She Floats Like a Butterfly

Today was Amber's first day of dance class for the new school year.  Amber has always had the natural grace of a ballerina.  She did ballet for a couple years in the past and then for a variety of reasons we took a two year break.  She did Irish Dance one year and then American Heritage Girls(AHG) last year.  When we found out AHG would most likely not happen this fall, we decided to let her tryout for ballet again.  I didn't want her in the class with the younger kids because I wanted her to be challenged physically and not distracted by immature behavior.  So again we threw out a Gideon Fleece and decided if she made the Ballet III class we would go forward with lessons.  The try-out was two weeks ago and they told us at the end they recommended her for Ballet III.  I didn't fully realize how much she wanted to do dance till that moment, she was so excited she was almost shy.  We went back to the car for a moment, then I told her we would go ahead and buy all her supplies for class at the "Dance Boutique".  She was so happy she started jumping around.  We got her the royal blue leotard, with the pull back tights (such a nice advance in ballet wear so you don't have to ruin the tights wearing them in your shoes) and really neat new type of ballet shoes that are much more slipper like but have criss-cross elastic straps to better keep them on.  

Needless to say we didn't have any trouble with her getting through her school work today, knowing it had to be done to attend class (if makes me wonder if she should take lessons more days each week LOL).  They take ballet much more seriously at this level.  After her class today she was beaming and told us she needs to bring a notebook to write-down the series she is suppose to be practicing at home, I like that.  Looking forward to a year of fun and growth.

Break Between Seasons

When we took the leap of faith and decided to let Lance play for the National travel ball team "The Canes" this summer we hoped it would further his skills and get him the recognition he needs to further his career as a baseball player.  We had no idea how the world would change and how critical this choice would later prove to be.

Like his "Undefeated" Spring Highschool season.  Summer didn't go quite as planned but it did go well.  Though we dreaded all the travel with Lance being placed on the Capital 2022 team (based out of DC area) when we first heard about his Cane's placement, that too was a blessing as it was much easier to play baseball in Virginia this summer than in North Carolina (go figure).  The team he landed on was full of great kids that latched onto Lance right away and coaches of strong moral character.  Lance was quickly recognized as a player of notice and put in the 4 spot, his coach also quickly realized his skill was in catching not pitching (clerical error on his info sheet).  

Each tournament Lance's skills improved and by the fourth tournament at Liberty University he was on fire and his team and dad were not the only ones to notice.  As Chris was telling me about an incredible double Lance had just hit he quickly changed modes to tell me it had be recorded and tweeted by someone in Canes watching the game.  That tweet can be seen on his account @LanceTheTurtle and four more doubles that weekend.  He also threw a guy out so accurately at second that even the umpire yelled "and he threw that FROM HIS KNEES"!  It was huge step forward toward achieving his dream of becoming a Major League Baseball player.  As a bonus the team placed second in the tournament.

With the world so uncertain still, Spring baseball in question if it will even happen, we decided to have Lance play Fall baseball with the Canes as well.  We did not make this decision lightly as we were all looking forward to a break but we do feel it is wise especially if he ends up not having a a high school season again this year.

This Tuesday was the five hour tryout for the fall teams. Thankfully, they hosted them at a semi-professional stadium only 8 minutes from the house.  Chris and I snuck in to see the end of the tryouts and what warmed my mother's heart was to see how well he was respected and accepted by the other players and not just the ones from his team.  He had pitchers from teams he played against admit to walking him after seeing him hit, and others chose to catch with him during the tryout rather than players on their own teams. He told us afterward that having the Canes jersey on seem to make him part of a fraternity where you are instantly considered "okay" to talk to (the tryout was open to anyone wanting to play for Canes).

Gentle Nudge

 

Most of the students and teachers in Jared's new theater group attend the same church.  I became interested when I found out they hadn't stopped meeting when their regular location was no longer available because of COVID, they didn't roll over and play dead, they started meeting in and outside of the barn on the property they hope to someday build their church.  During Jared's two weeks of theater we hosted at our house a family from the church that lived over an hour away.  All our children get along marvelously and in my discussion with the mom I quizzed her about her unique church that was willing to take a stand.  Lance heard so much about the family he joked jealously calling them "the invisible friends"; as he and Chris had been away at baseball in Virginia the past three weeks.  This weekend they were in West Virginia the worst drive yet.  While they were up there Chris and I listened so some of the sermons online, which piqued my interest more.  They were not suppose to come back from WV till Sunday afternoon, then everything started to change.  

We pack all the food for Lance and Chris to eat on these trips for both health and financial reasons.  Somehow this trip (maybe there wasn't enough ice for a trip of twice the length) one of the meals went bad and Lance got food poisoning.  Big "Ugh" failure feeling for mom.  He played Thursday* but got sick toward the end of his game Friday.  As a result, they started to head home Saturday after trying to watch Titus' Tip Test** on Zoom and that failing too.  Though Lance was feeling well enough to drive home he wasn't feeling well enough to catch in the incredible heat.  The trip went fine till they hit the first toll booth in the mountains when the Beast just suddenly went dead.  The Beast went dead five more times on the 7 hour nerve wrecking journey home.  I had prayer warriors at work as I kept waiting for them to be within towing and recovery distance.  With great praise and thanks we welcomed them home.  Chris declared no one is to drive the Beast anymore (It's currently at our mechanic who will determine if it can be fixed or needed to be traded in, more UGH).

The kids and I wanted to go to the church on Sunday but figured after an arrival like that people would sleep through the services.  In fact, before bed we all agreed to throw a Gideon Fleece out that if we were all up we'd go but otherwise people needed to sleep and we'd try another day.  

At 8:07am Sunday morning, North Carolina recorded its second most powerful earthquake on record, needless to say the house was awake.  Poor Lance thought he was having a vertigo attack and was thrilled to find out it was just an earthquake. We acknowledged the nudge and agreed that God waking us in such a dramatic manner meant we better get dressed and head to church.  

The people and the sermon did not disappoint.   We had our "invisible friends" over after church for Chris, Lance and Holly to get to know them as well.  It was a wonderful time had by all, one we pray to repeat many times in the time to come.

*Back home, I walked into the school room to find Lance's 10 gallon tank leaking water like a waterfall from the corner.  We gave Lance a call what to do with the fish and Titus took charge siphoning the remaining water out the window, as Amber toweled up the floor and Jared and I transferred the plants.  It was a team effort but just more chaos for the weekend.

**Titus continues to excel at TaeKwonDo.  He is currently a Bodan Belt and has to obtain four "tips" to be allowed to test for his Black Belt.  Each tip involves proving mastery of previous skills, written tests and other requirements.  Parents could not watch inside (thanks COVID) so I sat in the car with a friend and tried to watch the live Zoom feed on my phone in the incredibly hot car.  We thought it would only be 20-30 min like other belt tests, we were wrong, the test lasted 1 hour and 45 minutes!  He looked so professional breaking a stack of boards with his fist at a kneel.  At the end of the day he passed and was awarded "Best Sparring", his Master is really excited about him joining the Sparing Team when it starts again.

 

Everybody Jump

So thankful we were able to help the Apex Skip-Its hold their August camp at Redline, it was a win-win-win for everyone.

Amber has enjoyed this camp for the past three years, it is such a wonderful group of teen and adult leaders.  Each year she gets a better and this year was no exception.  

In fact she was "Skipper of the Day" two out of the four days; which means she was the one that kept jumping the longest.  Coach Hager said, he thinks if she keeps practicing and improving, she will make the team next year.  I really hope she does, it's such a positive energy group.

John Silver is His Name

The "Miracle Play", as Jared called it, came together beautifully tonight.  Officially the play was an adaptation of "Treasure Island" and thusly named.  The ACTT Theater group Jared joined to participate in the play met for 10 days, 6 hours a day to get ready for tonight's play.  The first day I dropped him off he was thrilled to see a friend and the friend was equally thrilled; so I knew things would go well from there.  He told me over and over again this was the best theater group he had ever been apart of,  just a wonderful group of kids working hard and having so much fun.  Jared grew in his acting skills and made new friends; what a perfect experience.

Jared called it a "miracle" tonight since they had only had the script for 7 of those 10 days and only gotten through the whole play for the first time earlier in the day.  However, no one in the audience would have guessed the students hadn't been though the play many, many times.  Jared was Long John Silver, so thrilled he finally had a lead part in a play.  He rose to the opportunity as never before dazzling the entire audience.  We were so thankful to have so many friends come to the "barn" support him and confirm to a bias mother's eye that he had really improved dramatically in his theatrical prowess.  Considering the heat and they all stayed to the 2 hour conclusion the play, I wasn't the only one impressed.   

Titus recorded the play and I have posted it on a private Youtube channel for your enjoyment:

Part 1: https://youtu.be/ltEYZ1WuAL4

Part 2: https://youtu.be/ZdiKvHIVdQo 

 

Aloha Friends

Chris took the day off today to go with us to the "Aloha Safari Zoo".  We hadn't been there in quite a few years. We hoped it hadn't changed in a negative way.  We were so pleased to find out it had actually improved and expanded!

First we were greeted by very friendly Chinese Geese.  We then worked our way back to the Safari Train, through a new petting zoo area full of various types of antelopes.  

I've never been someplace where you could pet the antelopes.  Also in the barn were some local baby ducks that had moved in to apparently keep the fly population in check, much appreciated.

The safari ride went well, lots of neat animals to see, though we learned we'll sit on the other side next time to see some of the animals easier.  That ride dumped us out at the giraffe feeding area, ironically the giraffe was named "Titus".  As we ambled along past the brown bear, Amber and Titus hid under the umbrella of one of the many peacocks on property.  Then there were, tigers, lemurs and snakes, oh my!

Next the kids got to hold a snake, wash a tortoise, pet a lizard and Titus caught a rooster, of course!  For a family that likes to touch this is a field trip we will schedule again.

Today is a Good Day to Die... figurately of course

Almost three months to the day we were finally able to have Lance (and now Jared and Nathan's) birthday party! During the wait the boys had worked hard to beg wood and pallets off neighbors to build their first official airsoft "building" on the island.

The hoard arrived at the house at 9am and fighting began at 10am.  With small breaks in between the battles continued till 10pm at night. This fight was the first encounter in which role restrictions were enforced. In our contained jungle arena, there had been a history of over-shooting and "hosing" that limited movement and made strategy negligible, turning each fight into a full-auto standstill in past airsoft battle days. Everyone that came this time was a little skeptical about the restrictions at first (many of them had never turned their weapons to semi-auto before) but quickly warmed up to the hard fought battles it created. Cries of "MEDIC" and "HIT" rang out all day long with teammates struggling to drag their wounded comrades to safety. The height of the day was the customary "King of the Hill" turned to "King of the Fort," where each team in turn crawled around the tiny bunker trying to survive just a minute more to outperform the other team. The day ended with Lance alone blowing through 10,000 rounds as a machine gunner, with Jared and Titus going through 4,000-4,500 rounds each as riflemen. And Chris went through a woppin' 700 rounds as a designated marksman.*          

The party was a complete success, no one got hurt including my husband who join the fray as a gift to his sons.

*Written by Jared and Lance.

Back to NOUNS!

June has started with a renewal of activities and frankly life.  I like the meme that said "I miss people, places and things...basically I miss nouns!"

June 3rd was our first trip back to the YMCA pool.  We weren't sure it was going to open and then I wasn't sure if we'd want to go back if it was too restrictive.  Thankful the pool remains the oasis it was for me last year.  The kids are safe playing around and I can sit quietly in the shade reading my book.  Their only requirement is that people keep the chairs in the groups of two within the taped off areas six feet apart and that we wipe them down after we are done, I can live with those rules. Yay!  A glimpse of healthy normal.

Redline reopened this week for "Summer Camps" and Titus took over Lance's membership.  He did one session inside and one outside.  At the outdoor session Amber and I got some exercise as she scooted around the walking path and I walked, which was fun.  Playground was still roped off but we played some cards at a picnic table till he was done.  Titus is doing really well working and listening, this training is going to make him more of an athletic beast than he already is.

Lance on the other hand finally started Canes with Spring Training at "Ting" (two weeks later than planned) a field only minutes from our house, instead of hours, bonus.  He didn't get to meet any of his team members (they were at training in Virginia) but he was on a baseball field again and that made a happy boy.  As a bonus, I got to watch him play as well!  It was a bonus because parents weren't suppose to be in the stadium but when I was dropping him off I noticed a few parents sitting down.  So I crept in myself and so it continued, parents sitting far apart from each other but slowly creeping in to enjoy watching their boys play.  Who would have thought watching your kid play baseball would be a clandestine activity but then again who would believe any of this would have ever happened.

June 8th Jared started his week long class "Theater of War" online.  He learned a lot of fascinating things throughout the week and therefore so did we all, as Eugene shared with us each night the highlights.

June 8th Lance and Jared finally got to say their final good buys to their favorite Writing teacher as she came by to visit and drop off their final papers.  It will be weird not seeing Penny every week in the fall.  She is a marvelous teacher and an incredible Titus 2 friend.

Using the model from Redline of holding "Summer Camps" instead of lessons, TaeKwonDo opened in person as well.  What a relief, the kids just weren't getting much from the zoom lessons.  Though while we were gone the stuff animals got a little too comfy watching "Bear in the Big Blue House".  Chris gave Grizzly a stern talking too, then the kids curled up with them to relax a bit :-)  (Idea stemmed from the previous night's dream idea of "If you were a stuff animal that came to life when people weren't around....what would you do?)

Horseback Riding started up again too on Friday, for Amber and Titus.  So nice to see Polo, Henry and of course Britton too.

Celebrating Jared

Tradition is to have a big bowling party for Jared's birthday but none of the alleys are open right now, so we went with a bit more of a subdued celebration.  

However, the confetti tradition lived on!  By request Jared played his favorite game "Memoir '44" most of the day, got pizza for dinner and watched his movie of choice.  We have plans to celebrate with friends once social gatherings are allowed.  

Its hard to believe he is 15 years old!  How has the time passed so quickly.  He now tops Lance in height (though Lance is in denial),  I keep telling him to stop but he doesn't listen.  This past year he has not only grown in height but skills as well: archery, theater, and stop motion.  (Check out his youtube channel J-Rod Studios)  It has always been clear that God has big plans for Jared, what they are may not be clear yet but its clear it will have something to do with his incredibly theatrical skills (in theater and online), his crazy memory (Pete the Baseball Stats Guy) and fascination with history, particularly WWII (Eugene - Play and Pause all you want to know).  His parents are just glad for the gift of having him around and watching him grow, such a beautiful young man inside and out.

Honoring Memorial Day

Today we gathered with friends to honor those who gave the ultimate sacrifice, that we may live in freedom.

Here was the schedule of the days celebratory activities: 

• While everyone ate pizza we read a book about a lady who worked hard to do all she could during WWI called "The Poppy Lady"
• After the reading, we made paper poppies from card stock and pipe cleaners, while listening to the "1812 Overture"
• Next we moved to WW2 and read about "Mercedes and the Chocolate Pilot", this is a true story of a young lady living in post-war Berlin.
• After the reading we made parachutes out of napkins, thread, and green army men; then dropped them off the top of a ladder to to a chalk target below.
• Our last book covered the Vietnam War and was called "The Wall".  This book was the somber lead into the rest of our ceremony
  

For this part of the day we invited out neighbor Frank (a veteran) and his wife, Mary, to join us.  We dedicated this part of the day to Spec. 4 Phil Marcoux, killed in Vietnam.  

• We started with explaining the meaning of all the items on our make-shift "Missing Man Table" and told the story of the miraculous survival of the table at the Fayetteville Memorial during Hurricane Matthew.
• Then we explained the history and meaning of the 21 gun salute, followed by Lance, Jared and Mac shooting off airsoft guns in "21 gun" unison.
• Next, I handed out a copy of the words to "Taps" (though no one sang), and explained the history of the song.  Then we stood to a recording of it played.
• After Taps, Frank and Jared did the flag folding ceremony and I explained the meaning behind all 13 folds.
• Next I tearfully read of the what would have been said as the flag was presented to the widow/mother of Phil Marcoux, had this been his real ceremony.
• Chris then finished us up in prayer.
  

Scripture says that there is no greater love than to lay down a life for another, today we did a little to make sure the children in our care remembered those whose love bought and kept the freedom they enjoy.