Brooks' Catch

Football season is over now, and although it was a great year...I'm enjoying the "Breather" on the Mom side of things. Football practice was at 6 -7pm, immediately after piano lessons on Mondays. Cheerleading practice was 5:30 - 6:30pm Wednesday nights, immediately before church. Soccer practice for Grey is Thursdays night 5-6pm...so basically 3 days a week we ate picnics in the car. Thursday nights is the "easy one" with only 1 thing to do! Now that football/cheer is over, I just don't know what to do with all my free time! ;-) The other crazy thing about the schedules was Saturday (game days), soccer is at a different location than football, so on days that Brian couldn't make it (about 4 weeks), I had to drive back and forth and back and forth, picking up and and dropping off kids at their various scheduled game times. I am glad that is over now! It was a little nutsy to say the least, but it did work seamlessly, so no major complaints

I don't know if this is the best play Brooks made all year (he had a few outstanding "moves"), but it's the best play we managed to catch on camera! Another mom caught this catch on video - I wasn't at this game, as I was over picking up Grey from his game while Brooks played his:-)

Spartan Trifecta

Late last year Brian and a few friends were trying to be intentional - about making new friends, about accountability, and about living "real life" together - so they devised a plan of sorts. Kind of a crazy one, but it worked:-) A few good friends has turned into many good friends.

They decided to start training for the Spartan races. They used the church gym/property on Wednesday nights after church to train. It started with a few, but gained in popularity once other guys started to hear about what was going on, and what difficulties they were training hard for. It's also kind of a good outreach - people that would not come to church per se, at an invite, would come and work out at a church with a bunch of good men.

It's been really neat to see the bonding and relationships form over these training sessions, and races.

The Kings Own was formed, and they are a merry band of brothers, indeed. They had shirts made for all the people that workout together, and especially the racers (some people do not do the races, just the weekly workouts).

On the back of the shirts, with The Kings Own crest : Honor all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the king. (Which is from 1Peter 2:17) On the front: "trade what you cannot keep for what you cannot earn". (a version of a Jim Eliott quote)

Without further delay: Here are pictures from the Spartan Beast (The Beast is a half marathon with apparently 36 obstacles). {Posts from the Sprint are here and here, and the Super is here.}

Ready to run!

A funny story from the first race (Sprint), - as you can see, all racers go together, so you are often surrounded by people you don't know. There was a woman struggling to get over an obstacle. Nate, the Spartan hero, came along to help her out. Brian says, "all I could hear was, 'I'm going to put my hand on your thigh'", and of course, they will never let poor Nate forget about that one moment of heroic proportions. "I'm going to put my hand on your thigh" is a regular joke around here now;-) This photo pays homage to that hilarious moment in racing history.

Brian said he was able to do most obstacles this time - but not the rope climb (you have to get high enough to ring the bell at the top). It was just too slippery, and he only got halfway up (he's not in this pic)

Swamp creature?

This is nearly the grossest thing I've ever seen

Hilarious comments taken from facebook:
Darla: What on earth?! Brian feeding Ulys straight into his mouth? Haha
Brian: Okay, my hands were the cleanest at the time. I fed everyone, it was almost biblical

Run hard, Byron!

They all finish together. Always. They stick together as a team, and help each other out when necessary. The punishment for not doing an obstacle (not finishing or not doing it correctly) is 30 burpees per failed person. That can be a LOT of burpees when a few people fail at an obstacle, which will wear you out fast. But the load is made lighter when a friend (who didn't fail at that obstacle) does some for you. A friend that sticks closer than a brother...does lots of burpees in your place:-)

I jokingly and somewhat mockingly (..."and #hockeyhair over here...") hashtagged Brian awhile back in an fb status. It stuck. Obvious to all, he has pretty close to the most enviable hair on the planet. In either gender;-) So the #hockeyhair legend lives strong, as each pic is carefully poured over by all - just to see if the hair ever looks bad, in whatever state he finds himself. The hair. It's all about the hair.

Twelve guys finished in 4hrs 21mins. They finished 165th of 312 groups of people. They were very happy with their times, and were very happy at how "easy" it was - training success! They even rocked the javelin throw (which historically has been a hard one for them). The race they ran in August (the Super) is/was one of the hardest courses of all Spartan races, so even though it was not as long as a half marathon, it was much more difficult, due to the terrain/location.

Pledge of Allegiance

This is Grey, who is a very eager learner. He is doing so well in school this year, and hates to stop for the day, always wanting to do more. Here is his adorable version of the Pledge of Allegiance:

Instragram Nov 2013

Grey had a great idea for "a-ssert" (dessert). Paw-sickles:-)

This is interesting...

A sea of cupcakes! 160 of them!

When it's 50 degrees, we're freezing

Found this Brooksie selfie on my phone just now:-)

Nature walk!

Beautiful

the hat is his new fashion statement

Halloween gray hair, or demo work?

Can you tell what we're doing tonight? Backsplash!!

This panel on the van seat kept popping/coming off, so I fixed it by myself! Go me!

7:45 and someone is still sleeping!

Comfy

The star of my Instagram. He is just too photogenic

Think I bought enough cinnamon?

Grey wrote today's number/date (5) all by himself! He is so proud!!

Sneak peek! #rememberingeviecaris

Brian officially gets new shoes!

The first pair of brand name running shoes I've bought in 17 years!!

"Flamingos"...getting a help from each other #sonnyandgrey

It's grilled cheese day! Exciting life & times

My mini me (Brooks)

Ardyn & Grey, soccer buddies

awesome art

No idea how this happened. I suspect Kenna or Brooks stole my phone for an up close view of jeans

It's time to create!!

Just out of the oven taste test. Pumpkin bread vs lemon loaf! Yum!!

Sneak peek!!

Obsessed? Maybe:-) Yes they're all mine, and yes all very close to the same shade #mac

That is snow, people!

Deleting old pics off my phone...found this from Sunday. Red shoes. Yes...and delete, since I don't have a head:-)

Another sneak peek...I was busy last night!

My stylin' boy

Co-op shape snack fun!

Super tired today, cold coming on, and a head ache...but this view really cheers me up. I love the colours of fall. And lakes. And ducks...well, ducks on the lakes, not ducks anywhere near me:-)

Hair cuts happening now:-)

Hey Ma, look! We made Jesus' wishing star, you know, from when He was born

I'll never complain about gas prices like this!

Pretty!!

I found this old pic on my phone...from 2010. It's baby Grey and baby Sonny. Wow time flies.

Oh my goodness. Another treasure found on my phone. Kenna & Drew

Trying to resist the temptation to eat an entire mini loaf, myself #bananabread

I've got the Awana office to myself tonight. Holding down the fort while everyone else makes pancakes.

Family picture day is coming up...time to re-dye my hair. This time? #4 Dark Brown

2nd grade is far more intense than I remember it being

This thing is an ancient treasure. Awesome for teaching time-telling

Neighbourhood kids fishing in our lake...they caught a catfish!

For my girl:-)

Sneak peek!

since we were up at the crack of dawn, for family pictures, I went to Walmart at 9am (when we were done) in heels and fake lashes. This has got to be the definition of all dressed up with no place to go

Just because I can't resist! He's too cute!

Grey salts his own chips. Expertly.

Wave Hi to Daddy everyone!

I told Grey it was the 27th today, oops!

Getting ready to ride!

it's going to be a long day!

Only about 10+ hours remaining! :-/

It's a bumpy ride in the backseat!

Moustache!

Having fun with licorice. #roadtrip

Holding his sleepy head from falling forward #ayarmistired

Veggies ready. Let the eating begin!

The Catskills, (And the awful old trailer we all hope burns)

Getting ready to set the table. #lovethishouse #postandbeam

Snuggles with Wooster:-)

Thanksgiving braids for Kennedy! :-)

Brian let me practice my technique on him . #frenchbraids

Going to hike with Daddy in "his" woods. It's 28 degrees outside!

Scared, but trying anyway

Japchae for dinner, made by Meghan. Yum! #korean

Is there any question as to whose this is? #stockingstuffers #earlychristmas #darsstuff

How Brooks looks in New Jersey

The van was so clean when we left, you could eat off the floor. Not anymore. #backseat #roadtrip #arewethereyet?

Chinese checkers, 5 players:-)

Checking all the lights before decorating

Breaking news: They got a real guitar for Christmas from Jake, Ann & Meghan. Real lessons coming up soon!

Peace on earth. A little Christmas crafting

When it comes to #mcm, sometimes it's hard to pick just one;-)