Another golf match

In our marathon weekend, we finished with a golf match. We were so so hopeful this would be the match where this one broke par and got to move back to the 50 yard mark. And he was soooooo close......

Cal, who never wants to be coached, decided he wanted Eddie to actually coach him. 

 It didn't last long.

 Andy wants to be coached and listens to his dad's every word.

 The boys were grouped with Andy's buddy Lee and his dad, and I loved this picture of them-- these boys will always remember this time spent with their dads. I have a feeling the dads will always remember too.

Andy was under par pretty much the whole match. And then he got a six on a hole (par is 4). He got a 3 on the next one, which helped.... but then he finished two over.... so so so painful. 

 But at least it was a gorgeous day spent with my most favorite people ever.

 Maybe next time!!! But we were SO SO proud of sweet Lee who made par and gets to back up to 100 yards at the next match!!! He did awesome!

 Golf is a TOUGH sport. Sheesh. I think I say that every time I write one of these posts......!

 

Just tRYAN it!

This is SUCH a special event and each year, I am so proud of the boys for participating! This past action-packed weekend included this "triathalon" turned "duathalon" due to chilly water temps. We were super bummed to not have the swimming portion, but it was cold the morning of the race, and I can't even imagine how cold that water was!

We were up early Sunday morning to be at the Country Club before the race started. This organization is just outstanding. The whole event is well run and so well orchestrated from start to finish. 

 These clowns found the photo booth #ofcoursetheydid

 Mrs. Lee was there (don't tell Andy she was there because her super adorable nephews were there... he's pretty positive she was there just for him...)

Andy did the mini course (I can't remember how long each course was), so his event was first. He set off on his bike....

 And then finished off on his run! He did SO well! He's ready for the short course, I am pretty sure. They announced his name as he crossed. I was proud!

 With his medal!

 And then the Short Course started! I got a bunch of videos of Cal, but not as many pictures... but I did get that smile when he was all done!!! I think he was flat spent after all that fun!

We were all tired after all of that. And we recovered my car late the night before, so I was anxious to get home in the day light and check it all out. Thankfully there wasn't any damage, but it needed some good attention!

And, keeping it all in perspective.... Cal and Andy raced in memory of Justin. Justin was my student way back when, and while in my class, fought like hell against his battle with cancer. He lost his battle, sadly, but he has stuck in my heart ever since. His parents asked me to speak at his funeral, which was one of the hardest, yet special moments of my teaching career.

 So, yeah, my car was stolen by some bad guys.... but seeing this on the back of my HEALTHY boys' shirts put it all in perspective. We are so.damn.lucky!




 

My car....!

Let me start by saying Eddie and I are both SO at fault here that our faults pretty much cancel each other out, so we can't blame anyone but ourselves....hahahah

Okay, so we came home from the YOTA banquet on a total high over Cal's award. We stopped and grabbed food on the way home and pulled in around 9. I took the kids up to bed and Eddie was going to let Bruce out and lock up the house. He did that, then met us upstairs and we tucked the kids into bed.

I started gathering baseball gear for the morning and Ed was going to go down and "watch the news and check the doors." This is funny because I make fun of him for this every night-- he is an over checker. He checks and then he re-checks. Which makes it even WILDER that he didn't realize the left the door open.

We were up early on Saturday to get to Cal's game. The boys went into the garage to get on their cleats, and I leashed up Bruce and walked him out to pee. I stopped in the garage and said "where's my car?" to the boys and they just stared at me. So I walked into the driveway thinking maybe Eddie moved it, but it wasn't there either. Ed was still upstairs and Bruce was still smelling grass, so I called Eddie and asked him where my car was.

Long story short, someone was prowling the neighborhood and happened upon our never-ever-left-open garage door, and got in my car, I am sure looking for money. Lucky for this person, not only did they find cash, they found my purse and my keys. Because I keep them in the car in the garage (enter palm face smack). Yes, I know I should not have left my keys in the car (technically, Eddie was driving the car, so HE left the keys in there, but there's no blame here). Yes, I know I should not have left my purse in the car. I am still beating myself up over it all.

So the police were called, Eddie and Cal and Andy went to the game and I stayed home and started the process of cancelling the cards.

We had a long day at the baseball fields and we pretty much sat in shock of the whole thing. As soon as we got home, I poured a FAT glass of wine:

 And then we decided to find some funny in the day. The whole neighborhood was super upset, understandably so, and on high alert. So I sent out this picture and said "great news! we remembered to shut the garage door tonight...." made me laugh... we so funny. And so so so dumb.

Meanwhile, Eddie is ready to be all:

 And then at 9:30, the police called me saying they found my car. Seriously. It was in a parking lot in Durham (about 15 mins from our house). My purse was still there, as was my wallet, but it was totally emptied-- like even my Harris Teeter VIC card is gone. But nothing else, really... my parents and Eddie went to meet the police at the car. The officer felt like the guy was coming back for it- he left things in there, etc. My credit cards were used a various gas stations for about $30 each time. They smoked a lot of cigarettes in the car, as it reeks.

But all in all, the car is fine. I took it to get a big fat bath to remove all of the "them" from it and put dryer sheets throughout to try and knock out some of the smell.

Catching the punks: okay so I realize it's Durham and there are MUCH bigger fish to fry in the world. So I am not hopeful they will catch these guys, BUT a neighbor across the street got video footage of the person- so they have an idea. And another neighbor has video of my car leaving the neighborhood, with an additional car with it, so we know there were two cars. My cards were used and we have exact amounts and the time stamp on them, so they should be able to access videos from the stores. Those are not accessible on weekends, so they had to wait until Monday to view (seriously, wtf?).

So there you have it! Just thrown in to make the weekend extra exciting.......wowzas.



 

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. 

 

Bruce.

I love this dog. He sheds a ton and is hyper. But holy cow, is he the sweetest thing ever. He walks to the bus stop and back and is totally spent for the rest of the day. He's exhausted.

Tucking me in at night. He does this every single night. 

Riding in the car- mornings are too hard to take sometimes. No selfies before he's caffeinated, please. 

This is a new thing for Bru. Sleeping upside down. Now, majority of the time, this is how you will find him. 

I mentioned in a previous post about the baby shower- well, the bassinet came before the shower and Bruce was fascinated by it. I mean, OBSESSED. He wouldn't leave its side. It was cute...and a little odd. 

All times of day, this is where he would be.

 I still miss Hank every single day. He was truly the greatest dog. Bruce sure is doing a good job filling that void though. I can't say enough how thankful I am that we have Bruce. He is my shadow and attached to his momma....and I don't mind one bit!