Virginia Trip

With basketball over we finally had a weekend to go visit my grandparents.  We dashed up to Virginia getting there Thursday and coming back Saturday.  We spent the night on the road in a hotel.  All four children were in the same room and it was no problem.  Charlie asked to get in his crib!  He went right to sleep!  I was shocked.

We put Julia and Tucker on the pull-out couch and Marky slept on the floor on top of the couch cushions.  It worked for one night.  :)

 It was a very short visit and a very long drive, but as I told Marc tonight- it was totally worth it for this- storytime with great-grandparents. :)

Pawpaw read to Charlie- Tucker read to Pawpaw.  :)

We didn't pack any toys or anything, but Memaw and Pawpaw have an electric Christmas train that the children LOVE and play with over and over.

 

On Friday we had planned a trip to Appomattox and were totally surprised to wake up to SNOW!  We stayed home the whole day and just played and rested.

 

 

SNOW BALL FIGHT!!

I love this shot- a snowball had just exploded on Marky!

 Marc, Marky, and Tucker made a snow fort- actually it was a snow bunker.  They called it "Fort MighTy" after M and T in Marc and Tucker.  It was their fort and Daddy attacked it.

 

 

This was the defrosting station.  

Charlie picked up this phone and I asked Marky to "hang it up"- he said "how do I know it's off?  There is no 'off'' button on here"  Sigh. I had to school him on how the old-timey phones worked.  :) 

Charlie stayed warm inside most of the time and took a nap.  :)

Sunday is Memaw's birthday so we got her flowers and a card and they were delivered by our family cherub- 

Charlie has very sensitive eyes so we have to be careful to shield the sun from him.  We found out that watching the TV while driving at night hurt his eyes so he wore my sunglasses to watch his movies in the car.  :)

So that's the trip- a nice time and so grateful for my grandparents.  Now we jump back into real life.  :)

When it all comes together.....

This weekend was a special weekend for my big boy!

We all know Marc is an extra tall boy, so people have always assumed he's awesome at sports.  And he has always done well, but he's never the "best".  Big Marc always talks about how it takes taller kids time to grow into their bodies because their bodies are always changing.  Marky has huge growth spurts- we know he grew three inches since the fall, for instance.  Marky's strength in sports is he is extremely coachable.  If you correct him- he will change.  He is always where he's told to be.  And I say every sport he plays he should get "most improved" because by the end he's much better.  But up until now he has never stood apart from the crowd as "really" extra good.  

That is- until this weekend!  Something clicked- everyone was talking about it.  They were all saying "he's a different kid!"  Somehow he was in complete control and able to work the court and make it to 2nd place in our Catholic schools tournament.  It was so precious- he was smiling and every time he got a basket he'd look at me and smile.  We are so happy the year ended on such a positive note.  He scored 12 points on Sunday's tourney and tonight he scored eight.  Way to go buddy!  Go Knights!

Tournament weekends are loooong- game Friday, game Saturday, 2 games Sunday, 2 games Monday.  In between they rest up and get some more coaching.  :)

Poppy took Marky to Friday night's and Saturday morning's games because Marc and I were at a retreat at a lakehouse for our couple's Bible study group.  Sunday, after church, we took all the children and were at the gym for six hours!  It's a lot of work keeping this crew settled for that long with no naps.

We let Marky's fan club have a picnic in the corner with popcorn and Gatorade.  :)

And while we did lose the very last championship game (to an undefeated team with 16 players- we had seven and played two games in a row), we played well- and in hindsight, I wish I'd taken more video.  I have a video of the few shots I managed to catch.  The third shot on the video was the championship game FINAL shot- the ref gets in the way- but it was Marc who made the shot at the very last second!

You've been working hard for years, Buddy!  I'm proud to see it finally come together- what fun for your cheering Mommy!