Eleven

Dear Weston,

It seems so odd to say that you are 11, but 11 you are. You have changed so much in the last year--in your physical appearance as well as your overall maturity--and I can truly tell you are starting to leave some of the trappings of childhood behind as you stretch towards manhood. You have grown taller and thinner in the last year, and you've decided to start wearing your hair longer, because you determined a buzz was a haircut for younger kids. On a recent grocery shopping trip, I spied a man out of the corner of my eye coming up the aisle beside me. I tried to ease out of his way, but when he kept coming toward me, I took a closer look and realized it was you all along. It was a shock to register my mistake because I still sometimes think of you as my little boy, as mothers are wont to do I suppose.

You loved our RTW trip and often talk about things you enjoyed or observed while we were traveling. You definitely have the travel bug and are willing to go just about anywhere...when it isn't football season! You even came up with the term "awaysick" to describe your wanderlust. We'll be doing some traveling in the U. S. next summer, and you are really looking forward to it and are already helping us plan some of our stops.

Speaking of football, that is still your overriding passion. You were fortunate to get onto a great team this fall, where you were encouraged to push yourself harder than you have before. But you were rewarded with the opportunity to play both defense and offense in every game, and you helped your team out with everything from sacking quarterbacks to scoring touchdowns. Not only was your team undefeated in the regular season, but it was also never even scored upon until the championship game, where you suffered a heartbreaking one-touchdown loss in overtime. You and your team worked so hard this season, and your progress as an athlete was observable even to my untrained eye. You are so excited that we now live in a place that has a spring football season as well as a fall season, and you are gearing up to play again in a couple of months.

You are kind of obsessed with logic, having entered an early stage of dialectic learning, and you are enjoying doing logic puzzles and studying logical fallacies in school this year. You also love to point these fallacies out in discussions with those around you, and I'm pretty sure you would be willing to argue with a fence post. I'll admit, sometimes this is maddening for your parents and siblings, but it's also super cool to watch you learning how to use some great tools that will help you better process information and learn to make more of your own decisions. As far as other school subjects go, you still love and excel at math. You are even planning to participate in two different PSIA math contests in the spring. Probably the most surprising class you are enjoying is writing, as this has been your nemesis in the past. You are loving the structure of the IEW program we are using in our CC Essentials class and are especially enthralled with the awesome application of alliterations. (Sorry, I couldn't resist!)

Despite the proclivity to argue about just about anything, you are still a very sweet guy. You are always quick to give hugs, generous with compliments, and careful to show appreciation for gifts and kindnesses. You are thoughtful and sensitive and an all around nice guy. You also love to tell jokes and to make others laugh, which, combined with your sweet, fun-loving nature, makes you loads of fun to be around.

We happened to be at the ranch on your birthday, and you were beyond thrilled that you got to shoot both a turkey and a buck on your special day. Throughout the course of the weekend you also shot a couple of dove, a quail, and a skunk, though this last was not exactly a hunter's delight. You love being outdoors and certainly don't mind getting your hands (or shirt or anything else) dirty to stock the freezer. Clearly, Dad and I chose wisely when we decided to get you a grill for your birthday.

Weston, I am so very proud of you and the young man you are becoming. You are smart, sweet, funny, handsome, hardworking, and curious about the world around you. It is a joy to have you in our lives, and we are so thankful for you! May this next year be filled with millions of happy moments for you, and may you continue to grow into your awesomeness! I love you so much!

Love,
Mom

Perot Museum

The Perot Museum of Nature and Science

Weston's a big fan of The Periodic Table

Creating Dinos

A skeletal puzzle

Earthquake!

The Water Cycle

An interesting weather report

Our little engineer was in heaven!

Battle Bots

Starting a building project

You know this boy wasn't leaving without a picture with the frog statues!

Musical Max

The end of a very fun day

Foodie Staycation

We decided to take a break from school this week to spend a couple of days exploring Dallas before heading out of town for the long Thanksgiving weekend. Today's adventure was a fun food hop at Trinity Groves. With views of downtown Dallas and the Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge, the group of interconnected restaurants, offering a wide variety of international and local food choices, provides a feast for all the senses. Our plan was to visit as many of the restaurants as we could (without making ourselves sick), sticking to small appetizers or shared dishes. We started at Resto Gastro Bistro, where we ordered several dishes that weren't bad but definitely sounded more delicious on the menu than they actually were. Our next stop was Sushi Bayashi, which was probably the favorite of the day for most of our group. We had the Philadelphia Roll and the Spicy Salmon Tower, and every bite was like a little burst of happiness in our mouths. Finally, we hit Beto & Son for some fresh guacamole, queso fundido, and loaded nachos. It was a very fun outing, and we feel sure we will visit again, as there are still many restaurants that we need to try!

Experiencing Dallas

Trinity Groves restaurants with connected patios
(The top pic is not mine; I borrowed it from their website)

First stop: Resto Gastro Bistro

Sushi Bayashi was our favorite

The lighting was super weird at Beto & Son, but the food was delicious!

Winning Day

Ruth had her second IEA horse show today in Ft. Worth. Despite the coolness of the weather, Ruth was on fire. She won 3rd place in her walk/trot class and 4th in her walk/trot/canter class. And, her team won 1st place overall. It was a great day!

Ruth and Nick looked beautiful in the Walk/Trot class

Ruth and Jupiter were out of this world in the Walk/Trot/Canter class

Ruth's hard work and determination definitely paid off today!

The Summer Hill Farms high school team with some new decor for the barn

Celebrating 11

We spent the day in party mode, celebrating our soon-to-be 11-year-old. We started with breakfast at the fancy eat-in movie theater and a viewing of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. Then we moved on to paintball. (And, by "we" I mean Weston and his buddy. The rest of us did not play but only observed, or, in the case of the little boys, spent the day with Nana.) After that, we needed sustenance and headed over to Firehouse Subs for a bite to eat. Finally, we headed back to the house for homemade cheesecake with strawberry sauce. Weston enjoyed the day immensely, and I'm so glad we had the opportunity to celebrate one of my favorite people on the planet!

Movie theater breakfast

Ready for combat

Celebrating my favorite almost-11-year-old

Homemade strawberry cheesecake, courtesy of Jeff

Feel Good Friday: How panda zookeepers and moms of toddlers are the same

Feel Good Friday, uh Sunday: See the greatness

Do you see it? The greatness that is in you? 

Look closer. It's there. I know it is. 

You may not have found it yet, but keep looking. Don't settle. Don't make excuses. You can be better than you were, and even better than you are. You are a life filled with potential. See the greatness, and rise to it. I believe in you. 

How is my baby 5 1/2 already?

Donuts and strawberry milk for breakfast

Half-birthday party

New cowboy boots

Ending the day with gelato

Feel Good Friday: Beauty from Ashes

On October 30, 2015, my sister's home was destroyed by a tornado, while she and two of her kids hunkered down inside. Thankfully, they walked away from the event with only a few minor scrapes and bruises. Their community turned out in droves to support her and her family (you can read about that here), which was a blessing in and of itself. But last weekend, exactly a year later, they got to move into their dream home, designed by them and built from the ground up on the same slab the other house was removed from. It is not the way they would have chosen to get their dream house. But they readily acknowledge that the beautiful place they have now would not have been possible without the trial of that storm. Sometimes, friends, the struggle is the very vehicle of the beautiful life we long for, and we must force our eyes to look past the storm and try to find the rainbow.

October 30, 2015

October 30, 2016

I Am

My friend Kathy posted an "I Am" poem challenge on her blog a few days ago, and I felt like this would be a good exercise for me, as a writer with a serious case of writer's block and as a person who has a tendency to bottle up her feelings.

I Am

I am a nomad and an adventurer.

I wonder where I will go next. 

I hear the world calling my name. 

I see beauty in every corner of the globe. 

I want the freedom to go and to keep on going. 

I am a nomad and an adventurer. 

I pretend I can leave on a whim. 

I feel enamored with locations I have never seen.

I touch the land, the sky, and the sea.

I worry about unchanging scenery. 

I cry when mundanity stretches before me. 

I am a nomad and an adventurer. 

I understand that travel changes me for the better. 

I say life's too short to be lived in one place. 

I dream of having new experiences.

I try to keep a trip on the calendar.

I hope to see more of this amazing world. 

I am a nomad and an adventurer. 

If you want to try your hand at introspection and self-expression, I am including the template for the poem below. I encourage you to think about putting pen to paper or fingers to keyboard and explore the depths of who you are. Make it a family exercise and a topic for discussion around the dinner table. Try it multiple times, changing your roles each time. Play around with it, and have fun. Keep it private if you want, or be bold and share it in the comments here or in your own public space. 

Feel Good Friday: Best Political Ad Ever

Minimalistic Mindset

A friend asked me to share about how we have adjusted to fixed-location living, particularly with regard to minimalism. Maybe you've been wondering about this, too. (Or, maybe not. Which is cool. Just carry on with your regularly scheduled activities.)

As most of you know, when we were traveling full-time, we lived out of carry-on sized suitcases, filled with appropriate clothing for every season and most occasions and activities. We had what we needed, but there wasn't a great deal of diversity, and items were limited. We mostly loved it, though the girls did dream of variety from time to time. But, because we were moving often and interacting with people we would most likely not see again, many of the social pressures of our outer wrappers disappeared, and we rarely lamented our sparse wardrobes. It was the ultimate in minimalistic living.

By the end of our trip, our travel clothes were in pretty dire need of upgrades, as many of the items were worn out or no longer fit. Plus, we now live in a place with closets and dressers (which was so weird to me when we first moved in!), so the need for extreme minimalism has passed. Truthfully, there has been a fair amount of both rejoicing and weeping at letting go of some of the pieces that went around the world with us. (I still have not replaced my tennis shoes, even though I desperately need to, but I happily said good-bye to a pair of travel pants I was never really in love with)! We have replaced and/or added to our travel gear out of necessity (and social pressure, if I'm really honest), but our closets and drawers are nowhere near filled to capacity. Nor do we want them to be. We all seem to be satisfied with less these days. (Though, I'll admit, the girls are enjoying the increased variety!) And, we all still harbor a wanderlust that makes us stop and consider what is packable and what isn't. We try to be intentional about what we bring into our intentionally small house. And, we try to get rid of items we don't truly love or that don't fit properly.

As far as non-clothing items go, we try to apply the same principles, though, I confess, this seems a little harder to control. There are more toys, beauty products, knick-knacks, and miscellany around than seems necessary (but NOTHING like before our trip). And some of them are here just because they can be, because we simply have the space for them. Despite our best intentions, the clutter still builds up, and I often feel that we have more than we need. And sometimes, I sweep through the house looking for anything we can get rid of. Sure, the kids enjoy having a few more toys, but they still gravitate to simple playthings or create playthings out of whatever is around. Overall, I would say that minimalism has made itself at home in our lives. We recognize the difference between needs and wants, and we think intentionally about our possessions. In my opinion, one of the the great things to come out of our trip is knowing what we need and knowing it is enough.

First IEA Show

One of the main reasons we chose Flower Mound as a landing place was so Ruth could ride on a competitive IEA team. She has been practicing with the team since late July, and they had their first show today. IEA particularly focuses on riders' abilities, rather than the appearance or breeding of the horses. Riders often have no previous experience with the horses they ride, since the horses are selected randomly by the riders just before they ride. Riders are judged individually, but points are also collected for the team. Ruth looked beautiful, and, though she didn't win any individual prizes, she had a great time, and her team got 2nd overall. This is all new to us, and we all learned a lot and enjoyed the whole experience.

A Farm Zamboni

Our team has a dedicated hair lady. She is awesome!

So proud of this beautiful young lady!

The girls have to line up by height for the draw, because certain horses can't be used for the taller girls. 

First time to enter the show arena

Rooting for rider 120

Ruth and Bowie in the Walk/Trot Class

Ruth and Towne in the Walk/Trot/Canter Class

Feel Good Friday: On a Saturday

What are you waiting for?!

State Fair

Even though Jeff and I both grew up in Texas, neither of us had ever had the opportunity to visit the state fair. Now that we practically live in the fairground's backyard, we really had no excuse not to attend. So, yesterday we declared a school holiday and took the kids down to the fair. We avoided the crowds by going on a weekday and arriving early. We ate as many ridiculously unhealthy things as we could manage, rode rides, played games, and enjoyed gawking at all the sights. We were so thrilled to check off this Bucket List item and experience this truly iconic Texas tradition!

Icons of the fair

The boys had a blast participating in the gigantic bean bag toss! Each had his own technique.

Car Shopping

Obstacle Course

We did not, by any stretch, try all the unhealthy fair foods, but we did try several, including:
corn dogs (of course!), mango-on-a-stick, fried Twinkie, footlong corn dog, footlong hot dog, chicken and waffles, cotton candy, pretzel crusted queso pollo balls, deep-fried, bacon-wrapped chili cheese dog with tots, and fried avocados. 

The little boys tackled the New York, New York funhouse.

And the older kids tried out the swings.

The last hurrah of the day was the log ride, which all the kids thoroughly enjoyed.