Catch up and Clayton's First Soccer Game

Well, this is just embarrassing. I have not written in so long, and I've just decided that I really liked blogging and plan to keep it up. It's so fun to look back over time and remember what was going on in life. Sometimes it gets so busy, it's hard to really look at what's really happening.

Tonight I got out several old picture albums and was reminiscing about old times. Old times meaning my honeymoon and Chad's 30th birthday... Caroline's first tooth.. you know.. the good ole times. It reminded me that in these days of not printing pictures and just having online albums this blog could truly come in handy one day. It was fun to read back over it.

Well, the kids are back to school. I have four kids at four campuses which is an adventure, but one that has worked out quite well I must say. Little Clayton is 5 and really should be in kindergarten this year, but we decided to have him wait an extra year. He's super smart and can read lots of words and knows his numbers, etc.. but there's just something about his maturity level that could stand one more year at home. And frankly.. I'm loving it.



Clayton's big news is that he has started Soccer at HOT. He's so cute playing. It's strange to see him as one of the youngest on his team. With a June birthday he barely makes the age requirement to play with this group. In the long run, I think it will be better for him to play with older kids. It challenges him. This past Saturday his team lost big time. I think maybe 20 to 2, but my Clayton scored one of the two. We were so proud of him. :)

All in a days work....

I was going over some old post that weren't published and found this one from May. As I wrote below... I forgot this day already. So glad I wrote about it. It even made me laugh:)

So today I woke up knowing it was gonna be an interesting one. We had a terribly busy weekend with 13 soccer games total, 2 birthday parties, a couple of sleepovers and church, so I was already on overdrive. I know these days are few compared to the span of a lifetime, but I remind myself that if I don't write about these days, I risk never remembering them... would that be bad?? I'm just not quite sure?

This morning started as normal. Hollering throughout the house for the kids to get up, making their breakfast, hearing a few complaints about who doesn't like the juice or the breakfast I cooked. You know, the normal kid complaints. I see that Cort has his clothes on, but notice that Cort he doesnt have his socks or shoes on. Well, that's just great.. His response.. I forgot. It's about 7:33. The bus arrives promptly at 7:34. Rush around.. the bus waits.. Cort gets his shoes on.. the elementary students are on the bus.. Yeah!

Next I drive Kate to school. It's a pretty uneventful drive. Stop at Walmart to purchase gas for the Excursion. Some kind men offer to pump my gas. No thank you.. I'm fine.. Very nice gesture though. Finish the gas pumping to arrive home and help Chad finish packing for his 3 day trip to Philadelphia. Thirty minutes later.. he's gone.. I'm officially on my own.

I go to wake up Clayton and .. yep... tee tee smell in his room, but I don't find tee tee... Strange. He eventually gets up, admits that he did wet his bed, but did so at the foot of the bed because he just couldnt make it to the potty in time. Sheets, comforter, mattress pad off the bed and in the washer. Just as a side note.. the sheets had only been on the bed for a total of 9 hours. AND.. yes, its the top bunk. Yeah Me!

Clayton and I make it through a pretty uneventful morning. I attend my step class at the Y, I take Clayton to a birthday party, and then I join Kate for lunch at Midway Intermediate. Definitely a highlight of the day... well, except for the part where I embarrassed her to death by taking her friends pictures for the yearbook.. but anyway.. Love those girls!

After a few work phone calls that are kind of high maintenance and dealing with my iphone that has unexplainably quit sending email, it's time to get the kids from school.

I have my carpool, arrive home to get Caroline to head to the gym and sure enough.. now the Excursion won't start again. Oh yeah! Chad's gone, no family in town and my car won't start. I call the shop that gladly took our $800 just 3 days before for a new alternator and 2 batteries and they're on their way over. Now this is where it gets fun... The man who came over drove a car that said KENDRICK Tire and BATTERY. This is important because he comments to me as he leaves that he's not real good with the battery belonging in a Diesel. Well... Yeah... He's clueless and I just paid him money!So much for my Tire and Battery Guy. He realizes he didn't tighten an important part 3 days ago. He does it, it starts and off I go.

Caroline gets to gym... late.. but there... I make it to Kate's dance while Cort is at soccer practice and poor Clayton is just riding along. After some Take Out dinner from Fazolis, showers for everyone and lots of spelling word call outs, vocab reviews for grades 6,4 and 1,and a large sibling brawl because a boy used the girls' bathroom, the house is quiet. I now go to lay in my bed only to find 3 of my four kids in there since Dad is out of town. Oh well.. this just means one of their beds is free for me. I need it after this day.

My Son is an Addict

It's true.. It really is. My son, Cort Castle.. age 7, is a sports addict. I am not exaggerating or making anything seem more intense than it is. It's just the cold hard truth.
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We live at 371 Broughton. If you are familiar with Waco and have a boy ages 6-12, then you realize what kind of problem this address is for an addict.... a sports addict that is. We live about 7 houses down from the little league ball fields. We can't drive past and have ANYONE out there playing without my son BEGGING to be sitting there in the stands watching every ball pitched. We have had him in bed before and heard him upset because he can hear the ding of the bat and the shouts of the game, and just can't stand it that he's in bed while other boys are out pitching, catching and just playing the ball.

Recently we drove past the fields where he saw his friend and his dad using the batting cages and having a little batting practice. This immediately resulted in phone calls to dad.. "Daddy.. where are you? When are you going to be home? Other kids are practicing ball.. hurry up and come get me and take me to play." It's constant. He walks straight in from school and puts on whatever uniform he's playing in that night. Forget that the game is 3 hours later, we gotta be ready.



Currently my son plays soccer and baseball and he participates in a karate class. In the winter he plays basketball. He doesn't just PLAY these sports, he lives and breathes them. Honestly, it scares me. He wakes up.. walks in the kitchen and says what do I get to play today. And GOD HELP ME if it rains!!! A rainout results in about half a days worth of breakdown and then eventually leads to dad taking him out to the Y to shoot baskets, or the indoor batting cages just to get some game in.



Just tonight he talked his dad into taking him down to watch a game. As they were sitting there watching he says to Chad, " You're the best dad ever. Thank you so much for taking me to watch the game." Makes it hard to say no.

He's recently started asking me to play football in the fall. Now, I've kind of had to put my foot down on that one. I'm just not into watching my son get tackled all over the field and worrying that he'll never use his legs the same way again. But, somehow I think he and his dad will win out on this one...just as they have with the four other sports he plays.
On that note.. I think I have some uniforms to wash.

Bearing Their Burdens

Is it just me.. or does anyone else get physically exhausted from bearing our kids burdens. It is amazing how worked up and concerned I get for my kids.

This week is the week that Kate found out her school schedule. It's always a kind of tense experience because each child has their idea of expectations for the year... who they want to sit with at lunch, have class with, which teachers they "heard" are good.. etc. Somehow even though I am not the 6th grader, the feelings, concerns and stresses all treat me like I am. I'm sure I'm not the only one with this problem.

Then, I have one little person who I've just come to realize doesn't ever want to invite friends over. She just doesn't ask. I offered her the opportunity recently, and she just said.. No thank you. I'd rather go out and do something special with you. What does that tell me?? Do I read too far into it when I assume that she's become antisocial, or do I just appreciate that she's feeling like she needs a little more mom time. Could it possibly be the 21 hours she spends at the gym surrounded by girls and maybe just needs a break from people? Or, is she not clicking with girls her age because she's always surrounded by older girls?? I don't know.. but I'm still laying awake worried about it. Throw in her gym routines, her diet (she barely eats) and her school schedule next year.. and I'm up all night.

Then there's the cute little third child who is incredibly overlooked due to his ability to entertain himself. Should I be worried that he asked if he could move in with his cousin for the whole summer just so he can play summer baseball on his team?? Forget me and Dad.. the coach asked him to play.

Well, Clayton is just one in himself. His main concern is making sure his dress up clothes still fit and what he wants to be next Halloween. Even still.. I find myself worrying about his prek next year, his inability to sleep without a diaper (all of my other kids were in underwear at night by now), and his still crying about things he "wants". I just think we should be past fit pitching at age 4.

It's just stressful to bear it all. Now, I ask myself.. is my concern going to change anything? No, but I never want my kids to feel alone in their hearts. I just want them to know that they don't have to bear anything alone. Just as Christ does for us. Sometimes I just have to ask myself... is any of this going to matter in 10 years? Probably not....

It just all happened so fast!

So our June has been very FULL and exciting.. It just all happened so FAST!.. I want to write a quick update on everything we've done in June. CRAZY... Now.. for the rest of the summer....

Last Day of School.. Cort graduated from Kindergarten.



The first weekend in June was Kate's Dance Recital... See previous post.. It was wonderful and we were so proud of Kate. She looked absolutely beautiful and danced her heart out. She smiled and gave it her all. After looking at her in recital makeup, Chad has put double locks on her bedroom doors and is now monitoring her cell phone... Just Kidding.. but her growing up is making me very nervous. And, by the way, she will not be wearing makeup for awhile.

Kate with her BFF, Maddie



The first week of June Caroline had gymnastics camp from 8-2 and Cort did VBS at Highland. This is where he asked Jesus to live in his heart. AMEN. And somewhere during that week I had my birthday. This was also the week of the boy's swimming lessons where Clayton learned to swim.





The next week all of the kids did VBS at First Baptist Woodway. And CLAYTON TURNED FOUR. He had a fun little rainy party at the Waco Water Park.




This was Clayton's little family party on his actual birthday. The cute monster cake was only 5.99 from HEB Hewitt. It as the perfect size.. just fyi..


June 19th we left for FLORIDA to visit with Chad's mom and sister and their families and we also fit in a trip to visit my family in Baton Rouge. It was amazing and beautiful and so much fun! We stayed here at Eden Condominums. in unit E204. We're excited to go back.








June 29th- All three older kids left for Camp. More to come on that later.

I have Him in my head... but I want Him in my heart.

Today was my 37th birthday!! I can't believe I am that old. It just seems like yesterday I was a little girl having an outside summer birthday party with a handful of neighborhood friends. Now... I'm a mom with kiddos asking me questions, needing me and wanting everything.
Chad and the kids made it a very special day for me. He took half the day off and we went to Ninfas and to see the movie "UP". Chad surprised me with my Baylor ring. One of the diamonds had fallen out, so I hadn't worn it for years. He took it and had the diamond replaced and the ring fixed for me. I'm so excited!
But.. not nearly as excited as I am that Cort decided this week at VBS that he wants to live for Jesus.... Here's the story.

I had decided sometime ago that my kids would do VBS at FB Woodway this year. Honestly for no other reason than that Clayton could attend... they accept 4 year olds and HBC doesn't.. and just because of convenience of location. That's honestly it. So, I hadn't even considered signing the children up for HBC VBS.

Well, Monday morning I woke up and realized that Caroline had gymnastics camp all week, Kate basically lives at friends houses, and Cort and Clayton would just be hanging with me all week... probaby in the Y nursery. I felt like maybe Cort should do VBS at Highland. I know the Jerusalem Marketplace curriculum would be something new for him and something he would really enjoy, so I woke him up and loaded him in the car to HBC.

It just couldn't have worked out better. We lined up to have him registered and he was able to get in a group with his two "besties".. CJ and Shep. I knew this was going to be a fun time for him. Sure enough, the first day he came home talking about how much he loved VBS.. which he was calling " Victory Bible Study".. His own Acronym I guess. He continued to tell me everyday about the stories he was learning at VBS.... the Bible Characters and the activities.

The next few days he got up so excited and anxious to go to "Victory Bible Study". I realized that on Thursday he had an appt. scheduled to have some pictures made, so I had planned on him missing VBS that day. Well, he wouldn't hear of it. He insisted that I call to move the pictures so he could be there. I did, and the photographer graciously offered us an afternoon appointment.

As it would turn out, Thursday Auntie Joy presented the children with the Plan of Salvation. Cort told me he immediately knew that he wanted to pray that, but it was suggested that maybe he was too young.

Well, today I picked him up from VBS and sure enough he told his leader that he understands and that he " knows he has Jesus in his head, but now he wants him in his heart". Can I just tell you what it felt like for me as a mom to see my precious little son make a decision to follow Christ?? I'm so proud of him and so excited for his decision.

More than ANYTHING ever for my children, I want Jesus to live and REIGN in their hearts. I'm so thankful for the workers at VBS (Ruby Kidd) and for the Lord for piercing Cort's heart, ordaining this moment for him and for prompting me on Monday morning to take Cort to Bible School at HBC. I know it was be something that will be a precious memory to him.. and me FOREVER!

I have told several friends and family members this before, but I believe the Lord is preparing Cort for something amazing. There is something inside his heart I see that is a geniune desire to be close to the Lord. I am so excited to see what the Lord has planned for Cort's future. Hopefully it doesn't involve a foreign country far away, or some kind of life of celibacy (we want lots of grandkids), but I'm certain it's going to be something that will put his outgoing personality and leadership qualities together to furthur the Kingdom! I can't WAIT to see what it is... well, yes I can.. for now, I just want to enjoy my little boy!

Kate's Dance Recital

Besides a little Zumba here and there, I'm not much of a dancer and I guess I never have been. I didn't have the body type for dancing growing up and never took. But, this is NOT true for Kate. She loves dance and is really quite good at it. She has the long legs for it and the passion to do it.

This weekend was the much anticipated Dance Recital for Jenni Holley Dance Studio. Kate has been so excited about this as dance is now "her thing". She is part of the Junior Company at Jenni Holley and has thoroughly enjoyed it.

This past weekend we had three recitals. Yes, that's right... I sat through three recitals and actually enjoyed each one of them. I was so proud of Kate and what a great job she did.

I just thought I'd share some pictures.




This was her ballet costume. She was just gorgeous in it.


This was her jazz costume where she danced to " Dancing In the Streets".


Yes, Chad went too! I think he enjoyed watching Kate dance, but did not enjoy seeing her in so much makeup and with leotards on showcasing her long legs!


This was my favorite costume and favorite dance. It was tap to " It Don't Mean A Thing"... So cute!

What a pretty leap! Kate is in the yellow!

This was Le Jazz Hot with her whole company.. Senior, Teen and Junior. It was incredible. And yes, friends.. You counted correctly. I had to purchase 5 different costumes for the recital. If you've ever had a dancer, then you feel my pain. But, it was well worth it to see the smile on her face and the fun she had doing it.