Friends are a Blessing

As I sit here typing, I am listening to Briggs play so nicely with his new friend from school who came over for an afternoon playdate.  The girls were invited over to play with some of their friends this afternoon, leaving the house free for the boys to enjoy.  We have relished some beautifully nice August weather by playing with neighborhood friends, hanging out with friends at sporting events, going swimming with friends, hosting play dates with friends.  As the school year starts and the kids get settled, I am continually thankful for the friendships, both new and old, that fill my life and the lives of my kids.

When the kids were younger, play dates were hard.  Supervising and organizing and cleaning up messes and ensuring everyone was playing nicely together required a lot of time and energy.  Sometimes it just wasn't worth it.

Visiting with other moms during those early playdates was always the goal, but often it was not the reality.  The constant needs and supervision made uninterrupted time to talk very limited.  And sometimes the energy required to begin and foster a new friendship with another mom was a little daunting.

Once kids and their schedules entered the equation, maintaining old friendships was also tricky.  Scheduling times to get together with non-local friends was difficult and opportunities to get together with them was often far less than I desired.

But times change.  Kids grow up.  Priorities shift.  Play dates now become a great way to keep my kids entertained and happy.  They enjoy finding friends to play with at playgrounds and parks and sporting events and school activities.  They can go off to play without constant supervision or concern. 

With the increased ease of my kids' friendships, visiting with other moms and making new mom friends requires less as well.  Visiting on the deck or chatting as kids are dropped off or meeting up for spontaneous outings is easier.  Having the time to get to know one another at school pick up and sporting events and kids activities increases with less immediate child needs.  And as the kids go off together to play, relationships with our kids' friends' parents deepen as well.

All of my kids have found themselves with such sweet friends.  Friends from school.  Friends from church.  Friends from activities.  Friends from the neighborhood.  And many of the kids' friends' families have become our good friends as well.  

I am so thankful for the friends that God has brought into our lives.  We are meant to live together in community and relationship with others.  As Covid eases into the background and time opens up, we are relishing these opportunities to grow in our friendships.

Life is just better with friends!

Question of the Day

Can we credit the start of fall soccer season for the extreme change in Briggs' physique?

Or do we need to start looking into radioactive spiders, genetic mutation, or a science experiment gone awry?

Running Camp

All 3 kids attended a summer running camp put on by the Eureka College Cross Country team.  They went every Thursday evening for running based activities that culminated in a short race to end the session.  So on a hot summer evening two weeks ago, all 3 kids participated in their end of camp race.

Briggs ran the .2 mile short dash...and won!  He was first out of the 7 participants, including some that were older than him.  He was very pleased!  As this was the same course that he ran during the Run with Reagan kids dash last fall, he mused, "I get first every time I do this race."  I guess 2 for 2 is a good start.

Adelie and Staley both ran the 1.2 mile long run.  Adelie placed 6th out of 11 kids with a time of 10:49.  All but one of the kids who placed in front of her were older than her and she was pleased with her performance.

Staley was 5th in the long run, finishing 16 seconds in front of Adelie with a time of 10:33.  I was proud of all 3 of my kids working hard and doing their best throughout the summer and on this hot evening.

Running camp was a fun addition to our summer schedule this year.  I love that all 3 kids enjoy running and push themselves to do hard things.  I'm proud of them for the work they put in at running camp throughout the summer and for finishing the summer...and the race...strong.

Back to School

The kids started back to school on Friday last week.  (Yes, a Friday.)  And 4 days in, they are still demonstrating enthusiasm about the return to school and excitement about what this new school year will bring.

Briggs started 2nd grade with his teacher, Mrs. Beachy.  Mrs. Beachy is new to Davenport, but we have heard good things about her from those who know her personally.  Most of Briggs' closest friends are not in his class this year, but he gets along well with a variety of kids and doesn't seem overly concerned about who is and is not in his class.  Briggs has loved Mrs. Beachy so far and has already expressed the sentiment that she is his new favorite teacher.  He's also excited about having Chloe in his class and about the new playground that they've installed at the school.

Briggs and Mrs. Beachy

Adelie is in 4th grade with Mrs. Mickna as her teacher.  Staley also had Mrs. Mickna and we really liked her.  However, Mrs. Mickna had a kidney transplant this summer so Adelie is starting the year with Mrs. Bachman, a substitute teacher.  (Mrs. Beachy is expecting, so Briggs will also have Mrs. Bachman as his substitute when Mrs. Beachy is on maternity leave.)  Although Adelie is pleased about having Mrs. Mickna and also likes Mrs. Bachman, she's most excited about all the things that 4th grade has to offer, like Safety Patrol, News Team, Drama Club, The Living Museum, and Mrs. Mickna's Science Fair.  Most of Adelie's closest friends are not in her class this year, but she is pleased to have William and Stanley in her class and, coincidentally, they are sitting in the desks right next to her.

Adelie and Mrs. Bachman

Staley was my most nervous child about her return to school.  Although excited to see her friends and start some of the activities she is looking forward to (here's looking at you, Drama Club and Student Council), Staley also had some apprehension about the start of a new year.  Sixth grade brings with it more changes at the middle school.  There is more mixing of students as you rotate classes and a predominantly male team of teachers (as opposed to primarily female team in 5th grade).  Staley got Mrs. Selvey as her homeroom teacher, which was who she had hoped to have, and was pleased that Charlotte, Lucy, and Kaitlyn are in her home room.  And after her first day of moving around to all her classes, she has discovered friends that she's excited about in each of her classes and really likes all her teachers.  (Mr. Ferguson for social studies is the very early favorite.)

Staley and Mrs. Selvey

As each school year starts, it's always a mix of emotions.  I truly enjoy having my kids at home and relish the more laid-back nature of our summer schedule, so the return to the schedule, early mornings, and busy-ness of the school year brings me a bit of sadness as we say good-bye to another summer that has flown by.  There is always a little apprehension about new teachers, new responsibilities, new classmates, new routines, and new academic expectations.  And yet, there is also excitement about a new school year, more time with friends, and the chance to try new things.  So ready or not, here we go...

First Day of School

6th, 4th, and 2nd grades

Unstoppable

I blogged a few weeks ago about Briggs conquering his fear of the diving board at State Farm Pool this summer.  Well, Briggs took that big step and never looked back.

After a number of failed attempts, belly flops, and back flops, Briggs is now able to consistently dive off the diving board well and has tried a number of times to do a front flip off the diving board.  His flips tend to look more like cartwheels as he flings himself off, but his fearlessness is unprecedented for my typically cautious little guy.

I'm amazed and excited to see Briggs not only face a fear, but demolish it in the process.  Can't wait to see what my unstoppable boy is ready to conquer next.

St. Jude Run

The St. Jude Run was mostly back to normal this year.  Normal route.  Normal rules.  Normal send-off.  Normal crowds in downtown Peoria cheering in the runners.  And despite a few changes to the post-run celebration and telethon, things reverted back towards our pre-Covid days.

And with a mostly normal year came a big challenge...the Eureka St. Jude Run Million Dollar Mission.  The Eureka St. Jude Run had their inaugural run 8 years ago.  After last year's run, Zach realized that if the Eureka team could raise $154,425 they would hit $1,000,000 raised since the inception of the run.  And so...the Million Dollar Mission was born.

Zach's goal every single year is to raise as much money as possible for St. Jude's life-saving mission.  He pours his heart into planning and organizing the run, gathering business sponsorships, recruiting new runners, and spearheading our individual fundraising efforts.  

Zach's passion for this cause and this purpose never fails to inspire me.  He works tirelessly and his enthusiasm is contagious.  So much so that this year, he recruited virtual runners from coast to coast...literally.

Our kids are fully imbedded in our St. Jude Run.  They donate their own money, spend the morning with grandparents cheering us on, proudly display their St. Jude Runs apparel all year long, and look forward to the day when they are old enough to join the run.  I can't wait to not only share the mission, but this inspiring day on the roads with our kids.

To accomplish the feat of raising $154,425 as a team this year was going to require some unprecedented fundraising work.  Our team has never raised that much in a single year, and our total number of runners was less than in our previous highest grossing year.  So we were going to need to raise more money with less people...a difficult task to be sure.

Zach poured everything he had into making the mission a reality, and several days before the run came to the realization that it was just not going to happen.  As a numbers guy, he watched the money coming in and calculated it against past years precedents to determine that, despite his best efforts, Eureka just couldn't make it happen this year.  And so he prayed for a miracle.

The following day Zach got a call from a current patient's father who, after watching the Memphis runners leave the hospital where his son was receiving treatments, felt a stirring to join the run this year.  With just a few days before the run, he joined the Eureka team to show support for his son and assist with the fundraising efforts for the organization that is working to save his son's life.

With that reminder that God is working for good in all things, the next few days displayed the true power of God's working hand.  Money for the St. Jude Run came pouring in at an amazing rate, and not just from one source or one runner, but from the collective group.  Zach watched as the number that didn't seem possible just a few days earlier came closer and closer into view. 

Although the day was brutally hot, it was inspiring to see the support of the community, the passion of the runners, the continued support of donors, and the patients cheering us on as we ran in honor of them to raise funds and awareness for the work of St. Jude.  One of my favorite days with some of my favorite people.

And at the end of the day, Zach was able to reveal the impossibility of what God had accomplished through our Eureka St. Jude team.

The Eureka Run miraculously raised $171,425!  The Million Dollar Mission was accomplished, and God put his exclamation mark on that total by far surpassing what we even thought was possible.

Zach and I were able to raise $38,000 through the staggering and generous support of friends and family.  Between the two of us, we ran 46 miles on run day.  And although sore, tired, and sunburnt by the end of the day, our hearts were full of gratitude, hope, and awe at what God can accomplish.

St. Jude Run day is one of our favorite days of the year.  It is inspiring and humbling and hard and full of hope.  This was an amazing year!  And now it's time to start working on that second million.

Beauty and the Beast, Jr.

We had a full week of fun at the theater.  After two nights of Staley's Shakespeare play, we followed immediately with two nights of all three kids performing in 'Beauty and the Beast, Jr.'

The Eureka cast joined with the Peoria cast to bring this amazing show to the stage.

All 3 kids were very excited about their parts in this show.  Staley was cast as Madame de la Grande Bouche (the opera singing wardrobe), Adelie was Chip (the talking teacup), and Briggs was a villager and a dancing spoon.  Both girls had a number of lines to learn, and Staley had a few short solos.  This was Adelie's biggest part she's ever had and was SO excited to have this big opportunity.  She was perfect for the part of Chip!  All 3 kids rocked their parts!!

This might have been my favorite of all the shows the kids have done with NTA.  The script was great, the casting was phenomenal, the costumes and sets were amazing, and it was just thoroughly enjoyable.  I loved it!!

Adelie's two best friends decided to join for the summer session, so Adelie loved getting to spend the extra time with them.

Staley's friend, Olivia, also joined this session.  It's fun to watch my kids introduce something they love to their friends.

And, of course, the kids always love getting to spend time with their NTA friends as well.

Each show brings the kids new friendships.  I love that they get the opportunity to meet kids of different ages from different towns and different schools.

And each show brings many people who support our kids.  Uma and Papa never miss a show.

Grammie and Grandpa are also always there in the audience too.  Our friends, Krista and Steve, came for the performance this time too.

Briggs' friend, Dava, came one night with her mom and sister.

The kids' babysitter, Miss Olivia, also came to support them.  And although I didn't get pictures with them, Aunt Sandi and Aunt Jan were there.  So were Aunt Carrie, Uncle Erik, and Elliott.  I am always so thankful that my kids have so many people investing in them and supporting them.

It was a great way to finish off our summer.  Loved watching my kids and all their hard work pay off as they shined on the stage once again.

Shakespeare

Each summer, NTA puts on a Shakespeare experience program for the older kids in their programs.  This was the first year that Staley participated in the program.  They met once a week and, at the end of the program, they put on the show "Canned Hamlet."  It was satirical comedy based on the Shakespeare play, Hamlet.  

Staley really enjoyed getting to try something different on stage, as well as getting to be a part of the "older kids" group.

Staley was cast as Guard #3.  She had one line, but was also in several other scenes as an ensemble character.  She did great with the parts she was given!

The play was really enjoyable.  I wasn't sure what to expect, but the script was very funny and the actors did a wonderful job.

We just invited grandparents to join us for this show, so Grammie and Grandpa came one night...

and Uma and Papa came the other night.

Staley relished another opportunity to be on stage in a new way with some new people.

I love watching Staley get yet another opportunity to do something that brings her so much joy!