End of 3rd Grade

Thompson wrapped up a fabulous third grade year at INVEST COLLEGIATE Imagine this afternoon.  We do not have enough great things to say about ICI in its inaugural year...stellar Collegiate Leaders (aka teachers), fabulous learning environment, creative programs and projects, leadership in action, and the list goes on!  As the school year drew to a close, Thompson was honored with both the 3rd grade Math award and 3rd Grade Spanish award.  Proud of you T!

Thompson with Mrs. Wellman,

his homeroom, math and science Collegiate Leader

Thompson receiving an award from Mrs. Torgerson,

his language arts and social studies Collegiate Leader

Father's Day

We spent Father's Day weekend in Cashiers with Poppy, Annie and Allison (sending our wishes to Papere and Mamere in Greensboro).  To celebrate the occassion, the boys got in a few holes at the golf course both Saturday and Sunday afternoon.  Of course, one event that will be told and retold for years to come (and probably embellished along the way) is Bobby saving me from the "spider" in the wee-hours of Sunday morning.  Thank you love!

The boys before their Sunday golf outing.

Porch time with Annie at High Hampton

Enka Youth Tri

Friday evening, both boys participated in a local youth triathlon.  They had first participated in this event two years ago.  (The organizers took a hiatus last year.)  William completed a 50-meter swim, 1 mile bike ride and 1/3-mile run.  He crossed the finish line running as fast as he could with a smile on his face.  Afterwards, he told us "running is not my strong suit, biking is my favorite".  As for Thompson, he competed in the Intermediate/Elite division (100-meter swim, 2 mile bike, 1 mile run)...and achieved his goal of a 1st place finish.

Family is a Verb

I don't think I could ever describe "family" as well as Ann Voskamp has done.  Below are excerpts from her 6/16/15 blogpost "when family breaks your heart".  Thank you Ann.  We family. ...Look, I’ve got no clue about why somewhere along the way we forgot that family is worth investing in more than college or retirement funds, no clue why climbing ladders to get ahead of each other became more important than laying down our lives to love each other ... No clue why we’re all expected to be captivated with loud things when the heart beat of the really beautiful things are often found in the stillness and quiet — but hey, listen…. who’s got any clue about what ultimately matters before time runs out here?... Put one foot in front of the other and you can put any mountain behind you.  After a whole lot of one steps in front of the other, day after day, you can turn around and see: Every day that you do the hard things that you don’t want to do — you’re building the family you always wanted to have.  That’s the secret no one ever told me… that changes the essence of everything. ... Parents give, and give, and give more, and still give more than they ever dreamed — and end up getting back more than they ever dreamed.  That’s what family means: People love you & keep on holding on to you especially when you’re not loveable. ... One of the most destructive attitudes in society today is that family is a noun … and not a verb.  Family is a verb. Family is an action.  And we aren’t merely born into families, families are born out of our reaching out and holding on and serving anyways and giving always.  Giving always.  It’s not only the blood in our veins that make us family — it’s the blood and sacrifice in our days that makes us a family. ... My closest kin is my husband — and we don’t share a drop of blood — but we share our souls… by breaking off bits of ourselves and sacrificially giving to each other.  Our sharing and giving and serving has been the making of a family. Mother and Father may grammatically be nouns — but theologically they are verbs. We mother and father and parent, we become by what we do, sit down with the kids to read stories instead of scrolling through Facebook updates, hang out the laundry instead of hang out at resorts, clean out the fridge, bite our tongues and bite the bullet and go the extra mile and we become, playing ball in our bare feet on the lawn with the kids till the sun sinks down. Family is a verb. Family is not just what we are, it’s something that we actively keep on making. With every phone call…with every trip to the grocery store and filling up the minivan with gas, with every filling up of the washing machine, with every putting the other ahead of you, so that you can put regrets behind you. Every time we make time for each other, we make family. ... Forget how hard 10 years of family-ing can be, forget how hard the next 10 years will be and just keep the whole thing simple:  Parenting isn’t overwhelming when we simply understand how to serve in this minute. ... Nothing trumps the love of us. Nothing at all comes close to us all being close.  Nothing means quite what it means to family. To family: a verb.  I want to cup all the kids’ faces, look into their eyes, look into the soul of the whole next generation and say it so they get it: Never buy the lie that it matters how you’re ranked in the eyes of the world—- when what ultimately matters is how you are ranked in the hearts of your people…. and the eyes of God. ... “Why don’t they teach you that at school? Instead of trying to achieve some position, what ultimately matters is the affection of your people.” Life’s not about trying to achieve some position,  it’s about the affection of your people. People over position; affection over achievement. When people restore the truth that family means putting other’s needs before ourselves —  then maybe something truly great in this country would be restored. ... When we do hard things for each other every day, we build the family we’ve been dreaming of for years.  With every action that we take and make our life say: I love you. Love is only real when given and shared. Love breaks and gives away your heart. Every time.  Love keeps the front porch light on and the socks matched and the side door always unlocked and waiting and the mudroom cleared of stray shoes and dinner in the oven — for decades. Because: Love never fails when it’s a verb that keeps acting and doing and giving.  We family each other. And family-ing makes the cake year after year and calls everybody to gather in closer and lights the candles because right here and now is a hallowed sanctuary. This is the grammar of love. This is how we family.  Family is a verb.

LBTT - Etowah

Thompson participated in his first official time trial race last night.  He joined Team Training Wheels members Bobby, Herb, Wes and Jason in Etowah for a flat {fairly} out-and-back 20K route.  He completed the 12.4 miles in 45:30, averaging 16.35 miles/hour.

Fletcher Flyer

We hit the road on our bicycles this past Sunday to participate in Blue Ridge Bicycle Club's 12th Annual Fletcher Flyer.  Having ridden the 30 mile distance last year on his mountain bike, Thompson was anxious to tackle the Half Century (50 miles) on his road bike...and he did it!  Not to be left out, I road with William in the Half Metric (32 miles).  Knowing the longest distance William had ridden was 22 miles on the {flat} Swamprabbit Trail, we found a "cut-over" road to shorten the distance some.  In the end, William completed 18 miles and was this year's youngest rider {and I think youngest to-date}.