Short Course Regionals- February 2016

Short course season is winding down and it's time for championships.  The first of which is the Southwest Ohio Regional Championships that took place at our home pool in Mason.  The goal for Max was to swim hard and fast (and of course have fun) over the full three day competition, and to get more Junior Olympic cuts as an 11 year old.  He went into regionals with two cuts, the 50 back and the 200 fly, and by the time all was said and done he walked out with 5 total!  He also nabbed the 200 back, 100 back, and 400 IM all while having some of his biggest fans there to cheer him on… both sets of grandparents AND a great-grandma!  :)

It was a long-weekend that began with a missed day of school, early mornings, late nights, eating out, bleacher butt (for the spectators anyway), screaming voices, high fives, hugs, and LOTS of swimming. It's not easy being a swimming fan.  It's not the same as watching a soccer match or baseball game.  It's a lot of waiting around until the one you came to watch races an event with all his heart.  Then waiting again until his next one.  Once he does race it's the most exciting thing ever though!  I know Max was very thankful to his grandparents who would take time to come watch.  It was a weekend full of amazing swims and now… on to the the BIG championship meet; the Junior Olympics at Ohio State!

 Max, Nick, Sam, and Bret before the 100 backstroke

 Words of wisdom from Coach Katie

Christmas 2015

We love Christmas.  We always look forward to Christmas break; being home from school, hanging out with friends, sleeping a little later, the always beautiful Christmas Eve service at church, wondering if we we get snow, making plans for NYE… and of course holiday training at swim, but Max welcomes that challenge.   And even though all those things are wonderful, there's nothing better than being home in your jammies on a lazy Christmas morning.  It's my favorite thing in the world to wake up super early with Max whispering in our ears "get up!", opening gifts and taking our time, then just sitting back and watching Max play with things he received, or helping him put something together to use.

This year was no different!  :)  We did all of the above on Christmas morning and still had time to make a new breakfast to try before my parents came over later that morning.  It was unusually warm this year during the holidays; Max got an "EZ Rider" that is so cool and was able to take it outside and ride it down the street in shorts!  Felt more like spring than winter, but I was cool with that.

We also had Christmas-themed pictures done this year for the first time, and included Flip!  It's always fun for me to actually pay someone else to do all the work rather than running from setting the timer then editing the photos myself.  I loved the results.  And of course we used some of the photos for our card this year.  Perfect.  :)

These were taken just a few days after our car accident in late October.  It was pretty painful with fractured ribs but we couldn't reschedule, and thankfully you can't tell I was wincing in the images.  :)  Thankful to be able to have these memories!

Max is 11!

Max celebrated #11 this year with friends at a new place called Breakout Dayton.  It's sort of like a murder mystery party but you're locked in a room and have to solve clues to figure out the puzzle.  The theme of Max's party was museum heist.  An art dealer stole paintings from a gallery and they had to find him and the hidden paintings before an hour was up.  The game really isn't geared toward kids but Max thought it sounded so fun so we booked it.  He and 7 friends showed up to try to figure it out.  Chris and I stayed to help, although we weren't much of that at all.  Some of the kids were WAY into it, while others just played with the props.  Haha.  It was tough!  But really interesting and fun.  In the end we didn't make it out… but I think if we had 5 more minutes we would have.  We were sooooo close.

After the game we came back to our house to play (scream, run, chase) and have pizza and cake.  Max invited friends from school, his old swim team, and his new swim team, which made me a happy mom. :)  Max had an awesome time.

Camp Kern

Oops.  I'm way behind on the blog.  I have months of catching up to do!  Let's start with Camp Kern.  In 5th grade you leave for 2.5 days and go to Camp with your class.  This year at Max's school they divided the 5th grade in half for the week, well, kind of.  Six classes went to camp Monday through Wednesday and the other 4 classes went Wednesday to Friday.  Max was in the latter group.

It was early October and the weather was perfect!  Shorts were worn all day with a light layer at night.  I wasn't sure how Max would like camp as he's never been away before for days like that.  He was so excited to go!  The kids chose their cabins and off they went.  They were busy from sun up to sun down as well… and beyond that!  Their days were filled with canoeing, hiking, games, climbing, scavenger hunts, lunch/dinner duty responsibilities, ghost stories, contests, and so much more.  

The best part of it for me was that Chris was one of the dads who volunteered to show up each night at 6:30 and sleep there, so each morning I got all the details of what Max had been doing and how much he was loving it, as well as fun pictures Chris would text me during his time with the campers.  

There are so many fun details that Max willingly shared with us when talking about camp.  One highlight of the week was that Max sang in front of everyone.  Apparently after dinner, each cabin had to choose their best singer to come up and compete against the others.  Max was his cabin's chosen one.  Some kids sang nursery rhymes, others Christmas carols, but Max sang Adam Levine's "Locked Away".   According to Chris, he had the whole place singing a long.  It was a proud moment for Max because he said "well I can be an actor now; I just did that in front of the 5th grade!".  Ha!  

On pick up day, Friday, Max got off the bus dirty, exhausted… and so excited.  He wants to go back for summer camp there now for a whole week.  No parent chaperones in the evening.  Yikes!  Will he remember to change his clothes?  Brush his teeth?  ;)

Here are some of the photos Chris sent to me.  I'm so glad his school does this.  What a memorable adventure for those kids.  I love it!

Halloween 2015

Happy Halloween 2015!  Our good friends had a fun Halloween party this year in which we all got to dress up.  Haven't been to a party like this in about 4-5 years and it was long overdue.  We ate great Halloween-themed food, played games, chatted around a bonfire… it was a great night.  Max and Lydia spent weeks deciding what they could be as a duo so they could wear their costumes to the party as well as trick or treat together.  They finally landed on Alice and the Mad Hatter.  Chris and I joined the theme as the Cheshire Cat and the White Rabbit.  We also had fun on the 30th, carving and painting pumpkins.  We chose emojis this year as our carving theme.  We laughed.  A lot.  ;)

Sunflowers!

Every year the farmers that own the Yankee St. Market are kind enough to plant a whole field of sunflowers for all to enjoy.  This field is a popular spot for pictures and is always swarming with photographers.  And every year I try to steal 15 minutes out of our busy schedules to sneak over and have Max indulge me for a few photos.  This year we even all managed to get in one thanks to a photographer friend of mine who happened to be there at the same time and took my camera to take the shot. The light was dim and warm and perfect!

It's a final farewell to summer… Such a beautiful field!

August 29, 2015- Max's Baptism at Southbrook Christian Church

Every year our fabulous church puts on a spectacle called "Big Splash Weekend".  This weekend is dedicated to those who want to be baptized.  Now you can get baptized any time at church, of course, but this weekend they just try to make it more of a fun, party-type celebration.  Church starts with a typical service (although it's about obedience and baptism this weekend) and ends early so everyone can make their way outside to two big tubs to watch the many, many people who have chosen to take this step declare "Jesus is Lord" and be dunked in His name.

Max brought up the idea of wanting to be baptized a few months ago.  I knew this weekend was approaching and thought it would be a perfect way for Max to "jump in".  He agreed and really looked forward to the evening.

The afternoon of the "Big Splash" Max made his way into the changing area after checking in and receiving a book as a gift from church.  He came back out wearing his "Big Splash" shirt and we headed into the service along with my parents and grandma.

Once outside Max waited his turn.  He was announced the crowd by Charlie, who has been our pastor for at least 15 years, and climbed his way up the ladder and then down into the tank.  A few minutes later he was baptized.  I took a few pics myself but the better photos were done by the photographer the church had on hand to capture the moment up close and personal.  The last photo is the best.  Pure joy.

Afterward we had dinner out, Max's choice, and finished off the night at Cold Stone, again, Max's choice.  We are so proud of Max and the decision he has made.  <3 p="">