Let the activities begin

 As I wrote my blog title I thought to myself, what a dumb title, "let the activities begin."  I mean really haven't our activities been going on for years?  It's as if they just got started.  Ha!  Anyway, the boys finished their first three days of 6th grade and 10th grade and all went well.  Jay was actually more chatty this week than Nick.  Yesterday was Nick's first XC meet and he ran with varsity.  I was so proud of him.  His first race time was 14:55.  The picture above is Nick and his friend, E.  The nice thing about XC is several of his friends are doing it! 

Nick is in the back, stretching, with the rest of the varsity runners. 

 Sweet Savanah came along with us to Nick's race.  She is truly one of my favorite people (just like her mother).  Van is passionate about running.  When Nick learned that he was running varsity, Van said she wanted to go and cheer him on.  The picture below is Nick and Van walking together after his race.  Van was offering him encouragement and advice.  We Siebert's sure do have some good friends.  I have good friends, and so do my boys!  We are so blessed! 

 I think this picture is really good.  My mom, Jay, Van and I went to Nick's first race (sadly, Mike was working).  All four of us positioned ourselves around the course so we could cheer Nick on!  My mom and I love XC for this very reason. 

 After Nick's race we raced (literally) back to Danvers so we could volunteer at the 4H lemonade shake up stand for Danvers Days.  I'm telling you I was really tired by this point, but not these kids.  Noah and Nick served their shift together, and we had plenty of help. 

 After serving for 4H, my sister and Luke came over.  Luke recently got an electric dirt bike.  He came out to ride his bike in the trails. 

And finally, this might be my most favorite picture from this blog.  While Nick and I were a sugary mess from serving lemonade, Jay was having his own kind of fun with his friends and none other than Elvis himself.  Ha!  These boys and this picture just make me laugh.  Getting serious though, we went to church this morning and let me tell you it was probably a small miracle that we made it.  Everyone woke up tired and grouchy.  I found myself in church wondering if there was a better way to handle the craziness of life.  I try my best to keep things balanced but like many other people, I fall short.  We were challenged at church to get involved with a small group, but I've decided not to do that until perhaps the boys are grown.  My mom, once again, said it perfectly when she said my primary mission right now is to get my boys raised.  I'm managing a full time job, a husband who is going into his second year of running his own business which has required him to work 6, and sometimes 7 days a week, and more often than not, those days are 10- 12 hours long.  It's my job to see the boys get to where they need to be, and still keep food in the house.  Trust me any mother of boys knows getting and keeping food in the house is a full time job.  I don't write all this as a pity party.  I write this so I don't forget it.  One day I'll be reading this blog, and wondering where the time went, but thankful that I experienced all the craziness this thing called life provided me with!  I'll enjoy it while it lasts!