Closing it Out With a Bang

This weekend was the last tournament of the season. Take about closing it out with a bang . . .

Since the tournament was in Waller,
we had time between games to visit
Buccees!

The games were all extremely close, with the scores being 6-1, 5-4, 4-3, 5-4, 6-5. Almost every game the boys were down and fought back. We were extremely proud that they closed out their season as champions. 

As we were leaving the ball field, Casen told me this was the 'funnest' tournament he has played in. When I ask him what made it so fun, he said it was because all of the games were so close. So what I consider stressful and at times almost nauseating, he considers fun. I keep telling myself I have not got to get so worked up over these games or I am going to age at a much faster rate than I already am. I tell you, I have some fun years ahead of me . . . 

Birthday Celebration Day

Today is the day we finally are able to celebrate Casen's birthday. But first, he had to go to the eye doctor to get fitted for contacts. As you may recall, Casen received glasses in December. To be honest, he very seldom wore his glasses at home, but used them in class (or so he says). He does however wear his sport goggles when he plays baseball so he can see the ball - priorities, right? LOL. I had no intention of letting him get contacts until this December out of fairness to Camden and the fact that he didn't already need another eye exam, however, we have had issues with him running in his sport goggles. Despite trying on multiple glasses/goggles with his baseball helmet back in December, we never were able to find something that really worked perfectly. Anytime he runs with his goggles on they are steadily bouncing up and down on his face. So when he runs the bases, he generally passes off his goggles to his daddy. I can only imagine the frustration. So, we decided to let him try contacts this summer. 

He did great at the office today. His prescription did change just a smidge and after a little work, he was able to get the contacts in, out and back in.

After we left the eye doctor, we headed home, picked up Shane and Camden then headed to his friend Evan's house to pick him up. We then headed to his restaurant of choice, IHOP, where he of course enjoyed a Funny Face pancake. 

After we got our bellies full, we headed to the skating rink. Dear gosh, I don't know just how long it has been since we last skated, I think maybe two years ago, but my gosh, it definitely was not like riding a bike. It took poor Casen a bit to get his bearings and skate at a reasonable speed. Camden was a little wobbly at the beginning, but he got the hang of it quicker than Casen. And it was obvious Evan goes skating more than we do (he does have an older sister) as he was racing by them both. 

We stayed there for over 3 hours and they had a great time! 

Camden's First Mission Trip

Camden has been looking forward to this past week ever since his best friend, Cole, asked if he wanted to go on a mission trip with him. The church that Cole goes to, Faithbridge, allows their students to start going on missions after their 5th grade school year. The first few years, the students go on local missions and then they go a little further away, like Galveston, and then as they get to high school, they go out of state and even out of country. Camden attended several meetings in preparation for the mission trip and has been ready!

 

They started their day by getting to the church by 8:00am. They ate breakfast, packed their lunch for the day and had a devotion. By 8:30am, they were heading to their ministry site. They would service until 12:00pm and then would take a break to eat a lunch that they had previously packed. They then would serve until 3:00pm at which time they would head back to the church. They spent their last hour or so meeting as a team, discussing their day . . . . . . . . and then would be picked up at 5:00pm.

 They ended up going to the Houston Food Bank on Monday where they packed food - Camden's job was to bag rice. On Tuesday, they put out flyers for a cereal drive and then helped deliver hurricane supplies to people with Meals on Wheels. Camden was a bit nervous about this day and jokingly kept saying he may be kidnapped by one of the people when he delivered them food. Interestingly enough, it turns out working with Meals on Wheels was his favorite day of the week! Wednesday, they picked up the cereal they had previously left flyers for and then worked at the Hope Center and Faith Center packing food. On Thursday, they went to . On Friday, they work with Kid's Meals and packed a lot of meals for needy children across the city.

Camden absolutely loved his time serving others and said that it made him feel 'full' that he was able to do something to help others. I love his servant heart and definitely need to look for other volunteer opportunities that we can do together.

Casen's 9th Birthday

Today marks the beginning of Casen's last year in single digits. So hard to believe my baby turned 9 today. With Camden starting his mission trip today and Casen going to Sports Camp this week, we did not get to do much celebrating today, but he has plans for dinner at IHOP and skating in the very near future.

Per his request, he received Legos and money.

Graduation Weekend

It is so hard to believe that my sister now has her second high school graduate. Braden graduated today and will be heading to Oklahoma State University in the Fall to study architecture- Go Pokes! Despite COVID, Braden has had an amazing and successful senior year. Definitely one for the books. I am so glad we live close to my sister so that we can be a part of my nephews lives. It has been such a joy to watch them grow into such successful, kind, smart young men.

We were so fortunate that Melissa received six extra tickets to graduation. Due to COVID, each graduate's family was given six tickets, but with Melissa working at ISC, she was able to snag six more. I was thrilled when she offered four of the tickets to our family. We were hoping the weather would hold off so that the graduation would be held in the stadium where we had assigned seating, however due to the rain, it was moved to inside the Berry Center. Luckily we ended up with good seats and were able to enjoy watching Braden graduate.

While at graduation, my other sister, Marnie, who is the police officer at my school and whom I have grown very close to was able to meet my parents. You see, Marnie tell all the kids at school that we are sisters. Of course they look at us all crazy, but she explains to them that we have different moms, but same dad and that our dad was a rolling stone. LOL! We keep saying we are going to take a picture with dad so we can show the kids. Well, today was the day. I pointed out to Marnie where Dad was sitting and she went and plopped herself beside him and started chatting. 

This evening we spent sometime celebrating Braden at his graduation party. Melissa and Shawn (with some help from the grandparents) did a great job decorating the house in all things Braden.