Finish Line

 Cross country season has crossed the finish line. They were supposed to have 4 meets, but it looked like it might rain one of those days, so they only had 3.  They upped their distance after the 1st meet and Reed ran 1 1/2 miles in 10:28 coming in 6th place.  

Then at the district meet yesterday he finished 5th out of 30 kids running a mile and a half in 10:15 (with his shoes untied).  He doesn't even go to cross country practice because he's at soccer practice; I wish we could have seen how much he could have improved with some training. 

And I still stand by my claim that cross country is the best sport for parents around.  In and out in 15 minutes! 

Notice he's wearing his everyday shoes, untied. 

Yearbook

 I didn't even buy a middle school yearbook last year because when JR was in middle school they were terrible.  But this year Reed was in yearbook class first semester, so I felt like I had to buy one.  They've gotten a new yearbook teacher since JR was there, and you can definitely tell.  I was very pleasantly surprised! 

I had never even seen their school pictures, which turned out really cute.

And both of them showed up in the sports sections.

Reed playing football

And Kyle in the "out side of  school" sports section.

And Kyle's favorite thing about 7th grade proves, once again, that he's Little Jason and not Little Jan. 

Woodshop 2

 From the creations of woodshop class I present to you... Kyle's elephant puzzle.  

(It's both a puzzle and an elephant)

Before he brought it home he told me "I don't think it will fit on the Christmas tree".  

No, it won't fit on the Christmas tree, but it goes perfectly with my other elephants! 

Update on the Golden Child

 JR has been seriously upholding his golden child status around here these past few months. I hardly ever see him because he's always at school or work.

He's still serving up the snowcones over at Bahama Bucks, and when he's not working there, he's the crew chief of the umpires for our baseball league.  Luckily my friend, Shelley's, little boy plays so I get pictures! 

He's also practicing for the school musical, playing Sir Harry in Once Upon a Mattress, which I think is the best part (for him). 

So yeah, the Golden Child is pretty golden these days. 

Update from The Queen

 The queen would like you all to know that everything is going according to her liking. 

If You're Going to Take My Kids Out to Eat

 If you plan on taking my kids out to eat, let me make it easy for you and just take them to eat crawfish.  I've never seen my kids get so excited about any food.  

JR literally changed his work schedule just so he could attend the racquet club crawfish boil.  

I was happy to stay home, but Jason sent pictures and reported they ate 3 pounds each. 

Back after a Year

 It's been more than a year since Kyle's last dive meet, so it was nice to get back in the swing of things. It was great for him to be able to compete again, and he wound up finishing 2nd both days.  More importantly, if the kids have to qualify for nationals this year, he qualified in 1 meter and was 5 points away from qualifying in 3 meter. 

I took video during warm up, and here are some of his favorite dives.

On 3 meter

Back 1 1/2

Front 1/2 in pike

On 1 meter

Double

Front 1 1/2 in pike

2 More Sports

We were told that the middle school wasn't going to have a cross country season, but for the first time in a year something got added instead of canceled! Reed had his first cross country meet on Wednesday and came in 10th (1st for his school) with a time of 6:43. 

He also recently tried out for the soccer team.  I laughed when he told me he was trying out and said "the last time you played soccer was in 1st grade!" But not only did he make the soccer team, he's in the starting line-up (playing defense, of course).  They won their first game last night 4-1.

With Reed doing both cross country and soccer he is the only boy in the 7th grade that played every sport the school offers. 

Easter 2021

 Easter 2021 was a million times better than 2020...I was in church wearing my Easter bonnet instead of a mask!  After church we had an amazing brunch...just a great day!

JR was still getting dressed so he missed this family photo.

 (Yes, my dress looks like an Easter egg on purpose.)

JR made it in this picture, even though my hat is trying to kick everybody out.

And clearly, we're family since half of us didn't know where to look.

The Easter Bunny tried to make up for last year's Easter baskets which literally had things I found in the pantry (I think everyone got a pack of Ramen Noodles).

I guess the Easter Bunny did ok since JR told me the aviator sunglasses he got were the "best present he's ever gotten" and that he looks like "Tom Cruise or Eric Church" when he wears them. 

Obviously we really need to work on JR's self confidence. 

In Honor

 In honor of the college basketball game finals tonight, I think it's totally appropriate to post this video of Reed.