Brandon has been avoiding the camera as often as he can, so I don't have a lot of photos to post up from summer. He went to the pool as much as he could with my sister and her kids as well as me and Maddie. He loves the pool! He also got into taking things apart and trying to rebuild them as much as I would let him. He's really good at taking them apart, but not as good putting them back together. He spent every Saturday morning at the flea market helping some of the vendors that we know. He also grew quite the appetite over the summer. He's still just as picky, but wants twice as much. He also helped me in the kitchen with some baking. He can make brownies all on his own now. I figured with as picky as he is he needed to start learning to cook some of the things he liked, or at the very least know how they are cooked. He conditioned for football, and then began his practices. It was a lot more work this year then years past, and he had a difficult time making the adjustment. He started 7th grade this fall, and that's our middle school. The middle school is combined with the high school, so yes it has been a HUGE adjustment for him. He's doing pretty good at his assignments. His challenge comes in with all the homework and balancing nightly football practices with a hour plus of homework. Oh and let's not forget trying to spend as much time with his friends as possible. He's had to settle for talking to them on the phone during the week. My phone does nothing but ring after 3:00 when the kids start getting home. I've had to give the phone a bed time of 9:00.
Madeline started her summer with a heavy schedule with weight lifting, basketball camp, attending any open gym she could, and participating in a basketball session of some quick games against some other local teams. Shortly after the summer began she dropped a weight on her toe and broke it (the toe not the weight). It was pretty nasty, but she didn't want to waste a work out so she continued on and didn't let me even know till after weightlifting. The doctor said she'd be out at least 4 to 6 weeks. She wouldn't hear of such a thing so she continued to go to weightlifting and held back from the rest of her activities for a week or so. Camp was coming up and they wouldn't let her go without a doctor's release....so she convinced me to make that appt. I was almost embarrassed to go into the doctor's office to ask him for a release after only 2 weeks. She convinced him and me to let her go and she passed all the doctor's tests and he released her. She went to camp and I warned her how difficult it was going to be with a broken toe. She drew some kind of inner strength that I don't even know if I have to play basketball from sun up till sun down on that broken toe without no pain killers of any kind.
She proceed through the summer working out 4 to 5 days a week, and putting in as much conditioning as she could. She spent time at the pond and camp fires out back with her dad and brother. She filled every moment free that I would let her going to friends and having friends over. She read books finding new series to read, and we visited the library at least twice a week. We got a rec membership for the summer, but Maddie only used the indoor pool a couple of times the rest was spent on the track or in the weight room.
It may seem like it was a simple summer for her.....and it was. I watched her grow more into who she wants to become, and learnt a lot about who she is right now. The summer wasn't filled with lavish vacations, amusement parks, and parties every day. What it was filled with was family, self growth, enjoying the moment for what it was, asking questions that normally gets lost with the business of life. Out of all the summers to me this one stands out.
Okay I have a lot to catch everyone up on. Over the next couple days I'll try to post some of the things that my family has enjoyed over the summer and this early fall. Thanks for being patient with me.
