Some Things Never Change

Carson has always been his happiest, best self when he is outside. Forgive the blurriness, this is a screenshot of a video.

Add rain and he's really happy.

I came home from work today to him playing outside in the rain and mud. He said he was playing outside for 5 more hours because he was having so much fun. 

He gives meaning to the saying a breath of fresh air!

Less Words Wednesday

We got an extra phone so Carson would have a "home phone" if needed. 

He has a few contacts...us and grandparents...and he loves getting texts. 

Carson has an interesting way of organizing his shoes.

I had a yard sale with some friends over the weekend. I enjoyed hanging out with them, but never again. We'll have to find other ways to hang out. I am happy to say my guest room doesn't look like this anymore.

Darrin went out of town again, which meant Carson and I had a sleepover in my room.

I think Carson was a little under the weather last week. I have never seen him have this demeanor at practice. 

Each other's favorite person.

Their travel team has practiced more this preseason than ever before. We'll see how their hard work pays off this weekend! Both boys have tournaments. Go Beast & Top Notch!

Jailbreak night at the football game. I don't care what boys say, they like a reason to dress up.

Miles got his braces off!

Less Words Wednesday

We had a first this weekend. Miles drove Carson to get haircuts for both of them and then they went grocery shopping for Marmee. She said they did a great job!

Working for a living is hard.

Carson is very motivated by the school's 20 book challenge. He read four books in the first week.

We surprised Carson last Friday with a Mexican, the arcade, and a sleepover with his buddy Charlie.

They used their arcade tickets for lighted swords

We rented a lift and trimmed & raised a lot of trees in our yard. It was a major job, but it was much needed and looks so much better.

It might be time for Miles to sit in the front seat and me in the back. He looks so uncomfortable.

Time for fall nails.

Miles learned how to work the lift and went way up in it!

Weekend Wrap Up

Miles had black out night at the football game.

The birthday festivities continues with his dinner pick....sushi.

Carson suckered Pa into some games as he always does. 

Our last celebration was Nothin' Bundt Cake. Carson loves him so much. 

He is blessed by his grandparents who love him so. 

Today was church and then a very long baseball practice for Carson.

And a baseball practice for Miles. His team doesn't practice much, but he always loves when they do. 

Miles and Tyler have another friend playing on their travel team. We are so excited to have him and hang out with his parents. 

I've been sick for 1.5 weeks and I'm so ready to feel better. Time to get a little rest before another busy work week. I'm not proofing this post so hopefully it's not too bad!

Sweet 16

The long awaited day has arrived...Miles is 16! We are so excited for him! Unfortunately Darrin has been out of town all week for work. After Carson and I woke Miles up and sang to him, Darrin called to wish him a happy birthday. 

We had orange rolls in the shape of a 16 and some breakfast burritos for operation gain weight. His gift is Darrin's truck, so we wrapped up a few things for his truck like hand sanitizer, gum, wet wipes, and put the key in the bag too. 

He had a surprise on the way out of the driveway this morning. This was a wild hair for me yesterday. This birthday has felt like the biggest milestone since kindergarten. It's made me teary in a good way. I am not sad or nervous, just happy and proud of him. I love watching him grow up and get to do all these fun things. 

I picked him up from school and we went to tackle the driver's test. He said he was aiming for a perfect score. His administer was very quiet. I don't even know if she told him he passed, much less that he got a perfect score. She just walked back in the door and started finishing the paperwork. He has driven countless hours with us over the last year and I knew he was ready. Preparing a kid to drive takes a year in my opinion. Lots to learn! He still has a lot to learn that just takes experience. So, many prayers for safety while he gets out on the road. 

The first place he went was to the gym. Since Darrin has been gone all week he hasn't been able to work out. After the gym, he took some ice cream to Marmee's house :) For me, the plan is to not track him. I don't want to drive myself crazy and I'm a firm believer that kids have to learn how to make the right choices because they are right and not because they are scared of getting in trouble. I'm sure I will track him from time to time but I'm going to try to train myself not to all the time. Darrin will probably do his own thing because he's a little more of a worrier....and by a little more I mean WAY WAY more ;)

This phase of parenting is fun. He makes it easy and we are thankful. He's responsible, self-motivated, and disciplined. He loves baseball, being at home, playing video game, good food, movies, his family, the Titans, sleeping, and University of Kentucky. We wish the years didn't click by so fast, but watching him grow up is our favorite.

Less Words Wednesday

The volleyball girls were having a sleepover for some team bonding and stopped by to surprise Darrin. I went inside and told Miles the entire volleyball team was in his driveway. He came out to see but didn't speak. Carson wasn't a bit shy.

How Carson makes his bed everyday...

Miles and Carson had some friends over to swim over the weekend. They ate a LOT!

I haven't been feeling great, so Carson said he wanted to do the dishes to help me out.

When Darrin or I are out of town, he gets to sleep in our bed. Steve and George take up the space of a human.

We went to watch the first volleyball game. This was before the boredom and grumpiness set in...

Miles started working this week. He umpired a 12U game on Monday, but then his games were rained out on Tuesday. He got paid anyway and loved making some money. He watched some YouTube videos to make sure he knew where he was supposed to be positioned during each play. I love that he took the job seriously.

Third grade is more homework than we are used to. He squeezed it in while we waited for Miles at the orthodontist. I'm sticking to my guns about not supervising homework. I want to jump in and rescue, but they both get it done without much help so I'm not starting now.

Miles' birthday week has begun. It's a big one.

We are all so excited for this milestone. Carson doesn't look like it, but he is!!

Less Words Wednesday

One weekend this summer, Darrin took Miles to play baseball in Hoover, Alabama, while I took Carson to play in Senatobia, Mississippi. 

It's hard to divide and conquer, but I'm glad we take turns with each kid. 

Darrin got to connect with one of his former UTM volleyball girls that lives in Alabama.

Miles got to play in the Met which is where the SEC championship is held every year.

It wasn't a successful weekend for his team, but they did manage to have a lot of fun at Top Golf and Dave & Busters. 

They spent some free time visiting Samford University.

Meanwhile, Carson and I had a good time in Senatobia. I canceled our hotel room because I felt so sure it was going to be rained out. That left us as the only family that wasn't staying at the same hotel. I called all day but they were booked solid. Carson was VERY upset about it and I wasn't thrilled about having to drive a pretty good distance to find a decent hotel that wasn't booked. I prayed all day that something would work out. I even thought about driving two hours home but our Saturday game ended late. When my friend checked into her room, they told her she had accidentally booked two rooms, so we grabbed one of them and got to stay with the team! It was a good lesson for Carson to learn to pray about all the things.

We have raised some pretty bougie children however. Carson was not a fan of the sheets that were clearly less than an acceptable thread count. 

On championship Sunday, we had ALL day to kill because his first game wasn't until 6:30pm. We went and looked around Northwest Community College. 

We also got a bunch of snacks at Walmart and ate in the car because we'd already eaten out for breakfast and lunch :)

The craziest thing happened...I found a $100 bill in my glovebox. I had forgotten putting it there 2 months before. It was the equivalent of finding a $5 in your pocket x 10.

After a very LONG day, Carson team won a big game and walked away champs!

It was the last tournament of the season and definitely the culmination of a lot of hard work and practice. 

Spending one-on-one time with each of them is fun and special. I feel sure that core memories for made for all of us.