Summer again

I can't believe it's been over a year since I wrote anything. Obviously this year has gone by much too quickly. The boys have grown so much. Jacob is now taller than both Kevin and I. Garrett is about 6'1" now and it's only a matter of time before Matthew passes me up.

In just two weeks, Matthew will be finished with elementary school and that will mark the end of our families' elementary school days. Jacob will be a ninth grader working out this summer for his high school's Freshman Football team and Garrett will be a junior in high school, and spending time this summer making decisions about what colleges he truly wants to pursue. Kevin has been at his job in the DC Metro area for nearly a year and I still feel like it's his "new" job. I guess that comes from staying at Fort Hood for seven years. Not common in this military life we live.

Matthew has grown from being Matthew to preferring we call him "Matt." When did he grow up so much? He is excited about middle school and looking forward to starting band and trying out for the competitive soccer league in a few weeks. He has grown into such a soccer player. His skills are limited only by his desire to improve.

Jacob has had a great last year in middle school. Having been to a different school each year of middle school, he has adapted quickly and taken to each of his new schools. He ran track for the first time this year and seemed to really enjoy it. He's planning to play football in high school and is also excited about starting Air Force JROTC this next fall. He continues to excel academically and is growing into quite the responsible young man.

Garrett has had a busy year in tenth grade. He took a heavy academic load this year with honors and AP classes, and yet remains in the top 5% of his class of over 400 students. He played football again this year and had a good season, chose to give up basketball this year, and put his focus into baseball starting at the end of football season last fall. It was a long rode as the new kid in the program but he ended the season as a starter and one of the most consistent batters on the team. He is excited about next year's season on varsity and plans to prepare for it by playing ball both this summer and in the fall. This will be the first year he hasn't played football since 5th grade and it will be hard not seeing him catching passes in the game but he is learning to make decisions that are not always easy but are based on what things mean the most to him. He is also giving up band this next year. Another tough call, but he will continue to play the saxophone and the guitar in church. He played his first band solo this year on the Alto Sax and played beautifully. He also sang his first solo and had a leading role in our church youth musical this Spring. Jacob also had a speaking part and it was so fun to watch them both perform. I hope they'll be able to do it again in the future.

Jacob and Garrett aren't the only performers in the family. Matthew performs this weekend in the church children's musical. He is playing the Royal Carpenter in "That's So Daniel" and he has a singing part as well, with a couple of other boys. It's going to be a joy to watch!

Kevin is working hard in the beltway and we've had to adjust to him not being home as early as we'd grown accustomed to, but he's accomplishing great things at work just as he has been doing for the last 20 1/2 years. That's right. He went over 20 years last October. What a milestone! I'm so proud of my Army Officer!

I still spend much of my time driving kids to and from their various activities, trying to keep the house in order, and being my kid's biggest fan! I love being a part of the music program at church, singing in the choir, playing clarinet in the church ensemble and directing the drama portion of our recent youth musical. I'm also teaching scrapbook classes at Michael's now and juggling those hours with the schedules of my family. I'm gearing up to start a new business soon as a consultant for Thirty One Gifts and am really excited about this new opportunity.