to read the award to his team. They got cool rings too!

I was so proud of them. I helped host a wedding shower in Kentucky and raced back to get there in time for the announcement. We had no idea what we were getting into when we signed up for travel ball six years ago. At times it has overwhelmed me, but we all love it. We have the best memories with this team.

This weekend starts Miles' 7th season with Coach Steve, which began with t-ball. For a coach to stick with a kid and a kid to stick with a coach in the cut throat travel baseball life, we consider it quite an accomplishment. 

After baseball practice, we had our last birthday celebration with the grandparents. We ate Miles' favorite food, salmon. The ladies ate chicken and all the guys ate salmon. 

Then, it was time for more gifts. Miles is pretty good about saying thank you. He loves Granny, Pa, and Marmee so much.

My mom made Miles a blanket and he loved it. 

Carson did too and was really sad about not having one. So, like any good grandparent, my mom is making him one pronto.

We wrapped up the night with a riveting event of trying to get a splinter out of Pa's finger.

It was a very busy weekend, as usual. We enjoyed celebrating our big kid. He's such a good kid. He spoils us with how compliant he is. He has your typical preteen sass, but he's a responsible, smart, helpful (not always willingly, but he gets the job done), and mature. He is a deep thinker that hears and feels everything. I know it can be sad how fast the years go by, but honestly, I just love watching this kid grow up. It's so fun to have conversations with him and watch him mature before our eyes. He is a joy.

Less Words Wednesday

With my new position at work, I had to move one of my offices b/c I was in the very back of the building.

I'm not finished yet, but I was happy with how it turned out with minimal effort.

I read about these shorts on a blog. I've always been self conscious of my legs, but the need for comfort won out and I bought some. I liked them and will be buying more. I like that they are super secure and you can't see up my shorts when I'm working out.

I had to work out later than usual due to Darrin's practice schedule. I will never work out after eating dinner again. 

Carson just hasn't felt his best for a couple weeks now. We've been to the doctor once and called another time just to be sure we didn't need to take him in again. He seemed better today so hopefully he is on the mend.

A rare sighting of Miles out of his bedroom or off the sunroom couch.

He is such a genuinely sweet, happy child. He's also very loud and lacks some manners, but we are working on that :)

We don't want summer to end!

Soaking up some rays.

We had to pick up a few things at Walmart the other day. I moved the front part of the cart so he could sit all the way back and he said, "You are such a nice mom".

I think Daddy will always be his #1.

Weekend Wrap Up

On Friday night, I drank an energy drink after work and decided to get a lot of chores done, so I didn't have to spend all weekend doing them. That mostly meant a lot of laundry. I'm not sure I've seen Carson as happy as when he put on warm clothes straight from the dryer, specifically shorts, sans underwear, which is how he rolls. It was pure joy.

He was also pretty happy to have Darrin home after a late practice. Preseason is tiring for Darrin and L-O-N-G for the rest of us. Preseason is the very definition of "the days are long, but the years are short".

Due to the previously mentioned energy drink, I was up late on the couch and heard Carson crying in his room. I thought he was just whimpering and would go back to sleep, but I ended up having to check on him when his crying got worse. His whole body was shaking from a bad dream. I scooped him up and put him in bed with Darrin. He comes to our bed at least once a week b/c he's had a bad dream. We always talk to him the next day about staying in his bed. Now that I've seen how scared he was, I will be hesitant to lecture him about staying in his room. I'm sure he'll outgrow this phase in time and if he needs to come to our bed a few times so be it. 

Darrin had volleyball all day on Saturday. I was glad that Stephanie came to hang out and help me pass the day. I was afraid it was going to rain all weekend, but we soaked up some rays.

I'm not as fun as dad, but I did get in for a while and throw the football for them to catch off the diving board.

Carson is pretty good, but then, he's always been coordinated. 

Miles had a friend over to swim and as soon as we pulled in the driveway from picking him up, it started storming. So, they did what they do best.

Carson had a rough night after a day of swimming and too much electronic time. This was an epic fit. He lost his electronic time for Sunday which served as punishment and a much needed detox. 

No electronic time meant creative play time. It's easy to let him play the DS, especially when Darrin is gone all day, but there's a price. He's much happier when he's doing stuff like this.

Church and then a little time with dad before he had to go back to work. 

We were so happy to have the volleyball team at church with us this morning. Such a pretty group of girls, inside and out. Darrin's assistant coach (next to me) had a baby this summer. I got to meet him this morning and I am in love. 

After rain and clouds all day, the sun came out around 3pm and we were on it!

Miles worked on his diving skills.

I'm not sure what Carson is working on, maybe surfing, maybe ninja.

We have Roberto the robot that cleans our pool, but Darrin says it still needs to be scrubbed every now and then, so Miles did that today. Carson used a magic eraser and wiped the sides. The pool is still a novelty, so there wasn't any complaining. We shall see what next summer is like. 

This is Miles birthday week! We are looking forward to a good week and celebrating him on Saturday. On another note, my new computer is making all the difference with blogging. I love having a laptop, so I can sit with everyone else at night and blog while they watch TV or play, instead of being stuck at my desk. And more importantly, it's lightening fast compared to my old computer. I'm so thankful to have it after dealing with the other one for so long.