XC kick off * 2017

after being unsure all summer 

ben went to orientation at BHS 

and came home wanting to sign up for cross country

we got him signed up

and he started practice the next morning

today was their first meet

he finished the 5k in 25:00

he was really happy that

a. he finished

and

b.  didn't throw up like a guy in front of him did

i am so excited that he decided to run

he is having a blast.

he loves practices.

it's a great group of kids

and it's fun to see ben so happy while he's out running

this meet was at anoka high school

and it was blaine, anoka, andover and champlain park

this is the entire group of freshman runners

and these are some of the guys that got ben to sign up ;)

they are all in CEMS together

and i have a feeling they are going to have a fun season!

we followed the meet up with an impromptu lunch at pizza ranch

where alex pretty much had pickles

and cactus bread

and in case you were wondering ...

no ...

they don't give discounts to small wolves ...

we asked.

first day of ... college?!

although he's had orientation for the past 5 days

today was drew's first official day of class

lucky for him that consisted of one class

they read the syllabus and let them go after 15 minutes ...

so far he thinks this college thing was a pretty good idea

taming the curls

last week i got tired of pulling my hair into a ponytail

every. single. day.

SO ...

i called and got in for a haircut hours later

i LOVED it.

she did a great job.

SO ...

i decided i needed to make an appt with her for drew.

his hair has gotten so long.

on top of that it is curly

and i know NOTHING about curly hair.

if nothing else

he needed a consultation with someone that could give him a few tips

well ...

he got the tips ...

and a relaxing wash ...

he even got to sit under the dryer ;)

she wanted to mimic air drying

so she could give him some ideas on what to do and what not to do

the finished product looked fabulous!

now i just need to get him to use product

and remember some of the stuff that she said ;)

open house * alex * 2017

tonight was alex's open house at RMS

just like ben, he is really excited for school to start.

he found all of his classes fairly quickly

he has all GREAT - brother approved - teachers

AND

what he was most nervous about ...

after tonight he has his locker mastered!

he is more than ready for the first day!

open house * ben * 2017

tonight was open house for ben ...

and sam ...

and carson ...

they are all in CEMS together

so when we ran into them

we stuck with them

and the boys visited all of their classes together.

they found all of their classes 

ben didn't get a tall skinny locker

and

they all know there is no pool on the 3rd floor

i think they're ready to go!

we escaped!

today was my first official back to school day

we started the day with a meeting

which quickly led to the best part of the day ...

an escape class room challenge

our group had to solve clues to unlock a tool box

which then led to unlocking another tool box

which finally led to opening a third box

we were one of 2 groups to finish!

i LOVE puzzles like this ...

especially when they involve math

so this was the perfect challenge for me.

no teachers in our group

and we still killed it!

WOO HOO!!

SLP 3 on 3 * 2017

*  ben  *  devin  *  carson  *  robbie   *

getting it started

i have no idea how we got here

since it seems like i just graduated ...

BUT

today we took drew to orientation for PSEO at northwestern!

one of his closest friends from camp this summer is going there

so it was fun to run into him when we first got there!

we had a busy day

but it was a great way to kick the year off.

we started with a few large group sessions all together

then met with just the other PSEO kids ...

all 174 of them and their parents

following dinner drew went with the other students

while stacey and i went with the other parents

we had a worship/prayer service

followed by a performance by comedy sportz

now ...

we weren't actually leaving drew at northwestern

like some parents were

BUT ...

if we had been i could see how this would be such a great way to end

a very emotional day.

it was great to worship with a bunch of other parents

in a similar situation

and to just open our hearts

THEN

to top it off with some great light hearted comedy ... 

it was a really fun night

each time i am with drew on the northwestern campus

it feels so perfect for him.

i pray that as the year goes on he has fun, makes friends,

and maybe learns a little something too ;)

drew ...

i pray that you have a great year.

i pray that you make a lot of friends

AND

maybe that you learn a little something too ;)

ALSO ...

just in case there's any question ...

the freshman ring by spring rule doesn't apply when you're doing PSEO ;)

a solar eclipse ... kinda

with the solar eclipse a week away

i decided it was time to find some glasses

WELL ...

everywhere i tried was sold out

thankfully bekah had a few pairs she was willing to share

we got the glasses

practiced using them

AND THEN ...

the big day came

the moon started to cover the sun at 11:45

although it was cloudy/hazy we were still able to see the sun with the glasses

and it was pretty cool

unfortunately ...

about 40 minutes before the peak

the clouds moved in

and it started to down pour

we tried to drive and find clear skies

or even a hint of sun

but only found more rain

at that point ...

alex created his own eclipse

what a problem solver he is.

maybe next time we won't stay in minnesota ...

zoom zoom trifecta

drew is officially one week away from starting PSEO -

or college while in high school

he will be going to northwestern full time

and we told him that we would make sure he had a way to get there

SO ...

with a week left we decided it was time to figure out a plan

it didn't take long.

stacey and i went and test drove a few mazda cars saturday morning

that afternoon we took the boys back with us

stacey knew that he loved the mazda 6.

we've been so happy with our other mazdas

and with the pricing we were offered

we decided it was time to add to our mazda family

while stacey did the 'fun' work

we test drove a few cars of our own ...

the new cx-9

and the car drew thought we should get

the car we really got is really nice

and it fits in perfectly

we now have 

a mazda 3 * a mazda 6 * and a mazda cx-9

trifecta complete.