YOTA award night

WHAT a weekend....! We had the YOTA awards banquet Friday night, my car was stolen from my garage, Cal got asked to play in a kid pitch game, making our baseball game total THREE for the weekend, and we had the Just tRYAN it triathalon, that was made a duathalon because the pool was too chilly, followed by a golf match!

The other parts up there need their own post, so I am just going to do the YOTA banquet now.

A few weeks ago, Cal's coach sent me this email:

Hi Carrie,
I just wanted to let you know that the Chapel Hill coaching staff has selected Cal as one of the YOTA Award recipients at the Awards Banquet in a few weeks. This award is presented to two athletes in each group who exemplify the YMCA Core Values, are great teammates, and work extremely hard.

I know that the banquet is a little ways away from Chapel Hill in Apex, but if you guys can make it that would be great! Here is the info for the event again if you need it:

________

Wow...! Keeping it a secret was hard! So so thankful the coach sent that because we definitely weren't planning on attending the banquet.... It was not a great location and the timing was hard, etc... but the night was so worth it!

We arrived and the place was suuuuuper packed. All the swimmers got their "crystal" awards, which   is just the trophy for participating. 

 I thought they were so nice!

And then the speeches started and then Cal was called up on stage. Oh my word! I about cried. I was so proud of him-- this was not an award for his athletic ability... which is also great, but this award was based on his character... and that means so much more to me. 

 Two kids from each "group" win the award, and we could not be more proud that Cal got it. He is not the fastest swimmer, but as his coach mentioned in his speech, Cal will say thank you every single practice... and at that, I did tear up.

 He was beaming when he sat back down.

 On the way home, he held that plaque oh so tight. He was proud! And so were his parents!

As we drove home, I started thinking how lucky and blessed I felt to have kids who are healthy enough to be able to play sports-- and be asked to play UP on a team, and who are also kind to their coaches, etc.

Karma wasn't having me thinking that way though. Because that night, my car was taken! ahhhhhhh! 



 

Checking in with the Williamsons

It has been almost a month since my last post. WHAT?!?!?! No excuses. We are busy and finding the time to sit and upload pictures takes a real long time. But still. Get with it, Carrie!

Here is a look at what's happening in our family currently!

CalBoy:

Cal is doing great in 2nd grade. He is learning a ton and is currently researching Babe Ruth for the 2nd grade wax museum. He is still loving swim and is excited for summer swim to start up. Baseball is a big love of his currently. I love watching him play, and he loves thinking about how it all works while he plays. He is really getting it, which has been awesome to witness.  Golf has been a challenge for him because, well, he knows best....with everything! He and his father tend to butt heads pretty hard out there. Eddie will say "you just use your putter and put it in here." and Cal will reply "nah, I am going to chip it." Then he chips it right into the bunker. It is hard knowing it all. Our favorite tv show to watch as a family is Jeopardy. We record it every night and watch it together. I adore this time. Cal has found a computer game Jeopardy and likes to play that too. Cal is BUSY and active and caring and funny and great!

Nuggie:

 Someone asked this week where we got that nickname. I am not sure I ever wrote it on here...? When he was a baby, I held him and said "he just looks like a little nugget!" and it sort of stuck. Well, it really stuck. His teacher texted me last week and called him Nug in the text. For real. That's sticking. He started swimming year round with Cal, and this week won "Swimmer of the week" for his whole group. He was so so proud. His coach told me today that he can really see it clicking for Andy-- and I saw it today too. He was struggling to keep up when he started, but today, he was passing a little boy who is 9. He was pumped. Andy's baseball team is not as put together as Cal's team. There are several players who have never played before and will actually duck when the ball is thrown at them. At our game last week, Andy was playing the outfield, but ended up coming in and covering second base- just because that kiddo wasn't anywhere to be seen. Andy loves golf. Loves it. He is super coach-able and will listen to whatever Eddie tells him to do out there. He has yet to break par, so he is still playing from 25 yards, but we are hoping it happens soon! I need to do a big update on his stomach situation, but I will save that for another post. In brief, we started him on some new meds, which are adult dose meds, and the first day, he went like crazy, and then went about every other day/every third day, and now, in week two, he is currently on day 5 of not going. So.... big fat shoulder shrug there. Andy thinks his teacher is the greatest human alive, Bruce is the greatest dog alive, and Christmas time should be year round.

Bruce:

Bruce had a vet appointment last week and got the devastating news that he is grossly overweight. He took it well, but his momma's heart was sad for him. So we are both dieting. It's not going well. I want frozen yogurt.  Bruce continues to be the most laid back, sleepy headed dog. He pulls like a lunatic when we walk, and then crashes and sleeps the rest of the day. He sends himself to his crate often and isn't seen for hours on end. I am obsessed with him and can not smooch his squishy face enough.

Eddie:

Eddie has been busy lately and traveling quite a bit! He has taken up tennis, at my pressuring, and really likes it! He's had all of two lessons, but he's pretty sure he's the next big star at Wimbleton. His biggest news is he has bought a new boat. And he's pumped about it. We are all excited to spend a lot of time on it this summer, making memories! He put a LOT of effort into finding this boat, so we are even more thrilled the hunt is over!

Carrie :)

I have been busy busy doing all the things.... but what? Still teaching preschool twice a week and signed on to do it again next year. Am I crazy?? Probably! I am still playing tennis and my team is having a lot of fun together. We will not be progressing to States any time soon, but the new players who have never played before are getting a lot of experience, so that is important! I am a parent rep for swim team again, and the pre work has already started! Swim is a LOT of fun, and I learned last year that a LOT of work goes into it! I can't wait for the season to kick off! I have been in a clean out tear and am currently working on the attic. Every time I sit down to work on a blog post, I actually go clean out another closet/drawer/cabinet. It has really been quite nice to get stuff organized!

So that's a look at what's going on over here! I am going to try a day in the life post soon...maybe Friday.