First Week of School

But first we have a few things to do...

Jack competed in a triathlon on Saturday morning.  He and Fred rode their bikes together to the rec center (it's just a couple of miles from our house.) 

Fred and several buddies from the gym helped on the course on the bike portion.  Fred was going to lead the pack, but decided not to do it when his buddy started giving all the directions.  Fred's good friend, Kenny, led the pack.  There was a little girl on a bike with training wheels.  Too sweet.  Once everyone reached the turn around point Kenny stayed back to be with the last rider (plus a police escort).  The little girl on the training wheels was the last rider.  Kenny was riding in beside her, barely keeping his bike up b/c he was riding so slowly, and she almost fell off.  Kenny said she looked up at him and said, "Thank goodness I didn't fall.  I just had my nails done."  bahahaha! 
Finishing up the swim.  I didn't go in the pool area.  It was crowded and hot and steamy.  I cheered outside where it was just hot and steamy. 

 

 Off on the bike...

 Running it in to the finish...

 Sweetest finisher I know.  In total he swam 100 yards, biked 3 miles and ran a half mile.  He was 10th overall and 4 th in his age group with a total time of 23:24. 

After the triathlon we headed to a wedding of the son of a family in our church.  It was in the middle of nowhere...Indianola, Mississippi. 
Since we had a guest with us I told him to smile so I could send a picture to his mom to let her know he was okay.  Leave it to my son to mess it up. 

Once we got all changed we loaded up, Xbox included, and headed out to a sweet little wedding ceremony and reception.

 

At one point during the wedding Andrew leaned over to me in nothing like a whisper and said, "When does the party start??"  Then I looked over at Clayton when the couple grabbed hands and he pretended to gag.  Never a dull moment.  Never. 

I must say, our friends, the groom's parents, throw the best parties ever!  I'm telling you they are going to be on the food committee in heaven.  I will make sure to be in their dining hall.  You should do the same. 
Sunday we went to church and then headed to bed with our clothes laid out, lunches made and alarms set for dark 30.  Monday morning went as smooth as silk.  Except for the rain.  Right as Clayton was to leave for school a monsoon came upon us.  I mean a monsoon.  In sheer love for his mother he stood outside in the rain so I could get this picture.  That's love.  He goes to a different school than Jack and Andrew and it begins at 7.  As in he has to be ready to learn, in his chair at 7.  It's.so.early.

 Jack leaves the house around 7:40.  Fred usually takes him on his way in to the office.  Are they both no so grown looking?!?  Seventh and fourth grade...what???

Andrew and I were driving around one day this week and he was picking his nose.  I said, "Andrew don't pick your nose.  That's gross.  Kids at school will make fun of you."  To which he replied, "Not if they love Jesus."  Well...
Andrew has gone to school on a staggered schedule.  He went for his first full day on Thursday.  I did pretty good.  I didn't break into an ugly cry, just a few tears streaming down my face. 
He asked me if I thought he would make any new friends.  I told him I thought he would.  He said, "I hope none of them are girls.  That'd be weird."  I hope we all remember this sentiment when he's 16. 

After I took this photo Andrew said, "Let's go people!"  What I really think he meant to say was, "You have been the best mother ever.  These first five years of my life have been amazing.  I cannot imagine any of these teachers coming close to having the influence on my life that you have had.  I will love you forever and I'll never hurt your feelings, talk disrespectfully to you, or complain about anything. Now, get over here and give me a hug!"  Yeah, that's what he said in my mind. 
Is that not the sweetest picture ever? 

 While waiting in line we met our sweet friend from church.  Note the matching backpacks.  Is that not precious??

 Writing his name on his paper...too sweet. I left after this.  It was about to get ugly.  I knew if I made a quick escape I could make it out with my dignity in tack.  No one wants to see a grown woman crying in the corner.  Speaking of grown women...since this is our third child to attend kindergarten I'm pretty sure we were some of the oldest parents dropping off their child.  I told Fred this might be the case.  When we were leaving he said, "I don't think we were the oldest people dropping off.  There were some grandparents in the room."  Ha!  (You can read more about my thoughts on the first day of school by clicking here.)

I regained my composure and did not let any grass grow under my feet I came home and dug right in.  Most normal people would take a day and relax. Not me.  I came home and got to work on two projects that have been under my skin.  I've been saving them until Andrew left.  He won't let me throw away or clean out.  This really cramps my style.  I got my organization on though as soon as I got home!

Before

After

 

 

Before

 After

Can I get a Hallelujah?!?  If you read chaos2peace you know this was not on my plan, but honestly, I couldn't help myself!!  I mean, how good does that look?!?  I mean, it's better than a day at the spa.  And I'm not even kidding.  Seriously. 

As Thursday night went on Andrew told us more and more about his day.  His life is one continuously long sentence.  In the middle of a sentence he told us they took a "fire tour".  After several questions we discovered that they had a fire drill.  Ha.  A fire tour. 

Fred and I are participating in a relay race called Ragnar. I'm in my second week of training. This was the view on one of my runs this week.  Is that not peaceful?  I should have sat on that bench and taken it in a little bit, but oh well...maybe another day.