Born To Run

Well last night was the night.........Damon's first high school cross country meet. It was the Forest Park Invitational and my son, a freshman, ran the varsity boys race!! There was my little Damon out there running against a few other kids his age and grade but for the most part, running against juniors and seniors. Let me just say I was a nervous mess not only for myself, but also for Damon who appeared to be very calm, cool and collected. He was so pumped up for this meet as it was his chance to proove that he deserved to be running on the varsity team and HE DID IT! The race was a 5k or a little over 3 miles and he finished with a time of 18:57 good enough for a 10th place individual finish!!!!! I believe there were 10 teams there last night with boys running in that varsity race and for Damon to be the 10th runner to finish was awesome!! Barr-Reeve as a team received the runner-up trophy falling a little short to Memorial High School. After the race I told Damon how proud I was of him and he told me that he was so nervous during 7th period Algebra mentally preparing for the race. I told him I had know idea how nervous he was as he did a very good job of hiding it from his mom. I think we are in for a great cross country season this year! Below are some pictures from the meet.

The team and Coach Perkins before the race
Damon and Dan warming up before the race

On your marks......get set.......GO!

Heading in the woods

Coming out of the woods

Catch him Damon!

Right after the race waiting on results

Damon receiving his ribbon and medallion, top 10 received medallions so 10th place finish was good!!

Individual ribbon, medallion and team ribbon

Until next time.....Maria

First Day of School

Well the first day of school has come and gone along with the second and third days. My kids are glad tomorrow is Friday as they are wearing down. It is so hard to get back in the routine of getting to bed early and getting up early and not to mention having to stay after school for cross country and volleyball practice every night for Damon and Court. Makenna is so tired tonight that she asked to go to bed at 8:30....it was still daylight out so I know she is exhausted! This morning she asked me if she was done for the week and I told her one more day to go and she could sleep in on Saturday. All in all I think she is going to be ok. It is a huge adjustment going from precschool which was 2 1/2 hours 3 days a week to all day every day. I remember when Damon and Courtney went to kindergarten it was all day every other day and they were both so tired on that off day. Poor little Makenna doesn't get that break. Tonight was Open House night so we got to go in and see some of the things she has been doing this week and to meet parents of some of the other kids in the class. Here are some pictures I took on Tuesday morning before they all headed out the door.

My big girl......although she will always be my baby
My 6th grader Courtney

Sisters are forever and I'm so glad your mine!

Showing off backpacks

My Freshman.......ugh.......I'm not liking him going to high school at all :(

Momma and her baby girl

Makenna wanted to ride the bus the first day so Court said she was going with her as she didn't want her to go on the bus by herself. How sweet and overprotective is that?? Damon had me take him to school and I went to the primary building to wait on Makenna to get there.

First photo in Mrs. Jacob's Class

Until next time......

Maria

Good Times

Damon received 2nd place in the 14u Bring the Heat XC race on 7/25 and 6th place overall

Barr-Reeve 10u girls softball team 1st place at the Odon Tourney on 7/26

Mike, Court and I

Damon, Court and Makenna at Six Flags St. Louis on 7/31

Court, Makenna & Damon at St. Louis Zoo on 7/30

This picture taken at Six Flags on 7/31 after riding the Scooby Doo Ride

These swings are going to be so much fun!

Courtney feeding a bottle of milk to a little goat at Grant's Farm in St. Louis on 8/1

Makenna being attacked by a herd of goats at Grant's Farm.........I think she needs more bottles!

Damon has a friend for life

Wow! Where has the summer gone?? As I type this at 9:50 on 8/10 my kids are in bed waiting for tomorrow morning......the first day of school! I still can't believe how it can possibly be that time again. As I tucked my baby in bed I felt such emotion overcome me. She however is so excited about her first day of kindergarten and for that I'm excited for her too. It will be different tomorrow not having a child at home.....they really do grow up so fast. As Makenna starts her big day of kindergarten, Courtney moves on to 6th grade; the last of her elementary years, while Damon begins his Freshman year......the start of his high school journey. I pray that each day is full of happiness for them and that God protects them each step of the way. I'm sure I'll have more to post tomorrow and pictures too! I do want to mention one more thing before ending this post and that is Mike and I celebrated our 17th anniversary on August 8th. I'm so blessed to be married to such a wonderful husband and father. I love you very much Mike and thank-you for everything you do for our family. You always put us first above anything else and I'm looking forward to the many more years with you to come.

Until next time.......Maria